Adventures in DST w/ MrWorm

[MrMNWorm]

Hello Forums,

I wanted to start a topic thread where I could share and condense some art and stories I've made regarding Don't Starve... I'm calling it Adventures in DST with MrWorm!

If you're just interested in reading a fun fan-fic about DST, skip over everything else in this post, download the attached script, jump to page 10 where it begins, and enjoy. Otherwise I am going to prattle on here about some stuff for a moment...

First up, a little pitch presentation... because why would Klei be interested in doing an animated series about Don't Starve?

Well... I'm fairly certain that DST is Klei's best "goose" that lays "golden eggs"... or another way of saying that might be that DST is their best IP asset in their financial portfolio in terms of revenue production. So if there were anything that would help that goose lay bigger and brighter golden eggs... they might be interested in talking about it.... and I'm fairly certain a DST animated series would help improve the performance of their "best goose".

Here's why, The Witcher 3... currently one of the best selling video games of all time. It originally sold 6 million copies in the first 6 weeks after it released back in 2015. It would then go on to sell another 14 million copies over the rest of 2015 thru 2019. So after the initial-release spike in sales, the game sold about 3.5 million copies per year. Then in Dec. 2019, The Witcher Netflix series came out and over 2020-2022 the game sold another 20 million copies... or about 7 million copies per year... nearly doubling the previous 4 years sales averages. And in 2023 the game has sold another 10 million copies. So it would seem that since the addition of the Netflix series... The Witcher 3 has seen a significant increase in sales. I bet something similar would happen for Klei with an animated series of DST.

And since I would like to be a writer for DST, in both the game and the series (maybe also a concept artist and game strategist)... here's what I did.

I submitted this script to an amateur script writing contest that was specifically looking for animated shows, and guess what... it didn't win. Huge shocker that my first writing contest with my first script that wasn't some 5-6 page comedy sketch about Batman teaching drivers ed or Captain Planet trying to join the Avengers (but Captain America gets all huffy puffy about how they can't have two captains BUT everyone else LOVES Captain Planet and hilarious drama ensues) didn't actually win. I was able to get some excellent feedback on the original script from the contest and am now proud to present the second draft for all to enjoy! The script went through some pretty dramatic changes both in format and story, and I look forward to submitting this to the upcoming script contests next year where I will be much more prepared. There was another contest I submitted to that asked for 1-page pitch summaries of your idea, but that one did not bear any fruit either.

Also, the writers and actors strikes have ended so I am free to approach animation producers with the script to see if I can get anyone interested in producing the show... but... Klei could do this on their own if they hired a few more animators, a writer (like me!), some voice actors (dibs on doing Wes's VO!), and maybe some sound editors. And if they did that on their own, they could then approach Tencent TV with a pilot episode and get them to purchase the first season of DST. If the show did well with the Tencent TV audience (which I'm pretty sure it will), they would then have a nice track record to approach some non-Chinese streaming providers like Netflix or Apple TV... maybe HBO's MAX.

But that's probably too much for them to take on... so what would I do if I could get an animation producer interested in making the series? Well... the first thing I would do is contact @JoeW and try to setup a Zoom call with him and maybe a couple of their current writers who have a detailed understanding of the lore, and maybe some of their animators who could provide better insight into the animation process... and then pitch them what I've got so far... which is this.

DST SEASON 1 OUTLINE

Episode Format

I see the show having a serial style format, meaning each episode builds off the last one. We would weave together all of the pieces of lore you already have, fill in a few gaps, iron out a few of the wrinkles, and then BAM! We have a beautiful, captivating, comprehensive story that will have audiences hooked.

As you will see in the script, this first episode starts off with flashbacks of Maxwell and Wilson, and then introduces Woodie. Then in episode 2 we start off with Woodie’s backstory-flashback, and introduce Willow. Then episode 3 starts off with Willow’s backstory-flashback and DOES NOT introduce a new character. But that's the format, introduce a character in one episode, next episode starts with their backstory... kinda like what Lost did with their show.

From what I’ve got outlined, I’m introducing 6 survivors per season to not rush their character development or smash too many characters into the audiences head at once. If we can expect 10 episodes per season, then that means we would have 4 episodes where we could introduce backstory-flashbacks about Maxwell and Charlie. And that's how we develop and introduce the all the characters over the first 3 seasons plus lay the foundations on Maxwell and Charlie.

Season 1 Summary might look something like this...

Episode 1: Maxwell and Wilson backstory-flashbacks, introduce Woodie... then read the script to see what else happens.

Episode 2: Woodie backstory-flashback... which I took the liberty of creating a story where Woodie wakes up in his cabin in Canada. He goes out into the living room area where there is a strange woman in a rocking chair, making some sort of horrifying scratching sounds... he slowly approaches her from behind AAAND... gives her a hug around the neck with a little kiss... because the woman in the chair is Lucy and she's carving him the GooseHead Walking Stick. He loves the gift and heads out the door to go chop wood. Flash forward, the day's work of chopping wood is done and Woodie rests on a stump... he spots a little gestalt spirit floating around in the trees... he follows it. It leads him to a sacred grove with a single Luna Tree in the center. Night falls and the light of a full moon illuminates the area... Woodie MUST chop down this treasure of a trophy tree... and with the first blow of his axe, he angers the Moon "Them" Alter Eyeball thingy and it curses him into the Were-Moose. Two villagers in the woods see Woodie's hideous new form and run away. Woodie runs back to his cabin, tries to find Lucy... BUT SHE'S AN AXE NOW! Outside torch lights collect around the house and a mob of villagers set Woodie's cabin ablaze because they fear beast inside aaaaaand... Woodie wakes up to present day inside The Constant with Wilson... BUT HIS ACTUAL BASE IS ON FIRE!!

