Can we please make the new characters have distinctive attributes?

[Chomdax]

These are Walani's attributes right now.

 

-30 HP, +50 Hunger, 10% more hunger drain, 10% less sanity drain, dries off 10% faster, and her sick surfboard.

 

10% less or more of something is barely even an attribute. This is one of the reasons people don't like DST Willow. She doesn't have anything very unique or fun that really makes her cool to play. Stuff like cooking with the lighter just doesn't matter. I play Wolfgang a lot, too. Do I notice the 10% more sanity drain, even at night? No, I really don't.

 

Then we have someone like Webber. Webber has +25 HP and hunger, -100 sanity, his silken beard, 2 monster meat and 1 spider eggs, and he's a monster. Stuff like the 'monster' mechanic completely change how Webber is played. Webber is an interesting character because he really changes how you play the game. The loss of sanity can be helpful or detrimental. His beard lets him go out longer in winter. The monster mechanic means he can't even live in some places early, and freely walks through hordes of spider dens. He can farm spider glands, monster meat, and silk like no one else. (Before you have bunnymen, anyway.) He can summon hordes of spiders to take out anything short of a giant.

 

When I actually play as Walani, I'm playing a character with some nice surfing skills. Aside from the HP, surfboard, and maybe the hunger, none of her other attributes are noticable in the slightest. They don't exist.

 

There's lots of ways to make her more interesting. Change the attributes or just make them stronger. Make her as chill as Wendy, about as hungry as Wes, dries off 50% faster, make the surfboard even faster, something. As it is, especially with the surfboard's durability, she feels like another DST Willow.

[Lacost]

I don't get why she even suffers santiy penalties for being wet. In my opinion she shouldn't loose sanity from equipped wet things. This way you wouldn't give a damn about rain, floods or waves. Maybe waves a little bit because they wreck your boats.

[ThaumicParrot]

I think she's pretty cool as is. I definitely sense her hunger drain, and that surfboard makes exploring way easier. I don't think all characters have to have extreme and crazy attributes, ya know? Wilson, willow, wx, wolfgang, and wendy are all played similarly in terms of base mechanics, and everybody likes them.

[jrista]

I think she's pretty cool as is. I definitely sense her hunger drain, and that surfboard makes exploring way easier. I don't think all characters have to have extreme and crazy attributes, ya know? Wilson, willow, wx, wolfgang, and wendy are all played similarly in terms of base mechanics, and everybody likes them.

 

I've definitely felt her increased hunger drain. I'm constantly having to gather food, which gets tougher during hurricane season. I love her surfboard. You can zip right through the deep ocean by catching wave after wave, as she's faster than anything else on that board. The fact that she starts out with the board also changes how you play her, since you can get on the water day one and zip about the islands without any hassle (I've found I often start out on islands that only have a couple bamboo, so building the bamboo raft takes a few days on other characters, meaning I'm stuck on the one island until I can finally gather enough materials.)

[Chomdax]

I think she's pretty cool as is. I definitely sense her hunger drain, and that surfboard makes exploring way easier. I don't think all characters have to have extreme and crazy attributes, ya know? Wilson, willow, wx, wolfgang, and wendy are all played similarly in terms of base mechanics, and everybody likes them.

 

They do have pretty cool mechanics, IMO. That's why people like playing them.

 

It's true Wilson doesn't have any real attributes other than the beard, but he can fill a niche of being the only character like this. He's a simple, reliable jack of all trades.

 

I'm not much a fan of Willow, but in DS she has distinctive attributes. Sanity from flame, immunity to it, and lighting fires at low sanity isn't my thing, but it's far more interesting and noticable than tiny stat changes.

 

WX-78's gear mechanics (heh, puns) are only a stat change, but they're a big stat change. 100-400 health, 100-300 sanity, 100-200 hunger. His stats can be the worst or best of any character. His overcharge mechanic + damage from wetness makes rain a legitimate threat and can also offer a decision; take damage in a gamble for overcharge, or play it safe. Finally, his eating stale foods isn't too big a deal, but it means he can go out on expeditions away from food sources much longer than anyone else, as long as he's packed.

 

Wolfgang's +10% sanity drain is unnoticable and might as well not exist, but his hunger mechanic is incredible. You may trade food for movespeed in peaceful times, or maybe you don't have enough. Speaking of that, Wolfgang is a character with a legitimate, significant downside in his hunger, but he's still good. He's still filling a niche of being the absolute strongest fighter in the game with conventional weapons. As Wolfgang, you can fight anything, but a lot more of your game is focused around filling your stomach.

