engineering Buildable solutions to technical problems.

[GG Cannon]

As someone who once studied for a bachelor in college towards a field based around electrical and mechanical and another time for construction engineering (even though I dropped out on both), I'm kind of surprised at how little the fields of electrical and mechanical seem to be used for crafting and building currently and how construction besides with wood doesn't even currently exist.

I genuinely believe that an "engineering overhaul" could seriously greatly benefit the game a LOT.

 

1- Research and Development 

• The number 1 thing for this suggestion, that can open a HUGE number of possibilities for the future is this. Whenever you have enough skill level at the needed area, any object of the game should be "researchable".
  
  When disassembling an object, there should be a % probability of you learning how to make that object that also grows based on your skill level.
  For example:
  When disassembling a door, there should be a certain percentage probability for you to learn how to make that door design that grows to 100% when at carpentry level 10. Some door designs would need extra materials &/or tools, like "glass" or "paint" and "paintbrush" in order to build.
   

2- More than just cars

• The field of "Mechanics" in the game seems to currently be related exclusively to cars, but in all honesty, mechanics encompasses a lot more than just automotive vehicles, even though they are a HUGE part of it.
  For example, the "generator" is an entity that belongs equally to the electrical field as it does to the mechanical field. It is a mechanical engine that produces electrical power.
  I've always wondered, for example, why I can disassemble a digital watch to get "Electrical" xp but I can't disassemble a mechanical watch to get "Mechanics" xp.
  
  There are many things you should be able to build using both for your base.
  As such, instead of "Carpentry", by right-clicking and opening the menu, it should simply be written "Build".
  Image example:
  
    
  
  The #1 "R&D" wouldn't be limited to carpentry, but to anything.
  For example, at Electrical & Mechanical level 10 (because I genuinely believe it takes expertise in both areas) you should have 100% chance to learn how build your own and with as many objects that exist in the world, this would open a lot of possibilities even with interacting with the pre-existing world.
  
  For the "Construction" section, new possibilities of materials would be needed and also one new skills... "Construction" skill.
  This new skill would gain xp by its own VHS or by building walls(with carpentry) or tearing down walls.
  
  The "Carpentry" skill would still handle everything it does related to wood, but this new menu organization would open the way to adding metal gates and metal doors that would use the "Metalworking" skill in the same menu besides other things that might use other skills, like adding "flags" to:
  Build > Construction > Misc > Flags || That would require dyes and tailoring skill.
  
  Materials like "Bricks" and "Concrete" would be possible to make thick and strong walls that zombies can't break by simply hitting them.
  "Brick wall" would require "bricks"[new], "concrete bucket" and a "trowel" while a "Concrete wall" would need "concrete", "metal bars", wires and a Propane torch.
  
  There would need to be a new "glass" material, that could be acquired by disassembling windows or made with its own process.
  Or metal bars, for "metal bar windows"/"cell window".
  
  Also, windows would be either in the "Misc" section of the "Construction" menu, be fused with Door for "Doors & Windows" or have a section of its own and put "Doors & Gates" together.
  
  
  
  Windows would need to be placed on a wall with a "Window Frame", similar to how doors can only be placed on a wall or fence with a "Door Frame".
  Wall and Fence could also be fused into a single "Walls & Fences" category.
  
  This also opens the possibility for remote controlled or motion sensor gates and doors by crafting small motors and remote controllers or motion sensors and installing them on gates and doors that you built, be them of any type or material, as long as powered with electricity.
  
  Things like a sofa, armchair or benches and stools with pillows in the "Furniture" category would require "tailoring" skill levels to craft and provide tailoring XP when disassembled.
  
  In "Generators", the fuel mechanical generator that currently we can only find would need several engine parts, metal pipes, Electronics Scrap and both Mechanics and Electrical skill levels. But also, there would be the possibility of wind generators and solar panels (which the modern solar panel exists since around 1950, so is within the timeline)l, each with their own required materials and challenges for maintenance and limitations for energy production.
  
  In "Distribution" would be things like:
  "Utility poles": Would work to extend the power radius of any generator that it is range of.
  Since the current "Fuel-powered Mechanical Generator" has a 20 tiles 5 floor cylinder radius, as long as this would be within that range, it would extend that power distribution 20 more tiles and also 5 floors, 2 above, 2 below. Limited in distance from the source of electrical power.
  
  "Fuse box": Exactly the same as the "Utility poles", but small and intended to be built on walls inside a base, can be useful for bases with many floors, sending the power up the floors or to power multiple houses in a base for players and NPCs alike that are farther from the generator.
  
  "Power Substation": Same as above, but distributes the power over a wider area (50 tiles and 11 floors, 5 above, 5 below) and resets the "distance from the source" for the utility poles and fuse boxes.
  "Battery": Stores power for when the power providers stops working, then it takes over as a new power provider until its charge reaches 0.
  
  In "Lighting", would be things like the currently existing Flashlight on a pillar, but also a new more definitive "Light post", that would need a propane torch, metal pipes, wire and Electronics Scrap and a wire cutting tool, but also lamps any other light provider that you can find in the game, such as ceiling lights. These could also have the option of adding "Motion sensors" to them so that they only work when there is a player, NPC or zombie nearby.
  "Light switch", which would need a way to choose which light sources it is connected to.
  
  In "Surveilance", there could be "camera" and those "surveilance stations" that you can find with wall screens inside police stations and a few other areas of the game.
  By pressing E on them, you would change from character view to the view of the camera, allowing you to see outside your base without needing to go out.
  Each time you press E it would change camera to another camera within the same electrical grid and pressing any WASD key you would cancel and get back to controlling your character.
  Also, this would open the possibility of seeing through the security stations already existing in the game which we can only disassemble for now and create a new danger of being attacked by a zombie while paying attention to the cameras.
  
  In "Communication" would be the radios and telephones that could become useful with the NPCs update, for talking with NPCs from other bases.
  
  In "Industrial" would be any sort of production machines, such as a machine to make nails out of metal plates and/or wires, to make "electronics scraps" and other possibilities, like a machine to make ammunition out of "Lead"[new] and "gunpowder" (which could also have its own crafting recipe, tbh).
  
  In "Appliances" would be anything related to home appliances, like fridges, TVs, microwaves and so on. most would require only electrical skill levels, but things like washing machine would require also mechanics skill level and provide both electrical and mechanics XP when disassembling.
  
  In "Misc" would be anything that doesn't fit any of these categories, such as alarms(can be used for traps if made to be battery powered and added a timer or used against "raider" enemy NPCs, sending a horde on them), sprinklers (very useful for farming), sewing machine (I'll make a suggestion specific about it and its usefulness soon), wall clocks, fliperama machines and anything else that might fit this category.
   

3- Very useful professions.

• As both of its fields of work become more useful, the "Engineer" profession should grow in cost, but also provide more skill points.
  
  Instead +1 Electrical and +1 Carpentry, I would suggest that the "Engineer" profession should give:
  +2 Electrical, +1 Construction, +1 Mechanic, +1 Metalworking & +1 Carpentry || Cost 6
  "Can make traps, explosives and operate generators."
  
  Similarly, the "Construction Worker" would also have to change. Instead of +1 Carpentry & +3 Short Blunt, it would give:
  +2 Short Blunt, +2 Construction, +1 Electrical, +1 Carpentry, +1 Strength  || Cost 4
  "Can build brick walls and knows how to assemble some furniture."

These would raise the value of the skills "mechanics" and "electrical", create a very valuable "construction" skill, create huge possibilities for base building and also increase the amount of possible interactions with objects that already exist in the game while exploring.

Edited October 11, 2022 by GG Cannon