I've made some textures and started the XML for a paddle and sailing version of an umiak. There are things I want to try and make the game do, but I'm not sure whether they can be done with the existing set of XML options. So--

1. Can a boat pawn "wear" apparel? I ask because a real-world traditional umiak is made from a wooden frame with an animal-skin cover. I'd like to make it possible for players to see different "stuff" colors for both the frame and the cover, but the base game code doesn't allow you to include two "category" ingredients in one building or item. My idea for getting around that is to designate the frame as the umiak's body and the cover as specialized apparel for it, so both the body and the cover would show the right colors for the "stuff" they're made of. (So many mods add custom "stuffs"--metals, leathers, types of wood and bamboo, and part of the fun is seeing those extra stuff colors appear.) The body would have a standard heDiff that makes it incapable of moving, and the cover would negate that heDiff--that would keep naked umiaks from defying the rules of flotation and gallivanting about without covers.

I'd have a crafter or builder pawn make the frame (from wood or metal) as a minifiable "furniture" item, have a tailor pawn make the cover, then have a builder combine them to make a functional umiak...but that would only work if a) the "boat" pawn type can wear gear and b) a humanlike pawn can be designated to "dress" the boat pawn. There's a mod called "Dress Patients" that makes it possible for one humanlike pawn to change the clothes of another one, but that involves C# coding that's beyond my skills. Humans can give things to pack animals, but they unload those pack animals automatically, which in this case would strip the umiak of its cover. The Animal Armor mod gives outfits to animals, but I don't want a boat moving around on its own to collect a cover for itself. Help?

Being able to assign apparel to boats would make it possible to add "stuffed" sails to boats, too--devilstrand sails, anyone? The sails could be set to appear on the boat pawn when it starts moving--I think. Or whenever it makes the transition from building to pawn. Sails could be items affected by tailoring skill and subject to deterioration and damage separately from the boat hulls.

2. Is it possible to define the "boat" building as an uninstallable/minifiable "furniture" item instead of a fixed building, or would that not work with the C# code for the boat building type? I ask because I'd like to make it possible for a pawn to flip an umiak (and eventually the Viking longship I haven't yet started making) over and use it as a rough shelter--not sure how it would work in terms of showing the sleeping spots etc that could fit under it, but if the "boat" building type inherits strictly from the fixed-building class it's a moot point.

Thanks for being so responsive to all the questions and such on this mod, and for making the tutorial on making new boats to add to it!