Water
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 4:31 am
We know water exists in the game - firstly, wells (durh!) and athletics determine swim speed - but I don't think we've had a full-on discussion as to what we can do with water, how we can interact with water, etc. So I thought I'd collect a bunch of ideas regarding water and concentrate them in one thread (was that a pun I put there? I can't tell).
Firstly, if we're going to need to drink water to survive - and walking around in a desert, water is going to be gold for everyone - then there needs to be something we can drink from that won't take up half our inventory space like the barrels of water do. We need flasks, or even metal / wood cups would work, something we can use to hold water and drink with (I guess we could drink with our hands, but that's only going to work if we already have water near us). There also needs to be a good system to help replenish the water we consume. Taking some from the environment might work, but you'd likely have to have a river or well nearby - unless, say, you could carry a building material on you and build yourself a simple water collection system. It could either extract from trees, or even from the weather (that depends on if weather is also going to be a part of the game).
Secondly, bodies of water sound like they're going to exist. How big these things will be isn't quite known at this time, but living near water could really help expand parts of the game to focus specifically on water, including:
- fishing: another means to acquire food. Simple enough.
- waterfalls: not so much a practical game application, but waterfalls would just look pretty. Might even have one or two that have a small cave behind it, perfect for hiding or getting your party together for some needed relaxation and drink. Or it could be bad if, say, you find yourself going along the wrong river path...
- advanced machines: oddly enough, depending on how advanced some machines might get, they need something to help them keep cool, and water would be that right thing. For example, some drilling machines require water, or else they over-heat and become unusable. That would give a lot more emphasis on just how important water is, and if it's located in a scarce area like a desert, well, some people might be willing to raise a ruckus over where wells are located.
- boats and ports: probably the biggest potential for sources of water. Even if some rivers can't support the size of a big boat, you could just as easily build a small raft, in which you can move around the rivers as decent transportation. Ports would be places to safely store a boat - since doing so in the wild, anyone can potentially steal it for themselves while you're off doing something else. They'd also add a lot to settlements, potentially opening them up to trade routes and even fuel expansions as citizens would flock to these places with access to key locations. One of the biggest potentials I can see for these, though, is of course around military conflict. Suppose you're being chased by bandits in an intense river chase, shooting arrows at them to kill them (or the reverse!), or you and your massive crew spot an enemy ship to attack and plunder. On an even more grand scale, we could be talking naval battles with archers and boarding parties, port blockades and even storming the beaches - again, tying in to the idea of sieges I mentioned in an earlier thread.
And this is assuming we can travel along any body of water. For example, would marshlands exist? How easy would it be for even a raft to travel around that region? And what about rapids? Would it make traversing some rivers impossible without higher skills (probably in labouring, since that's what I would most associate sailing a ship with), and only then in one specific direction? There's a lot that could be done with water, and I've only touched on some basic stuff.
Just my two cents to add on. Feel free to elaborate if you can think of anything else!
Firstly, if we're going to need to drink water to survive - and walking around in a desert, water is going to be gold for everyone - then there needs to be something we can drink from that won't take up half our inventory space like the barrels of water do. We need flasks, or even metal / wood cups would work, something we can use to hold water and drink with (I guess we could drink with our hands, but that's only going to work if we already have water near us). There also needs to be a good system to help replenish the water we consume. Taking some from the environment might work, but you'd likely have to have a river or well nearby - unless, say, you could carry a building material on you and build yourself a simple water collection system. It could either extract from trees, or even from the weather (that depends on if weather is also going to be a part of the game).
Secondly, bodies of water sound like they're going to exist. How big these things will be isn't quite known at this time, but living near water could really help expand parts of the game to focus specifically on water, including:
- fishing: another means to acquire food. Simple enough.
- waterfalls: not so much a practical game application, but waterfalls would just look pretty. Might even have one or two that have a small cave behind it, perfect for hiding or getting your party together for some needed relaxation and drink. Or it could be bad if, say, you find yourself going along the wrong river path...
- advanced machines: oddly enough, depending on how advanced some machines might get, they need something to help them keep cool, and water would be that right thing. For example, some drilling machines require water, or else they over-heat and become unusable. That would give a lot more emphasis on just how important water is, and if it's located in a scarce area like a desert, well, some people might be willing to raise a ruckus over where wells are located.
- boats and ports: probably the biggest potential for sources of water. Even if some rivers can't support the size of a big boat, you could just as easily build a small raft, in which you can move around the rivers as decent transportation. Ports would be places to safely store a boat - since doing so in the wild, anyone can potentially steal it for themselves while you're off doing something else. They'd also add a lot to settlements, potentially opening them up to trade routes and even fuel expansions as citizens would flock to these places with access to key locations. One of the biggest potentials I can see for these, though, is of course around military conflict. Suppose you're being chased by bandits in an intense river chase, shooting arrows at them to kill them (or the reverse!), or you and your massive crew spot an enemy ship to attack and plunder. On an even more grand scale, we could be talking naval battles with archers and boarding parties, port blockades and even storming the beaches - again, tying in to the idea of sieges I mentioned in an earlier thread.
And this is assuming we can travel along any body of water. For example, would marshlands exist? How easy would it be for even a raft to travel around that region? And what about rapids? Would it make traversing some rivers impossible without higher skills (probably in labouring, since that's what I would most associate sailing a ship with), and only then in one specific direction? There's a lot that could be done with water, and I've only touched on some basic stuff.
Just my two cents to add on. Feel free to elaborate if you can think of anything else!
.
.