How do you see the health system that plays a big part in the game already, fitting in the “survival mode”? All 3 health kits become useless, the exp rounds that restore health to player and machines alike, becomes disabled, Unable to craft med kits, can’t collect use or craft adrenaline shots? Or when in survival mode they all still work? Don’t have food, just pop a health kit? You drop to zero % health because of hunger, all you can do is spawn back to some place but your health is still zero and you have no food, how will that work, you just die, game over, restart? Or you are close to death because of lack of water, just jump in the water and you go back to 100% healthy, but still lack sleep, energy or you need to poop just as a battle starts.
Needless to say, the health system would need to be completely reworked, and flip a switch it goes back to normal. And on the same note. Join a co-op and the host has the game set on survival mode. You lose all your health kits and shots, but you leave and go to another map, do you get it all back? I guess food and water sources would be locked and unlocked at the flip of a switch. Same with all the loot changes from weapons and supplies to food supplies. So that is looting and health that needs to change with every mode change.
Now lets think about how the machines will need to change. Machines should also be part of the survival mode correct, so they would need to run out of ammo, recharge and refuel as well. And they seem smart, they can destroy our food sources, making it harder to survive and fight them at the same time. And machines are the biggest source of all our supplies now, would the machines start have food, water packs…how does that fit in with why they would be carrying those things in the first place. The apparel will also need to be reworked, so we can find and craft warmer clothing, which schematics would also need editing. So, everything on how the game works would need to be changed and change back with the flip of a switch and subject to change on who’s map you join.
This is kind of like when players state that the game needs zombies, because other games have zombies. Maybe if we don’t eat food and drink enough, instead of dying, we turn to zombies and eat the other players and the game changes to a zombie game then, and we can then fix cars and trucks and race them while running over the machines and zombies.
These are my suggestions on how to add a little something to the game and make it work.