Where is the military?

[SmRndmEuropnGuy]

You probably already assume something because of the title, so just let me explain.

 

There are no military vehicles or buildings on Great Bear, but a military grade rifle and tons of military supplies like MREs, flares and revolvers (and i can assure you, nobody uses those revolvers for hunting(IRL, not in game)).

 

What could be added? I don't think anyone wants modern military weapons, a full set of armor or a military base. Maybe military jeeps that would have military supplies like tactical clothing, MREs, flares, etc. Maybe some notes talking about past military training, operations on the island, or even of a military base further into the island/behind the Far Territory. (without adding the actual base. EVER) Maybe more tactical clothing (but not armor). Maybe a larger plane at the airfield (not talking about fighter jets, but cargo planes).

 

I don't care, just something that would show that the military actually exists in the area, because currently it's a bit weird. You can perfectly add any of the things mentioned above (or your own things, i don't care) without making the game a shooter, making you feel not alone or breaking the current "vibe" at all.

[ThePancakeLady]

MREs are available to the general public, so them being on the island does not indicate a full on military presence. The flares, flare guns, and revolvers are everyday items that people would have on a remote island, especially one that had poor infrastructure, a good bit of paranoia with a prison being on the island, a whaling facility, and tourists coming in to hunt and fish and party. Revolvers aren't meant to be a hunting weapon in the game anyway- they are supposed to be a defensive weapon (that many of us will also hunt with).

None of these items indicate a large-scale military presence to me. And the prison- holding some of the worst of the worst could easily have had militarily trained guards and staff to transport prisoners to and from work sites or from the Mainland to the Island and vice versa. And Preppers seem to have a penchant toward anything military or para-military and dress up in military uniforms quite often. You can order them online, and have been able to get them at brick and mortar Army-Navy stores/military surplus stores and sporting goods stores for as long as I've been alive (and I've been alive for over a half century).

So all of the items being on the island makes sense to me, knowing the island's lore and history.

That said- a small military-style base or a para-military encampment (think "We call ourselves a militia, so we will build a military-style base here, even if we aren't a real state-sponsored militia or attached to the Canadian military in any way!") I don't feel like the game needs to have a full-on military presence on the island, but like I said, a "militia"/paramilitary encampment somewhere in the game world would make sense and fit with the Prepper's Caches we have already. Who built those caches? The ProudPrepper Bros did!

But maybe this would be better for TLD2, rather than adding onto TLD1 forever. There's still a good bit of island we can't explore, and the Mainland also awaits...

[SmRndmEuropnGuy]

MREs are military grade, nobody really needs flares and flare guns, revolvers are at least sold by someone who has to be watched by the government for selling guns, the rifle is a military rifle, there's a max sec prison on the island. I think these things are enough that there would be at least some military presence. I didn't say a full one, i just said some like notes, vehicles and maybe equipment left behind.

[Cr41g]

this is Canada... there is virtually NO military presence anywhere, successive federal governments have made us the laughing stock of NATO.... you would be more likely to stumble upon a Coast guard station in reality

MRE's and emergency rations are readily available to anyone with internet, flares are standard equipment in any vehicle emergency kit... and the rifle mostly representing a Lee Enfield...WAS a military rifle... 70 years ago and available as surplus if you have a license

[conanjaguar]

34 minutes ago, Cr41g said:

a Coast guard station

Now there's an idea! With the weather station in Sundered Pass and the radio station at Signal Hill, it'd make an interesting addition...

[s7mar7in]

4 hours ago, SmRndmEuropnGuy said:

I don't care, just something that would show that the military actually exists in the area, because currently it's a bit weird.

This is a great observation and some interesting suggestions for adding to the game world. 

If I am honest, as a player from the United States, none of the items seem at all out of place. We have shelves loaded with military surplus supplies, clothing, and weapons in most local shops in most rural towns.

The presence of the Tree-Talker Eco Activist Group and the Preppers in the game story make this all fit quite well, though a surplus store in Milton would be very nice.

The OP reminds me of another related topic which Hinterland is slowly addressing; that being to place loot items where they would make sense to be found.

Thanks for some fun discussion of this unique game.

 

[deathbydanish]

Here's a thought, there might not need to be a full time Canadian military presence, but islands like where the game takes place would be a great place to train soldiers for certain environments. In Hawaii, the Army uses the undeveloped parts of Oahu to do jungle warfare training, SERE training, etc. maybe for TLD the very remote and austere nature of Great Bear Island would be a great place to train Canadian soldiers to deal with survival situations. They would just have been unlucky enough to be in the area when the world ended and all we would find is some of the equipment they were given as part of their training.

I know for the US military they have specifically made cold weather MREs - see link - maybe someone more familiar with the Canadian military could let us know if there are specific variants for equipment and gear that would be great additions to the game?

[MarrowStone]

It'd be cool to find an old WW2 bunker on the western part of the island built to prepare for a Japanese invasion or smth.

Long forgotten and crumbled, but still standing watch for ships and planes. Maybe a new ship has arrived

[ThePancakeLady]

22 minutes ago, MarrowStone said:

It'd be cool to find an old WW2 bunker on the western part of the island built to prepare for a Japanese invasion or smth.

Long forgotten and crumbled, but still standing watch for ships and planes. Maybe a new ship has arrived

Something like Fort Rodd Hill and the Fisgard Lighthouse (but not as neatly maintained and organized for tourists)? I could see that on the western coast of the island. But how do we get there? Do people need to own the DLC to get to it?

I like the idea, but again, I think it might be better for TLD 2. I love the game, and I am sure the devs do too- but I am pretty sure they would like to finish TLD 1 up and move onto something new. They are already probably trying to push the Unity Engine further than it can go. Unreal may be better able to deal with a huge new world. Same game universe, different game world, maybe.

