Mess Kits and Empty Cans

[cekivi]

So, just a suggestion for Voyager and Stalker difficulties is that you need to find/improvise a mess kit in order to boil water on most fires. Empty cans could be saved and turned into small tins if your regular pot gets damaged as well as basic utensils. If more complex cooking options are added at a later date (e.g. soups) then you would need a mess kit to prepare and eat them. Cooking rose hip tea in an old tomato soup can would fun.

Of course interior locations that have a full kitchen obviously wouldn't have this restriction since there would be more than enough containers to boil water in. For pilgrim mode it would be another complication so, like cabin fever, it likely isn't necessary.

 

[hauteecolerider]

3 hours ago, cekivi said:

So, just a suggestion for Voyager and Stalker difficulties is that you need to find/improvise a mess kit in order to boil water on most fires. Empty cans could be saved and turned into small tins if your regular pot gets damaged as well as basic utensils. If more complex cooking options are added at a later date (e.g. soups) then you would need a mess kit to prepare and eat them. Cooking rose hip tea in an old tomato soup can would fun.

Of course interior locations that have a full kitchen obviously wouldn't have this restriction since there would be more than enough containers to boil water in. For pilgrim mode it would be another complication so, like cabin fever, it likely isn't necessary.

 

Of all the suggestions for making Voyager/Stalker more challenging in the Sandbox, I quite like this one the most. 

[SteelFire]

I like the idea. As it stands, water isn't an issue at all. I've only ever used purification tablets when I was being too lazy to toss another couple sticks on the fire to finish boiling water. Heck, I didn't even know dysentery was in the game until I saw it mentioned here on the forums. There's no need to even consider risk/reward factors of drinking dirty water. If we had to recycle or craft metalware to be able to boil water, that would be great. It would also be nice if we had to recycle water bottles or jerry cans to be able to store/carry water.

[Aelaera]

I would like this. I've never been to Canada, but apparently Canadians not only love maple syrup, but also love water... so much that they can literally fabricate water bottles out of thin air. Then we can actually boil upwards of twenty liters of water (it was a very boring wakeful night) over a fire using only our sheer willpower. It would be nice for the realism to need a container to boil water in, of any form. Like cekivi said, whether its a soup can or a regular old pot that we find in someones home. It would add weight to our inventory meaning we'd need to balance whether we needed a big old pot, or if we should just stay home another day and get all our water prepared. Also to need a storage container, such as a jerry can. Although I'm not 100% sure how safe a jerry can would be to use, unless it had never contained gasoline. I'm sure since the inside is smooth plastic, it wouldn't retain gasoline in pores or anything, but the smell alone would be extremely off putting.  

[Wastelander]

Just saying, you can totally heat a can on an open fire without any tools (except gloves). Just lay it down next to the fire and turn it every few minutes so every side gets heated roughly equally. However, an actual mess kit would be superior to this method in every way. Perhaps add it as a tool?

[cekivi]

That's why I was thinking of having empty cans as a makeshift, quickly wearing out mess tin so as long as you can find cans you can boil water. The proper mess kit is really only important if cooking recipes and soups are added to the game. Otherwise, a coffee tin with snow suspended over a fire will be sufficient to melt 1L of water at a time. If you keep the lid you even have a sealable container

Now, I know many people have a problem with magical bottles. I don't because we live in a world of plastic. Even in the bush there are plastic containers everywhere. Especially since all those corner stores and homes should have some 750 mL or 2L pop bottles in them. If water carrying is ever implemented as a mechanic it'd probably be fine but I'd still argue that Pilgrim (and perhaps even Voyager) is fine as-is.

[Wastelander]

Whoops, guess I misunderstood you there @cekivi my apologies. I also agree about the water carrying - I have in my apartment, if I just quickly look around my immediate area, six sealable containers which, for all intents and purposes, count as trash for me (I really need to clean my place). So, while a lot of common household items would be missing when people mass-evacuated an area, sealable plastic containers would probably not be among them. And that's not even counting things like empty booze bottles, antiseptic flasks and the like. So yeah, it's not a problem.

I do hope that cooking gets introduced, too, and I agree that a proper mess kit would make things a lot easier then. My LARP-character actually doesn't carry one (because I'm carrying enough military gear as it is) but a pot and a small pan, but yeah, mess kits do make things easier, and I regret not carrying one every single time.

[cekivi]

Mess kits are really nice when camping. It's a nice added level of comfort when you have plates, pots and cutlery. Even if it's just a spork

Improved cooking is on the development roadmap although what that entails is just speculation at this point.

[cekivi]

Locked due to age.