An idea for Don't Starve Together.

[TheKingDedede]

I was thinking that back then, in single player Don't Starve, that sanity loss was due to Charlie lurking in the shadows and the fact that the player character was isolated from the rest of society forever. They would go mad from the various threats in their new "homes", as it were, and not see another human being for years on end. Now that Don't Starve Together is here, we can play with our friends and work in teams to make bases or other creations. I have a small idea for DST involving teams.

How about implementing a feature where if living players are in close proximity to each other (Like being around a Fire Pit for the night, for example), sanity loss would maybe decrease or cancel out altogether? This way, I'd argue it could potentially allow for players to learn how to work with each other in servers that aren't just them and their friends taking it seriously and implement a greater sense of teamwork among random players. I see it as the parallel to having more living players than ghosts in a server to cancel out sanity loss.

Yo, forum goers, feel free to tell me how you feel about this idea! If you think it's good or God-awful, let me know down below. Peace.

[TemporaryMan]

You're right, there's no reason anybody should go mad with the company of a childish pyromaniac, a heartless killing machine, a morbid, depressed girl, her sister's ghost and the jerk magician who trapped you all there.

Well, aside from the calls of "weres base?" and endlessly watching over your shoulder to check nobody's hammering the flingo and torching everything.

[Auth]

36 minutes ago, TemporaryMan said:

Well, aside from the calls of "WEAR IS BAS PLS AM NEW I AM HUNGR WILL DIE PLEASE WHEN IS BASE I NEED TO MAKE ONE MAN BAND FOR WEBBER PLEASE I NEED BASEBALL PLEASE?" and endlessly watching over your shoulder to check nobody's hammering the flingo and torching everything.

FTFY

[Clwnbaby]

This was suggested LOOOOONG ago when the game was still in development and has been suggested many times since.

This was suggested LOOOOONG ago when the game was still in development and has been suggested many times since.

[PoofQuiz]

Let's take it a step forward. How about deleting Sanity at all? Seems fair enough

 

[TemporaryMan]

@Weirdobob Need baseball, huh?  Jeez, did I build the wrong thing or what?

Spoiler

'Kay, so on a more serious note, I don't want to be stalked for a sanity aura, and I don't want to encourage people to travel together in a large convoy and all compete for the same grass, so how exactly would this thing work?  A sanity aura on campfires that scales with the number of players in its vicinity wouldn't encourage stalking... but it sounds an awful lot like Willow's perk.

There's already a roundabout way to get sanity restoration from teamwork called "ask somebody to collect cacti."  Or alternatively, "ask somebody to collect silk for top hats."  It isn't always enough to counter ghosts, though.

[TheKingDedede]

2 hours ago, PoofQuiz said:

Let's take it a step forward. How about deleting Sanity at all? Seems fair enough

 

I agree. In fact, let's remove the danger of pain to the player from the game altogether. We wouldn't want that hampering the experience, would we? Plus, the giants look kinda scary. I dunno, remove them too.

In fact, I dislike a good challenge. Monsters? Bye-bye!

Hunger? Too much for me, man. Where's my refund?

(Nah, I'm just busting your chops. Still, it was only an idea, and I agree that simple Cactus blows it out of the water. Although, I wouldn't go far as to say getting stalked and competing for grass with other players, but just huddling around a fire and not going insane. Still, only an idea.)

[CaptainChaotica]

Well, I think it could be a legit idea--after all, doesn't being around pigs give you a _small_, slow, sanity boost because of the company?  I can see how that would also work with people, BUT...it'd have to be only when you're "around" (the coder would determine how close that is) _more than one other person_.  So, then, you only get the boost during happy-group-times at night around the fire, and don't have people stalking each other for sanity.  Hopefully.  (I mean, there's always one.  : P)

I'm not sure how it would be implemented, but...I dunno.  I think it has some merit.  It would be difficult to work but..._there's already a precedent in the singleplayer game_!  So, it's not that out there.  And I myself haven't been on the Together scene long, so I'm not all "Oh, great, some n00b bringing THAT up again.  Gawd."  So, to me, this isn't that old.  (In fact, it's the first time I've read it.)

That said, Temporary Man's original post on this thread _is_ pretty funny.  And accurate.  Also, what do you do when you ARE the childish pyromaniac who can (more easily at first) torch everything...and you're the one in charge? 

