Compendium overhaul suggestion

[JosePapp]

So when i saw the compendium as a concept i loved it! however to me at least, the word compendium felt like too big of a word just for the character bios.

on to my suggestion!

Make the compendium work similar to the journal in Spelunky. For those who haven't played Spelunky it's a roguelike platformer that has a pretty neat journal in it. Basically the way it works is that the first time you visit an area it gets logged into it, whenever you kill or get killed by a creature it gets logged into it and whenever you interact with an item it logs in an entry.

So what i thought was, what if the compendium had a similar function? it could be organized in big sections like "unfortunate events" (for seasons and big world happenings like antlion rage or the gateway opening), "peculiar specimens" for creatures, "contraptions" for structures and "tools" for, well, tools and equipable items. 

the way it would work could be like this; whenever you kill or get killed by a mob it yields an entry in the compendium (perhaps it would be preferable to just attack or be attacked?), whenever you craft or equip an item it gets added, whenever you craft or interact with a structure it gets added and whenever you interact with it. With events maybe they get added whenever they happen.

Entries could be some sniplets of lore/ flavour text similar to the one you find in vignettes, maybe giving a slight nudge for new players. (Since let's face it, hardcore gamers, most of us read a guide or a wiki). I would prefer it to go the Spelunky route with the implied help and flavour text rather than the ultra useful and specific terraria route, since i think it would feel more in tone with Don't Starve. If nothing else, giving Wilson a journal he could check would be a neat rework

[Owlrust]

Are you familiar with Pikmin 2 by chance? In that game there is a creature compendium that shows all the creatures you can encounter in the game, and it gets updated once you come in contact with the creature. If I may add on to your suggestion, I would like to vouch for something like the "Piklopedia" as it's called. In it you can see interactive footage of the creatures in their natural habitat while also reading the information stored on said creature; furthermore you can even throw bait at them to see how they would react to creatures they would otherwise attack. I personally think this would be incredibly useful for newer players if it were added, and would help familiarize them to threats they otherwise would die often to. 

 

[Mike23Ua]

Spelunky is a pain in the -Redacted- and despite spending my entire life playing platformer games like Mario and Sonic I still fail to beat Spelunky.

but yeah I get with your wanting.

[me real life]

8 hours ago, Owlrus98 said:

"Piklopedia"

I would absolutely love this, especially if it comes along with questionably-scientific notes by Wilson "explaining" the mobs' biology, and cooking recipes from Warly, just like the Piklopedia.

[JosePapp]

6 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

Spelunky is a pain in the -Redacted- and despite spending my entire life playing platformer games like Mario and Sonic I still fail to beat Spelunky.

but yeah I get with your wanting.

git gud 

24 minutes ago, Sunset Skye said:

I would absolutely love this, especially if it comes along with questionably-scientific notes by Wilson "explaining" the mobs' biology, and cooking recipes from Warly, just like the Piklopedia.

Yeah this does sound like it's on the same vein as the Journal in Spelunky. I'm just not sure if it should be too helpful or not because some folks out there want the game to keep that unfriendly vibe, which i completely understand. But at least showing what biome they're from or hinting at what you can do with the drops sounds like a good compromise

[Hornete]

2 minutes ago, JosePapp said:

I'm just not sure if it should be too helpful or not because some folks out there want the game to keep that unfriendly vibe, which i completely understand.

This is why I wouldnt really like a "Piklopedia", I like the unfriendliness of the game and the need to memorise information. This game ain't gonna help you out, You get the information.

[Fuffles]

soooo basically a Bestairy. Could be interesting

[Well-met]

I wouldn't mind this. It took me far too long to figure out the mechanics behind bearger's yawning (which means a tamed beefalo autokill)

[Mike23Ua]

2 hours ago, Hornete said:

This is why I wouldnt really like a "Piklopedia", I like the unfriendliness of the game and the need to memorise information. This game ain't gonna help you out, You get the information.

This, the game is advertised as a no hand holding game- if we start getting detailed journals of enemies and the best ways to deal with them then suddenly the game becomes totally hand holding.

I guess the compromise would be that if YOU Yourself discover an items use then dialog that will only appear in the journal as ??? Would be filled.

This allows people to discover the game at their OWN pace rather then having something like- 

Spoiler

The Thermal Stone- Loses Durability when it goes from Hot/Cool back to Neutral, Warm this up by a Campfire or cool it down by an Endothermic Fire/ Throw it into a Fridge to help you survive BOTH Summer & Winter Seasons.

What I WOULD like however is detailed statistics of all the various things I’ve died to like % of times killed by Spider, Hound, random lightning strike, etc.. Like how Spelunky keeps a record of how many of a certain enemy type you’ve killed and how many times you’ve died to that enemy type- Without giving me Tips on how to deal with them.

These Statistics would also be used in the Compendium for the game to best match you with the character that it feels will be best for you, for example.. if you die a lot due to Wetness from Rain, then chances of survival playing as WX78 go down.

But other then that.. this is supposed to be No hand holding remember?

