Hallowed Nights Updating Part I: New Potions

[MrMNWorm]

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!