Allow Spelunking Bridges to be Destroyed

[-Variant]

The recent update has me exploring and messing with cave content again, specifically bridges. I think they're fun, I love them, but something that's been really sticking out to me lately is that... you literally can't remove or destroy or replace them in any sense once placed down. Like, at all.

If you accidentally place a bridge in the wrong spot, or simply want one gone, you have to wait for the several earthquakes to eventually do enough damage to it. There's no player included method to speed up this process or to take it into your own hands.
This contrasts player built docks, something you can use any sort of explosions for. I had assumed this would be the same for bridges, but it seems they ignore explosives entirely.

I had two ideas, one being the simplest and just having them be on par with docks, allowing explosions to help further along their destruction, or maybe something more involved, allowing players to cut the ropes keeping them up? A fun way to throw unwanted items, or even enemies to the deep dark depths prematurely.

[lowercase skye]

To be a bit pedantic, you can destroy bridges on purpose by using gunpowder/slurtle slime to trigger earthquakes. It's obscenely expensive though, especially to do it four consecutive times. Definitely could use an easier and more affordable way.

[Hungry French]

3 hours ago, -Variant said:

После недавнего обновления я снова начал исследовать пещеры и экспериментировать с их содержимым, в частности с мостами. Мне кажется, они забавные, я их люблю, но в последнее время меня очень беспокоит то, что... их буквально нельзя удалить, разрушить или заменить каким-либо образом после установки. Вообще никак.

Если вы случайно разместили мост не в том месте или просто хотите его убрать, вам придётся подождать, пока несколько землетрясений не нанесут ему достаточный ущерб. В игре нет способа ускорить этот процесс или взять его в свои руки.
Это отличает мосты от построенных игроками доков, для которых можно использовать любые взрывы. Я думал, что с мостами будет так же, но, похоже, они полностью игнорируют взрывчатку.

У меня было две идеи: первая — самая простая — заключалась в том, чтобы сделать их такими же, как доки, чтобы взрывы способствовали их разрушению. Или можно было сделать что-то более сложное, чтобы игроки могли перерезать верёвки, удерживающие их? Забавный способ преждевременно отправить ненужные предметы или даже врагов в тёмные глубины.

Why destroy them in the first place? They don't provide resources when they break.

[Lovens]

Yes this always bugged me as well. Not to mention, in creative worlds there is no way either. If you try to delete one with commands like any other object, it simply becomes invisible but you can still walk over the void where the bridge used to be. Upon reloading the game the bridge would be back in the same place. 

What this translates to in practice is that if you placed a pillar to protect the bridge, and then later decided you want to move the bridge, you can't do it without destroying the pillar first since the only method of destroying the bridges (earthquakes) cannot happen if a pillar is present. 

While we are on the topic of bridges and pillars, can we talk about how ridiculously unfair it is to destroy a fully repair and functional pillar? Normally when hammering a structure you get half the resources back. I had to destroy a stone pillar recently to replace it with the dreadstone one. I spent 40 rocks to build it, do you know how many I got back? Four! Ten times less than I spent building it. Why not a fair half (20) like with the rest of the structures?! I assume it's the same with dreadstone pillars which are even more expensive. It's already enough of a punishment for how long it takes to hammer those to destroy and how much hammer durability is wasted on it. This should definitely be looked into as well. 

[Hungry French]

7 minutes ago, Lovens said:

While we are on the topic of bridges and pillars, can we talk about how ridiculously unfair it is to destroy a fully repair and functional pillar? Normally when hammering a structure you get half the resources back. I had to destroy a stone pillar recently to replace it with the dreadstone one. I spent 40 rocks to build it, do you know how many I got back? Four! Ten times less than I spent building it. Why not a fair half (20) like with the rest of the structures?! I assume it's the same with dreadstone pillars which are even more expensive. It's already enough of a punishment for how long it takes to hammer those to destroy and how much hammer durability is wasted on it. This should definitely be looked into as well. 

Well, losing 20 stones is very little. It's literally 4-10 boulders.
What takes a long time to break is just AFK gameplay. And it's not even a PvP item like Moon Wells.
Columns are generally very expensive.
Spending 40 stones just to use the reduced running distance to the ruins a couple of times...

