Klei should add more Atmosphere, and World building in dst

[Jakepeng99]

There has been one thing that dst needs more of; atomosphere. Most things in this game exist for the reason of existing, this matters because it makes the game feel much less alive, and much less immersive, mainly with the creatures and often environment. However, klei has done this perfectly before in Hamlet, so i believe they can do it again. I will mainly be comparing to Hamlet.

How Does Hamlet do This so Well?

 The iron biome(Aka painted biome) will be used as an example. In the iron biome there are three main creatures, and each of those three either interact with the environment, or have a role related to the iron biome.There are also nice unique tuber trees to decorate the biome. If any of fhese three mobs were placed anywhere else, it would feel so odd and some may not function (for comparison, if another creature like volt goats were placed anywhere else, there would be little difference. This trio belongs in the iron biome.)

Pangoldens

Pangoldens live in the iron biome for a reason. They drink from the ponds filled with gold, and produce some in the process. This makes the iron biome feel more like an ecosystem, and the mob exists in this biome for the gold ponds, where as quite alot of dst mobs do not interact with anything in their biome and can be dropped on a deserted island and function the exact same. Pangoldens have a small but large atmospherical niche, and a very minor use case.

Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds live in the iron biome, and try to protect their nests of iron from anything that comes near with lightning strikes. Their whole existance is linked to the iron biome, and they protect the iron that comes with it. They feel essential to the iron biome as they feel adapted, and also have a role in survival too since they are a territorial creature this is their nesting site you or other creatures are invading.

Gnats

Gnats are essentially the main predators of the biome. They are attracted to light, and this often is a pain for the thunder birds who just so happen to make light (The player may use this to their advantage to deal with gnats). They often try to attack Pangoldens, but they are adapted with their ability to curve up in a ball to help withstand them, until they get distracted by a thunder bird. Gnats are also the only way this biome renews iron and minerals so are an essential part of the biome so the other two dwellers just have to deal with them.

Summary of Iron Biome

You often see the mobs interacting with the environment or each other, it makes it feel like an actual biome with an eco system. It does a little world building as you see how the mobs interact with each other. There are so many examples of this in Hamlet, such as Porcipines adapting to the lily biome, the constant war with the mobs in the jungle, the whole season tied life cycle of lady bugs, so much more. I will stick to the iron biome, if you played hamlet you may know more examples of this. The bfb, the ruins, everything contributes to world building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Could Dst Do?

There is quite alot they could do, and it is mainly updating existing mobs. Here are some examples of mobs that could really use it, and an idea to make them better.

Spiders

For the most part, spiders just live wherever. They mostly spawn in forests though, and sometimes spider quarrys. They don't interact with much things, at most occasionally attacking something, though they can do better. Spiders could cover trees, boulders, grass tuffs, and saplings with web similar to how depth dwellers do to blue mushtrees (more on them in a bit). This would make it feel like the spiders are really having an impact on their surroundings, and adds a cool way to get silk. Small critters like rabbits and birds may sometimes get trapped in their web, and a spider will come out in a few seconds to swallow it hole. Depth Dwellers could also do this, but instead they drop down from above to swallow them. Depth dwellers however are the only creature that lives in blue mushtree biomes, so they lack critters to eat that is not from earthquakes.

Volt Goats and Things alike

They often just exist and don't bother with anything unless it bothers them. Small suggestion is to make them eat the Cactus of the deserts which justifies their choice of living there. Mobs similar to them like beefalo may also do something like this and eat grass tuffs.

Birds

Birds add alot of atmosphere to dst, but do you ever wonder where they come from? Trees could have nests made by different birds that may also be used to the Player's advantage. @Creatorofswamps Made a great puffin idea which inspired this post which will be linked at the bottom of this one, the idea of puffin nesting sights, it is so great!

Plants

The game could use more plants and unique trees to boost the atmosphere, similar to the tuber trees in the Iron biome example. They can be fully decorational, or extremely niche, either way it would be nice!

 

These are just a few ideas and examples, not going to go through everything. There are still a good amount of mobs in this game that add great atmosphere, such as depth striders, bunnymen, slurtles and Splumonkeys but this game could use with more. If you know any mobs that could use some more atmosphere boosting properties, you may give some ideas below! 

