Ideas for cars, beds, and then some

[Swope25]

Hello all, the name is Swope and I’ve got another idea for The Long Dark. Just wanted to say thanks for the awesome game😊, now for the suggestion of my four ideas.

- Insulated Cars

1.    Cars as we know it act as a way to protect ourselves from animals and a way to sleep. The only problem is that cars offer little to no armor from the cold (which makes since). But what if we could cover the windows of the vehicle with, say cardboard, or even a blanket to better insulate and make a more adequate place to sleep.

- Beds

2.    Beds are my wing man, they offer me sleep when I’m starving, playing cards when I’m tired, and as well as some protection from the cold. Beds are great, but almost every bed is the same, as in insulation values of course. Maybe like the clothing system, their can be a variety of bed sheets and blankets, or even animal hides to better arm yourself against the cold. And maybe even be able to make a makeshift bed from bed sheets to be able to sleep on the floor. 

- Misc ideas

 3.    Light sources are great, but what about a primitive one? A stick on fire might be too primitive, so how about being able to make candles from the fat of animals, A more controlled way to illuminate the area, but the down fall is how weak the flame can be, meaning sprints or winds could knock the flame out.

 4.    What if we could be the hero and save someone’s life, maybe their could be encounters with people, like a person being attacked by wolves, or a person crying for help and holding onto a cliff edge and about to fall. Would it be possible to have encounters were we wouldn’t just be taking care of ourselves, but as well as another person?

 

             That’s all for me, until next time

sincerely-

         - Swope25

[Admin]

Moved to the appropriate sub-forum.

[UpUpAway95]

I think the "makeshift bed" you keep referring to is called a bedroll and it already can be found in the game or be crafted from bear hides.

There are lots of light sources suitable for different occasions (lanterns, flares, torches and even just lighting a match or starting a fire)

In Wintermute you are trying to save someone else - Astrid.

Edited September 4, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[ManicManiac]

@Swope25,

@UpUpAway95 is right, most of your wish list items are already in the game.  Especially item 4, that one basically describes the entire point of Story Mode  

As to the vehicles, I think they are just fine as they are.  The fact that they offer wind protection and not much more is about all one might expect given the rest of the game world.  Even so just a little wind protection can be a life saver... let alone it's a place to hole up when being pursued by predators.  Having the cars become an easy place to warm up would make things far too easy in my opinion.   *However, if you prepare well and have enough of the right gear, you can easily camp out in a car over night (so it is possible, you just have to be careful about it, wear warm clothes and bedroll).  Point is I don't think the cars were really meant for sleeping in all warm and cozy... as I see it, they are really only useful as an emergency shelter; when we don't have any better option. 

[UpUpAway95]

6 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

@Swope25,

@UpUpAway95 is right, most of your wish list items are already in the game.  Especially item 4, that one basically describes the entire point of Story Mode  

As to the vehicles, I think they are just fine as they are.  The fact that they offer wind protection and not much more is about all one might expect given the rest of the game world.  Even so just a little wind protection can be a life saver... let alone it's a place to hole up when being pursued by predators.  Having the cars become an easy place to warm up would make things far too easy in my opinion.   *However, if you prepare well and have enough of the right gear, you can easily camp out in a car over night (so it is possible, you just have to be careful about it, wear warm clothes and bedroll).  Point is I don't think the cars were really meant for sleeping in all warm and cozy... as I see it, they are really only useful as an emergency shelter; when we don't have any better option. 

I think it would be fine to allow players to optionally use their bedroll inside a car to sleep; that is, allow a bedroll to be placed on a seat inside a vehile (this would require a modificatons to how the bedroll appears when it is placed on a seat).  Doing so could give an increase to the Feels Like temeprature inside the vehicle to the same degree as the bedroll gives a warmth bonus anywhere else.  If the player does not have a bedroll, they could still opt to sleep inside the vehicle without one the same as they current allowed.

[ManicManiac]

8 minutes ago, UpUpAway95 said:

allow players to optionally use their bedroll inside a car to sleep

We can already do that in game though.   (moving the edit to it's own comment)

Edited September 4, 2019 by ManicManiac

[UpUpAway95]

3 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

We can already do that in game though.

Can you?  You can sleep in a car by selecting the bedroll option from the radial and you just go directly to the sleep interface, but can you actually go to inventory, select your bedrol and then opt to "use" it and place it within the car?

Edited September 4, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[ManicManiac]

@UpUpAway95

Granted we don't have a visual representation... but the effect is the same.  If we have a bedroll in our inventory and we opt to sleep in a car then we use the bedroll for sleeping in the car.  If we don't have a bedroll in our inventory, then we can still sleep in the car but without said bedroll (because we aren't carrying it).

