Select a weapon system

[Tbone555]

This... mixed feelings on this.

I mean I love the concept. but I don't like the way it's being implemented. I've played this game for going on 3 years now, and I'm so used to mashing the A button when a wolf jumps me, even before the struggle begins. I've gotten so used to that quick reaction that I start spamming A without even noticing the "select weapon" screen.

I almost always just pick whatevers first just because I mash the button too soon. then end up having to load my game back, because I'm a huge wildlife lover and refuse to needlessly kill any animal. I just did so twice in a row because I kept accidentally picking my knife. making it to where different weapons do different types of damage (scare, slash, puncture) has opened up so many possibilities. I got tired of always being forced to kill the wolves.

But anyway. my suggestion is this: let us set our weapon BEFORE the struggle instead of during. that way, if I'm sneaking around a wolf and anticipating danger, I can preset my weapon to the crowbar and not accidentally pull my knife and stab it.

[Dirmagnos]

A bit different reason, but same notion. Would be nice to just have "Primary" button in inventory by items that can be used as weapons when fighting wolves. There is plenty of space in UI.

[Tbone555]

24 minutes ago, Dirmagnos said:

A bit different reason, but same notion. Would be nice to just have "Primary" button in inventory by items that can be used as weapons when fighting wolves. There is plenty of space in UI.

Agreed. the only other set in stone weapon is the revolver, as shown off on the road map. but even then there's plenty of space left

[Wasteland Watcher]

 OK, I noticed that knife is puncture, assuming the hatchet is slash, but what is for scaring? 

 And by the way, which one kills wolves the fastest?  No change from before, right?  I've just been sticking to the good ol' tried-and-true knife.  With good results

 

[chuckie]

Yes, it does't look to me that the damage taken and struggle time is lower from puncture to scare. Was eaten defending with a prybar, well rested and 100% condition. Guess it's more a lottery than a matter of choice.

[Tbone555]

5 hours ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

 OK, I noticed that knife is puncture, assuming the hatchet is slash, but what is for scaring? 

 And by the way, which one kills wolves the fastest?  No change from before, right?  I've just been sticking to the good ol' tried-and-true knife.  With good results

 

Pry bar is scare. I'm not sure what hammer is, probably "smash"

51 minutes ago, chuckie said:

Yes, it does't look to me that the damage taken and struggle time is lower from puncture to scare. Was eaten defending with a prybar, well rested and 100% condition. Guess it's more a lottery than a matter of choice.

In my experiences, the fastest thing to fend off a wolf, depending on item degradation and aggression of said wolf (the wolves on the game have random aggression levels, if the wiki is still correct) is the knife. the Pry bar is the longest, however you won't kill poor wolfy in the process. I don't use the knife unless I'm planning to eat it.

[Wasteland Watcher]

35 minutes ago, Tbone555 said:

Pry bar is scare. I'm not sure what hammer is, probably "smash"

In my experiences, the fastest thing to fend off a wolf, depending on item degradation and aggression of said wolf (the wolves on the game have random aggression levels, if the wiki is still correct) is the knife. the Pry bar is the longest, however you won't kill poor wolfy in the process. I don't use the knife unless I'm planning to eat it.

 Thanks very much for the info  Any wolf that attacks becomes food.  And maybe a rug too.  Prior the save wipe I'd skin every single wolf that I fought and have it's hide covering my cabin floor so I could walk around with bare feet

 

[shade_grey]

I've had an idea like this from way back, since GELtaz's video where the challenge was to live with Fluffy for 5 (ish) days, but since the current system back then seems to have worked out well enough, I never really had the inclination to share it in the forums... until the recent changes.

It really is simple. In every possible hand to hand weapon, add an option in the actions sub-menu to holster the weapon on your belt.

It would look something like this:

When you have a sidearm holstered, an indicator will appear on the top left corner of it in your backpack like so:

[Ruruwawa]

9 hours ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

 OK, I noticed that knife is puncture, assuming the hatchet is slash, but what is for scaring? 

 And by the way, which one kills wolves the fastest?  No change from before, right?  I've just been sticking to the good ol' tried-and-true knife.  With good results

I tested this a LOT in test_branch (50+ struggles), but not in live.  So take my comments with a grain a salt, I don't know if anything has changed.

In test_branch, the fastest to slowest way to end the struggle was:

1. Hammer = Scare quickly.  The wolf scampers off pretty quickly so you don't take much damage.
2. Hatchet = slash.  Lots of upfront damage.  The wolf might run a little ways before it dies.  If you need a kill, this is the fastest.
3. Knife = puncture.  Takes a while for the wolf to bleed out, but it did die every time.
4. Prybar = Scare slowly.  Hard to say whether this is any more effective than bare hands.  Expect to the struggle to last a while using this option.

The damaging weapons (hatchet and knife) took more wear per struggle (4 - 9%, RNG).  The scare weapons (hammer, prybar) took wear in the 1 - 3% range.  I tested improvised tools a little too; they seemed to be equal in effectiveness to the manufactured tool of the same type.

I think Hammer does some minor blunt damage too.   I fought the same wolf a few times in a row with the hammer (since I wasn't taking much damage).  On the fifth struggle, it just keeled over dead.  

[Miniwizard]

Love the idea of setting a 'priority' for certain item types.

Priority tool for wolf fights - if set, becomes the first item in the selectable list / default item to use. Perhaps even removing the 'weapon choice' for players if a priority item is set, and just taking them straight into the wolf-wrestling. Clearing the priority item would then bring back the selection list at the start of future wolf fights.

Priority lightsource - if set, becomes the first one pulled out when using the hotkey '1' and guaranteed top spot on the radial menu.

Priority weapon - if set, becomes the first weapon drawn when pressing '2' and guaranteed top spot on the radial menu.

Priority decoy item - if set, becomes the priority item dropped when pressing '3'

Also love the concept of putting it in the 'actions' submenu for items that are applicable for prioritisation. (light source items, food items, weapons, wolf-fight usable tools)

Perhaps would have to have the 'priority setting' automatically cleared if the item was dropped or removed from inventory. Otherwise, setting a new item to be a 'priority item' would mean searching through all items in the world (of the same priority type) to clear the other's setting before setting the new item - rather than simply scanning the inventory items to change the setting.

While the new radial menu does allow for fairly quick and precise use of a particular item, I still find the 1-4 hotkeys are much more efficient and simple to use - even if I have to constantly cycle through items by pressing the key a few times. Preferred decoy item selection is also something I feel has been on many people's wishlist for quite a long while, and it would fit into such a system in a matching way.

[Dirmagnos]

Yes, priority and equipping order options would be grand.