More realistic winters

[TonyRigatoni]

Heres some mechanics that I propose:
Frostbite
Hypothermia
Which are exacerbated by water and alleviated by fire/clothing
Teeth chattering sound effects
Snow decreasing mobility and visibility

[Aerona]

I like the idea of more survival challenge, and using fires to stay warm and dry instead of just cook. Right now, energy seems almost unlimited when not terraforming, spending more of it keeping warm would be good. And with effects like these, building shelter would be more than just about having a place to store things.

Relatedly, overheating would be a useful mechanic, too. Instead of low stamina purely being something that drinking water can remedy, cooling rate could be limited by loadout, so you get the classic situation of overenthusiastic armoured warriors passing out from heat exhaustion in the snow, and farmer's hats would be able to serve the key purpose of providing shade from the sun for those who are working outside.

[Sevenless]

Fun gameplay >>> realism

More winter based clothing requirements would be a pain unless it's a regional thing (super permawinter north or whatever). Not worth.

Winter wounds sound like a pain without really adding anything. "no swimming cause hypothermia" would have too much impact on pvp to be worth.

Snow already impacts mobility.

[APXEOLOG]

Please no, let's not transform H&H into Don't Starve

[Aerona]

Yeah, 'realism' is definitely beside the point. But environmental challenges from temperature would make the game much more fun, I think, and partly because of those complaints. The impact on PvP would make periods of extreme weather a bad time for PvP, so those periods would be used to prepare and fortify while the periods between with more moderate temperatures would be better suited for raiding.

Frostbite would serve two purposes, one is to punish players who ignore their environment and don't make an effort to stay warm or keep shelter close by, the other is to create a need for new garments. It could be a bit annoying to juggle different sets of equipment, but the seasons don't change that fast. A piece of furniture that carries a set of equipment for rapid swapping would make changing outfits when coming inside from outside, going on an expedition, or just getting wet clothes off to dry them less tedious.

Of course, if the water freezes over that 'no swimming' bit becomes a very different thing.