Seasonal Offerings & Food Preservation.

[TinnedEpic]

So this is essentially 2 ideas in one, and fair warning it's pretty complex.

 

Explanation:

Increasingly, discussion has been going on about seasons and their major role in PZ. I've covered a minor topic before discussing the implementation of fruit trees which lead me to research the idea of Kentucky having a seasonal cycle of foods. I re-watching David Attenborough's "The opportunists" and how some animals are driven by a very strict seasonal cycle. Specifically coming to mind is the Grizzly Bear which spends it's entire life taking advantage of opportunities, following 1 big event after another until it's fat enough to survive winter.

 

This is what my thread it about, a carefully defined seasonal cycle that makes available a whole succession of foods that a player can live off. So I spent some time tracking down foods that become available in different seasons in kentucky.

 

However it's not nearly good enough to live off the land on a seasonal cycle, late autumn & winter brings with it extremely hard times with no food sources available. So Players need a way to preserve food, build stockpiles for winter. With luck a player will have stockpiled enough food to allow themselves to survive the coming winter. If not, they face starvation and will be forced to desperately scrounge food from a picked city or try find an NPC to raid food from.

 

Seasonal Offerings

As the seasons progress from spring to summer to autumn to winter an array of different foods could become available. A Succession of foods which not only drive you to exploit as many different food sources as possible, in many different ways, but will also bring other animals out to play. The best way to describe what I mean is to go through each of the individual seasons and describe which foods are avaliable and for how long.

 

Spring -
A time of plenty, spring has the largest quantity of food however only in the later months. This is kind of the season when plants are flourishing again and starting back up. Additionally this causes animals to return from the migrations south. So while plants are still flourishing, animals may be your source of food.

 

 

What becomes available for eating?
- Lemons

- Squirrel

- Snow Geese

- Deer

- Rabbits

 

Rare but still available:

 - Fish

 - Snakes (Snakes not 100% active in the cooler weather)

 - Deer (Early Spring)

- Rats*

 

Lemons

Time: Early spring

Lemon trees flower early and bear fruit early spring. This is a good food reserve that can start you off after your long hard winter. But as previously suggested in my previous Fruit Trees post Fruit trees can be found out the back of some houses and could bear anywhere between 5-10 pieces of fruit. In order to get to this source of food you'll need to travel into zombie infested territory.

 

Squirrels

Time: Entire spring

Through this entire Spring Squirrels are at their most active. This is their mating season. Nuff said...  Squirrels are found all year round, but are rarely seen outside of spring and autumn.

 

Squirrel Meat

Raw: -25 hunger

Cooked: -50 hunger

Burnt: -6 hunger

Rotton: -12 hunger

 

Snow Geese

Time: 1 week, Mid Spring
Snow geese breed up north in the arctic tundra during summer and in winter migrate south where they spend the season grazing in southern regions towards texas/mexico. However their migration path takes them past Kentucky where they stop for short period each year. Geese nest in colonies, their fantastic sources of food, but their only around for 1 week before they move on. Snow Geese meat is comparable to chicken.

 

Geese Breast

Raw: -40 hunger

Cooked: -80 hunger

Burnt: -10 hunger

Rotton: -20 hunger

 

Deer

Time: Late Spring
Deer are full time residents but are more commonly seen in the late spring and summer months. Deer meat is comparable to steak. Deer are big animals and when hunting them a hit isn't necessarily a kill.

 

Deer Meat

Raw: -40 hunger

Cooked: -80 hunger

Burnt: -10 hunger

Rotton: -20 hunger

 

Rabbits

Time: Entire Autumn

Rabbits are active in the spring now with the warmer climates and since snakes aren't too active yet or having come out of hibernation. They take advantage of this time for breeding and grazing. Rabbit meat is comparable to squirrels.

