Easy Mode Re-Loading?

[JudenInduven]

Hey, I was wondering if on the easiest difficulty, if a death could be made to not be a permadeath and allow a player to re-load their game from the last save? If not on the easiest difficulty, an option could me made? Or perhaps an even easier difficulty.

Just an idea

(Also, not that I would play on it. )

Thanks for the consideration, and keep up the good work, Devs! :mrgreen:

[iampagan]

I agree, it should be a thing (a separate option, preferably).

It could be useful when, let's say, you get killed by the wolves a couple of times and you want to finally learn how to deal with them. Video games are about learning by failing and trying again... but if you get another try only after an hour or so, it's kinda hard to learn.

[octavian]

I disagree, especially with

Video games are about learning by failing and trying again..

Is this what video games are about, is this why people play them? It means I've been playing them wrong all these years.

An option for no permadeath isn't a good idea because it would make the game even more inconsequential than dying like you're exploring reincarnation already makes it. Pilgrim exists, you can finally learn how to avoid them there.

[iampagan]

Is this what video games are about, is this why people play them?

I don't think this is WHY people play games, but this is definitely HOW they do it. In games with permadeath, you learn by starting all over, in games like Super Meat Boy you get another chance instantly. But in any case, this is how you learn to play the game, you fail and try again. That's what I meant. And I suggested that the player should (or at least could, it's just a suggestion after all) have the option to make this period between failure and retry shorter. Would it take away some of the atmosphere? Probably. But the player should be able to play however they want, imho. If they want to ruin the atmosphere, they will. If they feel like playing Kholat or Amnesia in full daylight blasting Green Day on full volume, they will. Like with drugs, I think we shouldn't protect people from themselves

Pilgrim exists, you can finally learn how to avoid them there.

But you can't really learn the fending off part there, right? (well... I guess you COULD learn to fight by attacking them on purpose... but that would be way too weird for my tastes )

[octavian]

I think we shouldn't protect people from themselves

Then let's not protect players from their inability to avoid/fight wolves

[Aelaera]

Hey, I was wondering if on the easiest difficulty, if a death could be made to not be a permadeath and allow a player to re-load their game from the last save? If not on the easiest difficulty, an option could me made? Or perhaps an even easier difficulty.

Just an idea

(Also, not that I would play on it. )

Thanks for the consideration, and keep up the good work, Devs! :mrgreen:

I'm in agreement. I personally like the punishment of "you die you're dead", but for one of my friend's it's punishment that is cruel and unusual. He loves survival games, and after I showed him this he fell in love. But after he died and found out dead means dead, it became more of a fun chore than anything. He loved playing it, but with each death its become more work to play and explore.

It should DEFINITELY be an option or game type that is chosen at the beginning. Easier than Pilgrim if it's a game type, but if it's an option it would HAVE to be chosen before load up and couldn't be changed through the game. I wouldn't use it unless it was for a specific purpose like testing out new items or areas in patches that I didn't want to have to dedicate a whole new playthrough to.

[octavian]

I personally like the punishment of "you die you're dead", but for one of my friend's it's punishment that is cruel and unusual.

That's no reason to change it.

But after he died and found out dead means dead, it became more of a fun chore than anything. He loved playing it, but with each death its become more work to play and explore.

So if you die and load as if nothing happened, it's no longer more of a fun chore than anything else?

[Aelaera]

I personally like the punishment of "you die you're dead", but for one of my friend's it's punishment that is cruel and unusual.

That's no reason to change it.

But after he died and found out dead means dead, it became more of a fun chore than anything. He loved playing it, but with each death its become more work to play and explore.

So if you die and load as if nothing happened, it's no longer more of a fun chore than anything else?

I don't see why not, since I'm sure plenty of people have at least some similar feelings about this, including people who aren't part of the forums.

It's a fun chore in the aspect of while he enjoys the game, it's become laborious to repeatedly entirely reload the game. Nothing quite spoils it for him in particular as starting a brand new game, walking about forty steps and then being chased by a wolf for two miles before dying.

It wouldn't be a bad option to have for those who want to play the game without the harsh punishment of just getting caught in a storm wiping an in-game's month of progress.

[Bill Tarling]

It would almost be akin to saying "Lets just give them a God mode so that they can't be killed" because they want to wander through the entire game... followed by "well I've seen and found everything, so since there's nothing left to do I don't need to play the game anymore".

For games like Dear Esther, wandering to explore was the only real purpose of the game. For The Long Dark, it simply doesn't fit with the game play intentions - it's meant to be permadeath in Sandbox mode [story mode will have a different save system].

