A formula for speed in a game about hiking. The variables include weather, weight of equipment, quality-score of equipment, etc

Question

excited to post here for the first time...

I am creating a game about hiking a (never ending) mountain. The game isn't a "runner." Instead it is strategic, where the player chooses their inventory every in-game day. The issue I am having is constructing a formula to calculate the player's speed.

Some variables that will have great effect on the speed include: random weather, oxygen intake, altitude (which exponentially slows the speed), equipment quality (the better the quality, the heavier the equipment), equipment weight, and food/food weight.

I'm open to any and all suggestions, including to tools I can use help constructing this crazy equation.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Assuming you want some “real-life” numbers.

altitude

You could use Naismith's rule: Every 2000 feet (609.6 m) of ascent adds one hour to a hike.

equipment weight, and food/food weight.

A study involving teenage girls found that a backpack load of 15% of body weight results in a 10% slowdown of walking speed.

Extrapolating this to a simple linear model, that works out to:

$$s(w) = (1 - \frac{2}{3}w)s(0)$$

Where $s(w)$ is the character's walking speed while carrying a weight of $w$ (expressed as a proportion of the character's body weight). And $s(0)$ = normal walking speed when not carrying any weight, probably around 3 miles or 5 km per hour.