Summer needs to be changed, NOW


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the overheating mechanism is goddamn ridiculous.

 

wearing a summer frest and umbrella, i can't walk out for longer than 30 seconds without the overheating kicking in.

 

the other seasons are fine but you guys seriously dropped the ball on summer design.

 

either make overheating takes longer (at least 4 times the length) or give us more accessible ways to cool off.

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the overheating mechanism is goddamn ridiculous.

 

wearing a summer frest and umbrella, i can't walk out for longer than 30 seconds without the overheating kicking in.

 

the other seasons are fine but you guys seriously dropped the ball on summer design.

 

either make overheating takes longer (at least 4 times the length) or give us more accessible ways to cool off.

 

Starting on base heat level, I can stand out in summer for about 4 minutes with that gear.

 

Do you have an Endothermic Fire, or a regular one? Because that pretty much makes or breaks you in summer.

 

Also, if your playing Wilson, make sure to shave your beard. Seems to be a surprisingly common mistake.

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tried just now, with the vest (umbrella expired and i dont have anymore silk, can't walk out to get them without overheat so **** me), without cold fire I last about 25 seconds

 

without any gear i can barely walk across one ******* screen without immediately overheating.

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right now i literally cannot do ANYTHING outside of my home base, unless if I light up one fncking cold fire every time i walk one screen away.

 

if Klei's idea of summer is to have my ass glued to the base do nothing but starring at buildings burst into flames, they've done a BRILLIANT job.

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thermal stone doesn't do sh!t. I had a stone that's dark blue in my inventory (2nd coldest state), and i still get overheat after 15 seconds.

 

the bullsh!t overheat mechanism also made it absolutely NOT fncking possible to fight the Dragonfly, because I don't want to fight in my base which means im gonna get overheated very very fncking quickly outside of my cold fire.

 

overheat is just such a lazy and fncking poorly designed mechanism that makes the game intensely frustrating in summer.

 

i honestly have no idea what Klei was thinking, maybe they were all on cocaine when they designed summer.

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First. Chill it with the harsh words. Second there is obiosly something wrong if you cant even get out of camp with a thermal stone. Have you tried chilling it completely using a fridge? And do you have any mods activated?

But yes, summer is the most challenging season due to overheating.

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First. Chill it with the harsh words. Second there is obiosly something wrong if you cant even get out of camp with a thermal stone. Have you tried chilling it completely using a fridge? And do you have any mods activated?

But yes, summer is the most challenging season due to overheating.

 

thermal stone looks like an ice ball after i shoved it into the ice box/left it besides cold fire for an entire day. Walk out of camp, stone soon turns dark blue and overheating commences within 15 seconds, if not immediately. 

 

i don't have ANY mods installed.

 

it's not challenging - winter is challenging, summer is frustrating the hell out of me because of how ridiculously broken overheating works making the game during summer so restricting i might as well just spend my time bouncing between siesta and tents.

 

and the best part is, overheating happens at dusk the same way as it does during mid day...

 

it's VERY difficult for me to find something in a game like this that annoys me to this point. i played it for quite a while, every now and then, there's been a lot of annoying and irritating stuff, none had made me actually want to stop playing until now.

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I actually agree with the OP, though.  Winter is challenging and exciting, summer is either frustrating or boring depending on whether you've taken the arcane measures necessary to prepare for it. Almost none of which, I might add, have real world analogues the way dressing warmly does -- otherwise it'd be possible to go swimming or build an air conditioner that wasn't just a reskinned firepit. Why can't my character jump into the abundant ocean when they're dying from heat? It makes no sense.

 

Even if you perfectly prepare for summer, it usually comes down to sitting in the middle of a secondary base in a fireproof wasteland waiting for it to be over. Which in essence is punishing even the skilled players for their skill by forcing them to sit in what amounts to time out. Also? Overheating shouldn't be happening in a desert at night. Deserts can get really cold at night.

 

tl;dr I don't blame the OP for their frustration, even if they're kind of expressing it disjointedly. I'm pretty frustrated too, but I think Klei knows by now that summer isn't ideal. They're one of the most skilled indie developers on the market. I just think their focus right now is on DST, which I'm coming around to see as potentially a worthy endeavor (despite being critical at first). 

