What do you think about dst's ambiance?

[Szczuku]

Hello, new thread

Ambiance- the thing that makes you feel like the in-game world is alive. Sadly for me the game's current ambiance just doesn't cut it (from visual point of view that is, sound design is on point).

I've even made a thread with my suggestions regarding it- shameless plug

As I was making that thread I've realized that the ammount of work would most likely require an entire QoL/new content update. That is why I decided to check if you forumers actually would want an ambiance update.

The world feels dead explanation- without our ingerence the world is pretty much still. This is best seen when you strip an area off its resources. Then your character is the only thing moving on the screen.

...Well except some birds. Which is why in the suggestion thread I've proposed an idea to add a bunch of not-interactable insects and grass patches. They'd act as the movement even if the area doesn't have any structures/plants/mobs

Now I'll go over some in-game examples of some of the problems that I've listed in the poll.

Spoiler

-Too little idle animations- hounds only run around and bark, spiders are a still image when not walking

-Too little interactions between flora and fauna- stuff like mobs picking up objects or harvesting plants. There're so little of these interactions that like half of them belong to Pearl. And they are important as they give a mob more depth than just being a sprite that's pointlessly walking

In my opinion the more common a mob is the more idle animations and interactions it should have. Well with some reason behind it of course. A mob like Pigman or Merm most definitelly deserves those things cuz it's a humanoid, semi-intelligent mob. While a mob like rabbit doesn't really need a lot of those things even if it's a common mob.

-Mobs walking into objects- Pigman/Bunnyman walking into their own houses. 

Ambiance is something that you mostly notice durring early game (as the world is not changed by the players) and late game (as you begin working on your own building projects). And since every non-pub game leads to late game the world should trully feel alive.

Improving ambiance would also be a good way to start improving dst's sandbox aspect but that's a topic for another thread.

Discuss, I guess

[Well-met]

I'd rather not lose frame rates from useless non-interactable filler.

Do you consider Hamlet's ambience as satisfactory? Is Hamlet close to what you're asking?

[ArubaroBeefalo]

47 minutes ago, Well-met said:

I'd rather not lose frame rates from useless non-interactable filler.

Do you consider Hamlet's ambience as satisfactory? Is Hamlet close to what you're asking?

for a jungle biome? totally

the game can be played in a 13 years old computer...

[DrMcGillacactus]

58 minutes ago, Well-met said:

Do you consider Hamlet's ambience as satisfactory?

One of the reasons i love Hamlet is because it just looks so darn active. There is always something to look at as you run for your life.

[Mike23Ua]

I hope they will update it eventually, but it’s probably not on the top priorities list as of now, (maybe slowly implemented in QoL updates..?) But for now Klei is focused on Character Reworks and RoT updates.

I love how Hamlet feels more lively then DST, but system limitations and being multiplayer and all that- could mean that DST is NEVER capable of looking that visually pleasing.

But really only time can tell I guess..

[ADM]

I won't say it's an ambiance issue, but yeah I dislike the mob's AI. Especially when it comes to exploit it to make same mob wars or running to their death against catapults defended by statues, stuff like that.

Anyway, the ambiance itself is correct, there's place for some improvements like always but it's not super necessary I think.

Sounds are good, we have a different ambient soundtrack for day, dusk and night, but more on certain biomes (more turfs actually) than others, like swamp have such an unique atmosphere.

Mobs (other than being stupid) make the game atmosphere quite good, most of them have taunt anims and things like "funny_idle" to offer a variety, more doesn't sounds like an important feature to the ambiance but it sure benefits to it, it's something I've worked on myself, again, I'm gonna showcase Cherry Forest cause I guess I've made a good enough job for the nature and mob ambiances, Cherrylings have personalities, it's not a completely finished feature but they have a dedicated idle/taunt animation, so each of them is supposedly different.

This would not be too much work to make new anims, custom behaviours (like they did for Critters, kinda), I actually really enjoy working on that but I doubt this is a priority of the game atm or if it will ever be.

So I guess yeaaah, the bigger lack we have rn is world environment ? Flora especially, like, flowers are all the same but just have a different texture instead of different plant properties, same for bush, sapling, glass, yes we have a sort of plant variety but it's just one at the time and alternative are rare, again, not a big priority in the game development I guess.

But uh... I think we're getting a bit of everything each time so it's not too bad, really. I can actually remember how stupefied I've been when I noticed the Shell Beach Turf ambient sound with @gaymime, now I want to use it everywhere.