[Shanti]

I don't see why not, since I'm sure plenty of people have at least some similar feelings about this, including people who aren't part of the forums.

It's a fun chore in the aspect of while he enjoys the game, it's become laborious to repeatedly entirely reload the game. Nothing quite spoils it for him in particular as starting a brand new game, walking about forty steps and then being chased by a wolf for two miles before dying.

It wouldn't be a bad option to have for those who want to play the game without the harsh punishment of just getting caught in a storm wiping an in-game's month of progress.

My advice would be to load up a game on Stalker, and go run to the nearest wolf, fight it (or die), quit, and start again. Can't find a wolf? Head to the dam and fight Fluffy. Fight one after another, so you see how your fighting performance degrades. Try to find a knife quickly (hit up the ranger station, a couple of huts, whatever) and try fighting wolves with weapons. It is much easier, but with the current fight mechanic, it's much more about properly mashing buttons.

I didn't do this, and I know how you are feeling. 2, 5, 10 hours into a run, all of a sudden a wolf runs after you, and it's all over. It feel like a waste of time. However, once you learn how to fight them, they get a lot less scary. Accurize, one of the guys who makes a TLD let's play series on Youtube, is so fast he regularly looses 20-25% condition to a wolf. In one video, he fights two wolves back to back, and still comes out with more condition than I do after fighting just one. Unfair? I think so. I've never had the ability to click buttons really fast. However, at this point, it's something that I can learn (If you are having trouble, use two hands / lots of fingers) in order to make the game lots of fun, instead of soul crushing.

As for the lost in a storm? That's just poor preparation. Learn your landmarks, remember how long it takes to walk between places, and keep your eye out for poor weather. Learn the game's pacing - blizzards often blow themselves out in 2-4 hours. If you have that much daylight left, think about holing up somewhere protected and waiting it out. If that is a common way for you to die (without also being attacked), you should reconsider the equipment you are bringing with you, and probably try to keep your condition higher, so you can deal with setbacks as they come.

[Aelaera]

I don't see why not, since I'm sure plenty of people have at least some similar feelings about this, including people who aren't part of the forums.

It's a fun chore in the aspect of while he enjoys the game, it's become laborious to repeatedly entirely reload the game. Nothing quite spoils it for him in particular as starting a brand new game, walking about forty steps and then being chased by a wolf for two miles before dying.

It wouldn't be a bad option to have for those who want to play the game without the harsh punishment of just getting caught in a storm wiping an in-game's month of progress.

My advice would be to load up a game on Stalker, and go run to the nearest wolf, fight it (or die), quit, and start again. Can't find a wolf? Head to the dam and fight Fluffy. Fight one after another, so you see how your fighting performance degrades. Try to find a knife quickly (hit up the ranger station, a couple of huts, whatever) and try fighting wolves with weapons. It is much easier, but with the current fight mechanic, it's much more about properly mashing buttons.

I didn't do this, and I know how you are feeling. 2, 5, 10 hours into a run, all of a sudden a wolf runs after you, and it's all over. It feel like a waste of time. However, once you learn how to fight them, they get a lot less scary. Accurize, one of the guys who makes a TLD let's play series on Youtube, is so fast he regularly looses 20-25% condition to a wolf. In one video, he fights two wolves back to back, and still comes out with more condition than I do after fighting just one. Unfair? I think so. I've never had the ability to click buttons really fast. However, at this point, it's something that I can learn (If you are having trouble, use two hands / lots of fingers) in order to make the game lots of fun, instead of soul crushing.

As for the lost in a storm? That's just poor preparation. Learn your landmarks, remember how long it takes to walk between places, and keep your eye out for poor weather. Learn the game's pacing - blizzards often blow themselves out in 2-4 hours. If you have that much daylight left, think about holing up somewhere protected and waiting it out. If that is a common way for you to die (without also being attacked), you should reconsider the equipment you are bringing with you, and probably try to keep your condition higher, so you can deal with setbacks as they come.

I'm just playing the devil's advocate. I enjoy the current system of dead=dead.

The first time I fought a wolf I lost 80% of my health. Now with thirty-odd hours in the game I can regularly survive a fight and lose around 30%. As for the storm, generally yes it is bad planning. But there are times when a storm blows in without much warning and with no ability to simply shelter, whether you're transitioning between bases or exploring a new area. If you're well stocked you should be able to find some form of shelter though in order to at least be out of the cold.