Summer and Spring are is far too extreme for most late joiners to have fun.

[Wonz]

In autumn it's clear why it's fine. Existing won't kill you.

Most of us looking for pub game is looking for 1-10 day autumn game, some even come in winter or when spring starts. It would be fun if it was manageable to join at any time.

Quick reminder 0-70 is safe temperature. Below 0 you freeze above 70 you overheat. Your temperature changes by 1 every second but with clothes it can drop/rise due to weather slower extra second for every 30 insulation/summer protection points.  

WINTER

In winter everyone fairly early learns to burns trees and that lasts you 70 seconds, with earmuffs you start with it triples to 210s. Standin near burning trees for 70 seconds is boring,
klei i beg you speed up how fast you gain the temperature, let us click fires to extends palms to them or something to get into warming up mode, not always there's something to work on in the close proximity the fire allows.  Standing 70 seconds in one spot isn't very dynamic gameplay.

SUMMER

In summer though you must be lucky to find unplucked flowers, craft the whirly fan and run very close under a tree for 5 seconds? Why 5? because you can't any colder than 63-68 from what i see. Then switch to pretty parasol to make those 2-7 degrees last longer. This is absolute pain, you're nearly chained to trees, the fan doesn't last very long and won't let you amass as much coolness as burning trees in winter would, summer temperature is literally that much harder to survive than winter. Good players rarely even bother to join in summer even if they're masochists. Also you can get lucky and find unplugged sinkhole.

SPRING

Like winter you will freeze at all times just as in winter but on top of that your torch and fires will last shorter time, your food will spoil fast, your sanity will drop so fast that if you manage to get the spear you will be put in inifnite shadow monster fight because as soon as you kill them you will have to fight more your weapon will be slipping out of your hand a lot so don't expect to work fast or to kill fast. Burning trees will deal with freezing but will not with sanity or wet food. You can get dry with straw hat, pretty parasol, while standing under a tree and being near fire. Not everyone knows but tree provides 35% wetness protection with all those you will hit 100%

Winter in manageable but spending so much time getting warm/hot is gameplay torture.

Summer could be better if you could reduce your temperature much more early.  

Spring is a lot of trouble at once, it's not hard to deal with wetness, you just cannot before you get 100% wetness protection and fire. Could be nice if wetness protection gear could be of any use while you already are wet or if let's say pretty parasol and fire could dry you to 50% since parasol provides 50% protection.

Ok maybe surface summer is extreme but still spring is doodoo

[Sanitar]

Well, they should be extreme. Friends at the portal should meet and prepare you for these seasons.

[Brago-sama]

Yeah thats why good hosts/fellow pub dudes should try to at least give some basic gear

Unfortunetely that happens 5% of the time. "Sure, let me take you to base and heres a thermal, and a walking cane from previous players" said no one ever on non dedicated servers

Everyone just takes their stuff when they log off and never return so new players start from scratch unless the base is somewhat ok. Such is the life of pubs/servers full of mute mime cosplayers that dont even text.

 

Edited October 2 by Brago-sama

[Mike23Ua]

Honestly the starting resources you get for joining late game worlds already in progress are just enough to keep you alive to obtain better gear regardless of the season you join in.

I’ve actually survived both Winter & Spring with as little as rabbit earmuffs, occasional isolated fire, and a pretty parasol.

The ENTIRE Seasons.. 

Ive also learned how to effectively survive in worlds that are locked to permanent 24/7 Summer… but that one requires a bit of luck in finding & unplugging a sinkhole fast enough, once your down in the cave system you can gather resources down there to return to the surface (such as cooled thermal stone)

Pretty much once you have a Thermal it’s GGWP you win in All seasons (except maybe spring, since it won’t help with Wetness)

What does help with wetness however (at the cost of your own health points) is intentionally setting yourself on fire.  

[Primalflower]

i love spring and summer starts

[Pedro cc]

the secret for surviving in most of them is wait in the portal for day, and go to the caves for a thermal

[Queron81]

I don't see the problem. Just go to the existing base, there is all you need.

[Evelo]

Starting in light's out winter start is rough, but doable.

