My Response To The "New Environmental Threats" + Disease Suggestion

[RealPanda]

As the title says, this is a response to the "New Environmental Threats" and can check it out there! The reason I made this into a topic is because the response/idea was way too large to be considered a simple reply. This is the full response and what I came up with! Hope you guys enjoy!

I think there be better ideas than "environmental threats" since there are already acid rains, sandstorms, frog rain, meteor showers, etc. Let's dig a little deeper. Why not add diseases? Yes, you heard that, diseases, and no, I'm not talking about bringing back that horrible mechanic that affected the saplings, grass tufts, bushes, or anything like that; I'm talking about diseases that affect the players, Like in Don't Starve Hamlet you had Hay Fever, which I thought was a unique and interesting mechanic for the game, so why not add something related to that into DST. And apparently, according to Wickerbottom and Wagstaff, the mushtrees were once regular trees but are now infected with fungal parasites. Therefore, it would make sense if this parasite also affected the players with a disease. I'll go over how it would work with transmission, contamination, cures, effects of it, and management of this disease, and some fun stuff. I'll keep this realistic/grounded while fitting into DST and its fantasies. With that out of the way, let's get into it! 

 

Spore Disease

The name for this new fungal disease is called (also says in the title) "Spore Disease." Spore Disease is a condition in Don't Starve Together where the characters are infected and diseased with a fungal parasite. It's caused by exposure to the spores in the game's environment related to fungi. As characters get infected, the disease progresses through different stages, affecting their abilities and introducing negative effects.

The disease is represented by a meter that shows how close a character is to full infection. Certain actions mentioned in the game can increase or decrease the infection level on the meter. In advanced stages, the disease can impair abilities, debuff the character, and allow them to spread to nearby players.

 

Transmission: The spore disease spreads through mushtress spores during blooming. Other transmission methods include consuming excessive mushrooms within a timeframe (cooked or uncooked) or spending long periods in the Lunar Grotto/Mixed Mushtree biome, as those biomes flourish with spores and fungi. Protective gear reduces the risk, except when eating mushrooms. Even more so, a transitional season called "Fungal Fever" brings a fever similar to Hamlet that appears in spring and affects all the players. (More info as you scroll.)

 

How would this work: To make this work, we'll have a gauge similar to a wetness meter. The gauge shows up when the character does something mentioned in the transmission/contamination section. It goes from 0 to 100, indicating how close the character is to being fully infected with the spore disease and its different stages. The gauge goes down over time, but once it passes stage one, it starts going up slowly instead of down as it begins to take control of the character. Once the spore disease reaches stage four (100), the player is fully infected and can spread it to others.

 

Spore Meter/Stages of Symptoms: The spore has different sections (just like Wx's wetness meter, where it has a line showing when he will take damage to wetness.) and has different stages of showing the disease's progression on the character of the effects and comments about it.

 

Stage One: 0-25% progression marks the initial stage when the character is exposed to spore disease but remains uninfected. The player still has time to avoid getting infected, getting out of the area, or doing the activity causing it. There are no effects during this, but the character begins to notice and comment on it. For instance, a character might remark, "I feel strange... my skin tingles" or "My throat feels scratchy... and I keep coughing. Must be something in the air."

Stage Two: 25 to 50 progression is the second stage, where the character begins to experience the spore disease as it's starting to take over the character, yet not fully infected but is beginning to show symptoms of it, such as their movement becoming slightly slower and their sanity gradually decreasing over time. They might mention seeing things that aren't there or hearing voices. The character might comment, "Whispers... the fungus... they're speaking to me!" or "I've been feeling more fatigued lately. Could it be related to this strange fungal presence?"

Stage Three: 50-75% progression represents the third stage, where the character experiences the same symptoms but on a higher level. Symptoms include reduced movement speed, emission of small fungal spore particles resembling normal mushtrees, fungal growths on the character, accelerated sanity decrease, and a 25% reduction in maximum health. The character may express concerns like "I've noticed these strange spores floating around. Are they coming from me?" or "My skin... it's becoming covered in these strange fungal marks!"

