General Development

[TeoSS69]

I kind of like dusk/night better, with no day (which could be explained by the player being between clouds).

Eh, i'd be ok with that for the second level, but for this one i'm all for looking at gnomes in broad day light.

And items that make light could be used downstairs right?

[debugman18]

After reading much of this, I think that we have the beginnings of an alchemy system here.

 

There could be various craftable structures that would allow for brewing special potions, using many various ingredients. We could make the eldritchest more valuable that way, as well as the cauldron. It would also make for an entirely new type of item recipe. Crystal lamps of various kinds could be used to effect the brewing, and so could the static cycles. Full blown alchemy. That sounds like a good deal of content to stack on what we already have, but this is set to be the largest mod for the game so far.

 

Crystal jars could easily be animated to include the skyflies within the atlas. It would probably look fine. There are other ways of balancing the light they give off, if taken to the regular world. Perhaps making them loose their light in the regular world. (Since there's no static to charge them.)

 

Thoughts?

Edited September 14, 2013 by debugman18

[MilleniumCount]

And items that make light could be used downstairs right?

That's one of the important questions of the interaction between Up and Down. As with the Caves and the Overworld it would be this way. But if we, in example, say skyflies die when they are brought down...this has to be discussed

 

 

Oh, alchemy! Let us all think of the rules of equivalent exchange then....where is my philosopher's stone? ^^ Yay 

Edited September 14, 2013 by MilleniumCount

[Luggs]

That's one of the important questions of the interaction between Up and Down. As with the Caves and the Overworld it would be this way. But if we, in example, say skyflies die when they are brought down...this has to be discussed

Why they die: Mr. Freeze's condition is sometimes explained as homeostasis. His body maintains a high body heat due to the accident. It became locked that way afterwards and requires him to need similar temperatures to the chemicals (subzero) to survive. Similarly, the sky flies keep a higher body heat to survive the cold of the cloud realm. As a result, the much higher temperatures in the surface world and caves is too much. They eventually die of hyperthermia.

[MilleniumCount]

Why they die: Mr. Freeze's condition is sometimes explained as homeostasis. His body maintains a high body heat due to the accident. It became locked that way afterwards and requires him to need similar temperatures to the chemicals (subzero) to survive. Similarly, the sky flies keep a higher body heat to survive the cold of the cloud realm. As a result, the much higher temperatures in the surface world and caves is too much. They eventually die of hyperthermia.

Ah, good old Mr. Freeze (°_°)

 

yes,they can't adapt and would cook themselves in the higher temperature...poor things.

[simplex]

I'd say day/dusk, mostly because there isn't really anything saying that the player is between the clouds, and it makes more sense to have day/dusk, (You're closer to the sky, so the moon/stars would be brighter.)

Not really. Most ambient light comes from light waves resonating on nitrogen molecules. Air scarcity would make it darker.

 

 

After reading much of this, I think that we have the beginnings of an alchemy system here.

 

There could be various craftable structures that would allow for brewing special potions, using many various ingredients. We could make the eldritchest more valuable that way, as well as the cauldron. It would also make for an entirely new type of item recipe. Crystal lamps of various kinds could be used to effect the brewing, and so could the static cycles. Full blown alchemy. That sounds like a good deal of content to stack on what we already have, but this is set to be the largest mod for the game so far.

 

Crystal jars could easily be animated to include the skyflies within the atlas. It would probably look fine. There are other ways of balancing the light they give off, if taken to the regular world. Perhaps making them loose their light in the regular world. (Since there's no static to charge them.)

 

Thoughts?

I like this. I love implementing new mechanics. And by the way, this already is the largest mod for Don't Starve.

But I'm adamantly against having a special atlas/builds including the skyflies and then do a build swap. If we're going to do this, we should do it the proper way: implement an animation inside the jar with empty textures, create a build (reusing the skyfly atlas) implementing that anim and then do an animation symbol override. That's how we'd get an extensible "jar system", making it easy to allow other things to be placeable in there as well (reusing the skyfly "jarred" template, just replacing the image files).

