Poll: Requiring Food and Water in RPGs

[BasiliskWrangler]

Here's an interesting question that came up recently that I thought would make a great poll. What do you think about requiring the player to manually feed and water his on-screen character? Specifically, I'm thinking of the Dungeon Master method where a couple of bar graphs tells you how thirsty and hungry your character is, and before going deep into a dungeon you must make sure you have enough rations with you. Eye of the Beholder had a system like this as well (it tracked only hunger though, not thirst).

The original design docs for Eschalon: Book I was going to require your character to eat and drink regularly, but early on this requirment was pushed to the side to focus on more important functions. Now we need to know if we should re-activate this feature or leave it alone? The consequence of not eating or drinking would be reduced character performance, slower healing times, and eventually death.

[EyeLikeP00]

I only enjoy using food/drinks in games when they can restore health or other attributes.

oblivion/morrowind had that linked in with magic, where you could learn about more attributes any edible item could give you as you got better in that school of magic.

i seem to recall ultima 8 having various kinds of colored drinks, which you could use as well.. some not always good..

[Focomin]

I've never seen this implemented well.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be – I’ve just never seen it done.

[focus]

I can't remember where I read this comment but a developer once summed up well requiring characters to eat in RPGs "well they also have to goto the bathroom as well but we didn't implement that either".

[Adrageron]

Food&Drink is a good game feature only if it is fit in gameplay. When you character must fight (or work hard) to get some food - it is interesting. When you character dies 'cause you forgot to go in store and buy some food - it's not fun. I like also when you must experiment on your characrer with new strange food. Some stuff can make you stronger, and some even may kill you with deadly poison... (but save/load system kills this part of gameplay).
The only game with nice Food system is ADOM. May be there is another ones, but I cat't remember now...
So, I vote for Food&Drink, but I hope, that this part of the game will be interesting.

P.S. Sorry my "English"

[Ledorax]

I don't think you should, it's just plain annoying to have to buy food and water. You're not making a simulator, are you?

[DoberMann]

I think if you have to buy food and drink, then you have to go to the toilet sometimes, and if you tired you have to go sleeping, like in real life. So, I don't think this is a good idea to put all that features in a CRPG.

[Del137]

Well - best food system - yes - was in Ragnarok, ADOM and I.V.A.N. roguelike games...
It was "you those what you eat" - with cooking system and skill and eating corpses with gaining different abilityes...
If you make somthing like these - i die from happyness )))
PS sry for my English too ))

[20mithrandir]

There maybe should be a food system, but it must not be required to eat and drink (oh I'm in the wilderness without food and am unable to reach town in time so I have no chance but to die of hunger - yeah! how fun that is...). Instead there should be a system for using ingredients and cook different things that gain you bonuses or on the other hand can poison you so you loose some abilities... BTW: The last commercial singleplayer game I know of where you could cook something was "Arx Fatalis" (2002), or am I wrong?

[Svend Karlson]

I voted for food & drink by mistake, should have put food only (which would have been the only vote for that option!)

I rather liked the way some of the Ultima games handled this. For me it added something to the experience for me to find food dotted about the countryside & on farms & to have to stock up before going on a long expedition into the countryside or a dungeon.

I especially liked the way that in the early game I could barely afford to feed my characters but after a sufficient period of aggrandisation I could simply drop in at the local inn & load up without consideration of the cost. That way it did not become an annoyance long-term.

If it is implemented, I would prefer not to have to actually take an action to feed my characters, but rather to ensure that food is available to them.

[EvilManagedCare]

I voted for neither, though I wouldn't call it a pain in the ass. Rather, it never seems to be implemented all that well. That, and there's nothing worse when you make some real progress in the game, venture far from a city, then run out of food. Sure, it's the player's fault for being unprepared, but it's hard to take that kind of responsibility when you're even too far to go back for food. Sometimes features from the old school games just don't hold up well today, even though we hold those classics in such high esteem.

Just my $0.02.

[Sherman Gill]

If it is implemented, I would prefer not to have to actually take an action to feed my characters, but rather to ensure that food is available to them.

I quite like that idea, personally.
Perhaps better types and amounts of food could allow you to heal more while resting?

[Killer Kitty]

If implemented well, I believe that this could work very well in a game's favour. So far, I've been overly impressed with some of the game features in Eschalon: Book I so I believe that Basilisk games could implement a meaningfull hunger and water system that effects your characters more than "hungry characters slowly lose life". I especially promote the idea of hunger and thirst affecting characters stats and performance. You can go weeks without food before dying, but you would be weak, brittle, and have very little energy. Imagine if a character became so thirsty his speech slowed and NPCs didn't take him as seriously during a conversation and would withold information or something like that.

[Grayth]

I would say this falls into the "unwashed masses" comment I made in a different post.

Requiring food and water is really cool. But, the "unwashed masses" would find it a pain, complain and return the game.

Food and water as healing assistance may be a good idea.

Grayth

[bargeral]

I voted for both, because I'm always annoyed at some of the RPG conventions we've accepted. I mean, going off on that tangent here, would you ever really see a barbarian say "hand me those two other shields there, and that broad sword and those two helms, ya they'll sell well and I got the strength so load up!". Admittedly it's always a balance between realism and fun, as Ladorax alluded this is not a simulator. But just as you would never ever ever see a real fighter go into battle with so much as an extra boot in weight on his person, you also would see a real adventure party set out with a train of pack mules, porters, squires, etc etc. So back to the food question, Yes I'd like to see another try at a good implementation on it. But also yes, it should be unobtrusive and not a lager part of the game. - Harping on the realism thing again, why would eating a turkey leg heal your bleeding leg wound? I'd hate to see the moment when I stock up on turkey legs cause I might need to chow down when taking on that big ogre. Magic potions I buy, but turkey legs? Poof goes my "willful suspension of disbelief".

I could see: Food gives you a bonus say for the entire day, or you can't camp without food (or don't benefit as much) etc. Or maybe every time you set out on an adventure or move to another town you have to pay something in supplies to make the trip - kind of just a dialog nod to the whole thing but then it would be there.