Fourth and Final Stage: 75-100% progression of the fourth and final stage of the disease: character experiences all symptoms, is fully infected, and is contagious to those nearby. Movement and appearance become the state of being drowsy, indicating the infection upon the character. More fungal growths appear, releasing spores that harm both the character and others nearby. These spores occasionally spawn. The player's character now has a damage modifier of -0.75*, just like Wendy, maximum health is halved, and sanity decreases rapidly. The character, now a host for the disease, may utter phrases like "Resistance is futile... soon all shall succumb to the power of the fungal plague" or "I am one with the spores... a creature of decay and fungal power."

 

For the most part, I think Wickerbottom would be the most interesting to see her reaction since she is a knowledgeable character in DST and would have a unique perspective when looking into things she hasn't seen before. Here are examples of her quotes:

Wickerbottom Quotes:

Stage One: 

• "These fungal growths... fascinating and concerning. It seems I have become a subject of my own research."

Stage Two: 

• "The spore disease... a perplexing ailment. My cognition is affected, yet my curiosity persists."

Stage Three: 

• "I am but a vessel for the fungal knowledge now. The lines between reality and my scholarly pursuits blur."

Fourth and Final Stage: 

• "The culmination of my studies, a twisted symbiosis with the fungi. The secrets I've uncovered... at what cost?"

I thought you guys would like what it would look like for a character to say about it, so there you go. With transmission done, let's move on with the contamination.

 

Visual Effects of Stages

To enhance the gameplay or make it more immersive, you could add visual effects to the screen to represent the disease's progression, just like in Hamlet's Hay Fever, when the character is about to sneeze, the screen gets affected. Here is an idea of how that would work with the spore disease taking over the character in each stage:

Stage 1: As the character starts to see the effects, a faint haze or specks of particles start appearing at the edges of the screen, like floating spores in the air.

Stage 2: The haze and particles become more noticeable, drifting across the screen occasionally. The edges of the screen take on a subtle tint, showing the growing influence of the spores.

Stage 3: The haze and particles thicken, drifting continuously across the screen and occasionally obstructing the player's view. The tint on the edges of the screen becomes more prominent, indicating the character's deeper involvement with the fungal infection.

Stage 4: The screen is filled with swirling spores, making it harder to see clearly. The spores create a sense of distortion, almost like a thick fog. The edges of the screen have a vivid coloration, indicating the character's complete assimilation into the fungal entity.

Just like shadow creatures that appear on the screen when you're starting to become insane, these visual effects will appear, making each stage more impactful and reminding the player of the need to either find remedies or look for countermeasures before the infection worsens. Let's move on with how contaminating players would work with that out of the way.

 

Contamination: 

The disease spreads between players through direct or close contact, with proximity affecting the speed of transmission. Shared items can also transmit the disease. For example, if a diseased player interacts with a food item or tool, there's a risk of contamination if another player uses or consumes it. Likewise, if a diseased player hands over a specific item like grass, the receiving player could start to become infected. When a diseased player dies, a large cloud of fungus appears on the ground and explodes during their death animation, infecting nearby players. This fungus explosion lasts a minute, similar to toadstool's spore bombs. Players not within the explosion radius will not be immediately diseased, but walking over the affected area will rapidly fill their spore meter, making them prone to becoming infected. Freshness will be cut in half for any food or items with spoil time. While a player is diseased, items with spoil time rot faster in their inventory.

 

Cures/Redemies/Management:

The Mushy Cake is our first cure, combining all 4 types of mushrooms in a crockpot. This has some effects:

1. Consuming it during the "Fungal Fever" season provides immunity for four days, but the gauge will not instantly go down, as it takes time, and the same goes for any other season. (More info later on Fungal Fever)
2. Although it takes time for the spore meter to go down, this counteracts the drowsiness effect in stage 4, similar to its impact on sleep, allowing players to regain their regular speed.

