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Fundamentally unrealistic mutation mechanics
30-12-2014, 01:04 PM
Post: #1
Fundamentally unrealistic mutation mechanics
Hello,

I have been considering buying this game.

I have been playing the free app game Infection 2 which I believe is a straight copy of this game as far as I know. Unless you tell me otherwise I think they are essentially identical as far as basic gameplay mechanics go.

A fundamental aspect of the game is to upgrade/mutate your pathogen with DNA points gained by a number of ways. Mutation of pathogens (or any other life forms) do happen in real life of course, but the way mutation "upgrades" spread in this game is so removed from reality that you may as well call it fantasy and a real immersion killer.

The problem with the way mutations work in this game is that once a player "upgrades"/mutates the pathogen, the effects of that mutation apparently instantaneously spread around the world and affect every infected person around the world immediately. That is so unrealistic and divorced from anything in reality it is kind of stupid.

If the game was true to the mechanics of how pathogens actually mutate and spread, then the mutation would occur within ONE infected individual somewhere in the world and then that infected individual would then go on to infect/reinfect everyone else like it does when you start the game.

I don't think this would necessarily make the game any less fun.

It certainly would give players a much more realistic simulation of how pathogens infect and spread.

Comments welcome

FL

PS: Can anyone tell me what I am missing out on if I just stick to playing Infection 2 on my iPhone?
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30-12-2014, 03:46 PM
Post: #2
RE: Fundamentally unrealistic mutation mechanics
I think you should keep in mind the separation of gameplay and realism. In a lot of cases being 100% realistic means making a game that's either extremely difficult or not a lot of fun, which is why there are often games that aren't completely realistic, but close enough to the mark. It's all for the sake of keeping the game playable and enjoyable.

If one had to re-infect every single person in the game whenever they evolved or mutated anything new, it would take much longer for games to finish and consequently give a massive difficulty jump, being especially punishing on those who play on higher difficulties.

And considering how cutthroat Mega Brutal can be, I don't think making things more realistic would be a good idea. You'd have to fight tooth and nail to evolve your symptoms, re-infecting everyone every single time (and keeping in mind how quickly countries can develop a cure if you're not quick to take them out...)

There's also the programming toil implementing this change would be, as anyone tasked with implementing this would have to find a way to clearly separate people uninfected, people infected but with a less recent strain, and people infected with the most recent strain. The more symptoms evolved or mutated, the bigger mess you would have and the worse off you would be trying to distinguish everyone on the world map.

It'd be a catastrophic mess, so I think dealing with a smidgen of unrealistic elements is better than having to deal with the consequences of being strictly realistic.
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31-12-2014, 09:23 AM
Post: #3
RE: Fundamentally unrealistic mutation mechanics
(30-12-2014 01:04 PM)Festering Les Wrote:  Hello,

I have been considering buying this game.

I have been playing the free app game Infection 2 which I believe is a straight copy of this game as far as I know. Unless you tell me otherwise I think they are essentially identical as far as basic gameplay mechanics go.

A fundamental aspect of the game is to upgrade/mutate your pathogen with DNA points gained by a number of ways. Mutation of pathogens (or any other life forms) do happen in real life of course, but the way mutation "upgrades" spread in this game is so removed from reality that you may as well call it fantasy and a real immersion killer.

The problem with the way mutations work in this game is that once a player "upgrades"/mutates the pathogen, the effects of that mutation apparently instantaneously spread around the world and affect every infected person around the world immediately. That is so unrealistic and divorced from anything in reality it is kind of stupid.

If the game was true to the mechanics of how pathogens actually mutate and spread, then the mutation would occur within ONE infected individual somewhere in the world and then that infected individual would then go on to infect/reinfect everyone else like it does when you start the game.

I don't think this would necessarily make the game any less fun.

It certainly would give players a much more realistic simulation of how pathogens infect and spread.

Comments welcome

FL

PS: Can anyone tell me what I am missing out on if I just stick to playing Infection 2 on my iPhone?

If the pathogenes share the same mutator-controller,than they 'decide' the same thing simultaniously...As I said in my UBER VIRUS. topic...
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06-01-2015, 10:19 AM
Post: #4
RE: Fundamentally unrealistic mutation mechanics
(30-12-2014 01:04 PM)Festering Les Wrote:  Hello,

I have been considering buying this game.

