Hide Crafting Idea

[Derek0311]

What about a hide crafting system where a cured hide give you a certain amount of area?  Then the craftable clothing has a hide area requirement.  So now I can make clothing from any combination of hides I wish.  But also have a system that tracks what was used to make an item.  So a coat made from deer and rabbit is good but one made from all bear gets a 100% bonus of keeping wolves away.  Half bear, half deer; 50%. Just an idea.  Please, shoot it down or make it better.

[Booch]

I think you may be on to something. I've been trying to figure out how to live indefinitely.  Lots of threads here but trying to figure it out myself first. Food...rocks and rabbits. Fuel...sticks. Ignition...mag glass. Water.. good to go. The only thing is clothing. Eventually, we'd run out of cloth. So using animal pelts would work but eventually, at some point in time, we'd only be able to harvest rabbits (no ammo, no knife, hatchet etc). Why can we only craft a hat and mitts from rabbits. I like the idea of mixing them up.

[Stoutlander]

The realism vs gameplay. Realistically rabbit hides are very thin and would be near useless as gloves (not to mention the cure vs tanning aspect). Larger animals usually have thicker hides, and many types of deer have hollow hair that helps keep them warmer by trapping air that is warmed from their body. Gameplay aspect would make sense as they are in game with the other hides, you would/could use what you have on hand. 

Personally I enjoy this game because it does a very good job "borrowing" from realism instead of science fiction. I'm for keeping the borrowed realism as it is and not over complicating simple things. Besides, IRL you would be making coats from blankets and other fabric long before fabricating animal hides, but I do enjoy the gameplay of a wolf or bear coat and the other items. Still, I get what you're saying and at the least it would also be neat to make repairs with other hides.

Something for me to think about. Thanks OP.

[Derek0311]

Thanks for your thoughts.  I know it’s just a game but I’m in favor of realism at every decision point.  I wonder how much of the community is the same way?  You’re right, IRL you would be able to make clothing from any cloth.  So, I think it should be in game.  I would also be in favor of braining the hides rather then just leaving them inside.  There could even be a mini-game where you mix your braining solution like the cake baking games my kids play; I’m all for it.  The game wouldn’t qualify you to be a primitive skills instructor any more then my kids are able to bake a cake.  But like I said, realism at every turn.  I know I’m not going to get everything I want, for a variety of reasons, but even a few of them would be awesome for players like me.  In the end Hinterland gets to decide what should go in the game.  I’d rather throw and idea out there that I’m not even in love with then have never let it be considered.

[Salty Crackers]

Reminds me of Rimworld. You can make patchleather out of any combination of leather, but it is invariably worse than all other textiles. It's never really useful unless you're living in a place with almost no animal life or ways to grow cotton.

I don't think we would need a mechanic like this in TLD. Why would I hunt bears for the renewable bedroll if I could just cobble together an inferior bedroll out of scraps I have laying around? Sure, I lose some of the temperature bonus, but the ease of manufacture and repair tremendously outweighs the negatives. Late game, if you are not able to consistently get pelts to repair your clothing, you shouldn't have the clothing. Early game, you shouldn't be worrying about crafting clothes besides maybe the improvised wraps if needed.

The one place this might make some sense is with moose hide. Being able to constantly remanufacture the moosehide cloak doesn't make any sense. Perhaps make the moose hide harvestable into 2 moosehide scraps for use in maintaining moosehide gear.

Edited December 17, 2020 by Salty Crackers