My Next Mod

[Telric]

Warning, this will be a wall of text.

 

Also this mod is not currently being worked on besides being written out.

 

I've been away from 7dtd for a long time. Too long in fact. No real reason. I have been away from games in general. I never stopped thinking about modding though. I have written out several different ideas of what I would want to work on next when A17 comes out. I think I've decided.

 

I would like to get some opinions and ideas from others on this topic. I won't tell exactly every idea I have for the mod, but a general over view of it just to see if there is an interest for this kind of stuff... And lurking in the general forums, it don't look too good. lol.

 

So my idea is very simple on the face of it. A quest fueled linear(ish) progression through the world role playing the character. I havent fully decided on how I want to do the RP of it. Not sure if I want to name the player myself (Then reference the players name in quest text) or just have the npcs refer to the player as friend / survivor... Either way, you are role playing a survivor that is going off on quests to help other survivors survive.

 

The main difference in this mod and other mods would be the way I handle loot and the world.

 

Lets start with the world first. My idea that I am about 98.3% sure I could do is pretty simple. Make the entire world one biome with very few decorations. I'm leaning toward using Navesgane map, but with all custom Pois simply so I can place them exactly where I want. Either way, the entirety of Navesgane would be a pine forest (for example.) Now you might say well that's absolutely boring, everything will look the same. Here's where I would change that.

 

Seasons. Phases in the quests. With very few decorations, it would not be too hard to replace them with alternate decorations. Have a completely separte copy of the rwg file which is used to call which blocks go to the biome. In that separate rwg file, have the replacement blocks. Example being say the pine forest has pine trees and green grass... In the new rwg file instead of calling the pine and grass, you call the winter trees and white grass. This would make it so the actual world the player is in doesnt change. No new trees or new decorations. The only thing that changes is the color. Simulated seasons. This could be called on a quest basis such as the player progresses through x quest which tells the player to replace the files. Now they will start in the winter time.

 

This could be used to replace crops. In the "summer" corn might be very plentiful. But once a player reaches the quest to change to winter, those corns might become potatos. Now all the recipes for corn stuffs are harder to get to.

 

Think of Last of Us. The game would cut to black, say which season it was in, then everything would be different looking. Same concept. Now I'm sure I am overlooking some sketchy stuff I could run into (Just thought of one while typing this.. if player plants a corn crop, and changes to winter while those seeds are still growing, they will sprout up a corn plant instead of a potato) so It's very much a WIP.

 

Now to loot. I'm not the biggest fan of looting in game. Random stuff everywhere. Doesnt make much sense. My idea is this... Looting cupboards and fridges and stuff will still be in. It will take exponentially longer to loot than it does now. But for other stuff it's a little different...

 

If you have seen this idea done before please let me know. Curious if someone else has done it as an actual loot stystem.

 

In a15 or 16, not sure.. they added randomly spawning loot piles. The same POI could have multiple different loot items in it. That idea coupled with the fact that if an item has a dropped item mesh, it can be used for the 3d model of a block. Example: If you create a block with the mesh of a hunting rifles' dropped mesh, You'll be able to mount a hunting rifle over your fireplace. Well, there you go. A new system of looting. Every POI will have a random selection of blocks to choose from when spawned in. Each of those blocks will have the mesh of the actual items. So if you go into a house and see said hunting rifle over the fireplace, just walk over to it and hit E. That will make it act like picking crops and just put a hunting rifle in your inventory. No need to look through a bookbag to find one.

 

This loot system has more positives with it. Doing loot this way will make everything a one time loot. That means the player will have to think about what they want to loot and when. Do you really need to loot that rocket launcher on day 2 or should you mark that location and come back on day 49 to get yourself a fully durable rocket launcher for that horde night? It would also make it so you don't have to spend 30 minutes looting an entire town. Just peep into the houses to see what they have laying around.

 

In my opinion, this type of loot system would make me feel more involved in the looting and hunting for items. As of right now, you go up to every lootable item and search it hoping.

 

Now, this is not a super in depth idea blog where I tell you all the ins and outs of how my mod will work. Many features in the current game will be completely changed or even discarded all together (looking at you, skill point system). I already have a good chunk of it written out and all. All I'm asking for is opinions and stuff about the loot and season type rwg ideas.

 

If you like these ideas or have any improvements or anything, let me know.

 

Ps... sorry its so long. Lots on my mind.