Hotzn

These little scraps of TLD wisdom. Looking forward for the dash to the summit...

It's interesting to note that the Deadman Challenge is effectively getting rid of the starvation exploit. I wonder whether Interloper might not be drastically improved (hem, excuse me, whether it might not be possible to create a more engaging experience for players who seek a challenge) by toning down healing to a verrry slow thing. Still possible, provided that no bar is in the red, but... well... slow. Just so that mid-term survival could be... within the range of the thinkable (not necessarily the possible, heh).

Day 7 and not broken a sweat yet. Hurr. I liked the story of Deadman 2 - couldn't you have searched in the dark with a campfire projection? By the way... I appreciate how Hinterland is taking away the little tricks one by one. Somebody is watching this here and taking notes.

Ah. I feel a will forming within @Drifter Man... fame... immortality is lying out there, ripe for the taking. 16 days? What is 16 days for one who has lived in the dam for 1,000 days? Who has dropped the fish, BAM? Who has lopered around the mountain for 100 days? Surely just an inconvenience... a disturbance in the Force... Meanwhile, the talented young journalist who has recently joined the staff of Interloper Monthly Magazine (IMM), Mr. Nhotz, is preparing to write the story of his life...

Unfortunate. Next one will be better...

The eventual goal? Currently 17 days survived, of course. This may change if others push the boundaries further while this run is going...

Yay, @Drifter Mandoing the Deadman! Like! Like @JAFO, I also noticed the change to first person right away. Haha - someone starts concentrating!

Thanks for the hint @JAFO, +1. Interesting challenge getting back to the roots of TLD. It's unfortunate I don't have time to play currently. Lurking around the forums does not quite make up for it.

Ts, ts. Young folks these days. Always wanna jump.

No sandbox update before December. People are starting to lose it... +1

Why have candles, binoculars and a rifle scope not found their way into the game? These items have landed on the wishlist on these forums countless times since the first days, I think they would make sense both theme-wise and mechanics-wise, and I can't see any reason - apart from potential technical issues - why they never came. I imagine that the graphical zoom binoculars or a scope would allow might cause technical problems with the graphics (maybe performance loss, maybe the game is technically not set up to enable a zoom, maybe it would interfere with spawn distances of animals, whatever). With candles maybe it causes problems that... they would have to become smaller and smaller while burning? For candles I really can't come up with an explanation really. For all the items named above it is not bugging me that they are not there. But it is somehow bugging me that I don't understand WHY they are not there. So a brief explanation would put my mind at rest, and maybe other minds as well...

Truly, an inspiring piece of literature!

Death often comes unexpected. Still, nice run.

Wolves inside loading screen areas somehow are exciting, aren't they?

Congrats.

Got me on edge here. Eager to learn more about magic shelters.

I second this. Also your general request for "quality of life" improvements. The effect of such improvements is often underestimated.

Old Hotzn has been thinking again and came upon a problem he had not given enough consideration so far: Even though the bottom of the Ravine may provide an outdoor (moss) bed, getting back up from there (even after sleeping back to full energy on the moss-bed) could mean losing too much energy to continue onwards to the next outdoor bed. Certainly, there might be coffee, but assuming there is really no bedroll to be found in the Ravine (not sure about that), it is doubtful whether the trip would better your chances of long-term survival. Hmmm. I guess I really cannot give profound advice here until I have experienced the bottom of the Ravine myself. Still, we have all learned something and will undoubtedly learn more as you decide and then push the boundaries of our knowledge into the great beyond...

Thou didst not trespass against me and therefore needst not be forgiven. Concerning my shyness and the Ravine - I have actually never been down to its bottom ever since there has been a "bottom". I have dim memories of descending before that - many, many versions ago - but can't quite recall what happened... whether I met instant death or was lost in half-finished portions of the map. However! In my current run, I am gearing up for the Deep Forest achievement in the Ravine, and when I have obtained that, I will hit the bottom. I want to procure a rope to do so, since I have not yet seen a way to get down and up again (although I would think there must be one - which developer would be so cruel as to have players watch their coveted 100-day-run-avatar shrivel up in a pit without a way out?). Way back up or not - I have decided to rope it and that's what I'll do. Only the astute would deny their own astuteness (or - even more elegantly - put it in doubt). And thanks @Drifter Manfor the confirmation. So my source WAS reliable.

Are you sure about that? Would old Hotzn give such Padawan advice? There have been rumours that there is now a moss-bed somewhere at the bottom of the Ravine. Like the one we see at the beginning of Story mode. Quite unique. Old Hotzn has not seen it yet with his own eyes... he only heard rumours... the source seemed reliable though. Maybe someone else here can enlighten us knowlessmen... some astute interlopist who has been down to the bottom of the Ravine lately...

1. Is the owl actually in the game as an animal? At night we can sometimes hear an owl hoot. I presume it's just a sound, like the chirping of the birds we can hear during the daytime. But I can't shake the feeling that the owl COULD in theory be there as an animal - maybe just sitting in a tree and quietly looking around. Hooting occasionally. Very hard to see. So I'm asking... 2. Has Hinterland introduced new people to the storywriting team after the release of episodes 1 & 2? The reason I'm asking is that the storytelling of episodes 1 & 2 has been subject to quite a bit of criticism. I would count myself among the critics - I do love the sandbox and have sunk endless hours into it, but the storytelling fell short of my expectations. From Hinterland's public comments I gathered that the storytelling is being revisited for the 'redux' version of episode 1 & 2. But does that include some kind of peer review by "fresh" writers? Or will the story be refurbished by the same people who wrote it to begin with? I'm interested in this, because I am asking myself how I would handle this kind of problem myself.

Good read. You can‘t sleep on improvised knives. But what‘s your opinion about the bottom of the Ravine?

Looking forward to this.

Not sure about that. If I am not mistaken, the "locket" originally was intended to be a little case in which Will McKenzie carries around a photo (either of Astrid or of himself together with her). Playing Will, the player would have been able to open the locket and look at the photo to regain mental strength. Doing so would have made the photo fade away until it would be used up. I found that mechanic very intriguing, especially I presumed that it would be very stimulating emotionally and very immersive, especially if combined with fitting music and vocal cues. However, the mental strength was never introduced as a game mechanic (fifth "energy bar" (nest to warmth, calories, thirst and fatigue)). I can't recall having read Hinterland's real reason for this anywhere, but would presume that it would have been difficult to decide what should happen if the mental-strength-meter runs out. My two cents for the term "locket" in this context.

Or looking down and seeing your avatar's body. Or being reflected in mirrors. I would say first-person presence has been vastly improved. It could further be improved as indicated, but I am not missing further first-person presence elements. There are other aspects I would prioritize higher (for example, animal AI). But well... different players will have different preferences.