A bit of this and a bit of that.

[Dirmagnos]

Ive been playing game for a few months now and compiled a small list of things that i believe would benefit the game. If its already proposed or in works, feels free to throw poo(there is just 2 much stuff on forum to go thru).

Anyways...

Hunting shotgun.

I expect that there will be hunting shotgun added at some point and shells for it. If not, its an idea. Its logical, wth hunts deer with .303 rifle. Its an obvious overkill. Bears maybe, but there is plenty of other wildlife, at least should be.

Handgun.

Imo player should start with handgun, id go with older type of revolvers. Reason is simple, as bush pilot player traverse rather dangerous terrains, often far from civilization, and idea of being stranded in the middle of nowhere with no means of protection in case of plane malfunction is rather absurd. Six shooter(revolvers are generally more reliable and easier to maintain that semi-auto handguns, plus they pack a bigger punch, making them a better choice) with 12 bullets(6 loaded and 6 in reserve) and no no ammo to be found on the ground. Its initial means to kill/scare away(because its not as powerful as rifle) wolfes until player gets a rifle and ammo for it. Once ammo is depleted, can be turned into scrap.

Pickaxe.

A rare item that can be used for mining or as a weapon. Not really effective as weapon tho and can only be used offensively, like rifle(hit a wolf with it and he may run away).

Lighter.

Player starts with lighter that has random amount of fuel in it, can be refueled from jerry can. Unlimited durability.

Salvage.

Salvaging most of metal constructs, like cars or machinery. Possible outcome is either metal scrap and sheet metal. Supply is high, but prying off even a bit takes time and a lot of energy. Sheet metal can be turned into scrap.

Bones.

Small and big ones. Small ones come from fish and hares, bigger ones from deer, wolfs and bears. Used in crafting. Items crafted with bone are, on average, rather fragile, resulting in low durability.

Strings.

Instead of using cured guts directly, they are, in turn, crafted into strings. Used in crafting.

Rocks

Ability to find and mine rocks. Can be found pretty much anywhere near cliffs, in small amounts. Small rocks have higher chance to spawn that bigger chunks. Use same mechanics as sticks, respawnable. Can be mined with axe or pickaxe. But using axe would dull it real quick.

Smaller rocks can be crafted into stone arrowheads. Bigger rocks can be crafted into spearheads or broken up into smaller rocks. Small rocks can be further broken down for a small chance to get flint(obsidian).

Items crafted with rocks usually have good damage, but their durability is only slightly higher than those crafted of bone.

Flint.

Used to craft tinderbox.

Cloth scraps.

Made from cloth. Its really annoying to choose between waiting for smaller clothing items to decay enough or use full cloth piece and waste part of it, since its not used to full extend and partially wasted.

Leather scraps.

Crafted from hides. Used in repairs and crafting.

Wooden shaft

Crafted from fir or cedar. Used in crafting and repairs.

Tips.

Crafted from either metal scraps, rocks or bones. Metal ones are best, rock ones deal slightly less damage and have less durability(obsidian shards are extremely sharp, but brittle), bone ones deal less damage and have less durability. Spear tips can be made only from big rocks or big bones.

Fat.

Collected from animals. Used in crafting and cooking, possible medical usage as well. Maybe, after processing, used as fuel in storm lantern.

Plants.

Can be dug up from under the snow. Come in 2 varieties, regular ones and poisonous. Used for eating and making poisons to coat bladed weapons.

Sutures

Crafted from strings.

Makeshift items.

Arrows.

Ability to craft arrows from sticks. Not as strong and durable as arrows made of birch saplings, but it is an alternative. Beavers cant be choosers. Tips can be metal, rock or bone. tip+stick+strings

Bolas.

Thrown mid-range weapon. Requires quite some practice to be used effectively. Does not work on wolfs or bears. big rocks+leather strap+strings.

Spear.

Thrown mid-range weapon. Deals medium damage and can take down a wolf with 3-4 precise hits or deer with 1-2 hits. Type of tip determine amount of damage dealt. wooden shaft+metal/rock/bone tip+leather straps+strings.

Sling.

