Do You Think Some Regions Need a Facelift?

[Glflegolas]

Hello everyone,

As you may know, I'm a bit of a nomad in the game, rarely staying in any one region for more than 10-14 in-game days at any one time. One side effect of this, however, is that I know most of the regions pretty well. In my opinion, there appear to be three "generations" of regions in their detail.

1st generation

The oldest maps in TLD, namely Mystery Lake, Coastal Highway, Pleasant Valley, Timberwolf Mountain, and Desolation Point, along with The Ravine and Crumbling Highway. They also have the least amount of detail, most noticeably with the rocks, which are all one uniform colour.

2nd generation

These maps include Forlorn Muskeg, Broken Railroad, Mountain Town, Hushed River Valley, and Bleak Inlet. These maps feature many different shades of colour to their rocks, new grass textures, choppable scrub brushes, climbing up roots,  new waterfall textures, and just look generally more detailed than the 1st generation maps.

3rd generation

The most detailed maps in-game, this includes Keeper's Pass, Ash Canyon, and Blackrock. Once again, there is a massive upgrade to the textures of rocks, along with many more models of trees, grass, fallen trees, decayed buildings, flowing water, etc.

Why do I bring this up?

Some of the older regions are really well laid out, and aesthetically pleasing -- Coastal Highway is a prime example of this, and the houses on Jackrabbit Island and Misanthrope's Homestead are some of my favourite bases in-game. However, compared to the newer regions, Coastal Highway looks very dated, compromising its aesthetics. The most stark contrast is the transition from Keeper's Pass South to Pleasant Valley; the terrain in Keeper's Pass South just looks so much better than in Pleasant Valley.

In my opinion, it's worth giving some of the game's older regions -- especially the 1st generation regions -- a bit of a facelift, giving them the same amount of detail as the newer regions. Would it be time-consuming? Sure, but it's time well spent as far as I'm concerned.

[Leeanda]

To be honest I've never thought of them that way.  In regards to colours I think it would be a nice addition to some areas like PV. But I don't think I'd want more fallen  trees etc  added though, 

[hozz1235]

Sure, this would be nice to have, but with regards to HL dev resources and where I'd prefer they spend their time? 

1. New areas
2. Finishing up Ep5
3. Mod support

[piddy3825]

I'd have to agree with Glflegolas that an update to all the older regions would make sense in that 
there might finally be a complete uniformity to the island.  To that end, it would really make sense
that Hinterland might consider releasing a "Collector's Edition" after Episode 5 is completed 
where the entire island is made over using the lastest innovations.  Nothing would please me more
thank eliminating interior loading cells and having transparent light emitting windows that reflect
the weather conditions going on outside as I gaze out the window.  

[UpUpAway95]

I'm fine with them the way they are actually.  Overall, it gives the island some variety and tells a developmental history of the game, of sorts.  There are some things found in the old areas that I miss having in the new ones (e.g. the cairns and buffer memories).  Yes, I'm old and nostalgic, but new and shinier isn't universally better IMO.

Mostly, I agree with @Hozz1235 that their time right now is better spent finishing up Episode 5, including adding Perseverence Mills eventually to Survival Mode.

[Glflegolas]

18 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

I'd have to agree with Glflegolas that an update to all the older regions would make sense in that 
there might finally be a complete uniformity to the island.  To that end, it would really make sense
that Hinterland might consider releasing a "Collector's Edition" after Episode 5 is completed 
where the entire island is made over using the lastest innovations.  Nothing would please me more
thank eliminating interior loading cells and having transparent light emitting windows that reflect
the weather conditions going on outside as I gaze out the window.  

This is kind of what I was thinking. The Collector's Edition could be incorporated as a DLC for existing players, and added into the price of the base game for anyone new purchasing the game.

18 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

Sure, this would be nice to have, but with regards to HL dev resources and where I'd prefer they spend their time? 

1. New areas
2. Finishing up Ep5
3. Mod support

I see your point. I also would like to see Episode 5 released sooner rather than later. However, once that's done, I think we need to do some serious thinking about the future of the game. Hinterland could keep adding new regions almost indefinitely as DLC, but is that really the best future for the game? I think -- and this is my opinion only -- that once Episode 5 is released, that Hinterland should make mod support a priority. Then, they should focus on improving what's already in the game, instead of adding more stuff. 

