List of Ideas

[Litstorm]

I'm going to try and keep this as short as possible with explanations kept to a minimum. All done off the top of my head and some quick googling to find animals and plants that should be "(semi)active" during the winter in Canada.

Fauna

- Raccoon

- Skunks

- Chipmunks

- Weasels

- Moose

- Seagulls

- Caribou

- Beavers

- Elk

- Fox (it is your logo after all)

- Coyotes

- Coywolves

- Bison

- Cougar

- Mountain goat

- Wolverine

- Also more varied skin textures/models for animals they all look like clones atm.

- Fur texture would show a wound or bloodied fur if animal is injured

- Sasquatch (not sure if this would break the game, maybe just leave this one for the modders?)

Ai

- Would love to see some animals working together against me. wolves do hunt in packs, i know the geomagnetic storm made them "odd". So idk...maybe it shouldn't be implemented.

- Animals should have a "home spot/dens", and defend their territory? ^^^?

- Animals can track you by infection/blood loss by: sreyem13

Flora (Edible)

- Watercress

- Pine needles (tea)

- Wild strawberries

- Hawkweed

- Clovers (red and white)

- Teasel

- Pine, Spruce, Fir, Tamarack, Hemlock and Birch Bark *you can make bark patties/pancakes

Food/Drinks

- More food/drink varieties.

- Alcohol with pros/cons to stats

- Different teas with differently effects e.g. cayenne pepper tea extra warmth bonus, lemon tea to boost immune system (less chance of getting sick or infection) etc

- Salt/pepper/ other powders/spices for slight bonuses? Cooking skill would need revamp.

Abilities/Skills/Mechanics

- Ability to leave markers on trees/objects/and buildings, using cloth(ing) or knife/axe marks.

- Gas siphoning

- Cooking skill

- Build temporary or semi permanent shelters (igloos/lean to's etc)

- Building skill

- Muscle mass, Increases as you travel etc as long as you have enough protein intake, Decreases if not enough protein intake. Increases/decreases travel speed, harvesting speed, strength while fighting an animal or carry weight?

- Harvesting skill (dismantling skill)

- Slight differences in "stats" for female or male character. e.g. males can carry 5% more then females, females can travel 5% faster or just add unique characters with different bonuses.

- Ability to view your skill levels

- Tool/Weapon proficiency

- Slight Tool/Weapon Mods: Grips, Stocks, Handles, Scopes

- Trapping skill unlocks more traps, deadfall etc

- Can get dirty water from fishing hole by: reficul999

- Harvest cloth from corpses by: vancopower (or maybe just make their clothes look more worn out/torn/useless)

Items

- Lighters (oil, butane, disposable)

- Candles, some would be fixed to certain cabinets/tables/walls and or portable

- Snow shoes

- Ski's

- Walking/ski sticks

- Distill

- Rubbing Alcohol

- Bone/glass/improvised arrow heads

- Binoculars

- Different arrows wood, composite, and bone? by: Draco122

- More weapons (shotgun, revolver) by: DarkUncleBoh

- Tubing (for siphoning/ or slingshot)

- Rocks (for crafting, and ammo for slingshot) by: BinaryDigit09

- Slingshot (for small game)

- Bowdrill or similar to start fires

Crafting

- Revamp crafting ui, so its sorted into categories

- Ammo crafting

- Drying/Curing/Smoking racks

- Make whetstones from rocks, make cloth from cattail stock or other plant, and make rifle cleaning kits from stick(s) and cloth by: BinaryDigit09

Environment

- Beaver dams

- Unfrozen rivers

- Trees with bear scratches on them to show it is their area

- Broken down snowmobiles

- Hunting "treestands"

Things that don't make sense/bugs/issues

- Newspaper rolls which weigh .1kg break into 4 tinder bundles that weigh .05kg ea

- Flares/torches should not be held right in front of eyes and should not take up half the screen

- Text is nearly unreadable at lower resolutions

- The forestry lookout in mystery lake has an annoying door

- A lit torch should be selected by default when starting a fire

- Houses seem to similar and oddly very clean. I haven't noticed many/any pet bowls, microwave ovens, dishwasher, board games, shovels, hooks on doors maybe with some clothing on it, ashtrays, dead indoor plants, coffee makers/bodum etc. or maybe its just to many similar textures

Sorry if any ideas have been mentioned before, i will give credit to whomever came up with it first if that is an issue.