[Szczuku]

I'd appreciate a bestiary. More lore and knowledge is always welcome

[Dunk Mujunk]

9 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

This, the game is advertised as a no hand holding game- if we start getting detailed journals of enemies and the best ways to deal with them then suddenly the game becomes totally hand holding.

---------------------

But other then that.. this is supposed to be No hand holding remember?

On 5/29/2020 at 4:48 PM, Mike23Ua said:

In this same server set up menu (where you can choose to have more Bearger spawn, less Beargers spawn, or No Bearger spawn at all) I would like to see something that lets me adjust boss difficulty- something along Very Low Health, Low Health, Moderate Health, High Health, Very High Health.

I'd argue the latter damages the uncompromising nature more than the former.

[Mike23Ua]

2 minutes ago, Dunk Mujunk said:

I'd argue the latter damages the uncompromising nature more than the former.

The Latter is to make the game more accessible to a Solo player, not tell said Solo player the best way to overcome something.

you just don’t get it do you? Lol this does not make the game any less uncompromising, if you can fight bosses with 20,000 health points more then their single player counter parts, good for you, you truly are a champion and should pat yourself on the back. However.. 

Your still missing my point- Enemy health does not scale based on number of players playing, and it falls into this Category of being considered as either too much health for a solo player, OR it falls into the category of not having enough health when you have a full server of players going Ham on it (pun fully intended) 

[Dunk Mujunk]

25 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

you just don’t get it do you? Lol this does not make the game any less uncompromising, if you can fight bosses with 20,000 health points more then their single player counter parts, good for you, you truly are a champion and should pat yourself on the back. However.. 

No, I get it, and theres no reason to be snarky.

25 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

if you can fight bosses with 20,000 health points more then their single player counter parts

Their single player counter parts you say? From the single player version?

25 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Your still missing my point- Enemy health does not scale based on number of players playing

I'm not missing your point, i'm fully aware that enemy health does not scale. There is no reason for it to scale. DST is not about the combat mechanics, it isn't an action game.

As i've always said, I personally don't feel the devs should be distracted making the multiplayer version of a single player game cater to solo players, especially when everything is more than doable solo in DST, especially with so much fresh content yet to be implemented.

If the claim is that player retention is a concern due to the difficulty, i'd say DST has gotten along just fine in the past. It's a niche game and regardless of the difficulty players who are genuinely interested will stay with the game and learn what needs to be learned to overcome the challenges.

I won't lie Mike, I do think it is silly that every other area of the game needs to be uncompromising regardless yet bosses should have what could be viewed as a hand holding mechanic. And when someone already views the boss related combat as bland and boring, cutting the health pool will not change that at all, just make it worse. 

And if its not about the combat, and simply about access to the loot, i'd say that there are multiple methods for every boss to be beaten available for a solo player.

 

[Mike23Ua]

I have the options of turning Firefly completely off, or leaving her with her extra 20,000 health.

I have NEVER Beat the Firefly alone, despite bringing panflutes, gunpowder, an Angry Bearger and an Angry Deerclops both simultaneously at the same time to her. 

But as you can see here, it’s not just something I haven’t done.. it’s something the Majority of Xbox Live hasn’t done either. 

Why should I only have the option of turning her Off instead of making her more accessible to lower player amount??

[MondayNight]

11 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Off-topic: I am more interested in this image with "personal achievements" I suppose. I suppose is on X-Box and represents solo achievements or achievements in general (in groups)? Also would be interesting to know how big is that console's player-base. Is it shown anywhere or can be determined in any way?

[Mike23Ua]

1 minute ago, x0-VERSUS-1y said:

Off-topic: I am more interested in this image with "personal achievements" I suppose. I suppose is on X-Box and represents solo achievements or achievements in general (in groups)? Also would be interesting to know how big is that console's player-base. Is it shown anywhere or can be determined in any way?

Those stats calculate the amount of players across all Of Xbox live that have accomplished those specific tasks.

as for how big the player base is yeah man sorry I ain’t got a clue how to provide that, maybe Klei staff can but outside of that no idea sorry.

To put this back on topic though- I don’t want a journal that tells me the strengths and weaknesses and uses of well every little item- like Spoiler

I don’t want to know that if I craft a Tent or Lean-To it will recover health and Sanity at the cost of Hunger.

That is something YOU the Player should have to figure out on your own, otherwise it kinda spoils the fun of learning new stuff.

What I WOULD like is detailed statistics on stuff like % of times killed by swamp tentacle, and those statistics will alter my actual Odds of Survival so if say I died ALOT to Swamp Tentacle (I don’t but if I Did) Percentage of playing as WURT would go up based on that.

[Dunk Mujunk]

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

I have NEVER Beat the Firefly alone, despite bringing panflutes, gunpowder, an Angry Bearger and an Angry Deerclops both simultaneously at the same time to her.

And I know you personally like the challenge of figuring out things on your own, so I won't spoil it for you, but look through your craftables, try some new things. Its a sandbox, weapons/combat related items are not the only things that can help you in a fight against bosses, or any mob in the game.

