Brainstorming Thread: Food System.

[BenMiff]

I like DrJones idea of having food act as a survivor quantity cap in your settlements. In addition, I'd like to flesh it out a bit though. Firstly, I'd suggest that it should be provided by buildings rather than through raids; you get a guardian scroll for a Farm, or Meat Cloning Vats, or whatever, and it increases your food cap. More food buildings = higher food cap = more survivors. Secondly, I'd suggest that these buildings should require Technozoologists (since then it'll make Technozoologists something you'll want.) Thirdly, I'd say that there should be some kind of passive buff for having surplus food or tons of survivors, to force a choice in which you go for once you have a decent number of food producing buildings. Finally, I'd suggest that you shouldn't be able to build duplicates of specific food producing buildings; your survivors need a variety of food to be healthy, and it makes for a more interesting settlement if the Hunting Ground, Farm, Meat Cloning Vats and Synthetic Vegetable Factory rub shoulders rather than just 4 Farms (i.e. a Really Big Farm.)

[Robby89]

I've noticed this post, and I wanted to pitch in my two cents. A food system would add an extra layer of things to gather and consume, however, on a needed basis. I am one for it. I could use something else to keep me busy. I'd advise though, it be tweak-able through means of using difficulty changers. Same way you did the rest of the game's various difficulty calibrations.

Have it say "I can go forever without sustenance" (Original Game Setting, no food bar, no food)
"I can eat little, and still be full" (Easiest setting, doesn't require much food bar attention)
"I eat like any other" (Moderate setting, requires almost as much attention as real life eating)
"I am a huge pig and will starve later on"
(This will likely be the highest setting for bragging purposes only, require food every 5 minutes)

I can't wait to see whats up next! 

[Denninja]

Lemme just sneak myself in here...

Here's a way to combine food with Grow Gem personalization.
I recommend a circular gauge bar around HP, that fills by consuming a "rations" bar which you fill by picking up anything edible.
For a settlement, there could be a "farm" room built in, which the player can manage by planting specific Grow Gems.
The farm room could be expanded through Guardian Power Scrolls.
The farm room's planted gems produce food pickups after the player completes a certain number of missions.
Common food would grow fastest yet fill the Rations gauge the least, while rarer food would fill the gauge more while growing slowly.
The Rations gauge could be divided into sections, each providing a % bonus to all base stats.

I agree with Robby89's difficulties idea; each level could affect Rations gauge decrease and food growth time.

[Acetyl]

Theres quite a lot to address in the past replies to this thread.  As such, I'll just copy and paste my take on a food system -

This idea originally spawned from when I noticed small towns and grasslands lacked stores, or anything beyond residential buildings. The idea is that you have to periodically go out and scavenge for food to support your settlement, as you're the only one who can leave. You could do this via fruit and berries in Grasslands with groves, finding them in abandoned stores (if they were ever added), so on and so forth. It would be immersive because the survivors you rescue would start seeming more alive.

To keep it balanced, and less intrusive, have each day the settlement goes without food, lower the tier at which they can perform at by 1, regardless of personality structures. When they reach 0, the Illari will put them in a state of suspended animation, to prevent them from dying, and you'd be unable to use any applying guardian scrolls until you've brought food. This way it isn't required that you keep food stockpiles up, just recommended. Perhaps the food could be visually seen, or just added to the supplies manifest when you enter the settlement chunk. (Maybe even a "retrieve food supplies" secret mission could seed periodically, to further make secret missions worthwhile to check out.)