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[Christian]

Ha, so I was playing on a computer on campus and someone stopped and watched for like ten minutes. Complimented the art style and animations.
I thought that was pretty cool
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I find it odd that lizards can't swim, since crocs and all lot of other reptiles are good swimmers.

[fall_ark]

For rain signposting, I wonder if ambient wildlife might be a good way to go about letting you know how far away the rain is. I know that lizards are aware of the rain cycle and start heading home to their dens at a certain point, but perhaps there could be more stages than that, sort of like an environmental, biological timer. If 0 is the beginning, and 100 is the rain comes, then perhaps at 25 there's some sort of signal (anemone creatures start retracting, whatever), then at 50 (the point at which you should probably start heading home) there's another, and so forth.

I assume there will be audio cues for the rain. Like music turning to a higher tempo or a few distant thunders. Gradual biome reactions would definitely be great though.

[Christian]

Just in case you were wondering, yes, an unusually large swarm of leeches can even take down the mighty vulture

[Teod]

I have a question/suggestion. Can you hunt leeches with a spear? If you can't already, I think that would be a neat addition.

[Christian]

I have a question/suggestion. Can you hunt leeches with a spear? If you can't already, I think that would be a neat addition.

You can't aim spear throws, only left and right throws, so hunting leeches with spears would be tough. And really getting in the water with them is a last resort, since it only takes a few to weigh you down till you drown.

[theEasternDragon]

I have a question/suggestion. Can you hunt leeches with a spear? If you can't already, I think that would be a neat addition.

Leech sushi!

Also, @Christian, I like the idea of the rain not being seen. Part of my draw to rain world is the raw emotional attachment to it. The rain is something that will kill you, and when it does it will be very dark. Then you will be in intense pain, and then you will be dead. Again, wholeheartedly agree with and support this idea.

The vulture being able to fit into vents makes absolutely no sense to me. It is an apex predator, and on top of that it can go wherever you go, even the den. Beyond the blatant breaking of the laws of physics, I think this is unfair.

Anyway, just my 2.5 cents for the day.

[tortoiseandcrow]

I assume there will be audio cues for the rain. Like music turning to a higher tempo or a few distant thunders. Gradual biome reactions would definitely be great though.

That would also work. Though, since we were on the topic of accessible design earlier, it seems like it would be friendly to have visual cues for the deaf and hearing impaired.

[Christian]

I assume there will be audio cues for the rain. Like music turning to a higher tempo or a few distant thunders. Gradual biome reactions would definitely be great though.

That would also work. Though, since we were on the topic of accessible design earlier, it seems like it would be friendly to have visual cues for the deaf and hearing impaired.

Joar and James are already on the right track. The vulture's shadow and the way the world darkens and shakes as the rain approaches are two super-effective examples already in the game

[Teod]

The rain is something that will kill you, and when it does it will be very dark. Then you will be in intense pain, and then you will be dead.

If you lived there, how would you know that? You just know that something will kill (take?) you if you stay outside for too long, but you have no idea what it is, how it looks like and why it kills. Because it's not possible to see it and survive.

I think lack of visible rain on the "game over" screen can help to highlight this ambiguity.

[tortoiseandcrow]

I assume there will be audio cues for the rain. Like music turning to a higher tempo or a few distant thunders. Gradual biome reactions would definitely be great though.

That would also work. Though, since we were on the topic of accessible design earlier, it seems like it would be friendly to have visual cues for the deaf and hearing impaired.

Joar and James are already on the right track. The vulture's shadow and the way the world darkens and shakes as the rain approaches are two super-effective examples already in the game

The vulture shadow is so incredibly perfect. Every time I see it, I get that small frightened animal feeling. So yeah, Joar and James are definitely on the right track - I just wanted to point out that a sonic solution for the rain timer wouldn't necessarily solve the problem for everyone.

[RainWorldIsAwesome]

hey guys just wanted to point out that if you have a controller, (which i do but don't know how to use) and you go to the setup.txt file and change the player 2 line from "0" to "1" another slugcat spawns at the start, and its the same yellow one from way back, so now you can play with friends! it think... i don't know how screen scrolling would work though since i haven't tried it because i don't know how to use the remote but im interested if anybody could try and post the results, also managed to kill two lizards. the first one quite brutally.. http://i.imgur.com/06aHcT6s.jpg and the other image isnt wanting to download so ill post it later.

[Woodledude]

I've been thinking about the whole issue with the vulture going through the shortcuts, and I had a thought... It would be interesting if the vultures could get their necks stuck in the pipes and have to force themselves back out, and were consequently just a little bit wary of the shortcuts. I think it would be neat to be able to trick a vulture into chasing you into one shortcut, then circle around and be able to do what you wish in the room as it struggled to get free. 

[fall_ark]

I've been thinking about the whole issue with the vulture going through the shortcuts, and I had a thought... It would be interesting if the vultures could get their necks stuck in the pipes and have to force themselves back out, and were consequently just a little bit wary of the shortcuts. I think it would be neat to be able to trick a vulture into chasing you into one shortcut, then circle around and be able to do what you wish in the room as it struggled to get free. 

