I never understood this...

[hozz1235]

Why, oh why, do you find firepits and sleeping mats near the entrance to a cave where the temperature is low?!  These 2 pictures depict this:

[Leeanda]

Probably the same reason those corpses freeze to death five metres away from a house!😁 

 

[Lord of the Long Dark]

Probably because the people who made them knew fires last longer in the cold areas. 

Edited November 3, 2021 by Lord of the Long Dark

[hozz1235]

12 hours ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

Probably because the people who made them knew fires last longer in the cold areas. 

Didn't help them too much seeing all the corpses lying about.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

11 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

Didn't help them too much seeing all the corpses lying about.

You are assuming the corpses lit the fires. 
  Don’t just think outside the box- there is no box. 

[hozz1235]

13 hours ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

You are assuming the corpses lit the fires. 
  Don’t just think outside the box- there is no box. 

I'm not assuming anything - just fail to understand why someone chose to rest/sleep/stay in a very cold area vs. walking 10ft to a much warmer area.

Edited November 4, 2021 by hozz1235

[Lord of the Long Dark]

1 hour ago, hozz1235 said:

I'm not assuming anything - just fail to understand why someone chose to rest/sleep/stay in a very cold area vs. walking 10ft to a much warmer area.

Because when you become extremely hypothermic your hypothalamus malfunctions and makes you feel like you are extremely hot when you are actually near freezing to death.  What’s strange is not that they are in the cold part, but that their clothes are on. people often strip clothing to “cool down” in that condition. 
 It’s a strictly medical explanation. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Lord of the Long Dark

[hozz1235]

1 hour ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

Because when you become extremely hypothermic your hypothalamus malfunctions and makes you feel like you are extremely hot when you are actually near freezing to death.  What’s strange is not that they are in the cold part, but that their clothes are on. people often strip clothing to “cool down” in that condition. 
 It’s a strictly medical explanation. 

so you're saying it's normal human behavior to allow oneself to freeze to death vs. finding warmth?

[Leeanda]

They might just be there because they're easier to see from outside! HTLs way of helping newbies find things!

[hozz1235]

3 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

They might just be there because they're easier to see from outside! HTLs way of helping newbies find things!

I know   Just trying to bring a "reality question" in for discussion

Ever notice HL's use of Rosehips to "guide" you towards something?

Edited November 4, 2021 by hozz1235

[Leeanda]

4 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

I know   Just trying to bring a "reality question" in for discussion

Ever notice HL's use of Rosehips to "guide" you towards something?

Yes but it took me a while though! Same as sticks also lead you somewhere,sometimes! Or the fallen trees pointing the way!

[Lord of the Long Dark]

1 hour ago, hozz1235 said:

so you're saying it's normal human behavior to allow oneself to freeze to death vs. finding warmth?

No. Just the opposite I am saying the physio-biology of hypothermia causes abnormal behavior. 
 They aren’t freezing to death as opposed to finding warmth. They freeze to death because they think they are warm when the hypothalamus dysfunction sets it.   Often just before freezing to death people strip and cover themselves in snow or ice water trying to cool down. 
  In fact in the game the characters even reference this. “I am so cold I am starting to warm up…”

Edited November 4, 2021 by Lord of the Long Dark

[hozz1235]

35 minutes ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

No. Just the opposite I am saying the physio-biology of hypothermia causes abnormal behavior. 
 They aren’t freezing to death as opposed to finding warmth. They freeze to death because they think they are warm when the hypothalamus dysfunction sets it.   Often just before freezing to death people strip and cover themselves in snow or ice water trying to cool down. 
  In fact in the game the characters even reference this. “I am so cold I am starting to warm up…”

That's assuming they all have hypothermia.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

9 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

That's assuming they all have hypothermia.

And what else causes them to die in-tact while sitting comfortably?

[hozz1235]

On 11/4/2021 at 11:04 PM, Lord of the Long Dark said:

And what else causes them to die in-tact while sitting comfortably?

I just find it difficult to believe that even a person afflicted with hypothermia doesn't have enough mental capacity to know warm from cold. 

I've seen survival stories where people had severe frostbite resulting in amputation (and we can conclude they had hypothermia), yet they still had enough mental capacity to stay warm enough to survive the experience.

Edited November 8, 2021 by hozz1235

[Lord of the Long Dark]

2 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

I just find it difficult to believe that even a person afflicted with hypothermia doesn't have enough mental capacity to know warm from cold. 

I've seen survival stories where people had severe frostbite resulting in amputation (and we can conclude they had hypothermia), yet they still had enough mental capacity to stay warm enough to survive the experience.

It’s not a matter of what you believe- it’s a matter that it happens. 
  Yes people can endure extreme elements but once the hypothalamus starts malfunctioning, the body’s regulation capability is impaired and indeed people will feel extremely warm while actually freezing. It has nothing to do with mental capacity- it’s strictly an autonomous response. 
  One may have mental capacity to recognize they shouldn’t be warm if the are medically educated however remember if the hypothalamic dysfunction is present, cognitive function is also likely imparted too. 

[hozz1235]

26 minutes ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

will feel extremely warm while actually freezing

Then why do they even bother making a fire?

[Lord of the Long Dark]

Good point. There is no evidence they were sitting by a live fire though- only the remnants of a fire. Perhaps it was out long before they sat at it because their materials (often backpack, etc) were by the fire previously. The weak link is more that they are fully geared- when this phenomenon happens most people strip their clothing off as result of the illusion of being too warm.  If you have ever had the chills when you are sick it’s similar- you might have a fever of 105 but you feel like you are freezing to death so you bundle up in all the blankets you can. 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Lord of the Long Dark

[hozz1235]

You made some valid points.  Good discussion.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

3 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

You made some valid points.  Good discussion.

Agreed- you as well. I am not sure if there is rationale for the body locations or not and I certainly don’t expect a game to demonstrate medical relevance and accuracy but I also like trying to put together What the dead body was doing to get into their situation.  

[ChillPlayer]

First I thought it's a gaming decision, like the inability to jump. But then it dawned on me - imagine yourself in that situation, freezing, alone, probably hungry - would you hide yourself in the back of a cave where no one can see you? I think they were hoping for rescue, either to be seen or to see someone. We as a player encounter a world where practically everyone is dead besides us but this was not the case when they were dying, otherwise there would've not been that many bodies lying around, so there was reason for hope.

Also, they had a fire going on and were warm at first but became tired and fell asleep, the fire ran out, no one came to rescue and that's the story of the bodies in front of the caves.

For sure I don't think HTL has placed them there to be easily found by us players - HTL devs are known to be sneaky not obvious

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by ChillPlayer

[hozz1235]

6 hours ago, ChillPlayer said:

For sure I don't think HTL has placed them there to be easily found by us players - HTL devs are known to be sneaky not obvious

You make some valid points. Yes, you would be more visible at the entrance to the cave, but a fire burning at night (even from the back of the cave) is going to light it up real good.

And yes, there is some "sneakiness" in the game but also some very obvious "hints" - take for example how rosehips are used a lot to mark "there is something this way, come take a look".