[simplex]

Why they die: Mr. Freeze's condition is sometimes explained as homeostasis. His body maintains a high body heat due to the accident. It became locked that way afterwards and requires him to need similar temperatures to the chemicals (subzero) to survive. Similarly, the sky flies keep a higher body heat to survive the cold of the cloud realm. As a result, the much higher temperatures in the surface world and caves is too much. They eventually die of hyperthermia.

I'd prefer to explain this through static (since otherwise they should remain alive in winter). Maybe their biological structure requires the electricity. I don't know, maybe they're not able to break down carbohydrate molecules on their own.

[TeoSS69]

Why they die: Mr. Freeze's condition is sometimes explained as homeostasis. His body maintains a high body heat due to the accident. It became locked that way afterwards and requires him to need similar temperatures to the chemicals (subzero) to survive. Similarly, the sky flies keep a higher body heat to survive the cold of the cloud realm. As a result, the much higher temperatures in the surface world and caves is too much. They eventually die of hyperthermia.

I'm all for this!

[lifemare]

Damn! So much great stuff going on here, and i'm out of likes and time....

 

Let's see if i can sum up my opinions:

- Agree with the team name, obviously.

- Like the Skyflies being catchable and having an extremely short lifespan in the overworld (1 day when released, 3 days when stored in a fridge, 2-3 minutes when being used?).

- Don't like introducing another bugnet, there's already a lot of tools to bring with you for exploring. I'd use the regular one to catch them.

- But require a Jar to hold more than 1 (if you use the bugnet to catch a skyfly when holding 1 already, the one in your inventory would fly away like it was just trapped in the bugnet).

- That Jar would double as a reservoir and as a lantern (with a little heat). The more skyflies you fueled it the longer and brighter it would glow (20 skyflies capacity?). The skyflies would of course slowly perish in it.

- For making the Jar more UP: It would be opaque and you'd have to heat it first like an Heat Stone to make it transparent. That way heating a Jar with just 5 skyflies in it would give you a useless and short-lived lantern. And adding more skyflies to it could force you to reheat it (because of heat loss when the lid is opened).

- Idea for the Jar recipe: 3 crystals + 1 heatstone (like the pickaxe in its recipe, it's just for forging the crystals) + 1 cloud bush (or similar item that can provide proper Jar atmosphere to sustain the skyflies).

- I think the Permadusk was a way to make you feel like you're inside the clouds, where only a little light reached you, Luggs. I don't see a problem with not ever seeing mobs in their "true" colors, since all of DS is constantly bathed in ambient filters. It would just be a matter of tweaking the dusk to look natural with an hint of magical. But night would be very welcome and i think it makes every sense to have it.

- Awesome post Arctic!

 

 

Recap of the Day (so far) - [14/09/2013]:

(This one will be extra-long as I'm making up for a few days here).

At least I hope so. I don't normally have 105 minutes to spare. :3

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Creatures:

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Artwork:

- Duckraptor artwork has been finished.

 

Animation:

- Beanlet side view is complete.

 

Suggestions:

- Mandarin Duck variant of the Golden Moose.

- Skytrap - Static fauna that only attacks player when near, similar to Tentacles.

- Wilton based living Boon. Killing it drops the item it carries. Can kite.

- Guard for Resurrection Crystals - Living Gnomes - As in the trinket.

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General:

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Music:

- A composer has been found for the mod, thanks to TheDanaAddams.

 

Gameplay:

Title Screen - A Mod start up screen has been created, it's visible when the mod is enabled.

Credits - Mod Credits have been added, everyone on the Google Doc included.

Beanstalk Loading screen - Early tests have been run on a code and animation level.

 

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Items:

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Suggestions:

- Crystal Lamps - Crafted with Crystals, Rope and Storm Ram Horns.

- New Setpiece - has a new turf, contains:

- Cauldron - For Cooking - Increased chance of Wet Goop. Faster, only requires 3 ingredients.

- Eldritchest - Transmutes objects into a similar item. Small chance for Ash. Is reversible.

- Crystal Lamps - Craftable, connect to each other (activiating one, activates them all).

- Thunder Tree and Datura?

- Cumulostone - Uses undecided

- Charged Cumulostone - Provides warmth, creates light

- Potions - Brewed at the Cauldron

- Crystal Pike - Tentacle Spike, damage halved while Static in effect, double during normal.