[Lovens]

1 hour ago, Hungry French said:

Well, losing 20 stones is very little. It's literally 4-10 boulders.
What takes a long time to break is just AFK gameplay. And it's not even a PvP item like Moon Wells.
Columns are generally very expensive.
Spending 40 stones just to use the reduced running distance to the ruins a couple of times...

You're missing the point. If you were to upgrade 10+ stone pillars into dreadstone ones you'd lose 90% of the resources spent on building those, as opposed to getting 50% back from any other game structure you hammer. It's inconsistent and should be fixed. 

[glooomy]

Anyway... I love the idea of just being able to cut the rope! Sounds super easy to implement too, and way better than any explosive route. The only issue I see is it possibly needing a second or two for players to get off it after chopping (which could be fun lol). Not sure if it has something like a wobbly animation already for when it falls/breaks but just a 2 second loop would be good. 

[JazzyGames]

Cut the rope. Perfect solution. Bridges are already so expensive to build. I’d rather they not also be expensive to destroy.

Edited October 6, 2025 by JazzyGames

[Hungry French]

2 hours ago, Lovens said:

Вы упускаете суть. Если бы вы улучшили 10+ каменных колонн до колонн из дредстоуна, то потеряли бы 90% ресурсов, потраченных на их строительство, в отличие от получения 50% обратно от любой другой игровой конструкции, которую вы разрушаете. Это непоследовательно и должно быть исправлено.

It seems to me‚ that 50% is quite a lot. especially but 20 dreadstone...
In general, there should be a gradation of dropped loot.
some things like Pig and Bunny house should not even give 50% of resources because of too many resources at the start.

This feels unfair compared to the usual resource extraction for these buildings.

10 columns ? I can't imagine how you got them, why you built so many of them, and why you need 200 Dreadstones...

[Lovens]

1 hour ago, Hungry French said:

It seems to me‚ that 50% is quite a lot.
 

To be fair in general I don't understand why players cannot get 100% of the materials back after they destroy a thing that they built. How would one explain that half of the materials just disappear into the thin air? This is not at all how it should work from the physics point of view, matter does not just disappear when the shape of the object is changed (and that's what essentially the hammer is doing - it is breaking the object in parts, ruining its structure but not destroying the matter itself). It makes sense when the object is burnt because then the matter itself transforms into ash/charcoal and changes its molecular structure. 

I guess assuming the game working differently from the real life physics and has different "laws" 50% is ok given that:
1) You are always getting less than you spent and you are at least getting something;
2) Deconstruction staff exists and gives you 100% of the materials back (seems like the only explanation on why would you get only 50% when hammering).

So sticking to the otherwise pretty consistent rules the game establishes when you interact with the objects you built there's 0 explanation/understanding on why stone and dreadstone pillars should give you back less resources than you invested in them. 

Quote

especially but 20 dreadstone...

Oh yeah, you are not getting even 20 dreadstone back, ever. Did you not read my previous message thoroughly? I said I hammered a stone pillar that cost 40 rocks and only got back 4 rocks. The dreadstone one is just as bad. I just tested it and a freshly built dreadstone pillar takes 48 brightshade hammer hits to break, and gives measly 4 dreadstone back when you fully destroy it. Why not 20, a fair 50% like any other structure in the game? Oh and they can't even be deconstructed with the deconstruction staff to get the full 40 dreadstone back. The staff just cannot be used on them at all. Meaning if you placed one in a wrong spot and would like to move it, you are screwed and you just forever lost the 40 dreadstone for nothing.

This is horribly unfair for megabase builders since regular players don't ever build dreadstone pillars (or rarely build pillars at all). They are an expensive endgame base protection/decoration structure and for how expensive they are I don't understand why are we losing 100% of the materials when we are trying to simply move one. Yes, 100% and not 90% because in this post and the previous post I didn't even account the loss of the materials on the pillar scaffold itself. The dreadstone pillar scaffold costs 2 boards and 4 dreadstone and you are only getting 4 dreadstone back. The stone pillar scaffold costs 1 cutstone and 2 boards and you are getting the 1 cutstone and 4 rocks back. 

Quote

In general, there should be a gradation of dropped loot.
some things like Pig and Bunny house should not even give 50% of resources because of too many resources at the start.

This feels unfair compared to the usual resource extraction for these buildings.

