Suggesions... Seasons !

[Pierricklarsen]

Hello everybody!

First of all, sorry for mistakes, im French

I played this awesome game since a few days and i noticed a few things that I would love to see in the game.

Surviving into the wild is about finding food, not starving, and finding a way not to die...

But what is the wild if there's no seasons... what is the wild if there's no hard weather like snow, wind, when there's no food. Surviving is all about anticipating days coming !

So here are my ideas!

Spring:

You can start the game in spring, where there's a lots of animals, bees, flowers, grass etc. It could be nice to add wild cats and wolfs. Wild cats hunt birds, wolfs hunt rabbits for exemple. I'd love to see more interactions between animals and lore. You could charm them so they could follow you and help you to survive as a companion ! Lots of food is way it could be.

Animals could make babies, so it's preferable not to kill them to let them grow. More precisely, it would be an amount of animals in the world so you'll have to "manage" nature. Don't kill every rabbit, the wolves would starve... Kill cats, there will be no birds in a while... and finaly no food... as it is actually for the trees !

Then comes the summer times:

In summer, day are longer, nights shorter, the sun hit your nasty head so it's preferable to wear a hat or something. Swamp are dry so you can't fish.

Autumn.

Lot's of rain and wind ! Muchrooms grows, eat it but be carrefull, there's some good one and bad one ! You'll have to learn, try to give one of them to you're companion

Winter

Lot's of snow, no food, no flowers, no birds, a few rabbits, starving animals, beware, they are becoming more dangerous ! Grrrizly are sleeping (yes, it could be nice to add grizly in a deep dark cave!)

You'll have to be prepared for winter, if not, you will starve ! Not food grows up in fields

Days could be shorter and night quite longer

Every season could be as long as a week, like 7 days

I don't know what is possible to add in the game, but here are just a few ideas all coming with seasons !

Let me know what you think about this, and lets make the game even better !

Pierricklarsen

[Wasserstern]

I think your ideas are pretty good, but I think the change to the season shouldnt happen so suddenly.

My ideas about the VISUAL change of season, not the effect on gameplay:

-The game always starts in spring.

-After 7 days your character says "I feel like something is changing" (At that moment you see the first sights of the season change)

-7 days after summer the trees suddenly change color. 3 days more and it will be autumn, leaves now fall from the trees and everything is covered in leaves.

-7 days after autumn the trees lose all their leaves, it starts to snow. 3 days more it is winter, everything is covered in snow.

-7 days after winter it stops to snow and the snow melts. 3 days more it is spring.

I just dont have an idea how to show that its getting summer.

Maybe the light effect should change or something.

Ok thats all from me now.

The gameplay effects of seasons you brought up are very good, I agree completely.

Especially the winter, you have to find lots of food for winter, animals are rare to find there. This makes everything harder

[501105]

Some great ideas there and I love the general notion of having seasons. It would make the world a lot more alive with new dangers and apportunities each season. I also agree with Wasserstern, the change should be gradual and not instant.

[Pig]

these are some great ideas but I think you should be able to farm and berries should still grow because sometimes those are your only food sources just get rid of the animals

[Pig]

these are some great ideas but I think you should be able to farm and berries should still grow because sometimes those are your only food sources just get rid of the animals

also I agree with the season s changing slowly not instant and you sould be able to pick which season you want to start with because if you choose then it fixes people wanting different difficulty.

I made a wolf suggestion if you want to check it out

http://forums.kleientertainment.com/showthread.php?1826-rivals-and-friends

[Dijad]

YES YES YES. Whenever you read books about survival in the wilderness, the seasons are something everyone is painfully aware of. Winter, of course, is what everyone thinks of, but Pierricklarsen makes the excellent observation that other seasons have thier own challenges. The heat of summer, the rains and winds of fall, the active animal populations of spring. I also love his animal suggestions. While the game has its fantasy elements, the wolves and wildcats idea will give a good contrast to those creatures, giving them more of an effect when you see them for the first time, and that distinct "not in kansas anymore" vibe.

