Just wanted to stop by and give my two cents on this particular subject in the game. Just some background; I have quite literally never made a forum account for any game ever but I got into this game when I got tired of searching for hardcore survival games after finally getting bored of don't starve, and decided to try this one skeptically as it is still in alpha. I quickly realized, as other players I'm sure can agree to as well, that this game has immense potential for what it is on the surface - a bunch of pegs with heads on them hovering around. The mechanics are subtly designed so that quite literally anything is possible in any given map, and the modding possibilities are endless, further pushing the games future potential. That being said I really wanted to contribute to the development path of this game in any way possible even as a lowly forum poster complaining about frustrating mechanics, so let's get into it.
The most interesting aspect about this game imo is "pawns". Each has their own quirks and story so that they are humanized just enough where things like defending the colony from waves of enemies holds much more gravity than just dragging a box over units and b clicking the pirates. I think its clear at this point that survival games are few and definitely not few and far between on steam, but as most of us can probably attest to they are mostly quite awful. What makes rimworld different, as the Cassandra Classic and Randy Random (what a dick) can attest to, is the unique story that is told with each different pawn, colony, and game. From what I've seen and read the game creator shares this vision and wants this particular survival experience to be much less cut and dry then build shelter, get food, defend yourselves, make people happy. That being said I think the "mood" and "breakdown" mechanics do need to be addressed.
I believe both splits of opinion on this discussion have valid points. However I also believe the whole realistic or not argument is moot because the biggest issue with the current mood system is that it very drastically stifles the story telling potential that an improved system could accentuate in the game. I believe the OP is on to something very close to what should be the actual system. To start, I think the OP's system is just a more in depth version of what the current system attempts to emulate. When your pawn/pawns first land on the colony they have mood modifiers "new colony optimism" or "low expectations" to balance out the starting hardships of getting a working colony on its feet. In addition, marriages, parties, having bonded pets and some good old fashioned lovin' provide these mood boosters as well that make the hardships of life just a little bit more bearable. Thats the good part. The bad part is when these aforementioned parties and marriages balance out the psychological disstress that comes with having friends and family brutally die in combat, fellow colonists accidentally getting shot in the back of the head by friends and family during combat, harvesting innocent prisoners' organs before mercilessly executing them, the colonist having to eat their friends during a toxic fallout when food is scarce, or more morally gray issues some colonists may disagree upon like harvesting the organs of an innocent visitor to save one of the vital colonists, and the list goes on.
For all of the possible complex situations that can arise with the current mechanics of the game, and again I'm still astonished at the wide range of these situations with such a seemingly simple game in alpha, the effects of theses situations on the pawns are decidedly linear. It seems people are focusing on the fact that yes, a pawn eating their husband (sorry for the macabre situations) can be made up with some beers and a giant marble statued filled rec room with a billiard table. And yes, it is annoying when the scientist/cook with a combined shooting and melee skill of 3 goes berserk because he ate without a table and attacks the psychopath front lining captured and reformed pirate with a giant sword and power armor. But whats more important is the story that can be told of your starting rich colonist that makes it singlehandedly through a tough winter, fends off waves of pirates alone all the while keeping stable enough to use her social skills to convince others to join her. The possibilities and options improving the mood mechanics are so incredibly vast, so I'll try to keep this at least kind of brief and let the rest fall to your imaginations.
Implementing this "bucket style" stress system has many merits. I wanna reiterate the OP's points and maybe go a bit more in depth with them to show all of the possibilities. Firstly having a system like this opens up many more quirks and attributes to each pawn to personalize them even further. This, like I mentioned, has the added effect of creating even more humanized pawns increasing the gravity of each action they have to do as well as how devastating it would be if they finally pass. People that make it past tough passings of spouses or whatever it may be could develop a stronger and more stable psyche. These mentally strong pawns can lead and guide those who may not be strong themselves. There's no reason your starting rich solo colonist who singlehandedly got the colony off the ground should have the same exact chance of giving up on survival and becoming distressed as the newly added wandering glitter world chef, who if not for his ability to make a sandwich would immediately be kicked out of the colony. They would become leaders, and the support that the rest of the colony relies on for hope and guidance. That way, when your starting pawn/pawns tragically pass, the colony has lost more than just the three guys with the highest shooting skill. Pawns who have made it through tough times with their head up will continue to persevere, while the the softer and weaker colonists will not. This is realistic, and adds more depth to each individual pawn.
