Proper Weather Implementation
Not Enough Votes
When weather is introduced I want the devs to avoid making common mistakes found in other games.
- Weather needs to be dynamic and not static — meaning the weather changes in the moment as it's happening.
- Weather needs to vary in intensity — meaning I should not always get the same type of weather. Sometimes I should have light rain/snow and other times, medium, and other times a big storm. And the intensity can even change since the above applies (weather is dynamic).
- Weather needs to vary in duration — I should not always be getting the same duration weather. Weather as it varies in intensity and this changes in the moment due to being dynamic, should also vary in duration.
- Weather needs to vary in frequency. I should not have a 3 day storm like in Valheim, and always at a moment when I am trying to build and see what I am doing. Storms should appear in a way where they can be somewhat predictable (Weather station) or visual cues, but also in a frequency that is not too annoying.
- We need the ability to predict the weather slightly, perhaps by building a dish and weather station.
- We need world settings to change weather values.
- Lastly we need the devs to focus on different types and ranges of weather: Snow, heavy snow, hail, light snow, rain, heavy rain, light rain, torrential rain, hurricanes potentially (so massive planetary storm), rainbows, isolated showers, sand storms, mini tornadoes, lightening/energy storms, and possibly acidic rain or radiation storms, and everything in between. Adding a second cloud layer can also help with the visuals.
I believe weather can be interesting and add to survival without having to be annoying if proper time is spent on implementing the feature.
I like this feedback
Weather and its effects should cover a larger area, at least several kilometers, not just "ten meters around the player," as is the case in many games.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should behave "randomly" in the sense that they do not "pursue the player" – they arise "somewhere," move across the landscape in a random direction (or along a certain path), and disappear somewhere else.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should also have an impact on the environment and on (as yet non-existent) animals.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should recur at reasonable intervals, not "three times an hour"... Not even during "storm season."
Sure, the weather on other planets may be wilder than on good old Earth, but the weather should correspond to other conditions on the planet. And possible plants and animals should correspond to the natural conditions on the planet.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Weather and its effects should cover a larger area, at least several kilometers, not just "ten meters around the player," as is the case in many games.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should behave "randomly" in the sense that they do not "pursue the player" – they arise "somewhere," move across the landscape in a random direction (or along a certain path), and disappear somewhere else.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should also have an impact on the environment and on (as yet non-existent) animals.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should recur at reasonable intervals, not "three times an hour"... Not even during "storm season."
Sure, the weather on other planets may be wilder than on good old Earth, but the weather should correspond to other conditions on the planet. And possible plants and animals should correspond to the natural conditions on the planet.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
I want weather (rain/snow) to appear on the windows and blocks, snow and rain accumulation.
I want weather (rain/snow) to appear on the windows and blocks, snow and rain accumulation.
Weather should absolutely have an impact on gameplay other than "oh, the magic fog increases, let's spend half an hour waiting in the basement for the visibility to come back so the game becomes playable again".
A storm implies winds, wind implies some sort of aerodynamics implementation that alters the flight model in atmosphere and allows for immersive handling disturbance.
Volumetric stormy clouds could also interfere with electromagnetic fields, with a chance of disabling the powergrid of careless ships flying through them for example.
What's even more important to consider is a way to solve problems caused by weather, via interesting gameplay design, as to offer opportunities for the player to not just undergo the situation, but instead actively find solutions to counter it or even benefit from it.
Bad visibility ? Add a thermal camera bloc to your vessel, maybe you can loot or fabric a compact one for the engineer as well.
Heavy winds ? Choose wisely the shape and weight of your vehicle, and build a hangar for the fragile ones.
Heavy rains ? You could benefit from it by collecting it in your water tanks.
Thunderstorms ? Could be fun to actually take the risk and collect that sweet energy for some sort of late game sci fi super weapon
Acid rains ? Maybe it could exist on late game planets, making the use of heavy armor and the loot of a special suit nearly mandatory for deep exploration.
And of course it would be nice, as said by the op, to actually be able to build a weather station for weather data collect and forecast in a planet's region. That's another engineering challenge to add depth to the planet gameplay.
I think my ideas aren't that far fetched for a game that already offers planetary scaled volumetric clouds and (soon) water. I also think there is so much more that could be done, if the weather is treated as a substantial gamedeign element instead of a basic eye candy like many games do.
But what do you guys think ?
Weather should absolutely have an impact on gameplay other than "oh, the magic fog increases, let's spend half an hour waiting in the basement for the visibility to come back so the game becomes playable again".
A storm implies winds, wind implies some sort of aerodynamics implementation that alters the flight model in atmosphere and allows for immersive handling disturbance.
Volumetric stormy clouds could also interfere with electromagnetic fields, with a chance of disabling the powergrid of careless ships flying through them for example.
What's even more important to consider is a way to solve problems caused by weather, via interesting gameplay design, as to offer opportunities for the player to not just undergo the situation, but instead actively find solutions to counter it or even benefit from it.
Bad visibility ? Add a thermal camera bloc to your vessel, maybe you can loot or fabric a compact one for the engineer as well.
Heavy winds ? Choose wisely the shape and weight of your vehicle, and build a hangar for the fragile ones.
Heavy rains ? You could benefit from it by collecting it in your water tanks.
Thunderstorms ? Could be fun to actually take the risk and collect that sweet energy for some sort of late game sci fi super weapon
Acid rains ? Maybe it could exist on late game planets, making the use of heavy armor and the loot of a special suit nearly mandatory for deep exploration.
And of course it would be nice, as said by the op, to actually be able to build a weather station for weather data collect and forecast in a planet's region. That's another engineering challenge to add depth to the planet gameplay.
