I think a pipe would be a decent alternate component in some recipes like spears and what not. Just a minor thing. Or you could simply sharpen a pipe and make a sharpened pipe spear on it’s own. A deadly urban weapon. Pipe javelins?
Sounds good, a nice pipe hammer can smash zombies head in seconds.
Pipes are hollow inside so I don’t thing they will make good javelins, a metal pipe is fairly short (around 1m) so they are not really viable as a spear, also being made of metal and hollow inside - they are hard to sharpen.
Other than that, I think a pipe can be modified into something resemble a shorter version of the Lucerne hammer or a war hammer - like what tikilla has suggested.
I’d make pipes an alternate component for most recipes requiring scrap.
Except maybe spears and knives.
Why would pipes being hollow make them not a good spear? They become sharp and are easy to jab? They wouldn’t look like a traditional spear, but you could make it look more like that if you wanted to twist the end with some heavy duty tools or apply some heat first. But just a hacksaw at a jagged angle and it’s already pretty nasty. A broken pipe out of some rubble could already be a pretty nasty weapon. BTW, a hollow pipe is stronger then a solid wooden pole…
I could have explained it better, because of their shorter length, a pipe unless attached to something else cannot reach the same distance as a wooden pole for example. Generally steel pipe (assuming all the pipes in-game are steel ones, not PVC) is better suited as a clubing weapon.
According to the wiki, a pointy stick (the most basic spear) is actually heavier than a pipe (900gr vs 762gr), so not only the stick is longer but it also can apply more force due to its weight. The pipe is made from steel (7.75 to 8.05 g/cm3), let’s take the average density (7.9 g/cm3). 762/7.9= 96cm3. Because we can get those pipe from a locker, I’m assuming that they have radius of about 2cm, so height = 96/(pi.r^2)= 8cm (again i’m assuming here that the pipes are super-hollow so they can have the longest possible length), too short to be a spear.
It’s very possible that my calculations are wrong or the game numbers were unrealistic, but from these numbers I get the feeling that those pipes are more similar to a “short steel piece” than a “plumbing pipe” we often see gangs in video game using.
Edit: It seems that for gameplay purposes, an item can have different weight and length depend on what recipe it’s a component in, in that case then a pipe perhaps can find its way to recipes such as “spear” and “javelin”, still given the number above it’s still a long stretch.
Edit2: weird, a heavy stick is heavier (1.7kg) yet give lower bash damage than a pipe, this exists across multiple items too. I know it’s gameplay purposes but IMHO the weight/bash damage could be a little more realistic.
Feel free to audit the weapons for physical property consistency and post your results, or better a patch or pull request. As with many things it’s a matter of time to perform the task, and that’s pretty far down on my list.
Thanks, I’ll look into it. I’m unfamiliar to this GitHub thing but I’ll try my best.
A lot of piping is made from copper or aluminum and bends very easily. But… Given that the pipe is a pretty decent weapon I am assuming it is a steel pipe, such as you might find under a sink.
I don’t think the pipes are meant to be very long. Somewhere between one and two feet? So it might make a decent tool handle but a spear or javelin made from steel pipe(s) would be either much too short or much too heavy.
FYI, there is a steel pipe and a copper pipe.
The steel pipe is a substantial hunk of metal you can bash things with.
The copper pipe is a thin-walled tube like from a refrigerator.
I’ve seen some of the big ass pieces of pipe that come from a ruined buildings personally. They could do what I’m talking about. 
Although I must say the 100+ year old building in New England I grew up in used copper piping for it’s water system (lots of really old buildings in New England).
With enough pipe joints (available at your friend Dead Value Hardware store) you can construct a frickin’ pipe ladder to the moon.
A pipe wouldn’t make a good spear, but it would make a good spear head. Just taper the end of a pole, jam the pipe on tight by hitting it on the floor, and cut it at a steep angle with your hacksaw. Same way any ordinary spear, shovel, or pitchfork head is affixed. Minus the bashing. Probably sturdier than the knife spear because a sharpened chunk of steel would have to be lashed into a split ended pole same as a flint arrowhead. Even better, use the pipe as a socket and weld on the sharpened chunk of steel and you have an upgraded knife spear. Throw that shit in Rivet.
I’ve added it to my list.
No new stuff is going in for the next day or two, since we’re coming right up on a release, but once we’re past that point I’ll start adding stuff from my list once again.
A six foot length of pipe WOULD make a GREAT spear. Even if all you did is sharpen the front of it. As for the length of these pipes is indeterminate. If you can’t imagine how to take a 6ft length of pipe and turn it into a spear then, sir, come the apocalypse, you are screwed. If the length of the pipe bothers you so much, then use two pipes to do so. As for the strength of hollow materials, hollow pipes are pretty damn strong. The cylinder shape was chosen for many things specifically because it WAS a very strong design for it’s use of materials.
I’m fairly certain pipes are hollow because they need to transport fluid. The sort of steel they’re made of would be formulated for rust resistance instead of strength and sharpness. I think that your spear would be a decent starter weapon but still inferior to a normal spear. I say this because that much steel would be a bit heavy and slow-ish and still not be as sharp as the knife spear. It would have pretty good bash though. If you really want a long steel pipe then mod one in that can be disassembled with a hacksaw into smaller pipes or made into your spear. I think my idea of the pipe on the end of pole would get the same effect you want but faster, and only require a knife and wood added.
A 6’ pipe with a tip ground at an angle would be good at stabbing things, but I’m not so sure about effectiveness as a spear. Weapon blades are designed not just for penetration, but also to inflict maximum damage. A angle-ground pipe would have good penetration, but would make tidy little holes (it’s an upscaled hypodermic needle after all) and not much damage to surrounding tissue.
The other issue is I’d expect the “pipe spear” to be over-heavy by a bit, this would lead to significant bashng ability, but it would be slower than a wood-hafted spear. This is exacerbated by the fact that all weapons are indestructable, so any potential gains from toughness are moot.
In game terms I’d put it above the wood spear, and I’m not sure where it would go relative to the knife spear, if we had a seperate penetration stat I’d call it higher penetration but lower damage, but we don’t so meh. Both would be blown out of the water by a “real” spear. Probably I’d put its damage in the same vicinity, but it’d be slower due to the additional weight. I’m guessing this isn’t too far off from what you were getting at, hard to be precise online sometimes.