First off. Amazing project! keep up the good work. As many people have said this is very promising with great potential.
I have read through page after page of suggestions and gathered my thoughts on what i'd like the final game to have and will list them below. (This is going to be long with many ideas inspired by people on this forum)
DIFFICULTY SETTINGS:
- Easy - w/ shark - Shark barely attacks and swims slower. Will only progress to attack when player has sufficient equipment
- Easy wo/ shark - No shark player is free to swim around without threats of attack or pests
- Normal - Kind of what the mode is like now. Shark will attack frequently and swim quicker than easy
- Hard - Multiple sharks which attack frequently
EQUIPMENT:
- Beds (made from thatch/rope/wood)
- Fishing nets (Made from and wood)
- Lobster cage (made from wood and lots of rope)
- Primitive gardening tools. Shovel/rake/hoe. (Made from metal scraps and wood and rope)
- Mask and snorkel for being able to scan the bottom of the ocean ( made from shark skin/wood/string fibers)
- Diving equipment for something to work for in terms of late game (Made from Shark skin/Rope/Metal/String Fibres)
- Clothing to keep player warm/not sunburnt
- Rare items - Down in the sea for exploration purposes. Divers Knife/ Arrow tips/ Harpoon hook/ Harpoon gun.
- Harpoon - This can be either primitive and crafted or found in the depths.
- Knife spear - After finding the divers knife it can be attached and detached to a pole forming a more powerful spear.
- Backpacks (Small made from string fibres, or bigger from Shark skin)
- String Fibres (Made from coconut fibers woven)
- More crops/fruits/plants/seeds/trees
- Primitive weapons player can build. (Bows/spears/harpoons/knifes/axe)
WEATHER AND NATURAL EVENTS:
- Weather cycles including heavy rain/ hail/high winds/cloudy/sunny/cold
- When Weather is cold player needs to either wrap up or hunger goes down faster due to energy expenditure.
- When player is really hot they have to be careful of dehydration
STRUCTURES:
- Spike traps to outline the raft with to stop the shark from munching the side of the raft. These would have degradation to not be too O.P
- Rope Ladders for high places.
- Rope Bridges for cool tree house style rooms.
- Rain catcher. (Like the turtle shell on The Forest)
- Doors
- Pully/Lift system.
- Ovans for better cooking.
- Fish farms so the player can breed and capture their own fish.
- Different Tree types for more fruit
- Some sort of way to set up farm automation (Late game)
MECHANICS
- Fires require fuel
- Sharks breed over time and player can let it get out of hand.
- More ways of Gathering food. Player can dive and collect shellfish. Catching fish/crab/lobster via nets/traps/spear fishing/harpoon with more fruits and veg leading to more cooking choices on the Ovan.
- Rare chance of corpse floating by (Potential for rare items to be on them)
- Rare chances of survivor (Player has to help them from the shark in turn they will fish/gather for the player)
- LATE GAME: i can't stress this enough. This game is so fun but lacks something to work for. (dont bite my head off i know the games circumstances but this is a list of things i want to see.)
- Structures affect player during specific weather conditions( During hail the player will get slowly damaged unless indoor)
- Multiplayer!!!11! This would be the best thing ever when the game is further along development.
I am a developer myself so i understand how hard/time consuming even the smallest thing is to implement. Never mind for a tiny team like yourselves. Please don't let this list cause any stress or frustration. It's merely my brain getting excited for the future of this title.
I hope to see you all pass your courses and move on to doing this full time. I truly believe this title is a strong contender for G.O.T.Y 2018.
Great Work
Jake