A medium temporal storm is coming...

[DelToro95]

Hello!

I really like this game, it's slow-paced gameplay and I'd like to share one idea with you.

I think that the current notifications about temporal storms are dropping me out of immersion. When I'm out in the wild and the message drops - I know that from this moment I have a couple of in-game hours to return to my home, or dig a hole 2x1 and hide in it for a few minutes. It's like informative, not immersive.

It would be awesome to see the incoming temporal storm's subtle signs in the game world. I see it as a scaled (0 - 100) filter, that slowly increases it's value over time (from the time currently the Title message is displayed - 0% - until the message "Temporal storm is imminent" - let's say 60%. And to 100% very rapidly as the storm approaches). A few examples of how the environment could change:

1. Making the "temporal storm..." messages optional and turned off by default.
2. Flowers slightly loosing their color, or turning slightly brown/grey.
3. Snow, water and sky getting rusty, dirty. A few brown droplets in the rain.
4. Domesticated animals freaking out, trying to hide in small, covered places.
5. Wild animals trying to hide under trees or in caves
6. Windspeed raise. Maybe some special sounds like wind howling.
7. For the times we're underground - Monsters' eyes turning red and glowing. Maybe wind howling indoors.

When the storm is imminent - a distant brown lightnings and thunders.

...And after a storm - a slight recover. Not an instant return to spring blossom butterflies, but a 2-3 in-game hours of "recovery". Just like after a regular storm IRL.

In my opinion that would result in fantastic moments of sudden realisation and fear. Like "Funny how all those chickens have squeezed under this tree... Ohh shit, for how many hours I didn't notice that?"

I'm not a programmer but I know it's a lot of work... At the very basic level it may just be an all-screen filter that turns everything slightly brown, less saturated and more contrasty. But maybe it will inspire someone and someday... 

What do you think?

[Broccoli Clock]

I agree, but I would recognise the meta (of an approaching storm), the problem you have is for people who don't/won't and need that "head's up".

I've mentioned 7 Days to Die before on this forum, and there are similarities in that during an event (VS: temporal storm, 7 Days: blood-moon horde) both games act like tower defence. 7 Days more so because their mobs can actively damage structures, with VS it's more about hiding (or farming the mobs). The reason I mention 7 Days is that it has 2 different ways of informing you that this night is the blood moon. One of them is when you look at the time/day you are on, it's red after 08:00. You can disable this. The other is when it comes to 18:00, the sky turns red and there is thunder and lightning. The default blood moon trigger time is 22:00, giving you either 14 hours  or 4 hours (in game time) warning to get to your base/safe location. 

To summarise, I agree with your point, and I think it's best resolved by allowing you to disable either of the messages, and from there you either "raw-dog it" by having no warnings, or as you suggested (and in a similar way to 7 Days) having environmental cues.

[Maelstrom]

I like this idea, but therre should be similar visual/audio indications for those times someone is underground mining or caving where sky, flora and fauna aren't available for an indicator.  Additionally, programming the animal behavior would be an absolute biiiiii.... scuit!  I think it would be better to give some alternative video/audio indications.   Quick flashes of the sepia, a washed out rust look from the storm itself, a while later a bit of the audio from a storm.  Make those cues longer and more frequent until the storm hits.

[DelToro95]

Looks like there was a mod created just 9 days before I originally posted this... post.

Here's the link: https://mods.vintagestory.at/temporalsymphony

It's much more obvious than what I suggested above, but it's still very immersive and purely awesome.
Actually this creator SaltyWater made many cool mods that I'm using on my server right now. You should check him out!

Edited July 30, 2025 by DelToro95

[LadyWYT]

3 hours ago, DelToro95 said:

Looks like there was a mod created just 9 days before I originally posted this... post.

Here's the link: https://mods.vintagestory.at/temporalsymphony

It's much more obvious than what I suggested above, but it's still very immersive and purely awesome.
Actually this creator SaltyWater made many cool mods that I'm using on my server right now. You should check him out!

I think the mod does a great job of providing immersive cues, instead of needing to rely purely on text warnings. That being said, I think for the vanilla game, text warnings should always be an option to go with the environmental cues, that players can toggle on/off. Environmental cues can be easily missed, depending on circumstances, and there are some players that probably need the more blatant text warning in order to avoid getting caught off-guard.

[Devkrin]

All it needs is that it could come as lightning.

You're wandering around and suddenly you get a 0.5 second full blown temporal storm moment and then it disappears again. Teh it happens again until it stays ore something. Idc tho, I dohn't like those storms. I think they should've kept the stormy things for another dimension that you could enter. That would be really cool. That it happens in the over world is stupid, much like temporal instability above ground is stupid. I like the idea underground, I mean it's PERFECT underground. I mean, think about it, you're crawling in the dark Earth looking for minerals and it just slowly creeps up on you, you catch and run for the surface to get a breather and then go back down again - unless you're willing to risk it! Then you'll have to fight through a horde of halucinations - or are they?

 

Yeah, no. Temp Instability above ground is so stupid, annoying and dumb as are temp storms. Temp storms on the over world would be ok if you were able to summon some kind of end game boss from the rust dimension and with it came the temp instability - then it's cool again - and/or if they were extremely rare otherwise.

Online it's just annoying. As are the insane mob spawns (especially now with those stupid snipers) at night. I just hide and TAB out at night which kinda breaks the fun since al it does is take you OUT OF THE GAME instead of in it.

 

Not a fan.

 

I just think it's lazy design. It's easier to throw it OVER an already existing world than having to make a completely new one that you could enter. Oh well.

*TURNS OFF EVERYTHING, REMOVES ABOVE GROUND INSTABILITY REOMVES THOSE SNIPERS AND DISABLES ROCK THROWING FOR DRIFTERS*

Yep. The game is good again. Bye.

Edited July 30, 2025 by Devkrin