Question Thread :: Milton Mailbag

[kopo79]

Hey there Hinterland and devs in Milton post office.
Mika from Finland and sorry about ice hockey world championship.
For the jokes...maybe add ice skates?
For the question what i have....
Have you thought about drying firewood inside houses?
Maybe drying firewood would give you more heat and better starting change?
What about lean-to structures? You dont have it in Canada?...in Finland, those are everywhere.
Thanks for the game, its best survival game in genre and we are really enjoying it.
Mika,Suvi,Viljami and Antton from Finland....

(To the stuff of the post office in Milton)
"If you are not dead by the cold yet, Im eagerly waiting for your response"

-Kotka ,Finland 31.5 2019-


 

Edited May 31, 2019 by kopo79

[Faithful Cartographer]

Hi Raph!

How do you like the ice hockey world championship? Personally, I was angry because of the Finland))) well, congratulations to them. But Russia and Canada are still stronger)))

[RaukGorth]

Hey Ralph,

Great job with the rifle mechanics and sprain system, much better now.

1. I know this was asked previously but is there now a chance for better anti aliasing? 

2. Body fat and calories. This has been really bothering me for a long time. While I know, that games are games, and not a reflection of nature, and TLD is not a simulation, please hear me out.
In nature humans have fat stores that they tap into when they are out of food. No more glycogen in liver and glucose in blood stream - we start burning fat into ketone bodies and use them for fuel. 
However ketone bodies suck for high intensity activities, for this we need glucose. But for long walks, low intensity exercises, heating our bodies - they are great.

So how about a rehaul of the hunger system in TLD. Add a second meter - body fat. It fills up when you are eating - about 20% of calories are going to the fat. When you are out of normal hunger, you start burning fat. While using your fat as fuel, you cannot do high energy exercises - like running with 30kg backpack (stamina meter reduced by 90%), climbing ropes, chopping hardwood, forging tools or fighting wolves/bears.

Also this could teach a lot of people that you can easily start to burn off body fat if you have not eaten for a few hours and you are out of glucose and glycogen.

 

[Its_the_Gman]

Hey raph

 

Will we ever get to see more challenges added? Is a hunted part 3 planned? Or was the hunted challenge just sort of a testing ground for the bear hunts in story mode? I'm asking because I've completed all challenges and loved them (except for nomad and the computer aurora one) and would like to see more of them in the game! 

 

Enjoy your weekend 

[DaveMcD]

I love so much of the sound design in the game. Is the spooky creaking metal noise in places like Hybernia inspired by the sound design from the sniper scene in the film Full Metal Jacket? Either way it instantly makes me think of the film every time.

[TheKaneB]

Hi, thank you for your amazing work, I've been following TLD since the very first public build and I'm really happy to see how much it grew, both in scope and in quality!
I have a question about the crafting UI: when you craft pretty much anything at the workbench there are instances where you can choose the tool for crafting, for example the Knife vs the Hatchet, or the Sewing Kit vs the Fishing Tackle. When you select the amount of time to work and then use a "lesser" tool (such as the hatchet, the fishing tackle, or the improvised knife), it looks like the time needed to finish the job is always more than what was displayed before. That means that you basically never reach completion since it follows an asymptotic curve of some sort.
Is it a bug o an intended behaviour? Maybe it would work better if we could select the tool before and only then select the amount of time to work, which at that point should be calculated based on the actual tool selected.
Thanks!
 

[IceOnecy]

Привет, Глубинка! Вы сделали замечательную игру про выживание в Канаде, но больше всего мне нравится в этой игре звуки. Вы сделали добротный бренд для всех вещей. Но возникает вопрос: кто озвучил персонажа Маккензи? А есть видео с его озвучкой? Я просто не мог найти его в Интернете. Спасибо за внимание!

[kosatka]

Hi, Ralph!
I should say thanks to you and whole Hinterland team for what did you done!
I got several questions

1: Will you rework the looting system? I thought if in game you actually would open the crates, cabinet, cupboards and you can and take all what inside, I mean, there's would be a space where all loot is placed, so this is would give some more immersion

2: I feel that the all locations are quite empty, do you planning to add more details in all locations do you planning to add some details that telling our some little stories like its doing Bethesda in their fallout and skyrim games?

[SneakySquid]

Hullo Raph!

