About the "black skulls"...

So, as I assume most of you have already seen today's livestreams, you most likely noticed that the hazard-looking plants and monsters emitted this skull-looking particle effect.

Now, my questions are: Is this a way to represent danger? Will it be permanent, or is it just a debug thing? If it is permanent, will it be optional?

So, what are your thoughts on this, Starbound community?

 

I actually really don't like it. It ruins the "is this monster hostile? *poke with stick*-

also it makes it look like a weird debug thing that just doesnt work with the atmosphere of the game
If I can turn it off I wont care, but if I cant ill have to just deal with it. It makeses it look like evrything has a posion debuff

 

I assume it represents a special effect. Would it apply to every hostile monster, I can imagine that people would get upset very fast.

 

Haha, no, it takes any element of surprise out of the game. "Will this monster kill me if I get near it? Do I need to attack it first? How much damage does it do?" All these variables are removed with this effect. BAD.

 

I see it as a visual representation of an animal displaying threat behaviour, such as growling or posturing, which would be unfeasible to implement with randomly generated monsters.

I thought it maybe represented being poisoned at first, but that appeared not to be the case.

 

Although I see both sides of the arguement I have to say I really struggle to choose a side...

I can see how having that sign of 'aggro' mob could be extremely useful in alot of situations, and as an MMO nerd who leaves combat logs open, more information on any given situation makes me a happy bunny, I love just being king of info, from damage numbers to fire rate and so on.

On the other side I have to say that, the idea of appearing on a new planet and having to approach each species with caution, actually having to do some 'real research' when you first arrive also appeals to me greatly...

In the end I have to say I come down on the latter point's side, this game is about exploration and the perils you face along the way, where is the peril if every monster has a big sign saying "ATTACK MEH", nah, let actions speak for themselves, I say remove them.

 

Five bucks says placeholder and you're all overreacting like dopes.

The sharp pointy rocks and the spiky vines emanated the same skulls. We've seen other generated hazards in other streams, videos, and pictures and they didn't emanate skulls. Chances are that it is simply a placeholder to identify things that are capable of dealing damage to the player or inflicting ailments, as they all probably are. I'm pretty sure the devs of Starbound are smarter than to label everything with a skull at release (or beta) to show everything that is capable of hurting you.

They probably would assume that we're smart enough to understand that FRANKENSTEIN SAY SPIKES BAD and won't willingly jump in, and that arcing electricity is probably also bad for your health (which by the way shows up in the building demo). It is probably just for developer's reference than for an actual gameplay mechanic.

 

Very probably, but I'm actually fine with it or without it. I could see it as an abstraction of animal threat behaviour (Generally, aggravated animals give signs, that are hard to do in a 2D randomly generated system, so that could be abstracted in the form of the skulls-and-crossbones) which is fine with me - I work in Ecology with models that are abstractions of more complex systems all the time, but it not being included makes no nevermind to me.

 

I don't know and I don't care.

 

...there was a stream!?

 

They usually had docile movement patterns that consisted of aimlessly walking around. Then Tiy shot them and they made angry faces when they lunged at him. Also, they started moving noticeably faster to show that they were pissed off. Pattern recognition and common sense kicks in at that point to say, 'Uh, I think I pissed it off'. These are signs enough to tell that something is trying to kill you. Like I said, only things capable of apparently dealing damage showed the skulls, and that includes the creatures of course but only when they are aggressive. A passive creature probably has no ability to deal damage. Some creatures may not turn aggressive when shot and may run away instead, as I'm guessing that there are docile species that exist that would never emanate the skulls even after being shot because they don't like to fight.

 

Seems like they were coming from both hostile creatures and dangerous objects like thorns. I think its a good idea for an optional effect or on a "easy" setting, which i'm sure is what they're going for.

 

Are people actually arguing whether or not it makes the game easier? I for one am not going to trust anything that's running towards me, skulls or no skulls..

 

Maybe, make the eyes of the creature angry when it is hostile. For a creature that has no eyes, make a part of its body spring out, like a peacocks tail feather. You know what I mean, actual indicators.

 

This link will take you to it.

 

as long as it's optional. I really don't like the black skulls.

While we're at it, I don't like how this poll is set up either. It really should just be yes or no. All these other answers are weirdly put and skew the results.

I know its not meant to be serious, but it just really makes the poll pointless

 

Great, now work out how to do that with literally hundreds of possible permutations of random creatures.

 

I'd like them to be optional, it really ruins the surprise when you know already that that plant's damaging you if you touch it.
I mean that's what running into wild unknown plants and animals is for, finding out whenever just touching them is a hazard or not.
Maybe just keep it for things that could instakill you, if there should be any that can that is.
About the growling, I think it should be possible to make some generic sounds for that and based on composition and size it picks one for growling or such. If not then there are still better visuals to represent aggro than the skulls, so I think there they are rather for debugging.

 

i dont like the black skulls, must be optional. for me ruins all the exploration

 

Perhaps they're only there once you discover their hostility. Seems like the only responsible explanation to me. Other than that, I don't agree with them one bit.