How would you rework Summer?

[Milordo]

1 minute ago, zacqiang said:

are annoying to the point where I turn them off indefinitely when I find them coming every 2 days over the duration of the season. Imagine getting rotting giant crops one year just because I can't harvest them due to unstoppable frog rains.

If i'm not mistaken by my experience, you could have a spring with only 1 frog rain or one with 5 frog rains max.

In any case i encourage you to leave them on, they're difficult and a lot of pain at the start, as the season being the toughest one, however you have a lot of tools to fight them back! For example you have: caves, tooth traps, normal traps, some beefaloes if you want that herd to die, Moose/Goose, Dragonfly, Abigail, the ocean, bunnymens or pigmans, ecc....

And you have in return a lot of food that could become meatballs, other recipes or small jerky (really useful to wrap it and bring it to boss fights or long explorations). The frog rains are okay once you know how to deal with them!  

[Cheggf]

While we're on the topic of the difficulty of summer I think the difficulty of it is very interesting. To a new player it may be the hardest season. They get through winter by starting simple fires and staying warm in common sense ways, but now they have to stay cool and the most immediately apparent way to do that is with these blue fires that cost nitre, something they may have been discarding. Whether or not they've been able to get gears is also a big factor on how hard the season is.

But once you know what you're doing summer's actually pretty easy. To a new player staying cool is harder than staying warm, but to a more experienced one it's the opposite. All you have to do is have a piece of insulating clothing on and carry something like a luxury fan, blue amulet, or cooling food on you. If you or someone else is Warly you can ditch all of that and exclusively eat asparagazpacho to stay cool. You can exclusively eat hot dragon chili salad to stay warm in the winter, but that's a much harder to create dish. If you combine this knowledge of staying cool with flingomatics being properly placed summer is little more than autumn where randomly if you're unlucky some irreplaceable things like cactus or reeds might burn and never come back off screen as you pass by and not notice.

[QuartzBeam]

I'm not sure wildires can be salvaged at this point. They're a terribly telegraphed mechanic with 3 'out there' solutions that each has completely different underlying mechanics, so there's no consistency to it. Wildfires are just tedium and I've yet to see a single suggestion that would fix that. If summer is to have some fire hazard, I think Fire Hounds already fulfill that purpose just fine.

And if I'm being honest, I don't think summer necessarily needs more challenge. If you take away the wildfires, summer still has overheating and withering, which is more or less on par with winter's freezing and paused plant growth. Summer needs more rewards, not more opportunities to shoot you in the knee caps.
 

Personally, I would rather see Summer reworked to focus more on the drought aspect of the season. We already have some of that in the form of withering, faster spoilage and faster moisture evaporation. In a similar vein, I'd like to see meats and kelp drying faster in summer.

Some sort of mirage mechanic could also be interesting. You know, benign-looking setpieces that only appear to you when you're out in the scorching summer heat for too long. Then, when you approach them, they would crumble to dust and reveal some summer exclusive enemy (snakes? beefed up mosquitos?), which you could kill for some special loot (think of it like summer's answer to MacTusk).

The other thing I'd like to see would be a rework/expansion on the Oasis and the Antlion. The idea of an entire biome that "transforms" during a particular season has a lot of potential, but in the current implementation summers in the oasis boil down to wearing a funny hat, fishing and killing an easy boss. I'd like to see more trading options for the Antlion; something to incentivize players to put up with him instead of killing him straight away.

...

And since I've long crossed into the realm of random spitballing: it would be really punny if the mirages actually turned out to be cause by the glint of a red fish-shaped cat snack (a Red Herring, if you will) that you can then trade to the Antlion for a little something special.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

7 hours ago, HowlVoid said:

Well it doesn't stand for me howling in back alleys lol. I'm keeping the void part a secret though.

Is funny. It was all the time in front of my nose. I really like Ghibli films

 

 

What if pigs, merms and other intelligent inhabitants of the constant will try to stop wildfires with their hands like a player would do? I mean, they are dumb but if they are intelligent enough to build a house or helping you working they should be smart enough to know that wildfires are a danger.

