Before Oblivion came out I always thought it'd add to the game (at least for me) is there was a need to both use food and water. A carefully balanced system that makes not too punishing but enough of an impact that you would need to prepare for a long journey out exploring the world or if you have the knowledge/skills you could find food elsewhere (IE hunting, plants, water from rivers and such you hold in ia canteen).

Oblvion didn't have any such system, however the more recent Fall out New Vegas includes a system for drinking water in their hardcoe mode. Even have canteens which you can refill from a water source.


So, would you like to see a similar system in TES V for both food and drink? IT would logically be an optional thing, such as the hardcoe mode in Fallout NV.


Food could be bought from people in the towns/cities, or gathered by hunting wildlife (and having the skill to skin/obtain meat). Then you could cook it over a fire (Think of how Gothic/Arx Fatalis did it).

Water could use a canteen/pouch sytstem. Which various sizes you can acquire and then over-time your character automatically drinks from it like in Fallout NV, however it can become empty and in that case you would need to refill it from a water source such as a river.


If you go for so long without eating/drinkig over=time it affects your stats in a - way until you drink/eat again, hwoever it has to be scaled so it's not too harsh too quickly, rather a small decline over time. If ignored for too long (to the point you could have eaisly made your way to a river or city ro get something) it can be quite harsh to, so it has an impact).


What are your thoughts/idea's on this? Something you'd enjoy or not?

I think that would be pretty cool, but an option to disable/enable it like in Fallout would be best in my opinion.

Yes I would. I wan't it to be one of many toggable requests in a "hardcoe Mode" feature (that does not have to be unlucked!).

I feel that it's such an involved aspect of the game, that if it optional, it would cause the game to feel empty and lose an integral part of it
Either it's all or nothing, so I would prefer if it were left out.

Eh. I don't like having to micromanage. My thought would be to just give the player bonuses to health, mana, fatigue if they remember to eat and drink. No penalties for not eating and drinking.

I'd love to see something like this, but of course be completely optional. The only real difference between Fallout and TES universe is that in Fallout focused on your survival. I know it makes more sense in Fallout, but it could still add to TES universe. Say my Knight character is in the Wilderness and sleeps just outside of his target quest destination and wakes up the next morning and eats a big breakfast before some hack-n-slashing fun. Or you're a traveling trader and the town you're traveling to is two days distance. Well it just makes sense that along the way he would eat and sleep. However something I think that Bethesda should add though when it comes to sleeping is that you see your character lay down on bedroll hunkered up by a campfire, but only in the Wild. It'd just be awesome for someone like myself who like to explore and could spend days doing so. Oh and of course it would be awesome seeing depending on your luck is at if you get attacked by creatures, bandits, and etc.

does not matter. adds to realism yes, but so does hygiene and I never saw a cry for this. Depending on how's done, may only be another micro-managing nuisance....

*Shudders* What's hygiene?

Not really my cup of tea personally. I'd consider playing with such a system if it were more reward-oriented than consequence-oriented. In other words, rather than being forced to eat at least once a day or risk death/disease, I'd like it to work on a slower scale and with more gradual damaging effects brought on by lack of food. And more importantly, when you do eat/drink, you would get a bit of a boost for a few in-game hours. Maybe a buffer to stamina/health/strength/endurance. Don't force players to eat on frequent intervals, but reward them for doing so. Only punish those who really neglect it, and on a more drawn out scale. I don't want to be three levels into a cave and learn I have two hours in-game to get to an inn, or I die and lose everything.

And of course, I think the system should be optional...

Also I agree with the comment about micromanaging. If you add food/water cycles, you also have to consider adding a sleep system, and then from there, what about "waste control" and other hygienic issues? Why not overhaul the disease system and the wound/medicine system? As it is now, you don't really have to worry about any of those things; you can heal a wound or disease instantly by drinking a potion and you only expose yourself to those things by coming into direct contact with enemies. It's simple and that's the beauty of the system. If you start adding more complicated systems of wellbeing management, the game becomes less of a fun adventure and more of a chore. That's why I'm not really opposed to a light, reward-based system, but I would have a problem with a more intense system that requires constant monitoring.

