Random, realistic stuff

[Wastelander]

I am aware that some of these things I am going to wish for now have probably been wished for before. In these cases, think of this as refreshing the discussion.

Anyway, my wishlist, in no particular order:

• Booze. With the upcoming morale mechanic, booze could be a serious issue. Drink it and your morale goes up, however, your controls get all kinds if weird.
• A guitar to battle cabin feaver and enable us to sing cool songs ingame.
• Fire-hardened wooden spears, even if they're single use.
• Wild boars, just because we need an animal that won't kill us dead for our juicy human-meat but just, well, because.
• Maple syrup. The main devs stated that this game is canadian, and there's no maple syrup?
• A cool song to play upon death (I posted a good one in @Tbone555's thread about Music That Reminds You Of The Long Dark *wink wink wink*

Now, all of this is up for debate, though I'd think it would be cool.

[Tbone555]

theres all KINDS of good music in that forum pertaining to the general feel of this game and i am in agreement with these suggestions. however, in a time of crisis, alcohol in these remote parts of the world would be rare. everyone in coastal highway would have ravaged the gas station in town and taken the supplies and booze first. the only thing we'd be able to find in the stores would be a bottle or two of rotgut kicked under the desk and maybe some nice warm beer, maybe.
might be able to find a bottle of expensive scotch tucked away in the trappers cabin or the survival bunker somewhere

wild boar can be EXTREMELY dangerous, by the way. they arent aggressive, but if they feel cornered or threatened they can easily take down a man in defense. this is coming from someone who lives in an area heavily populated by them. boars come up and feast on the old pear tree here every summer

[Wastelander]

1 minute ago, Tbone555 said:

theres all KINDS of good music in that forum pertaining to the general feel of this game and i am in agreement with these suggestions. however, in a time of crisis, alcohol in these remote parts of the world would be rare. everyone in coastal highway would have ravaged the gas station in town and taken the supplies and booze first. the only thing we'd be able to find in the stores would be a bottle or two of rotgut kicked under the desk and maybe some nice warm beer, maybe.
might be able to find a bottle of expensive scotch tucked away in the trappers cabin or the survival bunker somewhere

wild boar can be EXTREMELY dangerous, by the way. they arent aggressive, but if they feel cornered or threatened they can easily take down a man in defense. this is coming from someone who lives in an area heavily populated by them. boars come up and feast on the old pear tree here every summer

Well, booze should be rare, I agree - but so should be the rifles, which would be on top of pretty much everyone's priority list when bailing. I agree with your proposed spawn locations though!

I've only ever seen the marks wild boar leave on tree barks, and man, that already made me afraid.

[Resethel]

The idea of hand-crafted weapon is great! A spear would come handy in many situation and would be even more accessible than a bow! It seems really necessary imo too, since when I started the game I died at least twice because I couldn't find any kind or weapon, nor ressources to craft one ahah!

Also, we definitely need more animals, at least for the sake of diversity ahah! And what about Bison? Or even sheeps? 

[Wastelander]

I have to admit, my knowledge of wildlife in Canada is pretty limited - I'm fairly sure there aren't any giraffes there, but that's about it. However, Hinterland does seem to have it's studio in a nice place where they can assess such matters, so they'll decide that.

As for weapons, a revolver is on the development roadmap. However, a spear is easy to manufacture (the least you need is a rather long stick, something to sharpen it with like a knife or even a sharp stone or even a reasonably sharp shard of ice, and also a fire to harden the tip) and has been the main hunting weapon of mankind for a couple dozen millenia. Since primitive firestarting technology is also on the roadmap, I'd like to see more primitive weapons. With the revolver and the rifle, I'd say there's enough guns in the game, although one could argue about a shotgun. However, a couple melee and throwing weapons would be nice.

[Hotzn]

1 hour ago, Wastelander said:

I am aware that some of these things I am going to wish for now have probably been wished for before. In these cases, think of this as refreshing the discussion.

Anyway, my wishlist, in no particular order:

• Booze. With the upcoming morale mechanic, booze could be a serious issue. Drink it and your morale goes up, however, your controls get all kinds if weird.
• A guitar to battle cabin feaver and enable us to sing cool songs ingame.
• Fire-hardened wooden spears, even if they're single use.
• Wild boars, just because we need an animal that won't kill us dead for our juicy human-meat but just, well, because.
• Maple syrup. The main devs stated that this game is canadian, and there's no maple syrup?
• A cool song to play upon death (I posted a good one in @Tbone555's thread about Music That Reminds You Of The Long Dark *wink wink wink*

Now, all of this is up for debate, though I'd think it would be cool.

