Some angry feedback so far...there will be more oh yes...

[robozx]

First of all, I like the game but some of the "improvements" just don't make any sense to me. Today I've played for about 4-6 hours on med. difficulty and I wanted to pull my hair out. I already played mystery lake on easy just to get the lay of the land, but on medium diff. the game is insane. I know that the game is suppose to be "punishing" for making a wrong mistake but come on....this is wack! For one, I understand the new foraging mechanics for getting wood.....ok.....but it shouldn't take 10 mins and 46 calories to snap a stupid branch with my cold ass foot! I literally start the zone gather 3 "branches" and I'm already freezing! wth?! Another thing that I really hope gets addressed is the cooking/water boiling area. Why do I have to sit there and waste my time watching food cook or 5 L. of water boil?!?!?! Why can't I set it and forget it? If I cook several things in a row to save wood....by the time i'm done my fatigue meter went up like crazy. There should be a way where you can set it on the fire/stove and walk away to do other stuff (fish/repair clothes/ craft/etc).

ok ok 2 more rants and i'm done. 1) The weather in this game is just bat shit crazy. Ok, I know its suppose to be "unpredictable" and keep you on your toes but, yeah, no.......For example I can walk in to a cabin, walk out in 15 mins (game time) and the sky looks like its the end of the world! What a crock. It would be so easy to implement some in game mechanics such as a visible storm on the horizon or even the character saying "oh looks like the weather is going to pick up" or better yet "I have a bad feeling about those angry clouds over on yonder". Just a suggestion. 2) maybe a map? Do I really have to take out my crayons and make my own map?? Do i have to draw stick figures like I'm in 1st grade? I didn't pass first grade!! :cry: Currently my system is throwing sticks on the floor so I don't get lost. I like to explore damn it!!! Thank you. PEace out.

[Rooks_Nemesis]

I kinda agree with you about harvesting the branches how ever with the hatchet its done alot quicker..

I also agree with the boiling water/cooking food

But where you lose me is the weather, 95% of the time there is always a hint that the weather is changing. And 15 minutes going by for us is what like an hour or two in game? So that also fits.

And yes having a map in game could be a good thing. But idk about one that you carry with you.. Maybe up on a wall somewhere.. I've seen a ton of threads about this specific topic..

I just ended up making a map myself.. I just used I believe sniperbobs? Topo map.. Up scaled it by alot! and then went nuts with details ( sapling spawns,harvestable plants, corpse spawns etc ). I have one done for mystery lake, I'm almost done the coastal highway map detailing.. And I have pleasant valley drawn but thats it..

[Hotzn]

First of all, I like the game but some of the "improvements" just don't make any sense to me. Today I've played for about 4-6 hours on med. difficulty and I wanted to pull my hair out. I already played mystery lake on easy just to get the lay of the land, but on medium diff. the game is insane. I know that the game is suppose to be "punishing" for making a wrong mistake but come on....this is wack! For one, I understand the new foraging mechanics for getting wood.....ok.....but it shouldn't take 10 mins and 46 calories to snap a stupid branch with my cold ass foot! I literally start the zone gather 3 "branches" and I'm already freezing! wth?! Another thing that I really hope gets addressed is the cooking/water boiling area. Why do I have to sit there and waste my time watching food cook or 5 L. of water boil?!?!?! Why can't I set it and forget it? If I cook several things in a row to save wood....by the time i'm done my fatigue meter went up like crazy. There should be a way where you can set it on the fire/stove and walk away to do other stuff (fish/repair clothes/ craft/etc).

ok ok 2 more rants and i'm done. 1) The weather in this game is just bat shit crazy. Ok, I know its suppose to be "unpredictable" and keep you on your toes but, yeah, no.......For example I can walk in to a cabin, walk out in 15 mins (game time) and the sky looks like its the end of the world! What a crock. It would be so easy to implement some in game mechanics such as a visible storm on the horizon or even the character saying "oh looks like the weather is going to pick up" or better yet "I have a bad feeling about those angry clouds over on yonder". Just a suggestion. 2) maybe a map? Do I really have to take out my crayons and make my own map?? Do i have to draw stick figures like I'm in 1st grade? I didn't pass first grade!! :cry: Currently my system is throwing sticks on the floor so I don't get lost. I like to explore damn it!!! Thank you. PEace out.

You seem to fail at the game and get angry about it. This is understandable. The solution would be to learn, improve and succeed instead of asking for the game to be dumbed down. Some tips:

As you have noted correctly, breaking down branches into sticks consumes time. Now before deciding to break down a branch (or even chopping apart a limb) you should check your stat screen by pressing the [TAB] key. If your "cold" bar is increasing, do not break branches or chop apart limbs, as you will be spending time in the cold, and this will give you freezing trouble. The game has always been like this - harvesting animals outside, sleeping outside... think before you do it. Now the same goes for collecting wood. If your clothing is not warm enough, do not spend too much time outside. Simple and true. You can stick to just picking up sticks, as this does not consume any time whatsoever. Come back later for branches and limbs when you have better clothing, when the weather is warmer, or when you have a warm shelter nearby.