 

An interesting idea for puffin

 

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Jakepeng99
Fixed typos

[Creatorofswamps]

These are all very good and true words, we really need more atmosphere and ecosystem renewal, more lively habits for creatures. For example, when cutting down trees, an egg may fall from them or, if lucky, birds may take off. This will show that the forest is alive even if you planted it.birds will settle there anyway because they need to sleep somewhere and lay eggs

[Capybara007]

Stuff like the fig fruits falling from their vines and the swedish fish coming to eat them would be so cool

[Jakepeng99]

Just now, Capybara007 said:

Stuff like the fig fruits falling from their vines and the swedish fish coming to eat them would be so cool

I love this alot and agree! The grass gators could contest for them, and the strider spiders could take advantage of this by using figs as bait.

19 minutes ago, Creatorofswamps said:

These are all very good and true words, we really need more atmosphere and ecosystem renewal, more lively habits for creatures. For example, when cutting down trees, an egg may fall from them or, if lucky, birds may take off. This will show that the forest is alive even if you planted it.birds will settle there anyway because they need to sleep somewhere and lay eggs

Doing what terraria did where things fall from trees is a great addition by itself!

[Captain_Rage]

Ye, ambience and creature interactions with the world is great. Saladmanders hissing at each other is a nice touch. Fish shoals gathering and avoiding different entities as well.

[Squidyfoo]

These are all great ideas! I always wondered why Tallbirds spawn in the rocky biome. Maybe they could answer that somehow with environmental effects. It would also be cool if Merms would wade in the swamp water to rest or something.

[Jakepeng99]

5 minutes ago, Squidyfoo said:

These are all great ideas! I always wondered why Tallbirds spawn in the rocky biome. Maybe they could answer that somehow with environmental effects. It would also be cool if Merms would wade in the swamp water to rest or something.

Another thing i also wish for tallbirds is to make them raise their babies instead of just murdering them! It would be cool if you could see one raising a chick, and bringing berries and seeds to the nest for it to eat. It would justify the Rocky biome since it seems like a safe and isolated place to raise a baby (Maybe the Moasic is pretty questionable with all the metours)

They can probably do a mechanic where they do not raise babies if there are too many nests nearby, otherwise the world would be filled with them. I also like the idea with merms.

51 minutes ago, Captain_Rage said:

Ye, ambience and creature interactions with the world is great. Saladmanders hissing at each other is a nice touch. Fish shoals gathering and avoiding different entities as well.

I would love if some foilage grew around the ponds for the salad manders to eat

[Mike23Ua]

According to Maxwells quote while examining a Redbird “They come from the Firelands.”

Now… since Maxwell was the former king of the constant (& created most everything we interact with in it..)

I think Maxwell of ALL people would know where the birds come from.. so now I’m asking Klei to show me what exactly is “The Firelands” cause it seems like a real place that exists within the constant.

Also when examining a Crow Maxwell will say he doesn’t know how they got there, but during Wes’s short (who wasn’t even supposed to be the one getting abducted..) Both Wes AND Two crows that were chasing him get sucked into the Constant.

When examining a trapped Wes for the first time as Maxwell in Solo DS (something you can only do if you rescue Maxwell BEFORE unlocking Wes..) Maxwells Quote will say “He Displeased Me..”

Wes’s short explains not only how crows got into the constant & Maxwell didn’t know how they got there, but also how Wes accidentally replacing the guy Maxwell (& his accomplice Willow) were trying to originally Abduct would make Maxwell “Displeased” with Wes.

Theres a TON of Lore hidden throughout the games and shorts like this and applaud Klei for taking such a deep dive into giving these little things a fully fleshed out story.

NOW I’m just asking Klei where exactly is “The Firelands?” As Maxwells quote implies he created an entire island out at sea somewhere where these red birds originate from.

Also I kinda want Klei to re-use mobs from Shipwrecked & Hamlet in DST to make the world feel more lively, such as for example… Piko Squirrels who when you chopped down their trees would quickly steal the seeds and shove them over into its mouth and run off that you had to chase down & kill if you wanted tree seeds to plant new trees after chopping that one down.

It’s small interactions like this that go a long way to making the game world feel more lived within.

Lotus flower from the ponds of hamlet could be added to the empty oceans of DST, as well as larger driftwood logs that house Poison Dart Frogs inside these logs that come out at night, maybe “eat” nearby fireflies or something.. sit on the lotus flowers Croaking throughout the night.. etc

Unfortunately however, due to DST being built to run on PCs created in 2013… and more recently the Nintendo Switch (it’s no secret that switch is the least capable platform to play the game on.. which is probably why they stay 2-3 updates behind & take so long catching up with new content..) it’s because the game has to work on these platforms- That the “Ecosystem” your begging for and I just described above can’t exist within DST without exploding some older or less capable devices.

