TacoDuke

1 hour ago, Joseph Fowler said:

Youd most likely have to make a smokehouse. Also this may help you out, but cooking meat does extend its lifespan. cooked meat has at least twice the lifespan as raw meat and it last for quite a while in the vessel. its obviously not a long time, but its something. Smoking meat in real life is far more complicated than it is in games like stranded deep and green hell, and since vintage story focuses on making things highly interactive, the process of smoking meat may be similar to charcoal pit burning, or large-scale kilns where you need to build a structure and do it correctly.

If you don't want to put in effort don't play this game. Thats the whole point of realism, this game is like if Minecraft actually required skill to progress and had thoughtful and engaging game mechanics that prevented you from being bored by not being to easy, but also making many of the mechanics highly interactive and satisfying. Sorry if this sounds mean but this game is very complex so every thing is going to be like that. One of the plans is to eventually get rid of the crafting grid and replace it with something more fun. 

I'd have to disagree, IRL yes it can be complicated but it is mostly a method of timing, if you cold smoke meat like cavemen did, all you really have to do is make a rack decently far above the fire, put meat on it, cover the fire with a wet cloth, and then bring the fire to a smolder for a few hours.

Pretty simple one, you can put  lanterns on your belt so you dont have to use an offhand, hotbar, or inventory slot.

It's extemely annyoing to have to switch to a sheild in caves and at night, only to be left in total darkness

Also please dont make it take extra hunger like offhand does, IRL I dont suddenly need to eat another entire meal a day because I have a like 2? pound lantern on my belt

The preservation of meat requires an unusal amount of effort in game, and I think it could be improved via adding a feature where the player can build a special firepit to smoke meat as an effective way to preserve meat without so much effort.