4.9 KiB
Just picked up 'The Long Dark' a mostly rational first person single player survival game.
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Author: u/Farmerbob1 Level 1 author*
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URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/2yagv8/just_picked_up_the_long_dark_a_mostly_rational/
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Score: 7
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Created: 2015-03-08T00:17:49
Post:
I'm not certain how rational it will be when it goes gold, but right now, it is playable, and with the exception of animals being overly aggressive at the hardest settings, it is rational.
I have no affiliation with this game, other than as a player. http://intothelongdark.com/about
Comments:
u/omgimpwned [+4] Sunshine Regiment (8 hours later)
I backed this on Kickstarter, long ago, and have decided to mostly forget about it until it is released, at which point it will be a pleasant and readily acquired surprise. So far it looks like they're delivering what they promised. I love the art-style.
However, I'm curious - how does a game distinguish itself as "rational"? Does it simply have to make sense?
u/Farmerbob1 [+6] Level 1 author (9 hours later)
I figured a game would be defined as rational in much the same way as a book. You start from a given point, and everything after that point has to make some sort of sense. The character stays alive by finding food and supplies in a frigid wilderness. The effects of the environment are reasonable. I darn near died of starvation before I figured out how and where to put rabbit snares. After that, it was still touch and go until I found a hatchet that I could use to chop meat out of frozen deer that had been killed by wolves. I've upgraded my gloves and boots with heavy fur clothing, and have taken over a logging camp office as my headquarters. I've got a nice stash of food stored up that is allowing me to explore. One can of bad pork and beans was resolved with antibiotics I scrounged, and three sprained ankles have needed bed rest to resolve. I've been extremely careful to avoid falls, but walking on ice on rocks seems to cause leg sprains.
The thing I've been most irritated with so far is the rifle. I need wolf pelts for a jacket much warmer than what I have. The rifle is terribly inaccurate. I've been wondering if the game creators actually know how iron sights are normally used. Then again, the rifle is damaged...
u/actually_just_idiot [+4] (a day later)
That sounds closer to realistic than rational.
u/Farmerbob1 [+4] Level 1 author (a day later)
OK, I'll take the bait. If something is realistic, how can it not be rational?
u/actually_just_idiot [+3] (a day later)
I had a detailed response written out, but I deleted it because I realized that I was wrong.
Realistic and rational fiction are very similar categories. Realistic works are close to a subset of rational works. (You can still have realistic works where the factions are not in conflict because of their values, or where the characters don't solve problems by intelligently applying their resources.)
However, I have a personal preference against realistic works. In my mind, an internally consistent work with non-realistic elements is more interesting than an internally consistent work that is entirely realistic. This is because I find it interesting to reason about the politics of, say, The Culture, but I don't find it interesting to reason about whether antibiotics will cure an infection.
So while this is an example of a rational work, it's also an example of a subcategory that I'm not interested in.
u/troffle [+2] (4 days later)
I have just discovered that, where I work, the person who procures out computers buys them with one monitor. When they're deployed (and the deployment requests go through her), they're increasingly frequently requested and deployed with two monitors.
She then gets mad at our deployer/stockman-colleague and the rest of us for not accurately tracking the monitor counts.
... this is, in reality the situation. This is how it is and, assuming similar behaviour on her part for the foreseeable future is a realistic assumption.
... I don't think anybody could really say her behaviour - or the situation - is rational.
Or, in other words: it's entirely realistic to assume, especially with evidence, that people in a situation are not necessarily rational.
u/omgimpwned [+2] Sunshine Regiment (10 hours later)
The game sounds just as awesome as I'd hoped it would be. I look greatly forward to playing it when it comes out.
u/None [+2] (17 hours later)
Just beware the wolves!
u/Sailor_Vulcan [+3] Champion of Justice and Reason (59 minutes later)
this looks pretty cool.