Item Decay

[robdoar]

I like that Items wear out, it ads much needed challenge.

However, I think the rate of decay, and think that unused items are decaying too quickly. (I had an unused can opener go bad after 3 days)

I would much rather have items decay at a faster rate when used, then have unused items inexplicably wear out when stowed.

[TattooedMac]

Haven't made it to 3 days yet, but why would a can opener decay at all ?? Week or 2 of continued Pork and Beans, yes the teeth wear, but 3 days is a little too much.

Ill have to keep a eye out for that.

What happened, ? Did it come up with a "Can opener is worn out" warning when opening cans ?? I was gutted when I had 5 cans of food, but had to go to the lookout to get a can opener, because I couldn't put them on the fire or hit with a rock or use any other tool I had in my backpack

[logang]

I've only had clothing wear out so far, my record of survival is only just shy of 3 days. Though i think I only have like 7 playthroughs under my belt. When stuff wears out a message appears on screen saying so.

[Guest Alan Lawrance]

I like that Items wear out, it ads much needed challenge.

However, I think the rate of decay, and think that unused items are decaying too quickly. (I had an unused can opener go bad after 3 days)

I would much rather have items decay at a faster rate when used, then have unused items inexplicably wear out when stowed.

Yeah, I agree things like a can opener should wear out based on usage. Note clothing wears out significantly faster when worn (vs. stored in backpack).

Decay is a bit tricky since it's hard to be realistic with it, and still make it a meaningful part of the simulation. If we were ultra realistic with the decay, it would cease to be relevant to the game given the expected survival times of most players.

[Guest Alan Lawrance]

Haven't made it to 3 days yet, but why would a can opener decay at all ?? Week or 2 of continued Pork and Beans, yes the teeth wear, but 3 days is a little too much.

Ill have to keep a eye out for that.

What happened, ? Did it come up with a "Can opener is worn out" warning when opening cans ?? I was gutted when I had 5 cans of food, but had to go to the lookout to get a can opener, because I couldn't put them on the fire or hit with a rock or use any other tool I had in my backpack

We've had discussions about how players might be able to extract some food from cans without a can opener. One solution is to allow smashing of cans, which results in a partial loss of the food item. A more detailed solution is to allow opening with alternate tools... but there are some interface complexities with that.

[Raphael van Lierop]

Yeah, decay is in a constant state of being tuned. A lot of things are set to not decay at all, or at least not meaningfully (ex. tools). Clothing is currently decaying quickly as a test. For most of our development we had things decay "realistically" (ex. it would take 100 days for a winter coat to decay), which made gear condition and repair as a concept, pretty irrelevant.

This is pretty easy to fix and is something I imagine we'll continue tuning for a while yet.

And yes, "tools" that have value when used -- like can openers, repair tools, hatchets, etc. -- should decay on use. This makes their use a choice you have to account for in the grand scheme. We'll be adding more things like this as well.

[Admin]

And yes, "tools" that have value when used -- like can openers, repair tools, hatchets, etc. -- should decay on use. This makes their use a choice you have to account for in the grand scheme. We'll be adding more things like this as well.

That would also give a reason [incentive] for picking up that spare can opener too.

I still wish we could at least try using hatchet, crowbar, or every throwing canned food at wolves to help fend them off *lol*

[robdoar]

I'm totally jiving with the item decay. I think the clothes are spot on when used. If I decide to keep a spare item in my pack, I don't think that item should decay at all. I'd gladly trade that off for a much higher loss when used, but I'm willing to agree to disagree.

[Raphael van Lierop]

Rob - yes we've discussed not decaying Condition on items in pack, or having a modifier on base decay values to reflect they are more "protected" here. We'll think about this some more.