I have been playing the free app game Infection 2 which I believe is a straight copy of this game as far as I know. Unless you tell me otherwise I think they are essentially identical as far as basic gameplay mechanics go.

A fundamental aspect of the game is to upgrade/mutate your pathogen with DNA points gained by a number of ways. Mutation of pathogens (or any other life forms) do happen in real life of course, but the way mutation "upgrades" spread in this game is so removed from reality that you may as well call it fantasy and a real immersion killer.

The problem with the way mutations work in this game is that once a player "upgrades"/mutates the pathogen, the effects of that mutation apparently instantaneously spread around the world and affect every infected person around the world immediately. That is so unrealistic and divorced from anything in reality it is kind of stupid.

If the game was true to the mechanics of how pathogens actually mutate and spread, then the mutation would occur within ONE infected individual somewhere in the world and then that infected individual would then go on to infect/reinfect everyone else like it does when you start the game.

I don't think this would necessarily make the game any less fun.

It certainly would give players a much more realistic simulation of how pathogens infect and spread.

Comments welcome

FL

PS: Can anyone tell me what I am missing out on if I just stick to playing Infection 2 on my iPhone?

The mutation mechanic is, of course, fairly unrealistic, but this was done in order to make the game less unnecessarily complex and to enable players to develop their plagues rapidly. Without the instantaneous spread, it would feel laborious and too slow, so we had to take a gameplay decision there rather than a scientific one Smile
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06-01-2015, 11:03 AM
Post: #5
RE: Fundamentally unrealistic mutation mechanics
(30-12-2014 01:04 PM)Festering Les Wrote:  Hello,

I have been considering buying this game.

I have been playing the free app game Infection 2 which I believe is a straight copy of this game as far as I know. Unless you tell me otherwise I think they are essentially identical as far as basic gameplay mechanics go.

A fundamental aspect of the game is to upgrade/mutate your pathogen with DNA points gained by a number of ways. Mutation of pathogens (or any other life forms) do happen in real life of course, but the way mutation "upgrades" spread in this game is so removed from reality that you may as well call it fantasy and a real immersion killer.

The problem with the way mutations work in this game is that once a player "upgrades"/mutates the pathogen, the effects of that mutation apparently instantaneously spread around the world and affect every infected person around the world immediately. That is so unrealistic and divorced from anything in reality it is kind of stupid.

If the game was true to the mechanics of how pathogens actually mutate and spread, then the mutation would occur within ONE infected individual somewhere in the world and then that infected individual would then go on to infect/reinfect everyone else like it does when you start the game.

I don't think this would necessarily make the game any less fun.

It certainly would give players a much more realistic simulation of how pathogens infect and spread.

Comments welcome

FL

PS: Can anyone tell me what I am missing out on if I just stick to playing Infection 2 on my iPhone?
It could be fun in a "realistic" scenario.
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12-01-2015, 04:08 PM
Post: #6
RE: Fundamentally unrealistic mutation mechanics
If the game is realistic you can never "evolve" a disease on every pathogen except Nano-Virus, or the Genetic Drift would be 10 times more than this now
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13-01-2015, 09:44 AM
Post: #7
RE: Fundamentally unrealistic mutation mechanics
Yes, but for gameplay reason, it doesn't works like that because it'd be to hard in game.
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21-04-2016, 09:07 PM (This post was last modified: 21-04-2016 09:10 PM by Rydygif14.)
Post: #8
RE: Fundamentally unrealistic mutation mechanics
Hi, I'm new in the game and on this forum and came just to suggest exactly same thing, so instead of starting new thread I'll support this one with my opinion.

First, I understood the answers here still, I support the initial idea. What makes me buy this game wasn't actually its gaming aspect, but rather curiosity about its semi-realistic simulation potential. If there is more people like me, perhaps a good idea would be if not to add a separate mode, then maybe even better, to make the game more customizable as for the rules. For example I'm completely not convinced about all this clicking the bubbles mechanics (so "arcadey", I tend to ignore them deliberatelly), instead I would like to have ability to design my patogen at the start, set the simulation rules separately, launch and just watch, what will happen with minimal to none input from my side at this point. In such case adding as one of the customization options more realistic mutation mechanics, just, as proposed here, or similar would be most welcome addition. What I propose is to push this lovely piece of software more toward "pro" as for mechanics realism and complexicity of simulation, above pure entertainment game, to the popular-science/educational level, of course in purely optional manner.
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