Do you like Moon Horror in DST?

[Catteflyterpill]

I read up on the now closed "defense of the macabre" thread, and let me be very clear this is not meant to be a thread meant to spiral into a circular debate like that thread. I just wanted to discuss JoeW's comment on the macabre elements:

I was very happy when I saw the Horror Hound and the addition of more cosmic/otherwordly elements into Don't Starve, but I am a big fan of Lovecraftian horror so let it be obvious where my bias is. Knowing the fall of the Ancients and the legacy of Them, I assumed that something like this fit very well into DST. Though I'm obviously not a dev, so I can assume they'd have a better understanding of their game. However, I'm curious as to what the audience thinks? Do you agree with JoeW's sentiment? Or do you feel like it was an addition for the better? 

This isn't meant to undermine the comment at all, just to test the waters of the community. And I know I don't have much authority to say it, but please be respectful and stay on topic, maybe?

[SonicDen220]

I don't mind it being in the game. Though there are only three mobs like that (hounds, pengulls, spiders), would be nice to see more mobs, but it doesn't seem like that's gonna happen.

[Notecja]

How about option "they fit horror/creepy themes in game, but I'm not a fan of them"?

[Zeklo]

Well, they no doubt fit with the lore. And while I do love them, there's no doubt their particular visceral designs stand apart from the rest of the macabre themes Don't Starve has.

[Mike23Ua]

There’s a ton of creepy items already in the game TONS okay? The problem is those items are mostly restricted to particular Biomes- And while none of them are on the same scale as Horror Hound/Horror Penguin, the only thing that comes close is maybe FuelWeaver?

The thing is- If I could move or create some of the items actually already present in the game like piles of bones found in the desert as just a mild example- I could quite literally make my worlds a lot more spooky then they already are..

And I believe Joe said that they didn’t want to dive “too far” into horror elements because that’s not the direction they want to take the game in, and in that case: I completely agree, they shouldn’t push anything past what’s already there.. it is still a PG-13 game after all, but maybe giving me Access to Build/Move or have more of what’s already in the game wouldn’t hurt either?

I would DEFINITELY love to see more Lunar Mutated & quite freaky looking mobs, but they most certainly don’t have to be no where near as bad as Horror Pengul, that one would probably be pushing the limits on the PG-13 rating.

However Joe didn’t say they aren’t going to do more moon mobs, he simply said something along the lines of what they do create wouldn’t be any worse than what’s already in the game.
 

But don’t take anything I say as truth, Don't listen to anything Anyone says until an actual Dev officially confirms it themselves.

[-Nick-]

Here we go again... 

[Lucenix]

Assuming that Them, the 'Moon' and all those references are pointing towards an abstract, alien being that bends reality, the 'horror' aspect does fit inside that niche, but Klei decides what does and what doesn't provoke mutations and that sort of stuff. Regardless, just the basic and abstract concept of Sanity as a stat and a health bar implies stuff that drains sanity away, some of it that ties nicely into horror, fear and the unkown, especially the Lovecraftian kind. Oversaturating it, however, would undermine its own purpose: the more common it gets the less special it is.

[Catteflyterpill]

14 minutes ago, Lucenix said:

Assuming that Them, the 'Moon' and all those references are pointing towards an abstract, alien being that bends reality, the 'horror' aspect does fit inside that niche, but Klei decides what does and what doesn't provoke mutations and that sort of stuff. Regardless, just the basic and abstract concept of Sanity as a stat and a health bar implies stuff that drains sanity away, some of it that ties nicely into horror, fear and the unkown, especially the Lovecraftian kind. Oversaturating it, however, would undermine its own purpose: the more common it gets the less special it is.

You know I hadn't even thought about it being oversatured, good point. Though I feel like there's a lot of interesting ways to revist and twist old creatures to show the danger of the moon's influence. I guess Klei knows what's best for Klei, but I hope we explore the ideas some more. 

[Mike23Ua]

Well before this thread ends up locked like the other one let’s first consider what Moon Magic does to stuff in the game and because this maybe considered as Spoilers I will put it into a Nifty Spoiler tag-

Spoiler

Don’t Starve has always had Strange things happen on a Full Moon Night- It is during this time (signifying that the games moon is at its most powerful stage) That the moons magic mutates specific aspects about the game:

Pigmen will Mutate into Werepigs during this time, Woodie will also occur a random forced transformation, Ghosts will freely roam the map near their graves angry all the time, decapitated heads on sticks will reanimate to life and can be hammered down for Nightmare Fuel, a Inventory full of Nightmare Fuel inside Chester will mutate him into Shadow Chester.

My point is that the moons magic IS NOT and never has been cutesy and friendly... except for the one creature who’s existence I still can’t figure out the mystery behind Glossamer!

It looks cutesy, it’s summoned by moon magic and it provides players with free Sanity, out of all the things that I just mentioned in the spoiler-

Spoiler

Not to mention it’s usually devilishly placed in a village full of mutated Werepigs.

this one stands out...

