Scavenging

## Overview

Scavenging is the finding of items in the world. Scavenge, or items that can be scavenged, can consist of any manner of loose items that can be found all over the city of \_\_\_\_\_, but many times the majority of scavenge can be found in searchable containers.

## Background

When the outbreak hit, few people were prepared. Much of the population perished in the initial stages of the chaos or became infected with **The Pathogen**. Many homes, businesses, and other buildings, in turn, became deserted and ownerless. The remaining survivors took the liberty of searching these places and taking whatever useful items and resources they can find that will aid in their survival. Scavengers are usually those who do not have the means or resources to shelter in place, and instead go out in search of their basic living essentials.

## Gameplay mechanics

* Like footwear, items like armor pieces that usually come in pairs (ex. knee pads or gloves), are usually found as pairs, but this is not the case all the time. Sometimes, only a singular piece will be found when searching a container. Oftentimes, however, the second piece is coded to be somewhere else in the house/building/area that is being searched, but not always.

### LOOSE ITEMS:

Loose items can be scavenged by pressing the **Interact** button with the crosshair over the item. This will bring the item into an empty hand. Pressing the **Interact** button again will add the item to the inventory (or containers equipped to the body like backpacks or pouches). This is the fastest way to collect loose items, and requires a free hand.

* If both hands are free, by default the item being picked up will go into the right hand. Picking up another item will make it go into the left hand. **D-Pad Right** will switch carried items in hands, even if only one hand carries something.
* If one hand has a container and the other is free, pressing **Interact** on the item will make it go into the free hand. Holding the **Reload/Sheathe** button will add the item into the held container.
* If one hand has a container and the other isn't free, the **Interact** button must be held down on a loose item to add it into the held container. It cannot be put directly into the inventory, because no hands are free.
* If both hands have containers, the **Interact** button must be held down on a loose item, which will bring up a small pop-up, giving the choice between the **Left Trigger** (left hand) and the **Right Trigger** (right hand), for whichever container it will go into. Turning or walking away from the item will cause the pop-up to disappear, and the interaction is reset.

### LARGE ITEMS:

Since large items cannot be added into the inventory, they can only be scavenged by picking them up in the hand slots (usually requiring both), and transporting it by walking to wherever desired. Vehicles are especially useful for these.

* With one or both hands free, depending on the item being picked up, holding the **Interact** button down for a short moment will take the item into the player character's hands.
* When not enough hands are free to pick up the item, the grabbing icon near the crosshair is crossed out with a red X.

### CONTAINER ITEMS:

Items in containers can be scavenged in a straightforward manner by first searching the container by pressing the **Interact** button, and then taking the items in the container menu using the **Interact** button again. This does not require a free hand, but searching containers and taking items in them is always faster with a free hand. With high levels in the Searching skill, extra items might appear or be revealed in the container menu when taking other items.

* Holding the **Interact** button on an item in the container menu will cause the menu to be exited and the item to appear in the free hand, making for easy inspection, usage, or consumption of an item. Though searched container items can be added to held containers too and not just the inventory, they can still be added to held containers in this method, albeit slower.

### CONTAINERS:

Scavenging items from (mobile) portable containers works in the same way scavenging from regular containers (above) does. The difference between the two container types is that portable containers can simply be scavenged entirely! While the items in a regular container need to be taken out, a portable container full of items (ex. a fallen enemy's backpack or an abandoned first aid kit) can just be scavenged as a unit by itself. Smaller containers like first aid kits can be added into the inventory, however things like backpacks must be worn or carried in the hands as a **large item**.

* Pressing **Interact** on the container will bring up a small popup, giving the choice to take it into the left or right hand (**Left Trigger/Right Trigger**). Hands that are not free will have their respective trigger icon in the popup X'ed out. Turning or walking away from the container will cause the popup to disappear. Containers are grabbed instantly, unlike large items.
* **D-Pad Right** will switch carried items in hands, even if only one hand carries something.
* If already holding a container larger than a container about to be grabbed, the smaller container can be treated like an item and instantly put into the larger container by holding down the **Interact** button on it, if there is enough space in the larger container.
* Viewing the contents of held containers are done by holding down the respective **Triggers** for the hands that are holding the containers. Viewing contents can also be done in the character menu, as well. Simply pulling the **Triggers** and not holding them down will just cause the container to be dropped.
* Portable containers are usually one-handed carry, but some require both hands to transport, much like how large items work. When not enough hands are free to pick up the container, the grabbing icon near the crosshair is crossed out with a red X.

### **IF WITHOUT SUFFICIENT INVENTORY SPACE...**

...then the item will not be added into the inventory, playing a small sound cue and producing a pop-up that there is no space for the item.

* With no inventory space but with a container in hand, the item will