As always, rules for this thread:
-DO NOT post suggestions.
-DO NOT critique unreleased features. Wait until you've had a chance to try them before passing judgement.
Here's a screenshot of my main base in my "new" world to kick things off:
Spoiler
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Most of you probably noticed that while small, the last release (4.89999) included a note specifying that with the exception of villagers, it represented the more or less final balance of BTW. I say "more or less" as I will of course continue to make small tweaks and fixes here and there for the indefinite future, but it was a rather major milestone in terms of overall development, as what you're playing now very closely resembles the final form of BTW.
Now comes the hard part :)
We're rapidly approaching the 2.5 year mark since the first release of BTW and working on it has become an integral part of my life. It certainly feels weird to be closing one door after another and realizing that I'll never be touching one particular system after another again.
The past couple of days I've been playing a lot of BTW, and I'm very pleased with how the whole thing has come together. I find myself with so many different projects I could work on at any particular time that I often switch back and forth between them based on my mood. Better yet, whereas I couldn't play the game for more than an hour in the past without spotting at least one thing that I felt needed to be changed, now I can just sit back and play while my inner designer voice is largely silent.
Things it has observed with a silent nod of approval though:
-Oceans, jungles, and deserts feel dangerous now, to varying degrees, but all feel like genuine navigation hazards now as opposed to just different scenery. Beyond that, each biome really has its particular feel as you move through it that presents different concerns based on the availability of particular resources or the dangers you face. Even when doing something as trivial as moving through grasslands now, there's the knowledge at the back of my mind that if I run out of wood, I'm going to be in trouble. I'm extremely pleased with that part as I feel it's really brought the gameplay into what was largely just aesthetic diversity in the world in the past. I think water in particular has benefited the most from this change. Oceans feel dark and mysterious like there might very well be something hungry waiting in its depths for you to get to close, and even crossing a river has become worthy of at least a moment of consideration in terms of whether you want to risk walking along the bottom in armor or remove it to swim across. Even during the day, working near water makes me feel nervous as I always have it in the back of my mind that one misstep could spell my demise. Overall, I'm finding these changes have made exploration much more engaging and less a matter of just constantly holding down 'w' while throwing in the occasional jump.
-As you can see, the tree line in my base above has begun to get pushed back. Even though it's a small thing, thematically I like deforestation going hand in hand with progress an awful lot, and I am also quite happy to see me using the various wood types more based on whatever I happen to have in plentiful supply rather than just always burning birch for example. While it's exceedingly difficult to run out of wood, I am pleased that wood is actually a consideration now rather than just being a non-issue due to its hyper growth rate. I also find myself valuing the saplings I gather in my wanderings and bringing them back to base to expand my ever growing tree farm instead of just burning them like saw dust.
-With the changes to push SFS later in the tech tree, I find myself relying much more on diamond tools and vanilla enchanting, which is as I hoped when I made the change. Attaining SFS has become a much more long-term or "end game" project which I don't feel particular rushed to get to. Just having recyclable iron, diamond, and pistons at my disposal feels like a huge step up to reward my nether adventures.
Now, why I say the hard part comes next, is that frankly, endings are a bitch. The last two bits I have to work on, namely HC Villagers and the ending to BTW's "story" are intimately linked to each other (guess that's a bit of a spoiler, but not entirely unexpected by now ;) ), which is why I've waited until now to finish off HC Villagers. The broad strokes of my overall plan for this are all in place, but there's still the matter of keeping things contained so that I don't wind up spending months on this last portion, while still providing a satisfying conclusion to the whole thing that's fitting what I feel to be the quality of the rest of Better Than Wolves.
So, for now I am operating under the principle of "I'll know it when I see it" and continuing to search for villagers in my own world trusting that when I get to that point the final pieces of the puzzle will come together for me. Much of the development of BTW has reflected my own experiences in the game and my desires for what I wish the game was doing as I play through it, and I think this will be no exception.
Anyways, wish me luck. We're in the absolute final stretch now :)