 

Wendy's -25% sanity drain is similar to Walani's, but more noticable. I don't play Wendy much, but I can notice the generally higher sanity I keep as her. The 25% damage penalty makes you more dependent on Abigail. Abigail is an interesting mechanic in being a 600 HP, AoE damaging ally that no one else has any opportunity to access. Wendy then clears mobs very easily, but has a harder time with larger creatures, especially if Abigail isn't around.

[Chamsey]

Most characters up to this point have been fairly unique with at least one spectacular attribute (Woodie is a Werebeaver, WX eats gears, Wickerbottom starts with L1 science), each character from here on should have at least one specific spectacular attribute. I know it's hard after all the characters that have been made so far, but please keep things fun and new.

 

Every character should kinda feel like you're playing a different game entirely. Wolfgang constantly needs food to stay strong, so you need to keep his belly up all the time, Wigfried can only eat meat, so she constantly needs to hunt.

 

Here are a few ideas. An engineer who has the ability to dig up parts if islands and bring them to other places, allowing him to make his own islands at great cost to pretty much everything else. Maybe make him kinda wimpy but with brilliant tech.

 

A patient caveman who can fish with his hands, but can't build any inventions past the Alchemy Engine.

 

A gorilla man who fights with monkeys for territory, but is terrible at sailing and frankly hates the water.

 

A old ships captain who has everything in the boat tab unlocked form the start, and has very high sailing speed and acceleration.

 

Maybe not groundbreaking, but different.

[GiddyGuy]

He can farm spider glands, monster meat, and silk like no one else.

  I have never seen a Webber do this and Wendy can do this better and faster than Webber when she has Abigail.

[Chomdax]

  I have never seen a Webber do this and Wendy can do this better and faster than Webber when she has Abigail.

 

Wendy might do it faster if it is a small group of spiders, but in hordes Webber is undoubtedly faster.

 

Webber doesn't actually have any strong attacks, and he doesn't need them; he just starts a civil war. Give a piece of meat to some spiders, tell them to attack another spider. Sit in the middle of the massacre picking up all the drops. Easiest silk, glands and meat you've ever gotten. There's zero risk to yourself, either; the spiders are fighting each other, not you.

[Mday]

(I've found I often start out on islands that only have a couple bamboo, so building the bamboo raft takes a few days on other characters, meaning I'm stuck on the one island until I can finally gather enough materials.)

Building that very first bamboo raft shouldn't take days. You just need 4 bamboos for that. It is the first thing I build and I always set sail before dusk.

[Kror]

@op

Exactly my thoughts. She feels like having a bonus and thats it. Other characters are interesting because you have to manage something.

 

Managing 10% more hunger is not noticeable at all.

And Health is just a hardly important stat in shipwrecked imo. Her ships do not have less health, so until bosses hits: Who cares about hp?

[WillPwn4Food]

Wendy might do it faster if it is a small group of spiders, but in hordes Webber is undoubtedly faster.

 

Webber doesn't actually have any strong attacks, and he doesn't need them; he just starts a civil war. Give a piece of meat to some spiders, tell them to attack another spider. Sit in the middle of the massacre picking up all the drops. Easiest silk, glands and meat you've ever gotten. There's zero risk to yourself, either; the spiders are fighting each other, not you.

 

Other characters can do this as well; it's just a tad less accessible.

 

I destroyed a Queen's Gathering set piece (the foggy one in the forest with 9 tier 3 dens) just by wearing a previously acquired spider hat and starting a civil war.

[grekon]

Walani to me is pretty much a second Willow. They are both to help in early game survival.

 

Willow has her lighter to reduce consumption of twigs and grass.

Also she can manage her sanity with just fire.

Great for people who do not know how to ensure that they have light for every night and can't handle sanity loss.

 

Walani has the surfing board which also reduces resource consumption and that surf gives her ability to move at night and hold a torch at the same time. You cannot row and hold a torch at the same time.

Again Walani has easier time managing sanity in SW due to her increased dry speed and reduced sanity loss.

 

Walani and Willow also have the same weaknesses. Their items(lighter and surfing board) become obsolete as you get better items. And their sanity perks also become negligent as you get the stuff to make the sanity items.

 

I believe that making early game characters isn't the best idea. As people learn more and more about the game these characters will become useless as they do not provide any unique gameplay. But then again not all are so unique in the game.

