Got perishable food, now lets talk preserves.

[The_Dizzie]

Okay BEFORE you start screaming and ranting please just read my idea through then supply your hate to your hearts content.

This is considering we'll be getting seasons at some point and may need to store food for winter, or just for preemptive people who like having a back up source of food. It will take time and effort to make the store to balance out the fact it has slow rot times. So in order to make a preserve to last you the winter you make a sacrifice of time and items.

This suggestion requires the creation of 2 New Constructions and a couple of New Items.

Constructions:

- Smoke Box

- Drying Rack

Items:

- Salt

- Salty Jerky

- Dry Husk

- Dried (Carrot, Berries etc)

- Infested Goop

Details on Constructions:

• Smoke Box:

  The Smoke Box dries and salts meat to turn it into 'Salty Jerky.' It will take 2-5(?) days for the meat to be turned into jerky, during that time the player will need to constantly keep it fueled with tall grass to keep it going.

  There will be 12 slots open (each fit 1 item), 6 for salt, 6 for meat. Having the wrong ratio of salt to meat will result in either all the meat turning into 'Infested Goop' or turning into 'Dry Husks' which would only be edible to hounds and spiders.

  Crafted from Planks, Stone Blocks and Tall Grass.

  Fueled by Tall Grass.

• Drying Rack:

  The Drying Rack is for fruits and veggies that you grow or find, this will have 6 slots (each fit 1 item.) Putting your fruit and veggies in here will dry them over 2-5(?) days, though at dusk the player needs to pick up their fruit and stow them in their ice box over night or the food items will become 'Infested Goop.'

  Crafted from Planks, Web, and Paper

  Fueled by The Sun

Details on Items:

• Salt

  Found on the Beach (if implemented, if not then just on the edge of quarries where they meet water.) Used for making Jerky and in cooking food in the crockpot. Stack up to 40.

• Salty Jerky

  Made with the 'Smoke Box' this food spoils VERY slowly, 3 jerky will fill a stomach. Stack up to 20.

• Dry Husk

  Inedible to the player, works as bait for Traps and Claw Traps to attract spiders and hounds. Stack up to 20.

• Dried (Carrot, Berries etc)

  Made in the 'Drying Rack', fills a little less than fresh food but quality stays constant, cannot provide health. Stack up to 20

• Infested Goop

  If fed to pigs, hounds, or spiders it will cause them to poop. If the player eats it, it will poison the player for a time cause the food meter to fall faster as well as make the player poop until the poison wears off. (lol)

This is just an idea, suggestions and criticism are welcome. I want it to be so for it to even function properly the player will need to plan ahead of time and watch the new constructions to make the preserved food to add a bit of difficulty to make a back up storage of food for the winter or for when all your food rots. So people who think preemptively and preserve their extra food would be rewarded by surviving longer.

Edited January 18, 2013 by The_Dizzie

[Spazmatic]

This actually sounds like a good idea overall,and I can imagine a combination of food spoilage and winter being rather deadly,if unprepared.I'd say that the food you preserve this way should last even longer than crock pot recipes(I believe those will spoil 50% less fast than regular food?),and that the hunger value they restore should become higher than the normal food counterparts.Something I am thinking about is the 2 days needed to turn meat into jerky,and the need of grass for fueling the smoke box.

Will there,besides having meat that lasts longer than normal non-preserved meat,be any advantages so you would spend 2 ingame days of fueling the smoke box?Of course the process of doing so should be worthwhile,otherwise you're better off not doing so at all(my point of view on raising smallbirds before the life cycle,and having to feed them aswell).The same goes for drying your fruit and veggies,should be worthwhile aswell or else people will just make crockpot recipes and store them in the ice box.

However like I said earlier,it is a good idea

[The_Dizzie]

Well I was trying to add more downside to it because last time I said preserve food people ripped me a new one =p there of course could be various advantages and disadvantages, that's why I posted this up to get more feed back on peoples thoughts of what the food should and should not do!

I just really think we need another way to preserve food along with the ice box. Maybe have the smoke box condense 3 bits of meat and 3 bits of salt into a piece of jerky that can fill the players stomach, so basically it would be like crockpot meat recipes that you can stack, but basically have to babysit the smoke box to ensure it comes out right?

[McMatthew]

It does seem like a balanced idea, but it seems like a lot of effort for something you can only eat once. There's no point keeping food for the sake of keeping it. Also, having to keep the smoke box constantly fueled would encourage people to just sit around their camps rather than go exploring, which is trying to be discouraged.

[Spazmatic]

That way it could be balanced,you'd get food that is as hungerdepleting(making up words ftw?)as meat recipes from the crock pot,you just gotta stay near the box.Oh something else,what if the box is movable,as long as there aren't any ingredients in it?You would still have to ensure you get your jerky,but you're not bound to a certain location.Fight off some spider queens while making some nice jerky

[The_Dizzie]

This idea is considering the talk of seasons. In the winter you wouldnt be able to really grow food and there is no saying if animals will hibernate or not.

This is just an example but say it is winter. All the rabbits are hidden away hibernating in their holes, Birds have flown south and TallBirds have ran south for the winter, frogs are buried under the turf for the winter and all ponds are frozen over. Your only selection of fresh meat is Beefalo so once all the beefalo are dead, you'll starve, not to mention Krampus being all over your camp stealing your stuff.

Preserved foods will take time and effort to make, then pays off when you have food for the winter, or when you suddenly realize you've spent all your time fighting hounds and spiders and havent farmed in a week, luckily you stocked up on some dried fruit you've put effort in, you are rewarded for it by having food that you didnt have to worry about rotting quickly.

[McMatthew]

Well if they are implementing Winter, then it must be possible for us to survive, otherwise it would just be a death sentence by putting it in the game. It just seems like the ice box must be sufficient to survive, and doesn't require the player to hang around their base. Although, a smoke box and drying rack would suit the environment beter than a fridge, in my opinion anyway.

[Palpetinus]

Of course any sane person would think about preserving their human-fuel Sooner or later.

Maybe some kind of add-on for your campfire, where you place salted meat and it gets cured by the smoke?

Curing food is not as complicated as you guys think about it here. Heck, you can even dry it in the sun.

I think it should be much easier to accomplish, but fill less of your belly.

[Nathuram]

I like it.

As long as it's balanced well.

[The_Dizzie]

Some kind of preserving process is really needed. Since the last update all I do is gather food. I've no time for exploring, poking spider nests or anything of the sort, the whole game for me revolves around shoving food into my face >.<

[BarovSoap]

I like the idea of jerky and dried fruits/vegetables. It is a very simple process to make these and as the topic is about will add a longer life to the item.

[thenotoriousmrbaker]

I like it, bump. But i all about some '**** spoilage.'