[Nickdy]

This is how i feel seasons should work. Basically the world will very gradually change, you probably get that but lets talk about what the seasons do to the world starting with winter.

Rabbits: Rabbits will turn white, and spawn lightly less often

Off road VS on road: Basically, as its getting colder there should be a higher and higher chance for there to be one of the snowy weather events. Anyways, depending on the biome and the severity of the weather event, it will slowly become more and more difficult to traverse off road because of the snow, but the roads will be mostly cleared. Maybe by some ghostly snowplows man that attacks you if your in the way.

Heat: If you have not figured this out already, during harsh times like this you need to keep your heat (Little bar near the food bar) at a decent level or else it will severely effect your abilities, including not starving(being cold or hot increases exhaustion)

Birds: If you do not know this (Which i really think that you do know this) birds migrate south during the winter. So maybe you cannot find birds during the winter so guess what! No seeds, but before you rage quit... you can still find seeds from scavenging squirrels nests inside trees. But beware for some squirrels will put up a fight.

Yetis: A large white furred monster that only spawns in the middle of winter that can only spawn in decently deep snow, and they avoid heat.

The next few will be different weather events that can take place in winter, Higher the number, higher the severity.

I: The flurry will probably happen more often in the early spring, or the early fall. It will be very common. It will not reduce speed very severely and will melt by the end of the day. It will decrease your temperature by a fairly minor amount and probably wont be enough to kill you from cold.

II: The snowfall's name may be susceptible to change, But basically this will be slightly less common in the late fall and early spring, but will be much more common in the early winter and late winter. This will reduce your walk speed off road by a fairly sufficient amount and will increase exhaustion by a very noticeable amount. This will also kill you eventually if you are not near a decent campfire.

III: The snowstorm will not happen in the late fall or early spring, and will be rare in the early winter, so it will probably happen more often around 1/4 to 3/4 into the winter. This will make it nearly impossible to travel off-road because of the increased cold. And if you do not have access to a campfire you will probably die. <-- this will create the minimum level of snow required for yetis.

IV: Blizzard's are the bane of winter and will probably happen during the center of winter, blizzards greatly reduce visibility and make it nearly impossible to walk very far and you will most definitely die from the cold without a campfire, even if you have the beefalo coat... Which hasn't been invented yet. Anyways, if you think any of these are overpowered or that it will be a death sentence, Players will learn that it is probably a good idea to get a large stockpile of nonperishable food. Like maybe you can scavenge a tree for edible nuts or seeds during the winter.

V: ???? This is the mother of all snowstorms, this can only happen on the peak day of winter and will most definitely kill. This storm will make nearly unsurpassable snow banks, freeze the ocean, and even freeze mobs in giant blocks of ice! By the way, if you die from cold a giant block of ice forms around you.

Lets talk about spring

, it should be every players favorite time of the year because of the fact that the days are at their regular ratios, and the temperatures are usually normal throughout spring.

Farming: This will be the optimal time of the year to grow crops considering that you cannot grow crops in the winter, they grow slowly in the fall, and they can occasionally die from dehydration in the summer.

Overgrowth: During the spring, the trees in dense forests can spontaneously become taller and grow vines and underbrush making it difficult to surpass. But beware while clearing, for there may be creatures waiting in the bushes.

Mating season: Around the center of spring animals like beefalos, rabbits, those bird thing's, and also spiders will all come together at specific times of the day depending on what type of creature it is, and reproduce. For spiders they just create another nest, and those bird thingy s make a bunch of eggs.

Now that were done talking about spring, lets talk about the summer

. Most of us know summer as this nice time of the year with pools, no school and endless amount of food, What? did you expect it to get easier during dry season? You can plant crops and continue farming during the early summer, but later you will notice plants dying randomly only leaving a dead corpse of a plant left. In ordered for this to be fixed, you will either need a decent rain storm, or use a watering can... which hasn't been invented yet.

