Temporal Storm experence improvements

[AzraelWalker]

I quite like the temporal storms and their mechanics, but I have a few suggestions for improving the all round experience of them from a game play perspective

Give some way of telling when they are coming:

At the moment the only way you tell how long until the next storm is to run the /nexttempstorm command, which is a bit immersion breaking. My personal headcannon is that storms mess up the working of clocks (or clockwork items anyways) so by building one of these you can tell roughly how far away a storm is by how screwy it is acting. Im thinking 3 tiers, a crude one made from wood in the stone age, a metal one, and a precision one only createable by the clockmaker class. Easiest way to implement these would be to have the player click on them and it runs a script that looks at how long until the next storm, if its more then 24 or 72 in-game hours respectively for the crude and metal ones you get a vague message like "it doesn't look like a storm is close". For the curde one if you are under 24 hours, and for the metal one if you are under 72 hours, you get increasingly more accurate messages the closer until the storm hits ("There is a storm approaching" "You expect the storm to hit in the next day or so" "There is going to be a storm today" etc). The precision one just runs the /nexttempstorm command and gives you its output. Harder way to implement this would be to make these tick like an actual clock, with the tick increasing in intensity or starting to sound wrong as the storm approaches.

Build up

I feel like by creating some kind of "weather front" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_front) not only would you give the player some more warning about when they are approaching, but it would also add to the amount of dread they inspire in players. From when the in game warning pops up (the one in the chat box that says "A <strength> temporal storm is approaching") you are considered in the front of the storm and a number of effect start happening around the player that increase in intensity up until the storm itself hits. These could be things like:

• The gears that appear in the skybox start fading in over this time rather then just popping up out of nowhere when the storm hits
• Your temporal gear indicator on the UI starts getting streaks of red rust on it
• You get a really mild bending and warping effect, much less then during the storm itself but still noticable
• The skybox starts "glitching" with the Rust World overlay flickering in and out
• You can hear the mechanical sounds that normally emit from rifts faintly at all times, getting louder as the storm approaches

 

[LadyWYT]

Welcome to the forums!

11 minutes ago, AzraelWalker said:

Give some way of telling when they are coming:

I mean, we do get a couple of warning messages when a storm is inbound. But I get what you're saying. A more immersive way to check would be nice, especially if you haven't played on a world for a while and have forgotten when the last storm was. I like the clock idea, and it would be a really good fit for the game, I think. Perhaps in a future update that improves the late-game tech, we'll get one.

13 minutes ago, AzraelWalker said:

The gears that appear in the skybox start fading in over this time rather then just popping up out of nowhere when the storm hits

I actually prefer the gears popping up out of nowhere. The temporal storms pack more punch when they fade in and out quickly. I'll also note that not every storm has visible gears either--it needs to be a moderate or stronger storm in order for the gears to be visible.

15 minutes ago, AzraelWalker said:

Your temporal gear indicator on the UI starts getting streaks of red rust on it

Oooo, I never even thought of this. Some cracks or streaks of rust would be an interesting way to handle it.

18 minutes ago, AzraelWalker said:

You get a really mild bending and warping effect, much less then during the storm itself but still noticable

Much like the gears, I think this one is best left confined to the duration of the storm itself.

19 minutes ago, AzraelWalker said:

The skybox starts "glitching" with the Rust World overlay flickering in and out

Same as above--best kept as a storm effect.

19 minutes ago, AzraelWalker said:

You can hear the mechanical sounds that normally emit from rifts faintly at all times, getting louder as the storm approaches

This one would be okay. The sounds already start to play if your stability drops too low, so if they start to play when you're at/near full stability, that should be a strong clue that there's something amiss.

[Booker42]

maybe your temporal stability bar could change color or have an additional indicator? also a nice option might be to have on your character sheet the date of the last storm as well as the frequency (helpful for mp games)

Edited March 2, 2025 by Booker42

[Never Jhonsen]

Something I have always wanted, is instead of a chat notification, we’d have to build a device that can detect the oncoming storm.

The Rift Ward was a wonderful addition, but imagine if you could make a similar device that would start spinning when a Temporal Storm was approaching? And then when the temporal storm was imminent then the skybox could have some subtle reflections of that. It’s always felt weird to me how abrupt the storms started and stopped.

 

I do like some of the other suggestions laid out here as well, I just wanted to add in my personal longtime vision

[DUCATISLO]

I want better loot drops

[AzraelWalker]

18 hours ago, Never Jhonsen said:

Something I have always wanted, is instead of a chat notification, we’d have to build a device that can detect the oncoming storm.

The Rift Ward was a wonderful addition, but imagine if you could make a similar device that would start spinning when a Temporal Storm was approaching? And then when the temporal storm was imminent then the skybox could have some subtle reflections of that. It’s always felt weird to me how abrupt the storms started and stopped.

 

I do like some of the other suggestions laid out here as well, I just wanted to add in my personal longtime vision

My initial conception for this was something like the rift ward, but I feel like a clock is both more thematic (it its a temporal storm after all), and also could potentially have other uses - like actually chiming the hour (maybe every 6 in-game hours?) or being used as an alarm (so regardless of when you go to sleep you can wake up an exact time)

Edited March 3, 2025 by AzraelWalker

[Medved7]

On 3/2/2025 at 6:35 PM, Never Jhonsen said:

Something I have always wanted, is instead of a chat notification, we’d have to build a device that can detect the oncoming storm.

The Rift Ward was a wonderful addition, but imagine if you could make a similar device that would start spinning when a Temporal Storm was approaching? And then when the temporal storm was imminent then the skybox could have some subtle reflections of that. It’s always felt weird to me how abrupt the storms started and stopped.

 

I do like some of the other suggestions laid out here as well, I just wanted to add in my personal longtime vision

I once suggested a bell that could be forged from metal, say, and add details from a monster bell from caves to it, and when a storm approached, it would start ringing, amplifying the ringing. but it doesn't seem to fit because, firstly, you can't take such an object with you on the road, and secondly, the sound must spread far away otherwise you won't hear it, and this may interfere with someone.

[Zane Mordien]

100%, There needs to be something better than a chat notification. The damn thing fades away before I even notice it personally. I use a HUD mod just so I know when a storm is approaching. Heck it could be a simple as your stability gear starts to turn red and when it hits dark red the storm starts. 

[Maelstrom]

On 3/2/2025 at 6:54 PM, DUCATISLO said:

I want better loot drops

Two headed drifter.  

Once upon a patch release not so long ago there weren't such wealthy mobs.  Storms would net you some flax and maybe a couple of rusty gears for all the nightmare drifters that were slain.