Category:Gameplay Mechanics

Gameplay Mechanics are the primary rules, systems, and controls of The Wanderer.

Character Attributes
There are three vital attributes in The Wanderer — Health, Illness, and Radiation — which represent the player's current status. The player also has hunger and thirst as well as other stats. These can all be affected by the player's equipment, skills, and the environment itself. The player is limited in how much they can carry in their backpack, in their van, and in their camp; and they often must choose which items to keep and which to abandon in order to proceed.

Saving
The Wanderer now has a typical saving system which provides three distinct save files in which to save your game. In addition, the game automatically saves your progress periodically, and forces you to deal with the consequences of your actions. If you are defeated in the wasteland, you either faint and return to camp with none of your loot (and at a loss to caps and survivor points), or your game is over if you were playing in perma-death difficulty. To force The Wanderer to save your game and quit, access the Load Menu from the options panel.

Caps
Bottle caps are the main currency of the post-apocalyptic wasteland. As the player wanders, they may find or lose these "caps". Cash Tills might be discovered in some Locations which are often empty but might occasionally store hundreds of caps. NPCs will offer a reward of caps for successfully completed quests. Secret stashes of caps may also be found. Caps may be spent at any trader, or may be gained by selling items to a trader. The number of caps gained from any item sold is affected greatly by the player's Charisma level.

Hunger and Thirst
The player has values for Hunger and Thirst that steadily decline over time. When these values reach Zero (0) the player is considered Starving/Parched and must refill these values or they will start to lose health as time passes.

Illness
Radiation and Bad Food will affect the amount of illness experienced by the player, which in turn increases the average drain on hunger and thirst. The higher the illness level, the more hunger and thirst are changed.

Karma Points
The player has a Karma value which is affected by how the player plays the game. The Karma variable starts at zero (0) and ranges from negative ten (-10) to positive ten (+10). Stealing items that belong to people, mistreating pets, and a variety of other events impact the player's Karma. This value impacts the player's luck, as well as the outcome for certain events (such as getting trapped/calling for help and NPC encounters) and can also cause the player to accidentally misplace (drop) random items from their Storage while wandering.

Storage Space
In all difficulties, the player is given a Backpack Storage (starting at 10 units). In difficulties that allow the player to start with a camp, the player is also offered two additional types of storage space over the course of the game; a Camp storage (starting at 10 units), and once the Camper Van is repaired, a Van storage (50 units). Storage space is often counted in tenths, with 0.1 for the smallest items and 10 for the largest, though most common items have a value of 1. The backpack can be upgraded to 50 units with a maximum of 20 points invested in Strength. Camp storage can be upgraded indefinitely via the Camp panel's Upgrade Storage button.

Combat
Combat in The Wanderer is characterized by the player's ability to outplay or outsmart their opponents, as weapons and med-packs are also accessible to enemies. Timing and patience are key to mastering The Wanderer 's combat, as well as understanding your opponents. Quests may be given to defeat a number of a certain type of opponent. Ghoul type opponents will inflict radiation on an unsuccessful defense, in addition to standard damage. Enemies can often be stunned, bribed, disarmed, or even convinced to not start a fight in the first place. The success of these options may depend on the player's stats or Perks.

See also:


 * Items

Searching
When arriving at a location outside of Camp, the player is informed of any present bandits and presented with the option to enter the building. After winning any applicable fight with the aforementioned bandits, the player is given a list of anywhere from 2 to 8 Searchable Objects found at that location. Tapping on any of these object types will perform a search, and allow the user to take one or more items from that object. This exhausts that particular object during this search, and leaving the building exhausts the building for the duration of 24 in-game hours. Alternately, visiting a Camp will refresh all searchable locations in the game.

Pets
In the course of wandering the wasteland, the player may encounter a friendly animal which can be accepted as a pet. Occasionally, the pet will find a number of random Items and bring them back to the player. These items can be collected on the 'Pet' screen, where the pet can also be fed. While traveling, the pet's hunger and thirst will increase. If the hunger or thirst reaches 0, the player will be notified repeatedly for a number of hours, and if not attended to or dismissed before the pet's health reaches zero, the pet will die (which causes lost karma points). If the pet dies or is otherwise dismissed by the player, a new pet may be found at random in the course of wandering the wasteland.

