[Projecthfsf-devml] Gameplay planning

[Willis J. <bla...@ya...>]

After considerable (somewhat) discussion with Wolfang and Bong, I decided to send this out so that people can discuss this with more time to respond and actually have a more readable archive of it.

The biggest point has been regarding how time will progress.  The current proposal is an accelerated real-time like in the Sims as one walks around the world.  However, when one clicks to interact with an object or person time pauses so the player can make decisions.  Interactions can lead to activities that while all decision making is done with the world time effectively paused, upon finishing these activities the game will automatically leap forward.  Case in point, going to work might involve a mini-game of sorts.  The player has as much time as they need to solve puzzles and whatnot but when they finish their "job" and exit work half a day of ingame time will have automatically passed.  Or going on a date will eat up an appropriate amount of time.
In addition to the passage of time, I'd like there to be a kind of stamina meter that is slowly draining away as the player moves about.  Engaging in certain activities results in a larger reduction.  Basically, anything that results in a time jump will also result in a proportionate decrease in the stamina meter.  Some things will be more tiring than others and there may be different factors affecting the rate of drainage depending on the stats of the player.  For example, the cost of physical "exertions" will depend on the stamina/strength stat, while engaging in a mental challenge will use the intelligence stat to determine the loss of stamina.  Recovering stamina requires resting, which we can set to take up a set amount of time or be determined by the amount of stamina we need to recover and the stamina stat itself.  If one completely drains the stamina meter, then I'd say the consequence should be the reduction of a random player stat.

Those are the basic gameplay mechanics I propose.  Thoughts and reactions, gentlemen?