...Notorious

[Footman Crouch]

Its not isolation that make them insane, its the fact that there is no hope of getting out. ever.

and i think its a bad idea, losing sanity is vital part of the game,its what keeping the game going (gathering arounds stuffs for it so you don't just sit at base,taking risks of sanity loss for huge reward,challenges.) plus farming nightmare fuel with friends is gonna be hard if thats the case.

but i think it be a great mod idea thou.

[CaptainChaotica]

I was thinking a _small_ sanity gain, by the way.  Like the same amount as you get from the pigs, which is...I forget the exact numbers, but it's pretty darn slow.  So, the way I see this idea, hanging out around multiple people all right at the firepit at the same time all through a long winter night...would still give a _negligible_ boost.  I mean, a nice thing instead of a bad thing, yes, but a SMALL nice thing. (shrug)  Maybe it would only cancel out the loss instead of giving any up-arrow at all--and ONLY for night-itself-induced insanity drain.  If you're around monsters, wet, using shadow equipment, etc. you're on your own.

Not anywhere near the level of boost that would make sanity loss not a thing!  I'd NEVER suggest anything like that--it's a vital part of the game, and it just doesn't have the same _feel_ without sanity problems.  Whenever I've watched really old Let's Plays that are from before the game had sanity, it just seems so _surreal_...

...to NOT have creepy surreal shadow monsters slithering around!  Wait.  : P

...Notorious

 

[PoofQuiz]

4 hours ago, CaptainChaotica said:

I was thinking a _small_ sanity gain, by the way.  Like the same amount as you get from the pigs, which is...I forget the exact numbers, but it's pretty darn slow. 

+25 sanity points per minute is not "pretty darn slow" at all. In fact, pigs have the strongest sanity aura. (just sayin')

But still. Night is the main sanity draining event in this game. And it is such a cheap way to avoid... That seems OP, isn't it? If you have problems with it, just craft Top Hat with Pretty Parasol and *BADAM!* You're fine. 

[applebottom]

I think it's a cool idea. Not because I'm scared of sanity dropping, but it'd just be a nice touch to have a small sanity aura around players. Just one of those thoughtful things you can see in-game.

Not sure if I'd ask Klei to do this though. But if a modder makes it, that'd be neat.

[thesamon]

It's a cool idea, but things like these always seems so "out of place" in DS.

It's more like something you would see in a mod if you ask me.

[PoofQuiz]

By the way. 

There's ALREADY a mod like this. It's a bit more complicated but it will do, I think

Here is the link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=533938077

[CaptainChaotica]

Oh.  For some reason, I thought the sanity thing near pigs was small...I guess I've never hung out around them long enough at one session to notice a difference.  : P  I'm not stupid, just...don't really have all the wiki stats and percentages memorised...

And I still think a _small_ sanity aura near other players would be kinda sweet, and appropriate.  (Like, "Awww, how sweet" not "SWEET, breh!") Again, possibly not for the actual game.  But it just seems like _some_ mention should be made, however small, that you WERE alone, now you're not, and that makes you a little happier.

...even if everybody there (including you) is a psycho.

EDIT:  I looked at that mod and it is..._way_ too cutesy/romancey for me.  Not quite what we meant...although wearing underwear on your head to get a sanity boost is FUNNY, doing so after spending "quality time" in a tent with someone else is a little...yeah.  That'd work for my Total Chaos Sims world, where I make everybody bi for funsies and throw them all together in one big house, but in _actual_ Don't Starve (even modded)?  Hmmm...

Also everybody knows WX has no gender. (According to the mod, it's male.)  The other characters even say so!

...Notorious

[AnonymousKoala]

8 hours ago, CaptainChaotica said:

Oh.  For some reason, I thought the sanity thing near pigs was small...I guess I've never hung out around them long enough at one session to notice a difference.  : P  I'm not stupid, just...don't really have all the wiki stats and percentages memorised...

And I still think a _small_ sanity aura near other players would be kinda sweet, and appropriate.  (Like, "Awww, how sweet" not "SWEET, breh!") Again, possibly not for the actual game.  But it just seems like _some_ mention should be made, however small, that you WERE alone, now you're not, and that makes you a little happier.

...even if everybody there (including you) is a psycho.