I presume introducing alcohol into the game would lead to age restrictions in certain jurisdictions. So that likely won't come to be, although I personally would like it.

Guitar +1

The spear has been requested about a million times. The wolf fighting mechanic would have to be changed for this, which would be a major change. I'm indifferent about the spear, but many people yearn for it.

I don't miss wild pigs, but they could be a nice addition.

Maple syrup +1. It's very strange not to find any maple syrup in a Canadian game. The only explanantion: All the remaining maple syrup has been eaten by other survivors.

Haven't listened to that song so can't vote on that one.

H.

[Resethel]

6 minutes ago, Wastelander said:

I have to admit, my knowledge of wildlife in Canada is pretty limited - I'm fairly sure there aren't any giraffes there, but that's about it. However, Hinterland does seem to have it's studio in a nice place where they can assess such matters, so they'll decide that.

As for weapons, a revolver is on the development roadmap. However, a spear is easy to manufacture (the least you need is a rather long stick, something to sharpen it with like a knife or even a sharp stone or even a reasonably sharp shard of ice, and also a fire to harden the tip) and has been the main hunting weapon of mankind for a couple dozen millenia. Since primitive firestarting technology is also on the roadmap, I'd like to see more primitive weapons. With the revolver and the rifle, I'd say there's enough guns in the game, although one could argue about a shotgun. However, a couple melee and throwing weapons would be nice.

That's why it would be great to see more animals, so that we can also learn more about Canada's wildlife !!!

 

Hmm, a shotgun could be a bit overpowered, since you can hardly miss from a close range, and the amount damages caused by shrapnels is pretty insane, wolf or bear wouldn't be a problem anymore.

But as for (primitive) melee weapons, wouldn't induce a need for a new kind of struggle? I mean, if you just can't stab a wolf/bear/else with that before they jump on you, it would be pretty useless

[Wastelander]

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The spear has been requested about a million times. The wolf fighting mechanic would have to be changed for this, which would be a major change. I'm indifferent about the spear, but many people yearn for it.

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But as for (primitive) melee weapons, wouldn't induce a need for a new kind of struggle? I mean, if you just can't stab a wolf/bear/else with that before they jump on you, it would be pretty useless

Wouldn't a spear be too long to use in a struggle? I think it could well be ignored in that situation. Kind of like how in early modern warfare pikes, the uncontested queens of the battlefield until firearms became common enough to arm entire battallions, became useless once the enemy got into sword/mace range.

[Wastelander]

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Hmm, a shotgun could be a bit overpowered, since you can hardly miss from a close range, and the amount damages caused by shrapnels is pretty insane, wolf or bear wouldn't be a problem anymore.

As far as I know - and I'm German, we have pretty strict gun laws here - shotguns don't spread that much. I have to ask my buddy's father next time I see him, he's got a couple of those for hunting - what he said is that you miss with a shotgun as much as with any other firearm. They also deal damage according to the ammo used - normal buckshot is, well, used against bucks, whereas slugs can mess up board and mooses. Again, everything I say about firearms should be taken with a grain of salt, just sayin'. Maybe some other forum member with more firearm experience can enlighten us here?

[Resethel]

11 minutes ago, Wastelander said:

Wouldn't a spear be too long to use in a struggle? I think it could well be ignored in that situation. Kind of like how in early modern warfare pikes, the uncontested queens of the battlefield until firearms became common enough to arm entire battallions, became useless once the enemy got into sword/mace range.

Well you're definitely right here! Uh, so since every animal just avoid close contact with the character and it's pretty hard to react in time to a predator charging at you, I don't see a use case for spears without reforming some mechanics ^^'

 

10 minutes ago, Wastelander said:

As far as I know - and I'm German, we have pretty strict gun laws here - shotguns don't spread that much. I have to ask my buddy's father next time I see him, he's got a couple of those for hunting - what he said is that you miss with a shotgun as much as with any other firearm. They also deal damage according to the ammo used - normal buckshot is, well, used against bucks, whereas slugs can mess up board and mooses. Again, everything I say about firearms should be taken with a grain of salt, just sayin'. Maybe some other forum member with more firearm experience can enlighten us here?

Let's hope someone will! Seen in that light, maybe it wouldn't be that overpowered, powerful but not too much.

