Question Thread :: Milton Mailbag

[Alex Azrael]

Hi Raph,

this game is a real masterpiece, tons of work and improvments have been done, since its alpha release;

I never played during so many years on a video game, but with all these adds (and the main theme of survival in north america's wilderness), TLD is still on my top list !

and will be for a long time....

big up HL, keep on the good work !

❤️

Recently, on a previous mailbag, you talked about a map generator. What a good idea, every player has its own preferate maps, and worst one, according to its gameplay/feelings.

my question(s) is/are :

how would you include it?

great bear Island has several weel built/placed maps, I'm so glad to wait for a map generator, but how is it possible to add a random map generator on this awesome world?

Are you planning to release it on a parallel sandbox mode?

(the best solution I think, but Im not in your plans...)

; )

are you thinking to add it as an extra DLC?

You didn't spoke about it in the 2or 3 last mailbag, is it still on project?

will it be soon ? (Next sandbox update? After the 2 next ? (So after chapter 3 of Sandbox?)

I can't wait ! This would be an awesome add

thanks for all that your team have done to improve this game, results are there, months after months, it's perfect.

Best regards

Alex

[Pinefarmer13]

Heyya.

First, have loved this game probably more than most other video games I've experienced in the past few years.

My question stems from other abilities to stay warm in the Long Dark and even the consequences of it. My family does agriculture work year round and often in the dead of winter. We always tell our workers that "The heat is in your tools." Basically, have you ever considered making doing work, cutting wood, or even just sprinting giving you a slight increase in warmth? The flip side would be the danger of heat. Many time I've been out of subfreezing days hauling pine trees in from the field and I've been not only fine in a sweater but was downright over heated if I had more layers. Even in winter that warmth can kill you. I guess has there been any thought about this or would mechanics like overheating or "work-warmth" too fiddly?

Keep up the awesome work, I can't wait to see what else you guys make.

Warmest Regards,

-W

[Starving Gamer]

I'm wondering if some of the load screen art is taken from original concept boards, or were they created to give that impression? 

[Dan_]

Thank you once again for taking the time to answer the questions.

I've got a sort of OT one: Did you enjoy your recent trip to Iceland? Did any TLD applicable inspiration came up when visiting the land of ice and fire? There are plenty of absurdly beautiful natural sanctuaries worldwide ( the Canadian wilderness being one of them ), but Iceland strikes me as somewhere mythology would've easily developed in the olden days of civilization, natural beauty and the juxtaposition of volcano and blizzards would've had a profound effect on people. I wonder if creative people in modern times get the same pump of inspiration from seeing nature nowadays. 

[BESt]

What do you think of this review made by a survivalist?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJzGZqFgkfQ

[Timmytwothumbs]

First of all I'm relatively new to the long dark and I was absolutely elated to see the game is still in the works I believe it has so much potential and is by far my favorite survival game out there right now as it stands. One thing I've noticed while playing is the numerous bars of soap and metal pails littered around the map this got me thinking of hygiene and a potential system in place that allows the player to control his or her scent by bathing. Potentially having to boil water and find soap after a hunt to get rid of the scent instead of the scent being eliminated simply by dropping meat. It would feel more realistic because everyone knows when you are elbow deep in deer guts that smell will stick to you kinda like in RDR2 where you have to wash up periodically especially after hunting. I think this would pose a new unique challenge and would give players something extra to do during bad weather instead of just passing the time. 

[Azdrawee]

I've recently shown TLD to my brother and he really loved it, it's probably the only game he ever played on his own. We've been playing WINTERMUTE (slight spoiler ahead, be warned), and when we reached the Hunting Lodge, the phone rang. How is it possible that the phone was ringing when there wasn't aurora active in the sky? Is this somehow connected to the note in the Lonely Lighthouse that talks about ringing phones too? Thanks a lot for your answer (if you can and it's not something that would spoil future episodes, of course :-))

[MikeV]

 

Hello Raf and team. How many years do You plan to finish all 5 episodes(at least approximately, because the game is of interest and despite the fact that all episodes will be completed, after the last, I personally do not know how others will be from the beginning), and also could You answer my previous question? And one more thing-I do not know all this or just me, but why not shoot a rabbit with a gun? Thank you in advance.

[PlayerPawn]

Hey Raph!

What is the process of looking for someone to make original music for your game or did you already have Sascha and Cris in mind?  Do you kinda just let them do their own thing or do you take a more active role in shaping the musical experience?  Aside from TLD, what would you say is your favorite game soundtrack, from any gaming era?

Thanks and have a good weekend everyone!

[liam]

What inspired the emergency stim was it something the community came up with or was something the team came up with if so how did you come up with the idea?

[Jendo]

Would you ever make it so water freezes, or d'you think that'd piss people off too much? 😉

[Admin]

As a reminder please avoid questions which ask either for release timings (“When will Episode 3 be out?”) or that are just a Wishlist of features you’d like to see added to the game (“Will you ever add Polar Bears?”).

Try to ask questions that give opportunities for discussion of design decisions, a look at the game development process or shine a light on an aspect of The Long Dark that you’re curious about. 

Thanks and we’re getting some great questions so this is just a reminder.

[hn3475]

Have you ever thought about using different "cloth" materials? The last time I was playing, I was thinking that I can repair a superior wool scarf by harvesting a less effective cloth scarf. Do you think it might be a good idea to distinguish the type of material when repairing clothing? It would make wool a more valuable material. And if you aren't able to find the correct material to repair a wool item it would make it a patchwork piece of clothing that is slightly less effective than it would be in perfect condition. 

[ThePancakeLady]

When we choose a career path, we all start somewhere. Where did you start?