Desert: This will be a new biome added that may only exist during the summer. So basically these will be very hot areas which if you stay in too long, you will die from overheating. These may have things like sandstorms which happen pretty often and will blind your character, But they will also form sand mounds.

Sand mounds: Sand mounds will be these little mounds of sand that form in substantial numbers. So you may ask "What do you do with these sand mounds?" Well you can dig them up for a pocket full of sand, But you then ask "What are these pocket full of sands used for?" Well you can cook them in a furnace Which hasn't been invented yet or you can cook four of them at once in a crock pot to make glass.

Glass: Glass is basically this clear item you have in your inventory that can be used for a variety of purposes not known yet.

Now we are back at fall

, fall's days will slowly decrease along with the temperature. Around this time turkeys will spawn more often along with a lot of other meaty products, and there will not be any weather events happening that are unique to fall. I mean, i guess there could be naturally spawning pumpkins, or maybe some interesting mob that spawns during the fall. but what do i know?

Uninvented items below

Beefalo coat: This item will be made of rope and beefalo fur and will raise your resistance to cold.

Watering can: This will be crafted with stone, rope and maybe a few other items, but basically it shows a durability as how much water it currently contains, To refill the water can, you will need to use it on one of those ponds and this can be used for farming during the summer.

Furnace: The furnace will be crafted with wood, stone and charcoal and be used to refine gold and to convert sand into glass at a fairly slow rate and while using charcoal fuel. And golden tools require golden bars which are the version of gold found after it is refined in a furnace. And if you have not realized already, golden bars will be used in the alchemy machine instead of gold ore.

[Nickdy]

these are some great ideas but I think you should be able to farm and berries should still grow because sometimes those are your only food sources just get rid of the animals

also I agree with the season s changing slowly not instant and you sould be able to pick which season you want to start with because if you choose then it fixes people wanting different difficulty.

I made a wolf suggestion if you want to check it out

http://forums.kleientertainment.com/showthread.php?1826-rivals-and-friends

Exacly, seasons are made to get rid of the people that are being immortal living off of berries, what if we threw them a curveball and made it so there will be a winter where you cannot grow crops, or a summer where you have to constantly water them. Having seasons that you cannot grow food in will force players to leave their little enclosed area and go search trees for nuts, or begin making beef jerky to survive the upcoming winter.

[501105]

Indeed, it adds change so that you cant get used to a constant style of survival. When combined with dynamic weather that is dependant of which season it is and you would have a random situation in which you have to survive. No longer can you use the same tactics every day to keep on living, and that is part of survival, keeping on adapting all the time.

[Pig]

Im not saying this is a bad Idea but maybe they should make winter shorter because for some people it would be impossible to survive

they could make it an option I would use but begineers wouldnt be able to do it. its like hard mode

Edited November 19, 2012 by Pig

[Nickdy]

The game is way to easy as it is. winter should be just as long as all of the others forceing players to stock up on non perishable food for the winter.

[Pig]

I will agree if you agree it should be an option

[Nickdy]

Ive noticed something with you, you will basically think of a situation where what we added would become difficult Example-if you get all of your food from berry bushes you will die in the winter These situations are designed to make a player need to take sudden risks or force the player to step out of their safe zone. Did you read the post about the guy who lived 110 days?! literally every single aspect of what he exploited to survive could be prevented if there were dangerous situations like disasters or seasons.

[Pig]

I like the idea i just think it should be an option!!!

[Nickdy]

I like the idea i just think it should be an option!!!

What do you mean? a option to disable it? I don't think there should be one, that would be like having a option to have infinite food or have no perma death

[Pig]

but what about when a new player joins they think there well off and then winter boom there dead because there new hmmm

[Toaster Fu]

We all have deferent ways of playing, no doubt if seasons get added the Devs will keep that in mind.

