# Needful things (simple additions to improve the game)
**URL:** https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570
**Category:** The Drawing Board
**Created:** [March 23, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570 "2014-03-23T22:36:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 189
### Author:  [@Justin\_Case](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Justin_Case)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 7:44am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3761 "2017-09-20T07:44:44Z")
So if i understand, the cover system works, that even if im standing in the middle of the street, the shot can miss me or damage less, the further they are shooting at me?
Another suggestion: more flavour text when you are exploring the world… if you examine for instance a building, it would describe how it looks etc
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### Author:  [@DeWolf](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DeWolf)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3762 "2017-09-20T14:03:21Z")
[quote=“Justin Case, post:3761, topic:5570”]So if i understand, the cover system works, that even if im standing in the middle of the street, the shot can miss me or damage less, the further they are shooting at me?
Another suggestion: more flavour text when you are exploring the world… if you examine for instance a building, it would describe how it looks etc[/quote]
This building looks like a potato.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Case](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Justin_Case)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 7:03pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3763 "2017-09-20T19:03:12Z")
For instance it could look like a potato. Or “the building is in bad shape, various grafities are painted on the wall from before the cataclysm.” Something like that… but i got the hint… bad idea
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### Author:  [@DeWolf](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DeWolf)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3764 "2017-09-20T19:16:53Z")
> [@Justin Case](#):
>
> For instance it could look like a potato. Or “the building is in bad shape, various grafities are painted on the wall from before the cataclysm.” Something like that… but i got the hint… bad idea
I was more of hoping you would give more specifics as how it would work and what kind of descriptions would be used. I would not necessarily call it a bad idea but description of how a building looks is a bit too general. My apologies if I came off blunt.
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### Author:  [@Litppunk](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Litppunk)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3765 "2017-09-20T19:20:38Z")
> [@Justin Case](#):
>
> So if i understand, the cover system works, that even if im standing in the middle of the street, the shot can miss me or damage less, the further they are shooting at me?
Well… technically yes. But you are misunderstanding what is being said.
while range = harder to hit/decreased accuracy
but as the cover system works, the more things that the bullet has to travel “over” thats not JUST ground the more likely it does less damage or doesn’t make it to you at all,
and thats on top of ‘lower accuracy’/‘lower damaging fire arc’ (aka they miss and the bullet lands at you feet in the tile next to you)
at least thats how I understood what they just said about how cover mechanics currently work.
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### Author:  [@Mantar](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Mantar)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3766 "2017-09-20T20:16:28Z")
Yeah, I recently used police cars as cover to get near a couple of turrets with my control laptop, and then to kill a tank drone by luring it next to the battered police car, and get it to shoot at me through the car. The car exploded, and the drone died.
Being able to run fast is a good thing.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Case](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Justin_Case)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3767 "2017-09-20T20:44:01Z")
Aaaah… i see. So the more objects i have between my character and the enemy, the more likely they misd. This includes also dropped stuff from dead enemy? Or the code can distinguish?
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### Author:  [@DeWolf](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DeWolf)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3768 "2017-09-20T21:17:37Z")
> [@Justin Case](#):
>
> Aaaah… i see. So the more objects i have between my character and the enemy, the more likely they misd. This includes also dropped stuff from dead enemy? Or the code can distinguish?
I think stuff like furniture and terrain.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Case](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Justin_Case)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3769 "2017-09-21T19:28:42Z")
I was thinking about the bulding description. When you examine a building, it would give you a small description like “this used to be a pizza parlor. In the window it still advertises 2 for 1 sale. As you look through the window, the place is destroyed” 🙂
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### Author:  [@DemAvalon](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DemAvalon)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3770 "2017-09-21T19:44:08Z")
“As you enter the Hospital, your nostrils are assaulted by the musty and damp air, tiles from the wall have dropped to the floor, mold grows along the ceiling of this dilapidated place of healing, where once people must have flocked when the cataclysm struck, there are only blood stains to remind those that come that they ever existed… the building layout reminds you of a potato.”
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### Author:  [@Mantar](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Mantar)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3771 "2017-09-21T19:59:26Z")
The other day I wondered: why don’t the isolation cells in labs spawn mutated test subjects? It’s always special zombies and Mi-Gos every time I go down there, but there’s tons of mutagens and files detailing mutagenic experiments that they were supposedly doing, but there’s never any poor sap who’s been turned into a lizard or something and is stuck down in a cell, starving and hoping someone will come along and let him out, or let him eat them if he’s really far gone.
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### Author:  [@DeWolf](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DeWolf)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3772 "2017-09-21T22:01:59Z")
> [@Mantar](#):
>
> The other day I wondered: why don’t the isolation cells in labs spawn mutated test subjects? It’s always special zombies and Mi-Gos every time I go down there, but there’s tons of mutagens and files detailing mutagenic experiments that they were supposedly doing, but there’s never any poor sap who’s been turned into a lizard or something and is stuck down in a cell, starving and hoping someone will come along and let him out, or let him eat them if he’s really far gone.