 

Rabbit Meat

Raw: -25 hunger

Cooked: -50 hunger

Burnt: -6 hunger

Rotton: -12 hunger

 

 

Summer -

 

 

What becomes available for eating?
- Apples

- Oranges

- Plums

- Cherries

- Fish

- Snakes

- Deer

 

Rare but still available:

- Lemons (if they bloom late)

- Fish

- Squirrels (population hindered by snakes)

- Rabbits (population hindered by snakes)

- Rats*

 

Apples

Time: Late Summer

Apple trees bare fruit towards the end of summer and start of autumn. Apples are already implemented so no explanation needed there. But as previously suggested in my previous Fruit Trees post Fruit trees can be found out the back of some houses and could bear anywhere between 5-10 pieces of fruit. In order to get to this source of food you'll need to travel into zombie infested territory.

 

Oranges

Time: Early/Mid Summer

Orange trees bare fruit at the start of summer, unlike their citrus cousins the lemons. Lemons are already implemented so no explanation needed there. But as previously suggested in my previous Fruit Trees post Fruit trees can be found out the back of some houses and could bear anywhere between 5-10 pieces of fruit. In order to get to this source of food you'll need to travel into zombie infested territory.

 

Plums

Time: Mid/Late Summer

Plums are comparable to apples in hunger reduction. But as previously suggested in my previous Fruit Trees post Fruit trees can be found out the back of some houses and could bear anywhere between 5-10 pieces of fruit. In order to get to this source of food you'll need to travel into zombie infested territory.

 

Plums

-15 hunger

 

Cherries

Time: Entire Summer

Cherry trees produce a large crop of cherries each summer. Cherries come in vast numbers because they only restore -5 hunger each. But as previously suggested in my previous Fruit Trees post Fruit trees can be found out the back of some houses and could bear anywhere between 10-25 pieces of fruit. In order to get to this source of food you'll need to travel into zombie infested territory.

 

Cherries

-5 hunger

 

Fish (Salmon)

Time: 2 weeks, Late Summer
Fish are always available, but increasingly in the 2 weeks leading to summers end their abundant. This is when they migrate upstream to spawn. In this time fish are plentiful. It will need a new tool, a fishing rod, possibly loot-able and craft-able from basic materials. Fishing in streams takes time and patience normally (you'd be lucky to catch even 1 fish a day), but in the fishing season you can expect to catch anywhere from 2-4 a day.

 

Snakes

Time: Entire Summer
Snakes can be found in long grass/roadways throughout summer. They hibernate through winter and take their time waking up. Snakes are deadly, it's probably best not to hunt snakes as if you are bitten you will be poisoned and most likely will die. However if you do kill one it's meat is edible, what meat there is that it. Snake meat isn't as nutritious as normal meat. Snakes also hunt squirrels and rabbits, thus in the summer months squirrels and rabbits aren't as commonly seen.

 

Snake Meat

Raw: -15 hunger

Cooked: -30 hunger

Burnt: -4 hunger

Rotton: -7 hunger

 

Deer

Time: Entire Summer
Deer are full time residents but are more commonly seen in the late spring and summer months. Deer meat is comparable to steak. Deer are big animals and when hunting them a hit isn't necessarily a kill.

 

Deer Meat

Raw: -40 hunger

Cooked: -80 hunger

Burnt: -10 hunger

Rotton: -20 hunger

 

 

Autumn -

Autumn is the berry and fruit season. It's in autumn that plants finally shed themselves of their seeds and prepare for the hardships of winter. During this season wildlife is also stocking up for winter, this is the season of preparation where a lot of long lasting foods become available. However it's a good idea to grab it quickly because mid autumn these sources stop producing foods and then begins that hardest time of the year.

