New World Generation Features Suggestions: Tar Pits & Quicksand.

[Cedric the Silent]

Randomly got this idea when I stumbled upon a Youtube video about strange fossils found in tar pits and it hit me that we got stuff like hot springs in VintageStory why not add more rare terrain features to the world such as tar pits and or quicksand.

Uses and features for tar pit I can imagine could be

• Alternative source of fuel that burns longer than firewood but emits toxic gas.
• Can be used as sealing material for crocks.
• Adhesive for gluing back together things found in ruins just like the other glues.
• Chance to find fossils, bones, and other preserved relics.
• Hardens somewhat during cold temperatures making escaping easier if you fall into tar but gets more dangerous when temperature is hot making it easier to sink.
• Player sinks past the point their head is cover starts to suffocate.
• Visual cues to look out for would be some strangely dark bubbling spots when its hot enough to make the tar dangerous, small noticed about strange odor appears in chat log when player gets too close, animals noticeable avoid tar pit areas, and player can even throw sticks or other items to confirm they sink.
• Struggle mechanic where player spams certain key for a hope of maybe getting out before they sink and their hunger goes down quicker because of energy burnt struggling.
• Once player falls in they cant jump or run and get massive movement penalty while they slowly sink.
• Shallow pools easy to escape but deep ones could be deadly.
• Items that fall in can get encased in tar and need to be retrieved, once retrieved player needs to clean them using solvent made using plant based oils before they can be used again.
• Tar can be collected in buckets and barrels for use.

Tar and Quicksand rescue idea and prevention:

• One player gets stuck then another player walks close enough to them to get prompt to pull other player out.
• Using rope to pull one's self or another player out maybe creating something like a anchor system.
• Placing ladders on edge if the player is close enough to grab it.
• Having some type of long pole or staff to use as a extraction tool.
• This one is more for quicksand but you should be able to place planks or wooden paths down onto the quicksand to safely walk over it as it distributes the weight of players walking over them across larger surface area atop of the quicksand preventing sinking.

Other uses for Tar outside of scope of current base game mechanics:

• Certain medical uses such as lice and dandruff treatments or used for soaps, shampoos, and ointments that reduced itching skin.
• Was used in construction for pipe coatings to protect underground steel pipes, tar paper used on roofs to seal off water, foundation sealing to protect building from ground water, wood treatment, and road paving.
• Was used to waterproofing ships.
• Was used in leather treatment in Russia (though that was made from birch tree bark tar).
• Can directly be used as fuel in industrial boilers.
• Has been know to be used as a form of pest control by setting it up as a barrier around a crop field deterring all manner of pest be they ants, termites, or slugs.
• Lastly used in a lot of industrial chemical products.

Edited July 23 by Cedric the Silent
spelling mistake

[Cedric the Silent]

Just thought of another rare terrain feature to throw into the generation that being extremely rare water geysers that have a chance to form when magma block gets exposed to ground water while in some type of pressured ground fracture leading out to the surface. I would like to find my own version of the Old Faithful water geyser in my world.

[Liefeling]

Love these ideas!

I could also see tar being used to expand your trapping options, either being an optional addition for efficiency or letting you create new traps that slow down prey. You could also add tar trails, an alternative to blood trails that don't require you to damage the animal to track it but don't last as long as a trade off. It'd also be a useful way to know what animals you've hit already; shooting a tar-covered arrow could leave some splotches on the animal, so you know that that's the one you've damaged. Overall it's a good way to reward herding tactics while offering some QOL options that require a bit of prep. Please please please, vintage story devs, add this!

The idea of using tar for medicinal purposes is also so perfectly gross, I love it.

Edited July 24 by Liefeling
typos :==)

[Emeal]

Tarpit/Quicksand would be a neat hazard, a block that acts like liquid but also a solid under some circumstances.

[Sunny_Sometimes]

Tar might alternatively be obtained in smaller quantities as a byproduct from coke and charcoal production. In the case of charcoal, though, tar is usually only a byproduct from certain wood types. Maybe filling a charcoal pit with quarter logs of one of those wood types (pine, birch, etc.) and lighting it with a single air gap at the very bottom (or maybe connected in a diagonal way, so there isn't an air gap in the pit itself) could lead to a puddle of tar seeping out into that gap, potentially at the cost of a lower charcoal yield per log.

Its use for boat waterproofing could be applied to the big boats already in game, or even for waterproofing smaller rawhide boats.

[Facethief]

17 hours ago, Sunny_Sometimes said:

Its use for boat waterproofing could be applied to the big boats already in game, or even for waterproofing smaller rawhide boats.

I’d say this should also apply to pitch glue to give a reason for people who don’t hunt for furniture to use it.

[Sunny_Sometimes]

2 hours ago, Facethief said:

I’d say this should also apply to pitch glue to give a reason for people who don’t hunt for furniture to use it.

I'm a big proponent of pitch glue replacing resin in most recipes that include it. The added engagement of needing to work with it while it's hot is underused as a mechanic. The main limitation would be the current inability to grind charcoal without a quern (which I think is silly, since I can crush charcoal in my hand).

[Facethief]

6 hours ago, Sunny_Sometimes said:

The main limitation would be the current inability to grind charcoal without a quern (which I think is silly, since I can crush charcoal in my hand).

I’d say the quern is for consistency/efficiency, but don’t you use whole chunks of coal for blasting powder?