Experienced Start scenario: Skip the early grind

[I-am-Erk]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Personally, one of my favourite parts of the game is running screaming from mi-go wishing I had at least a stout stick to defend myself with. However, we're trying to build a game where the main gameplay loop involves dying and having to start from scratch, and we're also trying to build a game that encourages long term play. These options aren't exclusive to each other - we've added '1up' options through NPCs for example - but it can be frustrating to get a little ways into the game, die, and have to build up from scratch again. Some content, like developing early proficiencies, can be fun for a little while but doesn't offer a ton of good replay value, especially when you're also frustrated at losing a beloved character.

Solution you would like.

We already have some "start 1 year into the cataclysm" scenarios. I think we also need to add some scenarios to start only a month or two in. Then, we need to add a bunch of backgrounds covering what you did after the cataclysm, offering a lot more useful skills and proficiencies to choose from. These 1-2 month scenarios and professions should be meta-locked behind some basic achievements, to avoid bloating the start for new players, but it shouldn't be too hard to get them.

These backgrounds might also break our usual standard of keeping equipment locked to your profession, which means you may drop a bunch of stuff on the ground when you start. That's all right in this case because we're going to assume you're starting in a base you've built, not an evac shelter you fled to in a rush.

Some example backgrounds:

• "bug hunter": adds some chitinworking proficiencies and insect anatomy. Similarly we should have some hunter backgrounds for other common enemy types.
• "cycle scout": adds a bike to your starting location if possible, gives you a big athletics skill boost
• "sheet metal scavenger": adds metalworking proficiencies, has you start with some metal components and tools for crafting
• "faithful hound": starts you with a cool dog and some food for your cool dog, and some pet armour
• "food hoarder": starts with food preservation and cooking skills and a decent stock of tins and jars.
• "silent striker": start with more of the profs and skills needed to use archery effectively, along with a decent bow and arrows. weakpoint profs should be linked to the specific hunter backgrounds though

The balance of these shouldn't allow you to craft plate armour or survivor gear right out the gate, but it should make you feel like you've skipped the very early game and started in the early-mid game.

The scenario I envision would start you in a modified evac shelter that has some food and simple weapons and things, and at least one road map.

Describe alternatives you have considered.

The equipment start bit is optional but I think it would be nice to have.

This is fundamentally the same as Next Summer start, but without the advanced evolution. If we add this, Next Summer should also get all these options, and should be flagged as a bit more of a challenge version of the same thing

Additional context

People are still going to claim that this is me trying to add more tedium, somehow. I'm curious to see how they manage it this time.

[Daved27hundred]

I’ve had this exact idea for the longest time, And I’d be glad to add a couple more.

[oosyrag]

K9 officer already starts you with a cool doggo, and it's more of a challenge scenario (keeping it alive, because it's a good doggo) than a benefit, despite it definitely being a benefit... for like one or two fights.

I think some general skillets and common early game equipment would be what the focus of these starts would be, if the goal is to "skip ahead". Like what skills would someone focus on in the early game?

Builder - have a basic base with butchering rack, kiln, smoking rack, a spear.
Survivalist - innawoods style tools
Raider - sling(/staff), throwing, rollerblades
Gun shop start
Archer
Brawler - higher dodge/melee

I still think cool or interesting scenarios/backgrounds/professions should just be added as base options and not be tied to the start date anyway though... I don't think this adds to the experience much more than taking away the point system for character creation already did.

[Daved27hundred]

A background with food preservation + Canning food would be a good idea, that stuff becomes important when refridgeration stops working.

A “zombie hunter” background with zombie biology and some combat skills would be a given, too.

[Vaskritaya]

I think the biggest thing to consider with an "experienced" start is that currently, we can already get arbitrarily high skills, lots of proficiencies through backgrounds, and start with useful armor and weaponry. The one thing we currently can't start with that sets an experienced player apart from a starting one is a base with useful supplies.

Even just a few days into a run, a player is going to have a decent hoard of tools, books, preserved food, and other crap, and your first forays into towns is usually to acquire these kinds of supplies so you can craft more useful items. In my experience, this is usually when you're at your most fragile, so a way to skip it when I don't feel like going through the whole spear-and-combat-practice song and dance would be great.

[oosyrag]

Could the faction/base camp system possibly be leveraged to "spawn" a premade base for an advanced start survivor?

[ADekema]

Maybe we could add a blob psychosis background as a bit of story telling. The backstory would be that your character was particularly affected by blob psychosis and took until a month or two after the cataclysm to recover from it. Your character won´t ever fully recover given the things they did and how badly they where affected the psychosis.

This would be a lore friendly crazed cannibal/murderhobo background that would fit the playerbase perfectly. While also giving players a hint as to how blob pshycosis works and how it affects people.

Description: ¨Your memories of the world's collapse are vivid but distorted, a relentless maelstrom of violence. You reveled in the chaos, as you fought against THEM for........... something you can't quite remember. You feel....... pain? That´s strange. You haven´t felt pain in quite some time. Or did you simply not notice until now?¨

Skills: Combat forcussed from months of murdering and fighting

Health: Probably a few minor wounds on account of fighting and not preforming first aid but nothing that would have killed you. Maybe a common cold from exposure.

Equipment: Damaged clothing, some kind of weapon, pockets stuffed with human meat and a bottle with human blood.

Traits: Killer instinct and cannibal. These are leftover symtoms of the blob psychosis.

[Brambor]

Having one or two friendly NPCs would remove the beginning roll dice whether the spawned NPC will follow you. Also, NPCs are cooler and cooler.

[Brambor]

Usually, I mostly clear a nearby town by then.
As one of the scenarios / backgrounds / ...
I propose running:

for each low-level zombie (possibly mutant) in the nearest town:
    if (rng(threw 5 on 6 sided dice):
        zombie will be dead and smashed

[I-am-Erk]

@oosyrag not directly, but it wouldn't be super hard to reuse the mapgen... but I don't know if it would be hard to make sure it counted as an expanded faction base.

@ADekema Neat idea, but I'm not sure it's quite the same thing. If you were feral for the first few months, you're going to be mostly starting up a lot more like a new start but advanced two months in... you're not gonna have the extra equipment, the chitinworking and weakpoint proficiencies, etc.

@Brambor An option to start with a few faction NPCs would be nice yeah. I'm not against the idea of pre-killing some zombies, but that adds a level of complexity to the concept such that it also shouldn't be seen as something we really have to have.

[ADekema]

Neat idea, but I'm not sure it's quite the same thing. If you were feral for the first few months, you're going to be mostly starting up a lot more like a new start but advanced two months in... you're not gonna have the extra equipment, the chitinworking and weakpoint proficiencies, etc.

If you where feral for a few months than you where murdering things for a few months. You would probably also be of the more intelligent variaty given that you are still alive and where able to come back. Something closer to feral prepper or cunning feral than a deranged axeman.

So you probably still have most of your memories and experiences as a feral. That means also the melee skills and basic combat proficiencies from those memories. You would also start out with a powerful weapon like a woodaxe. You could further buff the scenario by basing it off of the cunning feral. This would justify higher skills as well as some rudementary armour and minor survival and factication skills.