New update "Terrors Below" now available in Beta on Steam

[Capybara007]

the new scrap book is absolutely amazing big w from klei for finally adding a bestiary

[Yuuko]

1 hour ago, Theukon-dos said:

The scythe's neat, I like the ramping damage mechanic, though I don't understand why it's tied to armor. But it still has Planar Damage and Planar damage still sucks. Also there's the reap ability, which is neat, but it's extremely annoying how the stuff falls onto the ground instead of going directly into your inventory. Genuinely, what's the point of that.

I'm really glad to get this as an option.  It will make it a lot easier to stay off wicker / maxwell.  imo the aoe is sizeable enough that I'm okay with the resources dropping on the ground.  Especially since we can refuel the lazy gatherer, its a pretty comfy combo.

[Mike23Ua]

14 minutes ago, Theukon-dos said:

Nope, not us. We like our challenges to keep your base intact, thank you very much. And make them actual challenges for that matter, instead of whatever the hell rifts are. 

I mean let’s just be honest here, if this was NOT an update that adds to a game you’ve already bought and been playing, and was instead a CORE feature that existed from the day of purchase in a new “DS 2” Would you or anyone else for that matter really be complaining about it?

What Klei is doing to DST Now is the differences between State of Decay & State of Decay 2: in SoD 1 your completely immune to zombie bite infections, and vehicles have an endless supply of gas, in SoD 2, you get bitten enough you catch blood plague, and vehicles need to be refueled with gas. The difference? People buy SoD2 KNOWING that’s the experience they’re going to get, rather then SoD 1 getting an update that makes it unenjoyable for players who enjoyed it for what it was.

This is the phase you DST players are now stuck within: You wouldn’t be complaining at all (or you’d complain then go play the older game) if these features were part of a DS 2.

You only complain NOW because Klei is changing the game you enjoyed for what it was, and your not liking what it’s becoming.

I don’t share this same mindset, because with world Gen toggles and world presets:  the game should have flexibility to do whatever Klei wants with it, while also giving you the freedom to opt out of those changes with a few simple settings changes.

That said… I feel sorry for Klei, had destructive rifts been part of DS 2 as a core new gameplay feature (see above Blood Plague/Gas comparison) very few people would actually be complaining about it.

 

[Electroely]

1 hour ago, Baark0 said:

Boulders spawning on earthquakes will singlehandedly kill cave basing, or make it much less desirable. There was an individual out there to lit up their entire ruins with astral detectors, and I feel very sorry for them when all of that gets destroyed by boulders.

The boulders are fine. It's not immediately obvious, but they only spawn within a tile's distance of the player, so just stay away from structures to avoid any harm.

Edited June 1, 2023 by Electroely

[Horsheen]

42 minutes ago, Instant-Noodles said:

 

You forgot the

Spoiler

Charlie exit anim

 

[pyroisshy]

Just now, Electroely said:

The boulders are fine. It's not immediately obvious, but they only spawn within a tile's distance of the player, so just stay away from structures to avoid any harm.

That still sounds really annoying and pointless

[Uedo]

Please can someone tell me how to spawn the Ink guys, trying to test out the content, it's racking my brain D:

[Yuuko]

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

I mean let’s just be honest here, if this was NOT an update that adds to a game you’ve already bought and been playing, and was instead a CORE feature that existed from the day of purchase in a new “DS 2” Would you or anyone else for that matter really be complaining about it?

What Klei is doing to DST Now is the differences between State of Decay & State of Decay 2: in SoD 1 your completely immune to zombie bite infections, and vehicles have an endless supply of gas, in SoD 2, you get bitten enough you catch blood plague, and vehicles need to be refueled with gas. The difference? People buy SoD2 KNOWING that’s the experience they’re going to get, rather then SoD 1 getting an update that makes it unenjoyable for players who enjoyed it for what it was.

This is the phase you DST players are now stuck within: You wouldn’t be complaining at all (or you’d complain then go play the older game) if these features were part of a DS 2.

You only complain NOW because Klei is changing the game you enjoyed for what it was, and your not liking what it’s becoming.

I don’t share this same mindset, because with world Gen toggles and world presets:  the game should have flexibility to do whatever Klei wants with it, while also giving you the freedom to opt out of those changes with a few simple settings changes.

That said… I feel sorry for Klei, had destructive rifts been part of DS 2 as a core new gameplay feature (see above Blood Plague/Gas comparison) very few people would actually be complaining about it.

 

tbh if this was the state DST launched my experience would be like it was with DS.  Once I got to the point where hound waves were unbearable I turned it off, and didn't always turn it back on...

