How to reset POIs without losing bases

[Crater Creator]

TL;DR: When a quest is activated, save the POI as it exists at that moment out to disk. Restore the POI to that state when the player leaves the property. No more losing stuff in a building because you started a quest there.

 

This idea came up on the Steam forum. A user had assumed that when a quest is triggered, the game saves out the state of the POI, and restores it to that state once the quest is over. It doesn't work like that, so he permanently lost a cement mixer he'd been using and its contents. But the discussion got me thinking if the game could work this way, and how.

 

The modified state (the player base version of the building) would be written out to disk when the player activates the quest. This would cause a short lag, but there's already a short lag when you start a quest as the game randomizes the loot containers, clears all the grass and such. Quests are already designed so you're not in immediate danger at the quest marker, and the user is explicitly controlling when this happens. And given that the game only supports 8 players (or maybe it's 16 now), and people frequently share quests, we're talking about something that would happen infrequently. Anyway, this would mean there's no problem logging out mid-quest.

 

The POI could reset from the quest version back to the saved, player modified version whenever you leave the property. This way

• the game already knows how to detect when the player leaves the property
  
• the chunks will still be in memory
  
• it works if you fail the quest by leaving
  
• it works if you fail the quest by dying (do it before teleporting the player to their bedroll)
  
• it works if you succeed at the quest and start heading back to the trader
  
• even if the player's modifications are radically different, there's no risk of e.g. embedding the player in a wall, as there would be if it reset while the player's still on the property.

Structural integrity could be an issue, but the only problem we'd be adding is if you build an overhang that extends over the property line, while doing the quest, that's supported by a pillar that you've removed in the player base version of the POI that's restored, and you do this without leaving the property.

 

The biggest exploit I could envision is holding onto a quest that takes place at your base, and triggering it a minute before horde night. You would then be able to preserve your base, let the Blood Moon horde demolish the original quest-ready version of the building (assuming it can last one night, unmodified, while you stay on the roof or something), and then leave the property to restore your pristine base in the morning.

 

If this becomes an issue, the best solution I have is to not allow quests to be activated during horde night. If a quest is active when horde night begins, it's preempted. The quest automatically fails and you're kicked out, like when a trader closes, to allow the building to reset to your player base version. It's clunky, but hopefully normal people that aren't trying to leverage an exploit aren't trying to do quests during a Blood Moon.