In this way we can decorate certain areas with them and reduce the stress knowing that they will alert of fires and will automatically stop them

[Milordo]

17 minutes ago, Cheggf said:

While we're on the topic of the difficulty of summer I think the difficulty of it is very interesting. To a new player it may be the hardest season. They get through winter by starting simple fires and staying warm in common sense ways, but now they have to stay cool and the most immediately apparent way to do that is with these blue fires that cost nitre, something they may have been discarding. Whether or not they've been able to get gears is also a big factor on how hard the season is.

But once you know what you're doing summer's actually pretty easy. To a new player staying cool is harder than staying warm, but to a more experienced one it's the opposite. All you have to do is have a piece of insulating clothing on and carry something like a luxury fan, blue amulet, or cooling food on you. If you or someone else is Warly you can ditch all of that and exclusively eat asparagazpacho to stay cool. You can exclusively eat hot dragon chili salad to stay warm in the winter, but that's a much harder to create dish. If you combine this knowledge of staying cool with flingomatics being properly placed summer is little more than autumn where randomly if you're unlucky some irreplaceable things like cactus or reeds might burn and never come back off screen as you pass by and not notice.

Exactly! 

In my records to the thirty people who i teached Don't Starve, they always had more resentment towards spring, due to the wet mechanic mostly, than the summer. In the summer after some days, they figured out there were these special fires in the crafting fire tab, having no troubles after, since they get it was similar to the freezing mechanic. They only ranted about Antlion's earthquakes ruining the roads lol.

[Dollmaker]

29 minutes ago, Milordo said:

It's just boring. If you mean annoying because for the wildfires, well i disable them, simple as they should be. 

Now in spring you have: all the wet mechanic that overclass easily the temperature mechanic, frogs, a giant duck that if you don't know could spawn in your base, many animals in heat and other details i'm not remembering now. This seems to me really annoying but still more fair than wildfires or Antlion.

I mean tbf, unlike temperature you can fully deny the wet mechanic with the tools you can get, like the Eyebrella, with temperature you can only delay it. 

[Milordo]

2 minutes ago, Dollmaker said:

I mean tbf, unlike temperature you can fully deny the wet mechanic with the tools you can get, like the Eyebrella, with temperature you can only delay it. 

Sure, if you know how to play the game. Guess why Klei decided to give you an item that completely nullify a mechanic in comparison to the temperature.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

2 minutes ago, Milordo said:

Sure, if you know how to play the game. Guess why Klei decided to give you an item that completely nullify a mechanic in comparison to the temperature.

Wetness doesnt kill you. Not having a way to cool off does 

Sure, spring is kinda harder than summer but not as deadly if you make a mistake

[Milordo]

2 minutes ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

Wetness doesnt kill you. Not having a way to cool off does 

Sure, spring is kinda harder than summer but not as deadly if you make a mistake

Doesn't wetness decrease your body temperature, decrease a lot the sanity and slowing you down a lot since you need to stay near a fire for not freezing to death? Plus the slippery thing. And this is only the wetness, i'm not considering all the other challenges that brings.

In my experience i died a lot more and see many died more in spring than in summer (however i'm not considering wildfires, which they can be deadly burning your whole base but rollbacks exist)

[ArubaroBeefalo]

12 minutes ago, Milordo said:

Doesn't wetness decrease your body temperature

Only a problem in the first days of spring and can be solved by using a torch. Cooling off is way harder than warming up

12 minutes ago, Milordo said:

decrease a lot the sanity

Which doesnt mean that it will kill you. Not having a way to cool off does. Do you understand my point? 

12 minutes ago, Milordo said:

slowing you down a lot since you need to stay near a fire for not freezing to death?

What? Idk how do you play but this can be applied to summer too if i ignore all the ways to prevent that scenario, like you are doing...

12 minutes ago, Milordo said:

Plus the slippery thing

Which only happens if you let your wetness rise a lot and doesnt mean that you will die, the whole point of my comment...

