One thing I've heard a lot of gamers wish for in Skyrim (myself included) is a Survival/Hardcore Mode mod, similar to the Hardcore Mode of Fallout: New Vegas. Something that increases the level of realism by requiring food, water, and sleep, or something which makes wounds, exhaustion, exposure during severe weather, and disease more serious. The goal would be to increase immersion and realism, and make the game more challenging, while staying true to existing in-game features. I've only dabbled in modding in past TES titles, but as soon as the Construction Set gets released I'm hoping to get my Learn on and put together something along these lines. Before that happens, I want to get a feel for what people want out of a Hardcore Mode mod. What sort of things would you like to see as options or features, and what don't you want to see? Comments and critiques are more than welcome; the more ideas and opinions I have, the better I'm able to plan and design it. Here are a few ideas I'm mulling over right now. 1) Drinking and eating would be necessary. There would probably be an increasing Stamina Regen penalty for starvation and dehydration, which could eventually spread to Magicka/Health Regen, and possibly be lethal. So far, the mod would include a carried waterskin item, a system for drawing water from wells and natural bodies of water, and might allow for disease to be spread by drinking bad water. I might model food rot as well (dungeon delving into ancient tombs shouldn't yield fresh fruits and veggies), though that will likely be a bit more difficult. Prepared food would focus on long-term benefits as well, such as regen bonuses, increased move speed or carry capacity, etc. instead of essentially being weak potions. 2) You would need to sleep regularly. Not sleeping would impose a decrease to your Max Stamina, and possibly cause skill penalties. I'm not sure what penalties I want to assign to exhaustion, aside from a % decrease in damage, movement speed, and/or carrying capacity, so suggestions would be great. The mod would include placeable camp items, such as a crude fur or straw mat, a bedroll, a campfire which consumes firewood and allows for cooking, and/or a tent or log lean-to shelter. Odds are, there would be an increased risk of being attacked when sleeping outdoors, however. 3) Exposure to severe weather and cold could be lethal. Since the game is set in a cold climate, I'd like to model the dangers of hypothermia. Exposure to extreme weather, swimming in cold water for a long time, and so on should be dangerous... I imagine a small bit of cold damage over time would work, which increases with the time you stay exposed or the severity of conditions. Not sure how best to handle warming up by a fire, or drying off yet... I'll have to think on that. 4) Exhaustion and carrying a lot of loot should present a challenge. Depleting stamina should do more than just prevent power attacks, such as creating an increasing chance to stagger or stumble while running, or even causing you to collapse for a moment. I might force the kneeling/collapsed state if stamina is fully depleted, for enemies as well as the player, which presents a challenge as well as a tactical opportunity. Shield bashes and unarmed attacks may deplete stamina as well. As it is, arrows and gold weigh nothing, and potions are terribly light; adding weight to the above would force people to store items and loot at home, and prevent them from carrying a small arsenal on their backs. Being 50% encumbered or more might also cause decreased move speed or Stamina Regen, while over-encumbrance would make you collapse completely, unable to move. To balance this with the existing system, I'd probably decrease the amount of stamina drain from power attacks and running (and possibly from ice damage) while increasing default carrying capacity. 5) Some other miscellaneous tweaks. I'd like to to disable fast-travel, since in-game wagons already allow fast travel for a fee (this would probably be an optional feature, since I know a lot of people love their fast travel). I'd like to make diseases a bit more serious, allowing them to progress and potentially kill you. I might slow down the game clock a bit too, to make days stretch out a bit more... as it is, the days seem to go by too quickly, which could be annoying with daily food and sleep requirements.