 

What becomes available for eating?
- Acorns

- Apples

- Berries

- Squirrels

- Rabbits

- Deer

 

Rare but still available:

- Oranges (if they bloom late)

- Plums (if they bloom late)

- Cherries (if they bloom late)

- Fish

- Snakes (Snakes not 100% active in the cooler weather, many preparing for hibernation)

- Deer (late Autumn)

- Rats*

 

Acorns

Time: Entire Autumn

Acorns are surprising not only edible, but very nutritious (and from what I've read, tasty). Not only that they don't expire and can be used as a food reserve that will last all winter. However due to their size they probably wont restore anything more than -5 hunger individually. Come spring acorns will spring to life and start using up their food supply in preparation for sprouting. So this food source will not last any longer than the coming of spring.

Acorns are tough nuts, a new item like a nut cracker might be needed in order to crack one open. Acorns can be found around Oak trees.

 

Acorn

-5 hunger

 

Nut Cracker

Used to crack nuts shells open

 

Apples

Time: Early Autumn

Apple trees bare fruit towards the end of summer and start of autumn. Apples are already implemented so no explanation needed there. But as previously suggested in my previous Fruit Trees post Fruit trees can be found out the back of some houses and could bear anywhere between 5-10 pieces of fruit. In order to get to this source of food you'll need to travel into zombie infested territory.

 

Berries

Time: Entire Autumn

Berry bushes are extremely common and flourish right through the entirety of Autumn. An individual berry doesn't restore much hunger. Once winter comes, the temperature drops too low for bushes to support berries and thus they drop.

 

Squirrels

Time: Entire Autumn

Through this entire Autumn Squirrels are out foraging for Acorns. Squirrels might even steal acorns from acorn trees limiting your acorn harvest. Their a good food source however and cooked provide you with a good amount of meat as during this time their fattening themselves up for winter. Once winter rolls around their rarely seen out and about. Squirrels are found all year round, but are rarely seen outside of spring and autumn.

 

Squirrel Meat

Raw: -25 hunger

Cooked: -50 hunger

Burnt: -6 hunger

Rotton: -12 hunger

 

Snow Geese

Time: 1 week, Mid Autumn
Snow geese breed up north in the arctic tundra during summer and in winter migrate south where they spend the season grazing in southern regions towards texas/mexico. However their migration path takes them past Kentucky where they stop for short period each year. Geese nest in colonies, their fantastic sources of food, but their only around for 1 week before they move on. Snow Geese meat is comparable to chicken.

 

Geese Breast

Raw: -40 hunger

Cooked: -80 hunger

Burnt: -10 hunger

Rotton: -20 hunger

 

Rabbits

Time: Entire Autumn

Through this entire Autumn Rabbits are abundant as snakes becomes less active in the cooler weather and eventually go back into hibernation. Rabbits use this time to get some last minute grazing in to fatten themselves up.

 

Rabbit Meat

Raw: -25 hunger

Cooked: -50 hunger

Burnt: -6 hunger

Rotton: -12 hunger

 

Deer

Time: Early Autumn
Deer are full time residents but are more commonly seen in the late spring and summer months. Deer meat is comparable to steak. Deer are big animals and when hunting them a hit isn't necessarily a kill.

 

Deer Meat

Raw: -40 hunger

Cooked: -80 hunger

Burnt: -10 hunger

Rotton: -20 hunger

 

 

Winter -

Winter is the season of hardship, barely any foods are available. Some animals may remain, however they will be extremely rare. Every food bearing plant has now shed it's leaves and shut down for the winter, to prevent frost damage. During this time the players will just have to sit back and try ride it out on whatever food sources they have left, and make the most of any opportunity they come across. Really the entire year up till now has been preparation for this moment. Crops have an extreme amount of difficulty growing, thus if you don't wanna starve to death you had better stockpile as much food as possible.

 

What becomes available for eating?
- Fuck all....

 

Rare but still available:

- Rabbits

- Squirrels

- Fish

- Deer

- Rats*

 

Brown Rat*

Time: All year, rarely seen
Brown Rats are one of the most adaptable animals. Their elusive, small and don't really contain much meat. Eating one makes one feel bad as it's an act of desperation to need to eat one. They dont contain much nutriment and can't be cooked.