If we note the "bonus temp" with and without a bedroll, we see that we do in fact use the bedroll in the car as long as it's in our inventory.  We can also note that it's being used by the additional wear on the bedroll when we are done sleeping or resting in the car. 

[UpUpAway95]

35 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

@UpUpAway95

Granted we don't have a visual representation... but the effect is the same.  If we have a bedroll in our inventory and we opt to sleep in a car then we use the bedroll for sleeping in the car.  If we don't have a bedroll in our inventory, then we can still sleep in the car but without said bedroll (because we aren't carrying it).

If we note the "bonus temp" with and without a bedroll, we see that we do in fact use the bedroll in the car as long as it's in our inventory.  We can also note that it's being used by the additional wear on the bedroll when we are done sleeping or resting in the car. 

What I'm talking about though is making that difference optional by providing a visual representation of placeing the bedroll.  What happens currently, if I have 2 bedrolls in my inventory?  Does that warmth bonus and related degradation apply to the warmest bedroll?  I suspect that's the case.  However, what if I want to use the bedroll that is more worn and provides a little less warmth.  I have this option in a cave where I can visually spread the bedroll by going to the inventory rather than the radial menu and actually selecting and placing the bedroll I want to use in that instance.   (I frequently do use the lower grade bedroll in caves where I find a spare one, just to save some wear on my primary bedroll.)  What if it's actually warm enough and I'm dressed warmly enough that I don't want to use a bedroll at all... again saving on its wear and tear for those instances when it's colder and I do need it?

Sure, it's not a mandatory thing at all.  The game is fine without it.  I was just saying that it would be also fine if they did such a thing... and it wouldn't actually make the game easier.  They could also do something similar with bedrolls inside emergency shelters.

Edited September 4, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[ManicManiac]

14 minutes ago, UpUpAway95 said:

Sure, it's not a mandatory thing at all.  The game is fine without it.  I was just saying that it would be also fine if they did such a thing

Agreed.    It's a neat idea.

Edited September 4, 2019 by ManicManiac

[loriaw]

39 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

@UpUpAway95

Granted we don't have a visual representation... but the effect is the same.  If we have a bedroll in our inventory and we opt to sleep in a car then we use the bedroll for sleeping in the car.  If we don't have a bedroll in our inventory, then we can still sleep in the car but without said bedroll (because we aren't carrying it).

If we note the "bonus temp" with and without a bedroll, we see that we do in fact use the bedroll in the car as long as it's in our inventory.  We can also note that it's being used by the additional wear on the bedroll when we are done sleeping or resting in the car. 

This is true, but there is an area where I haven't noticed this stacking/being applied the same. Placing a bedroll "on" a bed. I haven't even tried it in a long time, but I do place it on the bench in the dam, so it should still work … but it should give both warmth bonuses (whether or not anyone believes both are needed). Why can't we sleep in a bed and use that bedroll as a extra blanket? It bugs me that there are heavy looking wool blankets draped on beds, over railings, etc. that are worth absolutely nothing beyond a few pieces of cloth. Why can't we use them to sleep with? Why can't we cut a hole in the middle and wear them like ponchos? Little things like this really bug me lol.

As an example, if allowed, I would use those heavy blankets to cocoon my sleeping space in front of a fire (drag a bunk bed to the fire, drape the blankets over the head/foot ends and line the side away from the fire with them to trap and hold heat). In fact, with or without a fire, those blankets would aid in allowing your own body heat to warm up that airspace … something that homeless people do all the time. Same with all those newspapers … why can't we place a pile of them on the floor and lay our bedroll on it for the insulation factor? Again, it's a little thing, but something I've questioned now for years.  Sometimes it just gets very difficult to pretend I'm dumber than a brick and don't know about these things. 

 

[ManicManiac]

@loriaw,
This is where I think it would get into the OP territory.  The methods for using cars to sleep in (I think) are balanced just fine right now.  It would seem to me that by being able to turn a car into a cozy cave with essentially a free bed would undermine game play a bit and make it too easy to use it get warm instead of pushing ahead to find real and proper shelter.  (in other words, I think this would make things too easy)

I'm not saying it's a bad idea... it's not.  It's a fine idea, in principle.  I just think it would only serve to make this particular game easier, and I'm not looking for easier in this game.  I like the struggle...

[Ghosty 1944]

I think candles would be nice. It would be something I would use inside when it is night and I need to see my fire wood also maybe being able to read books at night.

