Hotzn

Looking forward to this.

7 hours ago, MarrowStone said:

Wellbeing lockets: implemented

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.

11 hours ago, LucidFugue said:

Yeah, the first person presence were things like implementing the hand holding animations for the rifle, bow, torch, matches/light sources and so forth. More complex interactions might be considered reloading the rifle, or if you're ambitious things like placing objects in the world and collecting loose items from the world.

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. 

On 9.6.2018 at 8:21 AM, Drifter Man said:

In fact if the brand were reintroduced at this point, astute interlopists^TM might start off with making a crafted torch to get those 1-match fires, as one of the first things to do.

Quite so, but... one would need to find lamp oil/kerosene first. So finding that early on - even in small quantities - would be cause for jubilation. For the astute interlopist^TM that is.

On 5.6.2018 at 5:56 PM, cekivi said:

I also miss the brand. I'm sure there's a reason for removing it. I just wonder what it was...

Yes, I would really like to know the reason as well. When they reintroduced the torch-pulling, the pulled torch was somewhat reduced in value by giving it a shorter burning time. But that missed the point in my view. The burning time is not much of an issue, it's the devaluation of both matches and crafted torches. And there is also the realism/immersion setback.

On 6.6.2018 at 6:57 AM, Pillock said:

If I could change only one thing about about TLD, it would be to bring back brands.

True this.

Not sure what you're aiming to say, @Doc Feral. It's of course debatable whether a sweater should give 1 or 2 cloth when harvested, and it might make sense to introduce rags as an additional item. But I don't miss anything substantial there - clothes turning into universal cloth seems alright to me, both from a perspective of game mechanics as well as in terms of credibility (or better: immersion). But the torch thing is just a disturbance. You craft the torch using valuable resources, especially lamp oil/kerosene. And then you can just pull it from a fire. That does not make sense. Granted, the crafted torch has a higher burning time, it starts at 100% instead of somewhere between 25 and 50% (you do pull torches above 40% occasionally). But that does not warrant the sacrifice of lantern oil ever. And the thing is, the brand was there, and it was perfect (well, except for the fact that it became immortal after burning out). When I found a torch next to a dead guy, I was happy and picked it up to carry along. Now I just leave it wherever it is. I don't care at all whether it has a higher burning time, that is completely irrelevant to me. I usually carry 3 pulled torches, they will get me through any mine. Crafted torches are moot.

But what I find most disturbing is that I can just light the pulled torch with a single match. I can understand that for the crafted torch, because lamp oil and cloth went into it. In reality, you would rather use wax, as lamp oil would probably evaporate (depending on the type of oil), but the lamp oil might be the placeholder for some kind of waxy/oily and flammable material. That's okay for me. You trade the benefit of that oil for the torch which is easily lit. But if you pull a log/branch from a fire and extinguish it, lighting it by holding a single match against it later (at -15°C outside temperature, I might add) is just out of this world. It pulls me out of the game everytime I do it.

The ability to pull torches from a fire devaluates the torch as a craftable item. It seems absurd to craft a torch if it can just be pulled from a fire. It also seems absurd in general, as everyone who has dealt with fires knows that you can't just pull a piece of wood from a fire and have it turn into a functioning torch.

Pulling torches also provides the well-known torch exploit: Instead of lighting fires with matches, you light a torch instead and then try lighting the fire with the torch. As a consequence, you practically never run out of matches. This takes a lot of the challenge out of Interloper, and even on the other difficulty levels st least devaluates matches. And devaluating items is generally bad, since as a player you don't feel the same degree of happiness and satisfaction when you find said item. More matches? Bah - I'm using the torch exploit anyway.

I an earlier version, the game had solved the aforementioned problem (which had been amply discussed on these forums) by removing torch-pulling and introducing the brand. This solution was elegant, realistic and - as far as I remember - positively acclaimed by many and not criticized by any (at least I did not perceive any criticism).

I never understood why Hinterland reverted to the torch-pulling and killed the brand again, and I am not alone in this. In my view this was a step backwards. I would like to advocate that torch-pulling is scrapped again and the brand brought back. Or, if not, I would be interested to know the reason for bringing torch-pulling back and killing the brand. Maybe a substantial part of players asked for it on other forums - if so, then fair enough.

On 23.5.2018 at 4:56 AM, Pillock said:

Busy man-splaining the game to my girlfriend:

"So, you see you these plants that grow by the river - you can take them for food. They don't give you many calories by themselves, but I've collected about 8 of them here so that should be enough for now. I can eat them before I sleep and recover some of my health condition."

<closes inventory window to see a wolf charging towards me about 10 yards away>

"Wuuuurrraaaagghhhh"

Dead.

Hilarious scene. I mean, your monologue explaining game mechanics to your girlfriend is a bomb just as a stand-alone. But then the wolf on top... fantastic.

