Body warmth to melt snow

[Sundance]

Now I know that snow can be melted into water and then potable water so please bear with me.

    I Know there are water purifying tablets in the game but I for one rarely if ever use them as it’s just as easy to pass time and turn the water into potable water over the fire. However, and this is a survival tactic in real life- how about being able to melt snow in small amounts in between layers of clothing? The idea is that it’s not right up to the skin of the would-be survivor as it does sap warmth. But in between layers the heat kept in between ones clothing can melt enough snow for a quick drink. If this were entered into the game it would allow for a host of side effects to this action, ie, body warmth drops more quickly, so warmer clothing is almost a necessity in order not to die of hypothermia just for a sip of water. Also I would find it to be more of a reason to use the water purifying tablets as obviously body heat isn’t going to purify the water. It’s an interesting thought that you can melt water while your moving through the map. For me I would see more of a reason to use purifying tablets. It would impact time - how long to melt the snow in say 0.5L increments (as this is the smallest amount I’ve seen as an option in-game), are you really in a position to do it without risking your health temperature wise, do you risk drinking unpotable water if you don’t have purifying tablets... etc...

    I think it’s an interesting thought, and like I said, a real world, proven method - with draw backs. 

Thoughts?

[Guest kristaok]

I actually like the way it is now, if one could melt Snow in the Game with just their Body Heat then that would defeat the purpose of Building a Fire to turn Snow into Water. So I am sorry but it's a NO from me. 

[Sundance]

On 6/5/2019 at 1:28 AM, kristaok said:

I actually like the way it is now, if one could melt Snow in the Game with just their Body Heat then that would defeat the purpose of Building a Fire to turn Snow into Water. So I am sorry but it's a NO from me. 

I agree in part with your viewpoint on this. However it wouldn’t result in a full litre of water, probably .25L just enough to stave of thirst. It was just an idea anyway as it’s a real world survival tactic and can be done without a fire, since in the real world you can’t always just whip one up ya know? But anyways like I said, just an idea.

[ajb1978]

I would agree to this if it were part of a major overhaul to the way food and drink stored in inventory works.  Food and drink doesn't freeze in the current state of the game, and while it might seem a little exploitey to pick up a slab of cooked venison out of the snow after it's been sitting there for a week, and immediately devour the whole thing...that's how it is.

So if the overall food system was changed such that food and drink CAN freeze (let's not split hairs about cans of soda bursting...just say frozen or not frozen and call it good), then there would be room for an "under the clothes" set of slots.  It would count towards your total carry limit, but say you have 5kg worth of under-the-clothes slots for food or drink.  Those items can thaw over time based on your current Feels Like, and won't start to freeze unless you yourself are Freezing.  These items, once thawed, would also degrade more quickly over time.  Similar to meat stored indoors.  And then of course you can only eat or drink thawed items.  (Edit: Actually it'd be kinda cool if food stored under clothes contributed less to your scent meter....)

And of course, playing devil's advocate on my own modification to this wish list item, that level of micromanagement might piss a lot of people off.  I like the idea, but the game is fine as is, so ...maybe let's not rock the boat on this one.  It's a neat idea, but people have been chowing down on frozen steaks for going on 5 years now.  I don't see that changing.

Edited June 23, 2019 by ajb1978

[peteloud]

If you are to use body heat to melt snow then it would be appropriate to reduce the body temperature by an equivalent amount - First Law of Thermodynamics.  Instead of dying of thirst you die from hypothermia.

 

 

[UpUpAway95]

I just don't see how the gameplay would benefit from this.  Each purification tablet treats 1L of water.  Therefore, this suggestion would require you to melt a full litre of snow using body heat before it would be practical to treat it in order to be able to drink it safely.

I would rather they make it such that all sources of "found" water (including bottled water) in the game are simply changed/reskinned to be non-potable and require purification tablets to convert it into potable water.  At the lower difficulties, I'm finding a fair amount of bottled water in my current playthrough (more than in past runs - although this is likely RNG rather than due to any changes); but it shows that the spawn rates of "found" water could be adjusted upward if the tweak were made to ensure what one finds is nonpotable.

 

[Moll]

Wasting bodyheat to melt a snow is easy ticket for freezig to death. Wtf, you are in artic enviroment and take snow to cold you even more?

 

nope.

[ManicManiac]

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 8:41 PM, Moll said:

Wasting bodyheat to melt a snow is easy ticket for freezig to death.

Agreed... I think the generally accepted term for melting snow with body heat is: "Hypothermia"