Tilweed Salve:

Another remedy is Tilweed Salve, crafted from those useless Tilweeds in the garden. Known for its healing properties, it offers two effects:

1. It provides relief for 3 days, effectively managing the disease without curing it.
2. It stabilizes the progression, maintaining it at the current stage without further increase or decrease it, unless other remedies are used concurrently.

Sleeping:

Sleeping is another effective remedy, but its effectiveness depends on the player's sleeping method (tents, fur rolls, siesta, etc.). It helps reset the spore meter to 0 and cures the player of the spore disease. But there are effects of this:

1. While sleeping during the Fungal Fever season, it resets the spore meter to 0 and temporarily cures the player. However, the meter will gradually fill again if the Fungal Fever season is ongoing.
2. After being cured, the player will be immune to the effect of the spore disease, having temporary immunity against it for 5 minutes.

Funcap:

Last but not least, this Funcap protective headgear helps resists spores and prevents contact with the player. Now there's a reason to fight toadstool!

 

Want to see quotes for when a character examining one of these? Sure, let's go with Warly:

Warly Quotes: 

Examining Tilweed Salve:

• "A culinary comfort for the weary. Soothes the spore disease like a seasoned sauce."

Examining Funcap:

• "A defense against spores. Feast without spore interference. Magnifique!"

Examining Sleeping (not specific):

• "Rejuvenating respite. Slumber, wake refreshed. Ready to create."

Examining Mushy Cake:

• "Culinary triumph! Taste and Fungal Fever immunity. Delightful defense."

With cures/remedies out of the way, let's move on to the next section!

 

Effects of the Spore Disease: 

I've already explained the effects of the disease in the stages, but I'll summarize the effects the disease has on the character and the visual effects on the screen.

Stage One Effects:

• No immediate negative effects on the character's stats or abilities.
• The character begins to notice and comment on the strangeness of their condition and still has time to avoid infection.
• Character comments include "I feel strange... my skin tingles" or "My throat feels scratchy... and I keep coughing. Must be something in the air."

Stage One Visual Effects:

• A faint haze or specks of particles start appearing at the edges of the screen.
• The particles resemble floating spores in the air.
• The visual effect is subtle but noticeable, indicating the character's exposure to spore disease.

Stage Two Effects:

• The character begins to experience spore disease but is not yet fully infected. The spore meter will start filling up slowly.
• Movement becomes slightly slowed.
• Sanity gradually decreases over time.
• The character may start to see things that aren't there or hear voices.
• Examples of character comments: "Whispers... the fungus... they're speaking to me!" or "I've been feeling more fatigued lately. Could it be related to this strange fungal presence?"

Stage Two Visual Effects:

• The haze and particles from Stage One become more noticeable.
• The haze drifts across the screen occasionally.
• The edges of the screen take on a subtle tint, indicating the growing influence of the spores.
• The visual effect is more pronounced than in Stage One, reflecting the character's deeper involvement with the fungal infection.

Stage Three Effects:

• The character experiences the same symptoms as in Stage Two but at a higher level.
• Movement speed is reduced.
• The character emits small fungal spore particles resembling normal mushtrees.
• Fungal growths start appearing on the character.
• Sanity decreases at an accelerated rate.
• Maximum health is reduced by 25%.
• The character may express concerns such as "I've noticed these strange spores floating around. Are they coming from me?" or "My skin... it's becoming covered in these strange fungal marks!"

Stage Three Visual Effects:

• The haze and particles from Stage Two become thicker and more prevalent.
• The haze drifts continuously across the screen, occasionally obstructing the player's view.
• The tint on the edges of the screen becomes more prominent, indicating the character's deeper involvement with the fungal infection.
• The character's appearance is altered with visible fungal growths on their body, representing the progression of the disease.

Stage Four Effects:

• The character experiences all the symptoms of spore disease and is fully infected.
• The character becomes contagious and can spread the disease to those nearby.
• Movement becomes slow and drowsy, indicating the infection's grip on the character.
• More fungal growths appear on the character, releasing spores that harm both the character and others nearby.
• The character's damage modifier is reduced by 0.75, similar to Wendy's.
• Maximum health is halved.
• Sanity decreases rapidly.
• The character may utter phrases such as "Resistance is futile... soon all shall succumb to the power of the fungal plague" or "I am one with the spores... a creature of decay and fungal power."