I think my ideas aren't that far fetched for a game that already offers planetary scaled volumetric clouds and (soon) water. I also think there is so much more that could be done, if the weather is treated as a substantial gamedeign element instead of a basic eye candy like many games do.
But what do you guys think ?
Weather and its effects should cover a larger area, at least several kilometers, not just "ten meters around the player," as is the case in many games.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should behave "randomly" in the sense that they do not "pursue the player" – they arise "somewhere," move across the landscape in a random direction (or along a certain path), and disappear somewhere else.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should also have an impact on the environment and on (as yet non-existent) animals.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should recur at reasonable intervals, not "three times an hour"... Not even during "storm season."
Sure, the weather on other planets may be wilder than on good old Earth, but the weather should correspond to other conditions on the planet. And possible plants and animals should correspond to the natural conditions on the planet.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Weather and its effects should cover a larger area, at least several kilometers, not just "ten meters around the player," as is the case in many games.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should behave "randomly" in the sense that they do not "pursue the player" – they arise "somewhere," move across the landscape in a random direction (or along a certain path), and disappear somewhere else.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should also have an impact on the environment and on (as yet non-existent) animals.
Storms and similar weather phenomena should recur at reasonable intervals, not "three times an hour"... Not even during "storm season."
Sure, the weather on other planets may be wilder than on good old Earth, but the weather should correspond to other conditions on the planet. And possible plants and animals should correspond to the natural conditions on the planet.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
I would like wind to have a direction. Landing pads in atmosphere could have a wind sock. There should be a device for measuring wind speed. Sailing should be a possibility.
I would like wind to have a direction. Landing pads in atmosphere could have a wind sock. There should be a device for measuring wind speed. Sailing should be a possibility.
I hope the devs see the value in building things in parts; like for example the weather station not just being a pre-assembled block, but maybe being a:
for: storm movement, rainfall, wind patterns, temperature, radar basically.
This would require weather actually affects the player so there are reasons to do this.
I hope the devs see the value in building things in parts; like for example the weather station not just being a pre-assembled block, but maybe being a:
for: storm movement, rainfall, wind patterns, temperature, radar basically.
This would require weather actually affects the player so there are reasons to do this.
The devs are currently working on weather so upvote if you want a better chance to see this thread:
I forgot to add the weather phenomenon of Aurora Borealis. But seems maybe the devs are considering adding this too!
The devs are currently working on weather so upvote if you want a better chance to see this thread:
I forgot to add the weather phenomenon of Aurora Borealis. But seems maybe the devs are considering adding this too!
The most important part is for the weather to have real impact on gameplay. Couldn't care less about weather that's just for show.
The most important part is for the weather to have real impact on gameplay. Couldn't care less about weather that's just for show.
A truly cautionary tale of how to get the weather, climate, and environment systems wrong in a game is No Man's Sky.
Storms come at ten-minute intervals, storm phenomena chase the player, storm phenomena have no effect on animals, various weather phenomena only occur in front of the player or their vehicle...More precisely, in front of the "camera" following the player.
And this is what a dust storm looks like from the outside...
The temperature conditions are also set to "crazy" and do not correspond to the environment at all. The game claims that the normal temperature on the planet is 130°C, yet it rains regularly and there are lakes with fish. Or, conversely, that the temperature is -100°C and animals are running around you, birds are flying, and there is no ice on the water...
Not to mention radioactive, fire, and acid storms...
Simply done badly and senselessly everything that could be done badly and senselessly.
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On the other hand, I understand the creators.
Sold 4M units with Average playtime around 52 hours, and median around 18-20 hours. ~20 000 active players
But...
SE1: 3,8M units sold, average playtime 110 hours but median only 13,8 hours and ~4500 active players (and ~7500 in "besť years")
SE2: 227k units sold, average playtime 7,1 hours and median 1,5 hours, 300 active players (starting peek 4000+)
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So players come, but only a few stay.
That's not important.
For the publisher, "two-day paying guests" who play for 30-50 hours and then leave are much more important than "permanent residents" with thousands of hours played, who just take up space and machine time on the servers.
So we, the residents, can argue and speculate here—the voice of the natives is irrelevant.
A truly cautionary tale of how to get the weather, climate, and environment systems wrong in a game is No Man's Sky.
Storms come at ten-minute intervals, storm phenomena chase the player, storm phenomena have no effect on animals, various weather phenomena only occur in front of the player or their vehicle...More precisely, in front of the "camera" following the player.
And this is what a dust storm looks like from the outside...
The temperature conditions are also set to "crazy" and do not correspond to the environment at all. The game claims that the normal temperature on the planet is 130°C, yet it rains regularly and there are lakes with fish. Or, conversely, that the temperature is -100°C and animals are running around you, birds are flying, and there is no ice on the water...
Not to mention radioactive, fire, and acid storms...
Simply done badly and senselessly everything that could be done badly and senselessly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the other hand, I understand the creators.
Sold 4M units with Average playtime around 52 hours, and median around 18-20 hours. ~20 000 active players
But...
SE1: 3,8M units sold, average playtime 110 hours but median only 13,8 hours and ~4500 active players (and ~7500 in "besť years")
SE2: 227k units sold, average playtime 7,1 hours and median 1,5 hours, 300 active players (starting peek 4000+)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So players come, but only a few stay.
That's not important.
For the publisher, "two-day paying guests" who play for 30-50 hours and then leave are much more important than "permanent residents" with thousands of hours played, who just take up space and machine time on the servers.
So we, the residents, can argue and speculate here—the voice of the natives is irrelevant.
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