Woodie and Wilson run away and Willow finds them. She takes them to her base and gives them the low down on The Constant. Wilson explains he wants to get home and Willow says the only person who MIGHT be able to do that is Maxwell. So she agrees to take them to the Maxwell Door to try and find Maxwell on the other side... Willow seems to know a lot about The Constant.

They find the door, it gets struck by lightning, setting it ablaze/destroying it (to Willow's delight), and they run away as frog rain begins. End Episode 2.

Episode 3: Starts with Willow's backstory-flashback basically retelling the From the Ashes animated short. The three survivors return to Willow's base and she explains that there is another way to find another Maxwell Door... they just need to find the 4 Things, hop to a fresh world, and find the new Maxwell Door. Wilson and Woodie agree to this plan, Willow whips up a Divining Rod, and that leads them to their first Thing. They find the Crank Thing out in the Savanna Biome and get attacked by a pack of Hounds, which they escape by hiding inside a herd of Beefalo. They follow the Divining Rod to the Box Thing that is inside the Deciduous Biome. They find the Pig King and then Wade, Ignatius, Dmitri, and Sawyer hop out to capture Wilson, Willow, and Woodie.

Episode 4: Starts off with where we ended Maxwell's backstory in Ep1 and goes through what we see of him in the Incredible Strongman animate short and ends with him in America figuring out how to finally utilize the Codex Umbra properly. He gets a little makeover done and we finally see him as The Amazing Maxwell for the first time.

Now... I don't exactly have all the fine details hashed out after this BUT... basically the Trio of Survivors escape the Pig King somehow. I'm thinking that they found the Box Thing before getting captured WHICH that setpiece has a gnome with it and they maybe give that to the Pig King to "win him over" and get released. They get the Divining Rod back and on the edge of the Deciduous Biome iiiiiis... the Swamp. They come to the edge of the Swamp and the first snowflakes of Winter begin to fall.

Episode 5: Maxwell's first show with Charlie backstory-flashback. The Trio enter the swamp and find the Ring Thing, get attacked by a Spider Queen, Webber shows up to halt the Spider Queen BUT... DEERCLOPS KILLS THE SPIDER QUEEN!! Webber tells the Trio to run for the Reed Trap area and that stalls the Deerclops enough for them to runaway. So now it's Winter, they have the Crank, Box, and Ring Things and are in pursuit of the final Thing... the Metal Potato Thing. They make base to rest after the turmoil of the swamp and try communicating with Webber but I thought it would funny/cute if all the monster characters still used their instrument voices and the human characters can't really understand them... EXCEPT for Wurt. She can speak monster and human and once they find her (in Season 2) she can translate for Webber, Wortox, and Wormwood.

Maybe WX only speaks in binary beeps too... these are all fun details I would love to discuss with a group of people from Klei.

From here it's all broad strokes of the story.

Episode 6: Webber's backstory-flashback. The four survivors finally find the Metal Potato Thing.

Episode 7: More Maxwell + Charlie backstory. The four survivors find the Teleportato and make it into a new world.

Episode 8: More Maxwell + Charlie backstory. The Quad of Survivors make a mad dash to find the new Maxwell Door... BUT only Wilson is able to enter the Maxwell Door. To save time and keep the story engaging, when Wilson enters the Maxwell Door and he ends up in the Darkness Stage right away.

Episode 9: More Maxwell + Charlie backstory. Wilson finds Wes trapped in a birdcage inside the Darkness Realm. Wilson frees him and Wes knows where to find Maxwell... which he does without using words. End of the episode is Wilson and Wes coming up to the Night Lights that light up when you make it to the final portion of Adventure Mode aka the Epilogue: Checkmate

Episode 10: Wes's backstory-flashback. Wes and Wilson find Maxwell. He tells Wilson a bunch of stuff about The Constant and how they are all trapped there and that there is no way home. Maxwell tricks Wilson into releasing him from the Nightmare Throne only for Maxwell to die and Wilson to replace him. The End of Season 1... tons of cliffhangers like "what happened Woodie, Willow, and Webber, what happens to Wilson, what happens to Wes, WHERE ARE THE OTHER SURVIVORS?!?" yada yada yada... pretty sure this will have fans screaming for Season 2.

So that's the outline I slapped together for the first, hypothetical season of DST: The Uncompromising Animated Series... working on it alone is fun but I know getting to work on it with others would make it GREAT... especially if the other people were members from the Klei staff via short Zoom meetings, or brief emails, or even in the comment section below... any of those would work for me.

Script for the first episode is attached below, hope you enjoy!

Feedback, comments, and questions are, as always, appreciated! Have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,
MrWorm

PS, I removed all of my personal and contact information from this copy of the script and replaced it with MrWorm... the real one has my name and contact info on it, I assure you.

 

 

DST Ep1 The Game is Afoot.docx DST Ep1 The Game is Afoot.pdf

Edited October 26, 2023 by MrMNWorm
Found some errors in the post and script... and made revisions.

[MrMNWorm]

Made a post for a Wickerbottom Skill that has some concept art in it... wanted to add it to this thread as well.

Here's how it went...

Hello Forums,

Put together a Wickerbottom Skill Tree that's more or less ready to share. I focused on enhancing her old books with some Book Buffers, gave her a few new Craftables (two that are inspired by other posts and one that I think megabasers will be pretty jazzed about), then there are handful of New Books that would emphasize her role as a summoner and synergize well with some other things in the game that could use a little love.

Without further ado... here is what the Skill Tree looks like.

BOOK BUFFERS

Speed Reader: increases the speed of her reading animation
- Faster Reading Animation I
- Faster Reading Animation II
- Faster Reading Animation III

A major issue with Wicker is how slow her reading animation is... this would help that... and will make using books much more fun/enjoyable. Right now, I'm not exactly sure what the time is on her reading animation, but the point would be to make it faster.

