Books & Booze...


ScottRJones23

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Just two suggestions...

So, plenty of newsprint around, in rolls and sheets, and plenty of bookcases (or at least shelves) and of course bedside tables when there's a bed nearby... and yet, no books. Granted, they'd likely have already been used for tinder and so on by previous residents of cabins, but still, not even a ratty old forgotten paperback or a Harlequin or something to read. I don't know what the plan is for the narrative in the Story Game of The Long Dark, but if there's a psychological component to survival (a la the sanity meter in Bethseda's 'Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth') then perhaps the inclusion of some random reading material could be helpful? You spend a lot of time resting in TLD, either sleeping through the night or cooking food/melting snow for hours and if boredom is a factor in your character's alertness/engagement levels vis a vis survival, I could see a book or magazine helping with that.

I'm not suggesting narratives-within-the-narrative or anything like that, though. Just a simple activity that could boost your character's mentality, take them away and out of the grim struggle for an hour. Of course, this is only if mental fitness is part of the Condition meter.

Also, I've spent some of my life in logging and fishing camps on the coast and one of the constants I found coming into a new staff accommodation or trailer was "shit mix": the leftover half-inches of alcohol in bottles forgotten at the back of a cupboard. We'd take these (the Sour Puss and Fireball and vodka and whatever) and mix em all together. Wouldn't get you drunk but it was always kinda fun and at least a little warming at the end of the day. I suppose with enough shit-mix you could conceivably have your survival effectiveness lessened but that would be the risk you take, in-game.

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+1, but I would like to see the presence of journals, notes and survival handbooks that have actual readable content.

NICE! Yes. And honestly, how cool would it be if some of those notes were in the margins of some ratty old New Wave sci-fi paperback or, say, the margins of a copy of McCarthy's 'The Road'. Maybe that's too meta? And you'd probably have to get some copyright to that book, which could be tricky. Still, crossover! ;)

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I definitely see this as something for the story mode, and then when that's all set up working it's way into sandbox.

Sometimes I wonder if maybe, just maybe, some of that newsprint is dated recently and mentions something (buried in the back) like "scientists predict massive solar storm" or "geologists believe magnetic pole shift possible".

"Canadian and U.S. authorities assure the public that there is no risk to the electrical grid and that citizens should remain calm." HA!

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Also, I've spent some of my life in logging and fishing camps on the coast and one of the constants I found coming into a new staff accommodation or trailer was "shit mix": the leftover half-inches of alcohol in bottles forgotten at the back of a cupboard. We'd take these (the Sour Puss and Fireball and vodka and whatever) and mix em all together. Wouldn't get you drunk but it was always kinda fun and at least a little warming at the end of the day. I suppose with enough shit-mix you could conceivably have your survival effectiveness lessened but that would be the risk you take, in-game.

Or stengthened...if you don't drink it. Can also be used as anti-septic. Which is good because there's only so much of it currently in the game for wolf struggles.

+1 to two great ideas.

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(after 150day in Voyager I just couldn't take it any longer and jumped of the ravine bridge)

I do like that when that happens, you don't hear your character yelling as he/she falls. Because I imagine you're too busy trying to hold your breath and/or breathing too hard to scream. TLD has verisimilitude up the wazooo! :D

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I agree with the books. I'd like something to help pass the time other than sleeping. In my last playthrough, which ended up going to day 100 (because I wanted to see if I could. I could), I ended up with more meat than I could possibly eat before it all went bad and 60 KL of water, just because I had nothing else to do but hunt wildlife and melt water. Books would be a good way to pass some time if you didn't want to waste bullets killing wildlife that you won't have time to eat before it goes bad, or melt more water. You know, just for some way to pass the time.

Also, I would totally love it if somewhere I found a copy of "The Man Who Was Thursday." For personal reasons, obviously.

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If they're going to add books they should slip in a couple with recipes. The day before yesterday I would never have known how to turn gut into string. I could be stranded for a year and wouldn't have known exactly which piece of the animal I need and how to cure it. So I got curious and looked it up. Not a hard thing to do (if a bit messy), but there was knowledge I lacked.

I think what they should do is lock out recipes for longer term items until you find, you know, a copy of the Boy Scout Handbook from 1955. Then you can craft bone fish hooks, say, or bone needles which you could add to gut to create a new sewing kit.

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+1

Mental health is equally important has physical, specially in a game like TDL...

Great idea. I remember watching the youtube video of a guy who tried to live by himself in the wilderness for a year. After a few months the loneliness got to him and he was crying when he broke down and decided to call for evac.

Add a mental health meter along side the food and water. If it gets too low your character starts sobbing and goes into fetal position a few min every day. Use those addictive pain pills, booze, or maple syrup to cure.

Typing of which, how about adding the taping of maple trees as another source of drink and calories?

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  • 3 weeks later...

+1

I think the sanity thing could kick in after a certain number of days, in part to counteract the boredom a lot of players are mentioning after 30, 40 or 50 days. Up to those points you are kept pretty busy, then the routine starts.

Also, what about simple crosswords or word search puzzles? I don't know how much of a chore they would be to program, but some puzzle type activity to pass time and keep the crazy at bay. Jigsaw puzzles, Rubik's cube, solitaire...

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