Some Suggestions

[Nemo]

Apologies for the boring title, but I'm practically obsessed with this game and couldn't think of a title to fully encompass my ideas. I've decided to include a few in a single post to be concise, but they encompass a range from new avenues for gameplay to expanding upon existing items.

Gameplay Enhancements

Armor and Weapon Upgrades - I really like the simplicity but importance of upgrading the workbench as one progresses through the story, and I believe it could be expanded to weapons and armor as well. This could help earlier sets of armor with their set bonuses or weapons with unique mechanics remain relevant into late game. Tier 1 upgrades could be simple, only changing things like armor, damage, weight, etc. Later tiers, requiring later game resources, could expand upon the weapon, perhaps providing enhancements to unique mechanics (i.e. giving the grinder more bounces) or even adding new effects (i.e. the electro-thrower gaining a chain lightning effect).

Accessories - Mixing and matching equipment to create builds for certain purposes is a joy, but is sadly a little bare bones in game. Typically, it comes down to only picking two or three pieces of armor from one set, and then one or two from another should there be a synergy. I like to combine a couple pieces from the hex set and a couple from the crystal set to make a sneaky survivor type of build. Trinkets naturally fill the gap, but I'm greedy and would just love to have even more options. I think adding some more slots for equipment with minor buffs could lead to a lot of interesting and unique loadouts, and even work well with some existing items. The wrist watch slot ingame that's unused could be more of a wrist slot. The biometric/biomimetic armwraps could be moved to this slot to ease the woes of choosing between firearms and arm slot armor of other sets. Similarly, the bionic legs could remain relevant with their own slot (shoes, maybe?), while competing with similar items. Instead of a being a cosmetic, belts could also be a type of accessory, with the fanny pack moving from a trait during character creating to an equipment item.

Ranching - I've seen a lot of people wish for this, but a sustainable way to acquire milk would be nice. Rather than taming the Peccary, I think it could be simpler and more interesting to integrate it into the existing Pest taming mechanic. By feeding the pests certain things (a milk sack would be fitting), you could transform them into some of the other Anteverse II forms. Rather than killing your new Mama Peccary, maybe using a vial on them could be a way to harvest? Recipes could be adjusted, with a whole milk sack yielding 2 or three vials? Other forms could be fed to yield resources, work some sort of station, or simply defend the base.

Eldritch - This is a more out there suggestion, but the hints of otherworldly and supernaturally forces we've seen so far (i.e. the night realm, reaper, leyak, Canaan etc.) just tickles the right neurons. I'd love to see more, and thought up a new category of items or maybe even a skill. Eldritch equipment would provide powerful abilities, but at a cost, whether weakening the fabric of reality, driving its users to insanity, or consuming life itself. I swear I'm not suggesting this because I'm a sucker for fantasy, and it's totally not a ploy to see a magic-adjacent skill in another game I play, not in the slightest...

Cauldron - The Cauldron was honestly a bit disappointing as an item. It looks cool, don't get me wrong, but I feel it has a lot more potential than being use merely for decoration. Filling it with water should give the option to make absolutely massive soups. These could be either scaled up versions of existing soups, allowing the creation of one big pot with many more servings, or new, enchanced soups requiring more than the standard three ingredients soups. Other liquids could have other effects.

Minor Additions

Moving on, these are just a few smaller ideas for items or tweaks

Fishing Traps - I'm desperate at this point for a more productive fish farming method. I'm honestly still not 100% sure about their mechanics. From what I've gathered you have to be loaded into the cell and only one fish trap can be put in a body of water. I understand balancing or engine limitations may be a concern, but the fishing traps have room for improvement.

Planters - New planters don't have to just be size increases, but could also include different kinds. A large, single plot garden could be used for trees (i.e. apples), perhaps using less water but having a longer grow time. Aquatic tanks could be used to grow murkweeed, some sort of mycelium planter could be used for carbuncle mushrooms, etc.

Dredger - Similar to the fish traps, but designed to catch scrap items instead of fish, perhaps requiring power or only having limited slots like the items generators on workbenches to ensure balance.

Canister - Canisters could be crafted into portable air tanks to provide oxygen if you don't want to surface just yet.

Kylie - It'd be nice if she could talk while equipped. A few voice lines in response to certain things could provide a nice little companion during solo play.

Traps - Luring enemies into mines is fun. More traps could be even more fun, like caltrops or snares.

Sprinkler System - I love the weather system so far. I think a sprinkler system malfunction could be a nice way to introduce a rain like event, providing water for farms or filling barrels.

Scrapping and Cooking Consistency - It's a bit strange that you can disassemble staplers for scrap metal but a whole car battery can't be dismantled into at least tech scrap. Even stranger that only normal peccary skulls can be cooked into glue while other skulls give bad soup. A bit more consistency in how some resources can be processed would be appreciated. Please, I have so many skulls and car batteries and nothing to do with them. I don't want to just get rid of them, I've sunk too much time and storage space into gathering them. I am willing to beg.