Hulk-iculture: increases the number of plants effected when using Horticulture, Expanded
- Increases plants effected to 18
- Increases plants effected to 21
- Increases plants effected to 27

At max level, this would allow 3 tiles worth of 3x3 farm plots to be effected with one reading, fun for the farming-focused Wickerbottoms.

De-Lux Aeterna Redux: increases the duration of light on Lux Aeterna Redux
- Light lasts for 3 days
- Light lasts for 4 days
- Light lasts for 5 days

Both Lux Aeterna and Lux Aeterna Redux are really awesome books in theory... and if they just lasted a little longer they would be great in application. This would do that but only for Lux Aeterna Redux.

With this setup Wickerbottom would have faster reading times, improved farming abilities, and a longer lasting light source... giving her a decent upper hand to Maxwell's ability to use her books.

CRAFTABLES

Book Bag: 2 Tentacle Spots + 2 Rope + 2 NMF = a backpack that will regen books and still hold other items.
- Being able to regen books on the go will really help make them more usable.
- Regens 1% durability every 4 seconds.

Goat Glasses: 2 Goat Horns + 2 Moon Glass Shards = Glasses that other characters can wear that allow them to read a book ONCE, then the glasses expire. Pretty sure ADM originally posted this one.
- With only one use and the high cost of resources, I think that would be a fair price for allowing other players to use her books once in a while.

Big Bucket o Goop: 4 Glommer Goop + 4 Palmcone Scales = a big bucket of goop that allows you to plant Mushtree Spores in so you can grow Mushtrees Topside.
- So these would function like a Festive Tree Planter. If you cut the tree down, it destroys the Bucket and the Tree.

NEW SKILLS

Mushtree Planting Skills
- Can plant Green Spores in Big Bucket o Goop to grow Green Mushtrees
- Can plant Red Spores in Big Bucket o Goop to grow Red Mushtrees
- Can plant Blue Spores in Big Bucket o Goop to grow Blue Mushtrees

For a while now players have wanted the ability to grow Mushtrees topside. At 4 Glommer Goop and 4 Palmcone Scales per Big Bucket of Goop, it's definitely not cheap, so you really gotta earn this special treat. The light source from Mushtrees is pretty nominal so they're mainly for decoration... and I think they will make for a really cool, really special decoration for late game megabasers.

WHY should Wickerbottom have such a luxury... becaaause... they're a fun light source for her to read books by (maybe?) and she's good at growing stuff. Might make more sense for Wormwood's Skill Tree but... that ship has sailed.

I also considered that maybe the Mushtrees could grow into lantern looking lights as noted in the concept art below.

Saw a post from Chirsg asking for Lanterns that look like the Blue Mushtree... thought it would be cool if we could grow lantern looking Mushtrees lamps like that.

NEW BOOKS

Between Two Thorns
- 1 Spiny Bindweed Root (which currently does not exist) + 2 Papyrus = a book that summons Spiny Bindweed thorn circles around nearby mobs.
- Works like Wormwood's skill tree perk but can hit and hold multiple targets.
- Costs 25% durability and -33 sanity per use.

A Brown Thumb's Guide to Gardening
- 2 Forget Me Lots + 2 Papyrus = a book that will turn all planted seeds into weeds, so long as they are not fully grown.
- Helpful for farming Forget Me Lots for the Tea, Tillweeds for the Salve, and the Spiny Bindweed Root for the aforementioned book. Plus I also made a Willow Skill Tree where she can make a heating salve from Fire Nettles... this would also be good for that too. Fire Nettles really deserves some sort of concoction...
- Costs 20% durability and -33 sanity per use.

Hare-oic Tails of Bunnymen
- 2 Bunnytails + 4 Carrots + 2 Papyrus = a book that summons 2 Bunnymen followers. They last for 2 days and then turn into normal bunnies when the timer runs out. Max of 6 can be summoned and you can only summon 2 per book without using it up (see stats below) or 3 with one whole book.
- Since Grumble Bees can be summoned but can't be used against the Bee Queen... this would be helpful for that... plus some other bosses.
- Cost 35% durability and -50 sanity per use.

The Lightning Thief or Gleaning MoonGleams
- 2 Infused Moon Shards + 2 Volt Goat horns + 2 Papyrus = a book that summons 2-3 lightning strikes that leave behind Charged Glassy Rock formations and summons a MoonGleam.
- This would help Wicker farm the CC fight materials without being inside the Moonstorm... so it will make dealing with the Moonstorm much easier (also... I have an idea for a new Hallowed Nights Potion that requires MoonGleams... but we can talk about that later). This also might be a good replacement for The End is Nigh... I seriously don't know what people use that book for now that WX doesn't have Overcharge.
- Cost 33% Sanity and -50 sanity per use.

Shadow Reaper
- 4 Pure Horror + 2 Papyrus = a book that, when read, deals 800 hp in damage to Shadow Creatures, Shadow Monkeys, Beardlords, or the Shadow Chess Pieces.
- Costs 66.6% durability and -50 sanity.

Okay... I know what you're thinking... too OP. But just imagine you're being chased down by a horde of Shadow Monkeys in the Caves/Ruins... you've got the Speed Reading Branch maxed out so all you need is one sliver of an opening to put them out of their misery. After miles/kilometers of running around in the dark, you see your opening, readtheShadowReaperbookandBOOM!! They all explode into bits and pieces of Nightmare Fuel. THAT... would be pretty satisfying... and if you had a Book Bag you could start regening the books durability but it will take awhile. It's high cost of durability makes it more of a "one-time use for emergencies" kind of thing but the Book Bag will help it be useful in the Caves/Ruins. I'm sure people will figure out some farming setup strats as well.

Then, if one were to use it against the Shadow Chess Pieces... it would kill the Bishop first... which kinda ruins the order most people would kill them in. And sure... will some players make like 20 copies of these in the late game and kill the Chess Trio that way? Ans: Probably... but by the time you get that many... I think it's fair (and fun) for them to be able to do so.

