Have you ever played Project Zomboid? It has a good sleep system: the more fatigued your character is the slower your controls are and the harder it is to fight zombies. If your character is in pain or frightened they can’t sleep. If your character is anxious there is a chance their sleep is interrupted by a nightmare.
That first image is oddly reminiscent of the scene from "Panic In The Year Zero" that has Ray Miland and his family looking down a valley towards the mushroom cloud forming over LA,...
Perhaps dreams could be matched to the player's specific situation by emotional atmosphere rather than in content; e.g., during delays in the trip the dreams are of the "running in place" variety (regardless of the details), claustrophobic scenarios as safe zones disappear, etc.
I'm sure someone has suggested the "intensity" of the dream scaling with the magnitude of sleep deprivation? Leaving a residual stat drain until normal sleep patterns are restored could be a fun challenge mode. Speaking as someone who has experienced plenty of insomnia.
My apocalyptic dreams always managed to see a nuclear attack as kind of a meh, scenario. Waaaay more worried about zombies. Another rural-urban difference, I suppose.
How about an extended dream sequence of an intact warm house in which you are preparing to eat Thanksgiving dinner while watching football and you focus on some small side dish that is "now" unobtainable which then turns to ash
Have you ever played Project Zomboid? It has a good sleep system: the more fatigued your character is the slower your controls are and the harder it is to fight zombies. If your character is in pain or frightened they can’t sleep. If your character is anxious there is a chance their sleep is interrupted by a nightmare.
That first image is oddly reminiscent of the scene from "Panic In The Year Zero" that has Ray Miland and his family looking down a valley towards the mushroom cloud forming over LA,...
Perhaps dreams could be matched to the player's specific situation by emotional atmosphere rather than in content; e.g., during delays in the trip the dreams are of the "running in place" variety (regardless of the details), claustrophobic scenarios as safe zones disappear, etc.
I'm sure someone has suggested the "intensity" of the dream scaling with the magnitude of sleep deprivation? Leaving a residual stat drain until normal sleep patterns are restored could be a fun challenge mode. Speaking as someone who has experienced plenty of insomnia.
My apocalyptic dreams always managed to see a nuclear attack as kind of a meh, scenario. Waaaay more worried about zombies. Another rural-urban difference, I suppose.
How about an extended dream sequence of an intact warm house in which you are preparing to eat Thanksgiving dinner while watching football and you focus on some small side dish that is "now" unobtainable which then turns to ash
I started with the footnotes, and I have no regrets.