Mid-range thrown weapon. Uses small rocks as ammo. Damage output is low, but its better than bare hands. leather straps+strings

Knife

Made from stone or bone. Average damage. stick+stone/bone piece+strings

Axe

Made from stone. Average damage. wooden shaft+big stone+strings

Shield.

Crafted out of sheet metal, leather straps and strings. Can be used to fend off wolfs. Wont help against bears. Has no offensive capabilities.

Tindebox.

Used to light fires. Flint+metal scrap+tinder+cloth scraps.

Bone fishing hook.

Crafted out of small bone, duh.

Makeshift fishing tackle.

Crafted from bone fishing hook and strings.

Makeshift sewing kit.

Poor mans alternative to proper sewing kit. Once regular sewing kit is used up it leaves behind "sewing tools"(while some parts like needles or threads may run out rather fast, others, like scissors, for example, can last for a while). Has lower durability and take longer to craft, compared to regular sewing kit. But player can always make a new one, since parts are recyclable. sewing tools+bone needle+strings

Makeshift crafting tools.

Idea is same as sewing kit. crafting tools+sticks+metal scraps

Makeshift maintenance kit

Halves weapon durability decay on use. strings+fat+leather scraps+cloth scraps

Three-Skin Sleeping Bag.

Requires 10 "units" of hides. Bear hide is worth 4 units, wolf hide is worth 2 units, deer hide is worth 1 unit and hare hide is worth 0.5 units. Amount of hides can be added randomly, eg 3 wolf hides and 4 deer hides or 1 wolf hide, 3 deer hides and 10 hare hides. Not as good as bear sleeping bag, but better than basic bedroll.

Suture and needle.

Used to stop bleeding. sutures+bone needle

Food.

As far as i can tell, food decay has been a problem from getgo. Its rather absurd, that things like MRI, that officially have 5-7 years of shelf life(in reality even more), decay in matter of weeks.

So, MRIs should last laterally forever. Canned food should have their storage life significantly increased. Meat should spoil fairly fast, couple of days at the most. But cooked meat should last longer.

I once ate 26y old pork-something, canned. Looked weird, tasted like paper, went down and out extremely well, no problems.

Cooking with animal fat should decrease decay by 50% and increase nutritional value by 20%.

Option to freeze food should also be present, allowing to store food indefinitely.

And food spoiling in backpack faster is completely absurd feature. From 5 sides backpack is opened to elements, and only from 1 theres player back... that is insulated by all the clothing.

All manufactured items are considered to have high damage and durability, in terms of comparison.

Crafted items have 3 quality levels: regular, improved(+30% quality) and superior(+60% quality). Level on crafted item depends on level of craftign skill. At 100 crafting it could be 60% chance of normal, 30% chance of improved and 10% chance of superior.

Skills:

Gutting - faster gutting and a chance to harvest additional meat

Skinning - faster skinning

Tracking - animal tracks can be seen and they stay on longer, hear animals better

Fishing - faster fishing and chance at better catch

Cooking - faster cooking and chance at bonus caliries in prepared food

Conditioning - more status than skill; stay fed, hydrated and rested and player overall maximum condition increases, allowing to go longer without food, water and/or sleep. Player builds additional body fat, learns to tolerate hunger, thirst and tiredness better.

Trailblazing - faster running, less stamina consumed and tiredness increases slower when running

Sewing - faster sewing and chance not to decrease sewing kit durability

Maintenance - faster crafting with tool box and chance not to decrease tools durability

HtH - more damage dealt when fighting off animals, less damage received and faster whatever-that-bar-name-is filling

Throwing - more damage, better accuracy and faster fire rate with projectiles

Firearms - firearms can jam, depending on durability(unjamming takes time, reckock rifle bolt, etc), skill decreases that chance and gives a chance to negate durability loss of shot

Survival - can see further in blizzard, slower hypothermia onset

Medical Training - decreases recovery from illnesses and their effects

Bottled med should have random amount of uses(pills, liquid) in them, instead of fixed. And if need to take meds, can chose to take less that recommended, taking his chances with ailment.

Melting snow and boiling water shouldnt require player presence. Put a can on a stove and do something else.