12 minutes ago, Milordo said:

i'm not considering all the other challenges that brings

A seasonal boss that doesnt mess with you or frog rains which means free food and free loot from that seasonal boss?

Lighting is another danger but solved by building lighting rods which are cheap and last forever

12 minutes ago, Milordo said:

In my experience i died a lot more and see many died more in spring than in summer (however i'm not considering wildfires, which they can be deadly burning your whole base but rollbacks exist)

I guess i didnt explain myself properly. Im not saying that you cant die in spring or that is easier than summer, im just saying that in the worst summer scenario dying isnt guaranteed but in summer you are done if you arent prepare.

Im aware that not being prepare for summer is only a newbie thing but ofc im talking about them since no veteran dies in spring neither in summer

So my commend was simply that, for how "difficult", is to cool off, imo, it becomes a deadly season if you arent prepare. At the end you can survive spring at 100 wetness if you have a torch, a lantern and a weapon but you cant survive summer in the surface without a way to cool off

 

Edit. In my experience i always died a lot more in summer due to not having basic resources avaraible or running out of the resources that made me cool off. Spring was a hard time but always survive by running forward

[Dollmaker]

20 minutes ago, Milordo said:

Sure, if you know how to play the game. Guess why Klei decided to give you an item that completely nullify a mechanic in comparison to the temperature.

Theres the Umbrella as well though, and combined with most helmets its the same has wearing the Eyebrella with 100% protection (minus lightning protection), and that one isnt hard to make. 

[Milordo]

41 minutes ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

Only a problem in the first days of spring and can be solved by using a torch. Cooling off is way harder than warming up

Which doesnt mean that it will kill you. Not having a way to cool off does. Do you understand my point? 

What? Idk how do you play but this can be applied to summer too if i ignore all the ways to prevent that scenario, like you are doing...

Which only happens if you let your wetness rise a lot and doesnt mean that you will die, the whole point of my comment...

A seasonal boss that doesnt mess with you or frog rains which means free food and free loot from that seasonal boss?

Lighting is another danger but solved by building lighting rods which are cheap and last forever

I guess i didnt explain myself properly. Im not saying that you cant die in spring or that is easier than summer, im just saying that in the worst summer scenario dying isnt guaranteed but in summer you are done if you arent prepare.

Im aware that not being prepare for summer is only a newbie thing but ofc im talking about them since no veteran dies in spring neither in summer

So my commend was simply that, for how "difficult", is to cool off, imo, it becomes a deadly season if you arent prepare. At the end you can survive spring at 100 wetness if you have a torch, a lantern and a weapon but you cant survive summer in the surface without a way to cool off

 

Edit. In my experience i always died a lot more in summer due to not having basic resources avaraible or running out of the resources that made me cool off. Spring was a hard time but always survive by running forward

Ok, ok, i didn't followed you before, i get it now. Just chill, i was only discussing.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

2 minutes ago, Milordo said:

Ok, ok, i didn't followed you before, i get it now. Just chill, i was only discussing.

? Im chill. Sorry if my bad english looks like im being rude or something

[Milordo]

42 minutes ago, Dollmaker said:

Theres the Umbrella as well though, and combined with most helmets its the same has wearing the Eyebrella with 100% protection (minus lightning protection), and that one isnt hard to make. 

You're thinking as a experienced player. Apart that combining the umbrella with some helmets it's not enough, you need a fire too to decrease it. Plus you can even do more cheaper with Tree+umbrella+fire, or others. Still we're thinking as someone who know already the game.

A new player will not figure out all this things immediately, i see it in person. In winter after you died, you learned about thermal stone and some hats. In spring you need to do all these combinations that it's clearly more difficult than just picking a torch, burning something and you're fine. Even because no new players will ever fight Deerclops. 

3 minutes ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

? Im chill. Sorry if my bad english looks like im being rude or something

Lol, we're two. English is not my first language. Anyway I thought it by: 

48 minutes ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

Which doesnt mean that it will kill you. Not having a way to cool off does. Do you understand my point? 