 

 

Food Preservation

Late Autumn, Winter and Early Spring are the hardest times to survive. Mainly because food is just starting to drop off the menu, no new foods become available and when they do start blooming again they won't be ready to eat for a while. In winter animals migrate further south to continue feeding in the normal means. What does this mean for players? That sustainable foods are no longer available and their gonna have to try survive with what they got. Of course it's not good having a stockpile of food if it's gonna go bad within 2 weeks or less. You need some way of preserving your supplies.

 

But power to fridges only lasts 1 month, it's not going to help you in anyway during winter. Naturally as the temperature dips uninsulated foods will benefit from a semi-cooled state. But without proper preservation techniques or an abundance of long life foods it's unlikely your food will last long enough to keep you alive through the hard winter months. So how does a player preserve foods without a refrigerator?

 

With an ingenious idea, a natural refrigerator. Animals of all kinds exploit them to keep themselves active throughout the winter months. Beavers use lakes to refrigerate wood, foxes and other dogs bury their food to sustain them through hard times.

 

Food rots according to 3 factors; Temperature exposure, light exposure & oxygen exposure. *shouldn't be incorporated into the game, just a fyi thingy-ma-doodle o.o*

 

Burial Refrigeration -

Food wrapped in a cloth, towel, plastic bag or container will be able to be buried for later. Burying food is a somewhat modest way of preserving food. The ground underneath the soil cool and stable. Foxes specifically use this method to store food and preserve it during the winter months when hunting isn't so good.

 

- Storing food underground keeps the food cooler and more stable than the outside temperature.

- Storing food underground also cuts it off from a consistent oxygen supply.

- Storing food underground also cuts off all light emissions.

 

In order to create a place to bury your food you need a shovel. Shovels can dig a hole deep enough to store your food. Trowels can't get deep enough to do this.

 

Water Refrigeration -

If you place food in an airtight container you can store food in bodies of water. Food preserves best in water because water temperature is significantly cooler than the outside environment. Beavers use this to keep active throughout winter and it's highly effective, it's in fact one of 7 reasons they build dams.

 

New items needed:

Jars

used to seal food in an airtight container.

 

- Storing food underwater keeps the food significantly cooler than the outside temperature.

- Storing food underwater also cuts it off from any oxygen supply.

- Storing food underwater also limits the amount of light getting through to the food.

 

Overall Storing food underwater is a good means of preserving food, however it's conditional. You need a body of water to preserve it and an airtight container otherwise the water itself will soak into your food and spoil it. It's somewhat more difficult than burying your food but it's much better at preserving your food.

 

Bodies of water could include lakes or rivers, or even a barrel of water like a rain collector. However it has to be a deep pool of water. Anything shallow will not preserve food.

 

Salt

Kentucky doesn't have any salt water lakes or access to the ocean. So salt sources are pretty scarce, but salting foods can help preserve them. Especially if you plan to bury them or dunk them in water. This has been suggested before.

 

-Salt can be found in restaurants and houses.

 

 

Obviously portable generators are planned for the future, and refrigerators will become plausible through winter. Refrigerators are better than any of the methods suggested above, however generators require fuel and since it's a finite resource it's not really plausible that you can run a generator indefinitely. That and generators are loud. So naturally this alternative has it's ups and downs, while it might not be as good as refrigeration it's still plausible enough to use once all power has gone out.

 

_______________________________________________

 

I know there have been similar suggestions/topics brought up in the past, if I missed a major thread forgive me I did start this post last night at 2am. Not all information is 100% accurate, most of it was adapted to suit game-play rather than realism. I've tried to keep it as realistic as possible however.

 

Idea came from comments in: http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/1814-fruit-trees/

Another awesome Idea for Seasons : http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/2242-seasons-affecting-both-players-and-zombies-in-a-different-way/

[Rathlord]

I think deer should be around during all seasons. They certainly are in real life- they aren't really migratory animals.