DST has been endlessly repayable because you can have fun building different things, janky combos like bee queen ovens or overkill shootius setups for antlion.  The tempo of the game ramps up and cools down, giving you a place to actually chill.  This new loop of harassment and destruction imo cuts replayability b/c now once I reach this point I'm more likely to just play something else.  It turns it into a linear experience with an end that pushes you OUT of the game rather than an inviting, open world experience that stretches on as long as your creativity carries you.  This is why I feel the best "end game loop" for dst is to become a sandbox, it lets you stay in the game and play more.

Even liking the BS stuff, after seeing them again again AGAIN they get old.  Ever-present mechanics like that will always become a drag once their novelty wears off.  Its why my first comment about these rifts is that they NEED to close naturally.  That may be in the cards for Klei as they build them but I suspect not... because to them these are just "new seasonal mechanics" and tbh that really doesn't sound good...

Edited June 2, 2023 by Shosuko

[Electroely]

1 minute ago, pyroisshy said:

That still sounds really annoying and pointless

The point of the rifts seems to be making the entire caves a more challenging experience. I think this is a fine approach with both upsides and downsides. Boulders are useful as walls and now you can get them anywhere without waiting for the antlion to get angry or transporting them all the way from the archives. They're also a big boost in rock & flint yield from earthquakes (I got 8 boulders from my most recent earthquake). Combine that with acid rain causing ponds to form Nitre formations and repairing the Umbralla (which has the same insulation as the Eyebrella) and I think we've got a pretty cool set of risk & reward incentives. My main concern was my own ruins base being destroyed by the boulders, but now I know that it's easy to avoid that.

[GenomeSquirrel]

These damage the mush forests?

[MondayNight]

Boulders falling via regular Earthquakes.

Acid Rain (btw, concept 1st implemented years ago in that "Uncompromising Mod", then pretty much abandoned in "disabled" options precisely because of how "popular" it was even among fans of such a mod).

Right.

And is only the beginning.

Will be an ...interesting... direction for the game, that's for sure. Now depends towards what.

[Captain_Rage]

Regarding the scrapbook: "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". This is a very forced way to add information. >_> It doesn't belong in Don't Starve Together to begin with.

When it comes to the rifts, I love the idea that it will be possible to change the world and end-game content depending on how the rifts get manipulated and watch their interactions unfold. I am hoping for interactions such as tipping one side will lead to some sort of consequences, with beasts spawning in excess and adding to the risk / reward, or to keep both sides low and avoid chaos in the world, or activate both sides to cause some general mayhem and conflicts in the world.  Thanks, Klei. <3

[Yuuko]

2 hours ago, Theukon-dos said:

The scythe's neat, I like the ramping damage mechanic, though I don't understand why it's tied to armor. But it still has Planar Damage and Planar damage still sucks.

Klei - we added these punch bags to help make damage numbers more visible

Also Klei - we added a new damage mechanic that the punch bags don't help you visualize

lol classic Klei.............................

[Spino43]

32 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

I mean let’s just be honest here, if this was NOT an update that adds to a game you’ve already bought and been playing, and was instead a CORE feature that existed from the day of purchase in a new “DS 2” Would you or anyone else for that matter really be complaining about it?

What Klei is doing to DST Now is the differences between State of Decay & State of Decay 2: in SoD 1 your completely immune to zombie bite infections, and vehicles have an endless supply of gas, in SoD 2, you get bitten enough you catch blood plague, and vehicles need to be refueled with gas. The difference? People buy SoD2 KNOWING that’s the experience they’re going to get, rather then SoD 1 getting an update that makes it unenjoyable for players who enjoyed it for what it was.

This is the phase you DST players are now stuck within: You wouldn’t be complaining at all (or you’d complain then go play the older game) if these features were part of a DS 2.

You only complain NOW because Klei is changing the game you enjoyed for what it was, and your not liking what it’s becoming.

I don’t share this same mindset, because with world Gen toggles and world presets:  the game should have flexibility to do whatever Klei wants with it, while also giving you the freedom to opt out of those changes with a few simple settings changes.

That said… I feel sorry for Klei, had destructive rifts been part of DS 2 as a core new gameplay feature (see above Blood Plague/Gas comparison) very few people would actually be complaining about it.

 

Yay, time to disable yet another content, great fix.

[Mysterious box]

43 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

The worst part imo is what is to come.  In Klei's stream following the last patch they said that the BS weapons only feel weak now because this is their first form, and that they are going to be upgraded - which means even the argument that these things aren't replacing everything for the rest of the content b/c they are only really good against the new stuff goes out the window when you consider we may see 2x or more damage increases on these pieces moving forward.  Maybe we get tier 3 rain and tier 3 umbrella next...................................