In regards to the Pig and Bunnymen houses it would be a fair change to make house owners aggro at the person breaking them to make it balanced and make stealing those early resources a bit harder. I always found it a bit weird that they are ok with you breaking their homes and ruining their villages. But I don't see why hammering these should give less materials, it's exactly the same structure as the ones player is building. 
 

Quote

10 columns ? I can't imagine how you got them, why you built so many of them, and why you need 200 Dreadstones...

Stone pillars is a decent alternative to dreadstone pillars for anyone playing the game long enough to reset and clear the ruins 10+ times and wanting to be protected from the rift earthquakes, or anyone who just has a large underground base they also want to protect. For a reference, only Military branch of the ruins in my current world requires 10 pillars to protect it, with 15 more planned for Sacred. Amassing so much dreadstone to place dreadstone pillars right away is quite hard which is why in a lot of these places temporary stone pillars were placed first as a more accessible alternative. Why should one be punished for simply improving their base protection structures or moving them around? You get 50% of the flingomatic or lightning rod materials back when you break one, I don't see how is this different. 

Edited October 6, 2025 by Lovens

[Terser]

2 minutes ago, Lovens said:

To be fair in general I don't understand why players cannot get 100% of the materials back after they destroy a thing that they built.

because then things would be effectively portable if you're carrying a hammer, instead of coming to base to cook you could just make a crock pot, cook, hammer it and repeat anywhere

[Lovens]

Just now, Terser said:

because then things would be effectively portable if you're carrying a hammer, instead of coming to base to cook you could just make a crock pot, cook, hammer it and repeat anywhere

This is an excellent argument and it perfectly makes sense, thanks. I should save this to my list of valuable arguments I could use when someone else on the forums ever dares to mention this game wasn't designed as a base-building game. 

[Kacpert25]

13 hours ago, -Variant said:

maybe something more involved, allowing players to cut the ropes keeping them up? A fun way to throw unwanted items, or even enemies to the deep dark depths prematurely.

Great idea, but maybe not with an axe, as you suggested, but with a razor.

An additional use for this not-so-frequently used item.

[Mike23Ua]

53 minutes ago, Kacpert25 said:

Great idea, but maybe not with an axe, as you suggested, but with a razor.

An additional use for this not-so-frequently used item.

If Klei can get In touch with whoever owns the music rights to Indiana jones & get a brief 3-4 second sound audio to play whenever a player is on a bridge that’s been cut and is falling. 🥺

[-Variant]

Actually, I've got a bit of an update/note to add onto this.

I think the bridge cutting method would be a lot handier to have since I realize that if you want to force earthquakes, it'd effect every bridge instead of just the one you want, gunpowder can be expensive, and I also realized that if there's any pillars nearby, you can't force the process with gunpowder without needing to smash the pillar.
 

1 hour ago, Kacpert25 said:

An additional use for this not-so-frequently used item.

Not a bad idea, also worth considering!

[Hungry French]

7 hours ago, Lovens said:

Полагаю, если предположить, что игра работает не так, как физика в реальной жизни, и имеет другие «законы», то 50 % — это нормально, учитывая, что:
1) вы всегда получаете меньше, чем потратили, но вы хотя бы что-то получаете;
2) существует команда по разбору, которая возвращает вам 100 % материалов (похоже, это единственное объяснение тому, почему при разрушении вы получаете только 50 %).

This is Constant. Here, every dimension is miraculous.
For example, marble armor is heavy on the body but easy to carry, as commented by Wagstaff in DS.

7 hours ago, Lovens said:

Что касается домов Свиньи и Кроликов, было бы справедливо сделать так, чтобы владельцы домов нападали на тех, кто их ломает, чтобы уравнять шансы и немного усложнить кражу этих ранних ресурсов. Мне всегда казалось немного странным, что они спокойно относятся к тому, что вы ломаете их дома и разрушаете их деревни. Но я не понимаю, почему за разрушение этих домов должно даваться меньше материалов, ведь это точно такая же конструкция, как и те, что строит игрок.

The very fact that you can move mob spawners and get a huge pile of resources for destroying them is unfair.
Mob aggro won't make it more balanced, and it's a unique feature of Shipwrecked Boars.

