Easy way to fix cool vests and warm sweaters

[Sasza22]

Here i am beating a dead horse again. But i really want one of the oldest mechanics in the game adressed. So here we go again.

What`s the issue?

The cool vest and warm sweater are supposed to be used when the temperature is higher or lower than comfort for dupes to prevent hypthermia and heat stroke. The problem is that while the sweater works the vest does not.

Why doesn`t the vest work?

The clothing works similar to real life clothes by modyfying the insulation value of the dupe when worn. The sweater increases insulation thickness while the vest lowers it (btw does anyone actually know how much 1 cm of insulation on a dupe modifies heat transfer, i can`t find that anywhere)

With how the game mechanics work the dupe has a flat homeostasis rate that heats him up or cools him down to keep his temperature right. If the outside heat overwhelms it the dupe will go into hypthermia or heat stroke (those have their own issues but lets not discuss them here).

Increasing insulation lowers heat transfer meaning the dupes have an easier time keeping their temperature right. But this works both ways. If it`s cold it makes them warm and if it`s hot it keeps them cool.

This means the sweater works for both hot and cold while the vest makes it worse in both scenarios.

Only scenario where the vest would be beneficial is a very specific setup where a dupe rapidly changes between hot and cold areas and could eventually get too hot if there is more of the hot ones so a faster heat treansfer would help.

How does it compare to real life?

Irl a sweater will insulate you keeping you warm in cold areas but in hot areas it will keep the sweat near your skin not allowing it to vaporize hindering your ability to cool down.

A vest will give little insulation and not protect from cold but with giving more surface area for the skin will help with sweating thus enhance your cooling capability.

Generally a sweater won`t help you in hot areas irl unless we are talking scalding hot where it will provide some insulation but it isn`t it`s main purpose.

How to fix them in game?

Basically irl a sweater is a net heat increase no matter the outside temperature while the vest is a net decrease. So why bother with difficult calculations and insulation valuse when we can take it for what it is. Just make warm sweaters add a passive heat increase to the dupe while cool vests a passive decrease. It would be both easy to understand and work intuitively.

Why does this matter?

It`s not a huge issue but given that we are getting skins for stuff now maybe sweaters and vests will give some as well. I`m sure the artists have some ideas. If so it would be better if those items worked properly.

Thank you for reading

[bunchnun]

On 12/6/2022 at 7:16 AM, Sasza22 said:

How does it compare to real life?

Irl a sweater will insulate you keeping you warm in cold areas but in hot areas it will keep the sweat near your skin not allowing it to vaporize hindering your ability to cool down.

A vest will give little insulation and not protect from cold but with giving more surface area for the skin will help with sweating thus enhance your cooling capability.

Generally a sweater won`t help you in hot areas irl unless we are talking scalding hot where it will provide some insulation but it isn`t it`s main purpose.

Many thanks, very useful for me.