As you might know (probably not) I really like to create regions so I have two questions for you:

1-What do you guys at Hinterland use to create regions ?

2-And could this software ever be sold as a DLC / new IP ?

Edited June 3, 2019 by SneakySquid
Spelling

[Mr. TwoPump]

Would you ever consider a dynamic level of snow, like when a blizzard dies down there will be a big blanket of snow which could slow you down and possibly make animal tracking easier due to the more noticeable footprints,  and it’ll make trip planning more difficult

[frickoffanddie]

Is the main menu cinematic homage to the main menu cinematics in Half-Life 2 and its episodes?

Never really saw the similarity until I booted up Half-Life 2: Episode 2, saw the headcrab skitter across the floor in the main menu and went "Hey, that's like the wolf in the main menu screen of the Long Dark.. oh wait."

If so, you should consider having the main menu cinematic change to suit the setting of the quest you're on in a particular episode.

Edited June 4, 2019 by frickoffanddie

[noahvanbaal]

hello I would like to say thank you for making one of my favorite games  better with every update and can't wait to see what you got Poland for the next update

my first question is  are ever going to add birds to hunt like pheasants that scare Easier  than rabbits and fly away  giving you one chance  but for good rewards or any other  game animals  other than rabbits and deer to the game

my second question is do you have any plans for light base building mechanics like being able to make a fire barrel  or 8 a bed in Carter hydro dam or even building some more containers for better storage options 

 

[bongoplayingmonkey]

Couple of questions on body temperature...

I've heard from a few people that have done a lot of camping at freezing conditions that a high fat meal before sleeping helps to keep you warm at night - your body generates more heat as it digests fatty foods. Is this a mechanism that could be added? Maybe give you a bit of a boost when sleeping out of doors?

Does activity raise body temperature in the game? If not could this be added? For example, a bit of a jog around before bedtime?
 

[MikeV]

Hi RAF. don't know if you read my question, so I ask again and add another:) I have a question: could you make the ultimate survival of not only death, but also due to the fact that the character waited for the rescue or something? Survival is interesting, and even very much, but survival for the sake of survival without the opportunity to escape, not cool( And another question: why, if done, that visor in machine can be open, then there never nothing there is no?

[Gazbeard]

Hi Ralph,

It's just occurred to me ... you already have kerosene lanterns in game, would you ever consider adding kerosene (camping style) stoves in game for cooking with a single pot or can?  Maybe even the garden greenhouse style kerosene heaters for indoor locations like the holiday cabins and the glazed porch at PV farmhouse?

 

[ThePancakeLady]

Still wondering why people insist on calling you by your Evil Twin Brother's name "Ralph", Raph.

*chuckles- sorry about that*

So, Yes, I will get this out of the way now- I know I am a PITA, and I know I am likely about to be again. But I am going to ask this anyway...

The Unity engine backend change from Mono to IL2CPP frustrated some people, for a bit. But after reading up on Google Stadia, and watching their live-stream press conference yesterday, I saw that IL2CPP is required for a game to run on Stadia. So... was the change made with the possibility/consideration of porting the game to the Stadia platform in the future, if Stadia does not fizzle out before becoming more widely available and popular? And what are your feelings on Stadia and other possible game streaming platforms for a decidedly Singleplayer-only game like TLD, while the majority of games showcased in the Stadia press conference seemed to be Multiplayer FPS type games? Do you see these game-streaming platforms being viable for a game like yours, or any other slower-paced Singleplayer-only game?

You can feel free to not answer, some secrets need to be kept at times. But ...Pancakes?

[neboblizko]

Hello Dear developers! I would like to make a couple of suggestions regarding the gameplay, which I think will greatly diversify the game process, and bring even more atmosphere to it. First, add a recipe system to the game (survival mode). As it is not logical that the survivor already initially knows how to sew coats, hats, gloves, pants, and cook some medicinal tea. I think it would be very atmospheric if the survivor found the recipes of certain items in abandoned houses and other objects on the map, studied them and after that he had the opportunity to make this item. This will complicate the game, diversify and make it more atmospheric. Secondly, make a separate slot for a backpack. Add to the game various types of backpacks that the survivor will be able to find in the process of survival, with different characteristics according to the amount of portable cargo, a bag made of elk leather will be put on in the same slot. At the start, the character will have a minimum backpack with a maximum tolerated weight of 10 kg, with survival there will also be 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 kg large in terms of the carried load. It also diversifies and complicates the game. Thanks for attention. Sorry I dont speak English. I am used Google translate :)

[Admin]

2 hours ago, FrozenCorpse said:

Now, I have a question:  Is it okay for readers of the question thread to do as I've done here by politely directing someone to the index when we know the topic has been addressed on numerous occasions?  Or is it preferred that we just leave the questions for Raphael or a forum Admin to respond to as he / they see fit?

