Item condition deterioration

[Discipline Before Dishonor]

This is a top priority bug fix. I can literally move one item from left to right in my inventory, just repeatedly drag and drop it, and watch as the condition slowly changes. Sometimes it even increases rather than decreasing. The problem with this is that, you can't stack items of varying condition, so it makes inventory management a nightmare. Often times I end up throwing away perfectly good circuit boards and duct tape because of this deterioration bug.

[Geauxboy]

Were you outside in the raining doing this? Electronic boards, duct tape, meats, etc will deteriorate in your inventory during a rain.

[Discipline Before Dishonor]

Originally posted by Geauxboy:

Were you outside in the raining doing this? Electronic boards, duct tape, meats, etc will deteriorate in your inventory during a rain.

It was in the rain yeah, but it's stupid, because if I take those items and put them into a car trunk or a container, they will still lose condition. I've also observed it happening in a locker inside my base

[Darek871]

Our backpack is not waterproof so I think it's intended, but for the matches which are supposed to be in a box + pocket + raincoat over it, it doesn't make sense...

I also have the car spark plugs that deteriorate with the rain and there, I think the dev doesn't know what a spark plug is... lol

In fact, It would have been more judicious :
​​1/ Wet and unitilizable objects OK but not deteriorating until they disappear.
2/ A system to dry these objects with fire, or in the open air (sheltered from the rain).

@Trunks_Budo : in a suitcase it's ok, or in dog inventory.

[Geauxboy]

Originally posted by Trunks_Budo:

Originally posted by Geauxboy:

Were you outside in the raining doing this? Electronic boards, duct tape, meats, etc will deteriorate in your inventory during a rain.

It was in the rain yeah, but it's stupid, because if I take those items and put them into a car trunk or a container, they will still lose condition. I've also observed it happening in a locker inside my base

I've never noticed items deteriorating in lockers or inside a shelter (of any type that can keep the rain out), but I know that items that are in the process of deteriorating in your inventory will still deteriorate for a good minute or so before it stops regardless of where you put it. I think the deterioration stops once your "wet" meter is 0%, but again, if you take it out of your inventory, it will still degrade for a little bit.

[DEMONICSLAYER]

Even the vehicle is not waterproof, you can still see yourself wet inside the vehicle.

[Bummenphist]

Once a degrab=dable item gets wet, it will continue to lose its condition. I got caught in the rain with some paper, got home put it in a locker and watched it continue to degrade until it was gone. To be honest, it makes perfect sense to me. Matches, electronic parts, paper etc shouldn't get wet and keep their intergity.

[Discipline Before Dishonor]

Originally posted by Bummenphist:

Once a degrab=dable item gets wet, it will continue to lose its condition. I got caught in the rain with some paper, got home put it in a locker and watched it continue to degrade until it was gone. To be honest, it makes perfect sense to me. Matches, electronic parts, paper etc shouldn't get wet and keep their intergity.

Then we require a mid-game balancing item like a waterproof backpack upgrade to counter it, I reckon. Moreover, I really don't think there should be item deterioration because at present, there aren't even enough items in the world to build everything, and you have to loot refresh just to keep the game going after a while. So to have a necessary loot refresh option, while also having a mechanic that degrades necessary items and makes them unstackable and need to be discarded, it just seems like a poor design decision, but I'm not an expert. One day, loot refresh will be removed. If we haven't also removed the loot degradation mechanic, we will have items which are limited in quantity and non-renewable, being destroyed by rainfall.

[Bummenphist]

I disagree with you on that one. It adds to the challenge to survive.

[Discipline Before Dishonor]

Originally posted by Bummenphist:

I disagree with you on that one. It adds to the challenge to survive.

This game isn't challenging, there isn't even a permadeath component. It's extremely forgiving and you can literally respawn loot. What are you talking about "challenge"? This is the most casual survival game I've ever played

[Krynnost]

To be fair, matches get permanently broken when wet (irl)... duct tape not so much, it just doesn't stick to wet surfaces.

My grief is that not only are the items not protected while wearing the rain coat, but you can be under a roof, indoors, and they lose durability/don't stack.

[Geauxboy]

Originally posted by Krynnost:

To be fair, matches get permanently broken when wet (irl)... duct tape not so much, it just doesn't stick to wet surfaces.

My grief is that not only are the items not protected while wearing the rain coat, but you can be under a roof, indoors, and they lose durability/don't stack.

Again, these items will continue to degrade for a little while because it is still wet. Just because you get out of the rain doesn't mean you're all of a sudden dry again. It takes a little while to get dry and these items are still wet too. I usually take degrading items out of my inventory as fast as possible even though they still degrade a bit more.

I've even tested taking off all my wet clothes and put dry ones on, but still they degrade a bit more and the "wet" meter isn't affected by the dry clothes. If anything, putting on dry clothes should at least speed up your drying time significantly, but I saw no difference.