And then if someone tries to use it against the FuelWeaver... it explodes into fire (like when you kill a Fire Hound) and destroys the book... thought that would be fitting (and funny).

Then we come to the last book...

Fantasmical Beasts and How to Summon Them
- 1 Beefalo Horn + 4 Glowberries + 16 Malbatross Feathers + 2 Papyrus = a Summoner Spell Book that has a Spell Wheel like the Codex Umbra. The summons work a lot like the old school Final Fantasy Esper Summons that deal a lot of damage.
- The book starts with one summons spell and 3 more can be added. Beefalo Stampede, Depth Worm Trap, Malbatross Mayhem, then a fourth can be added by choosing one of the two Affinities.

Here are descriptions of the Summons Spells... plus some awful animations I made for them.

- BEEFALO STAMPEDE: This is the first summons that comes with the book once you unlock the skill in the branch, it works a little like the WereMoose charge attack. Wicker reads the book in her inventory, then the spell wheel pops up, and then there is an arrow on the ground that directs where the attack goes. The animation only shows 2 Beefalo, but I was imagining 12 Beefalo would charge through, I think that's how many are in a full herd. They charge through the frame and then disappear off screen, they don't stick around. I'm imagining that EACH ONE can do 50 damage (like an Ornery Beef) to any mob they hit in their path. They don't stop to hit mobs or bosses, they just charge through and anything that hits their hit box takes damage. So if all 12 could hit one enemy it would do up to 600 damage.
- Costs 20% durability and -20 sanity per use.

Here's an awful animation showing how it might work...

- DEPTH WORM TRAP: this works a lot like the Shadow Sneak... but with Depth Worms. You pick this spell and a circle forms on the ground that you can place anywhere. Once placed, a Glowberry pops up in the center, and when a mob/boss enters the circle 4 Depth Worms pop up and attack all at once. Each Depth Worm deals 75 damage, so against one creature, it would deal 300 damage. There COULD be 2 waves of 4 Depth Worms and then it would deal 600 damage. Just imagine a second set of 4 Depth Worms popping up after the first one.
- Costs 25% durability and 25 sanity per use.

Here's an awful animation to help visualize it better.

- MALBATROSS MAYHEM: for this one, we can summon a Malbatross that will attack ONE enemy and hit it a bunch of times. Like the Beefalo Stampede, when you pick this one, an arrow shows up. You aim it and fire it... and whatever is the FIRST thing the Malbatross hits THAT'S its target. So it swoops in for the initial attack, does that 3 more times by just swooping in from various directions... and then on the last attack it will fly in and hit the target with it's tail attack. After that last hit, it zooms up into the sky. The Malbatross can hit 150 to mobs so I'm thinking it can do that 4 times for 600 damage total to one mob or boss. Hits are guaranteed once it finds it's target.
- Costs 33% durability and -50 sanity

Here is a horrible animation showing that with just arrows because I couldn't find the sprite of the Malbatross flying, just the hovering one... and when I tried to draw it flying... but it looked so bad that my eyes bled a little staring at it. The arrows are the Malbatross's flight path...

*wipes away vomit after watching the GIF*

Probably won't be sending that one in to Pixar... but I hope you get the gist. On to the final branch...

AFFINITIES

OPTION 1: player can choose one more summons spell...

LUNAR: Meteor Strike = Summons 4-6 Meteors that deal 250 damage each. Using a circle as the target location for where they will land, it works similarly to the Shadow Prison circle, but instead of Shadow Pillars, 4-6 Meteors land inside the circle... gotta be quick and have a good lead on your target for it to work well.

SHADOW: Summons the Twins of Terror in the their second phase. I'm imagining that they both fly in, side by side, and hit a target like the Malbatross does when it's summoned. There's two of them and each one can do 250 damage to mobs (so let's just use that number for mobs and bosses), so if they were flying side by side, they could do 500 damage per hit and maybe take two to three passes for a total of 1000-1500 damage before they zip back up into the sky. This would be faster and more effective than the Malbatross summons... so maybe it could only be used at night.

OPTION 2: player can choose something less Fantasmical...

LUNAR: blesses Wickerbottom with the ability to sleep... which makes sense since Gestalts put stuff to asleep all the time.

SHADOW: You know what I'm thinking, right... you know what it is... you know... *whispers* Wicker can use the Codex Umbra... but maybe she can't have the Shadow Duelist Gear Upgrade ability.

I just had to throw out Option 2 as a backup plan in case Fantasmical Beasts and How to Summon Them was too big of an idea... but I think Fantasmical Beasts is a pretty fun and badass option for Wickerbottom.

That's the end, hope you enjoyed it! Comments, questions, and feedback are appreciated! (hope your eyes didn't bleed from watching those GIF animations!)

Sincerely,
MrWorm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by MrMNWorm

[MrMNWorm]

I have some ideas for updating the events... and here is the concept art and pitch from the first post.

Hello Forums,

I have some ideas I wanted to share for updating the seasonal events, specifically Hallowed Nights, Winter's Feast, and the Cawnival. To properly share them all, I'm going to do a short series of smaller posts so that they can be mentally digested a little easier.

That said... *ahem*

The seasonal events are a wonderful part of Don't Starve Together and with a little love they could be something truly special for the fans to enjoy and look forward to every year... and I've got a little game plan in mind to help do just that.

Before we dive in, I would like to propose a question... what if Klei put together a small team of developers (they might even hire a couple of passionate and talented newbies from the community) whose sole purpose was to update the events with fun, non-permanent, experimental content over the next few years? And... what if someone had a general outline/game plan for this fun, non-permanent, experimental content... would that be enough to become the writer for the this events-only special team? Just asking for a friend... moving on.

