The changes to torches have discouraged me from building in the early game

[Ceunon]

Now, before anything else, I have to say I'm enjoying the impact that crude torches have had on the early game when it comes to spelunking and survival in general. This makes me a bit torn regarding this issue.

The thing is, the lack of a way of permanently mob-proof buildings before saw tech/braving the nether has severely discouraged me from building...well, anything. Yes, I know wood floors are meant to be safe, but that just feels way too limited. I can't build with stone floors. Similarly, there's no way I can build a pen and keep a cow/sheep for milk/wool (especially in the early game when they're so useful) because zombies will murder them.

Again, I'm happy with how the changes to torches have affected survival in the early game. But I wish there was an alternative for mob-proofing the world. Building is one of my favorite parts of MC/BTW, and right now I feel at a loss as to what to do.

[FlowerChild]

I think what you're experiencing is really just the difference between a creative game, and a survival one with creative elements.

If you think of say creative mode, the player is left with nigh limitless creative control. As you move further from that style of gameplay, moving the slider more towards "survival", that creative control is (I think) necessarily limited. Even something like inventory limits or needing to gather resources instead of just having them instantly will limit creative ability, and each new survival element amplifies this IMO. Obviously, BTW has moved the slider very far towards the "survival" end of the scale.

Also, I do not just view those changes to mob spawning and similar material-related features (like lightning, and torches starting fires) to just be about survival. I also intended them to add progression to the player's ability to build and use different materials as they progress technologically, and to provide additional gameplay considerations to building beyond just "place block of desired texture". So, being limited in what you can build at start isn't just a side-effect of other features, it's really an intended feature in itself.

On the other hand though, you might want to take a look at some of the additional aesthetic options presented by the newer features. Log spikes for example can get pretty funky with a little chisel work, and early game palisades and such can get quite interesting.

[dawnraider]

To show an example of what FC had mentioned, here's a concept I made for an early game wall. Spider-proof with a draw bridge, and only the bridge and the lights requires saw access which can obviously be modified.

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[Ceunon]

Thank you for the input, folks.

I disagree that the relationship between survival and building is dichotomous or oppositional - survival can encourage construction/the creative aspects of the game, and BTW itself has often demonstrated that (just look at all the amazing stuff the community has been posting for years).

That said, I understand BTW's not meant to cater to all tastes, anyway, and you have a solid vision for it, FC. I might wish things were a tad different, but I'll keep on playing and having my fun, hehe.

[dawnraider]

I agree with both sides here to an extent. I definitely think that all the things to do in BTW encourages building, but the constraints of the survival gameplay inform said building. I've definitely clashed with FC a bit on this before because I'm definitely a player for building above all else, but since then I've come to like having constraints because it leads to more interesting designs. But it does necessarily limit the feasibility of other designs.

[FlowerChild]

survival can encourage construction/the creative aspects of the game

Oh, for sure, and many of the features I've implemented have the intent of encouraging construction. Even stuff like drying racks or basic shelter in the early game is a form of this.

However, what I am saying survival gameplay is at odds with is creative flexibility (at least in terms of having access to all of it up front). I mean, you said yourself you can build out of wood, but seem to just not like that aesthetic option. That's a perfect example of what I'm talking about: you can build but the forms it takes are going to be limited until you unlock additional creative freedom through survival gameplay.

And ultimately I'll refer back to a fairly consistent aspect of my design philosophy: that constraints breed creativity. I think that's largely what dawnraider is getting at with his example. You may not be able to build precisely what you want at any given moment, but if you look at it in terms of what you CAN build given your current limitations, you may wind up building in ways you had never even considered before.

[Kazuya Mishima]

One thing I have been doing in my early games while I cower in the very low light that I can afford - a few brick ovens smelting down some iron nuggets or cooking a fish or two - is leave my shelter open on all sides to mobs so they can path directly into the area if they see me. Each of those mob accommodating entryways - the dimensions of a door - are then lined with a single vine trap that forces them to fall 3 blocks, skeletons jump in frustration after a fall and can still shoot you. Then I provide ladder access down to the trap they fall into and kill them for free bones, fish bait etc. This is one method I never would have used prior and gives the feel of having a mobtrap after the first week or so with relatively low but reliable drops. You obviously do not want to use these false entrances for exiting and entering your base, they are exclusive for mob capture.

I do find that the low light conditions demand that you do invest in some serious construction systems early game; a secure dock to fish during the full moon, a tower that you can use while the sun rises so you know which bolt-hole to use in the morning, if any mobs might burn up carrying a sword, which side of your base is safest to exit on.