[BinaryDigit09]

Wow, that's a ton of great ideas! I came here to post some of mine but you covered almost all of them and then some. So I'd like to just add mine yours instead of making a new post.

Here are your ideas which I strongly agree with:

- Moose

- Fox

- Big kitty cat aka. cougar

- Sasquatch is real 0.o

- Pine needles (tea)

- Ability to leave markers on trees/objects/and buildings, using cloth(ing) or knife/axe marks.

- Gas siphoning

- Build temporary or semi permanent shelters (igloos/lean to's etc)

- Can get dirty water from fishing hole by: reficul999

- Harvest cloth from corpses by: vancopower (Me: More clothes from corpses! I shouldn't be jealous of a dead man's ski coat when I'm wearing a sleeveless vest lol)

- Binoculars

- Revamp crafting ui, so its sorted into categories

- Drying/Curing/Smoking racks

- Trees with bear scratches on them to show it is their area

Here are my ideas I'd like to add here:

Rocks - I'd like to be able to pick up and use rocks for crafting. Especially to make things like hand axes (a rock with a certain shape held in the hand and smashed against wood etc.) and simple hatchets. Maybe require two rocks to make a hand axe (smash one against the other to shape it), and require a hand axe + wood and guts for a simple (but easily breakable) hatchet. Let us use the hand axe against any tree for an occasional stick or branch.

Ammo - Add a black powder rifle and rare random sulfur, potassium nitrate, and lead/iron deposits so we can make gun powder and ammo for it. Let us use rocks to make limited-use arrowheads.

Rescue - Add a search & rescue plane that occasionally flies overhead on clear days. Add lootable pine needles and pine cones which can be added to a camp fire to create lots of smoke. If the plane sees your smoke, you are rescued and you "win" the game. Players can simply chose to ignore the plane if they want to keep playing, but this way you could really roleplay a stranded survivor trying to get home safely, and see how fast you can get rescued, etc.

Conceptually infinite - I think players should have the opportunity to survive forever. For the most part the game is great at this. The wildlife and forests have all the food, wood, and medicine you'll ever need, and water can be made at will. But eventually, all your whetstones (and thus axes) will decay, leaving you making fires with sticks. All your rifle cleaning kits (and thus rifles) will decay, leaving you getting good with the bow lest your wolfskin coat wear out. And after you are depleted of cloth, so will you be of your long john underwear! Hopefully those deerskin pants are not as rough as they look... Anyway, I say make whetstones from rocks, make cloth from cattail stock, and make rifle cleaning kits from sticks, cloth, and maybe lantern fuel if random crude deposits are added for a replenish-able source.

Crafting - Is a great system to start, but needs some tweaks. I think some basic things should be craft-able without a workbench, similar to how clothing repair works. The list of recipes definitely needs to be changed to not use back/forward navigation; hopefully they just did it that way as a stub intending to come back later and rework the whole thing.

More maps like Timberwolf Mountain!

[Barbarossa]

I completely agree with most of the ideas above! In addition I put on my wishlist:

• telescopic sight module (sniper) for the hunting rifle (would help with both hunting and checking out the map
  
• tube to pump fuel out of the cars' tanks (to use as firestarter, for lamps and maybe generators, if added)
  
• snow shoes to walk slightly faster and decrease fatigue (they should be craftable by using a special rank plant for example)
  
• compass!!!
  
• eatable plants and fruits like mushrooms, chestnuts etc.

[Litstorm]

Wow, that's a ton of great ideas! I came here to post some of mine but you covered almost all of them and then some. So I'd like to just add mine yours instead of making a new post.

Here are your ideas which I strongly agree with:

- Moose

- Fox

- Big kitty cat aka. cougar

- Sasquatch is real 0.o

- Pine needles (tea)

- Ability to leave markers on trees/objects/and buildings, using cloth(ing) or knife/axe marks.

