Blood - Lasts forever?

[mumblemumble]

So blood being all over the landscape is very common after a while. enough raids, enough hunting, or a thrombo you light up with a militias worth of lead before letting it bleed out. But something bothers me, even 3 seasons later, unless cleaned by hand or RAINED ON, it stays there. This means deserts, and tundras often have waaaay too much blood. I've had blood from 3 seasons still sitting around, and this got me thinking : should it even be there? Blood, like flesh, should expire in a few days right?  wouldn't walking on blood, when its on dirt push it into the dirt and get rid of it? wouldn't the sun bake it to a crisp and turn it to dust in a day or 2, maybe 3?

I think blood should have its own expiration date like flesh, or if that is too much, at least be slowly expired on dirt, or in sun, helping to clear landscapes. I realize a ticking bit for every blood object would be a bit performance hitting, but considering every grass bit does this too, isn't it acceptable?

[O Negative]

I usually deal with the ugly mess in those biomes until I have the resources (man-power) to spend cleaning it up. Depending on how large of a map you're playing on, that might be a lot of resources. Plus, there's the tedium of setting the whole map as you're home zone, and getting a few people with priority 1 cleaning for a bit.

I always thought a sand system would be pretty cool. Acting in the same way that the snow system works, except it covers everything in sand over time (slowly covering objects low to the ground, so they aren't visible) for desert biomes. I don't know, just a thought.

[mumblemumble]

my main thought is the blood is unrealistic, and builds up. The situation it lasted for 3 seasons was in regular mountain woods.

But since blood is from flesh, I expect it wouldn't last as long as raw meat out in the open. Surely it would dry up, deteriorate, decompose, and have little tiny critters eat it up before long

[Serenity]

Yeah, the blood bath is kind of annoying. Rain washes it away, but on many maps it doesn't rain that often.

[O Negative]

I think it's fair to say that blood should eventually "dry up" or decompose in one way or another. I think the main issue would be how long it should take. If the lifespan of a blood splatter is too short, it becomes too easy to just let blood clean itself up. On the other hand, if it's too long, blood splatter build up is still an issue, since raids just keep getting bigger as the game goes on. You can't really argue for a: lifespan of blood filth = average time between raids. Or can you? Only issue would be that different storytellers have different average times between raids... Those are just my thoughts.

[CannibarRechter]

> I think the main issue would be how long it should take.

The game already has the necessary mechanics for this. If the area is roofed, then it should take X. If not, then Y. As for the exact time, indoors: never. Outdoors, maybe a few days?

[nccvoyager]

  Well, I have observed that dried blood can last on rocks out in open weather for months, or even years. (Canadian West coast.)  That being said, after a few weeks, it usually isn't very visible anymore.

  In RimWorld terms, this might mean that after a certain period of time, blood would dry.  Then, after another period, blood would begin to become invisible.  However, whatever environment the blood is in, that room or area would not actually get any cleaner.

[mumblemumble]

Maybe for rocks n such,  but dirt would surely soak it up and be covered by winds,  plant life,  foot traffic,  ect.

I also think dried blood wouldn't be as nasty. I also think skeletons would be much more tolerable than a maggot filled cadavre

[nccvoyager]

  True, blood on moist or wet dirt disappears within days, being consumed by microbes in the soil. Blood on dry dirt tends to stay where it is for several weeks, slowly consumed by the more resilient microbes. Blood on wet sand tends to be carried away by water within a day, as wet sand is usually only near bodies of water. Dry sand is difficult to determine. My guess would be that it would depend on the environment. Blood on dry sand with little to no wind could probably last weeks, while blood on dry sand in areas with lots of wind would probably last only a day at most. Though, the blood would be carried away with the top layers of sand, not truly removed.
  Dried blood, while not as disgusting to look at as wet blood, is still fairly dangerous in terms of cleanliness, and inactive microbes may become active once exposed to humidity.
  In terms on implementation, perhaps "wet blood" turns to "dry blood" and then takes longer to clean, but is a bit less disgusting/dirty?

  While it is true that skeletons are less "disgusting" than a "rotting" corpse, relatively speaking, the psychological impact of seeing a dead human body, whether fresh, rotting, or dessicated, is still high.  Especially if you are surprised to find the skeleton, or you know that it was you, or your friend's, fault that the body is there.
_{(If I am not mistaken, there is already a mechanic that adds an "observed unburied corpse" instead of "observed rotting corpse" moodlet for skeletons. At least, I remember seeing it at one point.)}
  In terms of cleanliness, remember that many microbes are resilient, and are likely to be present on a corpse whether it is fresh, rotting, or dessicated.*
_{*A sun-bleached skeleton, as in a desert, would actually be fairly clean, as UV rays actually destroy many, if not most, microbes.}

  Of course, an expensive relic that causes rain to occur over the region would be an interesting item, and one which woudl help solve this issue, don't you think?

[Noobshock]

should go away with time and especially rain

[Pillow Fort]

well this clearly isnt earth.. so lets take it in the other direction!

maybe maybe... in deserts.. there are some plants that evolve to only grow on blood!
so the more blood in deserts, the more bloodvine vegetation you get!

[Serenity]

should go away with time and especially rain

Rain works, but otherwise it stays for a really long time. Not "forever", but it can seem like it. Whole areas where you hunted or had a fight stay soaked in blood for ages.

[mumblemumble]

Wait, its not forever? how long does it take? a year?