[ManicManiac]

5 minutes ago, Ghosty 1944 said:

I think candles would be nice.

Yeah I think we've got a few wish list threads out there asking for candles.  That would be a nice touch to be sure, though I'm not sure how nessisarry they would be considering we have a virtually limitless source of torches and plenty of lanterns (as well as a renewable source of lantern fuel).

[Ghosty 1944]

7 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

Yeah I think we've got a few wish list threads out there asking for candles.  That would be a nice touch to be sure, though I'm not sure how nessisarry they would be considering we have a virtually limitless source of torches and plenty of lanterns (as well as a renewable source of lantern fuel).

True, But when your reading and you don't want to waste any fuel just use a match and light the candle then you have some light for a few hours.

[ManicManiac]

2 minutes ago, Ghosty 1944 said:

True, But when your reading and you don't want to waste any fuel just use a match and light the candle then you have some light for a few hours.

Fair enough.   

[Serenity]

The last dev diary hints at candles:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/305620/announcements/detail/1610515908968259860

They may just be story mode props though instead of being craftable

Edited September 4, 2019 by Serenity

[UpUpAway95]

3 hours ago, Ghosty 1944 said:

True, But when your reading and you don't want to waste any fuel just use a match and light the candle then you have some light for a few hours.

Then it would turn into... if you don't want to waste a match and whatever it is you make the candles from...  The desire to scrimp and save in this game is endless by design.  If they are rare to find and not craftable, people will likely avoid using them as well.

As it is now, I would rather read by a lantern and save the match knowing that I can fish an almost limitless amount because guts are limitless and scrap metal is extremely plentiful and for my fishing efforts, I get both food and fuel for that lantern.  Plus, if you don't allow the lantern to burn out on its own but instead always extinguish it before it runs out of fuel, it does not lose conditon with use.  In one of my playthroughs, I'm 90 days in and have used the lantern many many times.  I still have lots of fuel and my lantern has stayed at 100% since I found it and repaired it.

[ManicManiac]

2 minutes ago, UpUpAway95 said:

I would rather read by a lantern and save the match knowing that I can fish an almost limitless amount because guts are limitless and scrap metal is extremely plentiful and for my fishing efforts, I get both food and fuel for that lantern.

Agreed.  This is exactly what I was getting at.

 

[loriaw]

On 9/4/2019 at 3:34 PM, ManicManiac said:

@loriaw,
This is where I think it would get into the OP territory.  The methods for using cars to sleep in (I think) are balanced just fine right now.  It would seem to me that by being able to turn a car into a cozy cave with essentially a free bed would undermine game play a bit and make it too easy to use it get warm instead of pushing ahead to find real and proper shelter.  (in other words, I think this would make things too easy)

I'm not saying it's a bad idea... it's not.  It's a fine idea, in principle.  I just think it would only serve to make this particular game easier, and I'm not looking for easier in this game.  I like the struggle...

There are no cars with a bed in them, so I'm not quite sure what you're saying. I was talking about actual 'beds', inside proper shelters already with the exception of the mountaineer's hut in TWM. 

[ManicManiac]

10 minutes ago, loriaw said:

There are no cars with a bed in them

That's not what I was talking about... just the fact that we can use bedrolls while in a car... and that building up more "insolation" inside of a car would be a little too OP in my opinion (and not really nessisarry at all anyways).

I suppose I was still talking about the original post, and may have misread yours a bit.

Edited September 6, 2019 by ManicManiac

[loriaw]

8 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

That's not what I was talking about... just the fact that we can use bedrolls while in a car... and that building up more "insolation" inside of a car would be a little too OP in my opinion (and not really nessisarry at all anyways).

I suppose I was still talking about the original post, and may have misread yours a bit.

I only hop in a car in an emergency ~ and I've never bothered with the try and keep a fire going beside one even once. I'll build a snow shelter instead.

But, my playstyle is pretty much loot places and lug it back to a main base. ANY thing that could possibly make 'home' look more homey is something I'm in favor of. In a world full of nothing but snow and blizzards and crazed wildlife, a cozy bed piled high with blankets and extra pillows (something else I've never understood and am bugged by … why can't we take those along with us?!?) says "home". I'd be dragging paintings and other wall art to my base if I had my way … and every plastic container as well … and that globe from the farmhouse ...

[ManicManiac]

16 hours ago, loriaw said:

ANY thing that could possibly make 'home' look more homey is something I'm in favor of.

Yeah, another thing that's been spoken about on wish lists is the capability to be able to have more options to better customize our living space, and I am definitely all for that.