It sure is light around here


Agent Ann

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I hate to tell ya, Northern Canada does not have this long of days in the winter. Light at 9am, dark at 5pm. I am 2-3 of the way up BC, how far in Northern Canada does this game take place? Either way I like it. But I was just thinking about that today. The long dark's days are currently longer than my days!

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The days and nights are almost reversed in length compared to the earliest pre-alpha versions...

Players kept wanting to travel faster [although it felt way more natural given all the snowbound travelling to be done, players didn't like being restricted to the more realistic travel pace, so that was speeded up - and so the time of day had to be sped up too or events would be taking place at high speed.

The players complained they didn't want to be stopping so much because of night time [in early pre-alphas we all learned travel the known routes at night] - so the daylight hours were made longer.

Players still wanted even more time, so the daylight was extended again.

In the v.170 to v.183 update, another 2 hours of daylight were added...

I know it's not too realistic, but the devs made the decision for gameplay purposes - as a number of other mechanics and animal behavior are also adjusted for gameplay purposes.

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Interesting info about the development of the day/night ratio. I would not mind having 2 hours less daytime, it's just that with the current timescale I can't really go to explore the world, have time to organise, and just to take a quick look at my snares before I go. It all takes too much of your time, esp. with close drawing distance for some objects, and unforgiving when you need time to review your loot, while laying back and relax in your shelter. I would not mind, if the timescale would be set at 10 - 12. I guess when the game expands, it needs to be adjusted, but I would not mind having more time right with "just" two maps. Right now, you have to plan a day-trip to visit your direct neightborhood. I get 20 kg of meat through wolves killing deer, enough water, enough everything, have no want at all, but I have to be always in a hurry. This needs to change, not the day/night ratio.

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Right now, you have to plan a day-trip to visit your direct neightborhood.

In the early versions (and, if I remember correctly, even v.152 for its one day of release until updated again), just travelling from the Trapper's Homestead to the Dam was about a 2 1/2 day travel process... Yes, you really had to plan out your trips carefully (and also have emergency alternative depending on weather), be very careful of your stock supply, avoid loading up the carrying weight too much with mass looting hoarding, etc. etc. etc. Every trip or travel required some judgement calls and plannings ...

While it was much more challenging and felt way more natural, it's still understandable that the devs realize that a lot of modern players are simply too used to games that provide instant gratification rather than making the rewards be earned as much; so while it may feel very unnatural having that much daylight time and being able to marathon run the maps [you can run from the Trapper's Homestead in the Mystery Lake map to the far corner of the Coastal Highway map near the Third Island in just over 4 in-game hours now] it was necessary for a lot of players.

It may change again as more maps are available, given the game is still in early development. The devs have the experience, so they'll find the right reasonable balance by the time the game is ready for full completion. :)

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With the three levels of difficulty that we now have, maybe they could use the current length of day for the easiest, a 12 hr day for Voyager mode and a realistic length for Stalker mode?!

It's probably not that simple... changing the length of day can also means having to change a hundred other settings [all your timeshifting events, decay rates, travel speeds, etc etc etc]... it probably can be done, but could run into huge mechanics tracking and adjustment issues for the devs - or at least it might require a lot of time away from the main game progress to make new adjustments with each version as the maps and areas expand, and as new features/wildlife/UI changes are made.

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In the early versions (and, if I remember correctly, even v.152 for its one day of release until updated again), just travelling from the Trapper's Homestead to the Dam was about a 2 1/2 day travel process... Yes, you really had to plan out your trips carefully (and also have emergency alternative depending on weather), be very careful of your stock supply, avoid loading up the carrying weight too much with mass looting hoarding, etc. etc. etc. Every trip or travel required some judgement calls and plannings ...

Wow, 2 1/2 days.

Good to see, that there were changes made in the past. Carefully planing out a trip, because the life depends on it, is one of things that gives the game the immersion it offers. I really don't want the difficulty to be watered down, but parts like organizing, fire/ light, inventory, beeing idle, need deceleration. 5 Minutes of thinking equals most of the warmer daytime, and at night it's pitch black, all fuel would be wasted. When the day is planned out, you have plenty of time, needs to be said.

While it was much more challenging and felt way more natural, it's still understandable that the devs realize that a lot of modern players are simply too used to games that provide instant gratification rather than making the rewards be earned as much; so while it may feel very unnatural having that much daylight time and being able to marathon run the maps [you can run from the Trapper's Homestead in the Mystery Lake map to the far corner of the Coastal Highway map near the Third Island in just over 4 in-game hours now] it was necessary for a lot of players.

It may change again as more maps are available, given the game is still in early development. The devs have the experience, so they'll find the right reasonable balance by the time the game is ready for full completion. :)

I hope devs keep instant gratification, where they their zombies. I'll just hope for the best.

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I didn't see this thread earlier, but my suggestion is as follows:

Don't change the clock, just change the DAYLIGHT. This will mean nothing else needs to change as far as the rate of decay, travel and such. I'm no programmer, but I would imagine the daylight mechanic is already running on a timer of some sort. It's just a matter of programming it to reduce a bit every day. I expect you could even copy the change rate from the weather service.

Do it gradually as the gameplay continues. Each day's light hours will be, say 5-6 minutes shorter. Eventually in a long game the daylight will be down to four hours or so. This is realistic and will help add difficulty to the long and sometimes boring encampment games. The players will find that it's dark at 8 am, then 9 am, then 10 am and feel the dark creeping in JUST AS WE DO IN REAL LIFE up here LOL. Running to check rabbit traps in your narrow little window between 11 and 3 becomes a real challenge, and you have to start operating outside in the dreaded night more and more.

Storms could also be increased in frequency during the "winter" months as it got darker--again like real life. I've walked into blizzards so brutal I literally had a hard time moving forward. And cold so deep my eyelids froze shut. Don't get me started.

It would also be great if the sun could gradually get closer and closer to the horizon in loops, but that could be tricky and isn't really critical.

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I didn't see this thread earlier, but my suggestion is as follows:

Don't change the clock, just change the DAYLIGHT. This will mean nothing else needs to change as far as the rate of decay, travel and such. I'm no programmer, but I would imagine the daylight mechanic is already running on a timer of some sort. It's just a matter of programming it to reduce a bit every day. I expect you could even copy the change rate from the weather service.

Do it gradually as the gameplay continues. Each day's light hours will be, say 5-6 minutes shorter. Eventually in a long game the daylight will be down to four hours or so. This is realistic and will help add difficulty to the long and sometimes boring encampment games. The players will find that it's dark at 8 am, then 9 am, then 10 am and feel the dark creeping in JUST AS WE DO IN REAL LIFE up here LOL. Running to check rabbit traps in your narrow little window between 11 and 3 becomes a real challenge, and you have to start operating outside in the dreaded night more and more.

Storms could also be increased in frequency during the "winter" months as it got darker--again like real life. I've walked into blizzards so brutal I literally had a hard time moving forward. And cold so deep my eyelids froze shut. Don't get me started.

It would also be great if the sun could gradually get closer and closer to the horizon in loops, but that could be tricky and isn't really critical.

I like this idea a lot. For new players, whose games only last a few weeks, it wouldn't really be enough to make a difference - and for experienced players, it could be a good source of gradually-increasing challenge in the late game, something a lot of players have requested. (I have a feeling the devs will eventually be implementing something like this, if not by these exact mechanisms, since the "long dark" of winter is the titular theme :P)

(Taking it to extreme levels, a map or mod that takes place on or above the arctic circle - with the inevitable approach of the winter solstice - would be a great challenge for hardcore players, I think. )

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