[ctstannard]

Wow that is quite a post! I like some of your suggestions so let me discuss a few. Please keep in mind that, just like your original post, these are my opinions and everyone is entitled to their own. You've written quite a bit which is fantastic to see this much discussion and enthusiasm going for this game. That being said I am going to disagree on a few points but again it will just be my opinion and no disrespect is meant.

Hunting Shotgun - Agreed it would be interesting to see different types of firearms you could find. Also perhaps different actions (lever, bolt etc) for the rifle which could affect their speed, durability, etc.

Handgun - I wouldn't be opposed to finding a revolver in the game but I definitely don't think you should start with one that would take a lot away from the initial threat and fear you feel when you first get dropped into this terrifying new world. Also IF this were to take place during or immediately after the disaster it may be unlikely that someone in Canada would have a revolver on them as the laws on handguns here are very strict making them significantly harder to find.

Pickaxe - I am not sure what you would mine? And what good it would do. I think it is important to make sure this game doesn't turn into minecraft as that isn't the point and in reality just one man lost in the wilderness isn't going to find mining that helpful anyway.

Lighter - I wouldn't object to having a lighter with a small amount of fuel in it but it definitely should NOT be unlimited durability. Part of the thrill of sandbox mode is knowing that nothing is unlimited and that sooner or later you will run out of resources the question becomes how long can you avoid it?

Salvage - Sure you could try to salvage cars but in a survival situation where every calorie you burn must be worth it would you really want to spend the time tearing apart a car for scrap metal? Unless there was something unique you could get from the car I am not sure if this would be practical.

Bones, Strings, Rocks, other resources - I suppose you could but I am not sure if this would add a whole lot to the gameplay again in my mind this shouldn't be minecraft. I would be cautious about adding too much because I think part of what makes Long Dark enjoyable is it's simplicity when it comes to the crafting system.

Arrows and Throwing Weapons - Perhaps a pointy stick but anything more than that and I worry it would be become too much.

Knives and Axes - I could see a stone knife or stone axe but as anyone who has ever tried to make one can attest these takes A LONG time and are very easy to mess up if you aren't extremely experienced at it. If this were to be added it should take several hours, have a very low probability of success, require a fair amount of materials and even if it does work yield something with low effectiveness and durability.

Shield - I think you'd be better off just being able to make a solid leather jacket or something like that. I think if they add too many spears and shields and what not this is going to become Long Dark - Castaway Edition. Shields are cumbersome, heavy, tedious it isn't something you can stuff in a backpack I am not sure if it would be worth it. Again you'd be better off reinforcing a jacket with some extra leather padding or something like that.

Tinderbox - This is a tough one, I could see it but I would also want it very limited and ineffective. Again I feel you can already survive for a very long time in this game, you will run out of things to do long before running out of materials if they add too many more ways to extend the survival.

Fishing Tools - Sure that could be fun and a neat way to get food.

Leftover Sewing Tools/Makeshift Tools - Again I am not sure if this is necessary. What does it really add? We already have two tiers of tool kits what would a third be adding?

Extra Sleeping Bag - See above. I don't think we need to get to the point where we have 3, 4 and 5 different tiers of the same item unless there really is something unique and special about it.

Sutures - This could be interesting. Although again low chance of success after all your character presumably doesn't have a strong medical background and it is with salvaged materials.

Food Decay - Again we can't have everything happening on regular time scales or less it will drag out the game too long. Realistically how long would it take to make a sleeping bag out of bear skin? Several days? But you can do it in Long Dark in a matter of hours because it would become tedious if it worked on a regular time scale. This is a trick with games is that there often needs to be ways to accelerate time for the sake of avoiding boredom. I feel like Long Dark does a pretty good job at this so far, could it be tweaked? Sure but I don't think it needs much.

Quality Levels - Not a fan of this idea as items don't need to have a lot of different "stats" to them. I think a simple, single durability meter is fine. Unless again there's something unique about it-- if it took a higher quality knife to perform certain tasks than I could maybe see it.

Skills - I don't have much to comment on with this. I do like how they don't show your skills but instead you just see the effects of getting better at something. I hope to see Long Dark keep it's minimal user information (no map, no character sheet etc)

Bottled Meds - It could be interesting having these spawn at different amounts if it could be integrated smoothly.