[Notecja]

My biggest problem is AI of mobs and their interactions. As I mentioned somewhere many post ago... I had one pig stuck in one place for over 500 days of game and it was trying desperately get to its home in most possible straight line. After one of my friends tried to play as Wurt, I had scattered merms around half of my map, because they couldn't find their way to homes. Rockjaw and Rook can get stuck running into some edges - usually Rockjaw is enough busy "swimming" into edge I can sail to it with my slowest boat (and in middle of "attack" it can simply despawn). Sea Weeds don't attack hounds, despite that hounds are monsters and they can swim and hounds don't attack them (well barnacles in theory are safe... But while everywhere else is possible one big war, that situation feels odd).

[user1464576869]

If it was in the game I'd not be able to go back without it. But it is just subsidiary isn't it? Unless there was emphasis on intriguing AI synergy.

[Szczuku]

Well the thing is that stuff like interactions is slowly being added by the devs. Look at Pearl and that new Dust Moth.

The problem is that they're doing this to new content, while a lot of existing content could use a refresh.

[Mike23Ua]

12 minutes ago, Szczuku said:

Well the thing is that stuff like interactions is slowly being added by the devs. Look at Pearl and that new Dust Moth.

The problem is that they're doing this to new content, while a lot of existing content could use a refresh.

I think the concept is new content first- QoL updates later. 

I actually prefer it that way.. because when they DO get around to updating for QoL.. they can also include the newer content. 
 

(We just have to give Klei time.. they’re Awesome and I’m sure they have huge plans for DST!)

[bruhmoment23]

16 minutes ago, Szczuku said:

The problem is that they're doing this to new content, while a lot of existing content could use a refresh.

That is why i hope with the somewhat slowly upcoming "closure" of RoT update chain, devs will decide to revisit few old gimmicks and repolish them. Because there's a lot of great potential and opportunity for most.

[Maxposting]

Unfortunatelly there isn't much to do when there's nothing.
So far I noticed that Depth Worms

Spoiler

actually harvest plants (confirmed with lichen,twigs and grass) and they just have them in their bellies until they die.

Those actions are nice to see, however the AI will always be exploited.
It does need a bit of reworking but then there's farms which will always find a way to utilize the mobs' ai to harvest their drops.

[Harrowick]

From my personal opinion, I think more randomization would do wonders for the game's atmosphere and environment.

 I've always liked the idea of more random weather occurrences, like a light fog, cloudy days with very light cosmetic rain, perhaps even clouds that cast a shadow as they pass overhead, some wind that could rustle trees and perhaps some more animated grass/flora like in Hamlet.

Ooh, maybe even some typical forest details such as fallen trees, mushrooms (perhaps like those ones on logs from the gorge!), etc. 

[Mike23Ua]

15 minutes ago, Lumberlocke said:

From my personal opinion, I think more randomization would do wonders for the game's atmosphere and environment.

 I've always liked the idea of more random weather occurrences, like a light fog, cloudy days with very light cosmetic rain, perhaps even clouds that cast a shadow as they pass overhead, some wind that could rustle trees and perhaps some more animated grass/flora like in Hamlet.

Ooh, maybe even some typical forest details such as fallen trees, mushrooms (perhaps like those ones on logs from the gorge!), etc. 

Yes 180%!! make the world feel more alive with more detail, but first and foremost- more gameplay content.. once all that is in the game and satisfactory to Klei, THEN they should totally go through and update the rest of the small details.

Because no matter how you look at it- we’re playing a game in year 2020 that’s (very slowly) being expanded and improved upon from the 2013 game it was created from.

But slowly isn’t a bad thing by any means- you want content that’s been tested and you know works flawlessly, not content hastily put together that wasn’t tested enough.

there’s no telling what the future holds, and for all we know Klei could have plans to not just update the game with this new content, but also after they’ve got everything where they want it, upgrading the games software engine to something more advanced.

I have absolutely no clue how all that technical stuff works, but what I DO KNOW is that the PS5 and Xbox Series X are less then a couple weeks away.. and An improved version of DST would be one of the few games at the top of my list that would get me to upgrade consoles.

[Pine G]

A single change that would be great–a licking animation for the beefalo when they use a salt lick, because right now they just stand close to it when they use it and that's all. Since the next lunar year is the Year of the Ox, perhaps beefalo would get some sort of refresh. 

