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Survival Mechanics

This guide covers all survival systems needed to stay alive, including Needs, Health & Injuries, Status Effects, Environmental Factors, Nutrition, Mental Health, Disease Progression, and Sleep Deprivation.

Core Needs

The player has four primary needs that must be constantly managed. Each drains over time and can cause death if depleted.

Hunger

  • Starting Value: 85/100
  • Max: 100 (0 = Starving)
  • Drain Rate: 0.25/hour base
  • Day: 0.88x (slower at night)
  • Perk Modifiers:
  • efficient_eater: 0.80x drain
  • big_appetite: 1.20x drain
  • Critical Effects:
  • < 15: +1.5 fatigue/hour
  • < 25: +0.15 morale drain/hour
  • < 35: -0.35 condition/hour
  • <= 0: -1 HP/hour, death from starvation
  • Restoration: Eating food
  • Cooked Food: High restoration, +morale
  • Canned Food: Moderate restoration, 8% chance hygiene loss
  • Raw/Foraged: Varying restoration, 20% base food poisoning chance

Thirst

  • Starting Value: 85/100
  • Max: 100 (0 = Dehydrated)
  • Drain Rate: 0.25/hour base
  • Day: 1.12x (faster when hot)
  • Perk Modifiers:
  • water_conservator: 0.80x drain
  • dehydrates_quickly: 1.20x drain
  • Critical Effects:
  • < 15: +2.5 fatigue/hour
  • < 25: +0.20 morale drain/hour
  • < 35: -0.35 condition/hour
  • <= 0: -2 HP/hour, death from dehydration
  • Restoration: Drinking water
  • Potable Water: Boiled or purified (safe)
  • Raw Water: Risk of Dysentery/Malaria (15% if contaminated, 3% if stagnant)
  • Disinfectant: Can purify water

Warmth

  • Starting Value: 70/100
  • Max: 100 (0 = Freezing)
  • Drain Rate: Base 0.25/hour x environmental multipliers
  • Weather Factor: 1.0 + (wind x 0.10) + (precip x 0.08) + (coldC x 0.05)
  • Night: 1.18x (colder at night)
  • Storm at Dawn: 1.08x
  • Shelter Quality: Reduces drain by up to 45% (0.55-0.90x multiplier)
  • House/Building: Significant reduction based on completion/insulation
  • Sleeping Bag (during rest): 0.70× drain
  • Clothing Insulation: Multiplicative reduction
  • Perk Modifiers:
  • cold_adapted: 0.70x drain
  • cold_sensitive: 1.30x drain
  • Achievement Bonuses: Cold resistance reduces drain
  • Critical Effects:
  • < 25: +0.20 morale drain/hour
  • <= 0: -1 HP/hour, death by freezing
  • Restoration:
  • Fire: +25 warmth/hour (must be standing on fire spot)
  • Complete House: Passive warmth bonus when inside

Fatigue

  • Starting Value: 90/100
  • Max: 100 (high is good, low is bad; 100 = Fresh, 0 = Exhausted)
  • Accumulation: Most actions reduce fatigue (freshness) with physical activity
  • Activity-specific values (see FAT constants in code)
  • Move: -0.25 (x2 if running, reduced by agility)
  • Crafting: -0.25 to -0.80 depending on item
  • Hunting/Fishing: -0.75
  • Heavy load: Additional freshness loss based on encumbrance
  • Low hunger (<15): -1.5/hour
  • Low thirst (<15): -2.5/hour
  • Fracture: Additional move fatigue pressure
  • Sleep Debt: If no sleep for 36 hours (24h with light_sleeper perk), sleep-debt penalties activate until recovery
  • Effects:
  • <= 5: Microsleep risk (time loss and injury chance)
  • <= 0: Severe exhaustion state; actions become dangerous
  • < 25: +0.15 morale drain/hour
  • < 20: Increased disorientation risk when moving
  • Restoration:
  • Sleep: Sets freshness to 100 (fully rested), heals +HP
  • Rest: +25 freshness, heals +HP

Morale

  • Starting Value: 70/100
  • Max: 100 (0 = Broken)
  • Drain Rate: 0.10/hour base + penalty modifiers
  • Hunger < 25: +0.15/hour
  • Thirst < 25: +0.20/hour
  • Warmth < 25: +0.20/hour
  • Fatigue < 25: +0.15/hour
  • Injury > 0: +0.08/hour
  • Night without fire: +0.08/hour
  • House Bonus: Reduced loss + passive morale gain when inside
  • Perk Modifiers:
  • optimist: 0.75x drain
  • pessimist: 1.25x drain
  • Effects: Low morale reduces efficiency, can cause disorientation (+22% when <30)
  • Restoration:
  • Good food (+morale)
  • Comfort/shelter
  • Sleep/rest
  • Success in actions
  • Companion: +0.5/hour
  • Achievement bonuses
  • Random events: +/-2-2.5 morale (3% chance/hour)