Melting Snow - I suppose you could be able to get up and walk away but I am not sure if this is all that needed.

The thing I like to keep in mind with this game is a quote I will borrow from a user on the steam forums:

"You have to remember this is the Long Dark, where you eventually drift into the darkness, no matter what you do."

Do not go gentle into that good night. I can't help but think of that line when I play this game.

Awesome post with a lot of ideas and thoughts into it. Keep the discussions coming!

[Boston123]

Makeshift items.

Arrows.

Ability to craft arrows from sticks. Not as strong and durable as arrows made of birch saplings, but it is an alternative. Beavers cant be choosers. Tips can be metal, rock or bone. tip+stick+strings

Bolas.

Thrown mid-range weapon. Requires quite some practice to be used effectively. Does not work on wolfs or bears. big rocks+leather strap+strings.

Spear.

Thrown mid-range weapon. Deals medium damage and can take down a wolf with 3-4 precise hits or deer with 1-2 hits. Type of tip determine amount of damage dealt. wooden shaft+metal/rock/bone tip+leather straps+strings.

Sling.

Mid-range thrown weapon. Uses small rocks as ammo. Damage output is low, but its better than bare hands. leather straps+strings

Knife

Made from stone or bone. Average damage. stick+stone/bone piece+strings

Axe

Made from stone. Average damage. wooden shaft+big stone+strings

Shield.

Crafted out of sheet metal, leather straps and strings. Can be used to fend off wolfs. Wont help against bears. Has no offensive capabilities.

Arrows: I would rather get rid of the "birch sapling" entirely, and instead make arrows from individual sticks or even cattail /reed shafts. MUCH more realistic, much easier, and will do just as much damage as a wooden-shafted arrow, at least at close range (which is really the only range you should be trying to make bow-kills from). I have a 60lbs selfbow that I made myself. I wouldn't try to make a "kill-shot" on an animal past 25 yards or so.

Bolas: A set of bolas work by wrapping around the limbs of the target, tripping them up or even breaking the bones. A "large enough" set of bolas will TOTALLY work on a bear or a wolf, and would actually be the first "weapon" I would make in a survival situation. Easy to make, easy to use, and ABSURDLY effective when combined with a spear.

Spear: No, you don't throw a spear at an animal, that is just stupid. All you are going to do is piss it off, as it is highly unlikely the spear is balanced for throwing. Instead, you thrust with it, straight through the torso. A solid spear thrust into the lungs/heart will kill even the largest of bears. How do you do so? Immobilize the bear with a set of bolas, or a thrown "rabbit stick" to the legs/head to stun it.

Rabbit stick: essentially, take a heavy club of hard, solid wood, about as long as your arm between your shoulder and your wrist. Whipping said club at a small-game animal (rabbit, bird) will kill it outright, and throwing it at a larger animal will stun it for a couple of seconds, long enough to stab it or to run away. Easy to make

Sling: Yet again, a sling is an absurdly effective weapon, in the right hands. A golf-ball sized stone has about the same impact profile as a .45ACP bullet. They are, however, REALLY hard to use, harder than a bow and arrow, as you have to be able to conceptualize tangential trajectories without the use of a sight. I would only use a sling on small game, like rabbits or grounded birds. Anything larger is likely to be less-than-instantly-lethal, which means you will soon be dead via pissed-off wolf. I wouldn't use a sling on anything past 10 yards, either.

Knife: Meh, I would rather throw a heavy stick at an animal and run away, than fight it with a knife. Might be just me.

Axe: Also meh. A axehead made from scrap metal is likely to shatter, rather than cut into wood. Also, will lose its edge rather quickly, as I doubt 99% of the scrap metal we have in-game is not high-carbon steel.

Shield: HAHAHAHAHAHA. Enjoy having your arm shatter when you try to use this. Shields work when used to parry a weapon. You can't really parry a wolf's teeth or a bear's paw. I would rather wrap several ( Like, 10+) layers of denim, canvas, or leather around my arm and use it to deflect the animal way as I stab it. Again, not preferable AT ALL. Give me a spear in a 2-handed grip any day.