Squirrels, too, are around year round.

Should just be more skittish during the colder months. You also missed rabbits year round, which is a prime food source and would probably make up as much as 50 % of my meals in The wild given my current skill set in real life.

[CylonBookworm]

Not entirely sure about Kentucky, but down here around Nashville (Tennessee) you can often find gigantic vultures during the spring/summer months. Had a pack that staked out my house for 3 weeks, they dragged some big roadkill off the road and into my driveway, much to my horror.

Something else that'd be possible, in my opinion, is corn. There are several large farms in the area, and depending on when exactly the outbreak occurs you may find that farmers have just planted their crop, so you'd have a period of time where you could fairly easily rake in a bunch of food, as long as you could reach the farms.

[TinnedEpic]

I'll adjust it . I sorta wanna split up the animals so their not all in the same months however. Think of it like "they are most seen in these times", they are ofcourse still there just in that month their not often seen. I tried to time it with real life happenings in each animals lives. For example the squirrel is seen on spring and autumn because of it's mating season and acorn season. Deer I wasn't sure if they were migratory or not, I just went off an assumption. Rabbits I did forget and are a great idea, I'll add those immediately.

 

Geese I know rest for a short time each year between flying to their breeding grounds, but they never stay in 1 place so they are like a seasonal opportunity to get more food. like fish, fish can be caught all season round but once a year during spawning they swarm is immense numbers which makes fishing an opportunity. Rabbits are good, I'll add them in there probably on par with squirrels in terms of meat -30 hunger.

 

Reason I design the suggestion like this is to keep the player moving from one source to the next, to keep it fresh rather than routinizing the act of hunting where every animal is available in sufficient quantity through spring, summer, autumn. Same with plants, each plant blooms at a certain time each year, so the player is forced to move from one source to the next. This also helps the player keep track of what time of year it is, if acorns are falling and squirrels are more common the player knows that it's autumn and winter is on it's way, 3 months to go. When acorns stop dropping and berries stop producing, winter has arrived. Once the first lemon trees start blooming you can tell spring is on it's way, then when animals star becoming more common you know spring has arrived and you survived the long hard winter.

 

I mean this very long term game-play xD but there are people who get there and this is just a nice way to help keep the game changing for them.

 

 

Edit: Added Rats and Rabbits, Fixed Deer .

 

Not entirely sure about Kentucky, but down here around Nashville (Tennessee) you can often find gigantic vultures during the spring/summer months. Had a pack that staked out my house for 3 weeks, they dragged some big roadkill off the road and into my driveway, much to my horror.

Something else that'd be possible, in my opinion, is corn. There are several large farms in the area, and depending on when exactly the outbreak occurs you may find that farmers have just planted their crop, so you'd have a period of time where you could fairly easily rake in a bunch of food, as long as you could reach the farms.

Not sure how vultures would work in the game or if their even hunt-able, but corn sounds interesting. I'll leave it out though as I haven't really covered much on farming here.

[CylonBookworm]

Oh! As far as geese go, I actually have some semi-applicable experience. Kentucky/Tennessee is right on their flight path apparently, and assuming you were ready when they migrated in-game then you could probably bag half a dozen pretty easily. The key here is a body of water. I'm hoping there will eventually be ponds & the like in-game, especially around or on the farms. If you position yourself near one of these ponds during the migration, then when the birds come down to rest in the evening/at night, you should be able to get one, maybe two, before the rest of the freak out and fly away. You repeat the process a couple times during the week or two long migration, and you're set for a little bit.


(Used to live on 5 acres out here, with a big pond sort of downhill or down-slope from the back of my house. Geese used it as a pit-stop, and for the week or few weeks they were dropping in at night, you had to stuff a pillow over your head to get any sleep.)


