Wolves, Blankets, Crates and Dog Food

[Strider]

Foreword

I just want to state before I begin I like TLD very much at this point. It's different to the legion of games out there and more importantly is trying to distance itself which is a good thing. I offer the comments below merely as my opinion. In addition, I've no idea if the things I'm about to suggest are already planned. If they are, wonderful I can go back to being eaten by wolves.

I've also only played the game 2-3 times and I've very little experience. I've also zero survivalist experience (I've been told playing DayZ and Project Zomboid don't count) and so it may be that what Hinterlands have added is accurate. Lastly, I think the balance they've struck (I'm ignorant of Canada's weather) between realism and game play is excellent so far. The game is brutal but it's nice to have have the game hold my hand, but I digress.

Feedback

1. Objects in the world, crates, blankets

I don't like objects in the world that I cannot interact with. I understand there needs to be a certain amount 'eye-candy' and not everything can be interacted with but there are some fairly large omissions. For example, large crates.

I see no reason why any person couldn't (with a prybar, but to a lesser extent without) break large wooden crates up to use in a fire. This is also true for the blankets that populate every cabin I've been in. It struck me I could use them to repair wool clothing but I cannot.

Let me just add here that the decision to omit these may be due to game balancing. That's fair enough but I thought it worth pointing out.

2. Wolves and combat

Again, I need to prefix what I'm about to say. I suspect the combat in TLD is not a place-holder. I'm under the impression that Hinterlands have made a decision to move away from the 'twitchy' aspect of gaming in the hope of making it more cerebral. I like this however I don't much like the combat in this game. I find it limiting which brings me to the following.

3. Wolf behaviour - pack hunters?

Wolves are pack hunters but they don't hunt in packs in this game. This might be due to the game presently being in alpha but and I suspect this will be changed. It might be a game play decision since a man without a gun against five or so wolves would (I imagine) stand little chance. I'd love to know what the others think. I'd love to hear what the Canadians think or specifically the ones that live in more rustic areas like those founds in TLD. At the moment the wolves seem incredibly brave and extremely aggressive which is not in keeping with what I understand of wolf behaviour. I believe them to be quite brave in numbers but not so alone. I did read in another thread that wolf behaviour could be governed by their hunger but I also understand that everything in this game must first be subject to balancing.

That's it for now. I've tried to be as considered and respectful as possible so don't hate on me for posting feedback in the feedback forum. I welcome constructive feedback on my constructive feedback though.

Cheers.

P.S - I still haven't eaten dog food. Yet. Or at least, not in this game...

[elloco999]

I agree that TLD is a great game and the devs have pretty much nailed the balance between game and realism, even if it does need tweaking.

1.1 You can forage for wood indoors, this represents breaking up furniture etc but it's not graphically represented in the game (not yet anyway). So no, you can't break wooden crates by going to the crates and breaking them up, but that's supposedly what happens when you forage inside.

1.2 The reason you can't use the blankets for anything is indeed probably for balance. If you could harvest all those blankets for cloth, you'd be swimming in cloth. It would make keeping your clothes in good condition too easy.

2. I don't like the way combat is handled either. Especially the button smashing, I'm really bad at that.

3. Wolves don't hunt in packs because of the geo-magnetic event. It has messed up their instincts. At least that's the explanation.

Being attacked by 1 wolf is often a dead sentence for new players, but even experienced players can easily loose 20% condition as the result of a wolf attack. Being attacked by a pack of 5 or more wolves would kill pretty much everyone.

[Strider]

1.1 You can forage for wood indoors, this represents breaking up furniture etc but it's not graphically represented in the game (not yet anyway). So no, you can't break wooden crates by going to the crates and breaking them up, but that's supposedly what happens when you forage inside.

I owe an apology of sort. The game is set in Canada so I best start acting like one

I didn't know you could do this or rather, I thought I needed an axe to acquire wood for a fire. I do now though, obviously. This would render my first point somewhat moot.

1.2 The reason you can't use the blankets for anything is indeed probably for balance. If you could harvest all those blankets for cloth, you'd be swimming in cloth. It would make keeping your clothes in good condition too easy.

Agreed but I feel something needs to be put in place to limit this. For example there seem to be an abundance of sewing kits. If these were reduced you could harvest this cloth but it'd be of little use to you.

2. I don't like the way combat is handled either. Especially the button smashing, I'm really bad at that.

Stop agreeing with me godamit!

3. Wolves don't hunt in packs because of the geo-magnetic event. It has messed up their instincts. At least that's the explanation.

Ohkay...that sounds a like soft-science nightmare to be honest but I'll roll with it

Being attacked by 1 wolf is often a dead sentence for new players, but even experienced players can easily loose 20% condition as the result of a wolf attack. Being attacked by a pack of 5 or more wolves would kill pretty much everyone.

Yeah I mentioned this myself. I'd rather there were packs of wolves but they were more cowardly. I love natural history and when I see things that don't conform I don't like it.

In the end they're not massive issues and they certainly don't break the game.

Thanks for the reply.