Stage Four Visual Effects:

• The screen is filled with swirling spores, making it harder to see clearly.
• The spores create a sense of distortion, almost like a thick fog, impairing visibility.
• The edges of the screen have a vivid coloration, indicating the character's complete assimilation into the fungal entity.
• The character's appearance is heavily affected, with numerous fungal growths covering their body, signifying the advanced stage of the disease.

Does stage four heavily impact the player the hardest? Well, it's intentionally like that. The fourth stage of the spore disease is challenging, urging players to prioritize recovery. Survival becomes challenging with reduced movement, low health, rapid sanity loss, and modified damage. The disease prompts players to strategize, work together, and manage resources effectively to find cures and remedies by intensifying the difficulty. The heightened challenge adds tension and urgency, highlighting the importance of quick thinking and working together to overcome the disease's effects.

 

Also, I did mention the Fungal Fever season, so let's cover that in the next section!

What is Fungal Fever?: 

Fungal Fever is an idea I came up with similar to Hay fever from Don't Starve Hamlet. Fungeal Fever appears when spring begins and ends one day late after spring ends. Spring is a time when the environment experiences increased fungal activity. The moist and temperate conditions of the season provide an ideal breeding ground for fungi, including releasing spores into the air. That being said, this aligns with the game's narrative and lore. The presence of fungal parasites infecting the mushtrees in the caves, as mentioned by Wickerbottom and Wagstaff quotes,' when examining them, establishes a connection between fungi and the game world. It follows that exposure to these fungal elements during the spring could lead to Fungal Fever development during spring.

 

How does Fungal Fever work?:

Fungal Fever works by being a seasonal transition. When the spring season begins, the Fungal Fever season happens at the same. This marks a unique phase within the spring season, bringing its own challenges and obstacles that players must overcome by corporating and working together.

 

Environmental Changes:

During the Fungal Fever season, the environment undergoes noticeable altercations. These changes are focused on the proliferation of fungal elements:

• Random Appearance of Spores: Spores start appearing randomly in different areas of the world. They can be seen floating in the air or settling on the ground.
• Mushroom Growth: Mushrooms, which are a vital component of disease transmission but also remedies, grow in unexpected locations throughout the world. Players may find mushrooms sprouting in previously visited places such as the swamp, deciduous biomes, and grasslands. At the end of the season, they all disappear but regrow the previous mushrooms that had been dug up, even in the caves.
• Spread of Fungal:  Players are more likely to encounter spores and mushrooms during this time, increasing the chances of exposure and infection. Because of this, mushrooms have a radius around them that shows them releasing their spores. This makes the player infected by it and diseased if staying near them too long. The presence of Fungal Fever season amplifies the risks associated with the disease.

Gameplay Impact:

Because the new Fungal Fever season affects all the players, it influences the gameplay by making the players adapt and learn how to combat the disease and prioritize certain actions over others:

• Avoiding Spores: Players need to be cautious and avoid direct contact with spores, as they are the primary source of infection. This adds an element of navigation and awareness to movement and exploration. 
• Mushroom Management: The increased growth of mushrooms means players have more opportunities to gather resources for cures and remedies. However, it also means a higher risk of overconsumption and potential infection, requiring players to make calculated decisions about mushroom consumption. (Unless made for Mushy Cake/crockpot recipes).

Disease Control:

Due to the environmental changes and gameplay impact, this encourages players to focus on disease control measures to control and survive:

• Utilizing Protective Gear: Wearing protective gear, such as the Funcap or other armor items like Football Helmets are designed to resist spores, becomes crucial during the Fungal Fever season to reduce the risk of infection and disease.
• Gathering Remedies: Players need to actively seek out remedies like Mushy Cakes or Tilweed Salves to counteract the disease's progression and manage its effects. Although some are better than others, it's situational, as it'll depend on what the players have to counteract the Fungal Fever.
• Cooperation and Awareness: Fungal Fever season encourages players to communicate and coordinate efforts to minimize the spread of the disease among the group.

