Question Thread :: Milton Mailbag

[Gecko-[GER]]

I don't know if you want to answer statistical questions, but I'll try:
I am co-author of a comprehensive guide (English and German).
Some things you just can't grasp by playing. So I need information about the following things:

- Are there still 9 bunker positions in ML and PV?

- Is a container still unusable (higher levels of difficulty) if the tool breaks during the action.

- What happens to the arrows in an animal if I enter another zone before it dies? Can they be found anywhere, or are they going?

- Does an animal die safely when I hit it with a Flaregun?

- Is there a chance that the meat bags will finally be usable (reduce weight by at least 30%!)

- Will the animals avoid the player at some point during time-accelerated activities? (because otherwise as at the moment: almost insta death)

With thanks in advance

I understand why you didn't answer my last questions, but maybe this will work.

[jacksavage4731]

also the snare should have a bigger hitbox I think

[Celeblith]

Question that's been on my mind since killing my first bear: why does bear meat come with the risk of intestinal parasites? Bears are omnivorous after all and I can't imagine why eating the meat of an omnivore comes with the same risk as eating that of a carnivore (wolfmeat). Is it a balancing thing? 

[Marcinero]

Hello Ralph, 

I am wondering if you could possibly answer these three questions:

- Are there are no skis in northern Canada? Action of the game takes place somewhere around there, so what I am missing mostly (from realistic perspective) is skis (or at least snowshoes)! I just cannot imagine that even before Quite Apocalypse happened people that were living on Great Bear Island were not using skies to travel around during normal winter. Did you ever think about implementing skies into the game play? Something like you cannot really carry around and have to leave outside the buildings / caves but gives you opportunity to travel faster across a flat area? Shooting while on the skies would also require new skill and put limit on your rotation (like in the car), etc?

- Second question, also from realistic perspective: is it possible, that you, being super tired after walking miles across wild lands, lie down just for an hour and wake up just like you had a huge alarm clock next to your ear? I think it is not possible that you can program yourself (at least in real life) to sleep two or three hours without any alarm clock. I imagine that you could try to have a short nap (but how many hours would be not of your choice) or sleep until you are fully rested (or woke up earlier by wolves chorus howls). What do you think about making sleeping more realistic?

- Last year you changed representation of character parameters (like hunger, thirst etc) from percentage to graphic / description. I thought it was great idea, because it was reflecting reality better, but I was wondering why not to put it also into all other things like food, tools, cloths etc? Can you tell in real life by looking at that can of sardines is fine in 67%? Or you can just estimate if it is fine to eat or not? So are you planning to get rid of percentage and replace it with graphic visualisation / description?

I played a lot on Sandbox (now Survival) mode, mostly offline so my Steam run time counter is enormously understate. I know it is “just a game” and not survival simulator (like for example UnReal World), but still I cannot stop thinking about realistic aspects of it. Recently you made some of them more truthful to reality than other. But these three I am asking above are bothering me the most.

Marcin

[jacksavage4731]

also could you add a pencils so you can show more of the map until it snaps

[Mixxut]

This is turning into a wish list forum

[ThePancakeLady]

Any time-frame for when the much needed Pancakes are going to be added? 

No, really. I told you I would never let up on this. I did tell you. I know you really, really, really want to add Pancakes, if only to make me shut up about it. (I can see you shaking your head "yes yes yes..." here- to the please shut up about it idea...  )

So... December? Sooner? A wee bit later? But not much later?

 

Hope you smiled, at least a little.  But realize I am sorta, kinda, a bit serious about adding Pancakes to the game. Keep smiling.

[nicko]

Are their plans in place to replace those static world objects we see in buildings such as plates, cups or even some crates. We want them all to be craftable where practical.

[kkanden]

Have you ever thought about adding compass to the game. A lot of the time I find myself lost using the map because i don't really know which exact direction I'm supposed to go. Is it supposed to be part of the game or adding a compass would actually fit into the way you want the game to be?

[greatwhitegamer]

Hey Raph! My question are the TLD physical copies going to be in places like Walmart or Target? If so, TLD is about to be introduced to ALOT more pepole. Cheers! 