- Static Blade - Opposite of Crystal Pike, halved in normal, double in Static.

- Doors - Requires key in inventory to enter. Entering without Key, shock or bounce back.

- Mycological's Mushroom Hat

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Objects:

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Suggestions:

- Resurrection Crystal - Similar to Touchstone, but gives Crystals upon activation. Guarded by Gnomes.

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Biomes:

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Suggestions:

Swampy Biome - Dangerous, contains rare treasures like Crystals. Has respawning enemies, like the Skytrap (see "Creatures")

Duck Biome? - Contains Longbill, Duckraptor and Golden Geese. During the Static, Duckraptors are more frequent, aggressive, faster and hit harder. This makes Golden Eggs harder to get if they are only layed during static.

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Behaviours:

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Suggestions:

Thunder Trees drop Cumolustone when chopped.

Thundering Thunder Trees drop Charged Cumolustone when chopped down.

Owlpeople guard Resurrection Crystals

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Crafting Recipes:

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Suggestions:

- Crystal Lamp - 2 Charged Cumolustone, 3 Storm Ram Horns, 3 Rope

- Crystal Lamp - 1 Crystal, 2 Storm Ram Horns, 3 Rope

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Staffs and Gems:

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Suggestions:

- Size Staff - Shrinks and Grows objects, allowing you to carry around a Crock Pot, say.

- Cloud Gem - Used for the White Staff.

- Thunder Gem - Used for Black Staff.

- White Staff - Charges things to Static level. Useful for getting Ram Horns for example.

- Black Staff - Random effects on target, (grow, shrink, static etc.)

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Lifemare's Wall of Text and Awesomeness:

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- Layering the cloud levels by mob difficulty and resource availability is an obvious first suggestion. Most players reaching the cloud realm will most likely have already explored the overworld fully and one or two caves aswell. U&A should strive to offer as many threats as delights. Although obvious, deciding on this would have the immediate effect of reserving more overpowering mobs/items/mechanics for later development, wich is something we haven't discussed.

 

- Fire-extenguishing environment for lv.1, Fire-proof environment for lv.2 and above. This is just my pet idea and i hate to push it, but it's something we should decide wether to include or not soon.

 

- Establishing a more or less cohesive theme for each level. This would allow us to not only give less random suggestions, but also make "what goes where" an easier and more organized decision.

My crappy examples:

lv.1= Jack & the Beanstalk + a little extra from other fairytales

lv.2= less fairytale, more mythological

lv.3= Heavenly realm populated by titans and demigods.

 

- Starting by defining clear biomes with distinct properties and native mobs would be a smarter approach than throwing all the ideas for mobs into one or two all-purpose biomes. Would also be a good way to organize our workflow.

Example:

- Finish default biome with 2-3 creatures, 2-3 flora, 2-3 items, 1 setpiece for alpha release.

- Start biome 2 with similar conditions

- Then biome 3

- Then move on to biome 1 of lv.2

- Repeat

 

- I'm not implying we should pause our organic brainstorm and stop giving off-target suggestions. The last thing i'd want is for us to close U&A in a box before we even release an alpha! This roadmap would just be useful to help us focus on priorities for an eventual release and not get sidetracked with projects that aren't that important for that goal.

 

- So far, things have just been lifting off the ground slowly, and organization hasn't been an issue... Since there's so few things completed and so many in store, whatever we manage to complete is just plain awesome. But i feel that for an alpha release to be a reality we ought to redirect our talents to those things that an alpha can't go without. A list of goals to achieve that is becoming urgent i think.

 

- I find one of the most useful things in the near future about having our own little nook will be opening a bunch of polls for collective decisions on this matter.

 

- Not being afraid to include some mobs that inhabit the overworld (in a creative way of course). In fact, we should activelly pursue this goal, so that this mod offers some elements of familiarity to the player - otherwise it might risk being too different and weird and not really fitting with the rest of DS. Sort of like the caves, where you can find biomes, items and mobs from the overworld and where some things are actually a play on the world above (rabbits/bunnymen).

Example:

Frogs rain from the sky in adventure mode. We should see some in the clouds aswell.

Flying fish, Marshmallow Bees are also good examples. We've been neglecting birds though...

