Crafting quilted cloth clothing

[rla1974]

The crafting component of the game is very engaging.  The only craftable clothing have aand the balance of the work involved towards crafting the wolf, deer and rabbit skin clothing makes sense given the stat bonuses. It would make sense to me to include additional options in craftable clothing. 

Sewing together multiple layers of cloth into a quilted garment would make for suitable protection in a pinch.  Add in a layer plastic sheeting, either from a tarp or plastic garbage bags and the wind resistance would be fairly substantial too.  The time investment should be comparable with the animal hide garments and it should require one or two whole sewing kits (are there plans for spools of thread in loot drops) and a heap of cloth (30 - 50).

At lower difficulties, the ease with which you can find heavy-duty winter clothing would not make this worth the effort, but in stalker or interloper one could find themselves unable to find a decent coat quickly.  The temperature would make it dangerous to try long outdoor journeys without some kind of protection.

[Muk_Pile]

+1 for crafting improvised clothing from just cloth

Crafting simple outer layer garments (e.g. parkas and cloaks) from spare blankets or several piece of cloth would be a helpful mechanic to have in game.  However, they shouldn't be nearly as good as higher tear clothing and would only be a viable option for when we are first starting out in a new game.  Here's what I think some garments would look like:

• Improvised Parka
  • A simple outer-layer garment that provides some protection from the elements.
  • 1.1 lbs / 0.5 kg
  • +2^oF / +1^oC Temperature
  • +1^oF / +0.5^oC Wind Resistance
  • Crafted with 5 cloth in 4 hours
  • Can be harvest for 4 cloth
• Improvised Cloak
  • A full body-length outer-layer garment that provides some protection from the elements.
  • 2.2 lbs / 1 kg
  • +2^oF / +1^oC Temperature
  • +2^oF / +1^oC Wind Resistance
  • Crafted with 10 cloth in 8 hours
  • Can be harvested for 8 cloth
• Blanket
  • A simple wool blanket that provides poor bedding for sleeping on the ground.
  • 0.66 lbs / 0.3 kg
  • Up to +4^oF / +2^oC Temperature
  • Can be taken from beds, which downgrades them to bare mattresses
  • Can be added to beds, which upgrades them to furnished beds
  • Crafted with 4 cloth in 2 hours
  • Can be harvest for 3 cloth
• Basic Bed Roll
  • A light-weight kit that provides adequate bedding for sleeping on the ground.  Identical to standard bed roll currently in game.
  • 2.2 lbs / 1 kg
  • Up to +9^oF / +5^oC Temperature
  • Crafted with 12 cloth in 12 hours or 4 blankets in 6 hours
  • Can be harvested for 10 cloth
• Superior Bed Roll
  • A heavier bed roll that provides improved bedding for sleeping on the ground.
  • 4.4 lbs / 2 kg
  • Up to +18^oF / +10^oC Temperature
  • Crafted with 16 cloth in 16 hours or 8 blankets in 12 hours
  • Can also be upgraded from Basic Bed Roll with 4 blankets in 6 hours
  • Can be harvested for 12 cloth

[Jebru]

Definitely agree with the thoughts here. I would add that there should be ways to make hats and scarves, since we don't have any crafting options for those at the moment. Both of those would be very easy items to craft. 

[cekivi]

I don't think we should be able to craft superior bedrolls due to game balancing especially for interloper difficulty. However, I've long been a proponent of being able to make a simple, improvised bedroll such as your blanket listed above. Add in the ability to harvest beds for cloth (if you're feeling crazy) and presto - one neat new mechanic

[Wastelander]

I agree with the idea solely on the fact that it does seem way more intuitive to the average person than the current way of doing things. Making clothes from animal hide isn't wrong, god forbid, and it's fun, but using an already ubiquitous material one can quickly learn to work with just seems more natural for mid-game.

[cekivi]

1 minute ago, Wastelander said:

I agree with the idea solely on the fact that it does seem way more intuitive to the average person than the current way of doing things. Making clothes from animal hide isn't wrong, god forbid, and it's fun, but using an already ubiquitous material one can quickly learn to work with just seems more natural for mid-game.

Good point. Homemade cloth clothing would help bridge the gap between commercial clothes and the animal hide clothes.

[Wastelander]

Just now, cekivi said:

Good point. Homemade cloth clothing would help bridge the gap between commercial clothes and the animal hide clothes.

Precisely what I was going for  Fur clothes should be the late-game option when you're slowly but surely running out of cloth, which admittedly sounds very late game to me  I love the fur clothes, no question, but while necessity is the mother of invention, scarcity is surely it's deadbeat father who only comes to help in the last second, so using materials easily at hand should probably take priority.

The question of how crafting cloth-clothes would be in any way preferable to repairing existing clothes remains though. Personally, I think cloth should be divided into several categories: Actual cloth, be it from clothes or towels or other sources, fillings like douns and syntethic fillings and windbreakers/insulators, which are lightweight but mostly windtight synthetic fabrics.

[cekivi]

@Muk_Pile's suggestion would actually work quite well here. You don't need to craft clothing replacements per se. You just need to add a cloak and parka (simple shell clothing) to boost your overall warmth by a small amount as you wait for your animal hides to cure.

[Wastelander]

True (and damned be my limited attention span).