Camper Van
The Camper Van can be found in the Camp at the start of the game. It needs a number of parts in order to function, as well as four (4) new tyres. Each of these parts takes 5 Storage spaces. Once all parts have been collected, the Van can be toggled on and off via a button on the map screen, while the player is at camp. The Camper Van provides 50 storage space, the same amount as a maximum size backpack, and has a chance of having a part break when it returns to camp. While using the van, travel times are reduced to a third (1/3) what they would be on foot, rounded down to the nearest whole hour.

Crafting
Crafting in The Wanderer takes on many forms, assuming the player has access to a Camp. Players can make use of items found in the world to create weapons and armor, distill water, bake bread, and more. To do so, crafting structures must be built, and must be improved to unlock additional crafting recipes. To build a crafting structure, the player must choose the 'Build' tab, or tap on the main Crafting Table near the tent in the camp. Crafting structures require an initial build cost in materials, and may require the main Crafting Table to be a certain level in order to be built. After paying the initial build cost, the crafting station appears in camp. Only one of each Crafting structure may be built.

Environment
The world itself has many mechanics which will affect the player's experience. The radioactivity of the environment will make the player irradiated, leading to lowered health or potentially disease. It can even rain, which has its own effects.

Time
In-game time in The Wanderer passes when the player taps on the main screen area while running, or on the tent while sitting in camp. One day of in-game time passes over the course of 24 taps. Sunset starts at 8pm and the sun rises again at 8am. The game also keeps track of how many days have passed since the start of the game. The time is usually listed on screen as "Day ### Hour ##am/pm"

Area
The map is divided into 5 distinct areas arranged as four (invisible) concentric circles and an outer area, all usually centered around a home base or Camp. Area 1 (the central circle) is the safest while area 5 (everything outside of area 4's circle) contains the most dangerous encounters and the rarest buildings. The player will always be able to see which area they are in listed in their statistics panel at the top of the screen, and on the Start Expedition/Travel button. You get more survival points in the higher areas. Aka: area 1=1, area 2=2, area 3=3 and so on.

Radiation
Radiation is one of the main hazards of the wasteland in The Wanderer. Radiation typically increases while running between locations, especially through darkened areas of the map (which can be seen in advance using the Rads Radar). In addition, radiation will increase in fights with ghouls, in fights with mutant bugs, and while consuming certain foods and drink. Every point of radiation reduces health by 1%, up to a maximum of 90%. Healing items do not negate radiation, so until the radiation level is lowered by items such as clean water or Anti-Rads, your new maximum health can be temporarily seen as an inverse percentage of the amount of irradiated health. Playing the game for any amount of time with a radiation count of 25 or higher may result in the player gaining one of four unique Mutations. Each mutation has its benefits and drawbacks. One mutation is practically immune to the effects of radiation, while another may gain it at a much faster rate.

Weather
When it rains, raindrops can be seen falling in the main screen area while in camp or while running down the street in the wasteland. Rain has two effects, mainly; Water Filters at camp catch 10 unfiltered rainwater (which can be filtered into 5 clean water), and players with the Liquid mutation will regain health.

Endgame
There are, as of yet, no preset end-game scenarios, however, on entering a Barracks, the player often will be accosted by a group of three (3) armed soldiers. Winning this fight grants entry to the barracks as with any normal building.

Survivor Points & Achievements
A number of survivor points are granted to the user as they play the game. These points are only used as a scoring system, and can be compared with other users or high score tables to compare the player's progress to other players. Achievements can be unlocked on all platforms, though they don't provide any in-game bonus.

Difficulty Options
The player is presented with a number of difficulty options on starting or resetting their game. These can affect game play in a variety of ways, from not being able to see the location of buildings on the map, to not having access to any form of camp. Depending on how many of these are checked, a difficulty percentage is assigned. High difficulty runs are usually referred to by this percentage, e.g: "a 260% run".