From my understanding of the N-Switches specs (& someone can correct me if I’m wrong here..) but in terms of power & performance it’s less capable then even PS4 & Xbox One, which is why not only do I applaud Klei’s effort in getting the game to run AT ALL on this Platform.. but also how much they’ve actually been able to deliver to said platform in terms of keeping (mostly) up to date with content updates.

But the lived within ecosystem would probably only be able to run on newer PCs and the Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and (soon to release..) Switch 2.

I also recall asking the devs one time why the Series X/S & PS5 versions of DST can’t have the features PC has (much larger worlds, higher player count, lots more & tons for world gen settings) and the response I got from that was that the X/S & PS5 COULD run them however.. due to some kind of restriction rules with Sony, they can’t add anything into the game that also wouldn’t be able to work in the PS4 version.

So the TL:DR- while what your wanting is something I’d LOVE to see happen to the game, older hardware is going to make that hard.. or next to impossible.

[Philip.]

Frogs could hunt insects like butterflies and bees with a 50% chance of one-shoting them. Also in that case they won't drop loot of course.

Also maybe birds stopping from time to time at lakes to drink a bit would be quite cool.

[gamehun20]

22 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

which is probably why they stay 2-3 updates behind & take so long catching up with new content..)

Or you know update verification by nitendo

[Mike23Ua]

9 minutes ago, gamehun20 said:

Or you know update verification by nitendo

.. out of my whole post, this is the part you choose to quote, why??

I literally confirmed that the PS5 version of DST can’t get the features the PC Version has (larger worlds, more players, lots more & tons World Gen settings.. etc.) because the PS4 is holding it back.

Yet.. you quote that.

[Jandri]

5 hours ago, Jakepeng99 said:

Volt Goats and Things alike

They often just exist and don't bother with anything unless it bothers them. Small suggestion is to make them eat the Cactus of the deserts which justifies their choice of living there. Mobs similar to them like beefalo may also do something like this and eat grass tuffs.

If the beefalos were walking towards the grass to eat it (like salt licks), then it would prevent the herds from moving outside of their savanna biomes

[Uedo]

21 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

According to Maxwells quote while examining a Redbird “They come from the Firelands.”

Now… since Maxwell was the former king of the constant (& created most everything we interact with in it..)

I think Maxwell of ALL people would know where the birds come from.. so now I’m asking Klei to show me what exactly is “The Firelands” cause it seems like a real place that exists within the constant.

Also when examining a Crow Maxwell will say he doesn’t know how they got there, but during Wes’s short (who wasn’t even supposed to be the one getting abducted..) Both Wes AND Two crows that were chasing him get sucked into the Constant.

When examining a trapped Wes for the first time as Maxwell in Solo DS (something you can only do if you rescue Maxwell BEFORE unlocking Wes..) Maxwells Quote will say “He Displeased Me..”

Wes’s short explains not only how crows got into the constant & Maxwell didn’t know how they got there, but also how Wes accidentally replacing the guy Maxwell (& his accomplice Willow) were trying to originally Abduct would make Maxwell “Displeased” with Wes.

Theres a TON of Lore hidden throughout the games and shorts like this and applaud Klei for taking such a deep dive into giving these little things a fully fleshed out story.

NOW I’m just asking Klei where exactly is “The Firelands?” As Maxwells quote implies he created an entire island out at sea somewhere where these red birds originate from.

Also I kinda want Klei to re-use mobs from Shipwrecked & Hamlet in DST to make the world feel more lively, such as for example… Piko Squirrels who when you chopped down their trees would quickly steal the seeds and shove them over into its mouth and run off that you had to chase down & kill if you wanted tree seeds to plant new trees after chopping that one down.

It’s small interactions like this that go a long way to making the game world feel more lived within.

