[ul]Aquatic vehicles would allow you to navigate rivers and would also provide you some shelter from weather if a roof is present in a raft tile. In their very basic form, this type of vehicles aren’t anything more than a raft. Additional parts would only make the raft bigger, more stable, etc.
The most basic structural part, the “steel frame” for rafts, would have to be crafted by using a log or several two by fours.
The rest of the construction process would be almost identical to that of terrestrial vehicles.
Parts would be attached by using strings or ropes, and would work similarly to a welder (you waste as many as specified by the part you want to attach). Other tools used would be stone/wood axes, wood saws, hatchets, knifes… anything related to wood and ropes.
From now on I’ll refer to aquatic vehicles as “rafts”, just for the sake of simplicity, and because that’s what they actually would be.
Statistics
For a raft to be able to move safely it’d need good buoyancy and stability levels.
Buoyancy
This stat is calculated per raft tile, and the the average of all the parts would determine the overall buoyancy level. Each part in a tile would have a built-in buoyancy level, although some parts should be clearly more suited for this purpose. Raft frames always would offer the minimum needed buoyancy.
Buoyancy would be affected by weight. Raft frames would have a weight tolerance or limit. Each new added part would add weight to that tile, including the weight of the player, if present. If the sum of all the weight is more than that of the allowed by the frame the extra weight would proportionally decrease the buoyancy level of that raft tile.
Stability
This stat would control the chances of a raft to capsize and would be linked to the buoyancy of each part. If a part’s buoyancy is below the minimum the overall stability decreases.
If stability falls below a minimum the raft has a chance of capsizing each turn it’s moving. This would have several effects: parts could be lost, damaged (particularly engines) and make the raft completely useless. The only way to recover the raft would be to push it while swimming to a shallow water or dirt tile, and then try to turn it over (chances of success based on raft weight and character strength).
Maneuverability
How easily you could turn the raft. Any raft frame apart from the initial one would decrease this value from its original 100%. The type of engine (based on engine power?) and control would increase it.
If currents are implemented they should also affect maneuverability (turning a boat against the current should be particularly tricky).
Parts
Structural:
[list]
[li]Raft frame (the very basic structural element other parts attach to)[/li]
[li]Roof (made by two by fours or sticks, and also sheets, plastic bags, leather or fur pelts for the covering)[/li]
[li]Board (made by two by fours, although maybe this part isn’t needed)[/li]
[li]Seat (to simplify checks, although ideally it shouldn’t be needed, as you could use a long stick to move and control the raft while standing)[/li]
[/list]
Controls:
If there’s no seats this part would be considered the one where you actually drive the vehicle by placing yourself besides it.
Controls and engines (such as oars and long sticks) overlap here.
[list]
[li]Long stick[/li]
[li]Oar[/li]
[li]Tiller[/li]
[li]Steering wheel (it could be built with a “vehicle control” or something like a bicycle wheel)[/li]
[/list]
Buoyancy:
Items the only purpose of which is to add extra buoyancy.
[list]
[li]Gallon jugs[/li]
[li]Plastic jerrycans[/li]
[/list]
Engines:
[list]
[li]Long stick (would move the raft by pushing it against the river’s bed, but it’d depend on how deep deep water actually is)[/li]
[li]Oar[/li]
[li]Sail[/li]
[li]Fuel-powered engine (the same engines used for terrestrial vehicles could work also here, with maybe some tweaks and additions. Most of them would require an additional “fuel tank” part)[/li]
[/list]
Storage:
[list]
[li]Box or Trunk or Chest (probably just a simple wooden box or crate)[/li]
[/list]
Misc:
[list]
[li]Bed (in this case maybe a rollmat or several fur pelts could be used)[/li]
[li]Head light (or whatever the name for a raft is)[/li]
[li]Anchor (would allow a complete stop)[/li]
[/list]
Repairs
Being most of the parts built of wood you shouldn’t be able to repair them. You could only replace them once they’ve totally broken or you consider it’s time for a replacement.
Rivers and currents
I don’t think this is actually present, so this should probably have to be modeled in. Basically, deep water would always flow in one direction. A raft placed in a deep water tile would move autonomously each turn while being pushed by that current. Shallow tiles would be exempt of this, or the current power could be severely reduced. This would allow rafts to be “parked” in shallow waters without an anchor.
Driving a raft
Once built, the raft should be pushed to water, be it shallow or deep. Once there, the player should board the raft and move to a tile with raft controls in order to drive it.
While in deep water the raft should be able to drift at a speed equal to that of the current. Moving forward would speed the raft up even more.
Anchors would activate the same way as handbrakes (s). For an anchor to work properly the raft speed shouldn’t exceed a given minimum. Otherwise the anchor would either break or be lost for good. A full stop shouldn’t be achieved without one.
You should be able to exit a raft at any moment by moving to a deep/shallow water tile. In this case the shaft would go on drifting unless an anchor is used.
Default vehicles
Some examples:
Basic raft[/ul]
""
""\Four raft frames and an oar or long stick to control and move the raft.
Canoe
-
|"|
/|#|\
|"|
-Three raft frames, eight boards and two oars to control and move the raft, maybe a seat in the middle
Motorized raft
"""
"""
"#"Nine raft frames, and one combustion engine and some kind of rudder in the same tile
Motorized canoe
-
|"|
|"|
|#|
#Three raft frames, eight boards and one combustion engine and some kind of rudder in the same tile, maybe a seat in front
Sail raft
"""
"^"
"$"Nine raft frames, one sail and some kind of rudder
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Some related links
How to build a raft
- http://www.raftplan.com/makingaraft.aspx
-
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/how-to-survive-a-shipwreck4.htm
How to build a canoe -
http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=4774
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That’s all I can think of right now. I understand this suggestion implies a lot of work, with extra code and some changes, but I think aquatic vehicles (be them rafts or something else) would make the exploration and survival aspect of this game even deeper and more fun.
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EDIT: I accidentally a couple words. Cleaned it up a bit