First up is Hallowed Nights... to increase player engagement and interest I'm looking at three main areas: new potions, new event-specific bosses, and new mechanics for players to earn exclusive, event-specific skins (and yes, I will also be covering monetization when we get there, but it's not relevant for this post). For now, the subject of this post will be New Potions... and here is some non-impressive concept art (that I would really like to redo if I had a little more time) to show you what I'm thinking.

I've named them the Electro Shock, Acceleration, Adhesive, and Effulgent Experiments... and here's how they would work.

Electro Shock Experiment
- MoonGleam + Volt Goat Horn = a potion that gives the player electrical damage.
- A small container lasts for 60 seconds and is called a Vial.
- A large container lasts for 120 seconds and is called a Magnum.

It's basically Volt Goat Chaud-Froid that doesn't spoil BUT also doesn't last as long. Being Warly will still give you a better option for electrical damage since the Chaud-Froid can also be seasoned... but during the event, this would be kinda fun... and if it's lame/stupid... we would just get rid of it or replace it down the line.

Acceleration Experiment
- Glommer Wings + Beardling = a speed boost potion.
- Adds +4.0 to the player's movement speed.
- A small container lasts for 2 minutes and is called a Beaker.
- A large container lasts for 4 minutes and is called a Balthazar.

It's basically Coffee from Shipwrecked but a little weaker. I think players will DEFINITELY engage in the Hallowed Nights event IF something like this were made available. It's not the easiest thing to farm Glommer Wings, and both items in the recipe are non-stack-able... so trying to make a lot of them will require a bit of time and effort.

Adhesive Experiment
- Ewecus Mucus + Glommer Goop = a throw-able flask that can hit any non-flying mobs or bosses with the Ewecus's mucus-attack.
- One size only, comes in a Cask.

This will give Ewecus Mucus an actual purpose (other than the one Winter's Feast Recipe) and might be kinda fun/helpful when killing Volt Goats, Koalafants, MacTusks, or even say... the Nightmare WerePig.

Effulgent Experiment
- Glowberry + Infused Moon Glass = a potion that can be applied to items that will cause them to glow for 4 minutes but the light radius diminishes the whole time.
- One size only, comes in a Flask.

Again, I am just piggy-backing off an idea from ADM and tweaking it a little. They had their Mob Vote post that ended up adding a new Jellyfish mob to UM. The Jellyfish drops an item/jelly that can be applied to any item to make it glow and provide light... which... yo... that's a super fun idea! And it seems like a really fun and cool idea that players can either just be goofy dingdongs with OR use strategically. Seems like a great addition to the Mad Scientist Lab.

With the recipe being a Glowberry and Infused Moon Glass, players COULD make a lot of these if they are skilled Depth Worm slayers AND know how to farm some Infused Moon Glass. And since the Lunar Hail drops Infused Moon Glass... this would add a little more enjoyment to that experience... wouldn't it.

And that's all for now... 4 new potions that I believe will increase players' interest and engagement in the Hallowed Nights event because not only are the potions really cool/useful but what you will have to do to get the materials for them will be a fun/interesting/rewarding challenge.

Here are some cute quotes I drafted that might be fun for the characters to say with regards to the Electro Shock Experiment... please enjoy.

ELECTRO SHOCK EXPERIMENT QUOTES

These quotes are for when the item is inspected.

Wilson: It’s like holding the plasma globe at the science fair!
Willow: I bet it tastes like a burnt doodad…
Wendy: It has a deadly glow... just like you Abigail.
Wolfgang: Is good pre-fight supplement, no?
WX: MMM, MOTHER’S MILK!
Wickerbottom: Electromotive force that's been liquefied… fascinating.
Woodie: That’s some powerful moonshine…
Wes:
Maxwell: UNLIMITED POWER!! For a limited time…
Wigfrid: Tis a mead worthy of Thor.
Webber: We want more yummy, glow-y juice.
Winona: I bet the robot loves this stuff…
Warly: Only an imbécile would prefer this over my Chaud-Froid!
Wortox: This bottle of lightning is a little bit frightening.
Wormwood: Zappy zap juice!
Wurt: Wet creatures no like-y.
Walter: Hmmm… the handbook says... it’s basically lightning in a bottle.
Wanda: Do NOT spill this on my clocks.

After consuming the item...

Wilson: I feel like a walking tesla coil!
Willow: I can feel power burning through my veins.
Wendy: Abi… are you ready for a little death and destruction?
Wolfgang: All charged up and ready for battle!
WX: BATTERIES AT 400%!! (Avengers reference)
Wickerbottom: Here’s to discovery, bottoms up!
Woodie: Lucy… you’re my Mjolnir now!
Wes:
Maxwell: Ahhh… now that’s more like it.
Wigfrid: I have been blessed by Thor! (or... she could say "Bring me FuelWeaver/Thanos!!" which is also a spin on an Avengers quote)
Webber: We’re feeling so spark-ly!
Winona: Shockingly refreshing. Ha!
Warly: Pretty tasty tonic actually...
Wortox: This magical brew makes me feel Hyuyuyu!
Wormwood: Zappy zap time!
Wurt: Me make sparkies now!
Walter: Wobi, this stuff is making my hair tingle…
Wanda: Great Scott! Feels like my clocks just struck 10:04pm... (this one makes a lot of sense if you've seen Back to the Future)

-END QUOTES-

Then, with the overall game plan I'm imagining, if there were a small developer team at Klei whose sole purpose was to update and experiment with the seasonal events over the next few years... here's what the release date windows for the 4 potions might be.

Hallowed Nights 2025 = Introduce the Acceleration and Adhesive Experiment (plus some other stuff I'll get to later)
Hallowed Nights 2027 = Introduce the Electro Shock and Effulgent Experiment (plus some other stuff I'll get to later)

Next post I will cover some boss ideas and how they might work... plus some ideas/mechanics for how they could REALLY increase player interest and engagement.

