space-wizards
Complexity-based Food
This is a proposal for a generic food system, allowing for granting buffs to foods without creating any meta choices, nutrition rebalancing, and support for modular cooking methods.
I like this proposal, the food complexity system seems intuitive and I like the buff ideas.
I think it would also be nice if a player could get satiated by eating multiple simpler foods instead of just eating a complex food. e.g., you should also get a buff if you eat soup and bread. (Though this would risk making "10 different kinds of produce on the counter" the new meta)
Fascinating read, this document was. I have one question though: how will the condiments and other substances added to the finished product work with the calculations? They are dynamic by nature, sometimes belonging to a group not found elswhere (like with salt and sugar being minerals) and being able to be mixed with other addatives if done correctly.
Would sprinkling sugar on a bagel make any significant difference besides customer's satisfaction? Would producing an omega–sauce result in the uncontrolled doomstacking with the correct ingredient mixing?
If those additions would count for the complexity, how likely is it for the crew to ostracise a poor chef for making “sauceless” hamburgers?
I like the idea of food's effects being based on what's in it.
I am not sure I like this method of calculating & displaying complexity as a way of achieving it. To me it feels like an extra layer of numbers over the food groups + ingredient counts + nutriment/vitamin levels that are actually affecting things. There's the possibility of some ingredients having higher complexity, but it doesn't seem to be very separate from ingredients having more nutriment. I'm also not sure about food groups themselves, it feels a little odd that there are no effective differences between foods in the same food group.
Also, from the discussion above:
You can consume food partially, but that will reduce the complexity. Consuming 1/2 of an 8 compexity food will grant you a buff for 4 complexity.
How would this work? If a player eats half a food, pauses to respond to someone else at the dining table, and then eats the rest of the food, do they only get half a buff? Does it depend how long the pause is? What if two players each get a plate of nachos, eat half of their own nachos, swap plates, and eat the second half of the other player's nachos?
It seems like the obvious answer would be that you have to eat the entire food item at once, which I personally would dislike for RP reasons.
I would also like to see some more detail about how modular cooking methods might work. I'd like to know what kinds of food you expect it would be possible to make, and how involved making them would be. I know about FoodSequence burgers and such, but it doesn't seem like a very intuitive approach for foods like soup or bread to me.
Finally, I think it's a bit optimistic to assume there won't be meta choices. Even if foods are very similar in terms of buffs, I think some people will still try to determine a best food and change their gameplay to acquire it.
I am not sure I like this method of calculating & displaying complexity as a way of achieving it. To me it feels like an extra layer of numbers over the food groups + ingredient counts + nutriment/vitamin levels that are actually affecting things.
The complexity determines nutriment/vitamin levels directly, so they're the same, effectively.
I'm also not sure about food groups themselves, it feels a little odd that there are no effective differences between foods in the same food group.
What do you mean by "Foods in the same food group"? Complex food has many food groups in a different ratio, so the buff you get is different.
How would this work? What if two players each get a plate of nachos, eat half of their own nachos, swap plates, and eat the second half of the other player's nachos?
By storing the food item EntityUid. The second example is extremely unlikely, but I guess you could store the food recipe instead if you want to avoid it...?
I would also like to see some more detail about how modular cooking methods might work.
This is out of scope of the PR. Modular cooking methods won't fix the main design issues with chef.
Even if foods are very similar in terms of buffs, I think some people will still try to determine a best food and change their gameplay to acquire it.
The only thing they can determine is the best food group. Given that the buffs are supposed to be minor, they have a cap, and they only provide either generic non-combat buffs or small buffs specific to a game area, you'd want the best food item for the task you'll be doing (if you want to hyper-optimize, of course). You'll still ask for different choices based on a situation, not just eat the same McPowergame™ burger every single time.