Presumably because they were either terminated (most of these guys are like d class in scp) or they died of dehydration already. Also I kinda imagine that’s what all the naked dead bodies are besides potential scientists.
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### Author:  [@Mantar](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Mantar)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3773 "2017-09-21T22:10:04Z")
> [@DeWolf](#):
>
> Presumably because they were either terminated (most of these guys are like d class in scp) or they died of dehydration already. Also I kinda imagine that’s what all the naked dead bodies are besides potential scientists.
I suppose, but that’s not as much fun from a gameplay standpoint as letting the weirdos out of the closet to find out which ones want to eat you.
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### Author:  [@DeWolf](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DeWolf)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3774 "2017-09-21T22:48:31Z")
> [@Mantar](#):
>
> [quote=“DeWolf, post:3772, topic:5570”]Presumably because they were either terminated (most of these guys are like d class in scp) or they died of dehydration already. Also I kinda imagine that’s what all the naked dead bodies are besides potential scientists.
I suppose, but that’s not as much fun from a gameplay standpoint as letting the weirdos out of the closet to find out which ones want to eat you.[/quote]
Fair point.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Case](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Justin_Case)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2017, 4:28am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3775 "2017-09-22T04:28:04Z")
As far as i know the game starts a couple of days later when the cataclysm struck. Is it possible at game creation, to have a couple of questions to determine your starting gear?
When hell broke out, every pillar of society collapsed. The whole world turned into a nightmare, as people were killed in front of you. You decided…
A,… every man for himself. (You start the game alone)
B,… to try and reach your beloved ones (you start the game with on NPC)
As days were passing the situation got more insane, as the military reported, they will not try to evacuate the population. You decide…
A,… its wise to stack up some food and water (you start the game, with extra food)
B,…to fight out your way from this chaos(you get a firearm)
Something like that
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### Author:  [@Squaggly\_Maggleton](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Squaggly_Maggleton)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2017, 4:45am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3776 "2017-09-22T04:45:41Z")
[quote=“Justin Case, post:3775, topic:5570”]As far as i know the game starts a couple of days later when the cataclysm struck. Is it possible at game creation, to have a couple of questions to determine your starting gear?
When hell broke out, every pillar of society collapsed. The whole world turned into a nightmare, as people were killed in front of you. You decided…
A,… every man for himself. (You start the game alone)
B,… to try and reach your beloved ones (you start the game with on NPC)
As days were passing the situation got more insane, as the military reported, they will not try to evacuate the population. You decide…
A,… its wise to stack up some food and water (you start the game, with extra food)
B,…to fight out your way from this chaos(you get a firearm)
Something like that[/quote]
That might be doable by spawning a custom invisible NPC who asks the questions and gives the rewards (like quests already do) and then suicides when the dialogue is done.
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### Author:  [@DeWolf](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/DeWolf)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2017, 5:56am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3777 "2017-09-22T05:56:16Z")
[quote=“Justin Case, post:3775, topic:5570”]As far as i know the game starts a couple of days later when the cataclysm struck. Is it possible at game creation, to have a couple of questions to determine your starting gear?
When hell broke out, every pillar of society collapsed. The whole world turned into a nightmare, as people were killed in front of you. You decided…
A,… every man for himself. (You start the game alone)
B,… to try and reach your beloved ones (you start the game with on NPC)
As days were passing the situation got more insane, as the military reported, they will not try to evacuate the population. You decide…
A,… its wise to stack up some food and water (you start the game, with extra food)
B,…to fight out your way from this chaos(you get a firearm)
Something like that[/quote]
There is currently a lie mod that kinda does that. It’s more of a you choose your nationality and you spawn with items related but you get the idea.
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### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3778 "2017-09-24T03:32:08Z")
More named modern weapons because searching for beretta and finding all beretta stuff would be amazing
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### Author:  [@NuG](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/NuG)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3779 "2017-09-24T18:56:36Z")
How about a “search for missing component” in the crafting menu. If your missing say “superglue” instead of hitting (F)ind and backspacing away your last search(duct tape I was searching for, for example), a key that would auto search for the missing component/s of current item your looking at in crafting menu. Maybe only if 1 component is missing, but I believe multiple could work by just adding ", " after each item? Maybe I’m just lazy and it’d be a worthless feature, I dunno, thought I’d suggest it anyway. Sorry if it’s been suggested before.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Case](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Justin_Case)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/needful-things-simple-additions-to-improve-the-game/5570/3780 "2017-09-24T19:42:27Z")
I have two things to suggest. First… lets change back the resolution of the map. I think now, the symbols are too small. Or atleast give the ability to choose.
Second… it would be nice to add a journal, where we can log all our heroic raids on the fly.
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