Alternate titles: Seasoning the Seasons, or Spicing Up Your SEASONings... or something or other
Seasons Greetings! This post is all about seasons and how they should be refreshed to sprucen up gameplay as seasons make up a huge chunk of it. In addition to expanded seasonal mechanics, I would also like to see seasonal specific biomes as well as debuffs (diseases), and seasonal variants of differing diificulty. Below are the 4 seasons and simply examples of the types of ideas I would like to see implemented in terms of new content once ROT ends.
Autumn
Gusts of wind infrequently occur, similar to Shipwrecked these affect the players movement. Moving against the wind slows the players movement speed while moving with it grants a speed boost. Holding a pinwheel grants a sanity boost during a gust. Boats react to gusts of wind in a similar manner except that the speed is factored by the amount of sails a ship has installed.
Winter
Blizzards can occur, gusts of wind along with heavy snowfall that impedes vision and movement occur. Blizzards put out fires. Similar to sandstorms and now moonstorms, these are only on certain random areas of the map. Desert goggles (renamed to just goggles) will remove the effects of the storm. Extended stay in a blizzard causes the player to get the frost bitten debuff which causes a sanity drain but provides the players inventory with reduced spoilage. A booster shot can be used to cure frostbite.
Piles of snow can build up and be harvested for 3 clumps of snow. Piles of snow have an increased chance to spawn in blizzards. A snowpig can be crafted with 9 clumps of snow and provides a small sanity aura around it until it melts. Clumps of snow and ice can be used to craft ice blocks. Ice blocks and a campfire can be combined to craft an igloo. Igloos function similarly to tents except they heat up thermal stones and can be used by multiple players and provide a small light radius, similar to Walrus camps. Igloos last a set amount of days before they melt.
Glaciers form on water, and small patches of water become walkable ice. Boats can dock here and explore the ice. Pengull dens spawn on the ice. Shallow ice patches are spread throughout the ice and if not paying attention to visual cues will break once stepped on and drown the player. The Emperor Pengull boss can be fought in this winter biome and includes the ability to create these shallow ice patches during the fight. The Emperor Pengull will accept ocean fish for loot rewards including Jet feathers for manageable blow dart farming. Rarer fish grant rarer rewards. If fed a drumstick the Emperor Pengull will become hostile and start the boss fight. This ice biome melts and sinks into the sea once winter ends.
Spring
For spring rather than rain and the wetness mechanic, which is fine and really imo doesnt offer much in terms of expanding, I would like to see a focus on the growth side of the season, as in nature.
Mushrooms in every biome grow twice as big and can be harvested for 2 mushrooms instead of one. These mushrooms, if left unharvested can grow to a third stage where they release toxic spores in an area around the mushroom and cause the player to take damage but also spawns mushroom spores that can be planted in the mushroom planter. Any player that has come into contact with the spores has a 10℅ chance to recieve a debuff called mushcucleosis that lasts a set amount of days. Red Mushnucleosis increases player hunger drain but also gives the player an additional temporary max HP. Green Mushnucleosis causes increased player hunger drain but gives additional temporary max Sanity. Blue Mushnucleosis causes increased hunger drain but gives additional max Hunger. Mushnucleosis variants can be cured with a booster shot.
Berry bushes grow vines with thorns during Spring causing a player to take damage while harvesting. Razors can be used to prune and harvest the vines. Bramble husks can negate thorn damage. Vines and logs can be used to craft vine wood walls which deal damage back to mobs that attack them until they are destroyed. These walls cannot be repaired and must instead be recrafted.
A new springtime boss setpiece of thorned berry bushes spawns an aggressive plant like boss encased in thorns that cause the player to take damage when they attack.
Summer
A new wetsuit clothing item prevents items in the player inventory from becoming wet while still allowing the player itself to gain wetness. Heat waves appear randomly on the map, similar to blizzards. Heat waves are denoted by their intense light in the zones and increased heat. Once inside the heat wave for an extended period of time the player starts to experience mirages of items, mobs and structures on their screen that aren't really there, similar to Wagstaff's nearsightedness perk. Food put on the ground here is immediately cooked. Extended stay in this area gives the player the heat stroke debuff which causes sanity drain but also grants the player inventory the ability to cook food. A booster shot can be used to cure heat stroke.
Gusts of wind can also periodically occur which will reduce the player temperature, this number is multiplied by player wetness.
Seasonal Variants
Each season should have a random chance to occur with added weather difficulty and strategies. Using the added mechanics proposed above every season would have a Normal, Mild, and Harsh variant. Normal would stick to how things currently are with no new mechanics or only mechanics that are introduced as part of a season refresh.
The rainometer and thermostat buildings should be built in order to properly forecast which type of weather variant will occur during the season. Or be merged with a new all in one forecasting station that includes new seasonal mechanics such as gusts of wind and blizzards. For example, high precipitation, high windfall, and low temperature would categorize the incoming winter as harsh. A harsh winter would be more prone to blizzards, more snowfall, and more wind, with a temperature that is colder than your usual winter, meaning while venturing from your base you may need to wear proper winter clothing instead of slapping on a tamo and calling it done. A mild winter on the other hand, while having increased snowfall might not be as cold temperature wise. Harsh springs might be more prone to thunderstorms. Exclusive bosses could also be tied to harsh variants, or simply given new moves and stats to current seasonal bosses.
The variant system could either be implemented so that all year 1 weather is normal and then variants are introduced starting on year 2, or be random from the start. However, If I know anything about this community the answer is always a toggle.
In conclusion, I think its time we look at adding interesting mechanics and gameplay to existing base game content. If the farming rework has proven anything its that there is a popularity and demand for this type of content.