Secondly, as the OP mentioned, mental health is a deeply complicated and intricate aspect of human life, and it feels like an accessory on the sidelines in the current state of the game. It can't be overstated the importance that this system could have on the stories being told by each game. The newly made widow who takes a walk in the middle of the night to take some time to contemplate when suddenly a pirate raid comes and she's isolated. The glitter world socialite who on the surface is loves making small talk with visitors and benevolently turning new recruits who has inner demons from not knowing what the point of it all is who only finds solace in a fellow colonist with the same struggles. Like I said it feels like I can type for hours at all the possibilities but i'll leave the rest to your imaginations. The point is these are the possibilities, the reality is send them to drink beer build a big room with carpet and a TV.
Third, think of any good survivalesque TV show (the walking dead comes to mind). There are struggles with reasons to continue on, morality issues of killing, those who are more tolerant of harsh conditions and those who need comfort, etc. These are all possible stories that can be told that open up countless possibilities. There's a reason pirates exist in the game, none of them care about the morality issues of raiding, killing, and kidnapping. Adding quirks like this to the mood system can also color the way you handle your colony. Benevolent colonies are going to have troublemakers who see survival of the fittest as black and white. And pirate colonies would have misfits who think their methods of survival are a touch too brutal. But I'm straying a bit too far from the current discussion with future possibilities so I'll refocus on the mood.
The point is the situations and complications that can arise within the game are dramatic, life threatening, and diverse while the mood system is quite linear. The mood bar shows this as it can go up or down, up is good down is bad. As I said before I have read a lot of posts and tried to get an idea of the game creator's vision, and it seems one of the problems with this whole idea is that it may be a bit more complicated than we're making it out to be to actually implement this. So I want to open up the rest of the discussion to maybe some ideas that could make this system a reality without it being too intricate to implement, and if not just stress the merits a system that this could have so that maybe something like this shows up a little higher on the roadmap to the games progress than many other lesser tweaks.
The most interesting aspect about this game imo is "pawns". Each has their own quirks and story so that they are humanized just enough where things like defending the colony from waves of enemies holds much more gravity than just dragging a box over units and b clicking the pirates. I think its clear at this point that survival games are few and definitely not few and far between on steam, but as most of us can probably attest to they are mostly quite awful. What makes rimworld different, as the Cassandra Classic and Randy Random (what a dick) can attest to, is the unique story that is told with each different pawn, colony, and game. From what I've seen and read the game creator shares this vision and wants this particular survival experience to be much less cut and dry then build shelter, get food, defend yourselves, make people happy. That being said I think the "mood" and "breakdown" mechanics do need to be addressed.
I believe both splits of opinion on this discussion have valid points. However I also believe the whole realistic or not argument is moot because the biggest issue with the current mood system is that it very drastically stifles the story telling potential that an improved system could accentuate in the game. I believe the OP is on to something very close to what should be the actual system. To start, I think the OP's system is just a more in depth version of what the current system attempts to emulate. When your pawn/pawns first land on the colony they have mood modifiers "new colony optimism" or "low expectations" to balance out the starting hardships of getting a working colony on its feet. In addition, marriages, parties, having bonded pets and some good old fashioned lovin' provide these mood boosters as well that make the hardships of life just a little bit more bearable. Thats the good part. The bad part is when these aforementioned parties and marriages balance out the psychological disstress that comes with having friends and family brutally die in combat, fellow colonists accidentally getting shot in the back of the head by friends and family during combat, harvesting innocent prisoners' organs before mercilessly executing them, the colonist having to eat their friends during a toxic fallout when food is scarce, or more morally gray issues some colonists may disagree upon like harvesting the organs of an innocent visitor to save one of the vital colonists, and the list goes on.
