Messages

526

Bug reports / Re: [3.63] Arrows drown in water?

« on: July 21, 2020, 08:33:11 AM »

I'm not sure what the issue is. Do you say that your arrows sink? If that's the case it's not something I've seen (not sure if I've had any arrows land in water in 3.63, though), and it's not something that's been mentioned in the release notes.

If your arrows disappear, do all of the ones hitting the water sink, or is it only some of them (the logic for breaking on impact was changed to keep the broken arrow when hitting an animal, rather than disappearing, so something might have gone wrong there, somehow).

527

Bug reports / Re: Sauna doesn't hold shutter in place

« on: July 18, 2020, 02:33:51 PM »

Have you tried using the sauna for smoking? It ought to reveal if it's "merely" a graphical issue of if it prevents the usage of a sauna stove for smoking altogether (I'm planning to replace my regular stove with a sauna one when winter comes [so I can dry meat instead of smoking it during the upgrade period]).

528

General Discussion / Re: Is there a hard limit on followers?

« on: July 18, 2020, 09:23:49 AM »

I doubt there's a limit. My issues with taking on robber bands has been to find enough people to recruit (although there was a bug causing former hirelings to never be available for hiring again, since fixed). I've tried to have bands of twice the number of robbers, plus the PC and the dog.

Also note that at some point the time it takes to get more hirelings will get long enough that the first ones hired are starting to leave.

529

Gameplay questions / Re: Quick question

« on: July 12, 2020, 11:56:56 AM »

As others have said. The dark section is where your newly created character starts (which varies from character to character, based on stats and culture), the light section is skill points gained since then, and the black section is the way you have to go to reach 100.

Note that there doesn't seem to be any progression towards a new skill point, but rather a flat percentage chance for an increase. This chance remains the same for the first roll as for the 600:th (after 599 failures). The percentage chance gets lower the higher the skill is, so while it might be al 10% chance to go from 5->6, it might be 0.1% from 99->100 (the percentages used here are not based on actual values, although it IS very hard to go form 99 to 100 in e.g. dodging and blocking, with a chance well below 1%).

530

General Discussion / Re: Questions about Intelligence & other stats

« on: July 10, 2020, 02:49:19 PM »

Like others, I've fairly sure the Advanced course provides a reward as well, but I expect it will be some time before my current character gets to the end of it.

531

General Discussion / Re: Humane and Proper Butchering?

« on: July 10, 2020, 10:57:50 AM »

Unfortunately, damage to the neck results in damage to the skin, while damage to the head does not.

532

General Discussion / Re: Would ancient Finnish tribes have spoken the same language?

« on: July 10, 2020, 10:54:25 AM »

Yes, but 800-1000 years ago the language differences ought to have been smaller, as I believe both the Saami and the Finns originate from the same group migrating from the East (although I don't know when that happened. Apparently the group moved in to a population vacuum resulting from the previous Finnish population largely dying off before the migration [so the migrants do not appear to have been the cause]). Also, the "contamination" from Swedish ought to have been smaller at that time (I don't know whether the usage of Swedish along the coast resulted from contact, migration, or both, nor when Swedish got a foothold there), apart from it being independent of the political powers.

At the time of the UrW time line the Vikings appear to have had no major problems speaking to each other, while nowadays Icelandic is too far removed from the other languages to be understood without some training (or, rather, the case is the reverse, as Icelandic has changed little, which the other languages have changed a fair bit).

533

General Discussion / Re: Would ancient Finnish tribes have spoken the same language?

« on: July 09, 2020, 06:11:05 PM »

The Finnish tribes, including the Saami (who are found in Norway, Sweden, and Russia as well), share a common ancestry, and thus have common linguistic roots. If I remember the cursory reading I've done correctly, the current day Saami are divided into 3-4 languages (the border between language and dialect is very much fluid and depends on politics as much as actual differences), but I would expect all the languages to have been a fair bit closer to each other than they are today.
People speaking closely related language are often able to understand each other with minor difficulties, as long as the parties put at least some effort into it.

534

Gameplay questions / Re: No leather from squirrels?

« on: July 07, 2020, 12:02:32 AM »

Also, if the corpse is described as "grisly" you wont get a hide regardless.

It's very true. However, thrown rocks should result in a carcass that can be skinned. However, there's a setting to give you a warning if you try to butcher a carcass that can be skinned.

535

Suggestions / Re: Boatmen and fishermen!!!

