I love this game but I HATE the Farm Arrays.

[Hammershaft]

I love this game and it has provided some of the most amazing gameplay moments I've had in years, but it really is at its worst when I'm faced by a linear bottleneck that can be completely screwed up by the emergence that makes Rain World's best areas so great. Right now I'm trying to get on those antlers but the creatures never seem to come over, even when I drop or throw the red plant to lure them. Sometimes they'll come on screen and then just turn around, and other times I'll just be picked off by a bird I have absolutely no cover to hide from. The bird and the antler creature don't interact at all and so this area feels the least like an ecosystem and the most like a linear sequence with an arbitrary fail at a dice roll.

More stuff like the Wastes and Chimney Canopy please Devs! Those were some of the best times I've had gaming in years! Less stuff like Farm Arrays and Drainage system. These linear challenge sequences are on their own less unique, strategically interesting, and fun, but when combined with bad luck can be absolutely infuriating. I've probably wasted over an hour trying to get the antlers creature to even spawn or come over and is really souring my love for this game.

[Hammershaft]

I just stood there waiting with a red plant for 10 minutes and nobody showed up and I died from the rain >:(

[Hammershaft]

Once again I waited 10 minutes only for a bird to swoop down and I drown avoiding it. imo there's no reason for a bird to be here. What does the bird even feed on? What am I supposed to do if I'm on flat ground? This area frankly feels like a broken slog.

[Hammershaft]

This time I finally found one and was riding it but a bird came and snatched me on the antlers. >:(

[Hammershaft]

The last 3 times I've tried it the bird has spawned every time and the antlers is nowhere in sight. There is so dumb there is nothing from any other game I can compare this. This is like waiting 10 minutes to roll a dice, and if the dice rolls 1 - 5 I lose a rank and have to try again.

Devs, I love your game and your devlog, but this here is just stupid and is honestly souring the whole game for me. Every single one of my friend would have given up and uninstalled an hour ago.

Even amongst people who really love this game, it seems everybody on this forum is really disliking the linear bottleneck areas. More Chimney Canopy and Industrial Area in whatever you do next please, and way less Farm Arrays and Underwater section.

[Hammershaft]

At this point if I don't see the antlers upon the reaching the area I kill myself. I've killed myself 4 times and not seen him once, but I've seen the bird twice.

Please consider patching this so that the antlers stays at the lake and drinks until you get on his antlers.

[Cyanity]

Are you 100% sure that what you're doing is necessary? Otherwise this sounds like a nightmare.

[Normal Primate]

Just a question! What are you referring to by "red plant" here? There might be some misinformation leading you astray!

[Hammershaft]

Not the bat plant but the explosive plant that is native to the area. I don't think my experience is normal at all (I might be extremely unlucky) but it really does feel broken. I see the bird at least 3x more than I see the antlers creature. Thanks for the quick reply.

Edit: Now if I use the smoke puff plant antlers will usually come, but the bird always comes first. why u do dis normalprimate?

[bears]

At a certain point you just gotta keep throwing yourself in a direction until the odds start to favor you. It took me a pretty disgusting number of tries to make my way across the farm arrays because because a certain pipe kept spitting me out at the bottom of a pit with 2 or 3 lizards fighting inside of it 100% of the time. I JUST managed to make it to the subterranean, and I've got no idea what 'chimney canopy' or the underwater section is, so I guess I've got a good deal more exploring to do

[Hammershaft]

SUCCESS!!!! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ FINALLY!

The bird came first as always, but I was expecting it so I brought a spear. I ducked underwater and then popped up right beside it, hit it in the wing, and then ran through the first red leechgrass. I can usually make it through the first leechgrass but never the second. The bird chased me even tho its usually wary of the grass and got pulled in and digested after a struggle. Then as the grass receded I ran back and waited, antlers (praise RNGesus) came. An insane moment that reminded why I love this game but I still have a sour taste in my mouth.

I seriously reccomend that this area be tweaked so that:
1) A puffer plant spawns at the start of the leechgrass field to hint to players to grab it.
2) Antlers spends longer at the water and moves faster over the grass.
3) The lake room has some kind of roofing that prevents the bird from coming.


@Goon, I know exactly what you're talking about re the 3 lizards. I think because greens can't climb over the pit walls on the side there is a contrast between how the offscreen simulation works and the actual gameplay and so the lizards end up right at the pipe always fighting. I wasn't too worried because fighting lizards are usually very distracted and so I crawled in under them. I found that hard though because of how far the habitat was at the end, even though I was in a full sprint I barely made it before rainfall.

[Normal Primate]

Originally posted by Hammershaft:

Edit: Now if I use the smoke puff plant antlers will usually come, but the bird always comes first. why u do dis normalprimate?

Pure cruelty Im afraid. Note: That route is quite a shortcut, so its intended to be pretty challenging! But I'll look into tweaking how much the Vultures like it. Also just so you dont get re-stuck, its the *puffs* the do the trick with the Deer. Plus you can pop it and then leave the room if necessary. Deer will come to where their treats are whether you are there or not!

[Hammershaft]

Wait! It's a shorcut?? The second antler section is a shortcut? I was sure it was the only way!

My problem with it is really that it isn't 'challenging' as much as completely outside of the players control. If you had lined the place with spears every spawn and had a few elevated platforms so that I could be expected to fight the Vulture then it would be be challenging, but as it is I really just got incredibly lucky and had enough platforming skills to take the opportunity.

Edit: Now I'm in the next place and I remember why I love this game again.