Sticks & Stones

[General Curmudgeon]

I'm enjoying the game in spite of itself at the moment. I have a problem with game designs that don't respect the player's time and the amount of effort and time needed to get simple materials like sticks and stones in the early game is ridiculous.

Yeah, I know later on when you have a bunch of villagers you can have them gather for you, just like in Medieval Dynasty and Sengoku Dynasty. But both of those games have basic materials like sticks and stones just lying around for the player to scoop up as needed and you don't need a bat sonar power to spot a stick 3 feet away from you that fell off a tree you just cut down.

The ground cover is too thick and the ground texture is too dark (or maybe I should say the stick and bark textures are too dark) to spot much of anything that's not literally at your feet. The spawn rate of small stones once you move inland is pitiful, a single scan of an area might spot one or two widely separated stones. The only other option is to bang on a "rock clump" for what seems like forever (and seriously wears down your pick which you need stones to make) to get a handful of small stones and if you need more than that then you have to spend more time banging on the "big rocks" that dropped from the clump to get more.

I'd like to see this game succeed, but I really think a lot of the negative reviews are due to people getting smacked in the face by this early grind and putting the game down before they really get engaged in the village mechanics (and before the two hour Steam refund window is used up).

[DeathWave]

Press Z, surprise.

[Wimtzw]

Just for a little bit of additional information to your post. Small stones are more common around the beach area. And sticks and fiber you can get from small bushes without using any tools. These are usually still a bit close to the beach, or in open area's. But yeah, the game does somewhat push you to stay near the safe beaches for a little while eary in the game.

[s0laris]

Originally posted by General Curmudgeon:

I have a problem with game designs that don't respect the player's time and the amount of effort

Which survival game does that?

[Xenpo]

You literally need 2 villagers to gather those, 1 each. 1 more if you want a food gatherer too. That's 25 minutes of game time solo, less if you play with folks, which I don't always do.

[WafflesTime]

Press Z. You're welcome.

[General Curmudgeon]

I have been pressing z, thank you. I've also been harvesting sticks from dwarf spruces, but I've used up all the ones near my village and they can be hard to spot from a distance because there are other bushes that look similar.

What I'm was saying is that it shouldn't be necessary to spam the locator ability to find the most basic resources in the game or expend the same resources you're trying to harvest (sticks & stones used to make the tools) for a pitiful amount of them that are then easy to lose in the ground clutter unless you continue to spam z. To use the two games I mentioned earlier, both Medieval and Sengoku dynasties launched into EA with both of these resources more difficult to find/harvest and then they reversed themselves and made them much more abundant. Did that break the games? No, but it did make it easier for new players to get through the obligatory make an axe, make a campfire, make a shelter, phase that all of these games start with and actually get to the fun stuff.

I'm glad they seem to have increased tool durability from the demo, you spent half your time gathering sticks and stones to make new tools to gather sticks and stones slightly faster.

I don't know, maybe the devs are operating from the assumption that patches that give the player more go over better than patches that take things away. But in my opinion they started from too low a base point to the detriment of new players impressions of the game.

[Blyss]

I would just be happier is Z was a toggle instead of lasting a short while

[Addamz]

Originally posted by Wimtzw:

Just for a little bit of additional information to your post. Small stones are more common around the beach area. And sticks and fiber you can get from small bushes without using any tools. These are usually still a bit close to the beach, or in open area's. But yeah, the game does somewhat push you to stay near the safe beaches for a little while eary in the game.

I never stay near the spawn point, not after that first try. I literally run around the place collecting sticks,stones and fiber whilst looking for a cave somewhat near the water. I then check around it for good forestry, stone boulders, open land, spruces, wolves, rabbits and deer, not forgetting water sources to make into wells.

You can find plenty of stones in forests and you get them from farming Jotun blood too.

Originally posted by General Curmudgeon:

I have a problem with game designs that don't respect the player's time and the amount of effort and time needed to get simple materials like sticks and stones in the early game is ridiculous.

Literally easy as pie to get sticks and stones quite quickly, you just need to get out of that "must have them now, must build base instantly, must build tools" mentality.

Stop looking around where you spawn, sure grab any you see there but move on, search for a cave and collect stuff as you go. There is no hurry to plonk down roots without finding a good location first, and you can get all the early stuff at a calm and relaxed pace.

For reference, I searched 2 game days to find my location. By that time I had an inventory full of all tools (except torch) and extra sticks, 10 stone blades and extra stones, 20 ropes and extra fiber, my inventory was full. By winter I had 28 villagers and a thriving village. By spring, no deaths, still 28 villagers and building the next cottage for another 7.

My point is, you are stuck in this "other game design" mentality but you don't need to be.
Pretty much all mobs you can jog past, bit of a sprint when they gear up to hit you, and continue jogging. They only chase you so far before they give up. Literally all you need is a hearty laugh and loud "suck it" shouted back at them as you pass. And once you find the cave and a nice spot close by or around it, you will already have all you need to start your colony.