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TheTrickster

Terraforming with containers - and some related suggestions, too.

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I know that this has been suggested before, but we still don't have it so here it is again.

 

Digging is a pain and could be improved hugely with a few key tweaks.

 

Get rid of "dig" = "dig-to-inventory"  Done - Yay!

Dig to pile should be default ahead of dig to inventory, just for starters.  I know this suggestion is usually met with "but keybind" which is okay as far as it goes, but let's face it is still a work-around.  My preference is to activate the tool, select the object and then use the numbered action button.  Partly this reduces the need for multiple binds because binds aren't context-sensitive whereas the numbered buttons are (3 could be forage, cut down, mine, dig depending on the context whereas binding would require 4 different keybinds).  It is also more intuitive because it is displayed in the UI.  The default action should be the most generally useful, and digging to inventory is not that.

 

Dig to containers when they are available

Having established that dig-to-pile should be the default, I am going to go right ahead and say it shouldn't be the default.🙂  It should be the default when you have no container within reach.  If you have a container within reach of you, then the dirt/sand etc should go into the container. This one change, which has been in pretty much every WU server I have tried, has allowed me to really dig into terrain modification (see what I did there?) on WU.  Unfortunately it doesn't translate to WO, where the current setup weighs me down.  If "within reach of you" is too hard a mechanic to manage, perhaps "either on your target tile or on your current tile" would be easier.

 

"Drop" from containers or piles

When leveling, dirt should be grabbed from inventory, the tile you are leveling, tiles within reach (or your current tile if that is too difficult), containers within reach (ditto re difficult).   This would remove the fiddly and somewhat gratuitous extra actions of constantly "loading" your inventory (which as you progress can also involve a LOT of frustrating treacle-walking).

 

In my thinking, carts and wagons count as containers.  I am not suggesting digging while driving large carts and wagons, but just accessing them as containers (and their nested containers).  If you are dragging a cart, of course you should be able to dig etc.  Actually, that could be an implementation of leading hitched animals to keep the cart or wagon close.  Just keep them draggable & when animals are hitched use the animals in the max speed calculation (i.e. you wouldn't drag faster than your walk speed, but you wouldn't be slowed down either because it's really the hitched animals doing the dragging).

 

Believe me, I have shoveled a lot of material and the FIRST preference is from the container (trailer, ute) directly to the target site if you can get close enough.  then from container to a pile and then to the site.  You don't load up a backpack or satchel full of dirt and walk around with it.

 

Barrows

While typing this, I realized we need another "cart",  smaller than a small cart. With a small cart, if you have a body strength of 30 and are carrying 100kq on your person, your maximum draggable cart load is over 1,000kg.  That would be over 50dirts, but since it is capped at 40 the load in that case would be 800kg.  Admittedly, dragging that would be uber slow, but doable.  A smaller container for "pottering" could be useful, especially for newbies.  Make its capacity 1/4 that of a cart for instance.  10 dirts, 200kg.   More than most can carry for a while (for me, once regular inventory and attire are factored in, it is roughly twice what I can currently carry of this kind of raw material) and also importantly, it can be moved about at a much higher walking speed.  Make it easier to craft than a small cart, not lockable but maybe able to be carried when empty (like a BSB in that regard). 

 

For material... hmm... 1 small wheel, 1 small nails, 2 shafts, 5 planks?  More material and complexity than a bucket, less than a cart.  Less likely to litter up the landscape because it can't be locked (it's not a storage container but a tool) so it is either secured away unseen or able to be moved. It's an open container so no damage protection for contents.

 

Crafting from containers

An ability to open a container and directly performing crafting actions on the contents.  I am thinking of bulk items, like bricks from shards.  Currently I take as many shards as I can, combine them in the crafting window and make bricks.  I then move the bricks from inventory to the container and repeat, and repeat, and repeat.  It would be much simpler to open the container, add "stone shards" to the crafting window from there and create bricks, which appear in the same container.  I know the unit size could be a problem: 20 kilo shards unit, 16.5 needed to make a 15kg brick.  As the container inventory would update anyway upon creation, I think that containers that auto-combine would not have a problem with this (i.e. the last one is always the partial, whereas the first one is the default active - I think).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by TheTrickster
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I have always been for the notion of using dirt from containers when leveling upwards or putting it into containers when leveling down or digging for that matter and being able to drop dirt from containers as well (at the rate of as many actions you have per second up to the designated number or run out of stamina) having such a feature will make terraforming a lot more smooth and enjoyable for anyone who does any kind of giant long project

As for the keybinds yes dig_to_pile most def should be the default action instead of dig itself that difference between mining and woodcutting going straight to ground where as dig doesnt has always bugged me even after dig_to_pile was added and i swapped my keybind to that just the fact that its a thing is weird

Digging while a passenger on a large cart would make a lot of sense or while standing next to it into the crates that are loaded into the cart(and wagon in this case) it makes a hell of a lot more sense then shoving 20kg into your pockets

1 thing though swap from container to bsb/crate only with it favoring crates over bsb's(unless the object weight is less then 20 eg tar clay and so on then favor bsb)

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Big fan of most of it.  Not sure if the wheel barrow is needed, but not a bad idea. The rest is a huge QoL improvement.  I really enjoy teraforming to and from containers on WU.  So much less clicky than here in WO.  Adding in the craft to and from containers would be amazing.  There was a time when I thought it was fun to see how many alts I could run simultaneously making bricks, planks, mortar, etc.  Now my fingers and mouse hand just get horribly fatigued.  I have a ton of construction projects party done because I dread making more supplies.

 

For those that really love constant clicking, maybe devs could make a mouse & keyboard rapid clicking mini game, designed to maximize mouse and finger joint wear.

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+1 . Especially the bit of crafting from containers.

 

It's silly to do so many actions to make 20 bricks for example.

 

1. Open container.

2. Drag rockshards to inventory.

3. Combine rockshards.

4. Open crafting window.

5. Drag rockshards into crafting window

6. Drag chisel there.

7. Begin spamming bricks.

 

 

THis could be simplified to.

 

1. Open container.

2. Open crafting window.

3. Drag rockshards from container to crafting window.

4. Drag chisel into crafting window

5. Begin spamming bricks.

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With the new roadmap out, I really hope crafting from containers gets some love.  

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this would be great,  I often wondered why there wasnt any wheelbarrows or garden trolleys in the game.

 

+1

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