I would assume this means we're also eventually getting various weapons and armors besides these as well over time since the idea seems to be a new game plus.

 

49 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

Then the complete turn on player basing...  First the BS plants that destroyed the base around them - removed due to fan backlash, but still the portals threaten destruction.  Now we're getting boulders falling from simple cave ins?  Klei needs to quit listening to uNcOmPrOmIsInG mOd ppl and start playing their game.

No one is asking for bases to explode but telling kiel not to listen to feedback while giving feedback is kinda silly. There are definitely some undesirable things about these updates but there's also good in them as well but some of the backlash really does start to feel like people to a larger extent are afraid of any big shake ups to the norm of dst and if that's the case maybe we do simply need a dst 2 or something because we're too tied to the past and our comfort zones too firmly established.

[Theukon-dos]

14 minutes ago, MostMerryTomcat said:

Boulders falling via regular Earthquakes.

Acid Rain (btw, concept 1st implemented years ago in that "Uncompromising Mod", then pretty much abandoned in "disabled" options precisely because of how "popular" it was even among fans of such a mod).

Right.

And is only the beginning.

Will be an ...interesting... direction for the game, that's for sure. Now depends towards what.

Well, UM was going to re-implement Acid Rain in a way that didn't suck more than a vacuum cleaner. But, well, that's up in the air now. The mechanic as a whole was from an era when the dev team hadn't quite figured out game design and may or may not have been slightly masocistic. But the fact that this new acid rain is comparable to that old thing still says a lot about it's quality.

4 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

Klei - we added these punch bags to help make damage numbers more visible

Also Klei - we added a new damage mechanic that the punch bags don't help you visualize

lol classic Klei.............................

The punching bags can see the ramping damage. Not sure why you think they can't.

[Yuuko]

3 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

I would assume this means we're also eventually getting various weapons and armors besides these as well over time since the idea seems to be a new game plus.

 

No one is asking for bases to explode but telling kiel not to listen to feedback while giving feedback is kinda silly. There are definitely some undesirable things about these updates but there's also good in them as well but some of the backlash really does start to feel like people to a larger extent are afraid of any big shake ups to the norm of dst and if that's the case maybe we do simply need a dst 2 or something because we're too tied to the past and our comfort zones too firmly established.

MORE forced versioning........ if the game plan is to replace everything, why not just leave it the way it is.  The game has been good for 10 years, no reason to artificially version everything NOW lol

Also - I'm not afraid of change, what I'm afraid of is that the reason I play DST is being taken off the table.  I really like that I can join the game, do a lot of work and challenging stuff, and then start to relax and just enjoy the world, the different interactions etc.  If the game ramps UP the stress continually, in an oppressive ever present way I know I will just play less and that is not the way I want DST to go.  I've enjoyed this game for far too long to see it go this way without a fight.  The end game of DST needs to be focused on enjoying the game, not constant gatchas, jump scares, and grind-fests.

3 minutes ago, Theukon-dos said:

 

The punching bags can see the ramping damage. Not sure why you think they can't.

I see why I didn't.  The damage ramping is from the weapon, and doesn't reset as long as the weapon is equipped or something so hitting different punch bags different amounts of times didn't change the damage numbers.  I have to equip a cane and attack a punch bag to reset it.

[Captain_Rage]

16 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

There are definitely some undesirable things about these updates but there's also good in them as well but some of the backlash really does start to feel like people to a larger extent are afraid of any big shake ups to the norm of dst and if that's the case maybe we do simply need a dst 2 or something because we're too tied to the past and our comfort zones too firmly established.

Yeah. While I am not at all a fan of the scrapbook I am confident that Klei will add an option to turn it off. The new beta has been around for less than three hours. It is better not to worry:) We are getting great new content for the game we love.

[Mysterious box]

16 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

MORE forced versioning........ if the game plan is to replace everything, why not just leave it the way it is.  The game has been good for 10 years, no reason to artificially version everything NOW lol

I mean hasn't it always been a thing though? I mean we have so many versions of weapons, armors, and tools already the main thing setting them apart being that they just aren't good/worth it as earlier options, side grades, or upgrades for the ones that aren't used. Yea this is more enforced but that's fairly common in games as well just it's often more transparent. The game can only really go two routes I feel however and that's either end or evolve and right now it feels like Kiel is trying to evolve it for better or worse.

