Kelvin is still absolutely useless

[Mordiicai]

Saw they had an update and decided to play the game again. I mostly like the game but jesus f'ing christ is kelvin the most useless thing I think I've ever seen in a game. His gather range is so small I just kill him at the start of every playthrough because he just annoys the piss outta me. I can literally cut down a dozen trees, make sure the logs are fairly close to my build spot, tell him to go get the logs (while they're in sight), and he just shrugs like there's nothing there. Instead of a raft how about making kelvin not an absolute waste of space in the game. Just damn remove the character, it would be better than having him. That alone makes me want to stop playing because he doesn't do the one ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ thing he's supposed to be there for. So dumb, wtf devs.

Edit: I skimmed over some of the patch notes. Some helpful changes to kelvin but also and I simply just copy pasted this. "Kelvin now has blood and wetness support on all his outfits instead of just the default". I seem to remember the way kelvin works being a problem throughout the early access and the launch. A year later and instead of fixing that they just.....fix the blood and "wetness". How utterly disappointing.

[Maviba]

He's very usefil for me, especially when we work together.

For example: when being in base, I tell him to collect logs and filling the holders.
I go chopping trees via chain saw, and send them towards base via zip line.
Kelvin collects them and carries the to the storage.
All of Those log holder are filled in no time.

He also does pretty well when finishing blueprints or maintaining the base, while I'm exploring the island.

Sure, Kelvin is still doing Kelvin things from time to time, but I like him.

[Mordiicai]

Originally posted by Ozzys_Dad:

Originally posted by Mordiicai:

That is a ridiculous notion. It's a video game with incredibly unrealistic, grotesque creatures. You can't have both hyper realism and super fantastical elements at the same time. It doesn't mesh well. It's also, is say it with me...frustrating. Pick one. You should want better for the games you enjoy.

It doesn't frustrate me though. Why can't they have both? It is a game after all and it is the game they wanted to make. Why make him have a brain injury in the first place? Because that's what they wanted to do.

You are so lost my dude. I wont apologize for wanting a game to improve. The fact remains that having kelvin bring you materials is mostly useless. Whether it's by design or not also cannot be said. It could be a bug but we don't know that. Your attitude of "oh its fine it's totally intended because real life brain injuries are the same" is absolutely asinine. You should want better for your media and hold people accountable.

[Ozzys_Dad]

Originally posted by Mordiicai:

Originally posted by Ozzys_Dad:

It doesn't frustrate me though. Why can't they have both? It is a game after all and it is the game they wanted to make. Why make him have a brain injury in the first place? Because that's what they wanted to do.

You are so lost my dude. I wont apologize for wanting a game to improve. The fact remains that having kelvin bring you materials is mostly useless. Whether it's by design or not also cannot be said. It could be a bug but we don't know that. Your attitude of "oh its fine it's totally intended because real life brain injuries are the same" is absolutely asinine. You should want better for your media and hold people accountable.

Nothing is perfect. Games included. If I like a game, I adapt and deal with it. If they tweak things that's fine too. I have no idea if all his quirkiness is intended or not. You are entitled to your opinion. Others are free to give their opinion and agree with you quitting if it frustrates you that much. I prefer to use him in ways that aren't frustrating. That was my point. You just seemed to focus on someone agreeing that you should quit if you are that frustrated. Anyway. I will let you get back to being frustrated or quitting if that's what you decide to do.

[Mordiicai]

Originally posted by Ozzys_Dad:

Originally posted by Mordiicai:

You are so lost my dude. I wont apologize for wanting a game to improve. The fact remains that having kelvin bring you materials is mostly useless. Whether it's by design or not also cannot be said. It could be a bug but we don't know that. Your attitude of "oh its fine it's totally intended because real life brain injuries are the same" is absolutely asinine. You should want better for your media and hold people accountable.

Nothing is perfect. Games included. If I like a game, I adapt and deal with it. If they tweak things that's fine too. I have no idea if all his quirkiness is intended or not. You are entitled to your opinion. Others are free to give their opinion and agree with you quitting if it frustrates you that much. I prefer to use him in ways that aren't frustrating. That was my point. You just seemed to focus on someone agreeing that you should quit if you are that frustrated. Anyway. I will let you get back to being frustrated or quitting if that's what you decide to do.

Because your point is flawed. Your opinion on the matter is that A: I should just quit then (which is foolish if you want your game to flourish). B: That it doesn't frustrate you, therefor isn't a problem. The issues with that are as follows.

