Nutrition

From Kickstarter Update #16
19 May 2013 (Body Progression not featured in game yet)

Feeding & Caring For Your New Seed
Performing actions and perfecting skills can improve your Seed’s overall abilities, but you won’t be able to see all of those abilities floating conveniently in space above your Seed’s head! Instead, in TUG, we’ll be using much more visual identifiers to measure your Seed by. The easiest example we can use to start with is body mass, since the changes to your Seed’s body are so obvious. The math behind body mass in TUG has a lot to do with what your Seed eats -- and Seeds will eat a lot, to replenish health or stamina, or even add special abilities in rare cases.

So what happens to a Seed when he or she starts adding fatty foods to his or her diet? Let’s have a look at four examples: Joe, Roland, Hauser, and Mac.

Joe
Joe’s an average guy. Maybe he’s only just reached adulthood, or maybe he’s just been really good at staying a generalist, but he probably hasn’t specialized in any skills, he probably hasn’t seen too much combat, and he’s kept his diet simple. Or, maybe he’s a big eater, but he’s a bigger explorer, and he regularly gets out and travels the world.

Joe probably won’t be able to deliver any single huge hits in combat, but he can still be a challenging adversary since he’s able to dash in and out of combat and move quickly -- and he can run like mad to get out of the way if things start to go wrong.

Roland
Roland’s been around the block a few times. He’s been in a few scrapes, started working with crafts, and put some thought into how to use food to his advantage, though he’s probably not using the skill-boosting fatty foods much -- only when he needs a quick boost for a hunt or a special item he wants to craft. He’s probably living an active life -- maybe as a hunter, tracking beasts and hunting them for food and skins.

Roland’s well-suited for ranged combat, since his melee attacks won’t be overly strong, but even so he’ll probably be a more dangerous opponent than Joe in melee because he’s sacrificed a bit of speed for survivability and strength. He’s probably dabbling in a number of skills that interest him too, which means he’s pretty well-rounded and fun to play.

Hauser
Hauser’s not the kind of guy you want to mess with. He’s probably used to wearing heavy armor and using heavy tools or big weaponry, and given his size he’s probably accustomed to eating a lot of fatty foods to give himself skill boosts and special abilities. Hauser isn’t the kind of guy who’s going to be firing arrows from the woods or doing fancy footwork -- he’s going to be wading into battle like a juggernaut and leveling the enemy.

Aside from battle, though, Hauser probably enjoys his free time around town. Unlike some of his fellow warriors who train hard or explore the world in between battles, he enjoys hanging out in the tavern, drinking ale and socializing with his friends, and those habits combined with his love of fatty foods give him his distinctive girth.

Mac
Mac’s a big dude. He’s probably been using heavy tools for a while now, and he might have some really advanced smithing skills under his belt, but the heavy costs of endurance his trade exacts on him force him to eat more often than other folks, and the fact that his profession keeps him in one place means he’s not burning off a lot of fat.

That said, Mac’s not just a great smith, but he’s going to be a real bear in a fight. His movements will be slower, but you’d better hope he never connects with that massive hammer he uses, because if he does you’ll feel it for weeks -- if you’re lucky!

Conclusion
One important caveat after all these examples -- we’re ONLY demonstrating the results of food consumption and illustrating some very specific examples that might result in a character looking like these guys. If you want to be a powerful warrior, you don’t have to look like Mac or Hauser to do it -- remember, Mac sits in his forge all day, and Hauser lounges around the tavern. So what can your Seed do to look and play more like a battle-hardened warrior of legend?

Naturally, Seeds will have the option of adjusting their diets to reduce the amount of fatty foods, but this option can affect the Seed’s general health too. The other option, then, is exercise! Engaging in many of TUG’s more active skills will count as exercise, as will extended travel and combat, and engaging in exercise will not only remove fat from your system, but build muscles in a very visual way -- biceps will swell, legs will grow thicker, and so forth. Of course, it’s best to remember that not all exercise in the world of TUG is safe. Running from a wild beast may be great for burning off the fat, but doing it wrong won’t be pretty!

In closing, these examples show just a couple of the ways we plan to display and affect player stats in the game. While the systems are complex, the formulas and the design is complete, and we’re working hard to implement them in our Beta phase -- and then adjust accordingly with your help and feedback!

-Nekochu