Thank you all for your time and have a wonderful a day!

[Dr.Webber]

On 11/22/2023 at 2:52 PM, MrMNWorm said:

I have some ideas for updating the events... and here is the concept art and pitch from the first post.

Hello Forums,

I have some ideas I wanted to share for updating the seasonal events, specifically Hallowed Nights, Winter's Feast, and the Cawnival. To properly share them all, I'm going to do a short series of smaller posts so that they can be mentally digested a little easier.

That said... *ahem*

The seasonal events are a wonderful part of Don't Starve Together and with a little love they could be something truly special for the fans to enjoy and look forward to every year... and I've got a little game plan in mind to help do just that.

Before we dive in, I would like to propose a question... what if Klei put together a small team of developers (they might even hire a couple of passionate and talented newbies from the community) whose sole purpose was to update the events with fun, non-permanent, experimental content over the next few years? And... what if someone had a general outline/game plan for this fun, non-permanent, experimental content... would that be enough to become the writer for the this events-only special team? Just asking for a friend... moving on.

First up is Hallowed Nights... to increase player engagement and interest I'm looking at three main areas: new potions, new event-specific bosses, and new mechanics for players to earn exclusive, event-specific skins (and yes, I will also be covering monetization when we get there, but it's not relevant for this post). For now, the subject of this post will be New Potions... and here is some non-impressive concept art (that I would really like to redo if I had a little more time) to show you what I'm thinking.

I've named them the Electro Shock, Acceleration, Adhesive, and Effulgent Experiments... and here's how they would work.

Electro Shock Experiment
- MoonGleam + Volt Goat Horn = a potion that gives the player electrical damage.
- A small container lasts for 60 seconds and is called a Vial.
- A large container lasts for 120 seconds and is called a Magnum.

It's basically Volt Goat Chaud-Froid that doesn't spoil BUT also doesn't last as long. Being Warly will still give you a better option for electrical damage since the Chaud-Froid can also be seasoned... but during the event, this would be kinda fun... and if it's lame/stupid... we would just get rid of it or replace it down the line.

Acceleration Experiment
- Glommer Wings + Beardling = a speed boost potion.
- Adds +4.0 to the player's movement speed.
- A small container lasts for 2 minutes and is called a Beaker.
- A large container lasts for 4 minutes and is called a Balthazar.

It's basically Coffee from Shipwrecked but a little weaker. I think players will DEFINITELY engage in the Hallowed Nights event IF something like this were made available. It's not the easiest thing to farm Glommer Wings, and both items in the recipe are non-stack-able... so trying to make a lot of them will require a bit of time and effort.

Adhesive Experiment
- Ewecus Mucus + Glommer Goop = a throw-able flask that can hit any non-flying mobs or bosses with the Ewecus's mucus-attack.
- One size only, comes in a Cask.

This will give Ewecus Mucus an actual purpose (other than the one Winter's Feast Recipe) and might be kinda fun/helpful when killing Volt Goats, Koalafants, MacTusks, or even say... the Nightmare WerePig.

Effulgent Experiment
- Glowberry + Infused Moon Glass = a potion that can be applied to items that will cause them to glow for 4 minutes but the light radius diminishes the whole time.
- One size only, comes in a Flask.

Again, I am just piggy-backing off an idea from ADM and tweaking it a little. They had their Mob Vote post that ended up adding a new Jellyfish mob to UM. The Jellyfish drops an item/jelly that can be applied to any item to make it glow and provide light... which... yo... that's a super fun idea! And it seems like a really fun and cool idea that players can either just be goofy dingdongs with OR use strategically. Seems like a great addition to the Mad Scientist Lab.

With the recipe being a Glowberry and Infused Moon Glass, players COULD make a lot of these if they are skilled Depth Worm slayers AND know how to farm some Infused Moon Glass. And since the Lunar Hail drops Infused Moon Glass... this would add a little more enjoyment to that experience... wouldn't it.

And that's all for now... 4 new potions that I believe will increase players' interest and engagement in the Hallowed Nights event because not only are the potions really cool/useful but what you will have to do to get the materials for them will be a fun/interesting/rewarding challenge.

Here are some cute quotes I drafted that might be fun for the characters to say with regards to the Electro Shock Experiment... please enjoy.

ELECTRO SHOCK EXPERIMENT QUOTES

These quotes are for when the item is inspected.

Wilson: It’s like holding the plasma globe at the science fair!
Willow: I bet it tastes like a burnt doodad…
Wendy: It has a deadly glow... just like you Abigail.
Wolfgang: Is good pre-fight supplement, no?
WX: MMM, MOTHER’S MILK!
Wickerbottom: Electromotive force that's been liquefied… fascinating.
Woodie: That’s some powerful moonshine…
Wes:
Maxwell: UNLIMITED POWER!! For a limited time…
Wigfrid: Tis a mead worthy of Thor.
Webber: We want more yummy, glow-y juice.
Winona: I bet the robot loves this stuff…
Warly: Only an imbécile would prefer this over my Chaud-Froid!
Wortox: This bottle of lightning is a little bit frightening.
Wormwood: Zappy zap juice!
Wurt: Wet creatures no like-y.
Walter: Hmmm… the handbook says... it’s basically lightning in a bottle.
Wanda: Do NOT spill this on my clocks.

After consuming the item...