If you look at it from a new player experience, what is a new player likely to do? Probably to try and have the mechanic work for them instead of the tedium of the gathering and building. Mind you I like the way the building works, I think it leaves a lot of room for creativity even if it doesn't work like I think it should every time. However, it cannot be denied that the gathering and building is very tedious. Sure once you're far enough in the game and have discovered enough you could set up a zip line and have that do most of the work for you, but is a new player going to know about that? You could also play through the game without even building a base, the resources are so plentiful that as long as someone is paying even a little bit of attention then they're most of the time fully stocked on essential items. No need even really to build anything. However, I never play a game the way the "meta" way to play is. I think that takes away the experience of the game in question (any game really, even something like DnD or pathfinder). My goal is to improve the game for everyone and to make sure its community can grow, not reduce its community by telling people to quit if they don't like one element (again a foolish thing to suggest). MY assumption/opinion on the mechanic is that they were not just trying to add a cool new brain damaged character (which is objectively untrue, there is literally no character, only mechanic) but that they were trying to improve upon the first game by reducing the amount of time and tedious nature of the games gathering/building system. So if I'm correct in my assumption then the mechanic doesn't work like it should. Which is my entire issue with it to begin with, instead of removing the tedium it almost adds to it with the frustration of trying to get the new mechanic to work properly.

[TheCroPrince]

Originally posted by Mordiicai:

Saw they had an update and decided to play the game again. I mostly like the game but jesus f'ing christ is kelvin the most useless thing I think I've ever seen in a game. His gather range is so small I just kill him at the start of every playthrough because he just annoys the piss outta me. I can literally cut down a dozen trees, make sure the logs are fairly close to my build spot, tell him to go get the logs (while they're in sight), and he just shrugs like there's nothing there. Instead of a raft how about making kelvin not an absolute waste of space in the game. Just damn remove the character, it would be better than having him. That alone makes me want to stop playing because he doesn't do the one ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ thing he's supposed to be there for. So dumb, wtf devs.

Edit: I skimmed over some of the patch notes. Some helpful changes to kelvin but also and I simply just copy pasted this. "Kelvin now has blood and wetness support on all his outfits instead of just the default". I seem to remember the way kelvin works being a problem throughout the early access and the launch. A year later and instead of fixing that they just.....fix the blood and "wetness". How utterly disappointing.

I dont know why its bothering you so much... sounds like your injecting personal issues into this game.

[Apokryph]

For me, Kelvin is useful most of the time, but of course, he still needs improvement. I had to get used to the commands first. I always use the command to place some logs, stones, or fish in a specific location, and he does it quickly with some small breaks. After a while, I have a lot of materials to build with or eat. It’s a great idea to have an NPC like that, especially for single-player.

I bet the devs will work on the other bugs in the future. Be a bit more patient. I’m sure the developers are trying to do their best. You can’t work on every feature at once. It’s better to prioritize and take your time.
I’m a developer myself and like the game so far! Looking forward to the future features! 🤩

[distantlight]

Yeah, definitely: if you use the command "get logs and drop here" that seems to work WAY better than any other command. Then you'll at least have a big pile of logs instead of some random behaviour.

[Mordiicai]

Originally posted by distantlight:

Yeah, definitely: if you use the command "get logs and drop here" that seems to work WAY better than any other command. Then you'll at least have a big pile of logs instead of some random behaviour.

That's exactly the command that doesn't seem to function. All kelvin does is shrug his shoulders and stare at me.

[N o d L]

I dunno man, Doing a playthrough with a mate and been at it for absolutely ages now and my boy Kelvin is the only reason I like sons over the OG, Yeahh he is slow to get stuff and abit dumb but funny enough he has severe brain damage.

You seem to have a issue with Kelvin not running around super fast sprinting and such and been told if you want him to bring you stuff then make a holder then complain the holder isn't near where your build site is so it's almost like you should put the holder at said build site...

I made I think 8 huge log holders at my base n told Kelvin to fill em then left exploring for ages and came back to almost all 8 completely filled and he's honestly the only reason I play this game. He's legit funny and cute asf, Dumb as all hell but cute.

Found him under my stairs walking into em for 10min straight n tried to get him out and he just looked at me n gave me the thumbs up and my heart melted icl.

Your expecting wayyy too much and not even slightly comprimising for a character with brain damage and then getting shocked when in fact someone with brain damage ain't exactly all there

[Mordiicai]

Originally posted by N o d l:

I dunno man, Doing a playthrough with a mate and been at it for absolutely ages now and my boy Kelvin is the only reason I like sons over the OG, Yeahh he is slow to get stuff and abit dumb but funny enough he has severe brain damage.

