RPG Perception Game Feature Question

[Shadyfan4500]

If I created a game with the following feature, or a mod for Fallout or something similar, where the game's draw distance is directly related to your perception ability, would you find it annoying? Would you find it immersive, and more encapsulating of the character you're playing? Personally, I'd probably try to completely avoid any playthrough where I have low perception, but let's say that the (in the case of Fallout) SPECIAL system is created, similar to Fallout 4, where point allocation is rough and you need to do everything intentionally. Either you're actually blind but really strong, or really lucky and not strong at all, or any combination.

 

Good idea or not (for RPG games)?

[HeyYou]

An interesting premise. :)

 

If you could arrange so you could only "see" stuff within your perception range, but, that 'stuff' was still loaded in game, like NPC's, that want to shoot you........ that could lend a whole new aspect to the game. :D

[Shadyfan4500]

That was exactly what I had in mind when I came up with the idea. In Fallout, I never really gave Perception any thought, and almost always left it at 5, but if it were directly linked with how far I could see in game, then I would consider it heavily on every single character I played. As a challenge, I might even create a "blind" character with like.. 2 Perception, and play around with that for a while having fun. I'm afraid it would be irritating to the player if it was not fog or just cut off, like Draw Distance works in some games, but blurry instead; however, I'm also afraid that it would be immersion breaking the other way around. Maybe not fog, but then after a while it wouldn't be believable that there's this fog around that no one in game comments on.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Shadyfan4500

[Shadyfan4500]

Maybe as a resolution to that problem, in my own games, I would add a setting called 'Perception Blur' and it would be a binary option of 'Blur' or 'Fog.' That way, the player is not restricted to one option for the entire game or for every playthrough or even for the minute.

[TheMastersSon]

Using Fallout's existing specular distance, fade, LOD etc settings to mimic myopia would be a whole lot simpler than creating a new blur or fog. It's what these settings are there for, and I think performance-wise it would be much preferable. I don't code for Fallout so I'm assuming most of these draw and fade variables can be modified in-game.

[Shadyfan4500]

Using Fallout's existing specular distance, fade, LOD etc settings to mimic myopia would be a whole lot simpler than creating a new blur or fog. It's what these settings are there for, and I think performance-wise it would be much preferable. I don't code for Fallout so I'm assuming most of these draw and fade variables can be modified in-game.

I was thinking of this more in terms of my own games, but I compared it to Fallout to entertain the thought of playing something familiar with what appears to be an amazing feature. The feature, in theory, doesn't affect the draw distance of anything, so pop-in textures aren't a thing (as the settings you suggest would actually create). Instead, it just fades or blurs the view the player gets beyond a certain distance, and that distance is directly related to your Perception ability (theoretically, for Fallout). Much like how real vision works, you'd be able to make out distant shapes even if your eyes are bad. If you wanted to have a character that could fire long-range, then they would have to seriously consider the Perception attribute, whereas in Fallout (especially the early ones) it's a complete joke.

[iXenite]

Rather than using the games draw distance, it would probably be better to have a strong depth of field obscure the distant terrain at different levels of distance depending on your perception ability. It would be more "realistic" this way as well in comparison to just culling the distant detail entirely.

[Shadyfan4500]

Rather than using the games draw distance, it would probably be better to have a strong depth of field obscure the distant terrain at different levels of distance depending on your perception ability. It would be more "realistic" this way as well in comparison to just culling the distant detail entirely.

That's what I was thinking, I guess I just misled you when I said 'draw distance.' I'm unfamiliar with these terms (except for Draw Distance, which I knew was the wrong word).. I only recently figured what LOD meant.