Wilson: I feel like a walking tesla coil!
Willow: I can feel power burning through my veins.
Wendy: Abi… are you ready for a little death and destruction?
Wolfgang: All charged up and ready for battle!
WX: BATTERIES AT 400%!! (Avengers reference)
Wickerbottom: Here’s to discovery, bottoms up!
Woodie: Lucy… you’re my Mjolnir now!
Wes:
Maxwell: Ahhh… now that’s more like it.
Wigfrid: I have been blessed by Thor! (or... she could say "Bring me FuelWeaver/Thanos!!" which is also a spin on an Avengers quote)
Webber: We’re feeling so spark-ly!
Winona: Shockingly refreshing. Ha!
Warly: Pretty tasty tonic actually...
Wortox: This magical brew makes me feel Hyuyuyu!
Wormwood: Zappy zap time!
Wurt: Me make sparkies now!
Walter: Wobi, this stuff is making my hair tingle…
Wanda: Great Scott! Feels like my clocks just struck 10:04pm... (this one makes a lot of sense if you've seen Back to the Future)

-END QUOTES-

Then, with the overall game plan I'm imagining, if there were a small developer team at Klei whose sole purpose was to update and experiment with the seasonal events over the next few years... here's what the release date windows for the 4 potions might be.

Hallowed Nights 2025 = Introduce the Acceleration and Adhesive Experiment (plus some other stuff I'll get to later)
Hallowed Nights 2027 = Introduce the Electro Shock and Effulgent Experiment (plus some other stuff I'll get to later)

Next post I will cover some boss ideas and how they might work... plus some ideas/mechanics for how they could REALLY increase player interest and engagement.

Thank you all for your time and have a wonderful a day!

I think there should be a shadow experiment 

[MrMNWorm]

@Dr.Webber any ideas on what a Shadow Experiment might entail? I am trying to come up with two more potions to fill out the schedule for this update roadmap... and I'm all ears for more ideas.

[MrMNWorm]

Second installment for the Hallowed Nights Updates... does include some concept art.

Hello Forums,

Here is the second installment for the seasonal events update pitch, this one will be covering new Hallowed Nights themed bosses. To keep things short, I'll be focusing mainly on one boss of the three that I've been imagining.

Before jumping in...

In the previous post about new potions, I led off by asking what if Klei were to put together a small team whose sole focus was updating the events over the next few years. I also hinted that maybe they could hire a few talented and passionate individuals from the community (as they have done successfully in the past) to be a part of this Seasonal Events Team. If I were hired to be the writer for this team... it would give me a professional writing credit to my name. And with that credit I could then get a literary agent or manager... and then they could help me get the pilot script for the DST Animated Series in front of the right people. Otherwise... *sighs sadly* I'll just keep plugging away at that... alone... by myself... with no help... *sniffles sadly*... aside from the helpful phone call I just had with an animation producer named Aaron Daniel Jacob who is currently working on Hamster & Gretel that airs on Disney Kids... we had a really good chat. And sure it cost $150 for a 30 minute phone call with him but... I was so charming and pleasant to talk to... I easily kept him on the phone for 47 minutes... and with the insight he provided I am confident the 3rd draft of the pilot script will live up to Klei's standards of excellence. *sniffles less sadly*

*regains composure*

So I really want to post these Hallowed Nights ideas so I can get back to working on the script with the revisions that came up from that phone call with Mr. Jacob. I have another phone call coming up with Clayton Conroy who works for United Talent Agency on Tuesday... he cost $300 for an hour... but if he provides anything remotely close to what Aaron did... totally worth it.

For now, let's just focus on these ideas for new Hallowed Nights bosses. I have three in mind, a Pumpkin Boss, a Scarecrow Boss, and a Totally Normal Tree Boss. I have been calling them the Ancient Gourdian, the Sacred Scarecrow, and the Totally Normal Tree of Terror.

Here is what the Ancient Gourdian might look like...

I'm picturing this boss will use Brightshade Vines and Birch Nutter-like minions that we will call Pumpkin Nutters. So really it might look something more like this...

The purpose of having three new bosses would be to rotate which one is made available each year after the development phase is over. With a 3 year rotation on bosses, it will help keep Hallowed Nights fun, fresh, and exciting for new and veteran players alike.

NEW BLUEPRINTS

Each of these bosses will drop a blueprint for a fun, unique, and helpful item. At this moment, I don't exactly know what the Scarecrow and Totally Normal Tree blueprint drops would be (but I do know the Scarecrow will summon waves of Misshapen Birds and the TNToT will have a cage-claw attack like the Fuel Weaver), but I have a pretty fun idea for the Ancient Gourdian... something I am calling the...

PACK-O-LANTERN: 1 Pumpkin + 1 Bees Wax + 2 Rope = a backpack that if a player puts a light source item into the inventory it will glow and provide a 1.5 tile radius of light. It might look something like this.

I would like to hear thoughts on if the durability should be lost on light sources that are inside it... I vote no, but am open to input on that.

Then the Jack Skellington version next to it is a variant skin that players can earn in-game... allow me to explain how they will do that.

SIDENOTE: The Binding of Isaac is a pretty addictive game due to it's high replay-ability factor. One way those developers encourage replay is with time-based mechanics. For example, beating Mom within 20 minutes will greatly reward the player.

Since one purpose of the seasonal events team would be to try new, non-permanent, experimental content... I thought trying something with a time-based mechanic might be fun for DST players. So... I was thinking there might be two versions of the Ancient Gourdian (similar to the Toad and Misery Toad) that would greatly reward the player.

To greatly reward the player, the seasonal events team will have to add something that I think is very fun and 100% logical for Hallowed Nights... Giant Jack-o-Lanterns.

A few years back, there was a contest for modders to create Hallowed Nights themed mods. At that time Giant Crops had recently been added, so I politely begged the modding community via the Kleicord to make a Giant Jack-o-Lanterns mod. Two modders, Mrklli and Praash, answered my pleas in flawless fashion as they produced the Giant Pumpkin Lantern mod. With that mod, players can grow a giant pumpkin, carve several different face options into it using a razor, and then insert a Firefly to make them glow. Their mod provides some really fun decorations for Hallowed Nights.

The only thing that the seasonal events team would have to change to this mod is make it so there is an inventory window that pops up when a player chooses a light source for the Giant Jack-o-Lantern. That inventory window is what will allow us to the start the new boss fight.