[javijungle]

Honestly, I appreciate that there is no military references, it is one of the easiest resources in video games to introduce firearms, the truth, in this case I think it has been a success.

[ElSuperGecko]

18 hours ago, SmRndmEuropnGuy said:

...nobody really needs flares and flare guns...

....have you SEEN the weather on Great Bear?  🤣

[Leeanda]

Considering there's no real sign of law enforcement,outside of the prison ,I'm not surprised there's no sign of the military .

There's no doctors or fire service either..

[UTC-10]

A RCMP post might be expected in Perseverance Mills (I assume PM is the location of a ferry and barge terminal, an airfield, a fuel storage terminal, etc.) and if not on GBI then at the next sizeable port facility.  However since Blackrock prison is located on GBI I would expect that the RCMP would have a post on GBI if only for that  location's security and for law enforcement purposes.  

You  have to question just how isolated GBI actually is.  If you recall the buffer messages at Hibernia about someone on a "wilderness adventure" that I always found to be "huh"?  Okay over there is an rundown whaling facility, over there is a coastal village, further down the coast is a fishing village, beyond that is a cannery facility, all along a paved road, and this was supposed to be a place for an outstanding  "wilderness adventure"?  😉

[BIGxSHASTA]

It's personally never felt strange to me at all that there is no military themes/bases in the game. As others have pointed out, it feels like the various parts of the remote wilderness communities I've seen IRL have been represented. I've also sank a bajillion hours into Arma and DayZ, I've always lamented the fact that Military Grade is usually top tier best in slot, meaning that I always look the same in late game - for even more annoying meta gameplay reasons. I really like the systems in TLD which invite us to experiment with clothing combinations we have on hand, or trying to balance other preferences that are actually served by more nuanced choices aka double bear coat vs wolf coat combo ... I'd like to see more of THAT kind of thing, and I also appreciate that these are not visualized with 1000D Nylon OD Green Stormtrooper Gear that we've seen all over by this point in pop culture.

In real survival situations where you are low-man, operating without rear echelon support, you'll find that the way "The Military" does things and the way you SURVIVE are sometimes two completely different things from completely different worlds because - they ARE. That goes for gear as well. Water purification is a great example of how the military will SAY it's done one way, it's ACTUALLY done another way, for other soldiers - yet another way, and civilians have gear and stuff that's super handy for some of those applications and still others that are better suited for NON-Military special activities i.e. ultralight challenges.

Edited July 12, 2024 by BIGxSHASTA

[exeexe]

On 7/10/2024 at 9:54 PM, conanjaguar said:

Now there's an idea! With the weather station in Sundered Pass and the radio station at Signal Hill, it'd make an interesting addition...

Or have one in desolation point

[exeexe]

On 7/11/2024 at 3:18 AM, deathbydanish said:

In Hawaii, the Army uses the undeveloped parts of Oahu to do jungle warfare training,

What? Jungle environment is typically some of the most developed environment of nature

Edited July 12, 2024 by exeexe

[HyperLordBender]

On 7/10/2024 at 4:19 PM, Cr41g said:

this is Canada... there is virtually NO military presence anywhere, successive federal governments have made us the laughing stock of NATO.... you would be more likely to stumble upon a Coast guard station in reality

MRE's and emergency rations are readily available to anyone with internet, flares are standard equipment in any vehicle emergency kit... and the rifle mostly representing a Lee Enfield...WAS a military rifle... 70 years ago and available as surplus if you have a license

There is actually alot of military presence everywhere. Where I live there is a bunch of different bases within 100 Km of each other. But most of them are out in the boonies, so you might not see most of them

[deathbydanish]

On 7/12/2024 at 4:33 PM, exeexe said:

What? Jungle environment is typically some of the most developed environment of nature

I think its better if I show you a video

It wouldn't be too far fetched to imagine what might happen to these soldiers if they were in the middle of training when the disaster happens. The best of them might make it, but I wouldn't be surprised a if some of them don't make it.

Edited July 14, 2024 by deathbydanish

[exeexe]

11 hours ago, deathbydanish said:

I think its better if I show you a video

 

I mean if you only are on the ground you wont see it

 

[deathbydanish]

On 7/14/2024 at 8:39 AM, exeexe said:

I mean if you only are on the ground you wont see it

 

Undeveloped as in there are no roads, power lines, plumbing, etc. - I showed that video of the army training in the jungle to parallel the experience in the game where you have next to no modern conveniences.

[exeexe]

Undeveloped by nature would be something like the arctic. In the jungle you have a vast plethora of species and subspecies. The list goes on and on. If you wanna see developed nature you dont go to a city or a farmers field. 

[UnchainedTec22]

Totally agree. There’s already tactical equipment. I don’t think we should have added weapons. Maybe a military knife, I could go even to a military pistol like SIG Sauer M17 and M18. 
 

I often thought of a fort or something, make it really difficult to reach. Could have ammo crafting there etc. 

It’s a great idea 

[deathbydanish]

On 7/20/2024 at 4:05 AM, exeexe said:

Undeveloped by nature would be something like the arctic. In the jungle you have a vast plethora of species and subspecies. The list goes on and on. If you wanna see developed nature you dont go to a city or a farmers field. 

So I think this thread has gone as they say catawampus (feel free to google that one), we seem to be going on two separate threads of conversation here. The Hawaii example was used as a segue to explain why some military personnel might be stuck on Great Bear during the disaster. The undeveloped part of Hawaii was a reference to how there is no human civilization where the soldiers are training, not me referencing that there isn't animal or plant life there. My point here is that Canadian soldiers training on Great Bear for survival would have a precedent in that American soldiers are training for survival in the wilderness of Hawaii.