Dear Survivors, I’m proud to announce that a fairly large pack of changes regarding mechanics for blood, blood loss, and some blood related medical items is now in the experimental Cataclysm.
It would be futile for me to repeat every change it brings here, so I strongly encourage you to read the PR that introduces it here: #41219
This change brings a shift to combat management and health management, so it is advised to get acquainted with it ASAP. And - I hope - it brings us a step closer to the new wound system.
Will military items include Inject items such as , Stimpacks? I know they have been implemented already. But I am curious if your changes would remove them or keep them.
Will other items for firstaid remain, such as Hemostatic Powder? I read the git page and didn’t see anything pertaining to these items.
Will sutures be added?; Makeshift=sewing kit of some kind+pain; as opposed to a pre-threaded sterile medical needle that would be small, causing less pain.
My change does not remove any of existing “stimpacks”, neither change their effects, since none of them interact with bleeding. If there would be something feasible that would act like that - I’m thinking like Zagusting in Escape from Tarkov - I would add it, but nothing such as this comes to my mind.
All other first aid items remain, but their effects were brought in line with the change itself. Previously the quality of bandages, hemostatic powder, etc. were statistical, but with 0/1 effect at the end - they had certain percent that they would work, and when they did, bleeding stopped all in once. Now they have certain quality measured by how much can they can reduce bleeding. For example a bandage may stop small bleeding, but for a large bleeding you would need two (or more) bandages. But if you have only one - it would still reduce the bleeding.
There are new first aid items - adhesive bandages (band-aids) for small bleedings and scratches, that come in bulk; and tourniquets - they limit the effective bleeding but don’t close the wound - it still needs bandages to be closed for good.
Sutures are a very good idea for implementing. Thank you for mentioning that. I’ll definitely put them on my To-Do list. I believe that non sterile sutures should carry the risk of infection, but that by itself is a mechanic that can be implemented.
Would pressure be a method of reducing and slowing bleeding? Pressure dressings are a form of bandage meant to use pressure and lots of gauze to soak up blood and slow bloodflow to the site, but direct pressure by the hands is a classic way to do the same thing.
I know that there are already some weird hand code (like if your hands are free they can be warmed by certain clothing items allowing you to use the pockets) so perhaps with empty hands you could slow bloodflow by a measure (with a small understanding of medical skill, I would think you would need like a 1 or 2 in first aid). This would provide a good trade off for those VERY early characters in dire situations.
I would love to be somewhat involved in this development. I have a lot of personal history in the medical field, both civilian and military. Please PM me if you want some input.
My thoughts exactly. You can still take off your jacket, chop it up, and turn it into some makeshift bandages, but that can still drain a lot of blood like that.
I do think a distinction should be made that bandages are middling in the way of clotting and generally provide pressure (which helps it clot over time) and keeps the wound clean. Stuff like hemostatic powder would be way more effective in clotting wounds, hemostats would stop arterial bleeds by clamping off the site, and silver nitrate would stop smaller bleeds completely. Additionally, if you have something like epistaxis (a really bad nosebleed) hospitals will use medical cocaine to quickly stop the bleeding. I know the survivor doesn’t have access to /medical/ cocaine, but the normal stuff could probably work in a pinch…
Applying pressure on wound by hands is already implemented. I encourage you to read the PR with the implementation where I describe point by point what mechanics were added. In this particular case if you use the pause action or simply wait while not wielding anything your character will try to apply pressure on the most bleeding wound. This in turn will reduce the bleeding of this particular wound and it will close faster. Much better then nothing if you’re out of first aid.
I got excited, sorry. Wow this stuff is amazing. You’ve done an awesome job.
Does this fix the issue with NPCs tanking all the shots on their arms and legs before dying? I imagine it would, considering the comment about moose-shotgun hunting.
I’ve taken a preliminary look at the code to check how sutures might work, but I’m not yet convinced how I’d like to implement it yet. I’d use medical items template to utilize their AI but I need to add some extra bridges and links between existing mechanics. Yes, I can definitely piggyback on infection mechanics too.
NPC should be able to use bandages etc. And that also should apply pressure on wounds. In fact I should return to their AI to ensure that do so under conditions that would normally need player input to clear.
Sewing needle(sterile/or not) + Dental floss or string(sterile/or not) Pre-threaded for use right away. No need for charges and it can be a simple craft recipe that low levels can create. Easy for you. Easy for player and it does the job. But if you can implement a slight pain increase over a sterile pre-thread surgical needle. This would make sense due to the larger size needle. Bending a regular needle is also incredibly simple bare handed. Even quicker using multi-tool/pliers.