some minor things which just seem off

[AverageGatsby]

(Edited to include something else instead of creating new posts)

These aren't a really big issue, but they do feel kind of weird sometimes.

1.

Wouldn't it be possible to make wolves just run straight away from the player if scared? Or doesn't that work because of their territory binding them? Weirdly the wolves' strange flight pattern only occurs when scaring them with a torch (i don*t think it occurs when you injure them with a bow or in a fight). That back and forth fleeing is not really convincing though:S

2.

As I was just looking up on older gameplay, one thing stood out, I never really understood why you still need a fire to purify water with tablets that kinda takes away any usability or real need for those purification tablets, couldn't one change that back or am I alone with that opinion?

Edit: I couldn't figure how to use purification tablets simply since it would have been more iintuitive for me to click water>actions>purify I did kinda overlook the option on the purification tablets in general.

[selfless]

You can use tablets to purify water over a fire but you do not have to.

Hinterland added them to the fire menu to remind players that they exist.

They can still be used directly from inventory as long as you have some dirty water.

No fire required.

[AverageGatsby]

You can use tablets to purify water over a fire but you do not have to.

Hinterland added them to the fire menu to remind players that they exist.

They can still be used directly from inventory as long as you have some dirty water.

No fire required.

haha :oops:

I didn't actually check klicking on the tablets probably since that for me didn't fit in with the other game mechanics where you click on the object you want to work on instead of the tool

[AverageGatsby]

Alright I gathered the rest of issues I came accross: 

It would really help to see how long one's torch/lantern can still burn. I mean I could understand that it isn't so easy checking on the lantern while it's burning, but it shouldn't be hard to estimate the time a torch can still burn. Just don't let the torch 'fuel' bar in the top left fade away.

less matches and a way to be able of making a fire a little more sustainably (magnifying glass always 0? flint and steel?[seems like a possibility ingame but I have never seen flint/the recipe for putting it together with scrap])

(this one would be a little bigger) the possibility to repair the radio wouldn't be to bad. I know geomagnetic events can be bad for electricity, but you can still repair stuff ;). the radio could just serve as a really intuitive way for a weather forcast. maybe fixed at a certain time of the day only so that you have something else to worry about (don't miss the weather forecast). (obviously this would impact story mode and be impacted by the way you want to introduce other "survivors" in story mode) But in general, being able to make oneself aware of coming snowstorms during later stages of the game would be nice. It also adds another milestone to your survival, 

Talking about wind, I also somtimes tend to ignore blizzards in general. The only real issue i seem to have with them is walking slower (if facing the wind) and not being able to light a fire/torch/brandish wolves. if one has the possibility of evantually knowing when blizzards will hit one could let them be more of a threat. In addition, could there be a way of knowing where the wind is coming from, even when it is just a slight breeze?

DON'T let me die from dehydration during sleep!! It's not possible, IMO it would work better if someone cannot sleep when thirsty/hungry. And normally I'd say a person wakes up when he get's to thirsty.

Snares feel 'slightly' too strong.

Are the success-% numbers when making a fire displayed correctly?? It doesn't always feel like it. I once needed 6 tries to make a fire with a success-chance of ~75%! that's a chance of 0.1024% . And more often than not I need 3 tries for that (it seems) (here I am just wondering, might also just be my luck). 

 

 

[shadragon]

On the subject of lanterns, an adjustment to turn the flame up / down would be nice. A resulting difference in illumination level would occur, but less gas would be used on lower settings. 

 

[cekivi]

1 hour ago, shadragon said:

On the subject of lanterns, an adjustment to turn the flame up / down would be nice. A resulting difference in illumination level would occur, but less gas would be used on lower settings. 

 

Would definitely be neat.

[Wasteland Watcher]

On 2/25/2016 at 6:54 PM, AverageGatsby said:

It would really help to see how long one's torch/lantern can still burn. I mean I could understand that it isn't so easy checking on the lantern while it's burning, but it shouldn't be hard to estimate the time a torch can still burn. Just don't let the torch 'fuel' bar in the top left fade away.

less matches and a way to be able of making a fire a little more sustainably (magnifying glass always 0? flint and steel?[seems like a possibility ingame but I have never seen flint/the recipe for putting it together with scrap])

(this one would be a little bigger) the possibility to repair the radio wouldn't be to bad. I know geomagnetic events can be bad for electricity, but you can still repair stuff ;). the radio could just serve as a really intuitive way for a weather forcast. maybe fixed at a certain time of the day only so that you have something else to worry about (don't miss the weather forecast). (obviously this would impact story mode and be impacted by the way you want to introduce other "survivors" in story mode) But in general, being able to make oneself aware of coming snowstorms during later stages of the game would be nice. It also adds another milestone to your survival, 

Talking about wind, I also somtimes tend to ignore blizzards in general. The only real issue i seem to have with them is walking slower (if facing the wind) and not being able to light a fire/torch/brandish wolves. if one has the possibility of evantually knowing when blizzards will hit one could let them be more of a threat. In addition, could there be a way of knowing where the wind is coming from, even when it is just a slight breeze?

