Modular Stove

[Nootman]

Stoves. Everyone loves em, they do a lot, they keep you from dying throughout most of the year, real nice stuff. Sadly, VS doesn't have much in the way of stoves, only really giving us the fire clay oven for baking pies and bread and not much else. As well as this, greenhouses are in a bit of a sorry state as they only give a +5C bonus which in the face of -10 temps won't do much to help all but the hardiest of your crops grow. So, to fix all of these issues and more, I propose a new system for stove construction that neatly slots in with previous posts I've made about changes to insulation and room mechanics.

Modular Stoves

A moderate set of stove related blocks which can all be connected together to form a singular stove system which can perform a variety of duties in a variety of scenarios. One of the most important and central parts of the stove is that it provides radiant heating while active, that is to say that any air blocks located next to it will heat up the room that they are contained within, meaning that a stove part exposed to more air will radiate heat faster as compared to a stove part with blocks all around it. As well as this, radiant air blocks will transfer their heat to entities that are in these air blocks.

(the area surrounding a stove which will radiate heat into its environment)

Stove Parts

Combustion Chamber

The heart of the stove, burns fuel to produce heat which flows out from the front when uncovered and through any flues which it is attached to. Provides the greatest amount of heat transfer to objects nearby it or directly above it, gradually falling off in terms of efficiency as objects move further away.

Flue

A shaft that directs hot exhaust to and fro. Much more effective at moving heat from one place to another than it moving around through solid earthen mass. Must be vented out into a chimney or it will begin to build up, eventually developing a back draft and pouring exhaust out of the front of the stove which will lead to a rapid and untimely demise by asphyxiation by its inhabitants.

Stove

A stove part with an open top that is designed to have pots and other cookware placed upon it. Works best when directly over a combustion chamber but can also be placed over a flue to work reasonably effectively. Rapidly radiates heat if it is not covered with a piece of cookware or a cover of some sort.

Oven

A stove part with an open front that is designed for use in baking. Needs only to be placed next to something hot such that it has heat transferred to itself without the use of a flue directly. Can also be covered after items are placed inside of it and will radiate out heat rapidly otherwise.

Other Uses

1. Since the stove blocks will radiate heat to all nearby air blocks, this means that a sleeping mat placed upon the stove would make for a great deep winter sleeping spot as a small amount of fuel could be used to keep a light fire going all night, transferring most of the heat to you instead of heating a whole room.
2. The modular nature of the stove allows for any and all combinations of stove to be created, meaning that the stove is an effective and scalable option for mass cooking or heating.
3. The behavior of flues and their heat radiating properties allows for the creation of primitive forced draft systems.
4. To add to the idea of forced draft system, the radiant properties of flues would allow for the construction of a Roman hypocaust, Korean ondol, and any other sort of underfloor heating solution as players would benefit both from the radiant heat areas themselves as well as the heating it provides for the whole room.
5. The behavior of every block with radiance allows for shared wall heating to be possible as well
6. Can be used to heat greenhouses past their base +5C level.

Overall, modular stoves would solve a large amount of issues (greenhouse heating, lack of mid game cooking upgrades, sleeping in cold environments) and would present a very interesting and engaging way for the player to customize their homestead to their own liking.

Additional Nice Features

Stove Materials

Upgrades to stove materials available later in the game that allow for better heat retention and thermal mass, like stone and brick and for better components like a cast iron oven plate.

Stove Painting

Even less important but the stove is an incredibly important part of any homestead, and the ability to carefully decorate it with paint and decals would allow for a vastly greater degree of personalization.

Edited February 3, 2023 by Nootman

[LJim]

Anything that makes the game more like an immersive sim (e.g., Arx Fatalis, Ultima Underworld) gets my vote!

[Azuli-Bluespots]

MODULAR STOVE WHEN?????

[EverfreeMagus]

I to love this idea, would be very nice to have a multi block structure that does both, instead of needing both an oven and a campfire.

[Alcyonaria]

Stoven!

[Davis]

This guy man, he's always got the ideas, often with stoves.

This is honestly brilliant dude, I would LOVE to see this in game. Such a step in the right direction. Great suggestion. 

[l33tmaan]

They call him "Just The Ideas Guy (Good Ideas)" for a reason!

because he calls himself that

[SingABrightSong]

On 2/8/2023 at 5:58 PM, l33tmaan said:

They call him "Just The Ideas Guy (Good Ideas)" for a reason!

because he calls himself that

The difference between the typical "ideas guy" and Nootman is that while the "ideas guy" expects everyone else do do all the actual work, Noot already went ahead and did the game design and concept art.