Tool Dependence

[Aro2220]

I have been thinking about it, and I do not think tool dependence is a very good thing.

 

One of the biggest gripes i have with this game is that I can't even test out farming because I have to get a trowel each time, which is not so easy to find. Same goes for carpentry and the saw. Wouldn't hurt to find an axe too...

 

Finding all of them, with the hammer and whatever you may need for cooking...is quite the frustration.

 

But I don't really understand why you can't just use your fingers, rocks, and easy to find items. You may do a poor job and it might be very slow/tiring in comparison to using a proper tool...but at the very least, you can do it. At the very least you can try to plant some carrot seeds right at the start of the game by digging with your fingers.

 

I mean you can knock down a tree with a baseball bat so I don't see why you can't do this.

 

Tools should simply let you do things faster and more efficiently. By default you should still be able to do most things...at least at a basic level. Maybe master level farming absolutely requires a trowel and a few other tools...but at least you can grow some potatoes or something to get by on.

[Realmkeeper]

A large part of the game is about making those 'essential' risky supply trips into zombie packed areas to try and get hold of the tools you need for your extended survival.

 

If you could plant and harvest crops without any tools or cut logs with a butter knife (or your hands), then it would be pointless to leave your designated safehouse. And that would make the game a lot less enjoyable to many of the players, as well as much less of a survival game.

You're going to die in the end, why should the Devs allow us to prolong the suffering by giving us the availability of basic survival techniques right from the get-go.

 

Basically, I think that being able to complete any kind of 'specialty' work or functionality without first completing or gathering a prerequisite would detract from the whole 'survival against the odds' thing PZ has going on, and essentially dumb down the game a whole lot.

Just my 2c...

[mikaelkerensky]

There has been some mention of both craftable tools from natural elements as well as starting equipment based on profession. I see them addung a "farmer" profession that probably will give you basic tools for the job.

[Ryon Larius]

I think it should be possible to dig with spoons, but with more time, and perhaps more tiring or something like this

[GoldenBullet]

Well i heard you can chop down a tree with a kitchen knife and spoon so don't see why you can't dig a hole lol. If they want to make farming harder to achieve they probably should make the seeds rarer instead of making hole digging reliant on a single tool. That or at least make it consistent by making the axe being only able to cut down trees.

[Aenye Deithven]

A large part of the game is about making those 'essential' risky supply trips into zombie packed areas to try and get hold of the tools you need for your extended survival.

 

If you could plant and harvest crops without any tools or cut logs with a butter knife (or your hands), then it would be pointless to leave your designated safehouse. And that would make the game a lot less enjoyable to many of the players, as well as much less of a survival game.

You're going to die in the end, why should the Devs allow us to prolong the suffering by giving us the availability of basic survival techniques right from the get-go.

 

Actually, one does not conflict the other. That is, if the drawbacks of bare-handed digging outweigh the benefits. Maybe something like the following ?

Digging with your bare hands is possible (building sand castles as a child, anyone ?), nevertheless bruises, cuts and stuff lodged between the nail and flesh is inevitable. So what ? Consider digging into the ground after having a zombie horde tread on it, leaving behind an arm or two. Blood/saliva transmission of zombieism + hands in the soil = better to get a trovel...

Now, instead of dumbing down the game, you get to choose whether to take a risk or no. The only problem is, are you likely to encounter conditions in which you just have to dig right now ?