Having to stay put while boiling something on a fire is a game mechanic. It's all right to express that you would prefer to do something else at the same time. But it's not all right to talk loosely as if the game was designed by idiots. Don't argue with realism ("in real life, I can leave a pot boiling on the fire" or some such), because realism works both ways. You can often boil water without even having a pot in the game. Interestingly, you hardly ever see someone complaining about that. The "realism" people always talk about realism where they are unable to overcome an obstacle. However, obstancles are there to be overcome. Do it, and you will feel proud and better afterwards. If you can't do it, ask others here on the forums how it can be done, watch players on youtube or twitch or consult one of the many guides. Learning this game takes some effort and patience, but is eventually rewarding.

The weather is not "crazy", and the map has been amply discussed. The devs have made a decision there, and it is their right to do so. It is still OK to make a wish for it and bring forward arguments which support the introduction of a map. But your current arguments are not convincing.

[pacificwing]

I have to agree with the OP. The mechanic for boiling/melting water is both unrealistic and annoying. I have a feeling it is just a placeholder for a more advanced mechanic coming later on down the road. Kind of like the old wood harvesting was a placeholder mechanic for the more in-world interactive system recently implemented.

When this game first was released, it looked like nothing more than a quicktime event generator with fancy graphics. No one wants to play a game where all we do is click buttons and watch progress bars fill up (the folks who play Progress Quest notwithstanding). Having real-time in-world interactive method for doing most things should be the end development goal and the ideal. They clearly aren't there yet, but are moving in that direction.

Furthermore, I honestly don't see much of an improvement in the recently updated wolf fighting mechanic. It is still just a quicktime event. They have just replaced one quicktime event for another. There needs to be a more in-world interactive component to make it interesting. It doesn't have to be duke nukem, but it would be nice if there was a way to deal with wolves somewhere between shooting them FPS style and a quicktime event.

I also feel the number of wolves are too high. Getting attacked by wildlife should be rare, extremely dangerous, and heart pounding. Right now, it just feels routine and a little annoying (more than fun). I expect a wolf to attack when I leave my shelter. My personal preference would be to make the wildlife FAR more dangerous, but also very rare.

Is it just me, or is loot more sparse in this update?

[signal]

I don't mind the cooking / boiling water mechanic. Honestly what are you going to do while it cooks? Once you find shelter, you have so much time to waste and not much to do. I wouldn't mind having an animation instead of just a dark screen with progress bar.

What we need is a way to add more fuel if the fire runs low in the middle of boiling water. In general, we need ways to make the progress bar feel less like a "time bubble", by adding interrupts.

I agree about the wolves. Put them further apart, but in groups of 2 or 3, so they are way more dangerous.

[Lovehandel]

My problem with what seems to be an increase in wolf aggression is; I now just kill and leave them when I don't need the meat or pelts. I used to try and avoid them in that case.

It is not a make or break deal yet, but if the game is just going to become a killing spree, the wolves might as well be zombies.

[AmericanSteel]

I agree with Hotzn on all of his points.

I also agree with the OP that the boiling water mechanic is off, though I hope this is just a placeholder. Once the devs introduce pots and kettles things will take a drastic change. Getting caught without some way to melt/boil water and you would be screwed. Right now they are giving us the pot, so dealing with the boiling mechanic is fine by me.

Lastly, the wolf appearance has been dialed up from about 5 (last patch) to 7 out of 10 IMHO. While I have only explored ML on my 21 day journey (thus far) the appearance of wolves is daunting. However, this took a big turn when I finally produced a bow on Day 20. On Day 21 outside of the Camp Office I shot 4 wolves in an 12 hour period. I shot one, skinned em, gutted em, dropped the stuff inside, took a 2 hour nap to warm up and went back outside to see another wolf... over and over and over. I shot two of them from the porch! Next time I log in I will have 35 to 45 pounds of meat to harvest and cook. I just landed the equivalent of about a third of a bear and it cost me one arrow. While the bear truly is a calorie bomb, this seems to be a bit much in the wolf pack department.

[ChillPlayer]

But please don't forget the most important part about the current boiling mechanic: time warp. As I said in a similar thread already, I rather have my water cooked in 5 real time seconds than in 10 real time minutes only so I can do "something else" meanwhile. Btw, multitasking is really not something you should do when trying to survive, focus on a single thing, then do the next

[coryduran]

I get so scared when people start talking about changes that will make surviving easier. #keepstalkerhard

[BellamyATL]

Oh my! You would not believe what I found on the ground next to me after this geomagnetic event brought my plane down-- a detailed map of the surrounding area! I do say, a magical map delivered from the heavens is deserved given the poor luck of my situation. #keepstalkerhard indeed.

I like this game because when I first played it I had no idea what was going on and kept dying. No instant gratification, please. Some of the OP I agree with where it adds to legitimacy of the survival experience, but if all you are looking for a is a recreational stroll down a quiet paved trail, then keep it on Easy mode (which is described as such in the game as well).