Game Mechanics Bring the Terraria world to life

[gnut]

I think a Terraria world doesn't look really alive since trees never change color, there is no wind, raindrops don't splash when they hit the ground, etc. Here are my ideas on how to bring a Terraria world to life.
1. Seasons: Seasons should be added to the game, and they are determined by the player's device date and time (for instance, if the date and time on the player's device is 11/8/17, it will be Winter).
In spring, trees should look normal, there should be flowers on the grass and more butterflies during daytime. In summer, there should be more fireflies at night. In fall, trees should look orange, the grass should look a bit yellowy and pumpkins should grow more often. In winter, some trees should be covered with a layer of snow, and some should have 0 leaves, also, during the day, no critters should spawn, rain should be replaced by snow in this season and blocks should be covered with snow. NPCs should also sell different items depending on the season.

2. Water Mechanics:
When raindrops hit the ground, they should splash, and when they hit a pool of water, they should make the surface of the pool move (I don't know the word for it lel). Also, whenever there is rain, there should be droplets of water dripping from platforms if there is no blocks above them.

Tell me what you guys think

 

[BluE22]

Hmm..... Pretty noice, i must say

 

[Laluzi]

I'm fairly neutral on this as a whole - not sure how feasible it is on the spriting side with trees that change by season, but it could be nice. However, having no critters spawn in winter is too harsh. If you started playing a game - I mean, that's three entire months, real time. No critters means no early game easy cash, no bait, no terrariums/collecting, and no bunny hoods/pedguin suits/explosive bunnies. I don't think that's acceptable. That's one case where I'd prefer to leave realism out of things, because gameplay is impacted too much. Incentives to change date on one's computer are generally not a good thing.

 

[gnut]

I'm fairly neutral on this as a whole - not sure how feasible it is on the spriting side with trees that change by season, but it could be nice. However, having no critters spawn in winter is too harsh. If you started playing a game - I mean, that's three entire months, real time. No critters means no early game easy cash, no bait, no terrariums/collecting, and no bunny hoods/pedguin suits/explosive bunnies. I don't think that's acceptable. That's one case where I'd prefer to leave realism out of things, because gameplay is impacted too much. Incentives to change date on one's computer are generally not a good thing.

maybe the dryad can sell them?

 

[RR]

maybe the dryad can sell them?

too op. Ypu can just buy 999 good baits and be OK for life. But wait-a-moment... Do someone really use critters for cash? THAT's weird! Homever, you could just make "winter critters" spawning

 

[Possum]

I like the changing seasons, maybe meltable snow? and maybe make the sandstorms and blizzards blow sand and snow on stuff, I dunno. Not fond of the non spawn critters

 

[SnailsAttack]

Not sure about you, but I'd rather not have real-life seasons affect my gameplay. Not that the game even needs them in the first place, because the game's various biomes do the job instead.

Splashing raindrops would be nice.

 

[RR]

or maybe the game starts always in spring and the seasons skips every 4 in-game weeks?

 

[Lumini]

or maybe the game starts always in spring and the seasons skips every 4 in-game weeks?

That sounds decent, and reasonable, as long as something is done about the critters. Although, many people would have beaten ML by 4 in-game weeks. Maybe 1 or 2?

 

[RR]

That sounds decent, and reasonable, as long as something is done about the critters. Although, many people would have beaten ML by 4 in-game weeks. Maybe 1 or 2?

4 in-game weeks are 10 in-game hours...

 

[Lumini]

A terraria day is 24 real-world minutes, 24*28 = 672 real-world minutes/60 = 11.2 hours, to be precise. Assuming that the clock starts from the start of spring, that would mean 33.6 real-world hours in one world to get to the start of winter. Most people will be in HM before summer, and post-Plantera well before autumn. If people stop playing any one world after killing ML a few times, then most people will not experience winter content. A fair solution to this would be to start each world in a random season, thereby ensuring that all content is viewed by all players.

 

[RR]

Well, on my first run it took me more than 50 real-world hours to reach lunar events and doctor-killing ML (even if about 10 of them were searching for plantera's bulbs and at least 4 of searching other boss spawners. Oh, and about 5/6 of farming Ice biome with rain), I now feel like a noob... But remember than AFK farms will make the counter raise

 

[yifo123]

Tbh i thought this was gonna be about making terraria realistic, and not terraria anymore and conpletely changes the looks but actually, these are very very good ideas i have to agree.
With the winter, it wont be the snow biome tho because the snow on dirt should still act as grass on the dirt right? They won't change in to snow blocks? So just a small texture change and mechanics with more critters spawning, that's pretty cool.