Why does this game warn you?

[No' Name]

So, I started my first play through on single player yesterday, and when I made an axe immediately went down and tried to chop down a cactus, because technically it's not a tree, or at least in my eyes.

Upon chopping down said cactus, the fat dude in yellow came up to me, and said I was not allowed to cut down tree's. So the entire first character I had, I avoided chopping them down like the plague.

So today when I hopped on, I figured I wanted to test out Multiplayer, and so made a new character/town upon opening it up. Was easy enough to gather materials to make an axe, and Pickaxe, but it's what happened next that through me for a spin.

I had accidentally chopped down a cactus plant, and to my surprise, nothing happened.

So, I started a new single player game because I had to make sure it wasn't some silly exclusive thing to multiplayer, and after getting the exact same cutscene for chopping down a cactus, I continued to do so, and nothing happened! I spent so long chopping down bushes on my main file, just to realize I could have been chopping down the cacti all this time, rather than gathering wood one by one.

So why is it that the fat man in yellow warns you about this, and pretty much scares off people from chopping down Cactus plants in the first place? This seems like an insanely stupid warning, considering you've done nothing wrong in the first place.

This honestly should be changed, and or removed from the game, unless you chop down a "real" tree.

I'm glad I know better now though, I've pretty much spent 2 hours, in comparison to my other file's 7 hours, finding this out now.

[Frieren]

wow .. love your use of the word "fat" .... his name is Burgess and any trees/cactuses within city limits cannot be cut down ....

[No' Name]

Originally posted by KarmicRequiem:

wow .. love your use of the word "fat" .... his name is Burgess and any trees/cactuses within city limits cannot be cut down ....

Yes, that's great and all, but the cacti outside of the city limits can be. So, this warning is essentially useless, and a way to possible scare people away from chopping them down, because when he had told me about this, I assumed the one i cut down right outside of the town across the train tracks, was still INSIDE the town limits.

All i'm saying is they did a very poor job explaining this, and didn't really need the warning to begin with, if the ones within town can't even be cut down in the first place, due to no prompts on them. Players would normally assume they couldn't be cut down without the prompt.

[Endora]

Actually, it is forbiden, but if nobody see you you can do it.

I don't recomend it, though, because it will be recorded on your endgame report.

Besides, there is plenty of scrap wood, bushes and ball cactus (yep, the little baby cactuses aren't forbiden) to meet your needs and if not the Construction Junction and the Water seller also sells wood (it's not cheap though, I allways prefer the scrap above all else).

Edit; all the cactus that are on the initial area, and that counts the workshop and the savage limits, are counted as "trees" (don't ask me why) and thus forbiden - to a certain extend. If nobody sees it, there is no other problem besides the final statistics.

[Dimensional Traveler]

Originally posted by No' Name:

Originally posted by KarmicRequiem:

wow .. love your use of the word "fat" .... his name is Burgess and any trees/cactuses within city limits cannot be cut down ....

Yes, that's great and all, but the cacti outside of the city limits can be. So, this warning is essentially useless, and a way to possible scare people away from chopping them down, because when he had told me about this, I assumed the one i cut down right outside of the town across the train tracks, was still INSIDE the town limits.

The Sandrock city limits encompass basically the entirety of the butte it is on top of.

[Sketch Elder]

The game warns you so that nobody can complain they weren't warned.

[B Unit]

It would be nice for clarity if the city lines were shown on the minimap

[TyresTyco]

I thought cactus were okay. They only warn you one time. Burgress warned me when i touched one of the bigger trees near the town.. but never for some random cactus.

Boy do I was surprised when at some time near the endgame there is a moment where they tell you how many trees I cut down.. 36 or so .. I was like "wtf no I never did it once" but apparently cactus counts as a tree rofl.

[JVC]

The original plan was that the player misbehaving would have actual consequences. That bit either never made it or got scrapped very, very quickly during the game's first builds. So Burgess counts on people's morals keeping them from destroying the last bit of vegetation.

[Smartik1]

I found it annoying too. I made this mistake in the beta. I made it again at full release. A cactus is not a tree. If you want it to be included in the restriction, announce it when you arrive in the city (that you can't cut cacti either, not just trees).

It's also mentioned later in the game when the church guy accuses you of cutting trees. Burges says they saw you do it. Wouldn't have happened if you got the warning before doing it.

[Dimensional Traveler]

Originally posted by TyresTyco:

I thought cactus were okay. They only warn you one time. Burgress warned me when i touched one of the bigger trees near the town.. but never for some random cactus.

Boy do I was surprised when at some time near the endgame there is a moment where they tell you how many trees I cut down.. 36 or so .. I was like "wtf no I never did it once" but apparently cactus counts as a tree rofl.

As you get close to a plant you should see the name of the plant appear. If it says "Cactus Tree" or "Cactus Flower Tree" it is considered a tree.

[JVC]

Originally posted by Smartik1:

I found it annoying too. I made this mistake in the beta. I made it again at full release. A cactus is not a tree. If you want it to be included in the restriction, announce it when you arrive in the city (that you can't cut cacti either, not just trees).

It's also mentioned later in the game when the church guy accuses you of cutting trees. Burges says they saw you do it. Wouldn't have happened if you got the warning before doing it.

Originally the standing deadwood trees also counted as forbidden. Dunno if a dead tree's roots can technically still prevent desertification just a bit. In any case that got scrapped so all dead trees may be chopped down at will.

[Shift]

General rule is that anything you can actually activate a 'kick' command and gather things this way is forbidden. Anything that doesn't have a 'kick' command is okay.

Also, the MP version is set on a time period there wasn't a rule to avoid cutting down trees, so that's actually plain fridge logic.

[Claymorb]

This is hilarious.... I got the warning too and I've not cut down a single tree outside of town (deadwood aside). Then i got desperate for a Cactus Flower and was like "sorry here I go!" expecting a penalty and.... nothing.

I'm fine with flavor, to an extent, but I think the warning should only be on the BIG trees. I thought cacti were forbidden and I'm like 120 hours in or so...

[Endora]

Cacti is forbiden, but if nobody see you you'll be free.

[labskaus]

Well, there is a point in the game, where you will be judged by the amounts of tree you cut down. I never did it and tbh, you don't need to cut down wood, you'll get so much wood from the wood scraps and bushes, that i never found a reason to cut down actual trees.