Towards the stable with functional bowstrings and fascinating quick-bows

[Sami]

There hasn't been serious showstoppers with 3.70 beta, so in addition to fixing the remaining bugs I've been relieved enough to also continue working on the few features that didn't quite make their way into first beta releases. So when the stable version comes, it's won't only stabilize the newly added goodies but also adds some new stuff to explore. For example craftable, breakable bowstrings as a separate functional part of a bow.
Yes, that's where the textilecraft additions will bring us now.

Bowstrings will be featured as a craftable item of their own, and they wear out in use and thus need to be replaced every now and then. Bowstrings are made out of multiple strands of yarn twisted together, but also thin cordage can be used for a makeshift bowstring. It's faster to make a bowstring from a cord and the required length is also far lesser, but bowstrings made out of cords are also always of lesser quality.
     Good quality bowstring can last up to thousand of shots or so. The lower the quality the faster the bowstring is prone to break. When the bowstring breaks a message is displayed and the bow gets described as "bow with no string". Naturally you can't shoot with such a bow anymore until a new bowstring is added.

Another bow related addition is a spruce quick-bow - a new type of craftable bow. Spruce quick-bow is the most simple and quick to make type of a bow. It's made out of a single branch that is cut from a standing spruce tree. It goes without saying that this type of bow is not a high performance weapon, but it is efficient enough for hunting squirrels and other small game. This type of bow is strongly based in history, specifically that of the Saami hunters, and it is a fascinating method to make a bow quickly out in the wilderness. You can see me making a spruce quick-bow in the nearby woods in this video (on my traditional archery related YouTube channel): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYR91okTjlM
Heh. It's surely different to craft these things with lines of codes in the digital realm than with an axe in the northern wilderness, but it's nice to master the both ways

And there's even more features still pending to be added for the stable release. Stay tuned.

[trowftd]

So does this mean that the quality of bows will be dynamic? Such as turning a fine bow into a masterwork bow by putting masterwork bowstrings on it.

[Sami]

So does this mean that the quality of bows will be dynamic? Such as turning a fine bow into a masterwork bow by putting masterwork bowstrings on it.

No, it doesn't work like that. Bowstring doesn't affect to finished bow quality. In reality bowstring has some effect, eg. if the string is too heavy the velocity of the arrow will be decreased, but this is so minor compared to overall properties of the bow that it's hard, and not worthwhile to track. If the bow is poorly made, it's cast and velocity doesn't really improve all that much with a masterwork bowstring. So, the bowstring quality will affect only to the bowstring durability.

[PALU]

Interesting stuff!

I hope there is a way to see the bowstring status so you can replace it when it starts to wear out, rather than having to wait until you fail that critical shot because the string broke and you've now lost your weapon...

[Sami]

Interesting stuff!

I hope there is a way to see the bowstring status so you can replace it when it starts to wear out, rather than having to wait until you fail that critical shot because the string broke and you've now lost your weapon...

Yep, we'll probably add some string outlook info to nventory examination, but it's also quite common for the string to break quite unexpectedly. Of course you can see from the wear marks how extensively it has been used, but a single thread coming to its end deep in the twisted bundle or under the serving shows no warning on the outside. So some factor for the string to break unexpectedly, sometimes upon a critical shot, will remain a thing despite of the overall wear to be seen.