And I don’t and NEVER have trusted its cute innocence. You hear that Klei? I don’t trust the warm light hearted fluffy little fuzzball that some other players adore...

Because I’ve witnessed first hand what moon magic does to other parts of your game, So there you have it-

Glossamer is by far the creepiest thing in DS.. because when other horrible things happen to all the other entities, this thing retains its cuteness? Yeah I don’t buy that not even for one second..

[Well-met]

Absolutely.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

i love horror hounds and his revive mechanic and animation and i love horror pengulls and how agressive they are

[Hopeflakes]

I love the horror hounds, moonrock pengulls, and shattered spiders, and was immensely looking forward to seeing how new constant creatures would be twisted due to the moon's influence. I had no clue that these designs (however cool they might be) would put some people off until I read that closed thread, since I don't have any problems viewing horror in 2D. Going in the opposite direction for designs makes just as much sense considering Glommer exists, and if that makes it bearable for players who love the game, I'm not gonna complain.

[Monkey Cups]

I'm actually pretty neutral towards them. No strong feelings about them at all.

[minespatch]

I wanted more of them.

[Scrimbles]

Yes, and I'm kinda annoyed that Klei ditched them because a minority complained.

 

edit: I think there were good opportunities for more horror themes in Don't Starve, as we have been lacking those since the original release of the game, and just like Warbucks, I don't think it was entirely the Klei teams personal opinions that the designs didn't match. They drew them, refined them, went through a whole team for approval, got drawn into an update animated short, and were warmly received, and all of a sudden they backtrack and say they no longer think they fit?

[Pikapikap]

yes

[Mike23Ua]

14 minutes ago, Scrimbles said:

Yes, and I'm pissed off that Klei ditched them because a minority complained.

Haha I hear Ya .. but I also have to respect Klei’s decision, they gotta do whatever they feel is best to turn the most profit, Even if that means toning down Moon Horror or game difficulty. But... 

Spoiler

Wasn’t there a Halloween Art of Ewecus with an eye out of his socket and part of the bone in its leg missing? I don’t feel like going through the entire Halloween thread to find that one particular photo, but I’m pretty sure that would qualify as a Moon Horror mob.

Some of the Halloween event images and drawings showcased (questionable if actually PG-13 or Not.) is actually what triggered my sudden desire to want to create the poll I made in the first place.

[Catteflyterpill]

3 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

Haha I hear Ya .. but I also have to respect Klei’s decision, they gotta do whatever they feel is best to turn the most profit, Even if that means toning down Moon Horror or game difficulty. But... 

  Hide contents

Wasn’t there a Halloween Art of Ewecus with an eye out of his socket and part of the bone in its leg missing? I don’t feel like going through the entire Halloween thread to find that one particular photo, but I’m pretty sure that would qualify as a Moon Horror mob.

Some of the Halloween event images and drawings showcased (questionable if actually PG-13 or Not.) is actually what triggered my sudden desire to want to create the poll I made in the first place.

Well that sounds like a Halloween-themed piece, not part of the whole game. This isn't much of a discussion about any sort of vocal minority, that arguments has been done quite to death. I'm just asking if you feel like it makes sense thematically with the Don't Starve universe.

[.]

Not fan of it but it's nice.

[DaZoul]

When I first saw the Horror Hound I was like oh dang that dog is turned inside-out 

Then I saw the Moonrock Pengull and dahahahaaang I loved them. So cool. 

[ArubaroBeefalo]

7 hours ago, Scrimbles said:

Yes, and I'm kinda annoyed that Klei ditched them because a minority complained.

 

edit: I think there were good opportunities for more horror themes in Don't Starve, as we have been lacking those since the original release of the game, and just like Warbucks, I don't think it was entirely the Klei teams personal opinions that the designs didn't match. They drew them, refined them, went through a whole team for approval, got drawn into an update animated short, and were warmly received, and all of a sudden they backtrack and say they no longer think they fit?

Pls dont talk about warbucks. Triggers me a lot

Im even planning of editing my ds launcher so he can recover his quotes

 

I can understand people having phobias but then a aracnophobic comes and what we do with spiders? Some people shouldnt make their problems a problem for everyone

[Mike23Ua]

Someone made a really cool music video that had the horror hound and horror penguin in it taken from a Klei animated short. It’s clear that they were part of Return of Them’s original focus (if they weren’t then they wouldn’t be featured in an actual animated short) But something lead Klei to go in another direction.

The moon mobs themselves didn’t feel out of place if more were coming in the future.. but for there to only be two (I’m not going to count shattered spiders) and then change of development direction, then the ones already in the game and featured in an animated short will ALWAYS feel oddly out of place.

And to be honest it makes me slightly sad, I think their could have been a totally logical compromise on this sort of content- like for example locking it behind an optional dlc players can download, Or maybe having the players having to do X amount of tasks to trigger their existence so it’s not just something that people who were uncomfortable with their existence just wander up on without jumping through some very specific hoops in order to even see that content.

With that said- if Klei really has changed direction and the two existing horror mobs in the game will be the only ones in the game then YES they will TOTALLY feel out of place.