Devlog #2 – Gameplay Tweaks, UI Improvements and Survival Systems

Hello everyone,
Here’s a quick look at the latest updates and improvements I’ve been working on. This cycle focused heavily on refining survival mechanics, improving interface feedback, and deepening the world’s responsiveness to both the environment and the player’s actions. Let’s dive in

Rebalancing Rest and Fatigue

An issue in the fatigue system has been addressed: previously, the player would continue to accumulate activity-based fatigue even while resting, which disrupted the strategic management of time. This has now been fixed—resting fully halts this form of fatigue, allowing for proper recovery.

The interface has also seen some improvements:

• The weather label now shows rain intensity.

• A new fatigue state, Fresh, has been added between Energetic and Slightly Tired for a smoother sense of endurance changes.

Hunger and Malnutrition as Core Survival Threats

To increase the pressure of survival, the hunger system has been expanded. Malnutrition now causes a minimum constant fatigue level and increases fatigue gain, making hunger a long-term threat. This mechanic isn’t immediately deadly but becomes increasingly punishing if ignored.

The hunger label now displays two distinct levels: the immediate feeling of hunger and the long-term malnutrition state, helping players anticipate consequences more clearly.

A first food source has been introduced: wild berries (WildBerries), implemented via a new FoodObject class. They restore calories and help prolong survival without requiring fire or hunting.

Carrying Items and Improving Exploration Flow

Previously, the player could only carry one object at a time, which made actions tedious—especially when collecting small items like twigs. This has been revised: the player can now carry multiple items at once, held in both hands, with no current limit. This added freedom will eventually be balanced with a weight or volume cap, which will also affect fatigue gain.

A dedicated spreadsheet has also been created to manage biome-specific spawn rates, ensuring that resource distribution better reflects the surrounding environment.

Caves, Weather, and Environment Adjustments

Caves now serve a more functional role: they provide natural protection from sun and rain, but not from wind—making them partial shelters with strategic value depending on the conditions.

Several ideas are being explored, such as making the player wet when walking through water, or implementing a light swimming mechanic for deeper tiles.

Contextual Interaction Improvements

The context menu has been made more intuitive and player-friendly:

• Duplicate entries are now removed when the player holds multiple identical items.

• It is now impossible to drop items onto blocked or invalid tiles, preventing unintended actions.

These tweaks make in-world interactions smoother and more coherent.

Visual and Logical Improvements to the Water System

Water tiles now reflect their depth visually through color and transparency, based on how much water they contain. This provides an immediate visual cue about the terrain and improves immersion.

Water flow behavior has also been improved: it now takes into account actual elevation differences between tiles, rather than distributing water evenly regardless of slope. A rare bug causing negative water quantities has been fixed.

Additionally, weather calculation functions have been streamlined—they now require only the tile position, which reduces the risk of data desynchronization and makes the system more robust overall.

In this screenshot, we can see how moderate rainfall adds water to various tiles over time. The blue areas represent low ground where water accumulates more easily, forming natural puddles. This system simulates realistic rain behavior.

Summary

This development phase brought:

• A rebalance of core survival mechanics (rest, hunger, fatigue).

• Expanded gameplay possibilities through multi-item carrying.

• A stronger sense of immersion and world readability.

• Smoother and more intuitive player interactions with the environment.

Playtesting sessions are becoming longer and more engaging. The game is gaining in depth, and it's clear that the next big step will involve external playtesting to fine-tune the balance and uncover new opportunities for improvement.