additional content

[youtoo]

Klei had been releasing regular updates. I am happy with my purchase. I saw a thread on Steam that said the game is considered release and all additional content will require additional payments. Is this true? 

 

I got the impression that the caves were still a work in progress and were not really done. After a while you kind of run out of stuff to do... 

[Battal]

This game will no longer be releasing free updates, but DLC is supposedly being worked on.

[Misaki]

You need to pay for every new content from now on, but no worries, it won't be much, like 1.99 on steam.

[jbeetle]

You need to pay for every new content from now on, but no worries, it won't be much, like 1.99 on steam.

*except for Chesters

 

also, Misaki's price is completely made up

[Misaki]

I said "like" not without reason.

[gnarlytreeman]

i like that price

[Tjally]

I'm really curious to see if there will ever be text on the signs found in adventure mode. 

[oCrapaCreeper]

Free updates aren't gone forever. They just will not be on a regular schedule anymore, as said by JoeW a while back. It gives the team more time to work on other things.

[jbeetle]

I said "like" not without reason.

yea but it could also be $10

[the truthseeker]

This game will no longer be releasing free updates, but DLC is supposedly being worked on.

 

 

You need to pay for every new content from now on, but no worries, it won't be much, like 1.99 on steam.

 

 

Wrong, but with good intentions. 

 

Klei's Regularly free updates every two weeks has ended. Caves are "complete" and are no longer a work-in-progress. This includes no regenertation and permadeath (without the normal life protections.)

 

 

Klei may (and says they had planned to) release surprise updates (at no charge,) on occasion, but the next big release (that they started working on) around November is the Downloadable content which is going to cost an undisclosed (but implied small) amount. 

Original announcement

 

Hey everyone!

 

As you all know, when we launched Don’t Starve, we dedicated ourselves to having 6 months of constant content updates for the game. Since then, we’ve released content every 3 weeks, and the game has grown considerably -- new characters, new biomes, new creatures, new abilities, new craftables, better mod support... the list goes on.

 

What we’ve also found is that doing constant updates this frequently has its downsides: more needs to be tested, mods break, and quite importantly -- more content isn’t always better. So after some reviewing, we’ve decided to spend the last 4 updates really making what we have into a more cohesive whole.

 

This means instead of adding big new features (Lava or a new season), we’re going to focus on balancing the things we already have (Caves, Ruins, Recipes), and also squashing all the bugs that are always on the bottom of the pile because we need to rush for the next 3 week push. Another huge benefit is that mods won’t constantly break as we’re not shifting the ground beneath them.

 

It’s not as flashy, but we think it makes for a better game, which is always our priority.

 

So what’s to come after the the six months is over? We’re not quite sure yet, but we are excited to figure it out! In terms of updates, the team needs a break from 3 week sprints, that’s for sure. We still have a couple of surprise characters planned. I can’t say more about them right now, because they are supposed to be a surprise.

 

When November rolls around, the majority of the dev team is going to focus on the first Don’t Starve DLC. We haven’t decided what this is going to be yet (not multiplayer!), but I think that we are leaning towards bringing crazy new challenges set in the same world. We want to be able to make big scary changes to the game rules and do strange new things without changing the core, vanilla DS experience.

 

We hope to include the community in the DLC development like we have in the past. We really do believe that the game is better for having an early and constant audience.

 

If you’re curious about the gory details, here is the revised roadmap:

 

The Caves

 

Levels:

We had originally designed the Caves to be a place where Wilson digs deeper and deeper into new areas. However, the result was that each level we created felt anemic, and we quickly understood that it was better to fill out each level rather than create more anemic ones.Thus, we are going to stop at the Ruins, and Instead of adding more levels, we are going to take the next couple of updates to tune what already exists. The sinkhole level has a lot of content in it currently, but it doesn’t quite gel into a coherent gameplay experience yet. We’re going to look at adding some time-based cycles to fix this (the ruins has its own, special cycle that you’ll see soon). Our goal is to do a smaller number of things to a higher degree of polish, rather than spread our efforts too thin.

