Biome Suggestion: Air Conditioner

[Sylvia Rose]

I just had an idea; what if there was an air conditioner somewhere on the far side of the yard. Perhaps by the sandbox so you couldn't get there until after you had some gear already (mid-game?)

So what would be the point? Well, it would make for an interesting area to explore if you could get inside of it. Could be an "industrial" kind of area to break up all the other natural spots. Sparking wires, moving hazardous parts, leaky pools of (most-likely) freon, etc.). Maybe the scientists even put a lab inside of it to test "cold properties" or something.

I know the inside of most AC units aren't very complex, thus my suggestion for a lab or perhaps its some kind of custom developed model with extra parts to "make it work better" or whatever. That being said, I'd imagine it would be very tall and have lots of vertical space to make things interesting.

Maybe in order to reach the top, like for a beacon marker or some raw science, you have to mess with the components inside which makes it shut off. This could have future implications; maybe it spawns more bugs in the area, or summons a repairman that could potentially step on you, or something. 

Maybe stepping in freon (and thus taking a kind of poison damage) too many times (and surviving it) gives you access to a new Mutation that makes you resistant to toxins? If heat/cold were in the game, I'd say the Mutation instead would make you heat resistant.

Just some random thoughts I had.

[McSquirl Nugget]

nice.  i like where you're going with that.  

my thoughts - 

maybe it should turn on in the day and off at night, and have new bugs around it that are nocturnal to add that extra challenge when you go explore it at night.  If you get to close in the day you're sucked in and chopped up by the intake fan.  or have periods in the day where it's off and you have to get in and out quick.  it will beep or make some other noise to give warning it's going to turn back on.

Also, maybe some rare or unique bug parts in the intake vents.  a grasshopper flying near it got sucked in and died, or a butterfly.

and then maybe we could harvest metal there for crafting,  like a piece from the radiator, or the last time it was serviced the repair man got careless and there's bits of wire inside,  break off a chunk on circuit board, like the corner that isn't used to create our own electronics.

[Sylvia Rose]

14 minutes ago, McSquirl Nugget said:

maybe it should turn on in the day and off at night, and have new bugs around it that are nocturnal to add that extra challenge when you go explore it at night.  If you get to close in the day you're sucked in and chopped up by the intake fan.  or have periods in the day where it's off and you have to get in and out quick.  it will beep or make some other noise to give warning it's going to turn back on.

Also, maybe some rare or unique bug parts in the intake vents.  a grasshopper flying near it got sucked in and died, or a butterfly.

and then maybe we could harvest metal there for crafting,  like a piece from the radiator, or the last time it was serviced the repair man got careless and there's bits of wire inside,  break off a chunk on circuit board, like the corner that isn't used to create our own electronics.

Great ideas!

Turning on/off at different times of the day, for a certain amount of time, is brilliant. Adds a completely new sense of danger!

Bug parts stuck in the vents is a good idea too! Maybe only the "common" drops from bugs like legs; no mandibles or acid glands or boiling glands.

Harvesting metal from components on the inside is nice; maybe a huge bundle of wire you have to use a tier 2 axe on, so that it doesn't break immersion as much when you can harvest it forever. (Or instead, each 24 hours a new piece of wire drops that you can harvest a few pieces out of before you have to wait another day?)

[McSquirl Nugget]

17 minutes ago, Sylvia Rose said:

(Or instead, each 24 hours a new piece of wire drops that you can harvest a few pieces out of before you have to wait another day?)

I was thinking the wire wouldn't be a normal respawn.  typically you wouldn't have pieces of wire sitting around in your AC unit.  Some of those external ground units have monthly service maintenance packages.  so maybe this one would have something similar.  Service tech drops a bit of wire, meaning the respawn, to put it more in a game sense,  I'm thinking it would respawn like every 5 or 6 days in game maybe.

[Sylvia Rose]

Perhaps not wire. More likely a screw. I was just trying to think of something that would make sense to harvest from, component-wise. And yeah, you do have to suspend your disbelief a bit for things respawning. Though to be fair, the mints do NOT respawn currently, so maybe the metal stuff shouldn't either?

[McSquirl Nugget]

7 minutes ago, Sylvia Rose said:

Perhaps not wire. More likely a screw. I was just trying to think of something that would make sense to harvest from, component-wise. And yeah, you do have to suspend your disbelief a bit for things respawning. Though to be fair, the mints do NOT respawn currently, so maybe the metal stuff shouldn't either?

screw would make more sense.  i've lost one or two of those in things over the years   plus the screw could be slightly stripped and have metal on the threads that could be harvested.  And yes i would consider this an end game item like Mint with a finite amount and no respawn.