 

16 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

Also - I'm not afraid of change, what I'm afraid of is that the reason I play DST is being taken off the table.  I really like that I can join the game, do a lot of work and challenging stuff, and then start to relax and just enjoy the world, the different interactions etc.  If the game ramps UP the stress continually, in an oppressive ever present way I know I will just play less and that is not the way I want DST to go.  I've enjoyed this game for far too long to see it go this way without a fight.  The end game of DST needs to be focused on enjoying the game, not constant gatchas, jump scares, and grind-fests.

Honestly while I can't completely agree with this I get it there's been games I've enjoyed in the past that have taken a shift in direction I haven't agreed on so I can get where you are coming from. However there are people who enjoy the game trying to challenge it's player's survival skills by taking it up a notch and it's not as though the game forces you to always be in this new content in every world you play. It's been my understanding since the last update that the reason this is being added to the end game is so the feel of the early game can retain the classic feel for people looking to relax or enjoy the game as it was.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Mysterious box

[PunkShark]

For someone who's been playing DS since its beta days. It is defintitely a bit jarring to have new pickup sounds. but i'mma try not to get rose-tinted glasses here.
at first it felt incredibly odd but it's a lot calmer and more chill to have new pick-up sounds really. that ding sound does get pretty annoying if you're not entirely used to the sound, which i am. It's kinda like, when the spiders got changed to smile and it was so uncanny since we've had em look like that since the beginning of DS that it just felt weird. 
But i accept the change and i find it welcoming. Do please add more if possible

I like the scrapbook conceptually, but first impressions it feels a bit bloated? like it's a lot to take in, and then having the need to pick up, fight and then examine every single thing in the game. seeing all of those empty spaces and scrolling down to see even more. it feels.. slightly scary? idk if that's the right term to use. Maybe it's just one of those things you have to really dig into and i might just need to give it some time. Although i did notice you can't investigate shadow creatures since they aren't examinable... Does this mean we'll finally get shadow creature quotes for Terrorbeak and Crawling horrors? I would love if that was the case.

Shadow rifts? visually looks amazing, i love our new peculiar shadow fiends. Animation is top tier as always. I like the little dude who just takes a nap on a chair. 
I'm liking how the world is beginning to shake up a little due to the shenanigans with Wagstaff and Charlie as the roadmap stated that would happen. 

i'm going to assume there's more tools to come as you described it with 'tools' and not a tool. Overall the design of the new armor is great, i really like how all of the character's eyes are white inside the darkness of the hood.
EDIT: Okay so there are in fact 2 tools which just makes me look like an idiot.
 

Edited June 2, 2023 by PunkShark

[Yuuko]

26 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

I mean hasn't it always been a thing though? I mean we have so many versions of weapons, armors, and tools already the main thing setting them apart being that they just aren't good/worth it as earlier options, side grades, or upgrades for the ones that aren't used. Yea this is more enforced but that's fairly common in games as well just it's often more transparent. The game can only really go two routes I feel however and that's either end or evolve and right now it feels like Kiel is trying to evolve it for better or worse.

 

Honestly while I can't completely agree with this I get it there's been games I've enjoyed in the past that have taken a shift in direction I haven't agreed on so I can get where you coming from. However there are people who enjoy the game trying to challenge it's player's survival skills by taking it up a notch and it's not as though the game forces you to always be in this new content in every world you play. It's been my understanding since the last update that the reason this is being added to the end game is so the feel of the early game can retain the classic feel for people looking to relax or enjoy the game as it was.

The dark sword, glass cutter, ham bat, and more all lived along side each other.  One of my friends really likes the eyeball hat and shield combo while wearing a backpack or insulation on the body slot, while I like using dreadstone hat with night armor and use a thermal stone for temp.  There are a lot of options that work well enough that you can choose which you prefer, even if a certain option might be best.  The new stuff is just like "here is the sword you will use now."

The game can become more challenging without destroying bases, and without forcing more nuisances on us.  More difficult mobs are always welcome, even having waves of brightshades isn't a problem - the problem is after they respawn twice in the same spot nearly instantly, punishing me for daring to cultivate grass.  Sure I could switch to wicker, craft books and switch to maxwell to read them, then set up a nice farm on the lunar island when I want grass and dig it all up when I'm done collecting thousands of grass, leaving my base completely devoid of plants - but that is a pretty dumb thing to require just to be annoyed less from new content.

Just like wildfires - its something without proper checks.  We have tools to avoid rain, stay cool or hot, etc but with these there is no answer you just have to deal with them endlessly like a Zombie mode that floods you with more and more enemies until you just quit.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Shosuko

[Pig Princess]

2 hours ago, Shosuko said:

Klei needs to quit listening to uNcOmPrOmIsInG mOd ppl actually play their own game

 

1 hour ago, Theukon-dos said:

Nope, not us. We like our challenges to keep your base intact, thank you very much. And make them actual challenges for that matter, instead of whatever the hell rifts are. 