[sovon9]

11 hours ago, ADM said:

The color of the atmosphere with those creatures looks really awesome 

[CaptainChaotica]

Yeah when I thought of areas that have atmosphere, such as different creatures flying around in the background just for decoration, I think of the Cherry Forest.  There's stuff like (actual) dragonflies and little pink bees and such that just...flutter around, as part of the atmosphere.  Then there's the cherry petals blowing randomly across the screen (sometimes way close to the camera so it looks like they're attacking.  : P)  Fun note:  It's not the BIOME that does that last part.  It's the trees themselves--as I found out when I planted some at my camp.  Lol.

As for regular DS/T's atmosphere...I've always thought it was _already_ pretty cool.  Seasonal lightings, music, that creepy sound when a tree grows just off-screen...If stuff was to be put in that's PURELY for aesthetics it'd have to be clearly marked in some way, or else people would keep trying to pick the purely-decorative flowers and catch the just-there-to-look-cool insects. 

I'm not sure exactly how that could be done, in such a way where people really get it--because this is a sandbox survival game, and that means ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING is free for your own use, if not now then eventually.  Can't get it now?  Come back with the proper tool.  People are gonna assume that extra stuff put in just to add more atmosphere is for actual use.  Heck, even if I knew ahead of time I'd probably forget occasionally...

Tl;dr:  I think the idea is cool in general but am not sure exactly how it could be implemented.  Also I kinda already think DS/T's ambience is fine how it is; in fact the overall atmosphere is one of the main reasons I like the game in the first place!

...Notorious

[Nino123]

I think that the wake of animations and the quiet sound ambiance in the DST world is THE thing that makes the atmosphere great !  You feel like lost in a strange and quiet land. And it totally match with the story. I like that so much. I like starting a new game just for this creepy and sad feeling of being lonely and totally lost in a dangerous world where every sound is strange and potentially dangerous...

SW has a really cool ambiance too, almost the same as DST but with an exotic extra atmosphere.

Hamlet world is more "alive" but that's an other world, with pig city and jungle life. It's really cool but it doesn't fit for DST.

 

 

[Primalflower]

just wish the sounds were louder. Marble turf got cool sounds but i legitimatelly just cant hear it without picking out the sound file

[Yuuko]

I'm trying really hard here to not just be negative on this whole thing, but like how long is a spider or hound on your screen without doing something that it needs an idle animation?  Do you really want jungle textures covering up your screen?  How many people already turn off screen shake and distortion?

I think it would be cool if they added some variety in naturally occurring plant foods.  Take some of the farm / seed crops and make them real plants like berry bushes.  I'd love a corn field or a pumpkin patch.  I could also appreciate having the main land mass broken up a bit, maybe select 1-2 biomes in world generation to spawn off as islands you can boat / bridge to?

idk, I like the idea of adding new content to the game which also adds variety.  I think Klei has been doing that pretty well with the ocean.  Kelps, stonefruits, fishes, and lureplants (even though we already had them) and mussels are doing a good job of adding variety to a previously stale food selection.  I don't like the idea of just adding animations and effects, especially ones which obscure my vision, accuracy, or control of my character.

[Szczuku]

1 hour ago, Shosuko said:

but like how long is a spider or hound on your screen without doing something that it needs an idle animation?

Lots of spider nests in the rocky biome (or hounds nests in a desert). A pretty common setpiece that I get basically every game. I try to get rid of it slowly and carefully. Durring that process I have a lot of time to stare at spiders/hounds and their lack of idle animation(s). Did you think I used them as an example for no reason? 

As I already said: the devs are slowly realizing that the ambiance could use a few visual upgrades. But they're only adding them to new content while the old one stays boring.

For example how boulders on land all have the same sprite while sea stacks have like 10 of them.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

1 hour ago, Shosuko said:

How many people already turn off screen shake and distortion?

i love them Q-Q

[Pelontriques]

4 hours ago, Shosuko said:

How many people already turn off screen shake and distortion?

i turn them off in case they cause any performance issues, plus i'm not too keen on having my in-game performance (not the FPS) get screwed just because i misjudged where something was due to screen distortion / shaking effects.

other people might have other reasons, potentially relating to epilepsy / eye conditions / brain conditions.

[Well-met]

14 hours ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

i love them Q-Q

Shake power is overkill on deerclops and bearger steps

[ArubaroBeefalo]

Just now, Well-met said:

Shake power is overkill on deerclops and bearger steps

I played few months ago RoG again (jumped from my hamlet world) and notice how stronger was the shake from the bosses. Is harder to fight RoG because how the screen moves