4Game

I was just thinking about signposts, as one does, and wondered if you could attach a sign to a standing torch. I'd have to use one of those dummy thick 1m square by 2m tall poles otherwise, and a signpost would look kind of weird on a base that wide. Then it occurred to me: Why not just have a pole which you can stick a sign onto? And then, what if you could just put whatever the fuck you wanted on it? Thus: the Modular Pole.

This would effectively replace the existing standing torch, as it's a modular base which can have various attachments, one of which is a torch.

I'm thinking you can have a 1m or 2m tall pole, using 1 or 2 wood (or your metal of choice, for a stronger pole) respectively, which is effectively 'blank'. It looks like the standing torch, without the burning head.

It can snap either to the middle or edges of another piece. There could either be special attachments which can be built from a hammer and only attach onto the pole, or its own individual 'crafting' menu opened as with a forge or workbench which modifies the pole itself – though I prefer the former option, as you could then attach multiple things onto it. Some examples of what I could see as attachments:

1. A torch. Self explanatory, costs 1 additional wood and 1 resin (or guck for green). Could maybe have metal or iron component costs for higher-efficiency torches, like the wall sconce.
2. A standing signpost. There could be a snap point 3/4 of the way up on the pole, you invest wood and coal to put a board onto the pole with your chosen message. Maybe wider/taller boards can be available which need more or higher-tier resources. I want to be able to make a billboard sized ASCII Shadow the Hedgehog.
3. Spikes. Attach wood/iron/obsidian/whatever spikes to the top of the pole, and weaponise a pit.
4. Bells. Hit E to ring a bell attached to the front or top of a pole, to aggro nearby monsters or just signal dinnertime, I dunno.
5. Monster heads. These could maybe give comfort or some sort of 'inspiration' if they're particularly high tier or look cool. Or they could emit an anti-aggro aura which means monsters of that type or of a lower tier don't come near. Greylings shouldn't fuck with you if you've got Fenring trophies all over.
6. Crafting station 'beacons'. Kinda like the old silo build area expansion trick from Command and Conquer, crafting stations could have their build radius extended with these. Attach a surtling core and some iron or whatever to the top of a pole, and it creates a radius around it. If that radius intersects with an existing forge/workbench radius, the core beacon on top of the pole glows and the radii link up – you can now build any structures needing a forge/bench in the beacon's aura, and any other workbenches/forges near the beacon are upgraded to the highest level of that station in the beacon network.

Just some ideas, I think a simple pole could allow for some really interesting and flexible designs. I'd hope it wouldn't need too much modelling effort, as you'd just have to 'decapitate' the existing torch and add a snap point to the top of it – though I don't know if it would be possible to code a specific range of attachments which could only be affixed to said poles. It could even be used on its own for e.g. bars on a window or a jail cell kind of room. What do you think?