Mechanics:Shelter

Overview

Shelter is the mechanic which influences the longevity of Perishable Items.

How decay works

Decay is a percentage stored by a perishable item. At 0% the item is new, and at 100% the item is decayed. This progress is represented by a filled in ring next to the item, along with the timeframe that an item of that type takes to decay from new (e.g. a year) in the current conditions indoors versus outdoors.

Each item has a different rate of decay. This rate is also influenced by being indoors or outdoors - when an item is stored indoors, it typically has a slower rate of decay and therefore will take longer to decay. However, when an item is moved from outdoors to indoors, or vice versa, only the rate changes - the current decay progress remains constant. For example, if some flax was stored outside until its decay progress was at 50%, and then it was stored inside, the flax would decay at a slower rate, so it would take longer to decay the remaining 50%, even though there is the same amount of decay needed. However, it would still have 50% decay inside, and this amount would not reduce, so it will finish its decay faster than a flax stored inside at the same time, with less decay. This means that it is best to minimise exposure outdoors for food items to maximise time before decay, as this mii misses the average rate of decay and therefore maximizes the time until decay, so the food keeps for as long as possible.

The mechanic which determines whether an entity is indoors or outdoors has several effects on items and sapiens. This mechanic will be explained, along with its effects, in this article.

Determining whether an entity is indoors

If an entity is under a roof or floor piece (NOT a rotated wall piece), it is considered indoors. The head of a sapien is considered for this. Otherwise, it is considered outdoors. This can also be tested by selecting an item which decays which is in the selected spot. If the item is indoors, its description of decay time on the bottom left will state ‘decays X indoors’ - otherwise, this description will state ‘decays X outdoors’.

Effects of being Indoors

• Food items and other decaying items tend to decay slower
• Sapiens sleeping indoors and on a bed gain a positive status effect, as opposed to a negative one for not sleeping indoors.
• Sapiens will not get wet if indoors during rain, and will dry off indoors during rain.