Thoughts on nerfing deserts

zed · 2018-05-01 15:46:27

Currently, a small patch of desert is all that's needed to provide some tiles
which are at near-optimal temperature. In a village with some such tiles,
fires and clothes lose much of their value.

(This also combines badly with the bug about temperature not updating when
moving (https://onehouronelife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=1131), but that's a
separate issue.)

I think this effect is too strong. Being able to find a sweet spot in the
desert where the food consumption rate is minimal should either be impossible,
or come at a cost.

One way to make it impossible is just to scrap deserts. That would be a shame.

Given the temperature system, the only other ways to make it impossible are to
scrap the idea that desert tiles output heat, and instead have them act the
same as any other non-arctic biome, or to add some other component to the food
consumption rate calculation which is worse in the desert - moisture level,
say. Having deserts not be hot would be odd, though, while adding a new
humidity system just for this sounds like a bad idea.

Alternatively, the way biome temperature works could be adjusted so that sweet
spots still exist but are a fair way into a desert, so for a village to make
use of them it has to pay the cost of having a large desert where more
productive land could otherwise be. This could be combined with nerfing cacti,
and maybe forbidding farming on desert tiles, to increase that cost.

Glancing over the code, it looks like the simplest way to implement this might
be to adjust the grid heat output of a desert tile according to the
"secondPlaceGap" (the difference between the desert biome weighting and that
of the second highest biome in the vector produced by the map generation).

A different implementation could be to directly take a sum of biome
temperatures weighted according to this vector, so even tiles which aren't
sufficiently desert/arctic to be drawn as such would get some temperature
effects. That sounds trickier to balance though - I don't know if it could be
tweaked so that inner deserts are overly hot while non-desert areas remain
cold.

Lily · 2018-05-01 15:50:35

I don't think it is a huge problem, since it basically requires you to stand there and do nothing. If you take the time to find the ideal location, and then just sit there doing nothing, it shouldn't be an issue that you don't get hungry as quickly. It does semi negate fires, but fires are also used for a lot of other stuff besides warmth, so it isn't a big deal.

FabFatFish · 2018-05-01 16:03:36

Lily wrote:

It does semi negate fires, but fires are also used for a lot of other stuff besides warmth, so it isn't a big deal.

I agree with this. My opinion is that we should be able to inhabit more places and you could run through the snow biomes and find a group of eskimos.
If every biome was eventually a viable spot to live in, it could allow us to keep the idea that you have to move on from a town when the land is used up or if its in trouble.
Living in a desert or a snow biome would mean that you would have to bring a cart of supplies (warmth or something to negate the warmth) so that you must have had a start in a green biome and moved on. You could then make igloos or plant more cacti etc.
So I don't think deserts should be nerfed, but maybe improving the heat system to constantly update instead of everytime you stop would solve the perfect heat tile problem and make clothes important.

Lily · 2018-05-01 17:25:39

That is funny, since I built a farm in a snow biome the other day. It was one of those weird overlap areas, it was all snow but had a ton of ponds in it, so was ideal for setting up a farm.

Desert towns are legit though if you cactus farm. Though since you have no control over cactus at the moment and can't plant, I wouldn't really call it unbalanced or anything. I wouldn't live in one just for the temperature, even if it can be nice some times.

YAHG · 2018-05-01 19:00:23

What if the biomes were a LOT larger so settlements were of different character in different places?

pein · 2018-05-02 02:50:50

jason nerfs two biomes from 25 to 15 no one bats an eye
now people ask to nerf desert
its too hot exept a few tiles, same bad for hunger

also snakes are there, green biome has no snakes

you cant live in full desert only on edges, clothes make you too hot, and you need to scavenge more for branches and rabbit.
a bit of buff for savannah wouldnt hurt, nothing changed lately, hunting started to fall out of updates

yvanhooe · 2018-05-02 04:34:34

Lily wrote:

I don't think it is a huge problem, since it basically requires you to stand there and do nothing. If you take the time to find the ideal location, and then just sit there doing nothing, it shouldn't be an issue that you don't get hungry as quickly. It does semi negate fires, but fires are also used for a lot of other stuff besides warmth, so it isn't a big deal.

Oh, I'll divulge that trick then :-) If you find the semi-desert tile where you are at perfect temperature and start running without stopping, you'll stay at this temperature. This negates the need for clothing explorers. If you happen to stop somewhere, just redo it at the next desert biome, it cant be that far.

Baker · 2018-05-02 04:56:51

No ones even mentioned the Cactus Fruits yet.

zed · 2018-05-02 16:05:13

I agree it isn't a huge problem, but I do think it's a significant blemish.

Currently having a small patch of desert is a big plus for a potential
settlement location. I've seen others express this opinion too. It provides a
natural place for childrearing, and an easy means to minimise food use when
there's a temporary famine. I've also seen suggestions that you build your
smithy along the edge of a desert.

My problem with it is that it feels like exploiting a glitch rather than a
natural part of the game.

What I'd like to see instead, as well as a gradual temperature gradient in
deserts as discussed above, is to have fires given a bump so they provide
significant warmth in a sizeable radius (even if that means standing too close
gets you burnt). Then fires would form a natural focus for activity.

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2018-05-01 15:46:27

Thoughts on nerfing deserts

#2 2018-05-01 15:50:35

Re: Thoughts on nerfing deserts

#3 2018-05-01 16:03:36

Re: Thoughts on nerfing deserts

#4 2018-05-01 17:25:39

Re: Thoughts on nerfing deserts

#5 2018-05-01 19:00:23

Re: Thoughts on nerfing deserts

#6 2018-05-02 02:50:50

Re: Thoughts on nerfing deserts

#7 2018-05-02 04:34:34

Re: Thoughts on nerfing deserts

#8 2018-05-02 04:56:51

Re: Thoughts on nerfing deserts

#9 2018-05-02 16:05:13

Re: Thoughts on nerfing deserts

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