Stoneshard - Psyche System Overhaul

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A new devlog for Stoneshard:

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Devlog: Psyche System Overhaul

Hello everyone!

In today's devlog, we'll talk about the reworked Psyche system, which will be a part of our next major update, "Of Beasts & Sages".

Let's start by exploring why the Psyche even needed a major revamp - as it stands, it's the oldest remaining mechanic, largely untouched since the early demo builds, despite having several clear flaws.

The system was only partially complete. In our initial design, each quadrant of the Morale-Sanity chart was meant to include four distinct Psyche states. Unfortunately, we never got to implementing the states for the combination of low Morale and low Sanity. The same goes for the original vision of Hypochondria, which required functioning diseases before it could be properly added to the game.

The concept of unique triggers for each state sounded great on paper, but in practice, it proved to be far too obscure - even for us as developers. Some states were extremely common due to their simple, easily reproducible conditions, while others were so rare and tied to such convoluted triggers that players had to resort to wiki guides and meticulous planning to discover them (shoutout to all the madmen who've actually managed to unlock the "Ups and Downs" achievement). The system simply didn't feel dynamic, varied, or responsive enough.

While certain states had interesting mechanics, most could be boiled down to simple stat changes that didn't encourage players to adapt their strategy in any way.

The majority of interactions with the Psyche system were primitive and lopsided: any horrors and hardships could be completely forgotten after a few nights of sleep.

Before anything else, we wanted to fundamentally change the focus of Psyche maintenance, making it a reflection of your mercenary's long-term living patterns rather than just a bar you top off by gorging on mindwort.

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