[The Letter W]

I think the only one I agree with is Summer. I know it's an extreme season but something about it seems even less doable than Winter. Dying + respawning/joining in Winter is a challenge and I think it should stay that way, but it's not impossible. Summer on the other hand... doesn't really seem to give you quite the same amount of tools to limp your way through. The cooling campfire even requires a bit more since boulders aren't nearly as common as trees for example, and you're less likely to spawn in near them in comparison. Your one flint into an axe also goes a lot farther than the two in a pickaxe...

[GenomeSquirrel]

Weather is definitely something that sets apart don’t starve, I’ll admit I died in summer before, sometimes we just can’t find an open sink hole or 2nd flint. I could see someone in a panic filled thrill over the situation, but I usually have a detached, move on to the next world approach. I like that it encourages us to go on a scavenger hunt for ingredients that can turn it off; but without the luxury to prepare for it, with science machine parts and tools unavailable, dying in a helpless way is disheartening.

 

it has a useful function, but perhaps it’s too good at its job; personally I like constant world regeneration, I get a new sand castle to build in the welcoming autumn, but I could see others hating a game over.

[Wonz]

20 hours ago, Sanitar said:

Well, they should be extreme. Friends at the portal should meet and prepare you for these seasons.

Friends should because there might be no way otherwise. But I want them playable on pubs when i solo join some game OR to have any hopes anyone will join the game to play with me instead of player count dying by end of winter. People don't join because they learn how fast you can die due to weather and might be not able to do anything about it, it's not fun just surviving on edge while not being able to do some progress until autumn comes. 

People leave by winter and don't join in spring and summer because chances of someone giving you stuff needed near portal are very small.  

I just am sure that's getting many people tired of this game. I couldn't get my friends to play DST for long and this was among reasons.  

Edited October 3 by Wonz

[Antynomity]

That's just the beauty of pubs. 80% of the server's playerbase drops out after Autumn.

[Cheggf]

People aren't not joining because it's summer, people are not joining because it isn't the first autumn. They don't want to join a world where everything's already been done and they feel like they can't help, they want to join a new world with new people. They aren't joining first winter or second autumn either.

[Retepeter]

Burn trees in winter,

Get an umbrella from a science machine in spring, it's not that hard to find a pighouse to hammer

Go to caves in summer

It's not that hard

[GenomeSquirrel]

23 minutes ago, Retepeter said:

 

it's not that hard to find a pighouse to hammer

 

in pubs, there's a decent chance pigs go extinct before spring, some people think they are helping by converting houses to helmets, some people take way more than healing could suppport in ruins, some people have plans to rebuild but leave without putting them down, griefers, and webbers/wurts who just outright want pigs gone.

[Retepeter]

1 hour ago, GenomeSquirrel said:

in pubs, there's a decent chance pigs go extinct before spring, some people think they are helping by converting houses to helmets, some people take way more than healing could suppport in ruins, some people have plans to rebuild but leave without putting them down, griefers, and webbers/wurts who just outright want pigs gone.

Rarely happens to me, because when I do play in autumn I constanty scream at people to leave the pigs alone but I suppose you can still make rain hats and raincoats if all else fails.

[Gashzer]

Well character choice is very important for joining in any season that isnt autumn. I think joining late is fine as is since we spawn with some extra gear after day 10.

Willow is the best character to play if joining in winter or summer. Having a lighter allows you to save ur precious grass and twigs and allows you to rush caves during summer heat for resources. Reduced overheating damage and being able to stand in fire and using bernie to reduce freezing rate means she is the best for surviving the elements.

Wilson is surprisingly very good for late starts, if you pick the faster beard growth and extra beard insulation skills for winter. Also skills for longer lasting torch and transmute rock into flint are godsend skills too.

Walter is decent for late starts as he spawns with a pinecone hat that has innate summer insulation and abit of rain protection. You can also juggle torch on an off during night to save durability without going insane saving precious grass and twigs, also running straight into caves for resources is no issue because of his lack of insanity aura. Slingshot with pebbles makes hunting butterflys or koalafants quick and time efficient for food.

Woodie with lucy allows him to save flint and if you kill some spiders for monster meat you can turn into beaver allowing you to mine without a pickaxe for more flint. Getting a second flint literally means life or death when joining late.

These are probably the best character to choose when joining late as they reduce the effects of bad RNG and give you more control over your survival.

