Carrying the Fire

[one_shurbbery]

Otzi the iceman was found with charred birch bark containers used to carry smoldering coals, insulated with green maple leaves, over long distances and for long periods of time. I think this neolithic skill would make a great addition to the long dark. It would save on the amount of matches used and the lifespan of firestrikers. Fire could be made out of crafted birch bark containers and use rubber from car tires all around most of the maps as an insulator. 

I have some other ideas as well that I'll list below:

1. Being able to make pemmican from animal meat, berries or raisins, etc. as a high calorie (over 2,000 calories) foodstuff or ration. Basically a craftable MRE. 
2. Adding an additional slot for gloves. 
3. Being able to get fuel for cars via siphoning or puncturing the fuel tanks. 
4. I don't think adding other animals is necessary. The only animal I can think of adding would maybe be cougars, but keep them specific to a future map and give them a good gimmick like either stalking the player character for days or only coming out at night, that way they aren't just reskinned wolves. 
5. Add the bear spear, or an improvised spear for wolf or if added cougar attacks.

Edited January 10, 2021 by one_shurbbery

[AdamvR]

I love the idea.

maybe a simpler way would be to be able to warm up pebbles (or a sack of pebbles requiring a moose hatch and stones), which are heavy, takes quite a while after placed on the cooking spots to warm up, but would give off some heat for a while - a couple centigrades, that wear off after a while - in exchange for the extra weight to carry. as opposed to the torch, they could give more heat (in the beginning), and could also work in wind.

although a similar mechanic already exists wearing heavier clothes, with the changing temperature it could be a completely new element managed differently. could also take up an accessory spot (in competition with the moose hatch/earwarmers/surefooting thingie.

[Sherlock Holmes 18]

I like ideas 1,2,4 and 5. It's pretty good, and sometimes it's necessary. 

 

[philthechamp]

I really like the aesthetic of this vs the torches which are a little trite to throw on the ground constantly. I've thought that a non-gas lantern would be a good addition as well so If something like that could be packed with birch bark or similar it could be a cool way to move around. Birch bark is very valuable as is though.

Also, in terms of animals I think they should add more bird movement or the occasional owl or bat as it gets dark. They shouldn't go crazy, but they already have the in game sound for those things. Birds are harder to generate though en mass. I don't know if I want to see any more predators tbh. 

[ajb1978]

On 1/10/2021 at 2:10 PM, one_shurbbery said:

Adding an additional slot for gloves. 

That gave me an idea. I think full-body rendering is a long term goal still. (I know it was previously, but not sure if it's been abandoned or not.) One of the problems that presents is how do you shoot a gun if you're wearing mittens?  The short answer is: You don't. And with two glove slots, that problem can be solved.

Wear driving gloves on the inner layer only, mittens on either the inner or outer layer. If your outermost layer is mittens, you cannot use any weapons except for throwing stones or the bear spear in story mode. If your outermost layer is driving gloves or nothing, you can use all weapons normally. It would give those driving gloves an actual purpose, as opposed to being a scant step up from improvised hand wraps.

[UpUpAway95]

Carrying fire (i.e. in a manner that is not affected by wind) - Other than there is a high probably that Hinterland would then significantly reduce the number of match spawns to re-balance the game, I'd be in favor of this.

1.  Pemmican - Don't care.  Again, Hinterland would likely re-balance the game by reducing spawns of other food sources.

2.  Addition gloves slot - I'd be OK with this... and inner slot for gloves and an outer one for mitts.

3.  Siphon fuels - Not in favor.

4. I'm looking forward to cougars being added at some point.  Would like to see regular wolf spawns and T-wolf spawns randomly interchangeable.

5.  Don't care... would probably never bother to carry one due to its weight.

[Nordique]

On 1/20/2021 at 4:45 PM, ajb1978 said:

One of the problems that presents is how do you shoot a gun if you're wearing mittens?  The short answer is: You don't. And with two glove slots, that problem can be solved.

Wear driving gloves on the inner layer only, mittens on either the inner or outer layer. If your outermost layer is mittens, you cannot use any weapons except for throwing stones or the bear spear in story mode. If your outermost layer is driving gloves or nothing, you can use all weapons normally. It would give those driving gloves an actual purpose, as opposed to being a scant step up from improvised hand wraps.

This. Signed to the forum just to try to bump this up. I've put in my hundreds of hours over the years and enjoy TLD immensely, so all my suggestions aim to make the game ... harder.

Handwear is crucial in freezing environments, doubly so if there's a risk of getting your hands wet, too. I think 2 glove slots is a great idea to add depth at relatively low cost. It could be implemented in stages to avoid disrupting ongoing dev work much: My guess is that new graphics assets are in short supply, but tweaks to the static UI and mechanics are easier. First the 2nd slot for the paper doll, only driving gloves or mitts allowed in the inner.

I'd later love to see a creeping penalty to the feels-like temp whenever holding anything cold (metallic) when walking. And a fat swaying etc penalty for shooting anything with mitts on, doubly so for the bow. i for one would savor the optimization challenge for A. handling ranged weapons bare-handed at a massive feels-like penalty, probably meaning haste and fuddling or B. opt for the gloves-on and more difficult aiming. And then the simple graphical update for either mitts on hands or not.