The (Updated) solution

[Fellow Survivor]

New Idea

I've left all my previous ideas below for reference because my new idea which builds onto houses needing to be modified - instead of them breaking down and needing repair, they just need upgrades (Possibly with this refining planks mechanic) because the world gets colder over time. No outdoor/indoor environment interaction would be necessary, only indoor visual changes (could even do without visually seeing the planks) and a higher temperature. This would also by the way force you to go outside and collect/harvest wood to keep your home intact.

Old idea

I know this topic is talked about over and over but I think i finally have The fix.

Houses need to be repaired: (I really hope no one has already thought of this so that I don't look like an idiot. Also before you click off this could be disabled in custom settings/easy mode playthroughs) 

The houses in the Great Bear are - I believe - all* made out of wood . Therefore, houses should need to be repaired after blizzards, humidity and long periods of time to keep their temperature. *except the Hydro Dam and Hibernia Whale Processing, meaning of course they would need a way to compensate for being very large e.g. just having a low base indoor temperature (open to more suggestions):

-windows can break
-wooden boards can fall out or become rotten
-
-open to more suggestions

Of course, all these things can be repaired with wood or new items such as repair kits, having to refine wood into planks*, nails, cloth for weaker weather defence etc...

*I think the having to refine wood into planks is quite a good idea - hear me out. This would tie quite well with house starting to break down later in a playthrough if a sawmill is added into the game, they would be rare like forges and hard to get resources to use (Metal sheets made in the forge could work for smaller houses made of metal if there are any). Or, of course, all these new items are unnecessary besides the repair kit and planks can just be refined with a knife and used with a hammer and the repair kit - there are many options!

I know there are other similar ideas such as houses already being partially broken when you start a world but I personally don't think that they're as good of an idea and means less interactivity.

Thanks for reading and please give me suggestions and feedback down below!

 

[StrayCat]

This would need to change completely the way houses are managed by the game. A big overhaul to include the houses in one big world, that would drastically affect performances and stability. I guess hinterland has already pondered the +/- of such a mecanism, and they concluded that the insides of the houses needed to be in a separate space.

[Fellow Survivor]

1 hour ago, StrayCat said:

This would need to change completely the way houses are managed by the game. A big overhaul to include the houses in one big world, that would drastically affect performances and stability. I guess hinterland has already pondered the +/- of such a mecanism, and they concluded that the insides of the houses needed to be in a separate space.

Well, for example if a board comes loose, this doesn't mean it has to straight up interact with the outside world - just put some snow in the house and decrease the temperature. I think this is simple enough and is unlikely to have drastic changes to performance and besides we don't actually know how badly performance would change.

[Pillock]

Most indoor spaces in TLD are actually separate 'maps' from the outdoor world around them - so you couldn't have doors falling off and allowing wildlife inside.

But, I don't see a reason why indoor temperatures couldn't degrade over time to reflect storm damage / general wear and tear on the buildings. When you are indoors, you can still tell (roughly) what the weather is doing outside from the sound of wind, so the game obviously can connect the two 'worlds' together to an extent.

The fact that indoor spaces are a total safe-haven is a problem for the gameplay balance, in my view. And it has been for as long as I have played TLD (can't remember exactly how long that is, but it was from when the only maps were Mystery Lake, Coastal Highway and Pleasant Valley, and you had to unlock each one by discovering them in the game before you were allowed to start a new game there).

This is certainly not the first time someone has suggested having condition degradation and maintenance for buildings in order to mitigate the issue a little, and it almost certainly won't be the last.

[Fellow Survivor]

45 minutes ago, Pillock said:

Most indoor spaces in TLD are actually separate 'maps' from the outdoor world around them - so you couldn't have doors falling off and allowing wildlife inside.

But, I don't see a reason why indoor temperatures couldn't degrade over time to reflect storm damage / general wear and tear on the buildings. When you are indoors, you can still tell (roughly) what the weather is doing outside from the sound of wind, so the game obviously can connect the two 'worlds' together to an extent.

The fact that indoor spaces are a total safe-haven is a problem for the gameplay balance, in my view. And it has been for as long as I have played TLD (can't remember exactly how long that is, but it was from when the only maps were Mystery Lake, Coastal Highway and Pleasant Valley, and you had to unlock each one by discovering them in the game before you were allowed to start a new game there).

This is certainly not the first time someone has suggested having condition degradation and maintenance for buildings in order to mitigate the issue a little, and it almost certainly won't be the last.

Yes I am aware of how houses work to improve performance and as mentioned in my reply to @StrayCat, you don't have to see a physical change to the outside world from when you are in the house (so say you won't be able to see mystery lake out of the camp office walls), only on the inside when the house is entered (maybe you can see a bit of snow poured in like in the carter dam) and you can see the same effect on the outside (once again like in the carter dam with the half caved-in door). 

In a nutshell however, we just need a way to make the late game more challenging and I am open to ANY  suggestions in this thread, be it to do with houses or not! 

P.S. I know I may not have explained that in the best way but basically you can probably affect the physical condition of houses in away that still keeps them in their separate world

[cekivi]

Welcome to the forums @Fellow Survivor

There's been a fair number of these posts on the forums. Hopefully, late game difficulty will be addressed as more updates are released. 

[StrayCat]

@Fellow Survivor :

http://www.hinterlandforums.com/forums/topic/18515-fighting-boredom-in-midlate-game-with-unexpected-events/
http://www.hinterlandforums.com/forums/topic/18413-the-shelter-dilemma-fix/
http://www.hinterlandforums.com/forums/topic/18495-some-ideas-that-will-nerf-houses/

[Fellow Survivor]

10 hours ago, cekivi said:

Welcome to the forums @Fellow Survivor

There's been a fair number of these posts on the forums. Hopefully, late game difficulty will be addressed as more updates are released. 

@cekiviThanks!

Although not completely necessary as I have been content with just making new saves, still would love to see it in the future indeed