Edited October 3 by Gashzer

[Valase]

4 hours ago, Gashzer said:

Well character choice is very important for joining in any season that isnt autumn. I think joining late is fine as is since we spawn with some extra gear after day 10.

Willow is the best character to play if joining in winter or summer. Having a lighter allows you to save ur precious grass and twigs and allows you to rush caves during summer heat for resources. Reduced overheating damage and being able to stand in fire and using bernie to reduce freezing rate means she is the best for surviving the elements.

Wilson is surprisingly very good for late starts, if you pick the faster beard growth and extra beard insulation skills for winter. Also skills for longer lasting torch and transmute rock into flint are godsend skills too.

Walter is decent for late starts as he spawns with a pinecone hat that has innate summer insulation and abit of rain protection. You can also juggle torch on an off during night to save durability without going insane saving precious grass and twigs, also running straight into caves for resources is no issue because of his lack of insanity aura. Slingshot with pebbles makes hunting butterflys or koalafants quick and time efficient for food.

Woodie with lucy allows him to save flint and if you kill some spiders for monster meat you can turn into beaver allowing you to mine without a pickaxe for more flint. Getting a second flint literally means life or death when joining late.

These are probably the best character to choose when joining late as they reduce the effects of bad RNG and give you more control over your survival.

There's also Wormwood and Wurt for spring (mostly after half the season, so they don't freeze due being wet and at night), as they negate the being wet sanity drain, and wurt can't drop her tools. If you get really luck with a spoiled fish, Wormwood also does great for summer, as he can get an eyebrella just for existing.

[Gashzer]

8 minutes ago, Valase said:

There's also Wormwood and Wurt for spring (mostly after half the season, so they don't freeze due being wet and at night), as they negate the being wet sanity drain, and wurt can't drop her tools. If you get really luck with a spoiled fish, Wormwood also does great for summer, as he can get an eyebrella just for existing.

Problem with wormwood is you cant heal basic damage using butterflies. And you only get eyebrella protection if hes fully bloomed which isnt going to happen quickly if you are joining in the middle of summer. Wurt's veggy diet is just too strict for joining mid game, all the berry bushes, cacti and carrots could be ate/burnt, you leave yourself open to bad RNG playing her. However with 200 hunger, you will probably survive long enough to find a base or atleast some veg. Still wurt just isnt the most fun for joining late, always worrying about getting veg is annoying.

Walter also doesnt lose sanity from wet clothes like them. As long as you wear his pinecone hat and craft a grass suit, even most basic combat wont lower his sanity by enough that picking a few flowers wont be able to fix. Walter is just a better alternative to wormwood/wurt for starting in spring.

Forgot to mention maxwell being able to mine using his shadow servants is great if flint is hard to find. He would be another great character choice.

[Seero]

is it? i've joined pubs on all seasons and survived just fine. the game provides you with early game summer protection so you won't overheat, then i just jump in a cave and live down there for a few days

admittedly the game offers less protection in the spring, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem if you can get a parasol, eventually umbrella and football helmet.

 

[Primalflower]

On 10/3/2023 at 2:38 AM, Retepeter said:

Rarely happens to me, because when I do play in autumn I constanty scream at people to leave the pigs alone but I suppose you can still make rain hats and raincoats if all else fails.

i don't really think summer/spring starts should change but i think this is some pretty short sighted "i'm just looking at the crafting recipes" logic. both of these items cost bone shards and the two also cost moleworms and tentacle spots respectively. not even touching the fact that they need to be prototyped, these are far from resources you can rely on, especially in some particular scorched earth type endless worlds. What really ends up helping me the most is just the usual combo of the pretty parasol + straw hat. equipping both and standing under a tree is enough wetness protection to successfully dry off, and its 180 combined summer insulation, which is gonna make that window of 65 - 70 degrees just that bit more livable as you're hopping from tree to tree. Flowers regrow in the spring and most servers (especially twiggy tree ones) are going to tend to have at least a few scraps of twigs and grass lying around, which makes it all possible. Summer, spring, and winter starts aren't for the faint of heart, you're usually gonna have to take a decent amount of damage before you either find civilization or you manage to progress through science yourself, but they're totally possible, and fun, in a the-odds-are-against-you sort of way.