tallbirds Issues I have with the Tallbird

[Shocky_Pink]

Hello, just wanted to suggest some things about the Tallbird. This is a great mob overall but has some issues. I wanted to list them and how they could be fixed, along with other members of the community being able to discuss this in the replies.

1. Spawning habits.  
Tallbirds are known for being very very rare when it comes to spawning, as it’s not too hard to end up with only one nest. To add to this, if your only nest got destroyed it’s game over for Tallbird eggs. Even if the Tallbird is alive it won’t make a new nest unlike Moles or Rabbits.  
Ways this could be fixed are upping the chances of them generating or adding a minimum amount that can spawn to make sure you have at least a few Tallbirds.  
Also, About the not making new nests…

2. Nesting issues/pointlessly reproducing.
Most mobs can make a new home if they are a home based mob and it’s basic enough, things like Catcoons and Pigmen won’t make new homes which is understandable with how Catcoons need a tree stump that doesn’t exist and Pigmen would need to have a civil war for Pigskin.
Tallbirds however don’t really have a good excuse to not make a nest. With how simplistic it is consisting of only grass or possibly some twigs of which are the most basic resources in the game.  
I think Tallbirds similarly to Moles should make a nest if they are homeless, which would actually give Tallbirds a reason to lay eggs and also would be a way to make sure the player can get more Tallbirds if only 1-3 spawn in the whole world. They would also likely have a condition to not build nests too close to other nests to prevent crowding in an area.  
Only one issue with the whole laying eggs thing now…
 

3. Offspring abuse.  
Im not sure if this is intentional or not but Tallbirds are awful parents and will murder their offspring.     
A way this could be fixed is coding Tallbirds to specifically never attack baby or teen Tallbirds.
Also Tallbirds should also protect the child. for example if the player gets too close the their offspring the Tallbird will come at you, and killing their child should cause the Tallbird to act like you just stole the egg and chase you for a very very very long time.

Here is a few other minor issues I have but not enough for a full mention.
-raised Tallbirds will betray you as soon as they grow up, not a full mention since it’s somewhat understandable as they would leave the nest. 
-Eggs don’t feel awarding to hatch for the time consuming process, but this game is not meant to be awarding, it’s meant to be fun.  
-Tallbird fortresses rarely generate, but with how useful and game breaking these can be it’s understandable.   
-Tallbirds target almost anything including clause’s deer, but it’s protecting the nest so it’s very understandable. (Also why are you fighting Clause in the rocky biom?)

There you go, those are a few issues I had with Tallbirds and ways to possibly fix them. Any thoughts I would love to hear so replying is appreciated.   
Have a nice day d: 

[Auth]

3 hours ago, Shocky_Pink said:

3. Offspring abuse.  
Im not sure if this is intentional or not but Tallbirds are awful parents and will murder their offspring.     
A way this could be fixed is coding Tallbirds to specifically never attack baby or teen Tallbirds.
Also Tallbirds should also protect the child. for example if the player gets too close the their offspring the Tallbird will come at you, and killing their child should cause the Tallbird to act like you just stole the egg and chase you for a very very very long time.

This. I hate this. A lot. They originally didn't do that, and technically they shouldn't, but there's a slight oversight in how it's coded that causes it to happen.

When a tallbird egg hatches into a smallbird, it will stay around its parent tallbird. The tallbird will ignore it, so long as both were loaded at the same time. Do literally anything to unload the tallbird (Including if the egg naturally hatches while both are off-screen) and the tallbird will attack the smallbird. This is because they're just straight up coded to target smallbirds that aren't theirs. Issue being they can't tell it's theirs as smallbirds in DST are told to forget their owner when their owner unloads. While this prevents smallbirds from becoming sad, mindless, abandoned little followers if a player raising them disconnects, this is what causes the hiccup. (I can't say that with 100% certainty, but it's my educated guess)

I made a mod that fixes that behavior by just making it so tallbirds don't target smallbirds. If you're playing on Steam and you hate it as much as I do, there ya go.

[ArubaroBeefalo]

3 hours ago, Shocky_Pink said:

Even if the Tallbird is alive it won’t make a new nest unlike Moles or Rabbits

i dont think rabbits create new holes, i have my ruins filled with homeless rabbits

4 hours ago, Shocky_Pink said:

3. Offspring abuse.  
Im not sure if this is intentional or not but Tallbirds are awful parents and will murder their offspring.     
A way this could be fixed is coding Tallbirds to specifically never attack baby or teen Tallbirds.
Also Tallbirds should also protect the child. for example if the player gets too close the their offspring the Tallbird will come at you, and killing their child should cause the Tallbird to act like you just stole the egg and chase you for a very very very long time.

but that is the best thing about tallbirds. Shouldnt be changed

 

agree with them being renewable somehow

[ShadowbirdRH]

If tallbirds built nests upon being raised to adulthood, that would give incentive for players to engage in raising them. Well, so long as they made sure it didn't happen anywhere that would cause issues. Or maybe... as a player-raised smallish tallbird reaches the point where it would become an adult, it would prompt the player to give it nesting materials, which would both give the player more control over where the nest goes, and maybe even provide a reason for the more attentively raised tallbird to not be hostile toward the player that raised it.

Alternatively, perhaps building tallbird nests and befriending them (among others) could be the exclusive perk of a birdbrained new survivor, along with a Luxury Aviary that could house multiple birds, yield one feather and one egg per bird per day provided food is supplied (should have an indicator, like the Ice Flingomatic), and releases all birds if the food runs out.

As for tallbirds' terrible parenting, I agree that it's not exactly a pleasant bug. While I do think it should be fixed, if it isn't, I at least think some examination quotes could change as a way to sort of canonize the behavior.

[Orchids]

I agree with Tallbirds needing to be renewable, I think most things in this game should be in fact - considering how awful public servers can get and things can go extinct with ease.

 

Though - I think that the whole idea is that Tallbirds betray you as they grow up, its seems quite intentional. Like the game is trying to teach you that not everything is profitable and reward-worthy, and also how cruel the constant could be.
But...I do agree that Tallbirds should not aggro on tallbirds.