At some point post-Episode 5 release, it's time for Hinterland to change gears, IMO, and start working on an entirely new product. However, because they were proactive and have incorporated mod support, TLD is by no means coming to an end. New regions will be added for some time to come by the community -- I'm really excited by Kai's work in The Long Development, and I'm sure all kinds of new gear will be added too.

Personally, I think TLD will remain at least somewhat popular for ~5-7 years after Hinterland releases its last update to the game (in ~3 years from now). Keep in mind that the game is already about 7.5 years old (since its Alpha release), and ~15-17 years is a pretty good lifespan for any computer game.

[UpUpAway95]

48 minutes ago, Glflegolas said:

This is kind of what I was thinking. The Collector's Edition could be incorporated as a DLC for existing players, and added into the price of the base game for anyone new purchasing the game.

I see your point. I also would like to see Episode 5 released sooner rather than later. However, once that's done, I think we need to do some serious thinking about the future of the game. Hinterland could keep adding new regions almost indefinitely as DLC, but is that really the best future for the game? I think -- and this is my opinion only -- that once Episode 5 is released, that Hinterland should make mod support a priority. Then, they should focus on improving what's already in the game, instead of adding more stuff. 

At some point post-Episode 5 release, it's time for Hinterland to change gears, IMO, and start working on an entirely new product. However, because they were proactive and have incorporated mod support, TLD is by no means coming to an end. New regions will be added for some time to come by the community -- I'm really excited by Kai's work in The Long Development, and I'm sure all kinds of new gear will be added too.

Personally, I think TLD will remain at least somewhat popular for ~5-7 years after Hinterland releases its last update to the game (in ~3 years from now). Keep in mind that the game is already about 7.5 years old (since its Alpha release), and ~15-17 years is a pretty good lifespan for any computer game.

I probably wouldn't call it a "Collector's Edition."  When Minecraft found itself outstripping the capabilities of the Xbox 360 with the Xbox 360 Edition, they basically forced players on the Xbox One to buy a new edition (Legacy Edition) with a discount available to owners of the Xbox 360 Edition (That is, the Xbox 360 Edition was deliberately not compatible with the Xbox One with no option for even backwards compatibility).  They carried support for both for editions for a time and then sequentially pulled support and basically forced players to buy into the Bedrock Edition (which was, of course, not made available on the Xbox 360).  Conversely, Java Edition (the PC) version just carried on as it always had.  This wasn't originally the most popular move by the devs, but it does make sense in hindsight for a game that was, as I said, outstripping the capabilities of the older consoles.  Still, I would have loved to be able to have played the Xbox 360 Edition on the Xbox One (since there are still some things I like better about it than the two newer editions I was basically forced to purchase).

That said, HL does have an implied commitment to console players to complete the story in such a way that the game is still playable on the original consoles for which it was purchased since the game was sold with, basically, a promise to complete the story "at no additional cost" to the player.  After that, a remastered edition seems very likely.  To what extent they'll go in remastering it is anyone's guess.

Edited March 5, 2022 by UpUpAway95

[SpanishMoss]

20 hours ago, hozz1235 said:

Sure, this would be nice to have, but with regards to HL dev resources and where I'd prefer they spend their time? 

1. New areas
2. Finishing up Ep5
3. Mod support

Actually, I'm pretty sure the devs are already working on upgrading old textures. They said they were planning on creating better textures to be more relevant on next-gen consoles and high-end PCs

[Serenity]

21 minutes ago, SpanishMoss said:

Actually, I'm pretty sure the devs are already working on upgrading old textures. They said they were planning on creating better textures to be more relevant on next-gen consoles and high-end PCs

They didn't mention anything specifically, just "next generation graphics". That should include better textures though, which is really badly needed. Shadows need improvement too.

I don't think a huge overhaul of the geometry is needed. But some additions of newer innovations in older regions would be nice. Like the improved lighting in Ash Canyon. Better waterfalls. Or the moving water from Black Rock.

As already said some updated to houses would be nice to eliminate loading screens and make the interiors align more with the outside. Though in some iconic places like the Camp Office or the BR Hunting Lodge that may be very difficult. Still no reason to not upgrade some of the generic houses all over the island.

[hozz1235]

TBH, I really don't mind TLD not having cutting-edge graphics.  Graphics seem to be aiming for realism (and they're getting pretty darn close!).  I like the art style HL has chosen for TLD and don't really see much reason to change it.

[turtle777]

If the choice is between HL spending more time on TLD (past Ep. 5), and bringing a whole new game, I say NEW GAME IT IS.

-t