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

Why should I only have the option of turning her Off instead of making her more accessible to lower player amount??

Turning her off isn't the only option. If you are playing solo, and want solo level boss health pools, then Don't Starve is the game for you.

45 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

To put this back on topic though- I don’t want a journal that tells me the strengths and weaknesses and uses of well every little item- like Spoiler

I don’t want to know that if I craft a Tent or Lean-To it will recover health and Sanity at the cost of Hunger

That is something YOU the Player should have to figure out on your own, otherwise it kinda spoils the fun of learning new stuff.

Its just hard to take the above seriously when lower boss health pools are called for directly after. I'd argue that even with the proper information you still need to go out into the world and go through the steps needed to achieve your desired outcome. Lower boss health pools are, to me, akin to removing items from a crafting recipe. It is just too hard to do, so make it simpler.....

......but everywhere else should be completely uncompromising.

53 minutes ago, x0-VERSUS-1y said:

Also would be interesting to know how big is that console's player-base. Is it shown anywhere or can be determined in any way?

The closest representation of any numbers I could find was this-

 

 

These numbers are obviously meaningless, but that's all there is to really go off of. 

And there is also this from the PS4 trophy section-

 

That looks like a 1.6% completion rate on PS4 compared to the 0.55% of Xbox.

Unfortunately there appears to be no achievements on PC for comparison.

[Mike23Ua]

Pc does not have achievements, but considering that the PlayStation has had DST longer than Xbox (varying release dates and all that) it is understandable how PS4 players stats are higher than that of Xbox. 
 

I just know that (personally) there’s only 5 achievements I have yet to unlock in DST.. and I’m making it my personal goal to unlock them all on my own without anyone’s help with the exception of the obvious ones that require a second player, like giving resources to a new player after establishing your own survival 20+ days for example.

Those are as follows-

Turtling, Ancient History, No Fly Zone, Beast of the Bottomless Stomach, Defier of Odds. (That last one only unlocks after obtaining all other achievements first) 

[minespatch]

 

Bringing in my Dragon Quest Bias list but a further fun thing I'd love to see is a defeated monster list. That way you get lore and maybe even a proper look at their anatomy. Maybe even their internal organs. Each anatomy sketch can have a signature from Wilson or Wickerbottom to just add a little bit more character to the monster medical illustrations.

[OMGkawaiiAngel]

2 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

 

I have NEVER Beat the Firefly alone, despite bringing panflutes, gunpowder, an Angry Bearger and an Angry Deerclops both simultaneously at the same time to her. 
 

 

Aww... that's sad! Well... Play as big buff wolfgang, use a magiluminescence and cane to kite her (while walking on a road) You could pull it off.

[Dunk Mujunk]

46 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Pc does not have achievements, but considering that the PlayStation has had DST longer than Xbox (varying release dates and all that) it is understandable how PS4 players stats are higher than that of Xbox. 

True, there is about a year difference between the PS4 and Xbox releases, of course at this point the difference between 3 and 4 years is negligible I feel. Download numbers will hit their peak before dwindling, and I think it is safe to say that both systems are far into the dwindling stage of new downloads.

But you misunderstand, i'm not bragging that PS4 has higher statistics. I'm saying with a lack of hard download numbers for each platform all we can do is guess. Based on the Metacritic numbers, combine with the available achievement completion numbers on Xbox and PS4, I think it is safe to assume the player base is higher on PS4. It is entirely possible that Xbox actually has higher achievement completion numbers. But without knowing the actual player base numbers of each system, all we can do is speculate.

This is in response to-

2 hours ago, x0-VERSUS-1y said:

Also would be interesting to know how big is that console's player-base. Is it shown anywhere or can be determined in any way?

And I also pointed out-

1 hour ago, Dunk Mujunk said:

These numbers are obviously meaningless, but that's all there is to really go off of. 

Personally I couldn't care less about achievements. I view them as an attempt to gain validation from others in an attempt to enhance your own enjoyment of a game. I've never quite understood why having people know what you have accomplished is so much more important than simply accomplishing something. 

To each their own I suppose.

[JosePapp]

We really got offtopic with the whole achievement and dragonfly sthick. Please take that elsewhere

As i said, i want it to be a vague spelunky-esque journal, not a terraria bestiary

[minespatch]

4 minutes ago, JosePapp said:

As i said, i want it to be a vague spelunky-esque journal, not a terraria bestiary

[Mike23Ua]

I’ve only played Spelunky, I have not played Terraria so I have absolutely no idea what a Bestiary is.

Spelunkys Journal however is very Simplistic something is only cataloged into the Journal when YOU Discover first hand what it does yourself, Things you have yet to uncover will have blank empty pages as Shown Here: 

(And yes as revealed in this GiF Riplings is my Xbox Live Gamertag, Please do not invite me to an Xbox Party though because as I’ve said time and time again I don’t Do Parties..)

[minespatch]

10 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

I have absolutely no idea what a Bestiary is.

Basically a encyclopedia on animals.