Lotus flower from the ponds of hamlet could be added to the empty oceans of DST, as well as larger driftwood logs that house Poison Dart Frogs inside these logs that come out at night, maybe “eat” nearby fireflies or something.. sit on the lotus flowers Croaking throughout the night.. etc

Unfortunately however, due to DST being built to run on PCs created in 2013… and more recently the Nintendo Switch (it’s no secret that switch is the least capable platform to play the game on.. which is probably why they stay 2-3 updates behind & take so long catching up with new content..) it’s because the game has to work on these platforms- That the “Ecosystem” your begging for and I just described above can’t exist within DST without exploding some older or less capable devices.

From my understanding of the N-Switches specs (& someone can correct me if I’m wrong here..) but in terms of power & performance it’s less capable then even PS4 & Xbox One, which is why not only do I applaud Klei’s effort in getting the game to run AT ALL on this Platform.. but also how much they’ve actually been able to deliver to said platform in terms of keeping (mostly) up to date with content updates.

But the lived within ecosystem would probably only be able to run on newer PCs and the Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and (soon to release..) Switch 2.

I also recall asking the devs one time why the Series X/S & PS5 versions of DST can’t have the features PC has (much larger worlds, higher player count, lots more & tons for world gen settings) and the response I got from that was that the X/S & PS5 COULD run them however.. due to some kind of restriction rules with Sony, they can’t add anything into the game that also wouldn’t be able to work in the PS4 version.

So the TL:DR- while what your wanting is something I’d LOVE to see happen to the game, older hardware is going to make that hard.. or next to impossible.

A lot of this is quite wrong on a technical level. I understand your overall point in regards to fleshing out smaller content, but, jeez, Mike. There's a lot of flip-flopping on whether Klei should be focused on fleshing out content that, truthfully, did not go over well or feels unfinished/Not expanded upon, or for them to focus on the next batch of content with a focus on making it feel meaningful and gives the player a sense of progression into this new game+ focus. 

I sincerely hope they don't waste their time on creating content that is disconnected from their focus at the moment, we often feel that ideas and themes are not fully expanded upon in the way we expected, or that Klei can sometimes give the appearance that they have moved on to the next arc of content without creating a cohesive vision of the updates prior to moving on.

I like Maxwell's quote for the red bird, i guess. I don't really feel focusing on a quote which could be a tongue-in-cheek reference to video games, should lead to major development of a 'Firelands' when we currently have quite a clear expectation on how the next batch of content is going to progress.

A little bug-bear I have with a lot of your posts tend to be your idea that development, Q&A testing and just general business projection is something that can just be decided by one or two individuals, I get the feeling you feel that the forums are the sole source of the creative process with content, like one day they go 'Right, cancel everything guys, Mike had another suggestion. Cancel the team meetings, we don't need it, we're doing firelands now. Lets all work hard and it'll be done in a week'.

Suggestions are fine, but like, it's a suggestion. It's not unreasonable to assume that unsolicited suggestions can be completely ignored, they have their design focus and are more beholden to internal factors than the forums. 

[gamehun20]

2 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Yet..

What's wrong with quoting a part i want to comment on?

[Uedo]

3 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

.. out of my whole post, this is the part you choose to quote, why??

I literally confirmed that the PS5 version of DST can’t get the features the PC Version has (larger worlds, more players, lots more & tons World Gen settings.. etc.) because the PS4 is holding it back.

Yet.. you quote that.

Because you were inaccurate. It would make sense to let you know.

[Jakepeng99]

53 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

That the “Ecosystem” your begging for and I just described above can’t exist within DST without exploding some older or less capable devices.

That is like saying we can't add new content to the game because older devices will explode. I don't see how anything i mentioned would cause lag, and are just some extra interactions or additions. Adding things like spiders covering stuff in silk has no evidence that it will lag anything, same as things like figs falling from vines. There is no evidence to adding small touches to make mobs interact with the environment more with lag an explode the game on the ancient devices. Also eventually dst will need to cut away those older devices to progress, also i hope the switch 2 has great performance fingers crossed! They could treat it Minecraft style, they discontinued old devices that become irrelevant.

17 minutes ago, Uedo said:

Suggestions are fine, but like, it's a suggestion. It's not unreasonable to assume that unsolicited suggestions can be completely ignored, they have their design focus and are more beholden to internal factors than the forums. 

Klei has done the reap what you sow update, and the drama update which came along with an ag rework. They seem open to rethinking the old things, and touching on the older things. Giving them interactions with the environment seems like it could fit on that list, and it would help improve dst alot.