- Gas siphoning

- Build temporary or semi permanent shelters (igloos/lean to's etc)

- Can get dirty water from fishing hole by: reficul999

- Harvest cloth from corpses by: vancopower (Me: More clothes from corpses! I shouldn't be jealous of a dead man's ski coat when I'm wearing a sleeveless vest lol)

- Binoculars

- Revamp crafting ui, so its sorted into categories

- Drying/Curing/Smoking racks

- Trees with bear scratches on them to show it is their area

Here are my ideas I'd like to add here:

Rocks - I'd like to be able to pick up and use rocks for crafting. Especially to make things like hand axes (a rock with a certain shape held in the hand and smashed against wood etc.) and simple hatchets. Maybe require two rocks to make a hand axe (smash one against the other to shape it), and require a hand axe + wood and guts for a simple (but easily breakable) hatchet. Let us use the hand axe against any tree for an occasional stick or branch.

Ammo - Add a black powder rifle and rare random sulfur, potassium nitrate, and lead/iron deposits so we can make gun powder and ammo for it. Let us use rocks to make limited-use arrowheads.

Rescue - Add a search & rescue plane that occasionally flies overhead on clear days. Add lootable pine needles and pine cones which can be added to a camp fire to create lots of smoke. If the plane sees your smoke, you are rescued and you "win" the game. Players can simply chose to ignore the plane if they want to keep playing, but this way you could really roleplay a stranded survivor trying to get home safely, and see how fast you can get rescued, etc.

Conceptually infinite - I think players should have the opportunity to survive forever. For the most part the game is great at this. The wildlife and forests have all the food, wood, and medicine you'll ever need, and water can be made at will. But eventually, all your whetstones (and thus axes) will decay, leaving you making fires with sticks. All your rifle cleaning kits (and thus rifles) will decay, leaving you getting good with the bow lest your wolfskin coat wear out. And after you are depleted of cloth, so will you be of your long john underwear! Hopefully those deerskin pants are not as rough as they look... Anyway, I say make whetstones from rocks, make cloth from cattail stock, and make rifle cleaning kits from sticks, cloth, and maybe lantern fuel if random crude deposits are added for a replenish-able source.

Crafting - Is a great system to start, but needs some tweaks. I think some basic things should be craft-able without a workbench, similar to how clothing repair works. The list of recipes definitely needs to be changed to not use back/forward navigation; hopefully they just did it that way as a stub intending to come back later and rework the whole thing.

More maps like Timberwolf Mountain!

I like your ideas as well, except for the rescue plane, all electronics are suppose to have been knocked out (i think). will add to main post

[Litstorm]

I completely agree with most of the ideas above! In addition I put on my wishlist:

• telescopic sight module (sniper) for the hunting rifle (would help with both hunting and checking out the map
  
• tube to pump fuel out of the cars' tanks (to use as firestarter, for lamps and maybe generators, if added)
  
• snow shoes to walk slightly faster and decrease fatigue (they should be craftable by using a special rank plant for example)
  
• compass!!!
  
• eatable plants and fruits like mushrooms, chestnuts etc.

A geomagnetic storm would render a compass useless id wager.

[toebar]

Some good and interesting suggestions.

Things like clover and strawberries are not typically available in winter.

I've never heard of bark patties/pancakes--- do you have more info on this?

(also, Tamarack is not likely to be found within the location of the game, as the species is generally found on the east side of the Rocky mountains, and the game is on the west side..)

[Warg]

While I agree with most ideas above, you do realize it's too much for TLD to implement, even if they wanted to?

I'd say, what's too much for them, shouldn't be too much for fans with some programming skills, if MOD-ing was possible. So, if you want to see at least some of those ideas in action, pressure the TLD to allow MOD-ing, even strictly sandbox.

[BinaryDigit09]

While I agree with most ideas above, you do realize it's too much for TLD to implement, even if they wanted to?

I'd say, what's too much for them, shouldn't be too much for fans with some programming skills, if MOD-ing was possible. So, if you want to see at least some of those ideas in action, pressure the TLD to allow MOD-ing, even strictly sandbox.