 

- Compile an organized list of essential items for survival up there (after deciding which mechanics will exist of course), and provide sources for them.

 

Edited September 14, 2013 by lifemare

[KidneyBeanBoy]

Damn! So much great stuff going on here, and i'm out of likes and time....

 

Let's see if i can sum up my opinions:

- Agree with the team name, obviously.

 

Hmm.

How about 'The mod team who did up and away." Though really, IDK what name would fit.

How about the "order of the umbrella" (Meaning the salesman's one.), A slight modification from "the order of the bean", a name made up from the Lord of the Rings derailing.

[TeoSS69]

The Fellowship of the Bean is awesome. Every name suggested after that will be looked at with disregard for it will never achieve the highness that is "Fellowship of the Bean"

[ArcticFox789]

Hmm.

How about 'The mod team who did up and away." Though really, IDK what name would fit.

How about the "order of the umbrella" (Meaning the salesman's one.), A slight modification from "the order of the bean", a name made up from the Lord of the Rings derailing.

 

I still think that we have to go with Fellowship of the Bean. Pretty much all the team are LOTR fans, and it sort of fits the mod. In that, we like a joke, and we don't take ourselves too seriously.

[thelefthelix]

What will be the name of our team?

I'm using "Fellowship of the Bean" as a placeholder in the credits screen, but it'd be nice if we could agree on something already (especially since we're producing more and more documentation).

 

Being a rabid LotR fan, I support this idea. You have my pen.

[Luggs]

Being a rabid LotR fan, I support this idea. You have my pen.

And you have my writings.

[TheDanaAddams]

I'm all for Fellowship of the Bean! ^^

[lifemare]

The Fellowship of the Bean is awesome. Every name suggested after that will be looked at with disregard for it will never achieve the highness that is "Fellowship of the Bean"

I still think that we have to go with Fellowship of the Bean. Pretty much all the team are LOTR fans, and it sort of fits the mod. In that, we like a joke, and we don't take ourselves too seriously.

Being a rabid LotR fan, I support this idea. You have my pen.

And you have my writings.

 

I'm thankful for Galadriel's cloaks and lembas bread, but what i'd really appreciate is to have some likes!

Can't you do something about that, Gandalf?

[simplex]

I'm thankful for Galadriel's cloaks and lembas bread, but what i'd really appreciate is to have some likes!

Can't you do something about that, Gandalf?

I can not. But I will help you bear this burden, lifemare, for as long as it is yours to bear.

So be it. We shall be the Fellowship of the Bean.

[lifemare]

I can not. But I will help you bear this burden, lifemare, for as long as it is yours to bear.

So be it. We shall be the Fellowship of the Bean.

 

Ahahahah

I had no idea you were this good at this roleplaying thing! That quote was perfect!

Edited September 15, 2013 by lifemare

[lifemare]

How about this simplex?

 

The thunder [for the Thunder Trees] would be the most complicated to do by hand, but it already exists as an effect. I'm hoping it can be scaled down to appear like it's coming from the tree clouds. If that is possible, the ground shaking and the extreme burst of light would negate any need for further tree animation.

 

EDIT: Sorry. Meant to post as a continuation of our exchange in the Suggestions thread. But this is a better place for it anyway...

Edited September 15, 2013 by lifemare

[simplex]

Where does it exist as an effect?

[lifemare]

ingame :^P

[simplex]

ingame :^P

I got that, but where? Are you talking about a lightning strike?

[lifemare]

Oh! I thought you were asking me where in the DS code, so i just avoided your question, lol

 

Yes! By thunder i retardedly meant lightning strikes.

Edited September 15, 2013 by lifemare

[simplex]

Oh! I thought you were asking me where in the DS code, so i just avoided your question, lol

 

Yes! By thunder i retardedly meant lightning strikes.

I wasn't being picky about word choice.

I just had trouble seeing it as what you meant, since it has a very "from the top" build/animation. Lightning is just a regular prefab, with a build and an anim. This is the atlas:

I think we can rotate/translate/scale it so it will come off from the tree. But it'll certainly be tricky. (especially since the prefab's position is the point it hits, not its origin)

Edited September 15, 2013 by simplex

[Seyph]

Also of interest is the lightning rod fx atlas: