Bee Smoker (and a new plant, Jute)

[KoviBat]

The dummy works fine, but I think there's room (and precedent) for a more nuanced solution to beekeeping. Smoke. In real life, smoke, especially from burning burlap, masks pheromone receptors, making bees more docile for the extraction process.

Unfortunately, making burlap from flax just to burn it for some honey would be way too expensive, so instead, the Jute plant should be introduced. Much like Papyrus, Tule, and Cattails (my beloved), it grows in, and near, standing water, and can be harvested for Jute fibers, which can be used to make burlap. Could maybe also be used to make Burlap Sacks, that work similar to the Bundles concept from the other block game, letting you place multiple small items into one slot, up to a certain capacity, potentially depending on the items size/weight.

As for how to actually use the smoke, I suggest giving the watering can a new function. Place it on the ground, right-click with burlap and dried grass, light it with a torch or firestarter, and then pick it up. The smoker will only be active when you hold right-click with it in your main or off-hand. Ideally, there should be a mechanic for the smoker where using it too little will lead to a delayed, but still hostile response, but oversmoking has a chance to damage the population of bees in the area, but that may prove too frustrating in practice.

Bees? Bees!

[Krougal]

Just what we need, another resource to take up another inventory slot. </s>

Cattails and papyrus may have the same use in the game, but they at least grow in different regions.

I agree on the bee smoker, but we already have plenty of things to burn. Dried grass, tule, etc. No need to make it overcomplicated.

[LadyWYT]

20 minutes ago, KoviBat said:

Unfortunately, making burlap from flax just to burn it for some honey would be way too expensive, so instead, the Jute plant should be introduced. Much like Papyrus, Tule, and Cattails (my beloved), it grows in, and near, standing water, and can be harvested for Jute fibers, which can be used to make burlap. Could maybe also be used to make Burlap Sacks, that work similar to the Bundles concept from the other block game, letting you place multiple small items into one slot, up to a certain capacity, potentially depending on the items size/weight.

Instead of making it like the bundles, I would instead let burlap sacks operate similar to crates, but for specific item types. Store your grains, flour, root vegetables, and mineral powders in sacks, rather than crates. And to make sure it's not just an aesthetic look, perhaps each sack can hold 8 stacks of a single item, and four sacks can be stored to a tile. That makes 32 slots of inventory space per tile, as opposed to a crate's 25 or a chest's 16. Not only that, but being able to store some edibles in sacks means that you'll be able to use cellar space much more efficiently, so you can cram even more stuff into a single cellar.

I'd also add that sacks could just be labeled with their contents automatically, similar to how crocks work, rather than needing a parchment label like crates do.

[Krougal]

11 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

Instead of making it like the bundles, I would instead let burlap sacks operate similar to crates, but for specific item types. Store your grains, flour, root vegetables, and mineral powders in sacks, rather than crates. And to make sure it's not just an aesthetic look, perhaps each sack can hold 8 stacks of a single item, and four sacks can be stored to a tile. That makes 32 slots of inventory space per tile, as opposed to a crate's 25 or a chest's 16. Not only that, but being able to store some edibles in sacks means that you'll be able to use cellar space much more efficiently, so you can cram even more stuff into a single cellar.

I'd also add that sacks could just be labeled with their contents automatically, similar to how crocks work, rather than needing a parchment label like crates do.

It's not a horrible idea. I don't know about making it better than crates and chests. Or the storage vessel for that matter.

Everything would need to be balanced.

 

[LadyWYT]

Just now, Krougal said:

It's not a horrible idea. I don't know about making it better than crates and chests. Or the storage vessel for that matter.

Everything would need to be balanced.

 

Crates would still have uses, since they can be stacked on top of each other/have things stacked on them, and can hold pretty much anything. Burlap sacks would be limited in regards to what you can put in them(certain foodstuffs and mineral powders), and couldn't stack on top of each other or have things stacked on them. Likewise, storage vessels would still have the niche of keeping food fresh for an extended period(especially in a cellar), as well as being able to hold other items as needed, be stackable, or otherwise come in a variety of patterns. In contrast, burlap sacks could hold a lot of specific foodstuffs, but can't hold everything, don't have a bonus to freshness(they just hold a lot, that's it), and don't come in a variety of colors.

[Entaris]

21 hours ago, Krougal said:

No need to make it overcomplicated.

We are both playing the same game, yes? Where it takes like four hours to make a board? Where it takes in-game WEEKS to make leather?

[Krougal]

11 minutes ago, Entaris said:

We are both playing the same game, yes? Where it takes like four hours to make a board? Where it takes in-game WEEKS to make leather?

Touche!