A Boy Scout manual or similar instruction book can be very useful in these situations. If you had something like that in the game, you could use it to clue players in to possible actions they should take and that are supported by the game.
Yeah, there’s not intended to be much in the way of secret actions. A basic scouting type guide is a good idea, although I’m hoping I can talk people into signing up for the tutorial as the main introductory portal.
This project looks interesting. Here’s something that came to mind when I read the comment about pots and doing dishes.
Scenario (this is roughly what the game tells you):
“You’re carrying a pot and some raw food items.”
The player cooks the food using the pot, and eats the food.
Some time later the game ends: “You die of food poisoning. Should have washed that pot, eh?”
Alternate scenario:
“You’re carrying a pot (with some moldy gunk on it) and some raw food items.”
The player tries to cook using the pot: “You notice the pot is dirty and decide not to risk it.”
In other words, please don’t make it too easy for the player to overlook that which in the real world would be obvious. If the pot is dirty, 1) make sure this is communicated clearly, and 2) possibly even prevent any obviously dangerous action (at least the first attempt).
Araneldon: good points. I think this comes back to communicating expectations to the player so he can make good choices. I’m not sure how death will be handled, but it definitely seems like that needs the most clear explanations and warnings.
I was skimming and may have missed it … but I didn’t see any mention of the danger of wild animals. A rifle and spear were mentioned, but of course there are other dangers, such as poisonous insects, that are not so easy to shoot. Nor will a rifle do you much good if you’re being trampled to death by a herd of large herbivores.
Also, has anybody mentioned stout hiking boots and a couple of extra pairs of socks? Much more important than soap, IMO.
–JA
This whole thread makes me want to re-read Heinlein’s Tunnel in the Sky, which I probably haven’t read since elementary school. The premise is that a high school (Of The FUTURE!) class in survival, as a final exam, gets teleported individually to an unknown (but hospitable) planet to survive on their own for a short time–a few days or a week, perhaps; I forget. When the return portal is not forthcoming, the survivors have to band together and figure out how to do it for real, indefinitely. It’s probably juvenile fiction, but I loved it when I was a kid.
One thing I remember distinctly is that the main character is advised by a relative not to bring a gun (as so many of his classmates did). The argument was that a man unarmed (or lightly armed–with a knife, perhaps) in the wild will be cautious and careful, whereas a man with a gun will tend to be confident and careless.
A few other thoughts…
-I haven’t yet seen the gun that can kill malaria.
-Even without plentiful water, you can only get so dirty. Without modern soaps, you can only get so clean. You get used to it. Soap wouldn’t be high on my list.
-Knives/axes/machetes and the like are most useful when you have some ability to sharpen them again. A good-sized sharpening stone would probably work for all of these adequately, if not perfectly.
-If you’re traveling light, it makes more sense to bring warm layers you can move around in than to bring a sleeping bag you will only use at night. Modern U. S. Army sleeping bags come in several layers, with a waterproof and wind-resistant Goretex shell on the outside. If the climate is temperate and I’m on foot, I wouldn’t even bring the sleeping bags, but use a poncho liner (a kind of multipurpose blanket) inside that shell (which is light and packs down small), plus layers of clothing that I am carrying anyway. Every ounce counts.
-I’ve not spent any time there, but I’ve seen survivalist forums floating around where people discuss such things to death. Might be a good place to troll for advice (both good and bad).
-Instructables.com has an outdoors sub-section devoted to survival topics. Instructions for simple things that can be constructed from everyday components might give you a few ideas.
Instructables is awesome, although I’m a little wary of letting players think they can deconstruct things quite that vigorously.
The survival forums (and their more terrifying cousins, the hardcore fundamentalist rapture forums) are an interesting read.
The poncho liner is a good idea; stuffable with various on hand materials (I would think leaves, even if there’s no clothes. Hmm.
The malaria and poisonous insects . . . well, I’m working on that issue. I may make it another topic, so as not to sidetrack too much.
I’m sorry to tell you this, but a similar idea has been taken already.
It’s a shareware platformer (30 some dollars) called “Sandbox Of God”.
You are god, creating Earth, man, and intelligent rabbits, and you must get the order of things and interaction correct to score big and reach certain goals.
For instance do you answer someone’s prayer for food, supplying him with fish falling from the skies, or let man figure out how to fish on his own?
I got it when it was still freeware.
The Sims: Castaways also has a similar (if not the same) theme.
If I were going to be stranded for a long time on an island, I’d probably want to have some good companions with me. Perhaps a professor; a movie star; maybe a millionaire . . . and his wife. (Of course, you might want to be cautious about inadvertantly violating somebody’s intellectual property rights, just on the off chance that somebody has used that idea before.)
Robert Rothman
Ha! I think I’d ditch the movie star for a robot that senses danger, but maybe that’s the wrong approach.
Thanks for the mention of Sandbox of God, although it looks to be a god-game, and not particularly similar. (If you have details that aren’t in the first couple reviews, please let me know.) There’s plenty of movies/books/stories with a similar premise. (I hesitate to say “story”, because that implies more plotting than is present.)
Right approach, maybe, but wrong show, Will Robinson.
Robert Rothman
Still a more interesting character than the movie star. 
You can laugh now, but EA has had some lawsuits in the past (Jack Thompson’s nudity suit and Lifecycle Vs Sims 2), and right now they’re about ready to strike back (EA games Vs Lindin Lab).
Castaways has the exact (and I mean exact) same scenario as you.
They credited Gilligan’s Island for the inspiration, but you didn’t even know about it.
Usually it’s a time traveling scenario, thanks to “The Time Machine”.
With all due respect, you don’t know what you’re talking about.