7 hours ago, Lovens said:

Это ужасно несправедливо по отношению к строителям мегабаз, ведь обычные игроки никогда не строят столбы из дредстоуна (или строят их крайне редко). Это дорогостоящая конструкция для защиты/украшения базы в эндгейме, и, учитывая её стоимость, я не понимаю, почему мы теряем 100 % материалов, когда пытаемся просто переместить один такой столб. Да, 100 %, а не 90 %, потому что в этом и предыдущем постах я даже не учитывал потерю материалов на самих лесах для столбов. Строительные леса из дредстоуна стоят 2 доски и 4 дредстоуна, а в обмен вы получите только 4 дредстоуна. Строительные леса из камня стоят 1 тесаный камень и 2 доски, а в обмен вы получите 1 тесаный камень и 4 камня.

I don't understand at all, in fact, there is only 1 full-fledged game mode in the game, and the unpleasant content of mega builders should somehow improve or worsen my survival in unnecessary places.
Not to mention boss rushers.
They could have made a creative mode, boss rush and solo/multiplayer survival. There is no need to force all players to be in the same pot...

[Bumber64]

9 hours ago, Terser said:

because then things would be effectively portable if you're carrying a hammer, instead of coming to base to cook you could just make a crock pot, cook, hammer it and repeat anywhere

But then you'd have to carry the resources with you everywhere. And pretend Warly's portable crock is OP for fitting in a single slot.

Certainly deconstructing your chests does nothing to help you carry all your supplies.

[Lovens]

2 hours ago, Hungry French said:

I don't understand at all, in fact, there is only 1 full-fledged game mode in the game, and the unpleasant content of mega builders should somehow improve or worsen my survival in unnecessary places.
Not to mention boss rushers.
They could have made a creative mode, boss rush and solo/multiplayer survival. There is no need to force all players to be in the same pot...

Lol what, what are you even arguing about? You seem to either be trolling, or completely have lost the thread of the discussion.
 
How exactly is me complaining about not being able to get back 50% of the materials spent on a stone/dreadstone pillar back after hammering it is worsening your precious game experience if it gets fixed (like it should)? Why do you care at all if someone is placing 10 or more dreadstone pillars in their megabase? And finally, if you think that it's unbalanced to get so many resources from bunnymen hutches or pig houses and that makes the game too easy for you - guess what, just don't hammer them maybe? Challenge yourself with gathering those materials from other sources then! I like to do playthroughs where I don't destroy a single pig house to gather pig skins and instead farm them from killing transforming pigs with 4 monster meats for guaranteed pig skins - nobody is forcing you to destroy them if you think that's too easy.

What does that all have to do with an obvious developers oversight about pillars not returning their 50% materials back when destroying and cave bridges not being able to get destroyed by any means except earthquakes? 

[Hungry French]

7 hours ago, Lovens said:

Lol what, what are you even arguing about? You seem to either be trolling, or completely have lost the thread of the discussion.
 
How exactly is me complaining about not being able to get back 50% of the materials spent on a stone/dreadstone pillar back after hammering it is worsening your precious game experience if it gets fixed (like it should)? Why do you care at all if someone is placing 10 or more dreadstone pillars in their мегабазе? И наконец, если вы считаете, что получать так много ресурсов из хижин кроликов или свинарников нечестно и что из-за этого игра становится слишком простой, — знаете что, может, просто не разбивайте их? Попробуйте собрать эти материалы из других источников! Мне нравится проходить игру так, чтобы не разрушать ни одного свинарника в поисках свиных шкур, а вместо этого получать их, убивая трансформирующихся свиней с помощью 4 видов мяса монстров, чтобы гарантированно получить свиные шкуры. Никто не заставляет вас разрушать свинарники, если вы считаете, что это слишком просто.

What does that all have to do with an obvious developers oversight about pillars not returning their 50% materials back when destroying and cave bridges not being able to get destroyed by any means except earthquakes? 

Well, for example, I can say that I wouldn't like to return 50% of the resources from the columns. Or to someone else.
And about the houses... Yes, I can choose not to break them, but if I don't break them, the gameplay will feel artificial. It's like I'm playing a game of chicken.

[IAmAFurrz]

On 10/6/2025 at 2:14 PM, -Variant said:

it seems they ignore explosives entirely.

jeez it seems like klei gives love to bridges less than the playerbase does /hj

[loopuleasa]

Yes please, and also make it instant.

I want to cut the rope when my friends are on the bridge in evil cartoon protagonist fashion.