Making the Insulated Pack more Insulated

[NeoDeusMachina]

Hi dear forumers and developpers,

 

I thought about this while writing in a thread about the Bearger related items so I thought I could write it down here as a suggestion. I think it could be interesting if the Insulated Pack was more insulated! I don't mean that it should be the same as the icebox (right now, it isn't), but I would like it if it were at least possible to cool down a thermal stone in it during summer. I noticed that currently it doesn't seem to be possible at all. I tested it during winter by placing a thermal stone in an icebox near a blazing firepit, he is the result:

 

 

As you can see, the thermal stone is cooled in the icebox even when near the fire (thermal stones can normally be heated up/cooled down even when inside a container).

 

In order to compare, I placed myself on the icebox with the Insulated Pack after it was cooled in the icebox and here is the result:

 

 

I just thought that it could be interesting if the Insulated Pack could act as a portable cooling decive, even for the thermal stone, which would make the item really valuable during summer.

 

Any thoughts / insults / etc?

 

Edit: I forgot to mention something really important in order to make this work and not be totally broken: if it is more insulated, the heat stone inside the insulated pack should not influence the temperature of the character, otherwise you would be able to run around with a constantly cooled thermal stone and that would be way too strong. You would actually require to cool it inside the insulated pack and put it in your inventory afterwards to benefit from the cold thermal stone. The cooling rate inside the insulated pack should also be less than the one in the icebox.

[DwerBomb]

Any thoughts / insults / etc?

lol

 

I think the heat stone shouldn't be cooled down if it's inside the insulated pack because it doesn't cool things down but only insulates them. Just my opinion, though. 

 

Btw, does it slow down food perish time as much as the ice box does?

[Deceiven]

I must admit I wondered the same when I first saw this item.

 

Perhaps it'll be too strong? There would be no need for any form of summer precautions once you've got that set up, you don't even need to sacrifice much inventory space as you do for say a floral vest. Spend the whole of summer roaming, never return to base, or make an endothermic fire, ice cube, or eat cold food ever again. 

 

Also you'd have to somehow justify it having cold inducing abilities, it's just a bag covered in thick fur at the end of the day.

 

Magic fur perhaps ?

[Doctor H. Derp]

I also noticed that the thermal stone doesn't cool down in the insulated pack and I think I know why it doesn't. Having a heated thermal stone in your backpack during winter is still considered in your inventory and as such gives you the benefit of fighting back the cold longer.

 

Likewise, an icy thermal stone in a backpack during summer still gives you the benefit of staving off the heat for longer.

 

However, why does a thermal stone merely stave off the heat/cold instead of prevent it entirely? Because the stone tries to match the ambient temperature of the atmosphere the second it's away from any special heat/cold sources like a fire or inside an ice box.

 

If the insulated pack was literally exactly the same as a portable ice box and actually had the power to freeze over a thermal stone, then couldn't one conceivably just keep a thermal stone in there all summer, have it perma-frozen over, and never need any other heat-exhaustion prevention item, let alone stop at an endothermic fire?

[Cacahuatoforo]

 Insulated pack, not Portable Fridge, simple as that.

 

It is not meant to be a straightforward upgrade to a back pack / piggy back, and I'm not quite sure why do people think it is or should be, that's just thinking inside the box, and makes for simplistic, lineal gameplay, Don't Starve is about constantly adapting to what's about to come, and changing your play style to guarantee survival.

 

Each pack is balanced with each other and is better in different escenarios, the player must chose wich one to go with to maximize efficiency, and crafting the fancier ones simply "unlocks" gameplay alternatives.

[NeoDeusMachina]

 Insulated pack, not Portable Fridge, simple as that.

 

It is not meant to be a straightforward upgrade to a back pack / piggy back, and I'm not quite sure why do people think it is or should be, that's just thinking inside the box, and makes for simplistic, lineal gameplay, Don't Starve is about constantly adapting to what's about to come, and changing your play style to guarantee survival.

 

Each pack is balanced with each other and is better in different escenarios, the player must chose wich one to go with to maximize efficiency, and crafting the fancier ones simply "unlocks" gameplay alternatives.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments!

 

Seeing how it requires 3 gears and 3 electrical doodads, which is a lot more than the actual icebox (1 gear, 2 gold nuggets only), I believe it is much more than a simple backpack with fur. Also, it is not an upgrade since you still have to choose between a) regular backpack, b) water resistant with more space backpack but that slows you down a bit, or c) really small back pack with reduced spoilage/cooling ability (with this suggestion). That means that each backpack presents advantages and disadvantages and you still need to choose what you prefer/need the most.

 

I forgot to mention something really important in order to make this work and not be totally broken: if it is more insulated, the heat stone inside the insulated pack should not influence the temperature of the character, otherwise you would be able to run around with a constantly cooled thermal stone and that would be way too strong. You would actually require to cool it inside the insulated pack and put it in your inventory afterwards to benefit from the cold thermal stone. The cooling rate inside the insulated pack should also be less than the one in the icebox.

 

I believe this would fix much of the issues discussed previously (I though of that today but I was away and couldn't edit my post quickly enough). Perhaps that would make it a bit easier to survive through summer, but if it is well balanced, it might be good without being too good. It's an item crafted from a giant's loot, after all. Perhaps it would still be too strong, I don't know! I'm the last person who wants to see implemented something too strong that would make the most challenging season a joke.

 

Keep posting your thoughts ! =)

 

Edit: @DwerBomb I don't think it reduces spoilage as much as the icebox does. I remember reading a post from a developper about the difference between Snow Chester, the Insulated Pack and an actual Icebox regarding their ability to preserve ice indefinitely and only the Icebox was supposed to be able to di it. I'll try to find the post.

[mrtwoface]

I think this would be fair if cooling the thermal stone inside the insulated pack made it slowly lose durability, which could be replaced by putting it into an ice box for a while. It doesn't make much sense, but neither does a crock pot that magically lights a fire every time you poke it. This way you can prepare for a long summer trek by putting your insulated pack in the ice box and then putting your thermal stone in the insulated pack.

 

Either that, or they could just add normal durability to the insulated pack that could be restored with electrical doodads, maybe.