u/MohikoGames

r/IndieDevelopers r/gamedev r/IndieGaming

How do you make compassion worth the risk in a survival game?

I’m making a game about managing a monastery during the plague, and I’m stuck on one problem.

A mother arrives at the gate with her sick child. Letting them in means spending food and medicine, and possibly putting everyone in the monastery at risk. Turning them away is clearly the safer choice.

So what stops players from eventually learning to refuse everyone?

I don’t want a morality meter, and I don’t want every kind choice to automatically pay off later. But I also don’t want compassion to feel like a mistake.

How would you approach this?

For context, the game is called MORVUS

reddit.com

u/MohikoGames — 2 days ago

▲ 214 r/IndieDevelopers+1 crossposts

I’m making a medieval monastery survival game where every monk works in real time

This is an early look at Morvus, our medieval monastery survival game. We've spent an embarrassing amount of time tweaking the fog, lighting and overall atmosphere, and after staring at it for so long it's hard to judge it objectively anymore. I'd really love to hear your first impression. Does this scene feel like a medieval monastery? Is it too dark, or does the atmosphere work? Does the fog add to the mood or just get in the way? And is the UI easy to read at a glance?

u/MohikoGames — 5 days ago