You seem to have a issue with Kelvin not running around super fast sprinting and such and been told if you want him to bring you stuff then make a holder then complain the holder isn't near where your build site is so it's almost like you should put the holder at said build site...

I made I think 8 huge log holders at my base n told Kelvin to fill em then left exploring for ages and came back to almost all 8 completely filled and he's honestly the only reason I play this game. He's legit funny and cute asf, Dumb as all hell but cute.

Found him under my stairs walking into em for 10min straight n tried to get him out and he just looked at me n gave me the thumbs up and my heart melted icl.

Your expecting wayyy too much and not even slightly comprimising for a character with brain damage and then getting shocked when in fact someone with brain damage ain't exactly all there

I don't know how many times I need to repeat the same thing. First, building the log holders away from the build site completely negates the purpose of having him fetch things in the first place. Second, kelvin stares at me and does nothing. He isn't slow, or anything else. kelvin literally has an animation where when I give him the command to go get logs and drop them at my location he just looks around then shrugs his shoulders at me and does nothing. It's not like I haven't already gotten the logs close enough to the base that I just need him to get them while I build. They're close enough to where something is wrong with the game. I don't know how much more clear I can make this. I don't think that is how it is intended to work. Whether or not it's just my copy for some reason I couldn't say but I know that this is a known issue that has gone on for some time now. Read the rest of the comments man.

[onanonehand8]

Originally posted by Mordiicai:

Originally posted by N o d l:

I dunno man, Doing a playthrough with a mate and been at it for absolutely ages now and my boy Kelvin is the only reason I like sons over the OG, Yeahh he is slow to get stuff and abit dumb but funny enough he has severe brain damage.

You seem to have a issue with Kelvin not running around super fast sprinting and such and been told if you want him to bring you stuff then make a holder then complain the holder isn't near where your build site is so it's almost like you should put the holder at said build site...

I made I think 8 huge log holders at my base n told Kelvin to fill em then left exploring for ages and came back to almost all 8 completely filled and he's honestly the only reason I play this game. He's legit funny and cute asf, Dumb as all hell but cute.

Found him under my stairs walking into em for 10min straight n tried to get him out and he just looked at me n gave me the thumbs up and my heart melted icl.

Your expecting wayyy too much and not even slightly comprimising for a character with brain damage and then getting shocked when in fact someone with brain damage ain't exactly all there

I don't know how many times I need to repeat the same thing. First, building the log holders away from the build site completely negates the purpose of having him fetch things in the first place. Second, kelvin stares at me and does nothing. He isn't slow, or anything else. kelvin literally has an animation where when I give him the command to go get logs and drop them at my location he just looks around then shrugs his shoulders at me and does nothing. It's not like I haven't already gotten the logs close enough to the base that I just need him to get them while I build. They're close enough to where something is wrong with the game. I don't know how much more clear I can make this. I don't think that is how it is intended to work. Whether or not it's just my copy for some reason I couldn't say but I know that this is a known issue that has gone on for some time now. Read the rest of the comments man.

Set up a zip line, send your logs to your preferred spot.

The game is what it is. Call it bad design, because that will improve your experience, I guess.

[wildguy]

I've played solo games where i kill kelvin at the beginning of the game and i notice then how much he actually does and how much i hate gathering sticks. On day 2 i pick my spot for the base and make 8-10 stick holders and tell him to fill them before i leave. 2 days later when i return they are full. I'll put down blueprints (using maintain base) like the large log storage or blueprints for storage shelves etc , some are in my base that's usually about 4-5 levels high that he can't access because you have to climb a rope or use a zipline and he will complete them if he has access to the materials. he can do repairs that we can't even see (unless of course he's faking it).

He can be annoying at times but the benefits definitely outweigh the annoyance. Why would you want to have him removed from the game when you can remove him yourself if you want at the beginning? this makes no sense, If you don't like him then don't use him....see, no programming needed, it's already done. Not sure how killing him off effects the story part of the game as i only completed the story once and he was alive in that game when i did it.

[Irrsinn]

Kelvin is special, please be kind to him

[Zeus]

The guy suffered a massive head wound. Cut him some slack.

[kplsouthern_cider]

bro why every one hatin on kelvin hes got brain damage leave him be maybe thats why the devs do nothing about it cuz it goes with his broken brain