Overview[]
Morale is one of the many character's state. There are many factors in the game that can affect a character's mood, such as witnessing a traumatizing event, being in a state of crisis, and morale choice through neighbors events and events of locations.
A character's moods have a complex level system and the worsts of which are Depressed and Broken, which lead to a character performing erratic actions such as suicide or leaving the shelter. However a depressed character's mood can be changed by performing good deeds, being well fed or even witnessing others being content.
Levels[]
A survivor's morale is measured by a scale of 100, divided into 5 visible levels. Below is a table listing each level of mood and its details.
| Levels | Effect | Cause | Treatment | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content (0-19) | Character makes positive comments (Increase movement speed) |
Being well-fed at Normal state Performing good deeds Witnessing others being well fed or content |
None | Last for 1-4 days depend on characters and feeding |
| Normal (20-39) | No effect | None | None | Default state of all characters |
| Sad (40-59) | Character makes negative comments Chance to trigger traumatic responses (eg insomnia, crying, fighting) |
Stealing, murdering civilians or knowing others did it Refuse to aid people Fellow survivors suffers from Wound, Sickness, Hunger Death of fellow survivors Being hungry for certain characters |
Aid people Being Well fed Drink Alcohol or Moonshine Sleep in bed for 1-2 nights |
Having Zlata in group makes sadness go away significantly faster |
| Depressed (60-79) | Same as "Sad", but decreases character speed additionally and randomly pauses while taking actions | Similar to "Sad", but of higher intensity | Drink Alcohol or Moonshine Peer counselling Sleep in bed for 1-2 nights |
Fellow survivors can aid depressed characters in eating, bandaging and taking meds. |
| Broken (80-99) | Same as "Sad", but all regular functions are disabled and unresponsive to player's commands Unable to scavenge or guard. |
Similar to "Sad", but of much higher intensity | Drink Alcohol or Moonshine Peer counselling Sleep in bed for 1-2 nights |
Broken characters must be aided by fellow survivors in eating, bandaging and taking meds. |
Events can add or subtract points and change how many points on this scale a survivor has, possibly changing their morale levels. Negative events such as committing atrocities, suffering from crisis states or watching fellow survivors suffer will add points; whereas positive events such as helping others, being well fed or being consoled by another survivor will subtract points.
It is important to note that even though a survivor's point on the scale may change, their visible morale level may not necessarily change alongside that. For example, a negative event may add 10 points, causing a survivor's mood to go from 45 to 55, therefore their morale level will still be displayed as "sad". This can explain why some survivors aren't visibly sadder or more content in response to an event, even though they do react appropriately in their bios; or why the mood of a survivor doesn't seem to improve after being consoled.
Affecting Factors[]
Negative[]
Traumatizing events[]
- Getting raided repeatedly
- Witnessing fellow survivors suffering from hunger, sickness or injury
- Death of fellow survivors
- Abandonment of fellow survivors
- Children not being cared for properly
Detrimental states[]
- Suffer from starvation
- Suffer from sickness.
- Suffer from injury.
Moral choices[]
- Refuse to help a neighbor
- Refuse to help civilians in certain locations (Garage, Hospital, SuperMarket ...)
- Stealing from unarmed civilians
- Murdering unarmed civilians
- Murdering certain thugs or bandits
- Agreeing to help a neighbor robbing (Voyt)
Positive[]
- Agreeing to help a neighbor
- Agreeing to help a civilian in a certain location (Garage, Hospital, SuperMarket ...)
- Witnessing other characters being well fed or being content
- Drinking Alcohol or Moonshine then sleeping at night.
- Refusing to help a neighbor robbing (Voyt)
- Letting other characters console
- Stealing from military deserters (Ruined Villa) (Oct 2015 Currently not working. received no penalty for killing the soliders but had 2 characters go depressed from 2 days of robbing the empty house)
- Being well fed
- Have the following furniture: Enough Beds for everybody (Up to a maximum of 4), a Guitar with someone able to play it, enough chairs and an armchair as well as a radio and books for entertainment. The log will notify you of the state of the shelter to know what you will need. If Children are involved, then toys and entertainment must be provided for.
- Children in a content or happy state
Addictions serve not only as a trading goods penalty but decrease the decay rate from content to normal.
Console proficiency[]
When characters get depressed, a dialogue icon appears above their head and other character can click it to console them. During the consoling, different dialogues appear for certain characters, which indicate their ability of successful cheering up. After the conversation, a certain number of points is subtracted for the consoled character, possibly improving their visible morale level. The exact number of points depends on the consoling character's archetype. All characters need 3,5 hours to complete a consoling conversation.
It is unknown that whether consoling a broken character is harder than a depressed character or not.
Below is the characters' archetypes and the number of subtracted points after their console speeches, which indicate their console proficiency.
| Archetypes | Characters | Signs from dialogue of consoling | Variant | Subtracted points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egoist | Bruno, Emilia, Roman, Computer Specialist, Insurance Agent | Hey [Name], listen to me
What do you want? Just to remind you that you're not alone here Go away... No! I want to make it through, and I need your help ...so stop crying and pull yourself together! |
[Name], I can see you're down...
...but we need to work together to make it I doubt we'll make it... We won't, if you don't help. Come on! Get a grip! Trying's not good enough Alright, stop pestering me already! What do you want me to do? |
4 |
| Survivalist | Anton, Arica, Marin, Irina, Pharmacist, Police Officer | Please, [Name]...
...don't give up It's so hard...to keep going... I know. I know. But we have to go on It's hopeless. But... I'll do what I can |
Hey [Name], sorry to bother you...
...but you can't just sit there and cry That's none of your business I didn't mean to offend you... ...but you mustn't give up Don't tell me what I must or mustn't do! Quit it! We have to help each other to survive! |
6 |
| Homie | Pavle, Katia, Marko, Esma, Christo, Henrik, Malik, Photographer, Forester | [Name], you can't give up!
It's hard, but we are in it together! I...I know. But all this... It's too much for me Yeah...things look grim... ...but I'm here for you if you need me thank you. You are a good friend |
[Name], you know you're not alone in this.
Yeah...I just... I don't think we make it If we are to make it... ...we must help each other, right? ...yeah This mean we'll be needing you, [Name] Sorry. You're right I'll try to pull myself together |
10 |
| Altruistic | Zlata, Cveta, Boris, Adem, Psychologist | [Name], you look really sad
you wanna talk? No, I don't Ok then, we can sit together in silence Oh come on, I don't need your pity I'm not leaving you until you talk to me |
I know you're suffering, [Name]
I'do anything to help you Thank you. Pity you can't, eh? I just...I really wish I could Sorry. And thank you. Really Now go away |
8 |
| Kid | Iskra, Ivano, Kalina, Lydia, Misha, Sergei | 10 |