 

Visibility:

The caves as you have been playing them so far have had walls in place of the above-world oceans. These look cool when when you are standing in front of them, but we’ve been trying to solve the visibility problem when you’re in a tight hallway for a couple of updates now with limited success. Most of the visualization tricks that we have come up with for hiding them have been visually confusing, and there have been bad knock-on bugs and performance issues for low-spec machines.Instead, we’ve replaced them with pits, and the occasional pillar. The end result plays the same, and still looks like a cave, but most importantly it plays way better. Graphics have to follow gameplay, afterall.

 

Death Mechanic:

We haven’t done this yet, but we will put it in place when we finish up the sinkhole level. I’m pretty sure that death is going to just be death, independent of where it happens. This is the most consistent solution that fits best with our established themes. Death in adventure mode has some magical elements to it, but when you die in a cave you’re really just dying in a hole in the ground. This means that if you die in the cave, you’ll need to have a meat effigy somewhere in the world to respawn at.

 

Mod Support:

Modding is something that Bigfooot has been a huge proponent of since the beginning. We believe this is a place where we can explore new mechanics and different playstyles without sacrificing the core concepts of Don’t Starve.

 

Our focus on stability allows modders to build mods without having the ground shift under them every three weeks, which should let them focus their efforts on creating more great content. Given the size and enthusiasm of the mod community, we feel that mods have a huge opportunity to open up great new gamespaces in Don’t Starve.

 

Ipsquiggle has been working on stabilizing the mod API, and it is nearing where we’re happy with it (and we hope you are, too!). Steam workshop support is coming on August 20th, which will increase the audience and ease of use for mods greatly.

 

In addition, before the end of the updates, we want to open up the anim and sound pipelines to modders! There are some semi-large technical hurdles to overcome with these tasks, which are going to eat up a big chunk of dev time.

 

Character Rebalance

Hey, we did this! Yay! Maxwell should get his makeover before the end of the project. I hope that everyone is enjoying playing as Woodie. I expect a lot of really cool characters to come out of the mod community in the long run as well.

 

Platforms, Controls

Kevin is currently knee-deep in getting the controller support properly working. This is key to our upcoming Steam Big Picture support, as well as a requirement for the PS4 launch. The PS4 version is progressing nicely.

 

Merch!

The plan to have Wilson and his ilk invade your home is progressing well. I’ve seen some pretty cool things that we’re not quite ready to reveal yet. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. 

 

So that’s where we stand with the roadmap. Our tentative update days for the rest of the project are Aug 20, Sep 10, Oct 1, and finally Oct 22. The Aug 20 update has a lot of content in it (for ruins). The subsequent updates will be smaller, and more and more focused upon fixing and tuning things.

 

 

Or focus on:

 

 Our tentative update days for the rest of the project are Aug 20, Sep 10, Oct 1, and finally Oct 22. The Aug 20 update has a lot of content in it (for ruins). The subsequent updates will be smaller, and more and more focused upon fixing and tuning things.

 

 

JoeW updated replies

 

 

I wouldn't say it is the "final update". It's the last of the regularly scheduled updates that we promised at launch. I am sure there are still some things for you guys to enjoy.

 

 

As we have said before, things are coming. As we have more information about what those things are, we will roll that info out to you. Generally we don't really like to talk about anything until it is a for sure thing. At this moment, all we have been able to say is that we want to do some sort of DLC, but even that we don't have nailed down just yet.

 

I think overall, from this point out, we probably have more things planned for Don't Starve than we have had since beta ended. But really the difference is just how we deliver these things. We are going to be focusing on providing a more complete experience before it's released rather than releasing piecemeal content that is consumed across a longer period of time. And it's not going to center around periodic updates, like in the past. So when we release content, it's likely going to be when it is completed or at least near completion.

 

We will be putting out some more information soon about these things. But so we are clear, things are far from over for Don't Starve.

 

Hope that clears this up!

 

 

(Edit: And whatever is released, I look forward to more Chesters from Kickstarter/in game and possibly from the DLC.

 

It seems while I was replying I Just got my Title from him...and the magical Title Fairy of Course, thanks to both! ) 

[Misaki]

Just don't crucify me for being optimistic...

[jbeetle]

Just don't crucify me for being optimistic...

You take things too hard.