As for "damage", I would much rather have an animal get injured based on where you strike it, as opposed to what you strike it with. Any and every animal in the game should be killed with one "hit" to the "vitals"; the lungs and the heart. An arrow, a spear, a knife, whatever. No headshots, that won't be a clean kill. A .303 round to the leg shouldn't kill a deer, while the same shot to the vitals should drop it almost instantly. An arrow to the same spot should kill within 30 seconds, a spear would really be overkill.

Like the above poster said: I do not mean any disrespect by my rebuttal, just to "enlighten".

[Dirmagnos]

There is no wrong opinions on this one, there are just opinions, all valuable.

Point of Hunting Shotgun to add variability to the game, as with pretty much every other idea. That would correspond to realistic scenarios in wilderness. So that game wouldnt just end up into hunt for rifle/ammo as it is now.

Handgun. Ok, revolver part os off the table then. I have no idea how laws are on that part in Canada.

Pickaxe. Used for mining, faster and better. Whole point of it is to make rocks/stones/obsidian more accessible. Since you can find then, but they are not that plentiful. Plus, as with shield its meant to fend off wolf be4 it goes for player throat.

By lighter i meant something zippo style, that can last forever, requiring basic maintenance. Game has Magnifying Glass that somehow can work in caves sometimes(altho i blame it on Alpha status), somehow deteriorates from single usage and is of rather low value in general.

When game is about survival and is aimed at any type of realism, i can understand slight variations to certain variabilities, like wolf behavior. But when ppl start messing up with basic laws of nature(like physics) its not a good sign.

Salvage. Yes, i would be willing to spend time tearing apart car or machinery, if it would yield me resources that i need.

Other resources. It has nothing to do with minecraft(i actually hate this game). But i do love survival games. And sandbox generally refers to openness of environment and variability of options. Because currently it follows rather narrow path of "get rifle, look for ammo". Fishing still sux as far as i can tell, trapping is not that much better. And options for crafting are extremely limited as well. I like simple, i truly do, but simple and primitive are different things.

Arrows. Why why 2 much ? Hows it 2 much ? Its doable, its about survival. Why artificial limitations that cripple game without any reason. Why not go MacGyver on that wilderness ?

Knifes and Axes. Ppl used to make makeshift tools for thousands of years and survived, without running water, planes or cable tv. Even prisoners manage to make all kind of weird gadgets from complete crazy things. Necessity is mother of invention. And making simple tools is not that hard, if you apply a bit of wit to it. When i was younger me and some guys used to go on camping trips, we made all kind of weird stuff of materials we could find on site, including simple bows without any peculiar knowledge on the matter. And if player is capable of making basic bow(and actually identify birch and maple), then hes more than capable to make basic stone/bone spear or axe.

Shield. So youre opposed to making simple shield, but for leather jacket... that is far harder to make ?!?! And in terms of shield i didnt refer to some kind multi-layered tower shield, but simple small round shield that would weight 1-2 kg at the most.

Tinderbox. Point of that trinket is to be able light fires when player runs out other means. So it would require quite some skill to be used. Ineffective at first, but far more useful once player learns how to use it properly.

Makeshift tools are meant to add options, again, to the game. So that player would always have something to do and means of doing it.

Sleeping bag. There is just 2 types of those and getting bear one takes a long time. And since player is expected to survive in wilderness, it would give him means to do so. Longer player survives out there, more he has to do it off land, rather than simple scavenging. Thats whole point of survival games of that type. Old world remnants can get you only that far. Honestly, id even go as far as being able to craft tent.

Sutures. Again, why to assume that player character is an idiot. Im quite positive that as bush pilot he received at least basic medical training, especially if hes ex-military. Its not exactly that suturing wound requires a surgeon certification. Its unpleasant and painful, but doable. Especially if there is no ER option present.

Survival game and "dragging" time argument ? Are you serious ? Survival games are opposite to those short lunch break games.

And making sleeping bag out of bear hide can be done in just a day(youre not exactly building a car). Properly preparing that hide is another matter. It doesnt have to be pretty, its about durability and warmth.

