Frustrated with changes in item placement

[Sceh]

Wondering if anyone else has encountered this or if I should file a bug report.

I'm not sure why this keeps happening, but after every second update or so the way I can place items (where and how close to each other) is changed and it bugs me to no end.

There are certain items I like to lay out on tables or on the floor, sometimes this is not even a preference but a necessity because some locations do simply not have enough storage space inside drawers or cabinets. I have found it impossible to rearrange those because suddenly the game will tell me that it encounters "invalid" places to put items down.

So for example, I have 4 knives in a row on a counter, all neat and tidy, really close to one another. An update happens and later I find a fifth spare knive to keep in my shelter. I try to put it down next to the others exactly in the same manner as I used before but now suddenly the item won't turn green unless I leave a huge space between the knives. To make sure that it is not simply the exact spot I'm trying for the fifth knife that won't work I put it away, and then try to pick up and reposition the fourth knife in the row - only to find that now the position where it has been lying for month is no longer "valid" and it has to be moved twice the distance over. What gives?

This is especially frustrating because literally every single thing I had put down in the ML camp office ended up in the lost and found box. I'm trying to put everything back where it was but again find that the game has once more changed the rules for how to place certain items. I can no longer place all the things I kept on the work bench and other elevated surfaces back because they won't fit there any more due to the ginormous spaces I have to leave between them for no discernible reason. So my only option is to keep half my stuff in piles lying around the floor.

I realize that even if this is intentional and not a bug (anyone?) it's a minor detail in how the game works, but with the very limited number of options we have to decorate/rearrange our living spaces it makes me feel frustrated. I prefer my quarters to feel homey and comfortable, and a certain tidiness is part of that.

[Blankshield]

I have also experienced this; I submitted it as a bug to support.

If you leave a building and then return to it, you can often reposition objects close together again.  It's like the hit box gets  reset.

This is the image I gave support.  The orange cans placed normally; the other ones did not.  But after leaving and coming back in (this is Trapper's Cabin), I was able to move the cans close together (see the two grapes at the back of the shelf)


 

[ajb1978]

Yeah I have also noticed it with matches in particular.  I used to be able to line up my boxes of matches right next to each other, but now I need to leave like a full matchbox worth of space between them.

[MarrowStone]

On 11/12/2019 at 3:56 PM, Sceh said:

I realize that even if this is intentional and not a bug (anyone?)

I think the main goal of these changes is for accessibility.

I believe it's so players can pick up specific items easier since some items would have bigger "grabbing" hit boxes than "placing", like matches and sticks. Playing with a controller would be hard if the "grabbing" hit box for matches were just as big as the matchbox itself, it's sometimes difficult to pick small items up on the PC as well, especially for players new to first person games.  Another issue is if you have a bunch of small items stacked around a larger item, the small items with bigger grabbing hit boxes will prevent you from picking up the bigger item they surround. The downside is that it makes organizing your base frustrating!

Another thing that's always bugged me is that the rifle is laid down with the bolt poking into the ground. A really nice feature I'd like to see is having "r" rotate an object, and "T" toggle between some different orientations, like a hatchet with the blade pointed the other way or a book standing up. 

[ajb1978]

3 hours ago, MarrowStone said:

Playing with a controller would be hard if the "grabbing" hit box for matches were just as big as the matchbox itself

That is a very good point, and one I honestly had not considered as I play 99% of the time with KB/M.  (I switch to controller for fine tuning item placement if I simply MUST get item placement 100% perfect.)  I guess my take on things is this: I would rather have overlapping hitboxes that make it vague which specific item I'm picking up, in exchange for being able to crowd them closer together.  I typically have two methods of storing: The Hoard, and Easy Access.  The Hoard is well organized with everything packed together as closely as possible, and Easy Access is like one of everything set aside in a separate area, that I can quickly nab up as I need it.  One knife, one hatchet, one prybar, one hacksaw, one lantern, etc.