Good suggestions overall. I have to comment, on behalf of and before Sami has the chance to, that he'd probably like to have these suggestions on separate threads in the future. That way its easier for all of us to keep the discussion focused and have topics that describe the content.
I looked at the leather post of yours, but i dont think its basically the same with my concerns.
- leather
Gameplay.
First, the tanning process... de hair first? or first tan and dehair afterwards? i mix it up repeatedly... For newbies, i think it is really confusing. The reason is, when you dehair first, you dont get to see that information in middle-steps of the tanning process.(its just a tanning skin) So if you are unsure if you dehaired the skin(For example, because you are tanning multiple stuff and also furs of the same species) you have to dehair it again(which takes many days (10+) for big hides, to be sure it becomes leather. Otherwise you dont know the outcome. oh, ofcourse you must waste tanning material like fat or bark again.
For new players, who read that here: clean, dehair, tan. Little workaround: chose different sites for leather tanning than for your fur tanning.
My reasoning apart from what already been said:
a) one could instantly recognize which animal skins become leather and which fur
b) currently one cannot distinguish a dehaired "tanning elk skin" and a fur bearing "tanning elk skin" before the whole tanning process is finished
Second, give it an actual use? leather clothing seems to be somewhat extremely underpowered. i think it should at least be a good trade between protection and weight penalty especially on warm days. At the time, it even takes a lot more work to aquire it, yet being inferior in all aspects to fur(ignoring the little point dmg advantage).
Even a very strong character will not chose the big penalty of the additional weight that comes with the little protection.
Everyone who has worn leather IRL knows that it is very comfortable, even feeling like a second skin which does not hinder movement much. at least regarding trousers, shoes and shirts. The actual "armour" items should be clumsier and heavier, but also with better protection(speaking of the cuirass, armguards and shinguards)
Perhaps resemble that aspect by reducing the weight?
and, what happened to the boots??...
Of course i would like to have tanning overhauled as you suggested to make it more realistic. But i think perhaps(?) this time i speak on behalf of sami when i say that this can wait... Sure i can understand its more of an important thing for you if you do things like that IRL.
So, getting finally to my suggestion:
1) accept cured hides for kota covers and "sleeping in furs"
2) shorten curing times to max overnight or allow picking up of skins with curing still continuing
3) complicate tanning to make it more realistic and to encourage curing to be used more
4) make cured skins available in villages and for trade - preferably much more commonly than tanned hides. I understand this would affect game balance significantly and prices would need to be adjusted accordingly, with tanning lifting the cost especially of big hides - not so much of the valuable small furs.
But from a technical gameplay perspective i think it works fine, but should at least get the right description while tanning. that is my point.Curing immediately after skinning would be big gameplay change and smaller change in code, imho. But we all have our priorities ::)
Same with farming. Balance-wise i find it working good, perhaps must be nerfed, but thats not my concern. Mine is just a suggestion to get rid of the most hand-aching keyjockeyings. especially if you sit on a punt, you gotta press shift + g all the time... then chose amount and confirm.
i mean, honestly: i clear a little field of reeds, like 20 patches or so, and my hand hurts. and sometimes after a while i confuse and mix up the keys, because i jockey so fast. and i am not an extreme farmer-player...
i mean, in the end, everything you do in URW is much easier than it would be in real life. when i think about it; in a strange way, physical pain is some real-realistic consequence of living a farming lifestyle. hunters and nomads dont have knee problems... unless it's a bear ripping your leg off ;D
Spoiler: show
Situation:
Your character is standing near a ripe plant. you press 'alt+a' for agriculture and 'h' for harvest, then 'space' to confirm.
So this is nothing new, so now my suggestion. I would really enjoy a feature like this:
Instead of the harvested plant laying on the ground[requiring you to further key-jockey, like 'alt'+'g', choose direction 'choose amount' 'Enter' 'space' to confirm(all this for 1 tile of plants)], it is put directly inside your inventory. Just like when you pick young leaves or berries or mushrooms, for example.
that would be the standard harvesting procedure. Also the old method would still be there as "Cut" in the agriculture menu, which would leave the crop laying on the ground just like it has been for now.
If that new feature would unbalance farming, then ofc there could be made changes like, for instance, the harvesting taking more time.
Also this would lead players to only "cut" plants, to have them threshed on the field(for example) or picked up later.
Standard "Harvest" would be chosen when you want to take the plants to your processing site.
One thing that would do harvesting (and some things also) easier would be to allow auto-picking up single item stack, just like one single item is picked without confirmation. But then again, sometimes you only want to pick x items from a stack.
All in all, if this gets implemeneted in the end we'll propably add new “Harvest and pick” command to agriculture menu for this alternative.
I also tend to roam around in vacuum-cleaner mode (funny I thought of the word even before finding it in yours, @Dr.Hossa), thus upholding that roguelike tradition.
My camp consists of dispersed piles of sorted goods (junk).
So yes, I too would very much like to see quick-key for toggling vacuum mode on and off (used when entering camp).
alt+g?
I too enjoy raking the woods. Perhaps auto-pickup could be enabled by wielding a rake.
Picking branches
I dont think Ive ever done pick branches or spruce twigs and not picked them up. Maybe that should be producing into inventory too.