EDIT:  I looked at that mod and it is..._way_ too cutesy/romancey for me.  Not quite what we meant...although wearing underwear on your head to get a sanity boost is FUNNY, doing so after spending "quality time" in a tent with someone else is a little...yeah.  That'd work for my Total Chaos Sims world, where I make everybody bi for funsies and throw them all together in one big house, but in _actual_ Don't Starve (even modded)?  Hmmm...

Also everybody knows WX has no gender. (According to the mod, it's male.)  The other characters even say so!

...Notorious

Great you made me imagine Maxwell shouting "SWEET BREH" in Woodie's ears. I didn't know I needed this visual in my life.

(Also the hell is with that mod. If I slept with someone and saw them running around with my underwear it would kind of freak me out.)

 

[CaptainChaotica]

Oh gods. That would be EPIC...ly wrong, but also awesome.    Also what was that one Let's Play...where they ended up singing "I CAME IN LIKE A DEER-CLOOPS!"  And then said the video would be improved by Miley Cyrus riding in on the back of Deerclops...I need to get some sleep.  : P  (But that would improve it.)

I don't want people running around with my underwear on their heads, either!

...Notorious

[thesamon]

And that's why I only get mods that change the hud slightly..

[CaptainChaotica]

Or add purely cosmetic changes (Dusk and night music--wait, does that count for "cosmetic" when it's a SOUND thing and not a visual change?), or put things back to their old singleplayer Don't Starve ways (Willow the Unnerfed, no thermal stone durability), or fill in gaps that make no sense (why does armour automatically re-equip itself but not weapons?), which is what I mostly do...

As soon as I put in an actual gameplay ADDING mod--"Pickle it!"--I started getting a glitch that freaked the crap out of me.  ("Mystery roar" when far away from the pickle barrel that makes that noise.)  That'll teach me to break my usual rules!

(Although that _also_ kind of comes under the "Why x and not y?" category same as weapon re-equipping, 'cos "If you can preserve meat an old-fashioned way by drying it out, why can't you preserve veggies the old-fashioned way by pickling them?" Which is why I got it.)

...Notorious

[Haroldman]

It simply would break sanity if you allowed such. DST is NOT DS, if something in DS would break the game it will be dropped. likewise logic in DS that will lead to game breaking mechanics will break the game. A better idea will be to remove pigs sanity aura if you feel it is logically inconsistent, but remember, pigs are valued because they act like servants, hence why sociopathic egotist Maxwell still gains from them sanity wise. Pigs are predictable and stupid, players are not, hence why you don't gain sanity from players.

Kinda like how Tempman put it.

[CaptainChaotica]

I dunno, I can still kinda see how being around others _of your own kind_, or at least, FROM something resembling your idea of civilization, would be more cheering than merely being around smelly strange anthropomorphic pigs...

But the two camps will _never_ agree on this, so I'll just drop it now.

...Notorious

[Arlesienne]

The easiest nerf ever: give 1 sanity per minute when at least two players gather and sing "Long Lankin" or perhaps the Hedgehog Song. Sweet?

Pleasedon'tkillmeI'mjustbrainstormingforanewcommission!

[CaptainChaotica]

Oh, gods.  The Hedgehog Song?  Doesn't that have, like, 83 verses?  (Mainly with Nanny Ogg's enthusiastic help, and by "enthusiastic", I mean, "drunk"?)  That would be the most effort for a sanity buff I've ever seen.  : P

...Notorious

[Arlesienne]

On 8.07.2016 at 4:31 AM, CaptainChaotica said:

Oh, gods.  The Hedgehog Song?  Doesn't that have, like, 83 verses?  (Mainly with Nanny Ogg's enthusiastic help, and by "enthusiastic", I mean, "drunk"?)  That would be the most effort for a sanity buff I've ever seen.  : P

...Notorious

 

Thus, you would prove your teammates WORTHY! Glory for the potato cup.

[CaptainChaotica]

What else would be strong enough to drink scumble out of? 

(Okay, okay, enough with the Discworld...)

 

As for the shadow things coming out of ponds..."Okay, everybody raise your hand who thinks that was a Russian water-tentacle."

Seriously, though, that'd be a badass idea. Cool-looking, too.  I can totally picture it.  You walk by the pond, and this bloop of shadow extends out from the edge and WHAP.  Fun stuff.

 

...Notorious