Balancing Wound Infection, Stitching, Rags and Bandages

[Beizs 186]

So, I'm not entirely sure how wound infection works as of the latest update, but I'll write this on the premise that this video is accurate (0.50).

 

So, as it stands, if I'm correct, wound infection can only be caused by stitching yourself up. Regardless of the durability of your sewing kit, it has a ~15% chance of giving you an infection.

 

This is supposed to balance sewing kits against bandages, of course.

 

 

My issue with this is that it's not very realistic. At all. You should be able to get infected wounds from bandaging yourself with dirty rags/bandages and should be able to stitch yourself up without the risk of getting an infected wound.

 

So, how do you balance all of this? (- = Key point, ? = Possibility)

 

1 - Rags start off with the durability of the item that they were crafted from.

2 - Damaged rags, bandages, sewing kits or leather sewing kits have a chance (30%?) of giving you an infection.

3 - Badly damaged items have a 60% chance of infecting you.

4 - Ruined rags and bandages are still usable (sewing kits are not), but they have a 90% chance of giving you an infection.

5 - Sewing kits give you a shock penalty... You're stitching yourself, after all.

6 - Rags and bandages can be cleaned with disinfectant or alcohol.

7 - Sewing Kits can be combined to increase their durability from badly damaged to damaged.

 

1 ? Add a 'dirty' status for all of these items. That way, sewing kits can be handled differently to account for the issue of dirtiness and running out of thread. Rags and bandages damage status would be ignored other than ruined (which would be unusable & unrepairable) & the dirty status would take the role of the above functions (ranging between clean, dirty & filthy). Dirty status is applied to these items on a per second(?) basis. It's simply a float that ticks up over time. Sewing kits get dirty fastest (if the needle has any dirt on it, you're asking for an infection), then rags and, finally, bandages. If these items are in containers like the small protector case or the first aid kit, the rate of dirt collection is halved. If the items are damp, the rate of dirt collection is doubled. To minimize strain on servers (though I doubt there'd be much), the timers could only tick when in a players inventory or they are rendered by a player. It's handled client side and sanity checked by the server on an occasional basis (for example, every ten minutes, it checks whether the item's dirty status has changed a possible amount over that time, resetting when it's dropped or picked up).

 

2 ? Apply dirt status to clothing, too. Dirty clothes add a chance of getting ill (very low if it checks regularly). If not, the first key point translates damaged clothes to 'dirty' rags & 'badly damaged' or 'ruined' clothes to filthy rags. Damaged/badly damaged clothes give you worn rags, while ruined clothes give you damaged rags.

 

3 ? If 1 & 2 possibilities are met, then sewing kits can be replenished by adding them together (replenishing the amount of thread in them) & cleaned separately.

The way this could work is;

Pristine = 100% Durability

Worn = 60% Durability

Damaged = 40% Durability

Badly Damaged = 20% Durability

Ruined = 0% Durability

 

When you combine two kits, they add their durability together. So, a worn and damaged kit would make a pristine one. Badly damaged + Damaged = Worn. Worn + Badly Damaged = 80% (can add another to make it pristine). Etc, etc.

 

They can then be cleaned with alcohol or disinfectant. One use, like with rags or bandages, cleans it completely.

 

 

Why this works

 

Okay, so, with this, there are three different items (four if you count the sewing kits separately, though they should work exactly the same) that you can use to stop yourself from bleeding.

 

1 - Rags. Easy to obtain, stack to six uses per inventory slot. These items might be useful depending on how clean the clothing you got them from was. Good for entry level, not very space efficient but very accessible. Can be used in any situation.

 

2 - Sewing Kits. Fairly common, these are very, very space effective. However, they require more maintenance, balancing the fact that they could, potentially, be used 20 times for each slot taken up. If the dirt feature is implemented, they should get dirty faster than rags or bandages. If it's not, then the fact that they deteriorate and become more likely to make you ill with each use is balance enough. In situations where you have low blood, the shock penalty means that there's a chance that you may pass out, leaving you vulnerable (I believe that it should complete the stitching even if you pass out, however).

 

3 - Bandages. Rarest of the three. Medium space efficiency, but they're the safest to use and require the least maintenance. Can be used in any situation.

 

Overall, this creates a good balance between the three items while making the issue of wound infection a bigger deal... Which it should be. It's not too difficult to get around, so it shouldn't harm gameplay and it adds to the realism.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Beizs

[scrubbie_mcnoob 136]

TLDR, why not just make it that alcohol tintures applied to rags/bandages/sewing kits give 0% chance of infection?

[Beizs 186]

TLDR, why not just make it that alcohol tintures applied to rags/bandages/sewing kits give 0% chance of infection?

There's no such thing as too long on the suggestions section. Stuff needs detail.

As for your solution, I believe that that's the most realistic and simple way of handling it, but it kinda makes rags and bandages obsolete considering you can stitch yourself up 20 times with one sewing kit.

[5mirkeh 98]

There's no such thing as too long on the suggestions section. Stuff needs detail.

As for your solution, I believe that that's the most realistic and simple way of handling it, but it kinda makes rags and bandages obsolete considering you can stitch yourself up 20 times with one sewing kit.

 

There's no such thing as too long on the suggestions section. Stuff needs detail.

As for your solution, I believe that that's the most realistic and simple way of handling it, but it kinda makes rags and bandages obsolete considering you can stitch yourself up 20 times with one sewing kit.

 

How about audible pain noises when stitching yourself up with the chance for infection and shock?

[Beizs 186]

How about audible pain noises when stitching yourself up with the chance for infection and shock?

 

Whoops, forgot to expand on the fifth point. Basically, I don't think the infection thing is very likely. You're more likely to get an infection leaving a wound open and simply bandaging it. If your needle is sterilized, there shouldn't be a chance of it getting infected (obviously irl it's still possible, but compared to just slapping a bandage on, it's a non-chance).

 

However, the fifth point of a shock penalty means that, if you have low blood, there's a reasonable chance that you might pass out from stitching yourself up. This means that if you're using it in a situation where you've just been shot, etc, you're likely to pass out and be left vulnerable for a short while. I'd say that it should complete the stitching, though.

[Sleeves 98]

Project Zomboid has a good wound system in my opinion. I love how injuries take a good while to heal and medical item quality is taken into account.

I like your idea and also hope that at some point injuries become more complex and longer lasting.

[Beizs 186]

Project Zomboid has a good wound system in my opinion. I love how injuries take a good while to heal and medical item quality is taken into account.

I like your idea and also hope that at some point injuries become more complex and longer lasting.

Exactly. I'm not somebody who'll advocate permanent effects or serious, complicated procedures to repair issues as that negatively effects gameplay imo, but it'd be great to get something more substantial that there currently is.

[gorvi 189]

I can imagine it will be fleshed out more later in development.  Project zombiod went from using rags to completely heal to a very indepth first aid system.