On paths

[YouKnowWho]

I think the paths in Don't Starve look real strange

Not talking about the brick ones,mind you, I mean these things:

It's almost impossibly difficult for me to imagine what it's supposed to even be.

I've made this comparison with my friends before, but every time I look at it I keep seeing it as the weird dirty residue left by a sticker or label

Now, this path has been in the game for quite a while, so it might be a little late for this, but I think it'd look better if it was given a tad of a redesign. Maybe something that evokes more of a dusty trail? I'm not ironclad on any ideas but I think something should be done.

Does anyone else agree with me? Or am I just a dirty sticker residue obsessed freak?

And, on the other hand, does anyone know what it's actually supposed to be? 

[Bellium]

Honestly it just looks like a worn, well travelled road to me

[Brago-sama]

I always thought it looked like a dirty version of that plastic stuff thats on new electronics and feels awesome whenever you peel off

Spoiler

Kinda wish you could do that in-game too, but oh well. I guess it adds personality to the world at least

[Mike23Ua]

Don’t cut your grass for a few weeks, go outside and then walk around in a circle for about an hour, what happens is your feet traveling in the same area repeatedly will smush the grass/dirt downward.. and will leave a distinctive easy to see trail amongst the rest of the grass.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

that happens when the same path is used multiple times. At the end the ground get press by all the feets or legs or whatever walked this path

[YouKnowWho]

42 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Don’t cut your grass for a few weeks, go outside and then walk around in a circle for about an hour, what happens is your feet traveling in the same area repeatedly will smush the grass/dirt downward.. and will leave a distinctive easy to see trail amongst the rest of the grass.

I mean, I get that, but it shows up on rocky turf too. Looks awkward.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

8 minutes ago, YouKnowWho said:

I mean, I get that, but it shows up on rocky turf too. Looks awkward.

?? Rock can be marked (is called erosion in english?)aswell by hundred of travels

[YouKnowWho]

Just now, ArubaroBeefalo said:

?? Rock can be marked aswell by hundred of travels

Mike was talking about the grass and dirt being smushed down. There isn't any grass on the rocky turf to be smushed, yeah?

Even if you were to reach that there was some type of grass on the turf, it's still there if you dig it up too: thus producing the dark sticky label effect

[ArubaroBeefalo]

Just now, YouKnowWho said:

Mike was talking about the grass and dirt being smushed down. There isn't any grass on the rocky turf to be smushed, yeah?

Even if you were to reach that there was some type of grass on the turf, it's still there if you dig it up too: thus producing the dark sticky label effect

Because isnt grass smushed. Its the erosion of the rock after being walked during a long period. You can notice it in mountain paths and village paths

[wigfrids hat]

dried up snail-trails

[YouKnowWho]

20 minutes ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

Because isnt grass smushed. Its the erosion of the rock after being walked during a long period. You can notice it in mountain paths and village paths

Be that as it may seem, I find it just a bit too big of a leap in imagination personally. I'd say it's because the path is more or less transparent. 

Usually on paths of this sort, you'd see the grass wear into dirt, while on this it's just smudgy lines on perfectly intact turf. Less worn down, as you put it, then just plastered on there. It's why I have a hard time seeing it as something like this or this:

Plus, it's just too dark to look natural. On savannah turf it's a little more forgivable, but on other turfs (or lack thereof) here it just looks awkward.

And we've not even talked about it looping around on itself. It looks almost glitchy there, with how dark it ends up. Kind of takes me out of the world.

 

With that being said, it's only a minor complaint. If it's really just me bothered by it then I guess I could always turn to modding. 

[wigfrids hat]

i think the darkness is just so you can see it at dusk. it still stands out during that time unless it is winter

[Sweaper]

The Constant and everything in there is strange.

[CaptainChaotica]

2 hours ago, gaymime said:

i think the darkness is just so you can see it at dusk. it still stands out during that time unless it is winter

And that's why I sometimes plant trees near the roads/paths I use the most often--so I CAN still tell where they are in winter!

Pictured:  "The Road Trees", doin' their thing in winter.  Yes, some of them are ginourmous--don't worry, that's just a mod.  You get used to it.

Anyway yeah the paths in DS/T have always been a bit wonky, even going by just their shapes alone--going nowhere, looping back on themselves, making shapes that look suspiciously like a noose as if the map is trying to tell you something...

But I'm used to it and just think of it as part of the Constant's "I don't have to make sense!" style.  : P

...Notorious

[wigfrids hat]

oh, that is clever~ i think i will plant a tree or three near a road bend instead of only making bearger and charcoal copses

[MondayNight]

14 hours ago, YouKnowWho said:

I think the paths in Don't Starve look real strange

Not talking about the brick ones,mind you, I mean these things:

It's almost impossibly difficult for me to imagine what it's supposed to even be.

I've made this comparison with my friends before, but every time I look at it I keep seeing it as the weird dirty residue left by a sticker or label

Now, this path has been in the game for quite a while, so it might be a little late for this, but I think it'd look better if it was given a tad of a redesign. Maybe something that evokes more of a dusty trail? I'm not ironclad on any ideas but I think something should be done.

Does anyone else agree with me? Or am I just a dirty sticker residue obsessed freak?

And, on the other hand, does anyone know what it's actually supposed to be? 

I think you put too much thought into this. Don't forget the theory from long ago that Constant is actually a giant stage with props (turning camera around one has structures/trees/etc always facing the player/looker) - thus "roads" as well are some kind of weird drawing (as in not even attempting realism).

[wigfrids hat]

it could also be purgatory. there is no point to a road that leads somewhere if you can never actually leave

[Charesque]

I always thought these paths were something similar to gravel/pebble roads, judging by the rock-like sounds when you walk on them at least.

[thegreatJash]

19 hours ago, Brago-sama said:

I always thought it looked like a dirty version of that plastic stuff thats on new electronics and feels awesome whenever you peel off

  Reveal hidden contents

Kinda wish you could do that in-game too, but oh well. I guess it adds personality to the world at 

The cat's just staring at you like; "Dang, that's looks a lot like DST paths."

[fsp98]

never mind the look of them, fix how they wrap around themselves, sometimes act all crazy and ovelap with the paved roads

 

[. . .]

they are pretty ugly and its annoying how you cant get rid of them with worldgen