Survivalmode late game features in The Long Dark

[Karl Grylls]

4 hours ago, philthechamp said:

On the other hand, there could be some more features to add to improve the late game. I just think that these things need to be initiated entirely by the player. The environmental cleanup works with this, bc the player has to decide to initiate the change. I also think the radio tower/ hydro electric dam repairs fit into this. Neither require any drastic changes to the gameplay, and the result could be mostly cosmetic. Even with these 2 suggestions the player could choose to live in a world with more wildlife/ better scenery or choose to be the industrialist and have better vision at night due to the glow of radio towers (something like that). It just gives you a new goal to think about and reason to move around the map + the payoff of feeling like you had an influence at a later stage.

Based on this i was remembered that in the current game it goes like this: The player is on a map and has to adapt to it. You have to know the locations of caves, loot, animals and so on. And the whole gameplay evolves around the player's ability to master this. Walking and mastering the map is the core and the endgame of The Long Dark at the same time.

So what came to my mind is, that if this is the endgame and people want better/more endgame, then adding new regions could be helpful. In the last survey they touched that. But when walking and mastering the map is the core of The Long Dark, then a  map that is also changing would be the solution. Wizards of the Coast, the creators of Magic: The Gathering had a set called Zendikar, a fan favourite set, where the world called Zendikar is in a constant turmoil. Quote: "Zendikar's landscape is constantly shifting and changing.^[4] This process is called The Roil.^[5] It makes settlements very scarce and only few outposts of civilization are present." (Source)

I think this would be perfect for The Long Dark 1 (or 2). Also it is very challenging and hard work (for devs and players). But it would be the endgame solution. What do you guys think?

 

//edit number ~6 i guess : I remember some games that did this already. The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons and Guild Wars 1 (in the beginning). So i guess in the business this concept is widely known and has for sure it's own name. But i'm not in the business, so i think our thoughts here aren't new ideas 😅

Edited June 24, 2021 by Karl Grylls

[Karl Grylls]

On 6/21/2021 at 10:59 PM, SecondQuantization said:

I really like all of those ideas. There could be randomly rolled endgame "crises" happening every 50 days or so. One such crisis would be an earthquake (which also makes a lot of sense lore-wise), which would collapse a traversable cave or the dam, blocking direct pathways between some regions and forcing you to take a longer route. This would also reinforce the idea of the player's lack of agency over the world in the face of the forces of nature.

There could also be an aurora-surge crisis causing wildlife migrations, which for example would replace a region's wolf population with timberwolves, or bears with polar bears. Polar bears would be much tougher to kill than black bears, so they wouldn't be such an easy late-game food source anymore. A mega-blizzard, let's say a week-long blizzard (with some prior indication), is also a nice idea, forcing you to stock up and hunker down.

Actually, much of the above doesn't seem like it would take a massive amount of time to code, maybe someone could make a mod?

Further regions would also be very nice, including the high-security prison and Perseverance Mills that are hinted at in the story mode. A super-cold arctic region would also be cool, populated with polar bears from the start, maybe with an oil rig/refinery or stranded offshore oil platform with massive supplies of petroleum to incentivise you to go there. I'm actually surprised we hasn't seen an oil rig yet. After all, Great Bear is supposed to be exploited by mainlanders for its natural resources.

wow, this post flew over my head! Just didn't see it. Were my thoughts exactly. Weeklong Blizzard sounds hard. Imagine getting cabin fever right before 🤣

But a random Aurora that lasts for 3 days and the sun won't shine for this time? Don't know how to explain that, but sounds interesting^^

 

Btw. can someone tell me how i can edit my older post and adding a quote like this into it? I haven't found out and made this double post

 

///omg, i think i'm seriously confused or something like that, because i discovered the starting post here just a minute ago oO So my idea of a shifting map wasn't completeley new 😭 But at least i did conceive of it on my own

Edited June 24, 2021 by Karl Grylls