I have covered everything so far about how the disease works, how to defend against it, remedies for it, etc. But now is for the last section, the special characters such as Wormwood, Wanda, and maybe Woodie.

Wormwood: It would only make sense for Wormwood to be immune to the spore disease and not suffer any effects since he is a plant-based character.

Wanda: Now I'm trying to figure out what to come up with when she is in the 3rd and 4th stage of the disease as it takes down a character's health, but Wanda doesn't have the traditional health like others. So I'm stuck here. (Effects yet to be determined)

Woodie: While Woodie in his human form is suspectable to the spore disease, Woodie could become immune to the spore disease when he's in his other forms, such as the Werebeaver, Weregoose, and Weremoose. Being a sturdy and resilient creature in these forms can grant Woodie protection against the effects of the spores, allowing him to freely roam and engage in activities without being affected.

 

Of course, there's toadstool and how that would work with the spore disease, and I know you guys have some questions and are wondering how it works. But at the current moment, I am tired of writing lmao. And besides, I want to see what you guys think of what I came up with! Maybe even add suggestions or ideas you have too onto this, feel free to ask me any questions. I hope Klei adds some updates to the game where this disease can be added or something related, as it would add a lot to the game. I hope you guys enjoyed reading my suffering!

[Ulisesvolador]

39 minutes ago, RealPanda said:

Fourth and Final Stage

[I'd rather the character just slowly die (with most of the effects you mentioned) and then the "skeleton" becomes an idle fungal blob that spreads spores in this stage, I find "cordyceps-like" infections unoriginal.] <--- This suggestion is my personal opinion.

47 minutes ago, RealPanda said:

Wormwood: It would only make sense for Wormwood to be immune to the spore disease and not suffer any effects since he is a plant-based character.

There are fungal infections that are harmful for plants, Wormwood shouldn't be Immune to it (maybe resistant).

WX-78 should be Immune or very resistant.

52 minutes ago, RealPanda said:

Wanda: Now I'm trying to figure out what to come up with when she is in the 3rd and 4th stage of the disease as it takes down a character's health, but Wanda doesn't have the traditional health like others. So I'm stuck here. (Effects yet to be determined)

If wanda can go back in time to be younger, it makes sense that she can go back in time (using ageless watch or perhaps a new watch that removes all status effects) to a moment where she wasn't infected.

1 hour ago, RealPanda said:

Woodie: While Woodie in his human form is suspectable to the spore disease, Woodie could become immune to the spore disease when he's in his other forms, such as the Werebeaver, Weregoose, and Weremoose. Being a sturdy and resilient creature in these forms can grant Woodie protection against the effects of the spores, allowing him to freely roam and engage in activities without being affected.

Fungal infections can affect small and big animals, so he shouldn't be immune.

 

The rest of your Idea sounds like a good challenge.

[Copyafriend]

2 hours ago, RealPanda said:

 

Man i’m gonna be real with you, you definitely put some real thought into this, but also you just introduced… an environmental danger.

with a meter and everything

like you really said “i disagree here is my completely different environmental danger”

 

i mean its cool but i personally feel like its a bit too complex. Especially the infecting other players bit, sounds like troll bait.

 

also, while hay fever isnt heat or cold or a more “traditional” environmental danger it’s ABSOLUTELY an environmental effect that can debilitate players.

 

this is just a new environmental danger for the caves, i mean its cool and mushroom themed and mushrooms are cool, but its not like… special? compared to say summer heat ofc.

[fabin]

sounds pretty cool, although i don't really like the idea of adding another meter. maybe make it change the health meter, making it more fungal and green/blue over time, the more you're exposed

if i can give some suggestions, it'd be really cool if the infection spread to mobs too, so that they can infect you when being hit by them. and that random tree saplings would instead grow into mushtrees, so the risk of disease would spread to the surface too