The point of adding a lot more stuff is precisely to prevent time drag. Time flies when you have something to do. And need to constantly worry about food spoilage makes game tedious, rather than interesting.

Quality and skills. Perhaps its role-player speaking in me, but i like idea of various quality levels. As player gets better at survival, he becomes faster and more efficient, can go further and survive longer. Especially with limited supplies, hostile wildlife and weather. He simply has to evolve in order to survive. If after a month in wild, only difference between beginner and veteran is amount of stuff he has hoarded, i consider it to be weird.

In terms of meds. I just find it weird that player uses up whole roll of bandage to patch himself up or whole bottle of hydrogen peroxide to disinfect wound. Again, more wounds he treats, he should become better at it, use less meds and able to do more with less.

And that steam user quote is just another opinion. I prefer to view "Long Dark" as reference to Dark Ages, eg its the dusk of civilization, where player has to fight for his survival, not just slowly die. And if i am to die, id like to know, that i did everything in my power to prevent it and used all my wits and means that wild provides me with. Otherwise player can just find rifle, 1 .303, put rifle barrel in his mouth and pull a trigger.

Im sorry if some of those points came up a bit strong. I mean no offense, its just debater in me speaking.

@Boston123

Those all just ideas.

Bolas.

Bolas may be effective, but they do require a lot of skill to be used effectively. So its a question of balance. Thats why id like to see both bolas and skill that compliments them, so that initially player would be extremely ineffective with them. But after few hundred throws, hed become proficient enough to be able to use them with moderate degree of effectiveness.

Spear.

Yes, good point. But then id proposes 2 versions, longer spear, that is used to impale animal. Heavier, slower, but extremely effective if player learns to use it properly. And pilum -type of short spear, that can be thrown from distance.

Sling.

As with other makeshift weapons, sling could be rather inefficient in the beginning, but as player survives and uses it, it could become a viable hunting tool. Especially since there is plenty of ammo to go by.

Im not saying that player would become master spearman or sling-thrower, but he learns to use them effectively to a degree that he can actually go out and kill things with them.

Knifes and axes are not meant to be thrown. Even tho it may be an option. Their main purpose is to be used if there is no proper tools available or player wannts to conserve them for a long hike.

Shield.

Its not meant as passive item. Its meant to bash wolf off, when he lounges at player. Basically its a fist-to-the-face -type of item. It may stun wolf, it may scare him off, or it may do nothing.

[phil_greggory]

The thing I like to keep in mind with this game is a quote I will borrow from a user on the steam forums:

"You have to remember this is the Long Dark, where you eventually drift into the darkness, no matter what you do."

Do not go gentle into that good night. I can't help but think of that line when I play this game.

I'm just going to talk about this point of your post (you had a lot of other good points). If that is the intention of the game it makes it a little less enjoyable for me. I'm not interested in the mining, acquiring massive firepower, building vehicles that some people want to do, but one thing I wish was possible is sustainability, in a realistic sense. What I mean by that is a way that you could potentially live indefinitely, albeit at increasing difficulty as modern supplies run out. At some point all of your items would be created from nature and and it would be a lot of work maintaining them while eating and drinking. I believe getting to that point should be excruciatingly difficult and even when you reach it, one mistake will kill you but the idea that you must die, not due to your insufficient skill, but because the game is designed that way is something I disagree with.

[ctstannard]

The thing I like to keep in mind with this game is a quote I will borrow from a user on the steam forums:

"You have to remember this is the Long Dark, where you eventually drift into the darkness, no matter what you do."

Do not go gentle into that good night. I can't help but think of that line when I play this game.

I'm just going to talk about this point of your post (you had a lot of other good points). If that is the intention of the game it makes it a little less enjoyable for me. I'm not interested in the mining, acquiring massive firepower, building vehicles that some people want to do, but one thing I wish was possible is sustainability, in a realistic sense. What I mean by that is a way that you could potentially live indefinitely, albeit at increasing difficulty as modern supplies run out. At some point all of your items would be created from nature and and it would be a lot of work maintaining them while eating and drinking. I believe getting to that point should be excruciatingly difficult and even when you reach it, one mistake will kill you but the idea that you must die, not due to your insufficient skill, but because the game is designed that way is something I disagree with.