 

Oh there is also something which would had a some realism... Being able to place things on tables, beds and stuff. I just noticed it wasn't possible, or at least I don't know the shortcut to do so ahah, and even if it's a minor issue, it may change the way one stocks things!

 

[Wastelander]

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Oh there is also something which would had a some realism... Being able to place things on tables, beds and stuff. I just noticed it wasn't possible, or at least I don't know the shortcut to do so ahah, and even if it's a minor issue, it may change the way one stocks things!

It's possible. Place it on the ground and - if I recall correctly - right click and drag it where you want it to be.

[Resethel]

7 minutes ago, Wastelander said:

It's possible. Place it on the ground and - if I recall correctly - right click and drag it where you want it to be.

Ah, that works, thanks a lot

[SteelFire]

1 hour ago, Resethel said:

Well you're definitely right here! Uh, so since every animal just avoid close contact with the character and it's pretty hard to react in time to a predator charging at you, I don't see a use case for spears without reforming some mechanics ^^'

I dunno. Maybe they'd need to tweak the wildlife fight a little, but I don't see having a spear being much different than having a rifle or bow in hand as an animal charges you. You can fire either projectile weapon as the animal charges, you can hit or miss. Barring a critical shot, a hit won't dissuade a bear and it might send the wolf into retreat or it might not. (I've seen others post about fighting wolves with arrows sticking out of them and have fought one with an arrow sticking in it's neck myself) The difference is that with a projectile weapon, you've got more range, so you can take your shot at any distance.

With a spear, you've got to wait until it's almost on top of you, meaning you've got one chance to make that hit and make it count, because the critter is already headed for your throat. You could just as easily miss the hit or simply graze the animal, and unless it's a critical hit, you're still looking at the same mechanics: a bear is still mauling you and it might or might not send a wolf into retreat. And really, who in their right mind would be trying to shove a pointy stick into a bear unless they were already trapped and they had no other choice, so you're going to get mauled one way or another.

 

 

Personally not a big fan of adding more firearms beside the rifle and revolver. The rifle already adds 4 kilos to your kit, carrying the revolver is going to be another 1'ish kg probably. So, if a shotgun was added, you'd really need to make a choice which long gun to carry, because carrying both would be silly. Ammo still needs to be limited, so ammo spawns will end up getting split three ways instead of two. (effectively... you could increase overall potential ammo count a little between rifle and revolver, but not for all three guns) Then, yeah, there is the factor of which type of ammo would the shotgun use in the game and how complicated would shot, if it was selected, make the shooting mechanic since the mechanic is currently very simplistic.

[Wastelander]

Personally, I'd make the spear a ranged weapon with a very short (2m or so) range, with it's durability as 'ammo'. Might be easier programming-wise, but I'm no expert on that.

I also think a spear wouldn't necessarily make gameplay more interesting, but the experience. When I bought The Long Dark, I didn't only buy a game, I also bought an experience and, as it seems to me, a part of the essence of the developers hearts, you know what I'm saying? Kinda difficult to put into words. Picture it though: You get stranded in the middle of nowhere and craft this weapon. It's bad weapon, and an even worse tool, but you made it and use it to conquer and master your new home - the very bosom of mother nature herself. I think that's pretty powerful.

[Tbone555]

no comment on the spear. i've been there and had that argument too many times to want to do it again

but no, the use of alcohol would not mess with the age restrictions of this game. illegal drugs would, but tobacco and alcohol use is common in rated T games

and as for the shotgun, it isnt the same as videogames portray it. yes, they do have spread. but do you have to be at point blank range to hit your target? no. youre not gonna be hitting anything at 100 meters, but i find about 20 - 30 meters back to be perfect. i've never shot anything with my 12 gauge any further back than that, i never attempted to. but the more you saw down the barrel, the larger your spread is. with a sawn-off you have to be a bit closer. but most long 20 and 12 gauge shotguns are used for bird hunting. theres people who prefer to hunt deer with a 12 gauge, with special bullet-like rounds called slugs. i think it tears up the meat, but to each his own. when it comes to shooting, i personally prefer the old 12 gauge to any rifle, enjoyment wise. thing is FUN to shoot

[Wastelander]

That's some pretty valuable info right there, considering I'm currently GMing a pen&paper campaign set in a fictional civil war, and there are shotguns present, and what you said basically confirmed the stats I gave them. Considering TLD, animals seem to be oblivious to anything beyond ~ 30m from them, so range is basically not an issue which might make a shotgun actually questionable.