More specifically- was there a single game or game franchise that you can say made you decide that you wanted to, or "needed to", begin working in video games (in any capacity)? What was it about that game or those games, that really "clicked" and compelled you to take that career path? And if not a single game or game franchise, what was it about video games in general that made you want to create them?

Any different career paths you once gave great consideration to before making the choice to become a game dev, that you still think about from time to time? As in- any other careers that you ever gave heavy consideration to, and think you would also have enjoyed, and done well in? Not speaking of any "regrets" about the path you did choose, but more about "I wonder if..." type thoughts? I never have regretted what I have done for a living, but I think back to when I was 12 or so years old, and really thought I would become a veterinarian, zoologist, or biologist, working with animals, and have those fleeting dreams about what my life would be like if I had chosen that path, instead of the one(s) I followed instead.

*Asking for a friend*, of course. 

[mastercylinder]

So I registered to ask this question. First of all, great game and I'm enjoying it loads. One thing I did notice though is that the stars look wrong on one side of the sky - that is one one side you get sharp defined points and on the other side they're "stretched" elongated - sort of like they're seen through a strong gravity source that's bending the light. This bugs me - as it feels like part of the story, but could legitimately be a bug. 

Is this my PC(I'm playing on an ultra widescreen monitor, but my resolution is set correctly, and everything else seems scaled right)? Or is it a bug in the skybox/unity? Or, and hear me out here, is a strong gravitational source the reason why it's always winter, but never Christmas? I'm not sure how the physics or orbital mechanics would work yet (the sun still rises and sets, so the planet still spins), but if something was pulling the planet away from the sun winter would never end. Time would also flow differently for the sun and the earth if the gravity well was deep enough.  I've attached parts of a screenshot taken on the same night (just facing different directions) to illustrate what I mean.

Edited August 18, 2019 by mastercylinder

[Azdrawee]

What's your opinion on "skyriming" down hills (when players carefully go down really steep hills)? Is that something you're going to fight against in future updates or are you okay with it?

[MikeV]

Strange, why you can't shoot a rabbit with a gun.

Edited August 20, 2019 by MikeV

[CalNieDaGtarGuy]

This question may have been asked before- and I apologize if it has- but how do you feel about Digital Extremes and their motive for free-to-play games such as Warframe? Does it hurt other game companies or negatively affect game developers? As a consumer, it feels quite nice, but I am just curious how things look behind the scenes. Thanks Raph!

[Themadlad94]

based off the question you asked about emergency stims in the last mailbag, I have a suggestion on the design and detail of it. Would you ever consider changing it to be something like a Epi-Pen for allergic reactions? I think that would be a cool idea😎

[Azdrawee]

On 8/20/2019 at 6:24 AM, MikeV said:

Strange, why you can't shoot a rabbit with a gun.

You can.

[Alex Azrael]

Hi Hinterland Team, Hi Raph.

 

About customing rifle ammo

Like in the movie "L'ours" from Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Bear) :

Tcheky Karyo cuts a cross on the nose of his bullets with his knife, in order to have powerfull rounds which will fragment when hitting the bear.

it could be a good crafting option to add. Isn't it?

Have you ever thinked about adding it ?

 

 

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[Guest Marcurios]

are you guys planning to expand the food and health system a bit more  ?
like make your own pemmican, or grow some wormwood to combat worms in your gut..
would be cool if there is some more variety

pemmican would allow you to travel with some food, but not having to kill a few wolves or deer in a track to another worldspace.
ofcourse it would be cool if it took some doing to get it made, and quite a lot of time, so it doesn't come easy..
cause currently if i track from mystery lake to the hunting lodge i kill like 2 wolves and a deer to get there, leaving half of the meat so i'm not a walking decoy myself.
it kinda feels like i spill food, not very nature friendly...lol..

 

Edited August 22, 2019 by Marcurios

[lizmac21]

any chance an option to read in bed/sleep bag will be added in the future? so we can get the warmth bonus while we read.

[Gergenator]

Would there be any chance for a vehicle like a snowmobile it could be very rare and use fuel that you find and have maybe some storage 

[yollarbenibekler]

Hey Ralph! I still play the game (which is astounding as one of the factors that I love about games is the replayability, such as Diablo 2 and Heroes of Might and Magic 3) and the game is getting better and better with each update. I wish I lived in Canada I would definitely visit your studio (if you'd accept visitors) and hand all of you some granola bars and grape sodas. 

Now to the questions: 

- I know even if you didn't start on a second game project, I'm sure you dream about it roughly. Do you think the second one needs to be more realistic in terms of graphics or do you love the current "out of an oil painting" graphics? I sometimes play a hunting game named "The Hunter: The call of the wild" and I really like the graphics. Especially one of the maps that has a tundra setting reminds me of TLD and I immediately switch back to the Long Dark. Don't get me wrong, I really like the current graphics of the game.

- Do you still get inspired by the new games and some of their features which make you say "damn, I need this feature in my game?

- I don't remember who mentioned about a challenge mode in which you should survive on a computer-generated road that lasts kilometers long (which have random houses-encounters on the way) but it is brilliant.

- What is your take on deep mysteries hidden in games? GTA 5 still has an unsolved mystery that puzzles the players to this day (The Mount Chilliad Mystery). Do you plan to implement such a thing in your game in the future that makes people search for years while they try to survive in the world? A small hint there, a little mysterious code there maybe? That kind of "game within the game" makes some obsessive players (like me) play the game more obsessively. And we like it.

 

Thanks again and again. If you come to Istanbul anytime or have a transit via Istanbul Airport please let me know. I'll buy you a drink. That'll be on the house (I work at the airport)

 

Bye!

Edited August 24, 2019 by yollarbenibekler