For all of the possible complex situations that can arise with the current mechanics of the game, and again I'm still astonished at the wide range of these situations with such a seemingly simple game in alpha, the effects of theses situations on the pawns are decidedly linear. It seems people are focusing on the fact that yes, a pawn eating their husband (sorry for the macabre situations) can be made up with some beers and a giant marble statued filled rec room with a billiard table. And yes, it is annoying when the scientist/cook with a combined shooting and melee skill of 3 goes berserk because he ate without a table and attacks the psychopath front lining captured and reformed pirate with a giant sword and power armor. But whats more important is the story that can be told of your starting rich colonist that makes it singlehandedly through a tough winter, fends off waves of pirates alone all the while keeping stable enough to use her social skills to convince others to join her. The possibilities and options improving the mood mechanics are so incredibly vast, so I'll try to keep this at least kind of brief and let the rest fall to your imaginations.
Implementing this "bucket style" stress system has many merits. I wanna reiterate the OP's points and maybe go a bit more in depth with them to show all of the possibilities. Firstly having a system like this opens up many more quirks and attributes to each pawn to personalize them even further. This, like I mentioned, has the added effect of creating even more humanized pawns increasing the gravity of each action they have to do as well as how devastating it would be if they finally pass. People that make it past tough passings of spouses or whatever it may be could develop a stronger and more stable psyche. These mentally strong pawns can lead and guide those who may not be strong themselves. There's no reason your starting rich solo colonist who singlehandedly got the colony off the ground should have the same exact chance of giving up on survival and becoming distressed as the newly added wandering glitter world chef, who if not for his ability to make a sandwich would immediately be kicked out of the colony. They would become leaders, and the support that the rest of the colony relies on for hope and guidance. That way, when your starting pawn/pawns tragically pass, the colony has lost more than just the three guys with the highest shooting skill. Pawns who have made it through tough times with their head up will continue to persevere, while the the softer and weaker colonists will not. This is realistic, and adds more depth to each individual pawn.
Secondly, as the OP mentioned, mental health is a deeply complicated and intricate aspect of human life, and it feels like an accessory on the sidelines in the current state of the game. It can't be overstated the importance that this system could have on the stories being told by each game. The newly made widow who takes a walk in the middle of the night to take some time to contemplate when suddenly a pirate raid comes and she's isolated. The glitter world socialite who on the surface is loves making small talk with visitors and benevolently turning new recruits who has inner demons from not knowing what the point of it all is who only finds solace in a fellow colonist with the same struggles. Like I said it feels like I can type for hours at all the possibilities but i'll leave the rest to your imaginations. The point is these are the possibilities, the reality is send them to drink beer build a big room with carpet and a TV.
Third, think of any good survivalesque TV show (the walking dead comes to mind). There are struggles with reasons to continue on, morality issues of killing, those who are more tolerant of harsh conditions and those who need comfort, etc. These are all possible stories that can be told that open up countless possibilities. There's a reason pirates exist in the game, none of them care about the morality issues of raiding, killing, and kidnapping. Adding quirks like this to the mood system can also color the way you handle your colony. Benevolent colonies are going to have troublemakers who see survival of the fittest as black and white. And pirate colonies would have misfits who think their methods of survival are a touch too brutal. But I'm straying a bit too far from the current discussion with future possibilities so I'll refocus on the mood.
The point is the situations and complications that can arise within the game are dramatic, life threatening, and diverse while the mood system is quite linear. The mood bar shows this as it can go up or down, up is good down is bad. As I said before I have read a lot of posts and tried to get an idea of the game creator's vision, and it seems one of the problems with this whole idea is that it may be a bit more complicated than we're making it out to be to actually implement this. So I want to open up the rest of the discussion to maybe some ideas that could make this system a reality without it being too intricate to implement, and if not just stress the merits a system that this could have so that maybe something like this shows up a little higher on the roadmap to the games progress than many other lesser tweaks.