Feedback after two hours play.

[shadragon]

Hi guys and gals,

Picked the game up yesterday and spent a couple of hours slowly starving to death. Great to see a popular Canadian game out there. Finding the Maple Leaf flapping outside of Mystery Lake cabin was unexpected and welcome. Am half expecting to find Les Stroud playing his harmonica out in the boonies.

I did see a few things that caught my attention. I'll list them in no particular order.

- Opened a fishing hole in a fish shack with a hatchet and never saw the prompt to fish. I had a hook and wire, but could not fish. I looked at the hole, clicked the hole. Nothing. Saw a video on YT on how to do it. I was doing it correctly.

- Can we have our calorie bar on the main screen? Makes decision making a lot easier. When looking at an activity that consumes calories, like breaking up boxes for wood, you can show the impact on remaining calories with a different color. When you do that action, the calories are consumed. Like the Fallout 4 VATS action meter bar.

- Was in the dam electrical generator room. Huge space, open to the elements, but could not build a fire in there. I can see not being able to do it in a cabin or house with wooden floors / no ventilation, but this space had a concrete floor and was ventilated with outside air. I've made fires in the far north of Nunavut inside structures on concrete floors.

- Environmental effects are great. Wind, snow, etc.

- I have a hatchet. Why can't I take down stair hand rails and outdoor trail railings. It's wood, it's handy and I wouldn't hesitate in a real life survival situation. If I step over the cliff afterwards, then it's on me.

- Made a fire outside. Fed it enough reclaimed wood to last 10 hours and 25 min. Set up my bedroll next to the fire and set the sleep timer for nine hours. Awoke to find the fire out, my body heat bar was zero and I was still exhausted. I believe only 4-5 hours had passed. Died soon after as I could not relight the fire.

- The calorie bar is fine, but you can last without food for a while even in frozen temps (water is a necessity). If the calorie bar is zero, there should be a small reserve (body fat). Right now, when the calorie meter goes to zero you insta-die. Ex: I was in the ranger tower, had food and water with lots of collected firewood. I was walking to the wood stove to light a fire when I just died without any warning. Bit of a let down after all that effort to gather materials and walk up the hill.

- Love the no game save unless you quit.

- With all these pieces of cloth I'm collecting, can I eventually make a tent for long distance wilderness exploration? I have a sewing kit and lots of time on my hands.

- No caves? They are great areas for holing up for the night. Those pesky wolves have to live somewhere!

- Cut Pine boughs to lay down under your bed roll reduces heat loss to snow or concrete.

- I saw rabbits (or hares) bounding around. No snares? There may be and I have not found them, but I have searched quite a large area and not seen them. A dozen snares can provide decent sustenance.

- Roll of orange trail tape would let you mark your own paths and could be used in low vis conditions. If you have a hatchet you can mark trees as well.

- I think the calorie consumption when sleeping is a tad high. Outside in a bed roll, maybe, but in a cabin, not so much.

That's all for now. Thanks for an amazing game.

[bethany]

- Opened a fishing hole in a fish shack with a hatchet and never saw the prompt to fish. I had a hook and wire, but could not fish. I looked at the hole, clicked the hole. Nothing. Saw a video on YT on how to do it. I was doing it correctly.

Did you craft/combine the fishing line and hook before attempting to fish? Having the components in your inventory is not enough. I know this may seem like a simple question - Just want to make sure you didn't experience a bug we're not aware of.

- Was in the dam electrical generator room. Huge space, open to the elements, but could not build a fire in there. I can see not being able to do it in a cabin or house with wooden floors / no ventilation, but this space had a concrete floor and was ventilated with outside air. I've made fires in the far north of Nunavut inside structures on concrete floors.

Some interiors do have fire barrels -- The dam is one of these. Be sure to look closely!

- Made a fire outside. Fed it enough reclaimed wood to last 10 hours and 25 min. Set up my bedroll next to the fire and set the sleep timer for nine hours. Awoke to find the fire out, my body heat bar was zero and I was still exhausted. I believe only 4-5 hours had passed. Died soon after as I could not relight the fire.

Outdoor fires can be extinguished/affected by wind speed and direction. If you choose to sleep outdoors, it's best to sleep in short bursts.

- Love the no game save unless you quit.

Not sure exactly what you mean here? The game will save when you sleep, enter/exit an interior with a loading screen, or sustain an injury or illness. You'll see a spinning white disc on the lower half of the screen indicating the game is saving.

- No caves? They are great areas for holing up for the night. Those pesky wolves have to live somewhere!

There are caves! You'll find them eventually. Be careful...

- I saw rabbits (or hares) bounding around. No snares? There may be and I have not found them, but I have searched quite a large area and not seen them. A dozen snares can provide decent sustenance.

It is possible to find snares, but you can also craft them yourself. Check a workbench for available crafting options and recipes.

That's all for now. Thanks for an amazing game.

Thanks for playing and sharing your feedback! Welcome to the forums.

[shadragon]

Hi Bethany,

I'll check the crafting on the fish hook. I believe I did do it, but I died a couple of times so not 100% sure if that particular character did it.

Fire barrels. Roger.

The "No save" reference. In regular games, you can manually save a point in time then go back to it much later. I like the way you did it. Makes for a more intense experience. Consequences matter.

Found a snare last night, also the crafting workbench.

Also discovered last night that the in-game rifle will not take down a bear, but a bear can take me down. :lol:

Have a great day.

[Hatchet]

Hi guys and gals,

Heya, welcome to the forums.

- Opened a fishing hole in a fish shack with a hatchet and never saw the prompt to fish. I had a hook and wire, but could not fish. I looked at the hole, clicked the hole. Nothing. Saw a video on YT on how to do it. I was doing it correctly.

