Things that were better IMO

[Morphe]

So the game has had a lot of updates since the launch, but some things have been changed, even though they weren't bad.

• Brandishing
• Old searching mechanic
• brand instead of torches from fires.
• Old "bars" UI + about XX hours of daylight left

But why?

• Brandishing was more realistic + easier. I think the system could be re-implemented in the way that M1 is brandishing, while M2 is throwing, which would have a bigger chance of scaring wolves away.
• Old mechanic while you had a random chance to find an item when the bar was filling. It WAS realistic + it gave exciting moments.
• It was just far more realistic + torches weren't that easy to obtain.
• Maybe it's just me, but "bars" looked simply better. the "XX hours of daylight left" was making me more careful with time, while now I just don't know if I can repair those boots before the night comes.

If someone disagrees/wants to add something, just reply.

[Kaisentlaia]

I agree with everything but the last point: I like the new UI, I found it highly immersion-breaking to know exactly how much hours of sunlight I had left without a clock, and the icons are equivalent to the bars once you get used to them.

About the container search, I liked it better the old way as well but I think they had to do it for some technical reason related to consoles? Not sure about that. Regarding brandishing and brands I still wonder why they went back to the old system (yes, the current system was the old old system as well) but I can't complain too much since torches help a lot with temperatures, light and match-saving when playing low loot runs.

[Dan_]

I agree that the brand was better for game balance than the torch, the brandishing mechanic was cool and had some superb voice acting. I never throw torches or flares because it usually just makes the wolf charge you and eat your face, standing your ground and brandishing was much more interactive and badass even though it rarely worked, for me at least.

Completely opposite opinion on the UI though, everything looks like a huge upgrade from the past. I just wish they added an option to change the color of the screen elements, white on white is pretty much invisible. 

[Hotzn]

Agree on all points. 

[Ruruwawa]

I agree about looting.  But I'm fine with the UI and torches as  they are.  Brandishing vs. throwing, no opinion.

Regarding brandishing, I think it's important to separate that from brands.   The light, warmth and firestarting for brands was very different than torches.  I loved the visual for brands, but they were a far more fussy as a substitute for a lantern or flare.  Walk a little ways, start a campfire with the old brand to pull out a new one, repeat.  To cross a mine like Cinder Hills, where you couldn't build a fire midway, you had to sprint to cross it or you'd left in the dark.  Hope you know the way!

I had permanent 'turd trails' of campfires across the landscape in my sandboxes, marking my efforts to sustain light and warmth in my earlier travels.  These days I leave turd trails of burned out torches, but I clean them up as I pass and break them down into sticks.

Going back to brands would be a big change for Interloper where flares and matches are rare and there's only one lantern in the entire world, in a random location.

[Hotzn]

20 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

I agTo cross a mine like Cinder Hills, where you couldn't build a fire midway, you had to sprint to cross it or you'd left in the dark.  Hope you know the way!

Exactly! Or you could have crafted and brought along a coveted torch to avoid such fate. The careless or unprepared would be left in the dark where they belong...

20 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

Going back to brands would be a big change for Interloper where flares and matches are rare and there's only one lantern in the entire world, in a random location.

Yes, big change. Back to our hearts thumping with every match struck in an effort to light a fire! Back to cries of joy upon finding that next box of matches. Hmm... is there really only one lantern per Interloper run in the whole game world?

[Ruruwawa]

@Hotzn  How do you feel about turd campfires?

I was personally OK with the dimness, low-heat, short-duration and daisy-chain campfire gameplay of brands.  More hardcore gameplay for everyone -- brand new player to Interloper -- I'm ok with that.   But I hated the lag-inducing turd campfires clogging my world forever.  If Hinterland give us a way to get rid of the turd campfires I'm fine with going back to the brands.  If we can't get rid of the turds, however, I don't want brands back.

2 hours ago, Hotzn said:

Hmm... is there really only one lantern per Interloper run in the whole game world?

Might be more now that I think about it. 

[ajb1978]

I agree on the brandish part, but my biggest gripe against it was ending up with a pile of burnt out sticks in the corner that I could never get rid of, after mag-lensing an outdoor fire to start an indoor one.

So I say bring back the brands, but allow us to toss them in the fire to dispose of them!  Basically it would be the same as the torches we can take today, with the exception that they can't be re-lit if they go out somehow.  They can be tossed into a fire to dispose of them, however.