I too would like to see more special abilities but its difficult to make all characters unique especially if you are expanding on the already existing pool

[Kror]

Walani and Willow also have the same weaknesses. Their items(lighter and surfing board) become obsolete as you get better items. And their sanity perks also become negligent as you get the stuff to make the sanity items.

 

I have to disagree here. Walain's surfboard can be picked up at any time and let's you cross long island which you would otherwise have to sail around. It can also be faster than the armoured boat with cloth sail if there are many waves.

 

Sure, you can have an amoured boat with a cloth sail at any side of each long island which can block your travel, but that sounds unrealistic imo.

 

Willows lighter also became much better with hurrican season and you can now ignite yourself when attacking with the lighter. (Which you should not do when on a boat...)

[Codsworth]

Yeah I think she should be a little more distinctive too, she is now the latest character unlocked by xp so why the hell she is an "easy character", and where is her powers? every character have DAT THING that makes it special and unique, Abgail, Werebeaver, Spider Friendship, and all she have is a board, that ain't even that special cause the only diference from it and a raft is the speed, so only worth for early exploration. (cause an armored boat with and good sail is faster than the board anyways)

 

 

PLEASE GIVE HER AND DISTINCTIVE ATRIBUTE =( better or worse if it makes her special it's good for me, I really liked her, but I think some special characteristic is missing

[rodsc1800]

Is she even playable already ?

 

[Codsworth]

Is she even playable already ?

 

yes (if you can't unlock her just deactivate all mods and try to die / reset the game, happened to me)

[Kror]

and all she have is a board, that ain't even that special cause the only diference from it and a raft is the speed, so only worth for early exploration

Am I seriously the only one who likes that it's the only seacompanion that you can take with you? I just hate thoose long island where you have to sail around with all my heart. Size/accesibilty of the island is usally a reason for my home.

 

PLEASE GIVE HER AND DISTINCTIVE ATRIBUTE =( better or worse if it makes her special it's good for me, I really liked her, but I think some special characteristic is missing

This soo much. Feels like in Willow in SW. (Now that she can't use fire for fighting).

She is missing personalty game mechanic wise.

[ifatree]

being able to build a boat that you can pick up and take across islands is pretty game changing, tbh.

 

i don't think the OP or most people in this thread have noticed that yet.

 

though knowing people on the internet i'm sure they'll backpedal and tell me why it's not that great and how their point is still valid... lol

 

you guys know there are a LARGE number of mods for new characters that do crazy, crazy things, right?

[Chomdax]

being able to build a boat that you can pick up and take across islands is pretty game changing, tbh.

 

i don't think the OP or most people in this thread have noticed that yet.

 

though knowing people on the internet i'm sure they'll backpedal and tell me why it's not that great and how their point is still valid... lol

 

you guys know there are a LARGE number of mods for new characters that do crazy, crazy things, right?

 

Yeah, my point is still valid. No, mods don't mean anything. I'm saying 'this car model could be improved,' and you say 'well, why don't you just buy it a new engine, A/C, and transmission?' I'm talking about fixing the core product, not giving it a band aid. If characters made by some bored guy on Steam are more interesting and fun to play than official ones, that's no good.

 

I'm well aware that you can pick it up, and tbh Walani's surfboard is actually pretty cool. It could maybe use some changes too, but it's cool and interesting. What isn't cool is everything else about her. Every single thing about Walani aside from her surfboard is a nearly meaningless small change in stats.

 

If she was a super chill gal, immune to wetness/resistant to it, had fast movement speed in general, noticeably hungry/low on HP, etc. that would be a massive improvement. Essentially, Walani's perks right now are:

 

-Loves surfing

 

That's it.

[ifatree]

 

odd. so you did notice, but you spent all those posts not mentioning it? hmm.

 

but i don't think her love of surfing is a game mechanic, unless i'm missing a new meter somewhere.

 

Essentially, Walani's perks right now are:

 

-Has a boat you can pick up and take with you, unlike any other character

-All the other game mechanics mentioned earlier used to give each character distinct flavor

 

That's it.

 

ftfy.

 

here's how development works. you make the underlying systems work as best as you can, then you test small changes to them and get those to work, then you can get creative with crazy big ideas. if you start with the crazy stuff (think werebeaver-level crazy) before you've finished the underlying systems, it'll never be finished. just give them some time. the first new character should always be the most 'vanilla'.

 

as for how to use beta forums better, you don't need to complain about the entire process just to keep pushing the one obvious mechanics suggestion you have to "make her immune to wetness". it's noted.