(Hm.... if you have geese, then they'd need an ability similiar to the helicopter, where their squawking prods zombies across the map, and where they make a ruckus at night that has a higher chance of drawing them in)

[Rathlord]

Geese are a great example of a real migratory animal that could be seasonal.

 

I'm not sure making animal populations unrealistic is the right way to go about balance still, though. If the animals are fairly rare, somewhat skittish, etc. you're probably not going to see players living solely off of deer. Hunting isn't easy, and even during mating season when they're a bit more careless getting a kill in time to feed yourself (especially if you don't have any way of preserving your food) is not a guarantee by any means.

 

Keep in mind, also, that if weather and seasons are in another factor when hunting will be exposure to the elements. You may simply not be able to sit and hunt all day because you'd be risking frostbite or heat exhaustion.

 

Fish aren't exactly seasonal, either (for the most part) but that one I could let slide.

 

 

Edit: About the geese, Cylon is right. And during their migratory period, depending on your weaponry, you could bag dozens if not hundreds. If I had a shotgun and an unlimited amount of shells, I could kill more geese than I could find places to put them. They're kinda nasty tasking, though.

[TinnedEpic]

lol true but meat does expire. So you can hunt a bunch of geese but their meat will only last you for bout a week or 2 at best. Not nearly enough to cover the course of winter. I like animals migrations, I couldn't find many in Kentucky however. I mean I know salmon do migrate upstream to spawn.... just don't think it happens in kentucky... So that's an inaccurate fictional part xD.

 

Like when I say animals are in season you might see 1 animal a day, something like this. It's still unlikely you'll catch it. So when it's rare to see one it might be once or twice a week you see one. It's almost certain you wont see one in the inner town regardless.

[Rathlord]

You might see some salmon action in KY (not entirely sure) but most of what they have is perch/sunfish/whatever-your-local-name-is or bass.

[TinnedEpic]

well probably not sunfish

 

probably could have a local fish that doesn't migrate that you catch and salmon are only catch-able in that 2-3 week stretch where they migrate.

[Rathlord]

That's an Ocean Sunfish. I'm talking about this:

Also known as brim, bream, perch, bluegills, and any number of other local names.

 

Edit: Citation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrarchidae

[CylonBookworm]

lol true but meat does expire. So you can hunt a bunch of geese but their meat will only last you for bout a week or 2 at best. Not nearly enough to cover the course of winter. I like animals migrations, I couldn't find many in Kentucky however. I mean I know salmon do migrate upstream to spawn.... just don't think it happens in kentucky... So that's an inaccurate fictional part xD.

 

Like when I say animals are in season you might see 1 animal a day, something like this. It's still unlikely you'll catch it. So when it's rare to see one it might be once or twice a week you see one. It's almost certain you wont see one in the inner town regardless.

The solution to this and a bunch of other related issues would be the ability to smoke or salt your meats. Salting wouldn't be too difficult, because nearly every house has that big round can of salt with the little spout that flips up. Gather enough of it and you could make some semi-edible starvation rations, I'm sure. Smoking would be a lot easier, as far as supplies go, but much more bound to attract attention. Then again, if you're smoking meats then you'd have to think the large output as being worth the risk to defend.

Tired of geese annoying the shit out of you in the middle of the night, reducing your sleep quality and attracting zombies? The solution is as easy as two words.

Goose Jerky!

[TinnedEpic]

That's an Ocean Sunfish. I'm talking about this:

Also known as brim, bream, perch, bluegills, and any number of other local names.

 

Edit: Citation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrarchidae

Touche, but I will end this by saying 'My fish is bigger than your fish' .

(it had to be said... He made me do it - - - > )

 

 

 

 

lol true but meat does expire. So you can hunt a bunch of geese but their meat will only last you for bout a week or 2 at best. Not nearly enough to cover the course of winter. I like animals migrations, I couldn't find many in Kentucky however. I mean I know salmon do migrate upstream to spawn.... just don't think it happens in kentucky... So that's an inaccurate fictional part xD.