 

This was an excellent way of sharing that questions have already been addressed.

Thank you.

[Faithful Cartographer]

Hi, Raph!

Really looking forward to the new region

I Can say for what type of players it will be: beginners, players of an average level or, again, for experienced stalkers?

Edited June 7, 2019 by Faithful Cartographer

[Fikso]

Hi Raf! How do you like the idea to make the same system as in the climber's hut on the wolf mountain? For example, so that the windows were transparent and you could watch the weather or animals outside

[Admin]

Please refrain from using this as a method of submitting feature requests. We have the Wish List forum for that.

These are meant to be Q&A style questions, not new things you'd like to see in The Long Dark.

Thank you.

[GudJob]

Hey, hope you guys at Hinterland are having a great day! You are doing a good job at making this game even more interesting with each update!

My question is: Have you ever considered adding chainsaw as a rare tool, that provides the fastest way to cut brances or to quarter carcasses of big animals, but at the cost of some fuel?

[RaukGorth]

Hey Ralph,

I can totally see how my previous post (about player fat) could be seen as a Wishlist Item, so let me shine a different light on the topic.

In a previous Dispatch (#2) there was a question about being well fed over long periods of time resulting in a buff to strength and hitpoints.

While the design of the buff is the best I have seen in games in many years (see this post) :
1. Mechanically perfectly clear, it did not change (nerf) the previous game mechanics
2. Gives a small advantage, not a game changer. The 5kg does not impact the game that much
3. It is still challenging to maintain being fed constantly for 72h,

However for Interloper players this buff changed the game. Previously the "cookie cutter strat" was starving to death during the day and eating before sleep to regenerate health. Now the strategy it is just hunting and eating 3 kgs of meat per day, while enjoying +5 kg carrying capacity and hitpoints buff, with no drawbacks.

Introduction of fat to the game would change that. There would not be a very easy choice of "just eat everytime you can", as the fat would reduce the carrying capacity, or even add more red area to spriting/climbing meter. To make this even more interesting, humans usually do not heal a lot while pumped with insulin (hormone which is produced when you eat). So eating before sleep would prevent healing.

So do you think that the Well Fed buff achieved its goals for Interloper players, or is there still some area for improvement?

[Someone]

So I noticed that for the survival bow, the arrows are called simple arrows. Does this imply you plan to add another type of arrow in the future, or does the name have no meaning? Also, about my last post with the flashlight, I think if it could be used in a struggle it would be more useful, or if the battery you got from an aurora was still there after the aurora, so even though you can’t recharge it until the next aurora it would still be more usable.

[GothSkunk]

This may ruffle a few feathers, but I'm curious nevertheless.

 

We currently have the ability to kill rabbits with our bare hands. In the context of The Long Dark it's understandable that such an option is available to us. The decision is not an easy one for new players to make, because a) its gruesome despite its necessity, and b) rabbits are just so darn cute!

Is it by design, or due to a lack of resources that we are not compelled to kill other animals in a similar fashion? Particularly when it comes to hunting with the bow or rifle and relying on our quarry to bleed out rather than scoring a clean killshot.

 

Tracking a wounded deer/wolf/bear slowly bleeding out, finally come across it keeled over, too weak to move but still alive, struggling to breathe. To me it seems like a missed opportunity to compound on the dilemma presented by the option of breaking a rabbits neck, wherein before we can harvest a hunted animal, we'd have to first end its suffering. Either by hunting/improvised knife, by revolver/rifle, or by hand if the aforementioned tools are not at our disposal. Which could present additional challenges particularly with bears and wolves, as even in their weakened state, they might still put up a fight if you try to finish them off.

 

If it's by design, that's fine. If not, I could always forward this to the suggestion box as well. I just thought I'd ask first if the lack of such a feature is by design first.