Alternatives to the boulders?

[nimzowitsch10]

I think majority everyone on the forums dislike the boulders, and it seems like klei still wants to keep them in for whatever reason. This new hotfix makes no sense. You want to make boulders fall from the sky that are capable of destroying structures yet they don't fall on any structure? So a player can just sit next to structure and never get hit by any boulder but they gotta clean up after the boulders or else they will amass a crazy amount in the caves after a while. it just seems like a bad fix to an already bad idea.

There has to be a better alternative to boulders. It could be mobs falling from the ceiling, it could be cave stalagtites that drop down on the player but don't destroy anything. I think alot of things can be better than the boulders which should be an antlion exclusive thing.

Even though the acid rain is incredibly annoying I can still tolerate it, just wish there were some more unique items for the shadow side.

[firoborn]

if the survival guys really want challenge i have and easy idea for ya a shadow entity or a mob falls from the ceiling during earthquakes and holds you in place if you dont dodge it in time your only indication that is going to fall on you is a big sanity drain for a sec or two, easy, challenging and more dangerous than boulders, thought of that while on the toilet

[MondayNight]

From my pov, regarding this "Boulders falling via Earthquakes" conundrum, there can be some quick (concept-wise) Survival-y good, engaging alternatives:

• Dreadstone stalactites - on impact they shatter, doing AoE damage to entities with HP component (not builds); they can have a small chance/percentage to drop 1x Dreadstone upon said impact with ground;

• Dread Mites - already existing new foe, each Earthquake post 1st AFw take-down can have 2-5 of them drop from ceiling on player; aside a 20-30 dmg on impact if falling directly on player, afterwards they attack; perhaps 1x Pure Horror fuel per dead Mite as loot;

• Fused Shadelings - same as the Dread Mites concept, but capped at 1-3 per Earthquake, since they could drop Dread Mites too;

• Boulders, but with longer warning intervals - retain the Boulder current Earthquake mechanic, but have significantly longer intervals between the initial warning and when debris start falling; of course, now Boulders should do damage to builds as well, but perhaps shatter on ground impact to minimize littering. Loot on shattering: 2-3 Rocks/Flints as per normal Antlion boulder mining. Maybe some Nitre too (in which case, Boulder could have some yellow "veins" to reflect new composition and subsequent difference in shattering-on-impact mechanic).

[Well-met]

12 minutes ago, firoborn said:

if the survival guys really want challenge i have and easy idea for ya a shadow entity or a mob falls from the ceiling during earthquakes and holds you in place if you dont dodge it in time your only indication that is going to fall on you is a big sanity drain for a sec or two, easy, challenging and more dangerous than boulders, thought of that while on the toilet

"survival guys" heh

we are playing the same game whether you like it or not.

[maxwell_winters]

3 minutes ago, MostMerryTomcat said:

• Dreadstone stalactites - on impact they shatter, doing AoE damage to entities with HP component (not builds); they can have a small chance/percentage to drop 1x Dreadstone upon said impact with ground;

THIS

[Mike23Ua]

Actually as someone who used to HEAVILY main Winona she is a Gem consuming little gal.. and it makes me quite baffled WHY Klei would give her a structure designed specifically for best use in caves (that almost useless spotlight..) but they DID NOT give her a contraption to more easily obtain Gems (such as a Gem Siphonator) I mean I picture in my head something like a Fracking device, that she plants in the ground like the Garden Digamajig that causes earthquakes, and the Gems fall into a siphon bucket (yes a concept ripped straight out of Minecraft) 

These new “Earthquakes” as we will call them.. had all that potential, instead of dropping Ant-Lions boring Copy & Paste Boulders Winona’s Fracking Device/ Siphon Bucket could’ve safely “caught” Gems as they rained from these more intense cave quakes.

But NOPE- Klei’s best solution was to introduce new content that supposedly the player is intended to engage with but then codes said content to specifically avoid said player if they’re near a base structure.

Im a Writer, not a Game Designer- But this doesn’t make sense no matter how you look at it.  

[Ryusuta]

My alternative to boulders?

NO boulders.

[GenomeSquirrel]

Rock lobsters never got around to betraying us like every other mob …

and if bats can get glowing green eyes, surely they can …

and they look like cthulu …

and the ancients look like shrimp …

my mind is wondering in strange places, but surely raining demon lobsters is the answer.

 

 

[Mysterious box]

50 minutes ago, firoborn said:

if the survival guys really want challenge i have and easy idea for ya a shadow entity or a mob falls from the ceiling during earthquakes and holds you in place if you dont dodge it in time your only indication that is going to fall on you is a big sanity drain for a sec or two, easy, challenging and more dangerous than boulders, thought of that while on the toilet

So instead of boulders you've decided to add a mechanic that's near unavoidable ignoring one of the major issues with boulders to begin with and gave it the ability to stun you anywhere in the caves in a game where getting stunlocked can mean death? 

[maxwell_winters]

4 minutes ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

surely raining demon lobsters is the answer.

Rock lobster overpopulation was a huge problem before they were locked out of going to the surface, so no way it will get added. They would just lag the heck out of caves.

