Compass - needs a power

[gnarlytreeman]

someone pointed this out in general discussion, there is almost no point in making a compass....... great i can find north!

 

 

Would it be possible to give the compass a modest map reveal boost for exploration?

[aredshroom]

Would it be possible to give the compass a modest map reveal boost for exploration?

Like this? http://forums.kleientertainment.com/files/file/249-better-compass/

[gnarlytreeman]

no not like the mod more like a modest increase to the radius of reveal while exploring.

[fritoz]

how about you could feed purple gems to the compass, and the single next time you used the compass it would point out on the map (even in a blacked over spot) where a single point of interest is, randomly.

so it would place a little arrow (for the one time after you fed it a purple gem) on the map of say, a "thing", setpiece, settlement, cave, skeleton, etc etc

then once you use it that one time it reverts to normal, so you better make a mental note where the arrow was

whatcha think?

[Silentdarkness1]

My recommendation for compass usefulness if anything, would be to be able to set a home point, and the compass will always point you in the right direction.

[gnarlytreeman]

perhaps maybe a mapbuilder style thing where you can prelayout a how you want your base too look with all the structures etc, that ghosts an object overlay onto the screen when you pick the compass up, so that for instance when actually placing a structure it will be given an object snap to location if the compass is in your hand.

[jbeetle]

I remember seeing a post by Kevin when the compass was fairly new, and he essentially said they never really had any plans to make it any more useful than it original is/was.

[MilleniumCount]

Then the quote should stay by It's a thing! and counting as an insider joke....^^

Since it is merely a thing. Not more and not less than an item which has no real purpose.

[Ortorin]

The compass is exactly like the wintermeter and the weatheromoter. It preforms one useless and mundane scientific task. What more do you want a magnetized arrow of iron suspended in a small cylinder with a glass view port top to do?

 

Science doesn't always do something amazing.

[MilleniumCount]

Science doesn't always do something amazing.

Agreed.

But the sciency structures at least let your base look nice.

[Silentdarkness1]

The compass has one use. Making sure you're facing northeast so all your farm plots and other such babble don't look like total crap.

[Battal]

I agree.  Leave it as-is.  It's useless, but at least you can drop it somewhere as a shiny decoration.  Or...uh...something.

[MilleniumCount]

The compass has one use. Making sure you're facing northeast so all your farm plots and other such babble don't look like total crap.

Sooo...we got Feng-Shui in the game.....^^

[Yoko99]

What we need to take underground is a clock.
It makes sense you wouldn't know what time of day it is when underground, but I don't see why Wilson couldn't prototype a clock if he's got a compass,

[MilleniumCount]

What we need to take underground is a clock.

It makes sense you wouldn't know what time of day it is when underground, but I don't see why Wilson couldn't prototype a clock if he's got a compass,

Well a clock is much more complicated than a compass. Of course there are different kinds of clocks based on candles, sand, water, sun which are easier to make but also not for Wilson in this case.

 

He perhaps could do something with the gears though...

[gnarlytreeman]

ok well then maybe the compass as an ingredient for a better more upgraded model then?

[jbeetle]

sounds like a dandy idea for a mod

[Ortorin]

Ok, he're my idea for a clock machine.

 

 

There is a big water wheel in the background that revives some magically infinite supply of water from a chute above. The water wheel connects to a rope (red) to a pulley in the upper left. That pulley runs another rope the lifts buckets up.

 

A ball is lifted by the bucket at the bottom and takes one segment of Don't Starve time (whatever that amount in minutes and seconds is) to reach the top. When the ball reaches the top, it is tipped onto a chute where it falls to the bottom and across  some paddles.

 

The paddles represent the segments in a day (however many there are). They are small planks of wood that are connected to a mechanism behind them in the wall. The ball runs over each paddle until it reaches the last paddles that is up, that paddle is pushed down and stays down to show that one segment has passed. Once all paddles are down, the player must manually reset the paddles by right-clicking the machine.

 

 

 

This is designed to fit in with the weird machines that the science machine, alchemy engine, and prehistulator are. They have some funky looks and mechanical movements. I think this this clock idea of mine holds to that "crazy machine" style of these structures, and is relatively realistic for the Don't Starve word. To top it off, you have to manually reset the clock every time it runs a full day. It will still be relatively easy to lose track of time in the caves if you do not maintain your machine.

 

What do you all think?

[Rosten]

Ok, he're my idea for a clock machine.

 

 

There is a big water wheel in the background that revives some magically infinite supply of water from a chute above. The water wheel connects to a rope (red) to a pulley in the upper left. That pulley runs another rope the lifts buckets up.

 

A ball is lifted by the bucket at the bottom and takes one segment of Don't Starve time (whatever that amount in minutes and seconds is) to reach the top. When the ball reaches the top, it is tipped onto a chute where it falls to the bottom and across  some paddles.

 

The paddles represent the segments in a day (however many there are). They are small planks of wood that are connected to a mechanism behind them in the wall. The ball runs over each paddle until it reaches the last paddles that is up, that paddle is pushed down and stays down to show that one segment has passed. Once all paddles are down, the player must manually reset the paddles by right-clicking the machine.

 

 

 

This is designed to fit in with the weird machines that the science machine, alchemy engine, and prehistulator are. They have some funky looks and mechanical movements. I think this this clock idea of mine holds to that "crazy machine" style of these structures, and is relatively realistic for the Don't Starve word. To top it off, you have to manually reset the clock every time it runs a full day. It will still be relatively easy to lose track of time in the caves if you do not maintain your machine.

 

What do you all think?

Honestly, it seems a bit to hard to take care of, i mean, all it does it show you what time and day it is, sort of like a winterometer or something

[fritoz]

with the clock machine you could set your timer for a nightly turkey dinner

mmmm...turkey dinner..

*homer simpson thinking about food sounds*

[Fellow]

I'm not sure what you expect a compass to do in all honesty, compasses are not all that complicated.