Small (mostly) ideas to improve surface biomes and make them feel more alive

[Jimothywastaken]

Currently, the surface biomes aren't bad but are starting to show their age so I think they are due for some touch ups.
Klei doesn't need to 1:1 add all these changes but something of a similar vein would be appreciated.

This is (probably) gonna be pretty long so I separated these into sections 
also doesn't cover every biome if you have ideas post them

GENERAL CHANGES

Spoiler

Butterflies and other creatures should have a few different variants to make them more interesting to look at
(think how in shipwrecked butterflies are blue and have longer wings)

Frogs should be hostile towards Butterflies and Bees (and also eat butterfly wings).
Frogs' gotta eat something right might as well be the creatures that make the most sense for a frog to eat

Pigs should communicate with other pigs and be hostile when you destroy their house.
Makes pigs feel more alive and less like loot boxes while letting you still just nuke them.

Pig Guards Shouldn't attack other pigs and either shoo them off or just ignore them.
Why do Pig Guards attack their fellow pig unprovoked that's silly.

Some Trees should spawn in as stumps.
Very small change but it would help bolster the idea that there's other creatures/things also collecting resources besides the player.

Birds should have a (small) chance to drop in with crop specific seeds (depending on the turf they land on and season)
Lightens the load of the seed roulette you have to play whenever you decide to start farming in an unobtrusive way

Canaries should rarely fly in instead of a different bird
Scarecrow should absolutely stay the best way to find canaries but one rarely flying in would be cool to see

Berry Bushes sometimes spawn as the leafy version
More visually interesting than just the same berry bush over and over 
 

GRASSLAND/STARTER BIOME
 

Spoiler

Grassland biomes (the one you start next to the one inside triple mac etc)

Grasslands now have the alternate basic resource just in lesser quantity
Twiggy Tree worlds are now much less annoying early game whilst also being more interesting to look at since theres more stuff

Slightly increased tree density 
More Visually Interesting without making resources more abundant in a meaningful way since trees are already infinite

Nitre Boulders rarely spawn
Starter Biome should have some rocks

This is a rough idea of what my changes would look like much more to look at without being overwhelming and people who like the original and alternate resources both win as both are present

 

DECIDUOUS FOREST
 

Spoiler

The 2nd Deciduous forest cannot spawn anymore.
Annoying biome that lacks any meaningful purpose and makes finding klaus deer and pig king more annoying while also taking up space for a more impactful biome like rocky or quarry.

Increased tree density
It's a forest there should be more trees to fill the empty space.

Alternate berry bushes sometimes replace the bush that wouldve spawned normally.
Keeps the amount of berry bushes the same but adds variety .

Slightly Increase Catcoon den frequency
an excellent mob for immersion and makes the biome feel more alive so more of them can't hurt

Very slight increase to pond spawns
with frogs interacting with the world just a smidge more i think making them *very slightly* more frequent is a decent call

Pumpkins can now spawn as natural wild crops.
While pumpkins are good for hunger I don't see them planted for crop combos in the servers I play on very frequently so making the crop and seeds more available in the most appropriate biome with 4-6 pumpkins (with seeds) fixes this issue while making your early game exploring food options more diverse.


Again, Another example of my changes




New Setpiece: Pig Pumpkin Patch

Wouldn't spawn 100% of the time but a more risky way to increase your pumpkin count 

FORESTS
 

Spoiler

Merge the Moonstone and Mandrake Forests into 1.
By far my most extreme idea, merging both of these fairly basic biomes with a few pois each into 1 large area with many places of interest would make the forest a hotspot for many needs, frees up space for other biomes and makes the world more interesting since 1 larger forest with everything would be more interesting to explore than 2 smaller forests.

Wild Crops: (again) Garlic and Potatoes
Similar reasons for why Pumpkins should be a rare wild crop though i'm admittedly not confident that potatoes should spawn naturally since they're super common, Garlick however would make crop combos requiring them a lot easier to obtain early game and they have poor stats alone to eat normally so the benefit besides farming reasons is fairly minimal

Spider Dens spawn with cleared areas instead of having trees spawn right next to them and have a few bones
Looks cleaner but this is more of a personal gripe than something I think is needed

Evergreen forests have a few lumpy evergreens and lumpy evergreens have a few normal evergreens.
something else to look at that breaks up the single evergreen variant

Make the scrapyard larger
It's a boss fight arena and somewhere with important resources it could do to be a bit larger

The Forest....
The clear area would be smaller this is too much area but the other changes are nice additions


the larger scrapyard 

Chopped trees unfertilized grass and dug/muddy turf further sell the disgusting look while giving more space for scrappy

DESERTS
 

Spoiler

Both of these biomes are mostly fine theyre deserts they shouldn't be full of things

Volt Goats should have an area to indicate where they spawn so they fit in a bit more and matches the savanna in the dragonfly desert



This one I will 100% admit I am not a huge fan of but ive seen a few people suggest it 
peppers in dragonfly desert 

I don't think this is a great idea since only 1 character would really benefit and this specific setpiece would take up a lot of space with the magma but thats an easy fix, still, it's popular so.

ROCKY
 

Spoiler

The Rocky biome, Quarry and Rocky part of triple mac should have most of the rock variants 
The Rocky areas should have all the rocks 


Very basic Idea more rocks in my rock biome 

I wanted to touch up existing areas with items and resources that already exist instead of adding new content but that's most of my ideas typed down if you have any more or these ones are actually the worst thing ever please let me know.


fin

[Tushonka]

I love your ideas! More set pieces is great, adding more life to the world. But I think they should add more set pieces into the caves, especially to those empty biomes there. I think every biome should have 1-3 set pieces

[Jimothywastaken]

24 minutes ago, Tushonka said:

I love your ideas! More set pieces is great, adding more life to the world. But I think they should add more set pieces into the caves, especially to those empty biomes there. I think every biome should have 1-3 set pieces

i do intend to talk about the caves but that'd make this post way too long

[FillerText]

I think some of the areas you've showcased look too overwhelmingly cluttered. It feels a little displeasing to the eyes due to the all over the place nature, and potentially just a bit much for a new player to take in. That being said, I really like the changes to some of the later areas. We definitely do need more just plain random Wild crops because what we really have currently is Carrots and berries that never rot until picked. I disagree with the notion of adding specific ones just for seeds though. It would be fun to hunt them for seeds, but it shouldn't be the only reason they are there.

[Jimothywastaken]

10 hours ago, FillerText said:

I think some of the areas you've showcased look too overwhelmingly cluttered. It feels a little displeasing to the eyes due to the all over the place nature, and potentially just a bit much for a new player to take in. That being said, I really like the changes to some of the later areas. We definitely do need more just plain random Wild crops because what we really have currently is Carrots and berries that never rot until picked. I disagree with the notion of adding specific ones just for seeds though. It would be fun to hunt them for seeds, but it shouldn't be the only reason they are there.

I do see now that the areas are a bit more packed than they should be if something like this were to be added toning it down a smidge would be good

I was also a little worried about potentially overdoing it with the wild crops so i kept it to a minimum as i wanted my changes to not effect the early game too drastically

[Well-met]

12 hours ago, Jimothywastaken said:

 

  Hide contents

Pig Guards Shouldn't attack other pigs and either shoo them off or just ignore them.
Why do Pig Guards attack their fellow pig unprovoked that's silly.

wait until you find out what humans do to other humans

[BattleOzze]

24 minutes ago, Well-met said:

wait until you find out what humans do to other humans

Sir, this is dst forum.

[Well-met]

15 minutes ago, BattleOzze said:

Sir, this is dst forum.

it is very much relevant.

pig guards are royalty, regular pigs are commoners. The former won't tolerate the later nearby, it is very much working as intended

[Jakepeng99]

14 hours ago, Jimothywastaken said:

Currently, the surface biomes aren't bad but are starting to show their age so I think they are due for some touch ups.
Klei doesn't need to 1:1 add all these changes but something of a similar vein would be appreciated.

This is (probably) gonna be pretty long so I separated these into sections 
also doesn't cover every biome if you have ideas post them

GENERAL CHANGES

  Hide contents

Butterflies and other creatures should have a few different variants to make them more interesting to look at
(think how in shipwrecked butterflies are blue and have longer wings)

Frogs should be hostile towards Butterflies and Bees (and also eat butterfly wings).
Frogs' gotta eat something right might as well be the creatures that make the most sense for a frog to eat

Pigs should communicate with other pigs and be hostile when you destroy their house.
Makes pigs feel more alive and less like loot boxes while letting you still just nuke them.

Pig Guards Shouldn't attack other pigs and either shoo them off or just ignore them.
Why do Pig Guards attack their fellow pig unprovoked that's silly.

Some Trees should spawn in as stumps.
Very small change but it would help bolster the idea that there's other creatures/things also collecting resources besides the player.

Birds should have a (small) chance to drop in with crop specific seeds (depending on the turf they land on and season)
Lightens the load of the seed roulette you have to play whenever you decide to start farming in an unobtrusive way

Canaries should rarely fly in instead of a different bird
Scarecrow should absolutely stay the best way to find canaries but one rarely flying in would be cool to see

Berry Bushes sometimes spawn as the leafy version
More visually interesting than just the same berry bush over and over 
 

GRASSLAND/STARTER BIOME
 

  Hide contents

Grassland biomes (the one you start next to the one inside triple mac etc)

Grasslands now have the alternate basic resource just in lesser quantity
Twiggy Tree worlds are now much less annoying early game whilst also being more interesting to look at since theres more stuff

Slightly increased tree density 
More Visually Interesting without making resources more abundant in a meaningful way since trees are already infinite

Nitre Boulders rarely spawn
Starter Biome should have some rocks

This is a rough idea of what my changes would look like much more to look at without being overwhelming and people who like the original and alternate resources both win as both are present

 

DECIDUOUS FOREST
 

  Hide contents

The 2nd Deciduous forest cannot spawn anymore.
Annoying biome that lacks any meaningful purpose and makes finding klaus deer and pig king more annoying while also taking up space for a more impactful biome like rocky or quarry.

Increased tree density
It's a forest there should be more trees to fill the empty space.

Alternate berry bushes sometimes replace the bush that wouldve spawned normally.
Keeps the amount of berry bushes the same but adds variety .

Slightly Increase Catcoon den frequency
an excellent mob for immersion and makes the biome feel more alive so more of them can't hurt

Very slight increase to pond spawns
with frogs interacting with the world just a smidge more i think making them *very slightly* more frequent is a decent call

Pumpkins can now spawn as natural wild crops.
While pumpkins are good for hunger I don't see them planted for crop combos in the servers I play on very frequently so making the crop and seeds more available in the most appropriate biome with 4-6 pumpkins (with seeds) fixes this issue while making your early game exploring food options more diverse.


Again, Another example of my changes




New Setpiece: Pig Pumpkin Patch

Wouldn't spawn 100% of the time but a more risky way to increase your pumpkin count 

FORESTS
 

  Hide contents

Merge the Moonstone and Mandrake Forests into 1.
By far my most extreme idea, merging both of these fairly basic biomes with a few pois each into 1 large area with many places of interest would make the forest a hotspot for many needs, frees up space for other biomes and makes the world more interesting since 1 larger forest with everything would be more interesting to explore than 2 smaller forests.

Wild Crops: (again) Garlic and Potatoes
Similar reasons for why Pumpkins should be a rare wild crop though i'm admittedly not confident that potatoes should spawn naturally since they're super common, Garlick however would make crop combos requiring them a lot easier to obtain early game and they have poor stats alone to eat normally so the benefit besides farming reasons is fairly minimal

Spider Dens spawn with cleared areas instead of having trees spawn right next to them and have a few bones
Looks cleaner but this is more of a personal gripe than something I think is needed

Evergreen forests have a few lumpy evergreens and lumpy evergreens have a few normal evergreens.
something else to look at that breaks up the single evergreen variant

Make the scrapyard larger
It's a boss fight arena and somewhere with important resources it could do to be a bit larger

The Forest....
The clear area would be smaller this is too much area but the other changes are nice additions


the larger scrapyard 

Chopped trees unfertilized grass and dug/muddy turf further sell the disgusting look while giving more space for scrappy

DESERTS
 

  Hide contents

Both of these biomes are mostly fine theyre deserts they shouldn't be full of things

Volt Goats should have an area to indicate where they spawn so they fit in a bit more and matches the savanna in the dragonfly desert



This one I will 100% admit I am not a huge fan of but ive seen a few people suggest it 
peppers in dragonfly desert 

I don't think this is a great idea since only 1 character would really benefit and this specific setpiece would take up a lot of space with the magma but thats an easy fix, still, it's popular so.

ROCKY
 

  Hide contents

The Rocky biome, Quarry and Rocky part of triple mac should have most of the rock variants 
The Rocky areas should have all the rocks 


Very basic Idea more rocks in my rock biome 

I wanted to touch up existing areas with items and resources that already exist instead of adding new content but that's most of my ideas typed down if you have any more or these ones are actually the worst thing ever please let me know.


fin

Makw twiggy trees spawn in the savana.

[Jimothywastaken]

26 minutes ago, Jakepeng99 said:

Makw twiggy trees spawn in the savana.

my best idea for making the savanna better is like spawn natural grass gekkos halve the size of it and maybe add wild onion or corn and call it a day

[hyoton123]

16 minutes ago, Jimothywastaken said:

my best idea for making the savanna better is like spawn natural grass gekkos halve the size of it and maybe add wild onion or corn and call it a day

Oooh, I like the geicos.

[Jakepeng99]

I like most of the ideas, but making farm crops spawn everywhere is a bad idea.

[WilsonHiggs]

54 minutes ago, Jakepeng99 said:

I like most of the ideas, but making farm crops spawn everywhere is a bad idea.

Why? People who farm has tons of seeds and people who don't are stuck in the same recipes because there are only carrots 

[Jakepeng99]

55 minutes ago, WilsonHiggs said:

Why? People who farm has tons of seeds and people who don't are stuck in the same recipes because there are only carrots 

It makes the game way too easy.

Powerful crops growing everywhere for free off spawn. Maybe the pumpkins are ok, but not the rest.

[WilsonHiggs]

10 minutes ago, Jakepeng99 said:

It makes the game way too easy.

Powerful crops growing everywhere for free off spawn. Maybe the pumpkins are ok, but not the rest.

How pumpkins which gives hp and a lot of hunger is okey but finding an onion is op and makes the game easier than finding carrots?

[Jimothywastaken]

41 minutes ago, Jakepeng99 said:

It makes the game way too easy.

Powerful crops growing everywhere for free off spawn. Maybe the pumpkins are ok, but not the rest.

potatoes are strong yeah but 25 hunger 20 health for free isn't a titanic leap of strength in comparison to the other day 1 options also with the forest change i proposed there would be less overall forest for you to get them

onion and garlic i chose specifically due to their poor stats that give you another option but have minor drawbacks but they (mostly garlic) are good for crop combos helping alleviate rng for people who like to farm

more food in biomes would also kinda help the issue of pub food options being picked clean since now theres more of it for new joiners but this is fairly minor as pubs shouldn't dictate balance 

[PonyOfApocalips]

I would keep second Deciduos forest and add 1 specific non-essential set peace that ALWAYS spawn in second forest if it exist. Something like pig-king treasury when u can find valuable items like steel wool or/and Warlus Tusk. Soo you could craft brush or walking cain at start od your game. 

It's important to rewand players in diffrent way for exploring other parts of map.