 

 

Just remember that you have the option when generating a world to turn off spring and summer and I'd actually seriously recommend consider doing so. They gave you that power so feel free to use it, and nuts to anyone who says you shouldn't have the right to tailor your experience.

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Agreed on the fact that summer is frustrating. But it can be prepared for. And unless something is broken in OPs game I think there might be some exaggeration due to frustration.

 

Anyways. As Midnight Teas says. You can change setting to make summer not so hard. I would reccomend setting summer to short and turn off spontanious combustion. That way you keep summer (some things only exist in summer, incase you want some of thoose) but it wont be there for long and no things will randomly start burning.

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Agreed on the fact that summer is frustrating. But it can be prepared for. And unless something is broken in OPs game I think there might be some exaggeration due to frustration.

 

Anyways. As Midnight Teas says. You can change setting to make summer not so hard. I would reccomend setting summer to short and turn off spontanious combustion. That way you keep summer (some things only exist in summer, incase you want some of thoose) but it wont be there for long and no things will randomly start burning.

 

I'm actually ok with almost all other aspects of how summer works, the spontaneous burning of structure is annoying but nothing unfair. Dry+hot=things tend to burn by itself, it makes sense.

 

I'm greatly confused by the thermal stone thing though, I tried it numerous times, it doesn't seem to do anything to lower my body temperature. In winter time it works perfectly fine, orange->yellow->blue/frozen then the freezing kicks in a little later.

 

In anyways I'm gonna take a break from the game now, since voicing my opinion and frustration is clearly upsetting some people. Thanks for the help though.

 

Oh and Ogrecake, next time I would advise you to be careful when making such assumptions.

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I am usually able to run around like half a day with a fully chilled thermal stone. Then I keep a second one in the fridge so I can just run back and switch them. Another trick is to summon snow chester and use him as a portable fridge. That way you can get further away from camp becose you can switch the stones inside of him instead of going back to you fridge. You might also want to try the ice cube or fashion melon as hats, as they keep you cool as well.

 

It is not your opinion that upset people, opinions and feedback are always welcome. its more that your choise of words and frasing was a bit on the aggressive side.

 

Anyways, good luck if and when you decide to return to the game.

 

 

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summer is ridiculous, can handle it ? yes, its possible. 1st of all its just no sence, i know there are monster etc, but a cold-fire ? watermelon hat ? whats better pretty parasol or umbrella ?  summer fest or floral shirt ? new players will never know until they die and watch wiki because you dont know if is the head or body or hand stuff thats not working, anyway the most shocking I have seen on summer, a bee on fire flying over there  

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The problems I am facing with summer are

 

[Dragonfly], compared to DeerClops, Dragonfly is almost impossible to kite unless using some kind of trick. (trap using 2 boulders and etc)

 

[Combustion], there is nothing more frustrating than seeing your whole base burn to dust because of one combustion. Also some non-renewable sources.

 

Other than those two, summer is just the same.

 

 

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You don't need to fight Dragonfly because it is not aggressive and it only starts fires when you attack it, so don't touch it and feed it ash so it goes to sleep.

 

Thermal stone, pretty parasol and fashion melon makes you practically immune to heat, if you have melonsicle, floral shirt or summer frest on top you are immune. If you want to invest in chilled amulet you will have no problems with heat. Also siesta lean-to.

 

As is, summer is the most challenging time of the year in DS but it is fun to suffer. 

 

But I would like to see some kind of fruit that would lower your temperature, something that is polar opposite of dragon fruit. Also a bucket that you can fill in a pond (that would dry it out until it rains) and can be placed in the fridge for some ice or applied on yourself so you can get wet.

 

But as is, to be able to survive summer you need Endothermic fire pit. To thrive in summer you just need a stockpile of Melons and ice on top of that. I have a couple hundred hours and still I find it challenging.

 

But my biggest complain is temperature in caves, you should be much less affected inside. I feel like it should be viable to stay inside a cave during winter or summer for easier time fighting temperature.

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I kind of agree that the so called 'summer' is bugged, irrational and mostly impossible to survive without the pre-made arrangements.

