Supply Caches in Suvivial

[VR00MER28]

While you are exploring normal survival mode, what if you could find random notes that tell about supply caches in a certain area.

This would however be tough with maps in normal survival mode. They could make it so it automatically shows a small area around the cache or they could  just make a description of where it is in the note.

I feel this could more give extra abjectives in survival mode. The notes could appear over time; and maybe even in places you have already been, to suggest others have been there (Obviously you still couldn't actually see the other survivors). 

Even if things are suppoulsed to get harder as the game goes on, I feel it wouldn't effect that too much. They could contain simple things like books, flares, food, drink, maybe emergency stims, ammo, or flare shells.

They shouldn't be too common, but also not extremely rare. It should definitely be an option, and not be in interloper mode.

 

[Fuarian]

Yes I would love this. Maybe even let community members or backers put their own caches in the game for others to find. 

Although they would need to make certain items more rare in order for the caches to have a useful purpose. Something they never did in Wintermute...

[Mroz4k]

So, we are talking about something like in the Wintermute.

I dont know if I would like that too much, but I guess as an voluntary option it is not a bad idea. Wouldnt have to neccesarily be just the supply caches, but all kinds of things - set pieces like a crashed car, a group of "freshly spawned corpses" guarded by wolves, freshly spawned boat, etc. Im sure we could all think of others. 

Its not a bad idea if you want to give player later on some new objectives. But we will first see how will the NPCs in Sandbox work, only than I would consider this, as another type of a randomized encounter.

The idea I would have - since these would be set in specific locations, and eventually players would learn them - I assume that there would be nothing in that area before you found the note that links to it, there? Something like a "signs of other life on Great Bear" - wouldnt be a bad thing, in my opinion. But the loot found through the pieces would need to be minor. Rare things, but minor, and they would be really rare, or else it would affect immersion. 

 

[Prestermatt]

I've been thinking for a while that the game could benefit from some kind of a "quest" system.  Now, before anyone goes off on a rant on me about how I'm ruining everything that TLD holds holy, let me clarify what I mean:

I do NOT mean Wintermute fetch quests.  I haven't even played Story Mode yet, because that doesn't interest me much.

I also do NOT mean some convoluted quest mechanic with a quest page in the Journal and quest markers and all that. The game can remain exactly as is.

What I want to see are reasons to get out and go to places that give some color and character to the world.  The game already has this, it just doesn't do anything with it.  The note in the Mountaineering Hut could turn into a find-the-clues mystery tracking down what happened to the poor soul.  Some of the notes left in DP and CH hint about people moving around – what if you could find out what happens to them?  There's no quest log, just following notes and other clues at your own pace, only the player's curiosity leading them on.  There may only be a corpse with a mouldy granola bar at the end of the trail, and that's fine; the story itself is the reward.

All of this could be done quietly and subtly through notes and other objects that could appear through the world.  Anyone not interested in them can just ignore it.  Maybe one or two stories out of a selection per game?  Maybe more, if there's enough that you're not always finding the same ones.

[VR00MER28]

@Mroz4k I do like your idea that it doesn't need to be supply caches. Also like I said it would be impossble to actually see the NPCs, and its not like there is no other human life on Great Bear only very few people are alive on Great Bear.

[Fuarian]

5 hours ago, Mroz4k said:

So, we are talking about something like in the Wintermute.

I dont know if I would like that too much, but I guess as an voluntary option it is not a bad idea. Wouldnt have to neccesarily be just the supply caches, but all kinds of things - set pieces like a crashed car, a group of "freshly spawned corpses" guarded by wolves, freshly spawned boat, etc. Im sure we could all think of others. 

Its not a bad idea if you want to give player later on some new objectives. But we will first see how will the NPCs in Sandbox work, only than I would consider this, as another type of a randomized encounter.

The idea I would have - since these would be set in specific locations, and eventually players would learn them - I assume that there would be nothing in that area before you found the note that links to it, there? Something like a "signs of other life on Great Bear" - wouldnt be a bad thing, in my opinion. But the loot found through the pieces would need to be minor. Rare things, but minor, and they would be really rare, or else it would affect immersion. 

