Feedback - first 50 hours

[vimrich]

I knew I wanted this game the moment I saw it, and I have not been disappointed! I just made my first 30 day survival mark in ML, so here goes...

1. Balance/Map - Knowing the map changes everything. First few play-throughs were spent in short 2 to 3 day insta-death bursts, because so much time every day was endless lost wandering. However, it was far more true to the game ethos and yet also WAY too harsh. When you spent a full day walking, finally find a shelter and all has is one granola bar and soda pop, you figure, there's no way I'm ever going to make it past a day or two. Now I'm afraid to go to any new map due to the learning curve.

I'd love to see a the maps more random and not ever repeat, and yet the loot is way way better if you are lucky enough to stumble into it.

2. Remembering vs. Learning - I can find what I want now almost anywhere in ML, but it's just from memory. While the game is incredibly addicting and fun, something doesn't feel right. I'm not learning to "survive" better, I just remember where to go. The game play should help you learn what to do - you would learn whether it is generally worth it to spend calories to go up a hill to see better, vs. be rewarded for remembering that the cabin is around the hill on the left.

3. Lantern Fuel/Kerosene - give me a way "unload" or harvest just the fuel from a lantern and pour it into the jerry can assuming I have both.

4. Antibiotics - same deal, let me recombine bottles into one. If degraded, average it out or something (e.g. poor 100% into a 50% and you get 75%) The tedium of managing this is not worth whatever balance issue you get.

5. Hunting Feedback - I have never once ever taken down a deer in 50+ hours of game play. Every time it's just bang - deer runs off. I have given up tying because I can't tell what to do to get better. If you want me to hunt, give me some sort of way to figure out what I am doing wrong. You provide feedback during wolf attacks so that after a while, the player learns how to get better at it. And with wolves, at least you see blood drops on the ground showing you got a hit.

6. More Skills - Love the skills associated with Fire starting and repairs. Do this for hunting! Perhaps the gun jiggles at lot at first showing you're not good at aiming, and then with each better shot you make get better at aiming. And frankly, if you're tired and breathing hard, that gun should not be able to be steadied much no matter how good you get.

7. Multiple Saves in Parallel - NO I do not want to "go back" when dead or anything. I get it. But I would like the chance to play multiple games in parallel. Don't Starve lets you have 4 or so games going at once and retains the "survival with no going back" ethic. For example, I want to play it safe in game 1, and then try game 2 going more aggressive and see which I like, but not have to do this serially. Even just being able to have a saved Male game while starting a new Female game would be good enough.

[Random Fires]

Big +1 for parallel saves. On xbox, I cannot move the save and start another. I do not want to "go back" either. Plus multiple save might come in handy for bug reporting. Some players may never spend a lot of time on a certain map. Or more importantly once you get past 50 or so days, experiment foolishly , testing limitations of the game. Survival take over play testing.

[bethany]

Thanks for the feedback! Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself.

Just as a quick note, we are working on an option that allows multiple saves. Separate games, with permadeath still in place. So you'll have that!