Straw as byproduct from non-flax grain crops

[LadyWYT]

Excluding amaranth and rice, as I'm not sure that either really works for producing straw...but the main purpose of having straw as a byproduct is to have a better way of farming materials for rope, baskets/chests, and thatch without needing to transplant loads of cattails/tule or mow a ton of grass. Plus you're going to be planting grain crops anyway, so why not? It also gives players more wiggle-room if they need to use cattails as a food source in the early game, or in multiplayer servers with larger populations.

The mass-production of handbaskets and reed chests isn't that useful later in the game, but it's there if you wanted to, of course. It does have more value though in cooler climates, where cattails don't really spawn.

Regarding thatch, straw could either replace dry grass entirely for the recipe, or otherwise function like tule in that it's more efficient to craft thatch from straw than it is from dry grass. Useful if you like to build with thatch, and somewhat easier than needing to harvest tule or dry grass.

Straw could also be substituted for dry grass in other recipes, such as mud bricks. It may not be more efficient, but it does mean that you won't need to spend as much time or tool durability on cutting grass, since you'll be getting straw anyway as a crop byproduct.

Probably the biggest advantage to having straw is the mass-production of rope and skeps. Not that cattails don't work for this, but not everyone wants to scour the countryside clean of flora(which my understanding is that happens a lot in multiplayer). It's also useful for players that settled in colder regions, as they'll have an alternate method of producing these items efficiently without needing to transplant loads of plants.

Now of course, there's also a limit to how much straw one really needs at any given time, and if straw is always a byproduct of non-flax grain crops then it's going to pile up pretty fast. No one wants to clutter their storage space with material they don't need, and it's also annoying to have to throw items away/burn them. To give excess straw a use so it doesn't go to waste, I propose allowing it to be soaked in a barrel with water to produce wet straw, which will then decay into a small amount of rot. This way, players can still turn extra straw into something useful, rather than throwing it away.

[Thorfinn]

I love straw as a replacement for dry grass and thatch. 

Rope? Maybe in a multi-step recipe like flax to linen -- straw  -> thread -> twine -> rope. Rope ladders are already simple to make from vines (which seem to be a lot more common -- I'm making rope ladders just to get rid of all the flippin' vines), and, being recoverable, unlike fixed ladders, you only ever need so many.

Skeps? Not a fan, unless there's a significant beekeeping nerf. Cattails are plenty fast to harvest with a scythe. There's only so many candles and barrels of honey one can find a use for.

[LadyWYT]

2 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

Rope? Maybe in a multi-step recipe like flax to linen -- straw  -> thread -> twine -> rope. Rope ladders are already simple to make from vines (which seem to be a lot more common -- I'm making rope ladders just to get rid of all the flippin' vines), and, being recoverable, unlike fixed ladders, you only ever need so many.

Unless you're like me, and don't bother to pick them back up after filling mineshafts and caves with them. Part of it's sheer laziness, but part of it is also to help leave behind some indication that I've explored that cave already.

2 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

Skeps? Not a fan, unless there's a significant beekeeping nerf. Cattails are plenty fast to harvest with a scythe. There's only so many candles and barrels of honey one can find a use for.

This is true, but sometimes you don't want to pillage the entire countryside to support a massive bee farm, and sometimes cattails are in short supply. I think it would probably see the most value in cold climates and large multiplayer settings. Could probably also nerf the straw requirement for skeps if it's too overpowered, so that cattails offer better value if you can get them.

As for why one might want a lot of honey...mead. Candles I find useful for selling to traders; they might not bring in a lot of gears, but they're cheap to make and often in demand.

[Thorfinn]

Guess that's all true.

It would be more interesting if there were a difference in booze types, or if booze served any useful purpose but bandages, but jeepers, grain is so plentiful that I just can't get excited about squeezing honeycomb for a half hour when I could just grab flour from a mechanized quern, pop it in a barrel, and go do something useful.

At least on a sailboat the scenery changes, and you mostly only need one hand. None, if you wedge the key down with a toothpick or something. Squeezing honey is a whole different level, requiring both hands and frequent changes to empty the bucket and get a new, tiny stack (why?) out of inventory/storage.

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

It would be more interesting if there were a difference in booze types, or if booze served any useful purpose but bandages, but jeepers, grain is so plentiful that I just can't get excited about squeezing honeycomb for a half hour when I could just grab flour from a mechanized quern, pop it in a barrel, and go do something useful.

There is a difference, somewhat. Distilled booze doesn't have an expiration date, but is certainly more resource-intensive to make. Alcohol bandages are now really good and practical to make, since the jugs of aqua vitae can be used to craft them. But I do understand your point about it not being the most exciting thing to squeeze that much honeycomb for a beverage that doesn't offer any different mechanical value.