That's a really good point. Most of these great ideas could be implemented by the community if Hinterland were to focus only on good modding support, so maybe that should be at the top of the list?

I also totally forgot about the story's geomagnetic storm when mentioning the rescue plane idea. The longest geo storm in recorded history lasted 5 days (back in 1859), so maybe the plane should only appear after 20 days or so? And if a compass is found or crafted, it gives bad readings until then? Leave wolves aggressive after the storm passes since they've been permanently tweaked in the head.

It also doesn't have to be a plane, it could be a place. Maybe there's a small populated settlement of other survivors that you have to make a treacherous, epic, days-long journey through mountains and canyons and overnight blizzards to reach. It would span several desolate maps that have no evidence of humans anywhere, just mountains and forests and wildlife. The only way you can survive the trip is to bring a bearskin bedroll and a full compliment of deer/rabbit/wolf skin clothes, as well as food and wood or a means of getting them.

[Bill Tarling]

So, if you want to see at least some of those ideas in action, pressure the TLD to allow MOD-ing, even strictly sandbox.

"Pressuring" the studio to allow modding during the alpha stage is not only counter productive, it's also premature.

The studio has already stated multiple times that they will consider possible modding AFTER the game has been completed, but will not during the alpha stage because the sandbox is meant as a mechanics building ground for specific settings that will be used within the story mode.

Once they've built the game to fit their vision and mechanic requirements, then it's possible they'll permit various workshop modding, features, and maps. As they've said before, their priority is completing the game as intended - and then they'll look at what's needed for open community modding if possible.

[Jack 3ffn Bauer]

Your list is fantastic. I was planning on doing something similar but now I don't have to. I will add a few ideas that I think should be included.

•Horses- Reverted back to wild and have to be caught and broken

•Dogs- trained to hunt, or defense, or labor(dogsled)

•Cats- for rodent control at home base

•Rats- food, bait,

•Birds of prey(Eagles, Hawks, Owls) food or trained to hunt

•Pick up spent shell casings to reload at crafting station

•craft smaller part to combine into a bigger whole( Dog sled, Saddle, Kennels)

•spears

•Slingshots

•Different trap varieties for small game not just snares (box traps, drop trap)

These are just a few quick added thoughts

[DynamicDuo]

Just a few thoughts, I hope I'm not repeating any that someone else has already added.

Jump- in my opinion this is a must add to the game. It seems to be a rather realistic game and I don't see any reason that a geomagnetic storm would prevent you from jumping

Map- you could scavenge a big of charcoal from a burnt out fire and use a page out of a book or newspaper to make even a rudimentary map.

Bait- the ability to bait a snare with a bit of rose hip or another harvest-able plant would be nice.

Game trails- this goes hand in hand with the bait, having a noticeable game trail and perhaps having your chance of catching a rabbit increase when placed on the trail verses randomly about would be nice

Warmth- I think chopping wood, running or any other labor intensive activity should slightly increase your warmth rating. It doesn't need to be dramatic or even last long but it would add a little bit to the realism of the game.

Clothes modding- being able to add leather or sow a pair of long johns into your jeans and still be able to put on another pair underneath

Warg why do you say its too much for TLD to implement??

[toebar]

Welcome to the forums

Your suggestions are fair, but...

Jump -- fair enough, but the thing is that jumping is treated very unrealistically in most other games. put 30 kg on your back and see how high you can jump I do favour some option of getting over small things that should not prevent normal passage-

Map -- there's no reason you need charcoal-- I suspect there would still be pencils and pens around Many players create their own map as they play.. until they have it in memory. It's old school, but rewarding. Give it try

Bait - that's not how snares work. Ideally you would put the snare on a rabbit trail, as defined by a bunch of rabbit tracks, and a pinch point in the brush... basically rabbit bounces along and get's it's head through the snare, and chokes itself to death. If they added better animal track in game, this could become more realistic.. Bait for fishing hooks would be more important IMO

Warmth - this, plus a sweating mechanic would make things more realistic.. I think it would be a good addition. apparently there is currently a small warmth bonus when you are moving.. i remember reading that somewhere in the forum.