Empty container and loose contents

[wolfman00]

I am using Buoidda's mod (http://z3.invisionfree.com/UrW_forum/index.php?showtopic=8043), i have built a birch bark basket, filled it with dried meat, empty it and loose all the meat. Shouldn't the meat be on the ground or in my inventory when the basket is emptied?

[PALU]

This comes up every so often, but as this is a new forum, there's no prior report here.

There is currently no mechanism for taking things out of containers apart from processing the contents (e.g. eating it) or moving it to another container. Emptying a container means pouring the contents on the ground, which means it's lost when liquid or fine grained. The logic doesn't contain any exception for items that can exist as free items, so they're lost as well.

It can be noted that this is a general container issue, not a mod one, as you can do the same with vanilla containers such as bowls or pots.

[wolfman00]

@PALU Thanks for clarifying that it wasn't a mod issue, i wasn't sure.

Shouldn't this be something we request Sami update for one of the future versions? Would it be too much to ask that when i put 10 meat cuts into a container and then empty it, 10 meat cuts come back out? Seems like a valid request to me. Liquids of course would be lost (poured on the ground). Quality of various items in the container could be handled by maybe taking the average or something and storing it in a variable. I am just brainstorming on how to handle this problem. However it is handled (if it is handled) i think it would be a nice addition to the game.

[PALU]

It's a reasonable update to allow for containers intended as such (e.g. a backpack) rather than just "fluid" containers. I'm not sure if it's on the developer page, but it ought to be. The only "containers" you can take things out of currently are animals of burden/companions and the cellar.

[Privateer]

 In my quiver mod I demonstrate a method to put "solid" objects (arrows) into a container (quiver) and retrieve or draw arrows to be fired from the quiver. However, EMPTYING the quiver through "container" menus would destroy the contents. 

[Mati256]

I would also like to see smaller containers option. There is currently a set minimum size for the containers. I don't remember what it is right now.
I remember I was trying to create small containers like spoons to use two kinds of vegetables in a recipe. The idea was that you need .10 vegetables. So you would have a container with .05 broad beans and other with a lot of peas for example. So you would use first the one with .05 broad beans and then the one with peas and you would have two different vegetables in your recipe.
A work around would be to have two .05 entries for vegetables but the recipes entries are getting quite big as it is...

[wolfman00]

@Privateer Can you post up a link to that Quiver mod? I would like to have a look at it.

[Privateer]

@wolfman00
Here you go; Arrow quivers ~ containers in my sack has been added here

http://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=785.0

[Sami]

Like people explained it's always been like that. You can't take things out from a container. You can pour from one container to another though.
This is confusing for many, so it would be best to add confirmation message to warn about losing contents if emptying is proceeded. (And those who've gotten used to the mechanics would probably love that confirmation message to be configurable on/off.)

The reason why emptying containers isn't featured is because the quantity and unit of the original items is lost when they are put in a container.
14 pinches of seeds come just a pile of seeds, and 7 perches become just a lump of perch when put in a bag. Getting the contents out could be featured so that you'd simply get "pile of salmon" or "pile of blueberries", but further utilization of those ingredients might cause conflicts elsewhere. To have containers remember the original quantity and units would need quite a bit of reworking the container code.