 

Like when I say animals are in season you might see 1 animal a day, something like this. It's still unlikely you'll catch it. So when it's rare to see one it might be once or twice a week you see one. It's almost certain you wont see one in the inner town regardless.

The solution to this and a bunch of other related issues would be the ability to smoke or salt your meats. Salting wouldn't be too difficult, because nearly every house has that big round can of salt with the little spout that flips up. Gather enough of it and you could make some semi-edible starvation rations, I'm sure. Smoking would be a lot easier, as far as supplies go, but much more bound to attract attention. Then again, if you're smoking meats then you'd have to think the large output as being worth the risk to defend.

Tired of geese annoying the shit out of you in the middle of the night, reducing your sleep quality and attracting zombies? The solution is as easy as two words.

Goose Jerky!

 

Salt is still a finite resource. I mean I'm all for it begin in the game but eventually salt will run out . Smoking is another plausible idea.

[Walther]

So, if we are talking animals and hunting we should also consider the skin and fur or pelt of the animal. Making leather is unrealistic IMO but using the fur for, I dunno, warmth, isolation whatever should be an option shouldnt it?

[Rathlord]

Pelts rot without treatment. I doubt most people would have the know-how to do it.

[TinnedEpic]

That and there is an abundance of clothing options that readily available with more to come. Sewing pelts into effective cloths isn't easy by any means.

[LeoIvanov]

Pelts rot without treatment. I doubt most people would have the know-how to do it.

 

I doubt most people know what is the full recipe to make tea in zomboid either.. Or how to make a proper farm.. I like where your thoughts are heading.

 

Let's totally have this in.

[Walther]

I'm not meaning we should be able to make a trenchgoat (get it ?!) heh, nah seriously. I'm not saying we should be able to craft a real peltjacket, but we could be able to use the pelt for warmth, caveman-style. would do the trick for sure. more like a cloak or a gown than a jacket. and yes, it should rott over time. but I'm no expert on this, cant say what a pelt needs to stay cozy

 

Edit: how about a pelt as a sleeping bolster or padding to go?

[Rathlord]

The problem is, the skin under the hair is going to rot. It's going to smell like shit, it's going to attract flies, carry disease, and all of the hair is going to fall out.

[Walther]

even if you let it dry or, I dunno, treat it with salt or stuff something like that?! I will have to read a little into that...

[TinnedEpic]

Pelts/caveman style jackets/coats I'm not in favour of. Simply put there are plenty of other options for getting warm, wearing half rotting skins with little bits of fat clinging to it isn't the first option that comes to mind (Read 'Hatchet' you'll understand). Atm I'm more incline to just stick to gathering food for animals.

[Walther]

maybe I'm thinking too much into it... I'm just saying that we should maybe be able to get more from an animal than just meat... maybe we find a simple solution for hides or pelts. and if its just a davy crocket hat or something

[CylonBookworm]

*snort* A Davy Crockett hat would be excellent.[/MrBurnsVoice-HandRubbing]

Perhaps you could have the meat from the animal, and then with the left over bits/bones etc. you could have the option of either making a really crappy stew, or using it as bait to catch predators.

[Gammlernoob]

I think the addition of a compost would be a good aspect in combination with seasons and farming and stuff. Throw rotten things on it , care about it once a week and you have a great fertilizer. But it would probably attract rats and mice too ....

[Rathlord]

Compost takes much, much longer than a week.

[CylonBookworm]

Indeed. Leave a row of lawn clippings, (long story involving a pushmower with the bag removed, and 1.5 acres) about 10 feet long and a foot or two wide, in your yard for a month, maybe a month and a half. Fairly good size pile too. After a month or two has gone by, shovel the crap up and you'll find some rich earth underneath you may find easier to plant in. That's just dirt and dried out/dead grass though.

If you want real compost, the stuff that uses decomposed food and animal/human waste? You're talking 12 months there. If not more.