Bringing Balance to the Forage
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 4:09 amGreetings Salemites,
For those of you who remember the days of yonder there was once a time when finding foragables was a difficult and time consuming process. Partly because of the old walk speeds, but mostly because of the scarcity of the herbs in general. One of our very first patches attempted to correct this by GENEROUSLY increasing that rate. Later, we then increased the inventory so that not only were these herbs plentiful around you, the limit to how many you could carry was much less strict as well. I paint the picture of where we were simply so you can get an idea of why we felt this change was necessary. While we still feel strongly that "Original" Salem was too brutal, we feel that in the end we made things too lenient. By having 10+ 'good' things on every minimap screen it instead trivialized the entire aspect of foraging and in our opinion took an element out of what is arguably the 'first' experience players have with the game.
This patch, although small, is largely being separated off into its own thread so that you may post last-minute feedback on what is HOPEFULLY our final iteration to the foraging system. The new system now has even more foragables and things that you can gather on the ground, however, you will notice that the quality of these things is dramatically lower. The idea is that newer players will still be welcomed with plenty of things to gather and clicks to do while tromping around the new world, but will soon find that it takes more of a keen eye and provides a genuine level of excitement when something 'special' is indeed found amongst the clutter.
So without further ado.
Nice New Things
Players may now remove the stingers from Bees
Players may now make Swarm Darts
Players may now make Potent Swarm Darts
New Foragable: Fairy Wand
New Foragable: Lughnasadh Leaf
New Foragable: Mabon Leaf
New Foragable: Samhain Leaf
New Inspirational: Greenman's Leavings.
New Foragable: Hornet Nest
New Foragable: Tar Soaked Remains
New Foragable: Fern
New Foragable: Rotten Log
New Foragable: Daisy
New Foragable: Gneiss
New Inspirational: Cactus Cat
New Kritter: Squirrel
New Graphics
Whetstone now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Feathered brooch now has a unique ground effect when dropped.
Fluffy Stuffing now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Garlic Mashed POtatos has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Giant Aphid has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Hash browns has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Home Fries has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Ingot Mold has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
King Crabs now have a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Liverwort now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
New England dinner now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Petrified wood now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Potato Salad now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Shed Skin now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Twig N Berries now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Beauty and the Balance
Flowers have been rebalanced to better balance against the amount in which one can spam them.
Peyotes have been rebalanced to better balance against the amount in which one can spam them.
New World Gourd has been rebalanced.
Four Leaf Clover has been rebalanced.
Singing old Log has been rebalanced.
Cow Skulls have been rebalanced.
Honeysuckle Kudzu is no longer a food or an inspirational.
Autumn Grass now spawns far more in Grasslands.
Rare spawn foragables have been adjusted down to counteract the 'abundant' foragables that have been added to each biome.
Fixed a typo when digging clay.
Fixed an issue that was causing some crashes due to the Quetzalcoatl Constrict.
Corrected glutton value on Crusted Bluegill.
Caterpillars no longer enjoy myrtle leaves, but instead enjoy honeysuckle kudzu.
Tooltip added to reeds to make the ability to weave them together more clear.
Added a tooltip to tomato "Big Red".
Players may no longer plant Spooky Redcaps
New Sound Effect has been added for splitting blocks.
Flower Arrangements now take ferns.
Mini Update #1
*Small change to build tutorial menu to explain how to add items to the construction sign.
*Squirrel Pelts now correctly show on a drying frame.
*Squirrel Pelts can now be sold to the NPC vendors in town.
*Players may now pave with Gem Shards. (Graphic slighly off, will be fix'd after next restart).
Mini Update #2
*Returned Pavements to Normal
*Adjusted the Spawn rates of some herbs.
*Serpent Cape now requires more Quetzalcoatl Skins
*Carrying objects over a players head now drains more yellow bile than phlegm.
For those of you who remember the days of yonder there was once a time when finding foragables was a difficult and time consuming process. Partly because of the old walk speeds, but mostly because of the scarcity of the herbs in general. One of our very first patches attempted to correct this by GENEROUSLY increasing that rate. Later, we then increased the inventory so that not only were these herbs plentiful around you, the limit to how many you could carry was much less strict as well. I paint the picture of where we were simply so you can get an idea of why we felt this change was necessary. While we still feel strongly that "Original" Salem was too brutal, we feel that in the end we made things too lenient. By having 10+ 'good' things on every minimap screen it instead trivialized the entire aspect of foraging and in our opinion took an element out of what is arguably the 'first' experience players have with the game.
This patch, although small, is largely being separated off into its own thread so that you may post last-minute feedback on what is HOPEFULLY our final iteration to the foraging system. The new system now has even more foragables and things that you can gather on the ground, however, you will notice that the quality of these things is dramatically lower. The idea is that newer players will still be welcomed with plenty of things to gather and clicks to do while tromping around the new world, but will soon find that it takes more of a keen eye and provides a genuine level of excitement when something 'special' is indeed found amongst the clutter.
So without further ado.
Nice New Things
Players may now remove the stingers from Bees
Players may now make Swarm Darts
Players may now make Potent Swarm Darts
New Foragable: Fairy Wand
New Foragable: Lughnasadh Leaf
New Foragable: Mabon Leaf
New Foragable: Samhain Leaf
New Inspirational: Greenman's Leavings.
New Foragable: Hornet Nest
New Foragable: Tar Soaked Remains
New Foragable: Fern
New Foragable: Rotten Log
New Foragable: Daisy
New Foragable: Gneiss
New Inspirational: Cactus Cat
New Kritter: Squirrel
New Graphics
Whetstone now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Feathered brooch now has a unique ground effect when dropped.
Fluffy Stuffing now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Garlic Mashed POtatos has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Giant Aphid has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Hash browns has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Home Fries has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Ingot Mold has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
King Crabs now have a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Liverwort now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
New England dinner now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Petrified wood now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Potato Salad now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Shed Skin now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Twig N Berries now has a unique ground graphic when dropped.
Beauty and the Balance
Flowers have been rebalanced to better balance against the amount in which one can spam them.
Peyotes have been rebalanced to better balance against the amount in which one can spam them.
New World Gourd has been rebalanced.
Four Leaf Clover has been rebalanced.
Singing old Log has been rebalanced.
Cow Skulls have been rebalanced.
Honeysuckle Kudzu is no longer a food or an inspirational.
Autumn Grass now spawns far more in Grasslands.
Rare spawn foragables have been adjusted down to counteract the 'abundant' foragables that have been added to each biome.
Fixed a typo when digging clay.
Fixed an issue that was causing some crashes due to the Quetzalcoatl Constrict.
Corrected glutton value on Crusted Bluegill.
Caterpillars no longer enjoy myrtle leaves, but instead enjoy honeysuckle kudzu.
Tooltip added to reeds to make the ability to weave them together more clear.
Added a tooltip to tomato "Big Red".
Players may no longer plant Spooky Redcaps
New Sound Effect has been added for splitting blocks.
Flower Arrangements now take ferns.
Mini Update #1
*Small change to build tutorial menu to explain how to add items to the construction sign.
*Squirrel Pelts now correctly show on a drying frame.
*Squirrel Pelts can now be sold to the NPC vendors in town.
*Players may now pave with Gem Shards. (Graphic slighly off, will be fix'd after next restart).
Mini Update #2
*Returned Pavements to Normal
*Adjusted the Spawn rates of some herbs.
*Serpent Cape now requires more Quetzalcoatl Skins
*Carrying objects over a players head now drains more yellow bile than phlegm.