What? Idk how do you play but this can be applied to summer too if i ignore all the ways to prevent that scenario, like you are doing...

Which only happens if you let your wetness rise a lot and doesnt mean that you will die, the whole point of my comment...

 

[ArubaroBeefalo]

2 minutes ago, Milordo said:

You're thinking as a experienced player. Apart that combining the umbrella with some helmets it's not enough, you need a fire too to decrease it. Plus you can even do more cheaper with Tree+umbrella+fire, or others. Still we're thinking as someone who know already the game.

A new player will not figure out all this things immediately, i see it in person. In winter after you died, you learned about thermal stone and some hats. In spring you need to do all these combinations that it's clearly more difficult than just picking a torch, burning something and you're fine. Even because no new players will ever fight Deerclops. 

Lol, we're two. English is not my first language. Anyway I thought it by: 

 

I understand that it might sound rude but i wasnt xD

Even in my main laguange i talk in a direct way that might sound rude. Is worst in english when i dont want to write a long texts to be clear 

[Seero]

12 hours ago, ArubaroBeefalo said:

Offscreen wildfires removed

More time for smouldering to set something on fire so we have more time to react and big builds dont become charcoal in seconds

Alow us to extinguish fires like if were smouldering at a cost of a lot of damage (i always feel stupid watching a fire spreading without being able to do anything)

Migration, new mobs appearing and new events happening to give more loot so would be worth to spend the summer in the surface. Nothing game changer to compete to the caves but good enough to make us break the routine 

Maybe some kind of sw's dragoons with similar loot

Also some kind of fire biome like the volcano that forces us to wear things like ice cube would be cool

Anyways i think that the desing of forcing us to learn to survive in the caves is cool, becomes stale, but cool and, with the addition of more ocean content, the ocean can be an alternative to the caves or the oasis meanwhile the rest of the world is a chaos.

In addition to this, making resources renewable will fix a lot of the problems since nobody likes to lose the berry bushes from a moose set piece knowing that they wont come back. Same for reeds or catcoon dens

i'd remove wildfires all together, but i'm content with these changes

 

[Mike23Ua]

Wildfires are in the game to give players an unpreventable world danger, if your on the surface and roaming about, You are subject to Wildfire- Which is Equivalent to the game getting actual Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Landslides, and Floods- AKA Things that aren’t SUPPOSED to have an item you can build to get rid of them.

In the face of an unavoidable disaster- Your tasked with salvaging what you can & Rebuilding.

I get it- Mega Base players say: “Wildfire=Bad” So turn them OFF? But don’t ask for a trivial tool that makes them even being in the game- Something You can prevent.

Yeah yeah yeah “But Oasis or Go in Caves” call me crazy- But I have a feeling that If Klei COULD update the game: They would make it so Meteor Showers and Wildfires still happen even when your in

“Safe Zones”

Because let me tell you I Live down in the South and we go through something that’s actually called a “Tornado Season” it’s when the weather stays capable of spawning a Tornado at just about any moment I’ve walked outside and there was one right above my house once luckily it hadn’t touched down yet & I thank the heavens it went further away before finally touching down- but my point is, After this thing came through and destroyed my town: We came together as a Community to salvage, rebuild, and recover.

This is how I see wildfires, and I also think a Survival Sandbox game shouldn’t ALWAYS have a permanent solution to a problem..

Instead of Removing Wildfires, or giving players a tool that makes them being in the game POINTLESS, Wildfires should instead offer resources from the fires happening THEMSELVES..

Compare Meteor Showers: They are equally disastrous but they renew rocks, flint, gold, moon rocks, Nitre.

Wildfires Therefore: After they happen should provide new or renewable resources, Such as: After the fires happen all burnt trees have a higher chance to turn to petrified stone, which when mined will drop things like charcoal, pine cones (for renewing trees) rocks, Nitre, possibly even gems? I mean- Diamonds are literally made out of Coal.

