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Old 02-11-2018, 08:45 PM   #32
tshiggins
 
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Default Re: How Would GURPS Rules Need To Be Changed For A Computer Game?

Quote:
Originally Posted by wmervine4 View Post
After posting my long reply, I had two other thoughts on this topic I felt were worth sharing.

(SNIP)

Second, I was thinking about survival mode I've seen in some video games lately (e.g., Fallout 4). Some hardcore gamers really want a challenge beyond simply bashing on bad guys, so survival mode typically provides that by forcing players to consider encumbrance, eating/drinking, sleeping, staying protected in extreme temperatures, avoiding disease, and limited save opportunities. From what I have experienced in these modes, they do add interesting elements to the game, but dealing with some is either easily avoid (e.g., extreme cold is avoided by wearing warm enough clothing) or uncontrollably annoying (e.g., randomly catching a disease that is difficult to cure while sleeping). GURPS nicely provides many gradual effects to deal with these situations like FP loss from missed sleep, starvation, dehydration, heat, and cold. GURPS could expand in many areas by using the rules for FP loss for overexertion, running, and swimming; applying effects from acids, irritating and incapacitating conditions, pressure effects, and suffocation to name a few. GURPS also has extensive rules for diseases, poisons, and infections from wounds. If you wanted to get really harsh about it, you could even employ The Last Gasp rules. When it comes to survival mode, I think GURPS has a great framework for applying real consequences to ignoring your character's needs.
I think GURPS would be perfect for a survival game, myself, and those are very popular these days. However, there's a significant schism in the community who call first-person shooters with random loot-drops that allow construction of bases a "survival game," and the more hard-core crowd who want the ability to hunt, gather, craft and farm, and who also want to have to worry about food, water, exposure and wild animals*.

GURPS could do either of those things well, and is (I think) uniquely suited to do a game that could appeal to both. Personally, I like the notion of a Robinson Crusoe type of game, where someone gets marooned on an island, somewhere, and must figure out how to survive.

Make it a TL 5 setting (circa 1850, or so), and a skilled craftsman can make just about any technology routinely available to normal people. My friend Dave points out that one of the unique things about the U.S. Civil War is that it marked pretty much the last time that the soldiers who fought in it could make most of their gear, themselves -- especially the Yankee craftsmen on the Union side of things. Give those guys a workshop and they could pretty much produce just about anything short of a high-pressure steam-engine (and they could repair one of those).

That said, such a setting would need a lot to offer, since people on the FPS side of the schism really like their automatic weapons. Given that SJ Games has a solid core of "After the End" material, a post-apocalyptic setting might be the way to go.

However, if you do that, you're walking into a market that's pretty saturated with exactly that sort of computer game, right now. You'd need a really different take, or you'd need an instantly-recognized and wildly-popular franchise, (Mad Max, or something), which you're not going to get without a seriously loaded and somewhat eccentric angel investor.

*For sufficiently broad definitions of "wild animals" that may include zombies or fantastic creatures.

(Copied this over to the other thread, where it may be more appropriate.)
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Last edited by tshiggins; 02-11-2018 at 08:51 PM.
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