I know one of the devs of UM team one of the people related to UM team already replied and you, Shosuko, corrected youself, but I just wanted to say that Uncompromising Mode changed a lot from state in 2020. After seeing previous beta I was disappointed and bored to an extent that I decided to see what is new in UM, especially since some showcase videos popped up on youtube. And I was pleasantly surprised, I'm glad I gave it 2nd chance after discarding it in 2020.

To keep it brief, they got rid of highly destructive stuff or made possible to avoid destruction if player has knowledge. No, it's not tedious. For example, Moonmaw Dragonfly - god of destruction, menace of bases - is version of RoG Dragonfly that comes if summer Dragonfly comes during full moon (so every 140 days), but fight is interesting and interactive, boss can be avoided by coming to the caves, destruction is tied to fight location (not omnipresent in the world) and, most importantly, loot is interesting (scalemail upgrade that adds dps similar to gestalts from CC crown, but is powered by not getting hit and hitting enemy successfully instead of consuming sanity).

Things like acid rain, hay fever and other stuff that created image of UM as mod were people can't tell difference between challenge and misery are off by default, and things like pollen mites, toadlings and such were removed. I heared there were lava geysers from Antlion in 2020, but I just today played and there is no bs like that. It feels like devs really rethought what challenge is.

Overall mod makes game more difficult, this didn't change. However, it took direction of changing stuff on qualitative level instead of just nerfing stats and making things grindy, for the most part. There are still things that need more work upon them (fix lasagna logic, please, leave meatballs alone (they suck even in vanilla anyway) and rebuff things that require ice to accept 2nd piece of ice, please), there is still tentency of "Wilsonazing" characters (Klei left UM team behind with brightshade update though), but healthy mix of reward changed mod for the better. And it's not just dark sword from different crafring materials or X% stronger, and I'm thankful for it. Playing with bug zapper, zaspberry parfait, fighting Hooded Widow, rushing UM ruins (with pawns and clockwork amalgams, trepidation and dread eye) on beefalo in light out, using waterflown can with sunfish/ice bream for winter/summer and such was like fresh air after latest official updates.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Pig Princess

[Maxil20]

1 hour ago, Baark0 said:

Boulders spawning on earthquakes will singlehandedly kill cave basing, or make it much less desirable. There was an individual out there to lit up their entire ruins with astral detectors, and I feel very sorry for them when all of that gets destroyed by boulders.

Hi I’m that person

I had to end up turning off earthquakes because moleworms were being way too harassing, but this is correct. Boulders from quakes are insane. Even if they only occur next to a player, the fact that you will now get punished with base destruction with around ten seconds of warning is immensely concerning, and I just feel odd it’s a change.

The acid rain change is also something I’m not completely on board about. While the chip damage certainly becomes quite annoying but manageable, it decimates Wanda especially. The slight decimals of chip damage are enough to entirely cancel out the ageless watch heal. This makes it impossible to heal unless you already have full 100% wetness protection, which I’m not entirely on board with given it feels a bit silly to pop on a the shadowbrella  and then cast the watches. I pers would change it so it’s something that can’t directly prevent the ageless watch from working, since I just feel like it’s really punishing otherwise.

Otherwise, I can’t say I find the other aspects of the update problematic. While I did get quite concerned when I found out the new nightmare trio tm can damage structures, I did find out they can only spawn from nightmare fissures and not the nightmare lights, meaning ruins builds likely won’t be comically punished.

Overall, there’s some things I certainly find, well interesting, but I definitely feel some tweaks would make it alright. They did that with taking root, after all, and it worked out rather well.

Sidenote: I’m quite shocked a lot of people don’t like the compendium. I honestly think it’s a really cool/fun addition, and I’m going to have fun trying to get all the entries in my world. I like the idea of an ingame guide, and I’m sure tweaks can make it less obstructive (even if I don’t personally think it’s that bad in the first place)

[Mysterious box]

3 minutes ago, Shosuko said:

The dark sword, glass cutter, ham bat, and more all lived along side each other.  One of my friends really likes the eyeball hat and shield combo while wearing a backpack or insulation on the body slot, while I like using dreadstone hat with night armor and use a thermal stone for temp.  There are a lot of options that work well enough that you can choose which you prefer, even if a certain option might be best.  The new stuff is just like "here is the sword you will use now."

My question is would you become fine with the concept so long as they add various new types of weapon, armor, and tool options using the new system?

[JosePapp]

55 minutes ago, pyroisshy said:

That still sounds really annoying and pointless

I mean the worst part is that it makes antlion less special when caves are concerned