Hygiene

  • Starting Value: 78/100
  • Base Drain: 0.10/hour (HYGIENE_DRAIN)
  • Core Effects:
  • Low hygiene increases infection pressure over time
  • Very low hygiene contributes to skin/wound complications
  • Recovery:
  • Wash action: restore hygiene (HYGIENEWASHGAIN)
  • Safe routines and cleaner conditions reduce long-run disease pressure

Health & Injuries

Health (HP)

  • Starting Value: 100/100
  • Max HP Calculation: Base 90-100 + (condition×0.1) + endurance bonus + achievement bonuses
  • Condition-based: 90 + round(condition×0.1)
  • Endurance Attribute: +(endurance-3)×5
  • Achievement Bonuses: Various permanents perks
  • Damage Sources:
  • Combat, falls, starvation, dehydration, freezing
  • Disease, poison, bleeding, infection
  • Injuries, fractures
  • Healing:
  • Natural (Sleep): +2 HP base + house bonus
  • Natural (Rest): No direct HP restore (freshness and recovery-state support)
  • Medicine: Heals +1-10 HP (Intelligence-based)
  • Bandage: Stops bleeding, heals broken limbs (Splint required for Fracture)
  • Death: HP <= 0 ends the game

Condition

  • Starting Value: 75/100
  • Range: 25-110
  • Decay: -0.35/hour when hunger < 35 OR thirst < 35
  • Recovery: +0.5/hour during rest/sleep (+ endurance bonus)
  • Complete House Bonus: +0.3/hour additional
  • Effect: Affects max HP calculation

Status Effects

Basic Status Effects

Bleeding

  • Cause: Injuries, combat, accidents
  • Effect: -HP over time (0.9 + bleeding×0.6, max 4.5 HP/hour)
  • Morale Impact: -0.6/hour
  • Natural Decay: -0.25 bleeding/hour
  • Treatment: Bandage or Tourniquet stops bleeding
  • Death: Can bleed to death if HP reaches 0

Fracture (Broken Bones)

  • Cause: Falls, combat, accidents
  • Effect:
  • Limits movement/actions
  • +1.5 fatigue per move
  • 12% chance of -0.8 HP/hour
  • -0.4 morale/hour (12% chance)
  • Treatment: Splint (Wood + Cordage)
  • Death: Untreated fractures can be fatal

Infection (Wound Infection)

  • Cause:
  • Injuries in wet conditions (precip > 1.5)
  • Injuries when warmth < 45
  • Base chance: 8% + injury×0.2% per hour
  • Effect:
  • -0.4 HP/hour
  • -0.5 thirst/hour
  • -0.3 hunger/hour
  • Treatment: Antibiotics (instant cure) or rest in clean house (chance-based recovery)
  • Death: Can die from infection

Skin Infection

  • Cause: Low hygiene
  • Effect:
  • -0.2 HP every 5 hours
  • -0.3 morale every 5 hours

-Recovery: 20% chance/5 hours when hygiene > 65

  • Death: Can be fatal if severe

Advanced Disease System

Stomach Bug (Food Poisoning)

  • Cause: Raw/bad food (20% base), contaminated water
  • Effect:
  • Severe dehydration: -5.0 thirst/hour
  • Severe appetite loss: -4.0 hunger/hour
  • HP loss: -2.5/hour
  • Morale loss: -2.0/hour
  • Vomiting messages every 4 hours
  • Recovery: 28% chance during rest/sleep
  • Death: Can die from illness if HP depletes

Environmental Extremes

Frostbite

  • State Variable: frostbite (0-100)
  • Cause: Extended exposure to extreme cold (warmth <= 0)
  • Effects:
  • Frostbite progression risk when temperature < -15C and warmth < 30.
  • On progression tick: +1 frostbite (8% chance per tick under those conditions).
  • At 25+ frostbite: warning state ("frostbite developing").
  • At 50+ frostbite: additional HP damage pressure (+0.4 damage contribution).
  • At 75+ frostbite: condition decay (-0.2 condition).
  • Recovery starts when warmth > 50 (-2 frostbite, 15% recovery tick chance).
  • Treatment: Warming, medical attention

Heat Stroke

  • State Variable: heatStroke (0-100)
  • Cause: Excessive heat, dehydration in hot biomes
  • Effects:
  • Heat-stroke progression risk when temperature > 35C during daytime.
  • On progression tick: +1 heatStroke (6% chance per tick under those conditions).
  • At 20+ heatStroke: warning state ("seek shade").
  • At 40+ heatStroke:
  • additional thirst loss (-1.5)
  • additional HP damage pressure (+0.3 damage contribution)
  • At 70+ heatStroke: condition decay (-0.15 condition).
  • Recovery starts when temperature < 25C or night (-3 heatStroke, 20% recovery tick chance).
  • Treatment: Cooling, hydration