 

Realisticaly,  in the hot climate a person would rather die from de-hydration within a few days, but not literally burn alive in seconds like in DS... sweating is a very effective natural defence. But okay, lets presume it is a 'twisted world' where the heat is ambient like in a stove and characters can neither drink nor, therefore, sweat (but somehow they can chew the raw ice, though it won't help much)

 

However, the implementation of the 'heat' and the items used to fight it is buggy. Not once had I noticed that the thermal stone is somewhat out of sync with one's heat level: sometimes its bright yellow and a character is not overheating yet, sometimes its neutral-grey but one cannot make a single step away from a tree without a 'red hiss' warning..

 

Besides the stone, only a pig-skin umbrella is effective, of sorts. Maybe an icecube, though I prefer helmet or miner hat for that slot. Other 'summer' items, however multiple, are crap, no matter how you stack them. So they basically not worth slots or the trouble.

 

Logically, the less a person has on himself, the easier is the summer heat on him. Not true in the game ... Again, after a certain temperature the heavy clothes should start to work again, insulating the body from outside heat inflow ... not true. A bunch of weird items with awkward mechanics instead. 

 

OF course one can get used to it. Still it could be better thought out than that.

 

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I was wondering if anyone else had the same observation. These were my very words "ridiculous". As a survival game it's more of a desperation game at this point. I live in a northern climate where a person could freeze to death, if they weren't prepared. I can relate to that. But when I saw the summer heat graphics, I thought my character was being stalked by a summer day demon. But even in the winter, a person could conceiveably tunnel under the snow to stay warm. As for summer heat, it really is the humidity that can kill. I've been in a desert climate, the thermometer indicated 120 degrees regularly, and you could tell it was hot, but nobody was dropping dead or spontaneously combusting. If you stayed in the shade you could survive till sunset. Notice I said, sunset, not sundown. Seriously, any large tree should provide enough shade for a character to survive, If that isn't enough, a day at the beach is in order. What with all the trees that I replant i figure that they should provide a little shade. Water, water everywhere, but none for my character. No. My character has to have the benefit of both a Science Machine AND an Alchemy Machine to make basic survival gear. When I realized that the graphics effects I was seeing was summer heat, I started laughing because it was ridiculous. After a cold autumn, winter and spring I enjoy the summer heat in real life. Don't Starve Reign of Giants is like being on Mars or Venus. I can't relate to it. As for being 'sheltered', not so. I grew up without shoes and was out in all weather with little protective clothing. When we visited the aunts farm, one of my favorite places was the hayloft, which retained a tremendous amount of heat. If anyone is looking for summer effects, how about just moving a little slower? People don't heat up as much and usually don't have the energy. I realize some people enjoy greater difficulty, The should have it if they want it. Let them choose a slider setting that creates a ridiculous level of difficulty that is totally unrecognizable. They might as well be walking on the sun.

Also: I appreciated the annoyed persons tirade. I feel understood and validated. Thank you.
 

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Well, I usually try not to share too much of my opinion on RoG(unless it's the gosh darn Old Bell), but I'm going to make an exception here.

Summer just feels boring. That's the only word in which I can describe all the many summers I've been through. It's not hard. It's not frustrating, it's just boring.

Winter is hard and fun, as I need to manage my temperature, while also managing my food supply while the threat of Deerclops looms and nights get longer and longer. It was slightly enhanced by the Hounds freezing ability, lost a bit of it's uniqueness with the other giants and gained some more exploration incentive with ice, but it stayed pretty much the same fun.

Autumn was fun time previously, the time to gather resources and prepare for the cold and dark Winter, but all it got was Birchnut farming(which, with all those angry birchnut trees is not really worth it), and the Bearger, which at least is good in screwing your food supply right before Winter, with the added reward in case you challange him to get something to help you in winter(along with a lot of Meat... Poor Beefalo...).

Spring is fun-ish. The sanity drop is emphasized way too much(specially because that's thematically more fitting for Winter), the crops grow way too much faster, but the nights last too long. The Goose is fun to look at, but gameplay wise, he has a boring fight and far too good loot. The perpetual beefalo heat is nice as it both helps with repopulation of the slaughtered beefalo in the Bearger/Deerclops/Hounds fights, while also making getting manure for farm building harder. My only problem with it is that the entire "Great Unique Feature" of this season can be easily denied with clothing you'll probably already have if you began in Autumn.