Edited August 24, 2018 by greatwhitegamer
Misspelled name

[romerabr]

I don't know if somebody asked this, but there is an interesting theory that appears in the forums few days ago... Are you really a werewolf, and this is why you take wolves side in the game? 

[FireCraft78]

Is there any hope of having some of Hinterland merchandise available in an European retailer ? These 16$ shipping are a bit stopping me from buying a 25$ poster 

Edited August 24, 2018 by FireCraft78

[Luciën]

I am not so sure about your history as a game builder (probably something that backers might know more of), but I remember it was quite extensive.

With the expansion of online communities, could you tell the difference it makes for a game studio? How does that influence the production process? Tricky question: does the focus on community building have a negative sides? Anything that you might look back at offline ages with some melancholy?

Or maybe more in general: how has game development changed over the period in which you started as a game designer and director?

Edited August 24, 2018 by Luciën

[Luciën]

I remember checking the website daily for the vigilant flame update. And then, one fine day you published the seemingly not so very much related post about diversity in Hinterland Studio's.

I support the idea of promoting and actively stimulating diversity within organisations and game studios are no exception from the rule. But what made Hinterland decide  to publish this shout out to the world at this point? What makes Hinterland so passionate about the subject?
Do ideas about diversity influence the game production - I would imagine story wise? In Wintermute we're still looking at what is most commonly the norm, a white  heterosexual couple.  What would it take to portray a homosexual couple in a game story like The Long Dark (so, without putting the emphasis on the sexual preference but on things that you know, are emphasised in the current storyline such as survival and building trust)?

[Luciën]

I have the feeling some people have great urges finding more goodies in the game. Such as pancakes.
All this being either silly or serious, it of course has to make sense in your roadmap to survival of Hinterland's creative and financial prosperity.

The Long Dark & Hinterland's origins are very much crowd funding related. Is there a way that you could try out and see if you can do additional crowd funding for accelerating the introduction of new features? With allocated and designated funding one could attract additional employees for the specific task at hand. Or would that impact the team spirit too much?

I could imagine donating. I actually bought the steam licence just because. Especially if you make gifts tax deductible

Edited August 24, 2018 by Luciën

[Smellyfries]

Once you finish Episode 3 and have fixed all of the possible bugs that you can find, what will your next project be? 

Will it be adding a new system, mini game, or possibly a new map?

[Luciën]

As a conclusion to today's Question Avalanche on my behalf, a follow up on my language question of last week. Thanks for answering by the way.

I have been looking up some of the logical sounding names on the Canadian map, and I did find Pleasant Valley, the Great Bear Rainforest. Where do the names of the regions originate? How much of it is invented?
What would be the French counterpart for the region's names?

[Smellyfries]

I have a question regarding a scene i saw while looking back at the Faithful Cartographer update video. Near the end of the video, you can see the state of a dear carcass through multiple stages  over many days. At the final stage, it shows a pile of bones left behind, specific to the dear, where it was killed and eaten by a wolf. 

Is it possible that you could add something like this in the game in the future? Leaving a pile of bones behind when a carcass if fully harvested or rotten could be a cool bit of detail and possibly leave room for something that could be useful in the future.

Sorry if this seems long. Thanks again...good luck with development.  

[jacksavage4731]

maybe sharpening bones as throwing knifes

[Skelegutplays]

Will there be a sandbox update before story mode redux?

And are you ever going to add gunsmithing to the game?

[LordAdder]

The most glaring action omission in TLD is the ability to jump.  Perhaps with the weight of our equipment affecting how high or far we can jump, or even stopping us completely if we are too encumbered.  Is there any chance that we will be able to jump any time in the future? 

[Admin]

Please ensure that all posts are questions. Please do not comment on or debate someone else's questions. We want to keep this thread as easy to navigate as possible.

Thank you.

[Celeblith]

What's in 1.36? 

[MarrowStone]

Which card game does Will play when he passes time?

Does he stick to the basic Pyramid Solitaire or take on the fittingly named Klondike Solitaire?

Or, does he just play Poker with the wolves much like that one Steam Sale banner?

What form of entertainment does he miss in a post-digital age?

Edited August 27, 2018 by MarrowStone

[Spakerman]

Which part, or parts, of TLD are you most proud of?  Like which locations or bits of code or game systems do you look at time and time again and say to yourself "Man! We really nailed that."?