Bird hunting seems pretty cool though. I wouldn't want to eat a crow or something like that, but with seasons, migratory birds might come and a lot of those are edible. Maybe there'll even be ducks, and I love ducks. As soon as I a) rent or own a place that has a garden and b) quit smoking, I'll buy a few ducks

[Resethel]

Thanks for the infos!

 

At least by hunting crows m, on could get tons of feather, yay!

Hmm ducks they're are quite aggressive ( remind some akward memories ). What do you find "attractive" about them Wastelander?

 

As for alcohol isn't necessary. And it that what makes it charm, some thing useless, even dangerous that you must fins for the sake of it. It can also lead too funny stories about a desesperate traveler who pass trough many dangers in order to find some booze

[Wastelander]

Just now, Resethel said:

Yet alcohol isn't necessary. And it that what makes it charm, some thing useless, even dangerous that you must fins for the sake of it. It can also lead too funny stories about a desesperate traveler who pass trough many dangers in order to find some booze

Guess someone would just rename the game The Large Drink

I agree it's not necessary, but it'd be just a nice addition in my book. This is just my opinion though. Might be useful for a few other things though - I personally wouldn't wrap cloth harvested from some random dudes underwear around fresh wounds, so I'd like to disinfect the bandage first. Granted, you could use the same antiseptic you use to disinfect your wound with for it and probably do, but hey, there's few things more badass than cleaning a wound using whisky and maple syrup

[Tbone555]

ducks are very beautiful birds. i used to own a couple ducks myself though, theyre sadly no longer with us. Aflack and Daffy

theyd literally just roam around the neighborhood and visit everyone. they even looked both ways before crossing the street

[Wastelander]

Just now, Tbone555 said:

ducks are very beautiful birds. i used to own a couple ducks myself though, theyre sadly no longer with us. Aflack and Daffy

theyd literally just roam around the neighborhood and visit everyone. they even looked both ways before crossing the street

There's a guy in my city who rents out his ducks if you've got a snail problem in your garden. For some reason, this model of business works. I just want to rent them so I can play with them, but I can't afford it

[Tbone555]

hm. i wonder how much that guy makes in that line of work

[Scyzara]

9 hours ago, Wastelander said:

There's a guy in my city who rents out his ducks if you've got a snail problem in your garden. For some reason, this model of business works.

He's probably not renting normal ducks, but Runner ducks. I know a small gardening company using them for biological pest controll as well. They're awesome at finding every last slug, worm and bug in the area which makes it unnecessary to use pesticides. Pretty much a win-win situation for the company as the customers love both the ducks and ecologically grown plants. 

[Wastelander]

2 hours ago, Scyzara said:

He's probably not renting normal ducks, but Runner ducks. I know a small gardening company using them for biological pest controll as well. They're awesome at finding every last slug, worm and bug in the area which makes it unnecessary to use pesticides. Pretty much a win-win situation for the company as the customers love both the ducks and ecologically grown plants. 

Yeah, those. They're pretty darn cute and look even cuter when doing their thing. Gosh, I wish I had a slug-infested garden sometimes

[hauteecolerider]

On May 23, 2016 at 5:43 PM, Wastelander said:

I agree it's not necessary, but it'd be just a nice addition in my book. This is just my opinion though. Might be useful for a few other things though - I personally wouldn't wrap cloth harvested from some random dudes underwear around fresh wounds, so I'd like to disinfect the bandage first. Granted, you could use the same antiseptic you use to disinfect your wound with for it and probably do, but hey, there's few things more badass than cleaning a wound using whisky and maple syrup

While I like the idea of "discovering" a stashed bottle of single malt Scotch in Trapper's Cabin, I can't agree with the need to have alcohol for the purpose of disinfecting. Cloths can be boiled in water for ten minutes then dried to convert them into bandages. In fact, that's how I RP the crafting menu, though it necessarily doesn't show the boiling process. But it does explain the time invested in converting cloth pieces into bandages. 

[Wastelander]

Just now, hauteecolerider said:

While I like the idea of "discovering" a stashed bottle of single malt Scotch in Trapper's Cabin, I can't agree with the need to have alcohol for the purpose of disinfecting. Cloths can be boiled in water for ten minutes then dried to convert them into bandages. In fact, that's how I RP the crafting menu, though it necessarily doesn't show the boiling process. But it does explain the time invested in converting cloth pieces into bandages. 

Good point. Also, I need to RP it like this as well, makes days a little more interesting.