[Royal]

Having played Pokemon Black and/or White I liked how they had seasons change every month, essentially August is Spring so September is Summer and October is Autumn. This way you get more of the seasons, this is a tall order the look of the game world would have to be different for each season, the real challenge here is maintaining balance to such a point that the world is never impossible or even more difficult to survive in, if the notion is instead to have season be a means of increasing difficulty over the course of a character's life then I guess the every month change would be out, but with all the variables you still run the risking of dooming some players to death in winter (since the map is random and you can never know what a player might or might not have) this kind of imposes an agenda on the player ie. Make sure you have a stock of meat before winter or you will surely starve, I think the issue there is that it restricts what a player can and must do to survive.

As far as I know the point of Don't Starve is not to have one specific strategy that "wins" but instead to find new and fun ways to not starve. So I'd vote for mostly graphical changes with a couple of changes to the frequency with which you see mobs or which mobs spawn during which seasons.

[Nickdy]

but what about when a new player joins they think there well off and then winter boom there dead because there new hmmm

You seem to be making the assumption that the first season is winter, the first season will either be fall of spring.

[cptCalavera]

And if seasons are introduced. There will probably be a hint of some sorts to let you know winter is coming.

[Toaster Fu]

You seem to be making the assumption that the first season is winter, the first season will either be fall of spring.

Some people play slower then others. I for one play really slowly, having on day 100 what others have on day 30. So if you do play slower then yes, winter would be rather harsh.

[Nickdy]

And if seasons are introduced. There will probably be a hint of some sorts to let you know winter is coming.

There will be several, birds will begin migrateing, days will be getting shorter, trees will lose their leaves, rabbits will slowly begin to turn white.

[Dijad]

Well, I would presume they would start you in spring, giving you 3 seasons to prepare for the harsh times of winter. I'd say about 14 days a season, that gives one 42 days before winter comes round, plenty of time to get food stocks up. The challenging thing about survival is, essentially, time managment. What do you do with the time at hand to cope with the time ahead is the basis for all ones actions, and adding the element of seasons puts a premium on that. I know some like to play at a slow pace, but the reality of survival in the wilderness doesnt really mesh with that.

To that end, I would suggest the seasons be apart of the difficulty settings in the game, with easy being seasonless, all times being spring. Most of the game content would be available, and you could enjoy the game at your own pace.

Normal would implement seasons, and content unique to those seasons would become available, as a reward to those willing to cope with the extra challenge.

Hard could introduce more extreem weather conditions in those seasons, up the damage of enemies, and so forth.

[Nickdy]

Well, I would presume they would start you in spring, giving you 3 seasons to prepare for the harsh times of winter. I'd say about 14 days a season, that gives one 42 days before winter comes round, plenty of time to get food stocks up. The challenging thing about survival is, essentially, time managment. What do you do with the time at hand to cope with the time ahead is the basis for all ones actions, and adding the element of seasons puts a premium on that. I know some like to play at a slow pace, but the reality of survival in the wilderness doesnt really mesh with that.

To that end, I would suggest the seasons be apart of the difficulty settings in the game, with easy being seasonless, all times being spring. Most of the game content would be available, and you could enjoy the game at your own pace.

Normal would implement seasons, and content unique to those seasons would become available, as a reward to those willing to cope with the extra challenge.

Hard could introduce more extreme weather conditions in those seasons, up the damage of enemies, and so forth.

I do agree there should be difficulty's, but this is how i think they should work. On easy the amount of exp you receive is reduced to 50%, on normal its 100% and on hard its 150%.

For easy, seasons should be there, but they don't do anything to the world but change its colors, so this would be for aesthetics only.

For medium, i think there shouldn't be any weather events that happen specifically to that season, like in the winter there wouldn't be snowstorms and you cant die from cold. But plants still die and not grow back in the winter and plants wouldn't die from dehydration in the summer but still grow slightly slower.

For hard, there should be the terrible life threatening weather events that are unique to seasons. And maybe monsters deal more damage or you starve faster.

[Dijad]

On second thought, tieing such things as seasons and thier effects to difficulty settings is something that annoy's me about some games. I would prefer damage/xp be purely difficulty settings based, and seasonal effects be an option under a "Gameplay" menu. Possibly more xp from seasonal effects being on, or just have it there for the fun of the challenge.