Forest area

[Stone]

I wish there was an untouched forest zone. No human shelters or caves. Just a large forested area with naturally occuring shelters, lots of wood and game but few wolves. Maybe some rivers, clearings and lots of natural shelters such as fallen trees and rocks creating nooks out of the wind and weather for the observant survivor. A zone to challenge navigation and independence from 'warm' retreats. Somewhere you can tend a fire, hunt and pretend the quite apocalypse was just a bad dream...

[Lone Trekker]

I rather like this idea.
Is that the same tree I passed awhile ago?

Dense forest, knolls, little outcroppings of rocks.

Lack of caves and no buildings.

Just you in the woods. 

Might make a good transition zone.

[odizzido]

I have always thought forest zones would be cool in games, but the reality is they never work out so well in any game I have tried. Maybe it's because the monsters can always see you easily because the trees don't block their vision like they would in real life, or perhaps it's because all the assets are repeated so it looks more boring and is harder to navigate....I am not sure. I just know that in 30 years of gaming I have never seen a forest work well. That's despite the fact that I really want them to.

[Stone]

@odizzido indeed, its tricky. While i know a bit about wolf mechanics I couldn't speak to the precise issues. However the ambush risk would be huge which is why it might be best to minimize predators (perhaps only for stalker mode), and or keep them to one area that a bit clearer for visibility. I like @Lone Trekker's suggestion that it would be a good transition zone. Maybe a large zone where the main risk is you could get 'turned around'. Making it a transition would better give it that purpose.

 

[Old Hermit]

Combine it to dense fog, and u will have the ultimate navigation nightmare. I love it =D

 

edit: To work properly, it should have some points of interest through the center of the area. If it is only a transition, it could be avoided completely by following the borders.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Old Hermit

[Butterbisket]

I like this idea and this could work. There is a lot of sets and lore already in the game about logging going on in the island. This zone could be the final forest on bear island that is untouched by logging and maybe as you first enter the zone there is a small logging camp as if they were starting to get to this area before the "event" happened.

[Nordique]

On 1/12/2021 at 10:15 AM, odizzido said:

I have always thought forest zones would be cool in games, but the reality is they never work out so well in any game I have tried. Maybe it's because the monsters can always see you easily because the trees don't block their vision like they would in real life, or perhaps it's because all the assets are repeated so it looks more boring and is harder to navigate....I am not sure. I just know that in 30 years of gaming I have never seen a forest work well. That's despite the fact that I really want them to.

I'm afraid you're spot on regarding the graphics assets. I too would sorely like to see the great boreal forests done right in a game, meaning you can get lost for a real-time hour if you don't know what you're doing, and sometimes even then.

Then again trees are ... very much in the core of TLD. Hinterland has the skill to skip boilerplate speedtrees. Given a foggy forest bowl handily limiting the draw distance, the game's graphic style should allow for a suitably great number of procedural complex trees even on consoles.

[AdamvR]

I like the idea, especially with fog, and occasional "weak ice" between the trees (these areas can be pretty marsh-y, and it is not impossible that some parts are just not frozen enough - even in the middle of winter).

I could also imagine it with a high number of random POIs that in effect create a procedural-like feel, such as:
a certain place within the forest can be a clearing, an impassable rock, "normal forest", a fallen tree with a wind-protected hole underneath, frozen pond, or weak ice pond, bear cave or wolf spawn-point - chosen randomly at world generation. and there are many such places within the forest. This could make this part of the map different in every game, and thus resolve the issue mentioned by @odizzido. (with some code running at generation / first entry ensuring that there is always a way to reach all important parts, only, this way would differ between various games)

A kind of "endless" labyrinth.
(stretching between Ash Valley and Hushed River Valley - creating a "short-cut" between the top 2 loots, you only need to "brave the endless forest")

Edited February 23, 2021 by AdamvR

[odizzido]

Slightly off topic, but snowy forests are always so pretty. Thanks for posting those pics

[Stinky socks]

Hushed river valley?

[Pillock]

+1 for this idea.

I recently started up TLD again after a long break, and found myself in Mystery Lake. One evening I was harvesting a deer carcass near Clearcut and I got into a wolf struggle, so I tried to limp to the hut by the pond at the bottom of the frozen creek to shelter the night and recover a bit. However, darkness set in with heavy snow, and I could barely see 15 yards in any direction. All the hills and trees started to look the same. I wandered around for half the night in unrecognisable blackness and then found myself... back at Clearcut - but this time with a bear grunting in my ear. Areas like this -  hills with fairly dense tree cover  -  are great for making you feel lost, however well you think you know a place. When I first played this game, there were only 3 maps and you had to start in Mystery Lake each time until you had "unlocked" Coastal Highway and Pleasant Valley by visiting them - so I know Mystery Lake pretty well. But I still found myself getting hopelessly lost and disoriented. I'd love to see this done over an entire map.

Edited February 24, 2021 by Pillock