Explanatory: inspiration for this post came from several games, which will be mentioned further.
I’ve seen so many posts about which materials will be eligible for building and how will these be affected by physics such as gravity, stability and weather, and actions as raiding. But I’ve barely seen any posts that discuss about better building mechanics and/or how are we supposed to move our tools and resources towards creating a safe and comfy shelter (or probably some people considers it’s too soon to talk bout it). (If there is any other, meaning I’m wrong, please leave a link)
This post has everything to see with some building mechanics I’d like to see improved, and other are oriented toward realism and even simplicity, since I think building is a big deal that concerns everyone.
Basic building
In 3.x we can carry lots of logs, bricks and metal sheets (among other construction materials and barricades) into your backpack and all the pockets that your clothing could possibly have. A single piece of log could occupy 1/3 of the space available in a daypack IRL (or maybe even more). Kilograms of heavy, sturdy and wide raw materials CANNOT just be stored in a backpack or clothes. Since items’ weight will affect player movement and you won’t be able to stack up to 4 grizzlies on your inventory, I thought this principle would apply to construction materials as well. So I’ve thought about:
Lifting them up!
This could be how you carry an industrial gas can (more or less)
Does a propane gas cylinder fit in a backpack?
Explanation via quick FAQ
For more answers, read further or comment
How are you suggesting to build our stuff up exactly?
Gather your materials in the area you want to build in, equip your tools, stand nearby your supplies and open the crafting\building interface to process them and make your chart to start building (more alike as featured in The Stomping Land or The Forest).
Are you saying I have to carry my logs one by one to where I wanna build?
No. I suggest for materials being able to be stacked up while in the ground (as featured in Don’t Starve) to be picked up with both hands to the place you want to build in (the stronger the player is, the larger the stack).
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>>> on your hand or inventory
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>>> stacked nearby
Applies with all materials and pertinent required tools
Anyway, is kinda obvious that small sized components like nails, metal scraps and similars will be still able to add on inventory (it’s meant for extra-wide and extra-heavy components or materials to not be stackable, as it works in No More Room In Hell).
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(Long etc…) >>> 
/ (car parts, gas cylinders, etc.) >>> Lifted up but non stackable
That sounds quite difficult, and some of us might want to handle larger amounts of supplies for larger bases or simply to transport these faster. How do you think we can solve that?
That’s where these 2 could get in and finally be of some use:
Even vans and pickups could serve for this very same purpose. Imagine using this other beast for the sake of building:
What If I can’t count on any of those nor even friends to help out?
Maybe there should be this!:
And also, crates should be handy to store good amounts of materials, and make these moveable as well (more about this further).
Salvaging? Can be done better
Currently, you take the same time salvaging a piece of paper in your fridge (a note) as removing an entire fuel tank or your base’s ceiling. I think that salvage time should vary depending on the buildable dimensions.
Being said this, how do you think salvagement will work if your idea of building is applied?
Disassembling the structures that IRL you can’t just pick up and move around by yourself because of their dimensions and weight (eg. a wall, doorway, flooring, etc…), so you have your supplies and materials back (or a part of them) and you can turn these into another structure or barricade if you want so.
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This could also be of use for disassembling wooden structures
Also this could work for barricades, furniture, utility and storage (basically anything but basic structures) buildables as well, but those preferably would be meant to be moved rather than disassembled or deconstructed (with some exceptions, which either can’t or must be disassembled like structures in order to be replaced). You can push or pull a sofa, a fridge or a locker in your house if you want to put it somewhere else.
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(etc.)
With the help of a friend, you might lift these up.
If what you want is to move to a bigger base you built somewhere else, you might use a vehicle to move your buildables assembled or disassembled, depending on the vehicle you’re using.
What about the raiding? This seems like a lot of effort… Being raided would be a total mess
In that matter, If a base is going to be this hard to build up, the least thing that can be done to balance this feature is to make these way harder to destroy. Along with that, I think that the next list of tools should be capable of taking out barricades faster, and cause fairly good damage to structures:
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(and etc.) >>> For quick barricade raiding
I think this is all. More ideas could be added. I'll truly appreciate your feedback!
- All ideas are good and realistic
- Some of these need improvement… (comment)
- I’m not sure how this feature is useful… (comment)
- I don’t like this at all