Edited August 12, 2023 by Jakepeng99

[Mike23Ua]

36 minutes ago, Uedo said:

I sincerely hope they don't waste their time on creating content that is disconnected from their focus at the moment, we often feel that ideas and themes are not fully expanded upon in the way we expected, or that Klei can sometimes give the appearance that they have moved on to the next arc of content without creating a cohesive vision of the updates prior to moving on.

I like Maxwell's quote for the red bird, i guess. I don't really feel focusing on a quote which could be a tongue-in-cheek reference to video games, should lead to major development of a 'Firelands' when we currently have quite a clear expectation on how the next batch of content is going.

Actually.. we don’t have a clear expectation, now do we? Unless Klei has released details on what to expect next in a Dev Stream I missed watching… all we ACTUALLY Know is that there are 3 planned game content updates this year (not counting the wildly thrown in skill trees) all 3 of which are from a Story Arch titled “From Beyond”

And we’ve already gotten 2 of those 3 game content updates with Lunar & now also Shadow Rifts, we also know that the 3 planned updates won’t be the only updates to focus on adding content to these “Wild Rifts” and that Klei plans to add more to them beyond the roadmap, until they feel satisfied with the outcome.

No one actually KNOWS what their “main focus” is right now- It could be Skill Trees for Everyone, it could be Shadow vs Moon War, hell it could even be WAGSTAFF up to WAGSTAFF Shennigans and causing funny Monkey Island to spew out of a portal because.. #Wagstaff reasons.

Im a writer, so if I wanted to I could FIND a way to make adding a “Firelands” to DST make sense within the current story plot of the “From Beyond” Story Arch.

That can quite literally mean ANYTHING.. unless Klei have very specifically revealed details on what to expect in future updates.. “From Beyond” is actually an excellent name for a story update that has funny rifts opening up all over the constant spewing out only god knows what..

or did you forget that an ENTIRE MONKEY ISLAND just plopped out of nowhere into the ocean from a funky portal?

Sorry but If you’re going to call me out like this… expect this kind of response. 

That does not mean that Klei should cancel everything they’re currently doing and immediately create a “Firelands” it just means that within the context of the current story arch- If Klei Wanted to add one, it’d fit perfectly within what’s currently going on.

That said, Moon Quay is actually a pretty excellent example to the OP’s original topic, Moon Quay (while small as heck…) feels “lived within” little Crustashines roam the beach and climb up and down trees, monkeys come out and do monkey stuff from their huts, they even have their own docks, canons and monkey pirate boats.. and a Lazy Queen who sits around cursing players to become adorable monkey when they kill her tribe mates.

To a certain extent even Pearls Island feels lived within, she comes out at day, fishes in her little pond etc..
 

[Nnumber3]

Stole this from myself from another post as it fits here and edited it to make sense in this thread.

i think it would be nice if there were more hunting food animals, the only 1 is the koalephant (varg and ewesus don't really drop food and have bad drops, and a stupidly low chance of spawning. Ewecus is just for some beefalo taming but are very optional and generally not worth it. Varg is Monster meat, that's it.) hunting is fun yes but after the 10th kill it gets boring as it's the same thing every time, and koelphants spawn so much so that's what you're going to find mostly. be nice if there were more animals like a big No eyed deer that can use the fire attack in summer and the ice attack from the klaus fight, could drop gems and meat, maybe even a special antler that you could use as an axe and weapon, like the halberd from hamlet. And you could find then in fall and spring but won't have antlers but also won't have the spell attacks, so the fight is safer. Just bring more animals into the ecosystem that's not a koalphnat, as hunts have great potential 

[Uedo]

16 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Actually.. we don’t have a clear expectation, now do we? Unless Klei has released details on what to expect next in a Dev Stream I missed watching… all we ACTUALLY Know is that there are 3 planned game content updates this year (not counting the wildly thrown in skill trees) all 3 of which are from a Story Arch titled “From Beyond”

And we’ve already gotten 2 of those 3 game content updates with Lunar & now also Shadow Rifts, we also know that the 3 planned updates won’t be the only updates to focus on adding content to these “Wild Rifts” and that Klei plans to add more to them beyond the roadmap, until they feel satisfied with the outcome.

No one actually KNOWS what their “main focus” is right now- It could be Skill Trees for Everyone, it could be Shadow vs Moon War, hell it could even be WAGSTAFF up to WAGSTAFF Shennigans and causing funny Monkey Island to spew out of a portal because.. #Wagstaff reasons.