« on: July 06, 2020, 02:34:58 PM »

I like it, but still think it's relevant to point out some of the issues:
- NPCs would have to "learn" how to use water craft (just as they currently don't know how to ski), which might require some effort.
- NPCs would have to be able to deal with nefarious players who steal their craft (which inevitably is going to happen).
- NPCs would have to learn how to swim eventually, when craft can either flip or toss its user into the water (rapids, possibly bad weather as well).
- The code would have to if, when, and how NPCs steal player craft (it ought to be a natural thing to do for robbers and Njerps, but random villagers shouldn't steal yours when visiting their village (peacefully, that is).
- A whole new set of combat rules would have to be implemented for "naval warfare". NPCs shouldn't just passively sit and get killed by the player, but fight back or flee, and fighting back should involve dropping a paddle to be able to use a bow (and switch back afterwards, after the player has moved out of range).
- "Naval" melee definitely ought to throw combatants into the water when they fall, at least in a significant percentage of the cases.

So, not a trivial thing to implement, but definitely a nice one (and I don't think it's impossible, "just" requiring a fair bit of work).

536

General Discussion / Re: Humane and Proper Butchering?

« on: July 02, 2020, 02:22:37 PM »

Humane treatment of animals is a rather modern concept (which doesn't mean deliberate cruelty is desirable).

There are several more or less conflicting goals here:
- Kill it with as little suffering as possible: Should probably be done by getting it unconscious as quickly as possible, either through a hit to the head (that actually hits the head), or massive bleeding. Once unconscious it probably doesn't feel anything.
- Get as good quality fur as possible: Blunt attacks to the head. Misses will cause less damage to the fur than stabbing/slashing does. It probably takes longer than using something that also causes bleeding, though.
- Get as much weapon skill training as possible: blunt attacks from the weapon you want to train, aiming for the head. You should probably use as light a weapon in that category to get as many attacks as possible before the animal dies.
- Also note that aimed melee attacks automatically hit the targeted body part when the target is unconscious. This is not the case with missiles.

The quality of a fur depends on:
- The quality of the carcass. If damaged too much one or several skin qualities cannot be achieved, and a low quality carcass probably means a lower chance to get good results within the possible range.
- Your character's effective skill, i.e. Hideworking with subtractions from fatigue and encumbrance. Drop everything carried and wait until the fatigue is zero if trying to get as good a result as possible.
- Tool type and quality. A stone knife limits the maximum possible skin quality, while a broad knife adds a bonus. Higher quality tools provides a higher bonus. I'm not sure I remember correctly, but I think a normal quality broad knife allows for a masterworks result, while any other kind of normal knife (i.e. not a stone knife) has to be at least fine.

Thus, your skin can be of a poor quality because of a carcass in poor condition, low effective skill, or poor/unsuitable tools. Also note that each step of the process runs the risk of getting a poorer outcome that you could have gotten, degrading the quality of the result. However, I think a sufficient skill will prevent the worst outcomes unless the tools/input items drag it down.

537

Development News / Re: Summer and sales, and a new patch in horizon

« on: June 29, 2020, 08:22:17 AM »

Definitely not winter fur...

538

Gameplay questions / Re: Aggressive hunter?

« on: June 28, 2020, 06:27:03 PM »

I haven't encountered the "new" NPCs yet, so no comment on the original question. However, before the new behavior, they still felled trees (I've encountered Njerps doing that as well), but they don't do anything with the logs (in fact, I build the "palisade" around my previous character's homestead mainly with NPC felled trees, long after the NPCs had left). I suspect there isn't much reason for the activity, however, and I believe you need a rope, not a cord, for a raft.

539

Suggestions / Re: Trapped Crippled Beings Are Too Good At Dodging.

« on: June 27, 2020, 02:33:20 PM »

Well, it's an opposed check, with the animal doing it's best at getting out of the way of the inept kick. I fully agree that the seal should have no chance to affect the outcome in this case, but displaying it better would require the code to determine the cases where the "opposition" of the opposed check is completely ineffective, as opposed to almost completely ineffective. The melee hits are automatic when the the target is unconscious, for instance (although one might question whether someone fatigued to the brink of collapse would hit every time).

So, I agree in principle, but realize it might be tricky to balance code to handle it properly.

540

Suggestions / Re: Trapped Crippled Beings Are Too Good At Dodging.

« on: June 27, 2020, 09:50:07 AM »

Not only does an encumbrance penalty of 20% reduce your hit chances, but it also increases the fatigue buildup significantly. I'd expect the 86% penalty to be about 20% encumbrance and 66% fatigue (possibly from repeated attempt at kicking the animal). Dropping all carried stuff except the things you need to fight is a useful strategy, but you have to ensure you can find your stuff later if the enemy is mobile. In the case of an animal caught in a trap they're unlikely to go anywhere (but predators can still attack at melee range: I use blunt arrows against trapped wolves and bears, and often gluttons as well).