But Summer just feels like a boring counterpart to Winter. Food still grows, so starvation is not a problem. The Giant follows you around and Despawns if you let him burn enough trees or the whatnot, so you can just drag him far away from your base and leave him there(and his loot is mostly useless anyway.). The overheating mechanic is just a reskin for freezing, and so are most of the equipment for it. There's not a single reason to explore(WHO FREAKING CARES ABOUT CACTI FLOWERS?), and you can basicly just turtle in a secondary base with a Endothermic Firepit, some farms and tufts and an well positioned Ice Fling-o-matic. And aside from the smoldering, the world doesn't even feel like it is reacting to the summer. In Winter, ponds freeze, it snows, Birchtrees lose their leaves, McTusk starts hunting, the entire world changes drastically. In spring you see puddles on the ground, everything is wet, you see some changes here and there. Heck, even in Autumn the leaves collour changes and stuff, and that's the base season. But in summer, it seems like nothing has changed. Summer also acts weirdly in that it seems that, if it wasn't for the player, the entire world would've burst into flames, which means that Summer only starts happening after the player enters the world(which pretty much screws the lore behind the Set Pieces). Summer is just boring and badly done, and IMO, it should've never been implemented the way it was.

I think that the Devs focused too much on the Theme of RoG, and forgot about how the game plays out.
 

 

the thermometer indicated 120 degrees regularly

just to be sure, that's Fahrenheit, right?


Also, don't play Reign of Giants if you can handle it. It's meant to be a difficulty bump.
are you sure? Because Old Bell.
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To an extent, I agree. It feels like a re-skin of winter, minus the fun stuff (such as MacTusk) and it quickly feels like a waiting game for autumn to begin.

Every summer, I have a fully operational base going: flingomatic and approximately 8 farms encompassing it, two fridges, crock pot and an endothermic fire pit out of range. Between the farms, I have multiple trees growing for wood. The only reason I leave my summer base is to mine rocks (which are now all gone), pick cacti (for cactus flesh and flower), kill butterflies for food, or to catch tumbleweeds for grass and sticks.

It becomes so easy to turtle it becomes habit and it is so, so boring.

The overheating mechanics don't bother me that much (ice Chester! Woo!), but the fact you can't even cool off in the puddles left by melted glaciers annoys me. The fact the whole world can burn in an instant and will inevitably die as nature can't rebuild itself completely ruins my immersion. Have you ever seen a long-abandoned industrial site? It would be almost completely devoid of life at first and then it will envelop the site and make its own. It is truly a marvellous thing to witness.

Anyway, I trailed off a bit there. My point is that summer just feels like winter's boring counterpart.

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I could not disagree more with all the complaining of this post, I'll try to explain myself a bit:

First point: Yes, summer is not easy, but It shouldn't be! When you learn the basics of the game you will "starve" for more challenge! I think we all play this game not to be cuddled in a perfect world but to survive in a hostile world where we are trapped xD Ofc it has to be difficult at some point.

Second point: We have all the tools to survive, it is totally unfair to say that we cannot "go out of the base". If you are not prepared you will probably die, but the point is that you HAVE TO be prepared, the game is about planning, survival skills, decision making and if you die trying a bunch of time, or if you read the wiki you will always know what to do.
Third point: Thermal stone is AMAZING, it is one of the most usefull tools in the game and I couldn't survive without it. You just need to learn how to use it properly.

 

That said, everything seems difficult when you are new to something, so maybe the problem is that the people that are complaining are new to the game. If this is the case, I can give you one advice: If you get too frustrated learning in game, then you should just read the wiki or ask the forum/reddit :) There is always a way, if you want to enjoy the game :)

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I actually ditched using the thermal stone in summer, because more often than not it seemed to be baking me rather than keeping me cool (and you can't recharge it the way you can in winter because of nitre). The eyebrella + ice and sometimes the chill amulet is my combo of choice, but then we're talking a hard gain and a limited gain. It is nothing like winter. A beefalo hat takes little effort, there's wood for a fire everywhere (which makes the thermal stone useful), there's no risk of permanent destruction due to fire, etc. And winfer also unlocks a few very interesting possibilities, like McTusk and always-safe-to-pick honey. What does summer offer? Cactus flowers? Big whoop. Now, if somehow a nitre resource opened up in summer, then we'd be talking.

 

To me, it's not if I can get through summer, but if I enjoy being capable of it. And I don't. There's nothing to go out for and travel is not only much harder but also much more dangerous. Siesta-ing the days away and occasionally hunting a beefalo is barely worthy of the term "gameplay".

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