If there are different types of food, they should do something. E.g., easy-to-use recipes for meals each night that grant you small bonuses on the next day. +1 to dexterity checks, +1 on concentration checks, start the day with 1*level temp HP, etc.
Otherwise, what's the point? It should just be supply packs.
Well, the fact that food is more varied and interesting is a good enough point for me, even if it’s functionally interchangeable with supply packs (which, as I’ve said, I’d not bother with at all)
. I don’t really like the complexity of bonuses from different meals, which I know some games do implement, but I’d be in favour of either being able to use food in its raw state as now plus use recipes that allow us to combine food into meals that have food value greater than their constituent parts.
I agree any recipe system should be easy-to-use and everything kept pretty simple though. Personally, I don’t want food management to turn into a whole mini-game, even though I find it mildly entertaining to find and use lots of different types of food instead of supply packs.
EDIT: However, if food were replaced by boring generic rations, I think these would need to come in smaller denominations than the 40 unit supply packs, especially if the amount available to be found were reduced. There’d be a greater chance of missing fewer, larger packs and one thing I definitely don’t think the game should do is encourage us to rummage through every container. (And if you’re going to have smaller unit value supplies, why not call them an apple or a courgette, say, and give them a pretty skin to make things a bit more fun … but I think I’ve banged that drum more than enough now!)