 

actually, it was noted it a couple weeks ago, when i mentioned a craftable wet suit and a surf board idea here: https://www.reddit.com/r/dontstarve/comments/3vtous/spoilers_opening_up_the_sw_code/cxqydif

 

i know people get excited about being part of the beta process and feel entitled to have their feedback heard, but you can really better spend your time looking for bugs and reporting issues with the way things work rather than how you think they could work better. there'll be mods for that (much much) later.

 

[tHe_silent_H]

The real question is, what does she bring to vanilla/RoG worlds? answer: nothing, not only is replacemnt boards not available, the starting one may as well be used as kindling, can't regain sanity from waves with ti if neither exsit, and hunger drain will be really felt early game, while sanity and wetness bonuses don't mean anything (esp wetness in vanilla where there is no wetness and rain only comes in spring sometimes in autumn for RoG), remember worlds will be linked, and starting out in vanilla world would be a huge pain without some sort of unique character trait

 

TLDR in vanilla/RoG she ahs +10% hunger gain, -10% sanity, and worse stats, that's it

[_Q_]

I don't get why this game needs to have so many characters. It takes time and effort to add one, and IMHO that time and effort should be put into new creature or game mechanic.

[Yokoblue]

I think similar to OP.

 

I love playing new characters with interesting dynamic / change of playstyle.

 

Suggestion:
- Remove the Sanity reduction, replace it with "Earn 5 (or 10) sanity when riding a wave"

(After suggesting it... I played a bit... she does get +1 sanity)

- Make the surf board slighly faster or equipable perks

- Less HP

- Resist wave wetness (to promote first point)

 

It would be nice to have 1-2 more unique item related to her surfboard. Like 1 equip slot that is unique to the board. You could make the surfboard faster / More resistant that way. You could even combine my suggestion to "wave wetness" with an add on to the surfboard. It would also make the surfboard a late game item instead of purely an early game item. You could make the "add ons" or "perks" really hard to build.

[TwitcheryGamer]

In my opinion, Walani should not take sanity drain from being wet. She's a surfer, she'd be so used to that stuff...

[Chomdax]

 

 

odd. so you did notice, but you spent all those posts not mentioning it? hmm.

 

but i don't think her love of surfing is a game mechanic, unless i'm missing a new meter somewhere.

 

 

ftfy.

 

here's how development works. you make the underlying systems work as best as you can, then you test small changes to them and get those to work, then you can get creative with crazy big ideas. if you start with the crazy stuff (think werebeaver-level crazy) before you've finished the underlying systems, it'll never be finished. just give them some time. the first new character should always be the most 'vanilla'.

 

as for how to use beta forums better, you don't need to complain about the entire process just to keep pushing the one obvious mechanics suggestion you have to "make her immune to wetness". it's noted.

 

actually, it was noted it a couple weeks ago, when i mentioned a craftable wet suit and a surf board idea here: https://www.reddit.com/r/dontstarve/comments/3vtous/spoilers_opening_up_the_sw_code/cxqydif

 

i know people get excited about being part of the beta process and feel entitled to have their feedback heard, but you can really better spend your time looking for bugs and reporting issues with the way things work rather than how you think they could work better. there'll be mods for that (much much) later.

 

 

I said 'and her sick surfboard' in the very start of the OP. That means all her surfboard related things; +1 sanity and more speed from waves, picking it up, spawning with it, all that fun stuff. That's what I meant by 'Loves surfing,' sorry if it got lost. It's just like in the character select screen, the 3 perks each character is shown with. Anyway, I didn't think I'd need to mention that she can pick up her surfboard; everyone here knows how to use the wiki, or can just go and play Walani.

 

I'm not denying anything about the surfboard. I'm saying that's her only 'distinct flavor.' She theoretically has stuff like -10% sanity drain, but the problem with those attributes is that they are so small, so insignificant that you hardly notice them in game. If I read about her 10% increased hunger drain on the wiki, I would have never known about it, because it's barely even there.

 

You seem to think I'm just trying to push making her immune to wetness. I'm not even the one who came up with that idea. I am complaining about the entire process, if that's how you're going to word it. For your talk about how development supposedly works, pray tell why Klei apparently can't make test characters? Besides, as you can see in the title this thread isn't just about Walani. I'd rather not have Woodlegs and the other characters get a meaningless pile of tiny stat changes.

 

Immunity to wetness is hardly the only thing you could do for Walani. You could intensify the stat changes so it feels like there's an real difference, you could let her surf on big waves, let her upgrade her surfboard lategame, etc. There's no shortage of options.