Klei already let’s you recover HALF your resources when something burns by hammering it down- So they obviously wanted you to “rebuild & recover”

I just personally think somewhere along the way: When youtubers started creating mega sized city bases & through the games own unfortunate inability to still have hazards happen when your not in the Area- Wildfires lost their intention.

The TL:DR- the way people currently “deal” with Wildfires is by exploiting the games design, and going to areas where fires don’t load, or by turning them off. And those are usually the same people asking for some Tool they can build to fully counter them being a threat in the game at all.

I wish I could walk away from an actual tornado and the darned thing suddenly unload from the planet so it’s no longer a threat.  

[Dollmaker]

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

Wildfires are in the game to give players an unpreventable world danger, if your on the surface and roaming about, You are subject to Wildfire- Which is Equivalent to the game getting actual Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Landslides, and Floods- AKA Things that aren’t SUPPOSED to have an item you can build to get rid of them.

In the face of an unavoidable disaster- Your tasked with salvaging what you can & Rebuilding.

I get it- Mega Base players say: “Wildfire=Bad” So turn them OFF? But don’t ask for a trivial tool that makes them even being in the game- Something You can prevent.

Yeah yeah yeah “But Oasis or Go in Caves” call me crazy- But I have a feeling that If Klei COULD update the game: They would make it so Meteor Showers and Wildfires still happen even when your in

“Safe Zones”

Because let me tell you I Live down in the South and we go through something that’s actually called a “Tornado Season” it’s when the weather stays capable of spawning a Tornado at just about any moment I’ve walked outside and there was one right above my house once luckily it hadn’t touched down yet & I thank the heavens it went further away before finally touching down- but my point is, After this thing came through and destroyed my town: We came together as a Community to salvage, rebuild, and recover.

This is how I see wildfires, and I also think a Survival Sandbox game shouldn’t ALWAYS have a permanent solution to a problem..

Instead of Removing Wildfires, or giving players a tool that makes them being in the game POINTLESS, Wildfires should instead offer resources from the fires happening THEMSELVES..

Compare Meteor Showers: They are equally disastrous but they renew rocks, flint, gold, moon rocks, Nitre.

Wildfires Therefore: After they happen should provide new or renewable resources, Such as: After the fires happen all burnt trees have a higher chance to turn to petrified stone, which when mined will drop things like charcoal, pine cones (for renewing trees) rocks, Nitre, possibly even gems? I mean- Diamonds are literally made out of Coal.

Klei already let’s you recover HALF your resources when something burns by hammering it down- So they obviously wanted you to “rebuild & recover”

I just personally think somewhere along the way: When youtubers started creating mega sized city bases & through the games own unfortunate inability to still have hazards happen when your not in the Area- Wildfires lost their intention.

The TL:DR- the way people currently “deal” with Wildfires is by exploiting the games design, and going to areas where fires don’t load, or by turning them off. And those are usually the same people asking for some Tool they can build to fully counter them being a threat in the game at all.

I wish I could walk away from an actual tornado and the darned thing suddenly unload from the planet so it’s no longer a threat.  

Thing is, not everything is renewable yet, such has the Berry and Grass bushes, same for Saplings, if any of those burn, they are gone for good, that was also the reason Disease was so hated.  

[HumanBean150]

I mean, just give it more.

If you disable autumn, you miss out on the birchnut boost it gives, the best tree farming method in the game, and a generally easy and convenient season.

If you disable winter, you miss out on the walking cane, tam, klaus fight, ice, deerclops eye, blue hounds (to an extent), and slower rot time.

If you disable spring, you miss out on weather panes and luxury fans, as well as a ton of meat / gold.

If you disable summer, you miss out on... a couple of red gems? a teleportation method that only works for a couple of specific instances? a fish that keeps you warm? There's nothing useful enough about summer to live with the wildfires, withering, faster food spoilage, the sandstorms...

Oh, except for the cactus flowers.

Those are worth it.