[Mysterious box]

52 minutes ago, MostMerryTomcat said:

From my pov, regarding this "Boulders falling via Earthquakes" conundrum, there can be some quick (concept-wise) Survival-y good, engaging alternatives:

• Dreadstone stalactites - on impact they shatter, doing AoE damage to entities with HP component (not builds); they can have a small chance/percentage to drop 1x Dreadstone upon said impact with ground;

• Dread Mites - already existing new foe, each Earthquake post 1st AFw take-down can have 2-5 of them drop from ceiling on player; aside a 20-30 dmg on impact if falling directly on player, afterwards they attack; perhaps 1x Pure Horror fuel per dead Mite as loot;

• Fused Shadelings - same as the Dread Mites concept, but capped at 1-3 per Earthquake, since they could drop Dread Mites too;

• Boulders, but with longer warning intervals - retain the Boulder current Earthquake mechanic, but have significantly longer intervals between the initial warning and when debris start falling; of course, now Boulders should do damage to builds as well, but perhaps shatter on ground impact to minimize littering. Loot on shattering: 2-3 Rocks/Flints as per normal Antlion boulder mining. Maybe some Nitre too (in which case, Boulder could have some yellow "veins" to reflect new composition and subsequent difference in shattering-on-impact mechanic).

This I like alot

[GenomeSquirrel]

4 minutes ago, maxwell_winters said:

Rock lobster overpopulation was a huge problem before they were locked out of going to the surface, so no way it will get added.

yeah I forgot they reproduce …

[firoborn]

21 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

snip

yes, it is avoidable unlike boulders you get a tell that lasts like a second which is more than the zero tells that boulders have

[Mysterious box]

29 minutes ago, firoborn said:

yes, it is avoidable unlike boulders you get a tell that lasts like a second which is more than the zero tells that boulders have

Absolutely noone was ok with boulders not giving a warning time and having 1-2 seconds is far from enough time in a heated situation.

[firoborn]

6 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

Absolutely noone was ok with boulders not giving a warning time and having 1-2 seconds is far from enough time in a heated situation.

i remember reading the post of some lategame survivalist loving the boulders and in the caves every single heated situation has you running like crazy, spelumonkeys running, fighting AG or rooks running, besides you are taking the post too seriously it was a joke

[Mysterious box]

2 hours ago, firoborn said:

if the survival guys really want challenge i have and easy idea for ya a shadow entity or a mob falls from the ceiling during earthquakes and holds you in place if you dont dodge it in time your only indication that is going to fall on you is a big sanity drain for a sec or two, easy, challenging and more dangerous than boulders, thought of that while on the toilet

I assumed this was a joke and reacted as such with my funny meme pic

 

54 minutes ago, firoborn said:

yes, it is avoidable unlike boulders you get a tell that lasts like a second which is more than the zero tells that boulders have

This clearly wasn't therefore I gave you a straight answer.

 

14 minutes ago, firoborn said:

i remember reading the post of some lategame survivalist loving the boulders and in the caves every single heated situation has you running like crazy, spelumonkeys running, fighting AG or rooks running

Are we running AG and Spelumonkeys to death these days eh? (This is a bad joke)

[firoborn]

9 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

 

sorry then i misinterpreted your post. I will stop responding i dont want to derail this thread

[Mike23Ua]

1 hour ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

Rock lobsters never got around to betraying us like every other mob …

and if bats can get glowing green eyes, surely they can …

and they look like cthulu …

and the ancients look like shrimp …

my mind is wondering in strange places, but surely raining demon lobsters is the answer.

 

 

Dude.. I love this comment! Like imagine if Acid Rain fell onto Rock Lobsters “burning” them causing them to go into fits of rage. Such an epic idea if I ever I heard of one!

Bonus points if the rocks that fall in the new Post FW Quakes has a % chance to spawn one disguised as a Rock.

(like Rock Golems in Ark)

Heck Yes! Klei should hire you on as a Dev.

[_zwb]

7 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

but they DID NOT give her a contraption to more easily obtain Gems

Did you mean varg farms?

[BB Marioni]

Feels like we are reading different forums here, coz I remember majority of the posts saying that they do like the idea of the boulders and do not like to remove them but adjust them. Because the idea of having it as a challenge being a higher dmg earthquake was interesting, but it destroying structures was too punishing without offering any counter play.

 

[Spino43]

4 hours ago, _zwb said:

Did you mean varg farms?

Ah yes, hound genocide.

[PunkShark]

You really just can't make everyone happy.

The boulders were deemed too harmful to the environment for bases. 
Now that is fixed.
Now the problem lies with people saying that's it's not destructive enough..

Pick a side people. 

EDIT: Alright maybe that came off as a little harsh. 
But the boulders were deemed too harmful for bases and pretty much everyone agreed on that aspect. 
Their main reason for existing is to make earthquakes slightly more dangerous, and it's also easy rocks/flint resource as well. 
Do i think their fix was the best they could have taken? No, but i also think it's possible they might've worked on something else for the time being as making completely new mechanics like pillar safety as people have suggested doesn't take a couple of days to make. 

[Brago-sama]

No, the people that didnt like the boulders are satisfied. You cant hear silence after all. Maybe a few say "oh sweet" or "thank goodness" but most just breathe a sigh of releif irl

Its the people who somewhat liked the boulders that are speaking up now, as as a system, its been gutted.

From what i can tell, they wanted to interact with the boulders more, but now that they just fall around you, its like, why is it even here anymore

Of course, it is just the beta, so im kinda just eh (it is important to be vocal in betas, but idk what to say what hasnt already). Im curious to see what happens/what theyll do with the boulders on release/a future patch

[Memetan]

What about an already existing rock that can get the f#ck out and leave the place alone? And maybe even help if they didn't kill you by spawning on your head...

[maxwell_winters]

53 minutes ago, Brago-sama said:

Its the people who somewhat liked the boulders that are speaking up now, as as a system, its been gutted.

For the record, I think people didn't necessarily like boulders but rather the idea of stronger earthquakes. I like environmental dangers, but I heavily dislike they went with the Antlion boulders. It's just so uninspired.