HOW TO START THE BOSS FIGHT

1. Grow a Giant Pumpkin
2. Carve a face into it, turning it into a non-glowing Giant Jack-o-Lantern
3. Insert one of two options: Nightmare Fuel or Pure Horror
4. Stand back and get ready for the fight.

If a player inserts Nightmare Fuel, the Ancient Gourdian will have
- 4,000 hp
- 2 Brightshade Vines
- Summon 2-3 Pumpkin Nutters per wave (that I think should happen every 2-3 minutes)
- Players will be rewarded with the Pack-o-Lantern Blueprint once the boss is defeated

If a player inserts Pure Horror, the Ancient Gourdian will have
- 8,000 hp
- 4 Brightshade Vines
- Summon 4-5 Pumpkin Nutters per wave (that I think should happen every 3-4 minutes)
- Players will be rewarded with the Pack-o-Lantern Blueprint AND the Jack Skellington variant skin once the boss is defeated. (see the photo above for the example of that variant skin)

Here's a flow chart to visually explain things...

Or an animated GIF...

One thing that this flow chart and GIF don't explain is the time-based mechanic for increased player interest and engagement. Since this post is getting a little long, I am going to save that for the next post where I will cover Increased Player Engagement and Incentives (and monetization).

To end with, here's what the Hallowed Nights Yearly Roadmap might look like. In case anyone missed the New Potions Post, here's a link.

Hallowed Nights 2024
- Introduce Giant Jack-o-Lanterns
- Introduce the Ancient Gourdian Boss Fight
- Introduce the Pack-o-Lantern (and the variant skin)

Hallowed Nights 2025
- Introduce the Acceleration and Adhesive Experiments
- Re-release the Ancient Gourdian Boss Fight
- Re-release the Pack-o-Lantern

Hallowed Nights 2026
- Introduce the Sacred Scarecrow Boss Fight
- Introduce the Sacred Scarecrow Boss Drop Blueprint Item

Hallowed Nights 2027
- Introduce the Electroshock and Effulgent Experiments
- Re-release the Sacred Scarecrow Boss Fight
- Re-release the Sacred Scarecrow Boss Drop Blueprint Item

Hallowed Nights 2028
- Introduce the Totally Normal Tree of Terror Boss Fight
- Introduce the TNToT Boss Drop Blueprint Item

Hallowed Nights 2029
- Introduce two new potions (not sure what those are just yet... but we got 6 years to figure it out)
- Re-release the TNToT Boss Fight
- Re-release the TNToT Boss Drop Blueprint Item

Hallowed Nights 2030
- Begin the 3 year rotation cycle through the bosses starting with the Ancient Gourdian.

HN 2031
- Sacred Scarecrow

HN 2032
- TNToT

Thank you all for your time and hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,
MrWorm

P.S. Here are some quotes for the characters when examining the Pack-o-Lantern.

PACK-O-LANTERN QUOTES

Wilson: What a gourd-geous looking backpack!
Willow: It could use a little fire inside it...
Wendy: The face on it is quite haunting.
Wolfgang: Spooky bag is very good...
WX: ORGANIC BASED PORTABLE STORAGE... GROSS.
Wickerbottom: Be careful putting my books in there...
Woodie: LUCY! We can chop trees all night long with this!
Wes:
Maxwell: What monster left this thing behind?
Wigfrid: Finally... foul fruit has a useful purpose.
Webber: What happens if we put a spider it?
Winona: Can't say I approve of the building materials... but it works.
Warly: That's a delicious looking backpack!
Wortox: A gourd that can hoard! (OR... Cutie fruity backpack...?)
Wormwood: Sackpack friend!
Wurt: Can I eats it...?
Walter: It's the Lord of Gourds's head!
Wanda: Not sure if I should put my clocks in this...

Edited November 24, 2023 by MrMNWorm

[Dr.Webber]

6 hours ago, MrMNWorm said:

@Dr.Webber any ideas on what a Shadow Experiment might entail? I am trying to come up with two more potions to fill out the schedule for this update roadmap... and I'm all ears for more ideas.

So first of all I think adding the ability to turn  Gestalts/nightmare creatures in to there shadow/lunar equivalent with both experiments

maybe shadow equivalents to all of the the things you can turn in stuff in to Also any thing that has as shadow versions can turn in to that these two thing will bleed in to each other at some points sense evil flowers are the shadow equivalent of lune trees if I’m being honest I think both should be flower trees

and for the lunar experiment a lunar equivalent to any shadow versions of stuff 

I think it would also be cool if we had moon rock/dread stone lobsters for the experiments 

speaking of Moon stone I think they should make an infused moon rock to be the dead stone equivalent because Klei has set things up in a way that kinda lock them out of being equivalents in some areas like with Wilson’s lunar skill Wilson only has two new crafts because he unlocked moon rock in an earlier skill and I’m pretty sure the lunar and shadow things are sapposed to be mirror of each other and Klei is doing a job at it that I wouldn’t get in to because I’m trying to stay in there good graces to increase the chances of them adding my stuff link in my signature how ever small they may be

[MrMNWorm]

Copy that @Dr.Webber, it does make sense to have a Shadow version of the Lunar Experiment... and you've got my wheels turning for some ideas on what it that would entail.

And yes... staying in the Devs good graces is important to keep in mind... it's something I think about often... and hope that I am doing...

But sometimes it's tricky when communicating online where there are no faces, vocal tones, or audience reactions to read so you can make the appropriate adjustments in your delivery. What one person thinks is brilliant, another will find to be completely moronic... same situation can be applied to humor... and I often try to be funny... but my brand of humor certainly isn't for everyone... so I'm sure the same could be said of my thoughts on DST.

Either way, thanks for sharing and having a little brainstorm session with me... I always appreciate that.