Im a writer, so if I wanted to I could FIND a way to make adding a “Firelands” to DST make sense within the current story plot of the “From Beyond” Story Arch.

That can quite literally mean ANYTHING.. unless Klei have very specifically revealed details on what to expect in future updates.. “From Beyond” is actually an excellent name for a story update that has funny rifts opening up all over the constant spewing out only god knows what..

or did you forget that an ENTIRE MONKEY ISLAND just plopped out of nowhere into the ocean from a funky portal?

Sorry but If you’re going to call me out like this… expect this kind of response. 

That does not mean that Klei should cancel everything they’re currently doing and immediately create a “Firelands” it just means that within the context of the current story arch- If Klei Wanted to add one, it’d fit perfectly within what’s currently going on.

That said, Moon Quay is actually a pretty excellent example to the OP’s original topic, Moon Quay (while small as heck…) feels “lived within” little Crustashines roam the beach and climb up and down trees, monkeys come out and do monkey stuff from their huts, they even have their own docks, canons and monkey pirate boats.. and a Lazy Queen who sits around cursing players to become adorable monkey when they kill her tribe mates.

To a certain extent even Pearls Island feels lived within, she comes out at day, fishes in her little pond etc..
 

I think I was pretty clear in my point in all honesty. I'm not going to address most of your points, but i'll clarify mine cause I think you've let this go over your head a bit.

I believe Klei have a projected plan for future content and outside of small mechanical tweaks or improvements I don't believe suggestions based on your subjective experience of the game is likely to impact any current development schedule or focus.

(Also, lets just put this into perspective. You saw a quote about a bird and feel that this is now pertinent to the content around rifts and the duality between Lunar and Shadow, I respect that but I also respectfully believe that you got excited and have shoehorned in your excitement with what's actually likely. All the best though, but what you've said isn't very compelling to your overall arguement. Just saying.)

Edited August 12, 2023 by Uedo

[Jakepeng99]

14 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Actually.. we don’t have a clear expectation, now do we? Unless Klei has released details on what to expect next in a Dev Stream I missed watching… all we ACTUALLY Know is that there are 3 planned game content updates this year (not counting the wildly thrown in skill trees) all 3 of which are from a Story Arch titled “From Beyond”

And we’ve already gotten 2 of those 3 game content updates with Lunar & now also Shadow Rifts, we also know that the 3 planned updates won’t be the only updates to focus on adding content to these “Wild Rifts” and that Klei plans to add more to them beyond the roadmap, until they feel satisfied with the outcome.

No one actually KNOWS what their “main focus” is right now- It could be Skill Trees for Everyone, it could be Shadow vs Moon War, hell it could even be WAGSTAFF up to WAGSTAFF Shennigans and causing funny Monkey Island to spew out of a portal because.. #Wagstaff reasons.

Im a writer, so if I wanted to I could FIND a way to make adding a “Firelands” to DST make sense within the current story plot of the “From Beyond” Story Arch.

That can quite literally mean ANYTHING.. unless Klei have very specifically revealed details on what to expect in future updates.. “From Beyond” is actually an excellent name for a story update that has funny rifts opening up all over the constant spewing out only god knows what..

or did you forget that an ENTIRE MONKEY ISLAND just plopped out of nowhere into the ocean from a funky portal?

Sorry but If you’re going to call me out like this… expect this kind of response. 

That does not mean that Klei should cancel everything they’re currently doing and immediately create a “Firelands” it just means that within the context of the current story arch- If Klei Wanted to add one, it’d fit perfectly within what’s currently going on.

That said, Moon Quay is actually a pretty excellent example to the OP’s original topic, Moon Quay (while small as heck…) feels “lived within” little Crustashines roam the beach and climb up and down trees, monkeys come out and do monkey stuff from their huts, they even have their own docks, canons and monkey pirate boats.. and a Lazy Queen who sits around cursing players to become adorable monkey when they kill her tribe mates.

To a certain extent even Pearls Island feels lived within, she comes out at day, fishes in her little pond etc..
 

I remembered this year they said they will focus back on reworking things in the game and stuff so i feel like this atmosphere thing comes in aline with that. The monkey island is a good example, i wish there were mini islands around it to make it feel less remote.

[gamehun20]

13 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Firelands” it just means that within the context of the current story arch- If Klei Wanted to add one, it’d fit perfectly within what’s currently going on.