I respect your preferences but personally I'd enjoy it less if you could survive forever. There are already too many "happily ever after" games where you can survive indefinitely. Instead I like the idea if this being a struggle to survive as long as you can for the sake of surviving one more day but eventually everything must end especially in these incredibly harsh environments. To each their own though. This forum seems very divided upon whether or not they want to be able to "live forever".

[Eachna]

By lighter i meant something zippo style, that can last forever, requiring basic maintenance. Game has Magnifying Glass that somehow can work in caves sometimes(altho i blame it on Alpha status), somehow deteriorates from single usage and is of rather low value in general.

I've also been annoyed by the lack of reliable fire-making. We have torches (which are great) but we can't do things like bank coals or make firebows. I'd rather not have a lighter specifically because it would depend on lighter fluid.

You can strike sparks off a steel file, like a metalworking file or a nail file. You could replace the magnifying glasses with files. Make them wear down (like all the other metal tools) and require scrap metal to repair. Now 'you're making it easier to start a fire but you're still consuming resources.

Knifes and Axes. Ppl used to make makeshift tools for thousands of years and survived, without running water, planes or cable tv. Even prisoners manage to make all kind of weird gadgets from complete crazy things. Necessity is mother of invention. And making simple tools is not that hard, if you apply a bit of wit to it. When i was younger me and some guys used to go on camping trips, we made all kind of weird stuff of materials we could find on site, including simple bows without any peculiar knowledge on the matter. And if player is capable of making basic bow(and actually identify birch and maple), then hes more than capable to make basic stone/bone spear or axe.

This is very true, but I can say looking at it from the perspective of making feature requests of a small indie developer there's going to be very hard limits on what they can afford to include in the game.

The point of adding a lot more stuff is precisely to prevent time drag. Time flies when you have something to do. And need to constantly worry about food spoilage makes game tedious, rather than interesting.

I agree the game needs something to fill in time. Right now, if I don't need to repair something and I don't have something that "needs" to be done, I just sleep in-game. While being alone in a frozen wilderness is going to have it's slow boring times, sleeping 3-4 days in a row (just waking up to eat/drink and then lie back down) while waiting for the rabbit guts to dry out is probably a bit extreme.

I think the game could use a meat-drying mechanic. Let players invest calories (and firewood) in reducing the weight and volume of their meat. This would also slow (but not stop) spoilage. Have it waste a lot of time for cutting up the meat, and also take a long time cooking the meat (for smoking) and then I something to do when there's a blizzard outside. It could use the crafting code where it tells you ahead of time how many hours you need to invest in working on it and then you can set a timer and take small breaks for necessities.

Also, we need something we can do with skins and gut other than sewing clothes and making snares/bowstrings. I know the game is in alpha, so this is just an observation. I end up with way too many skins and guts while I gobble down most of my meat. If I leave the skins/guts behind the carcasses sit there longer.

We also need a way to mark paths. I can drop some waste items but it's unwieldy and unintuitive. Maybe let us craft pieces of hide that we stick to the sides of landmarks (buildings/rocks/trees) with pre-designated symbols on them for water, wood, the different plants, wolf/bear/rabbit/deer/fish, and some of the resources (reclaimed wood, scrap metal, etc). We "should" be able to make blazes on trees but we can't, nor can we put down rock cairn markers (there are plenty of places sheltered from the snow). This would give us another time-filler while also use up materials that are going to waste now.

Sling.

As with other makeshift weapons, sling could be rather inefficient in the beginning, but as player survives and uses it, it could become a viable hunting tool. Especially since there is plenty of ammo to go by.

Im not saying that player would become master spearman or sling-thrower, but he learns to use them effectively to a degree that he can actually go out and kill things with them.

Slings aren't that hard to use. I spent one summer learning to get good with a sling after reading The Clan of the Cave Bear. It wasn't so much "hard" to aim as tiring to swing it around a lot. Once I built up the muscular endurance to swing it, learning to aim went pretty fast. I'm not sure putting a sling in the game is a good idea. To use a sling you want very specific stones, which means running water.

I think I'd rather they made the bow easier to aim and/or more effective.