 

I think they can add them just fine. But make them have a lot of possible spawn locations but very few actual spawns. Which would give the illusion of randomness i their locations. Also, for some of them they can put notes or little hints around as to where they are.

[Mroz4k]

On 30. 12. 2017 at 5:56 PM, Fuarian said:

I think they can add them just fine. But make them have a lot of possible spawn locations but very few actual spawns. Which would give the illusion of randomness i their locations. Also, for some of them they can put notes or little hints around as to where they are.

I was thinking more along the way of "Its there now, thanks to the note you found" - and soon enough it would dissapear.

The way I imagine it could work - regardless whether you looted the entire world or not, you could find notes inside all the major locations (basically anything that is a set location, not inside of random huts that always spawn differently, but places like Camp Office, the Dam, Gas station, Lighthouse, etc). These notes would spawn and  dissapear randomly, it would only stay in those locations for 7 days - and if you found it and picked it up, it would give you some clues as to how to find a cache, or some other set piece. Now, whether you found it or not in the next 7 days, that set piece would dissapear again. 

This would give the player two new objectives - A) visit places where you have already been, looted or not, just to see if something changed and if there is maybe a note or some other clue as to the recent events that happened in the area, and B) if you found a clue like that, you had a choice to go on and investigate it, or ignore it and let it play out.

It would be something like a "hidden" quest like @Prestermatt suggested. Not a quest in terms of " go there, do something" but more of a "I found a note, written by someone in need, describing that they needed help. Maybe I should go and see if I can help them - which would eventually lead you someplace where you found find a couple of dead bodies, surrounded by a pack of wolves. Or, you would ignore it, go your own way, and this "set piece" would dissapear, you would never even know it was there.

This would give the whole idea also an element of urgency - prompting the player to pursue this. Naturally, not all of them would be time limited - for example a crashed car would like have to stay there, considering the aurora.

Unless it was something like that half-buried frozen truck in Desolation point.

Here are two ideas which I had:

Say you enter the basement at Crumbling Highway. There would be no note there, but you would find a corpse there, even though there isnt supposed to be one, with a bandage. The corpse would look differently to others, and the character could even comment on it in a unique way, like: "Poor sod got mauled pretty bad, must have bled out."

No more comments at all. But, if you searched the area of crumbling highway, you would find out that there is now a bear there, even though there is not supposed to be one. And its lying, resting right next to a pile of random items - a loaded rifle, storm lantern, some food supplies, and a backpack. Now, if you kill the bear, and search the pack, the character could comment on it "so, this is the place where he got attacked. This must be his supplies" - or something like this.

This sort of a random encounter requires nothing of sort in terms of map requirements. But I suppose there could be set pieces, specific to certain locations - for example "Coastal-only set pieces" - regardless, this feels very real-like, it is not a quest, but more of an event, it gives players not only something to do, but it also develops the game by deepening the immersion of life after an apocalypse, filled with various little stories of tragedy.

And, if NPCs ever make it into the game, there could be set pieces where you could save people from trouble if you were quick enough, giving players a chance to depelop their survivors into local heroes.

Other example: You would get into a cabin, there would be a note on the floor there, saying:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Our group was camping in a cave not far from here. In a night, a pack of wolves attacked! 

I ran.Im sorry.

I found this shelter but I am hurt badly, and scared to death. I cant go back.

If anyone finds this, please, help them! And tell them that I am sorry.

Jessica

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

This would spawn a group of corpses and a wolf pack in one of the caves around. This could be anywhere - Mystery lake, Pleasant Valley, even Forlorn Muskeg. Now, it would be one of the caves that are relatively close-by to the shelter where this note was found. Once again, after the wolves were driven out, when searching the corpses, the character could have a unique line, something like "Jessica sent me here. She is sorry."

There could be tons of little events like this - as long as only very few of them happen - say 1 event per 30 days on average - it would give the survival new meaning, and based on which set you find, it would give each individual game a unique feeling.

Who else would love something like this?