Which context exactly? Because as far as we are seeing it's shadow and lunar rifts not fire and i would say sure maybe we could expect a firelands if it wasn't a single quote from the original ds and was unique to dst

[Nnumber3]

3 people just posted at the same time 

[BezKa]

I thought this would be the updates this year. Expanding on what we already have, more interactions between parts of the world etc. but we got something else. Maybe this kind of stuff will happen some other time, but I have been thinking of stuff like that so here's some of the things me and my friends came up with-

-mobs that already have animations for it (no eyed deer, beefalo) could shake themselves off when rain ends.

-biome dependent butterfly colors and shapes.

-birds could bathe in ponds, puddles from melted glacier and full moon dial.

-meat effigies could get skins for all characters.

-wind that could blow knobbly trees' flowers towards the nearest shore.

 

 

[Mike23Ua]

51 minutes ago, gamehun20 said:

Which context exactly? Because as far as we are seeing it's shadow and lunar rifts not fire and i would say sure maybe we could expect a firelands if it wasn't a single quote from the original ds and was unique to dst

My point is that Monkey Island, an entire area that’s now out at sea (& all of its content that came with it..) came spewing out of a portal that was randomly plopped out into the sea.

Thats very interesting considering that DSTs ocean is vastly empty and filled with mostly SeaStacks, almost as if they’re place holders for where new ocean content will be placed later.

(Such as stuff like Lunar Island, Moon Quay, or Water Logged Biome.)

The current story Arch in addition to having Wagstaff running around doing Whatever Wagstaff is doing (and the repercussions of his actions such as accidentally spawning in Moon Quay) now has Wild Rifts spewing out all over the constant.

Moon Quay was added during an update chain titled “Return of Them” (during which Them never actually returned.. & was apparently there all along?)

The current update chain is titled “From Beyond” and anything and everything can come out those portals.

Do remember that Klei’s roadmap states they plan to dive deeper into both the story and lore surrounding both Wagstaff & Charlie as well as any ramifications there influence on the world (be it intentional.. or accidental) will cause.

WAGSTAFF Created Moon Quay, I mean.. I don’t think I need any further justification beyond that how Klei can add some of the (long requested) things fans have been asking for- such as Frozen Tundra biome, Magma/Volcano Biome, SW/Ham Biomes.

Honestly.. what are people expecting this 3rd “From Beyond” update to ACTUALLY deliver at this point? Because I think that’s information even Klei themselves would like to know ahead of time..

They say “Just trust the process it’ll all make sense in the long haul” but, what if it never does?? What if the third update you’re all apparently expecting to be some Grand Finale that brings everything together ends up feeling Lackluster & not up to what you expected from it?

Im not saying that random Island biomes are going to start dropping into the sea or new creatures are going to start invading the constants already existing biomes changing them up.. But The current content Arch would be an excellent starting point to start doing that if that is the route Klei wanted to go.

I guess people are expecting some huge Shadow Vs Moon War??? But honestly, and more on point with the Ops “Lived Within Biomes” Topic- Having new mobs inhabit the constant or new biomes spit out into the ocean like Moon Quay would make the world feel more lived within.

For example.. let’s say that a Frozen Tundra was dropped into the Ocean close to the Swamp Biome for whatever reason.. we could see Spear fisher Merms wearing warm Arctic clothing and spear fishing for food in Ice Holes.

Yes I know that in DST Merms are now Vegetarians for Whatever Reason… but in Shipwrecked/Hamlet there actually were Fisherman Merms.

I can also make that make sense from a story point of view too… Merms (the ones in DST) are Vegetable eaters and view fish as “Pets” that’s currently Canon, however.. if their climate were to randomly change and become colder, and the veggies they rely upon surviving off of were no longer a food survival option, then they would have no choice but to eat the very same “fishies” they viewed as being “pets” just to ensure they’re own survival of not starving.

Edited August 12, 2023 by Mike23Ua

[Creatorofswamps]

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

To a certain extent even Pearls Island feels lived within, she comes out at day, fishes in her little pond etc..

the pearl is the most living being in the constant. she doesn't have the slightest experience with monsters (she could hide in a sink,Like in that update animation), but overall she's perfect

45 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Yes I know that in DST Merms are now Vegetarians for Whatever Reason… but in Shipwrecked/Hamlet there actually were Fisherman Merms.

To be fair, they just caught them, but never ate them