I would prefer that be optional by a mod to be honest, I wouldn't want something like that be forced upon me.

I think the difference is the survival aspect. That's why I'd want a food/drink system. It couldn't be too harsh but enough that maybe you actually need to hunt that deer in the forest. Like maybe you don't regain health when you sleep unless you've eaten.

And I mean, how hard would it be? How many pieces of bread, cheese, apples did you find in Oblivion? It actually makes them useful outside of "fatigue" potions.

Ofcourse it would be optional. Why should it be forced on players?


I'd love to set up campfire of my own, warming the deer meat I just hunted and have a good night of sleep to then the following morning have the power and energy to explore a nearby seemingly abandoned fort, looking for treasures and the daily dose of adrenaline for my character.

No, I am good with killing, maiming, looting, pillaging, doing quests, and wallowing in magical effects.
I don't want to be bothered by having to stop to eat. That happens enough in the real world for me. I hate getting a good mindbuzz going, then having to stop what I am doing to prepare meals or eat. Screw that. We have the option to ingest substances in game, that is sufficient for me.

Right on.

Give us the option. I totally would do it but I'm sure there are some out there that consider it a unnecessary hassle.

If cooking food just includes popping up a dull menu and selecting an item then it might as well not exist, but something nice and tactile like in Arx would really add to the sense of place. While they're at it I wish the devs would play through Ultima VII and copy some of its ways of interacting with the world as well. It's been twenty years and I still can't think of another game where you can do half the things in that game.

I wouldn't mind a hardcoe mode.

I voted yes, but I think it should be optional, added into a "hardcoe" mode like Fallout: New Vegas.

If its optional, like fallout NV, it would be great, personally, I'm all for immersion

I do want an hardcoe Mode for TES V so obviously my answer is yes.

Yea, i always put hardcoe mode on in new vegas, so i'd like an optional mode for skyrim.

That was one of the only things that FNV did correctly in my opinion. The lack of random encounters and open exploration made New Vegas far inferior to F3. That's fine though, it's not like it was made by BGS. I hear that for Fallout series fans it was a much more faithfull rendition to past games. Doesn't mean I like it. I'm a TES Junkie at this point and I've been spoiled by BGS.

Yawn. Just another micromanaging task I could do without.

absolutely not! i play a game for fun, not be bothered by these type things! if they must include one at least make it optional so people who hate these type system wont have to deal with it!

As I said in my post, it has to be balanced so that adds to the game but not to the point that it's annoying to the player or such.

It shouldn't be harsh to the point like it's "oh you run out of food, player dies now."

Rather a simple system where it allows you plently of time/means to acoquire food/water (which can be bought or found out in the world by logical means) and then the system is scaled so that the effects of not having food/drink (after whatever time is determined) you begin to take a minimal attribute fatigue, that scales over time. However this has to be balanced just right, not too harsh that it's annoying/a hinderance to the game, but enough that it doesn't feel "meaningless."


Having a simple water canteen in your inventory that your character automatically drinks from as long as there is water in it, a la fallout NV, was hardly a micromanagement nightmare/annoyance to me. As far as food goes, you just have some in your pack from a store you bought it from or you could simply hunt in the wild for meat or plants/berries to eat. Meat would be cooked on a campfire taht you could make yourself.

This to me adds a lot to the immersion of the world, especially to the hunting/exploration aspect. In Gothic you would get meat from aniamls you killed and had the ability to use a pan on a fire to cook it (which gave you more health vs raw meat).


Aobve all else though yes, it would be an optional thing, something you could turn on/off as each player has their preference

This I think a hardcoe mode would be to the delight of many enthusiastic role players.