New creature idea

[Aerow]

Hey there, I'm new to the forum and this is my first post but I've been lurking around and decided why not join in on the fun cause the game itself is super addictive(I got the steam version, you can add me on steam if you like, id's b4ckslash)

Anyway, the idea I had was Bears. The ideology behind this was due to the fact that the game has 2 elements that bears like.

1. Honey

2. Fish

The basic idea was to have these creatures in a very offensive way and a large aggro radius. Also, Bears attack the honeybee hive (Man made or natural)

Also since they have Claw and fur on them, I was thinking why not implement some items that can be carved. Some of the tools I got in my head are

1. Pitchfork (Tools) (Cause you can use the claws as the tip and get the shape)

-Can be used to fertilize the farming plots

2. Bear Hide (Dress)

-Repels smaller animals

-attracts larger animals/mobs

-now keeps you 10% warmer? lol

3. Savage Claws (Fight)Old

-Better than spears,

-Looks badass

3. Savage Claws (Fight) NEW!!

-Does the least damage in fight but more than tools

-has the higher attack speed than others in this section

4. Bear trap (Survival)

-Can trap bears or other large monsters

-very low item re-use potential

^Removed cause it feels a lil overpowered.

5. Bear mace (Survival)

-Temporarily repel creatures

6. Recepies

-Smoked bear meat

-Bear grills(Requires bear heart, our own easter egg?)

7. Elder Bear god (Magic)

-Very hard to build, requires a legendary item called bear's heart

-Big statue that looks like a bear leader of some sort(?)

-*Bear offerings

-Durability reduces every day

8. Savage hat (Dress)

-HATS FOR ALL

-Only way to approach bears without drawing aggro

9. Spiked Club(Fight)

-Stronger than the spear

Bear's Heart : 1-5% probability to drop when a bear is killed. Heavy hunger restore options

Well, that's something I could think of for now. Thoughts? Any suggestions to improve the concept? Anything that can be added?

----------------------

Explanation section

*Bear offerings :

The bear god statue would have like a dish where offerings were made and only one offering could be made at a time so unless that is removed, there is way a new offering could be done by animals.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Aerow
reformat of the thread and added explanations

[Toaster Fu]

I always thought bears would fit well in Don't Starve, though I'm not sold on the bear god idea…

[Aerow]

Well, I was kinda against it too at first but the way I thought it'd work was since its so hard to make and has a low probability of actually bears stumbling up on it and offering something, its ok.

Well, there is one fix tho.

The bear god statue would have like a dish where offerings were made and only one offering could be made at a time so unless that is removed, there is no point of overpowered.

[mobius187]

Anyway, the idea I had was Bears. The ideology behind this was due to the fact that the game has 2 elements that bears like.

1. Honey

2. Fish

Bears do like honey and fish, and I think bears would be a nice addition. Roaming the forests during the day and sleeping at night... unless attacked. I would also like it if the bear did things like "fished" at ponds, knocking fish onto the shore next to the pond and attacked beehives (wild and man-made).

The basic idea was to have these creatures in a very offensive way and a large aggro radius.

Making the bear hostile is fine, but I'm not so sure about the huge aggro area... that seems like you're asking for trouble. I remember how in Fallout 3 I kept having these annoying encounters with animals and I was like "Come on! I'm just walking here!". I would suggest instead that it has a small aggro area, but once angered it chases you relentlessly, is tough to kill, and causes serious damage. That, IMHO, would be more than enough for me to stay out of its way.

1. Pitchfork (Tools) (Cause you can use the claws as the tip and get the shape)

-Can be used with the farming plots so that you can only fertilize them using one of these

Mmm. Not sure, this just seems a bit like more tools for the sake of more tools. Maybe if it replaced manure, or simply you could use a pitchfork on a "tired" garden plot and it automatically renews it for a % of the pitch fork. Obviously manure could still be used, and also would need to be used for other plants (i.e. tired berry bushes).

2. Bear Hide (Dress)

-Repels smaller animals

-attracts larger animals/mobs

-now keeps you 10% warmer? lol

And that helps out... how? If there is ever a warmth gauge added to the game then I would agree this could be useful, but otherwise it doesn't seem helpful.

3. Savage Claws (Fight)

-Better than spears

-Looks badass

Sure, why not. But how about you turn this into a "spiked" club instead?

4. Bear trap (Survival)

-Can trap bears or other large monsters

-very low item re-use potential

Mmmm. What would it be made out of? It seems like a bit of a nerf to have a powerful creature added, but then a way to neutralize them. I would prefer no special trap and instead use something like bee mines.

5. Bear mace (Survival)

-Temporarily repel creatures

Not sure... why is it bear mace? Or are you referring to something like bear musk?

6. Recepies

-Smoked bear meat

-Bear grills(?)

Why not? And no.... just no.

7. Elder Bear god (Magic)

-Very hard to build

-Big statue that looks like a bear leader of some sort(?)

-Makes a big bear statue that the other bears worship and give offerings to

-Durability reduces every day

Nope. I'm against pure magic in general, but hey, that's just me. The best idea along these lines I've heard to date is the Pond of Offerings, and that one had a nice picture to sell the idea.

8. Savage hat (Dress)

-HATS FOR ALL

-Only way to approach bears without drawing aggro

So you can get close, okay. And then what do you do...? Personally I would just want to stay away from the bear. Unless you were hunting it, in which case I would use the blow darts which are coming out next update to put the bear to sleep, get close, and then attack.

[Aerow]

Ah, got a great feedback from you mobius, thanks for taking your time.

Ok lets get down to the responses.

-Bears attack the honeybee hive (Man made or natural) is something I was just thinking of when I saw you reply.

The pitchfork suggestion sounds nice since its actually easier for people earlier in the game to get and make use of.

And that helps out... how? If there is ever a warmth gauge added to the game then I would agree this could be useful, but otherwise it doesn't seem helpful.

Well it was mentioned that there would be hounds added and there are the warepigs so I thought why not add in this lil item.

Sure, why not. But how about you turn this into a "spiked" club instead?

Nice suggestion, thinking about it, I think its better to add the spiked club and add in some changes to the claws.

Mmmm. What would it be made out of? It seems like a bit of a nerf to have a powerful creature added, but then a way to neutralize them. I would prefer no special trap and instead use something like bee mines.

Guess you are right about having traps for bears maybe this is a lil too overpowered and broken, will remove!

Not sure... why is it bear mace? Or are you referring to something like bear musk?

You know, those sprays they use on animals? No one would want the tallbirds or warepigs chasing them for a long time.

So you can get close, okay. And then what do you do...? Personally I would just want to stay away from the bear. Unless you were hunting it, in which case I would use the blow darts which are coming out next update to put the bear to sleep, get close, and then attack.

Did not have the darts in mind, my bad. It is in some way similar to the bee hat tho. Just does not draw too much aggro.

Gotta update the main thread now since I've got some really nice feedback.

[horatio_svetlana]

This game doesn't really have "The Predator" yet. There's been hounds which are pack predators, but a bear would be a really good big predator. It would either be a bear, tiger, or lion, and bear seems to fit really well. Especially with the Soon addition of winter. Bears could spawn every time winter ends and be a strong addition to mid game content. A good artistic choice for them would be making them really big, so big they don't even look like an animal.

The bear could be have the aggressive difference to a beefalo. Beefalos don't attack you unprovoked, but a bear could be a huge annoyance, sort of like werepigs. You could also have it that other animals run away from them.

Instead of a bear god, you could have a giant carved bear that drives other bears away.