The randomness of finding things

[brad_gagne]

I've probably played this game about 50-60 times now, and one thing I've consistently been surprised by is the seemingly random number of certain items on a map. Many times I've had an absurdly high number of can openers, or sewing kits, and other times these items were impossible to find.

Sure, there will be those who argue "well it's meant to meant to be realistic; there's no certainty of finding any of those items in a real-world scenario either." Sure, fine. But this is a game, and there's got to be a certain balance between realism and the confidence that the odds are not randomly stacked against you in the particular game you just started. I think in general there's a certain expectation of "difficult, but fair", and frustration sets in when you stray too far over that line.

Being a software developer myself, I can't help but propose a solution here rather than just griping... instead of the current approach (which seems to be a random percentage of finding an item in each location, leading to seriously skewed odds of survival at times), why not modify the system so that there is always somewhere between X and Y instances of an item on any given map, and then just randomize where they're found?

[Survive757]

last playthrough i had 9 sewing kits, 0 simple tools and I didn't find a knife until AFTER my 9th sewing kit, I was on like day 9 before I found it.

[brad_gagne]

Hahha on a recent playthrough (of Mystery Lake) I had a 100+ day run going... but had only found one single sewing kit the entire time... after wearing (and wearing out) virtually every piece of clothing I could find I basically ended up naked... near froze-to-death every time I foraged for wood.

[TarjaS]

I'm finding more sewing kits and clothes than I know what to do with. Actually ended up harvesting all extra clothes and repairing clothes that really didn't need it (over 80% condition). Still finding more clothes and sewing kits, but haven't found even one can opener or tool yet and I'm on day 6. Started near the Waterfront Cottages and have been at the Misanthrope's Homestead, couple of fishing huts and the buildings along the road up to the Fishing Camp.