DON'T let me die from dehydration during sleep!! It's not possible, IMO it would work better if someone cannot sleep when thirsty/hungry. And normally I'd say a person wakes up when he get's to thirsty.

Snares feel 'slightly' too strong.

Are the success-% numbers when making a fire displayed correctly?? It doesn't always feel like it. I once needed 6 tries to make a fire with a success-chance of ~75%! that's a chance of 0.1024% . And more often than not I need 3 tries for that (it seems) (here I am just wondering, might also just be my luck).

 

I've posted before requesting some sort of either audio ("Hmm... looks like the torch is about ready to go") or visual alert for when the torch reaches 10% left. I don't know if the staff ever read them though, or maybe it's just low priority at this time.
It'd be helpful though.

You can start a fire with the Magnif Glass outside if it's sunny. I haven't found anywhere I can start a fire with it indoors so far. And it never degrades in quality, as it should not.

No electronics can be repaired.  The global geomagnetic event saw to that. Plus, the player is a bush-survival expert, not an electronics technician. As far as we know that won't change in Sandbox Mode. 

You can tell when blizzards are coming by looking at the sky and listening to the wind. I've heard there are a few other signs as well but I haven't found out yet.
No need for a radio. Funny fact: since playing this game I'm actually better able to judge the weather just by looking at the sky and feel the wind in real life.

People can and do die from starvation or dehydration in their sleep in real life... it's realistic that it can occur in The Long Dark.

I think you can survive off of snares but I wouldn't call them 'over powered.' They break, they don't always catch rabbits, and rabbit meat is pretty low in calories.

That one time you had to try 6 times to make a fire, were you outside when it was windy? Factors like that affect your fire making ability.
And of course it's always possible that you were just unlucky that time. Recommendation: until your fire making skill is stronger, use accelerant.



 

 

[Raphael van Lierop]

Yes, we'd like to get some more obvious sign of Torch and Lantern "lifetime" -- it's on the list. Ideally, we'd prefer to have the info be in-world vs. in the HUD.

[AverageGatsby]

8 hours ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

I've posted before requesting some sort of either audio ("Hmm... looks like the torch is about ready to go") or visual alert for when the torch reaches 10% left. I don't know if the staff ever read them though, or maybe it's just low priority at this time.
It'd be helpful though.

No electronics can be repaired.  The global geomagnetic event saw to that. Plus, the player is a bush-survival expert, not an electronics technician. As far as we know that won't change in Sandbox Mode. 

People can and do die from starvation or dehydration in their sleep in real life... it's realistic that it can occur in The Long Dark.

I think you can survive off of snares but I wouldn't call them 'over powered.' They break, they don't always catch rabbits, and rabbit meat is pretty low in calories.

That one time you had to try 6 times to make a fire, were you outside when it was windy? Factors like that affect your fire making ability.
And of course it's always possible that you were just unlucky that time. Recommendation: until your fire making skill is stronger, use accelerant.

- Yea I think audio warnings would be the best solution but then the issue becomes that they shouldn't be too repetitive. (always the same "Hmm... looks like the torch is about ready to go" etc.) 

- well, let's not discuss the technicalities of a geomagnetic storm  but i do get that the game builds on this idea. So i am fine with that.

- Well, if you are starving or dehydrating and you force yourself to sleep nevertheless, yea you might die. Otherwise if you are still hydrated/not thirsty and you go to sleep you simply wake up when you get thirsty, atleast that's how it works for me. 

-the problem i see with snares is that i set out 4 snares once and got 4 rabits back. Didn't test it to indepth i got to admit. 

-I am always using the best items to make fire and no I wasn't outside. A hypothesis based on experience would be though that (with a 75% chance) I normally tend to fail making fires 3-5 times in quick succession and afterwards succeed 8-12 times. broadly seen. So I am actually just curious on whether or not your succeeding of making fire is calculated from a variable which in some way or another is influenced by your previous attempts of making fire.

5 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Yes, we'd like to get some more obvious sign of Torch and Lantern "lifetime" -- it's on the list. Ideally, we'd prefer to have the info be in-world vs. in the HUD.

Good to hear, and yes, I do like the way you are trying to minimize the HUD seemlessly.  I do think audio warnings as suggested by Wasteland Watcher could work great for the torch while the lantern would probably need an animation where the player can actively check the kerosene level, for simplicity of implementation audio could work here as well though. 

 

[SteveP]

I think there could be a bug in the probability software for fire starting and clothing repair. The chances of success don't seem to correlate to actual experiments even when the wind is not involved. It's not clear if any other factors affect clothing repair except the skill level. I'd take a good code rip / code read on that one (if I could get my hands on the source!)

In real life, your torch burns down. A naptha lantern also tends to fade at the end but is good for hours! A kerosene lantern also burns down slowly as the fuel is consumed.

I've noticed you get an indication of time left on a torch when you go outdoors (or in?) It would be nice if some other action could bring up this status bar on the HUD. Maybe a change in color of the flame as it changes to just glowing embers, just enough to light another torch.