Hehe, that made me giggle a little bit :lol:

You need to combine the hook and wire, and to do that you'll need a workbench (i know, a workbench to combine a hook and a line? They can't get everything right from the start )

- Can we have our calorie bar on the main screen? Makes decision making a lot easier. When looking at an activity that consumes calories, like breaking up boxes for wood, you can show the impact on remaining calories with a different color. When you do that action, the calories are consumed. Like the Fallout 4 VATS action meter bar.

I like it without a hud display, but then again, you don't, so the best option would be to allow players manually select what they want to see on their hud display.

- Was in the dam electrical generator room. Huge space, open to the elements, but could not build a fire in there. I can see not being able to do it in a cabin or house with wooden floors / no ventilation, but this space had a concrete floor and was ventilated with outside air. I've made fires in the far north of Nunavut inside structures on concrete floors.

Can't build fires in caves either, maybe that will happen one day, though in the dam, in that open space, there's a place where you can build a fire...

And comparing TLD with real life is not going to get you anywhere

- I have a hatchet. Why can't I take down stair hand rails and outdoor trail railings. It's wood, it's handy and I wouldn't hesitate in a real life survival situation. If I step over the cliff afterwards, then it's on me.

You probably asked that question because you only played for two hours, what i mean by that is, there's more than enough stuff to break down inside and outside cabins, you would find that out after a couple of days in, though i would like for those shelves in fishing huts to be breakable, that would be the only exception

- Made a fire outside. Fed it enough reclaimed wood to last 10 hours and 25 min. Set up my bedroll next to the fire and set the sleep timer for nine hours. Awoke to find the fire out, my body heat bar was zero and I was still exhausted. I believe only 4-5 hours had passed. Died soon after as I could not relight the fire.

An exhausted fire "can not" be relit, unless you pour some kerosine or any other flammable material over it first, and that's in real life, i say "can not" but there's always a way, though it would be very exhausting/foolish to try and relight an exhausted fire in a survival situation where you could forage some wood and make a new fire much, much easier.

Now for The Long Dark; the wind changes directions and blew out your fire, the game treats a blown out fire as an exhausted fire and therefore it cannot be re-lit.

Ps: You what? 10 hours of of re-claimed wood? 9 hours of straight sleeping out doors? No wonder you froze to death, no wonder you want more stuff to break down , sorry for my laughing, we've all been there, try sticks next time

. Right now, when the calorie meter goes to zero you insta-die.

Dang, i didn't know that, thanks for telling me You're 100% positive about that right?

- With all these pieces of cloth I'm collecting, can I eventually make a tent for long distance wilderness exploration? I have a sewing kit and lots of time on my hands.

No, you can't, though it's been brought up a couple of times before no word from the devs (yet) on manmade shelters

- No caves? They are great areas for holing up for the night. Those pesky wolves have to live somewhere!

No caves? Hahaha, i'm loving this guy, makes me chuckle a lot

You are joking right? Cause after 2 hours, you explored... lets say 5% of the total world?

- Cut Pine boughs to lay down under your bed roll reduces heat loss to snow or concrete.

You're right but as far as i can tell, the game does not take heat loss to snow or concrete into account. (i might be wrong)

- I saw rabbits (or hares) bounding around. No snares? There may be and I have not found them, but I have searched quite a large area and not seen them. A dozen snares can provide decent sustenance.

You're really killing me here, and i mean that in a good way

I won't spoil it then

- Roll of orange trail tape would let you mark your own paths and could be used in low vis conditions. If you have a hatchet you can mark trees as well.

Trail marking has been suggested in all sizes and colors, and i'm all in for it but again, no word from the devs (yet)

I'm thinking trail marking and manmade shelters won't happen, atleast not very soon

Also discovered last night that the in-game rifle will not take down a bear.

You might someday re-visualise certain "discoveries'

[shadragon]

Thanks for taking the time for the feedback. I did qualify my (noob) experience was only two hours of play and yes, 7% game world at that point. I've found quite a few things since and look forward to continuing.

The caves thing came about after following a rocky ridge-line for about an hour without seeing any. I did look specifically for them. Still have not seen one. Good to know they are there.

The shifting wind direction makes sense, but I did build the fire with concrete walls to the right. Barrels to the back and stacked pallets to the left with my bedroll in front. Tried to keep it as sheltered as possible.

Breaking down firewood from railings makes sense to me. Anything non-structural should be on the list, including your shelves. There's an area of three trailers with multiple bunk beds inside. I only need one bed, the rest can be sacrificed. You are forced to scavenge the local area. After a while, you'll be forced to move bases as local resources are consumed. If you ever have to retire back to a place where you've already depleted the resources, having the railings as an emergency backup to fuel the stove isn't a bad idea. As it is now, I leave a small supply behind, but that reduces the small fuel stock that I do have.

When I built the fire outside of the dam there were all sorts of pallets and things for firewood so supply was not an issue. My body was cold and I had the eye icon to show I was exhausted. Didn't know about the fire barrels inside, obviously.

The zero calorie insta-death thing is my best guess on what I happened. There was no indication of why I blacked out and I could not check the status page once I'd died. I was fine and walking around, then it faded to black in seconds on my way to the stove and voom, black screen. I've done arctic / jungle / desert survival courses and you learn to recognize your body symptoms then plan what you need to do to correct your situation. My point was, there was no game feedback to tell me I was on the brink of collapse.

Did my best with the info I had at the time and failed. I learn from my mistakes, so no biggie. By putting my experiences out there I may help someone else beginning out, or highlight an area that needs attention. Never claimed to be perfect. If I highlight an area in the game that needs attention, then so much the better.

Have a nice day.