[zaltocleotl[Banned@Paradox]]

Yeah, the deterioration still needs work. The "Pepsi" look-a-like soda goes bad in just days while the 'lemon-lime' soda lasts much longer. No way. Soda can sit for months without going bad or losing any carbonation. Aluminum cans of soda can last indefinitely. Literally. It will lose bubbles and the flavor will fade after a year or more, but it will still be safe to drink for years past that, just so long as the can stays sealed.
Canned meats and fruit last for over a year as long as they aren't stored in wet conditions or in the rain making the container rust from the outside. Canned meat and fruit in a locker inside from the rain and freezing should last over a year easily. Well-cooked and prepared canned meats and soups can last many years. Fruit will deteriorate after two or three years unless packed with alcohol in the juice - in which case it will become a soupy mess, but still will not make you sick unless it putrifies after many years.
Fresh veggies and fruit should last over a week, at least - two to three weeks in a working fridge.
Gasoline only lasts six months, a year at the most. It begins to break down even faster if not sealed and protected from freezing. It can break down as soon as three months. Diesel can last about a year. There are stabilizers you can buy to add to the gas, but the gas from station pumps does not have those kinds of stabilizers in it. None at all. It would add to the cost of the fuel, so they don't do it. Pump gas will become sludgy and brown after six months and become varnish by a year. It will destroy the engine in no time if it even gets it started.
NOTE: You can tell if those "will this parked car start and drive after years parked" YouTube videos are faked if they use the gas still in the tank after a couple of years and it runs. BS to the extreme!
Oil can sit in an engine for decades and be fine so long as it wasn't contaminated by gas or constant water/rust.
The only thing that should instantly begin to degrade when rained on is paper or bark to be used as kindling. Even then, once dry for a couple of days, it should be fine again.
Ammunition should degrade quickly if gotten wet and be gone very quickly - the same day. But NOT while being moved from inventory slot to lockers or other inventory slots - not even in the rain. No one is so stupid as to let ammo get wet in the rain even while taking it out of a locker and putting it in your inventory. Only if sitting around outside in the rain or dropped in water.
Bows and arrows made of wood are especially ruined if gotten even slightly wet. If used in the rain they should degrade quickly until gone. Compound bows are not so affected but still should degrade a bit and slowly once wet. Carbon arrows are almost immune to rain/moisture. Explosive arrows should degrade in the rain too.
Guns should need repairing if gotten wet. Some cheap repair needing, say, biofuel or lighter fluid, simulating cleaning the gun of water and lubricating it. A wet gun should lose something like 10% a day until cleaned/repaired.
Rain will not harm duct tape unless it sits in it and soaks in it. Moving it around in the rain should be fine.
Matches should be almost instantly ruined in the rain. The striker strip cannot stand being wet and will be ruined that fast. The match heads will degrade very quickly and will not light if wet. Make lighting a match in the rain work about 20% of the time, using up some matches to get them to work. But the box of matches should continue to degrade quickly.
Most electronic components are not ruined by getting wet. Honest. Unless they have power running through them. So long as they are dried before being given power they are usually fine. They will begin rusting if allowed to stay wet, though many electronics boards today are sprayed with a waterproof coating. I know, I used to make furnace/AC and HVAC thermostats and control boards of all sizes and types for Carrier and many other brands, and every last one is sprayed with a waterproofing silicone-based coating, except for the contacts, which are usually rust resistant being zinc-based with gold coatings.
Batteries laying around outside are going to be quickly ruined in the rain.

Frankly, the lockers themselves are going to rust faster than the electronic components or anything else would. If anything is going to be affected by rain, besides ammo and guns and wood bows and arrows, it's the lockers. They are in no way meant to be in the rain.

[Krynnost]

Dude... I can't even...

Your bow and arrows are not going to "quickly degrade" in the rain. Though the string will soak up water like a sponge and your pull strength is out the window.

Do you even own a gun? Unless you're getting mil surplus steel case, it's a brass case with a lead bullet. They don't rust. You can soak it in a bucket of water for days and it will fire just fine.

Compound bows are affected the same as any other unless its a poly wrapped steel cable. Wet rope/string stretches more. Less pull strength and energy behind the arrow.

[Tewhano]

I was on my way (in the truck) to loot when it started raining. I got soaked. I checked and yes my windows were rolled up...lol. Same thing in the barn. So yes you will get wet despite being under cover from the rain. I'm going to wear the raincoat all the time now even though it doesn't seem to work all that well.

[Sukotto82]

Originally posted by Trunks_Budo:

Originally posted by Geauxboy:

Were you outside in the raining doing this? Electronic boards, duct tape, meats, etc will deteriorate in your inventory during a rain.

It was in the rain yeah, but it's stupid, because if I take those items and put them into a car trunk or a container, they will still lose condition. I've also observed it happening in a locker inside my base

I'll have to check this out. at first I thought you were talking about the items that were in your inventory. they got wet from the rain.
but I never saw it happen to items in a locker in a building before unless you take it into your inventory get it wet then put it back in the locker then it will still degrade as it's still wet and needs to finish drying out.

alternatively you can have something like ducktape in your inventory in the rain and it doesn't look like it's decaying but as soon as you move it it "updates" and shows the durability loss.