Disease Progression (Advanced System)

  • State Variables:
  • disease: null or disease type
  • diseaseProgress: 0-100
  • infectionStage: 0-3 (progressive infection)
  • sepsis: boolean (critical infection state)
  • Note: Full implementation details not fully exposed, part of improvement systems

Environmental Factors

Warmth System

  • Sources: Clothing, Fire, Shelter, Buildings
  • Loss Factors:
  • Cold biomes
  • Night time
  • Rain/wetness
  • Wind
  • Precipitation
  • Protection:
  • Clothing: Insulation stats reduce warmth drain
  • Shelter: Up to 45% warmth drain reduction
  • House: Major reduction + passive warmth gain (if complete)
  • Fire: +25/hour when standing on fire spot (lasts 18 hours max)

Load/Encumbrance

  • Weight Cap: Base 100 kg (modified by perks, attributes, items)
  • Over-Encumbrance (>60% of cap):
  • Fatigue: -overEffort x 0.08/hour
  • Hunger: -overEffort x 0.02/hour
  • Thirst: -overEffort x 0.03/hour
  • Injury Risk: 10% chance of +1 injury if overEffort > 20

Nutrition System (Improvement 10)

  • State Variables:
  • protein: 50/100 (starting)
  • carbs: 50/100 (starting)
  • fats: 50/100 (starting)
  • vitaminC: 50/100 (starting)
  • Effects: Different foods provide varying nutrition profiles
  • Impact: Affects overall health, condition, and recovery rates
  • Note: Full mechanics integrated into food consumption system

Mental Health System (Improvement 12)

Mental Health Stats

  • Mental Health: 70/100 (starting)
  • Trauma: 0/100 (starting)
  • Scale: 0-100

Core Logic

  • Mental health drains passively over time (0.05 baseline mental drain).
  • Extra mental drain is added when:
  • Trauma > 40: +0.20 drain
  • Morale < 30: +0.10 drain
  • Final mental health is clamped to 0-100.

Low Mental Health Penalties

  • When mentalHealth < 30:
  • Additional morale loss (-0.3)
  • Warning events can trigger ("Mental health deteriorating...")

Trauma Behavior

  • Trauma increases after major damage spikes (high-damage violent events).
  • High trauma feeds back into stronger ongoing mental drain.

Recovery Sources

  • Rest: mental health recovery (+5)
  • Sleep: mental health recovery (+8)
  • Some consumables/foods also improve mental health (value depends on item/effect).
  • Additional recovery effects can come from specific actions and systems that grant direct mental-health boosts.

Sleep Deprivation System (Improvement 11)

Sleep Debt

  • Threshold: Must sleep at least once every 36 hours (or 24h with light_sleeper perk)
  • Penalty: Sleep-debt penalties activate if threshold is exceeded
  • State Variables:
  • sleepDeprivationLevel: 0-100
  • hallucinating: boolean
  • lastSleepH: Hour of last sleep

Consequences When You Delay Sleep

  • Sleep debt trigger: once overdue, sleepDebtTriggered becomes active.
  • Ongoing pressure: exhaustion penalties increase until you recover with rest/sleep.
  • High deprivation state: hallucination-related penalties can reduce morale and reliability.
  • Severe deprivation risk: at high deprivation tiers, collapse checks can occur:
  • chance to pass out/unconscious event
  • immediate HP loss
  • forced time loss (hours pass)
  • additional injury risk while collapsed

Hallucinations

  • Occur at high sleep deprivation levels
  • Can cause disorientation, false perceptions, increased danger

Death Conditions

The game ends when HP <= 0, caused by:

  1. Starvation: Hunger <= 0
  2. Dehydration: Thirst <= 0
  3. Freezing: Warmth <= 0
  4. Bleeding Out: Bleeding damage
  5. Injuries: Untreated wounds
  6. Infection: Wound or skin infection
  7. Illness: Stomach bug/disease
  8. Fractures: Untreated broken bones
  9. Sepsis: Critical infection state (advanced)

Perk Modifiers

Positive perks reduce drains, negative perks increase them:

Positive Perks:
  • efficient_eater: 0.80x hunger drain
  • water_conservator: 0.80x thirst drain
  • cold_adapted: 0.70x warmth drain
  • optimist: 0.75x morale drain
Negative Perks:
  • big_appetite: 1.20x hunger drain
  • dehydrates_quickly: 1.20x thirst drain
  • cold_sensitive: 1.30x warmth drain
  • pessimist: 1.25x morale drain
  • light_sleeper: Sleep required every 24h (vs 36h)
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