That's hilarious.

Also, vultures standing over/grabbing the entrance and trying to peck into the pipes would be a nice visual. Probably a pain to animate though.

Speaking of which... I just realized a huge part of the game is that the player can always see the whole map. It's something decided from the very beginning, but with creature interactions become more and more complex, it can feel a bit...unfair that our slugcat doesn't have to worry about running into a shortcut, only to emerge into a predator's mouth (or we realize the moment we get in the shortcut, anyway).

Rain World maps are probably structually too complex to force the player to have limited line of sight, but maybe inside pipe = fog of war over other creatures would be a nice compromise?

[gimymblert]

For some reason (obvious) this is how I hear the raining approaching in my head

That won't be like that in rainworld I guess

[jamesprimate]

Rain World maps are probably structually too complex to force the player to have limited line of sight, but maybe inside pipe = fog of war over other creatures would be a nice compromise?

we still have one game mechanic we'd like to explore that hasn't even begun to be implemented yet, and that's "darkness". the regions seen so far are all above ground or near surface subterranean where light is plentiful, but as you go much deeper into the ground the concept is similar to as you describe: a tighter, maze-like gameplay with limited visibility and lighting. BUT we haven't even tried it yet, so we'll see how it goes.

[Christian]

Rain World maps are probably structually too complex to force the player to have limited line of sight, but maybe inside pipe = fog of war over other creatures would be a nice compromise?

we still have one game mechanic we'd like to explore that hasn't even begun to be implemented yet, and that's "darkness". the regions seen so far are all above ground or near surface subterranean where light is plentiful, but as you go much deeper into the ground the concept is similar to as you describe: a tighter, maze-like gameplay with limited visibility and lighting. BUT we haven't even tried it yet, so we'll see how it goes.

Oh, man, just thinking of the weird subterranean creatures you guys could make...
A dark region has so much potential for creepy atmosphere, light and shadow, bioluminescence, etc.
Have you thought of what the region would be? Subway system? Catacombs? Catacombs could be cool because you could hint at the civilization before; Paris catacombs have everything from tombs to a Nazi bunker and an underground castle

[Teod]

we still have one game mechanic we'd like to explore that hasn't even begun to be implemented yet, and that's "darkness". the regions seen so far are all above ground or near surface subterranean where light is plentiful, but as you go much deeper into the ground the concept is similar to as you describe: a tighter, maze-like gameplay with limited visibility and lighting. BUT we haven't even tried it yet, so we'll see how it goes.

That would require a lot of mechanical changes. Even the main killing rain mechanic won't work well underground and has to be replaced with rapid flooding or something like that.
Visibility... For some reason I imagine it working like in cartoons: in the darkness you can only see the eyes. And there should be some multi-eyed predator to play on that. You walk slowly in the darkness, and then you see a whole bunch of eyes opening right in front of yours.

[Christian]

we still have one game mechanic we'd like to explore that hasn't even begun to be implemented yet, and that's "darkness". the regions seen so far are all above ground or near surface subterranean where light is plentiful, but as you go much deeper into the ground the concept is similar to as you describe: a tighter, maze-like gameplay with limited visibility and lighting. BUT we haven't even tried it yet, so we'll see how it goes.

That would require a lot of mechanical changes. Even the main killing rain mechanic won't work well underground and has to be replaced with rapid flooding or something like that.
Visibility... For some reason I imagine it working like in cartoons: in the darkness you can only see the eyes. And there should be some multi-eyed predator to play on that. You walk slowly in the darkness, and then you see a whole bunch of eyes opening right in front of yours.

Which is why perhaps not seeing the rain would work best. It would sidestep that inconsistency of seeing the Game Over rainfall underground or even now in Drainage System. The world rumbling from the thunder and approaching rain would still make sense underground and then the flooding/killing rain is left to your imagination, save for the sound or something

I'd love to see some creature that works like an angler fish, a predator that attracts poor slugcats to their doom with a tail or lure that looks like bats in the dark

[fall_ark]

That would require a lot of mechanical changes. Even the main killing rain mechanic won't work well underground and has to be replaced with rapid flooding or something like that.

Concurred. To be honest I'm not sure if an entire new map/region is worth the hassle right now. Though flooding in a dark level probably wouldn't be too difficult to implement. We already know slugcats don't swim, after all.

Another option for limited-visibility level would be actual fog or steam from still-running machines.

[theEasternDragon]

Something with multiple eyes sounds nice. Not sure about the angler idea. Maybe have bioluminescent plants; something you could pick and carry with you like a lamp. Possibly the creature that inhabits this realm could be momentarily "stunned" by the light, offering some kind of defense to you? Also, maybe some kind of restriction on carrying the plant above ground; it dies when exposed to daylight? The creature could be light sensitive as well. Catacombs sounds like a good idea, maybe have strange dysfunctional machines laying around. Maybe even some neon lights that still work.

While im on the subject, you guys already have a "suburban" region. Any plans for an "urban" one? I.e., skyscrapers? That could be a good place for most of the creatures to come Into contact.