Had a blast reading this. +1

Last thing I knew was that it was possible to survive practically indefinitely in the game. Fire can be obtained by using the magnifying glass, which does not ever wear out. So you don't depend on matches. Firewood is an infinite resource if you stick to sticks. A fire can be transported inside a shelter once lit, using the torch-pulling mechanic, so you can have indefinite fire in a shelter as well. Unlimited fire also means unlimited water. Food can be obtained with snares and sometimes fishing, and since rabbits yield guts, snares are also indefinite. There is a theoretical risk of running out of bandages or fishing hooks, but if you know how to avoid wolves, you hardly need bandages. And ever since we were given the hacksaw (which should not have been given to us imo), scrap metal is practically infinite as well. You get more fishing hooks than you will be able to use in a long time. You can hunt deer by chasing them into wolves and then luring the wolf away from the carcass - infinite deer meat & hides. Don't forget to use starving techniques to minimize your calorie usage. You can live for thousands of days and definitely for much longer than you will want to. At least that's how it was when I last played.

On 2.1.2018 at 6:55 PM, hozz1235 said:

I can't recall just how much information is given on the game for those who are considering buying it.  If it was not clearly spelled out what the state of the game is in, I can understand the frustration.  Could have left out the name-calling...

Expectation is both a matter of perspective and, well, horizon. 

*gets a cool and unexpected new addition to a game for free*

*tries it out*

*runs to the forums for a rant, those developers, how dare they*

News at last, great! I am curious what the moose will bring to the table in terms of gameplay. Good thing it is rare and hard to find. However, the thing that I am looking forward to most is that ruined bark on the trees as a sign of moose presence. The game should have much more of those environmental signs the astute player can read. Just like the weather patterns. Or the circling crows indicating carcasses/corpses. Yes, more of that!

Milton will surely add more variety to the sandbox. On the other hand, it will add to making Interloper easier - it just seems inevitable that the larger the world gets, the more resources it offers. And Milton as a whole town is bound to offer some rare resources, otherwise going there would mean disappointment. I guess the problem of abundant resources with a growing world cannot really be helped... unless... unless an old Hinterland idea is revived to make the transition from one map to another a meaningful choice (again). Talk about dangerous transition zones (oh, I would love that - could the mine not be a dark maze, with slippery passages, pitfalls etc.?) or zones which would consume precious resources when they are crossed.

The different experience modes for Wintermute surely are an improvement, but to be honest - I consider myself quite an able TLD player, but it was not the lack of difficulty that disappointed me a bit. It was rather the weaknesses in story and dialogue. I will be interested to see if that has been worked on in some manner as well.

The save system overhaul is a good thing, I guess. The save system was hard to understand, although I never really had to rely on it.

There is one important point missing: I would really like to know whether all achievements will be bug-free as of the December update (there has been some discussion on these forums revolving around this point), and it would be nice if Hinterland could cover this point in the release notes when the update comes out. I'm usually an achievement hunter, but I definitely do not want to waste my time hunting for achievements which are potentially unattainable due to a bug.

Just my two cents. Keep up the good work, looking forward to the update!

Excellent devblog, I guess many of us here have been waiting for some info on how TLD will move forward. Good to hear that survival mode will get an update, and even better to hear that more frequent updates with less new content are planned. I find it much more captivating to get a little something added here and there instead of waiting endlessly for that one big thing. In the past, it was always exciting to explore the world anew after an update to see where changes had taken place.

I also appreciate very much that Episodes 1 & 2 get worked over. There certainly is room for improvement there.

Excellent work, as always, @Timber Wolf!

How can you all not see the obvious? 'Wintermute' is a codename for the zombie apocalypse. And what's in the case? Come on! The virus! Astrid has been working in a top-secret US biologic weapons development facility, and there she stole the virus. Hence "no questions"! Jeremiah is the crazed mastermind behind it all. Like those Italian Mafia bosses, he is steering all his minions from his inconspicuous hut in the forest. The bear thing was all set up - Jeremiah could snap the neck of a bear with one hand. As soon as Will leaves on one of his errands, Jeremiah bursts out laughing in his hut, cackling things like, "Muahahahaaa... go get me some fish! Go get me some hides! Learn to sew! Learn to knit! Learn to wipe your ass with rabbits! Muahahaa! And there he goes. doing it, learning it, all with the case containing the end of the world in his stupid hands! Muaaaahahahaaaa! Oh, Will McKenzie! The day that case will finally be opened you will be banging your empty head against the wall! Muaaaaaaahahahahaaa..."

On 16.9.2017 at 0:47 AM, Carbon said:

 It's Astrid's boyfriend calling to tell you to quit stalking her.

Brilliant this one. +1

I like the trailer...

Astrid: "I need someone I can trust. Someone who doesn't ask too many questions..."

Will: "Questions? Astrid, are you in trouble? What's this about? And who do you mean? Me? Where exactly do you want to go? Will my insurance cover the trip? Will we be together again when we get there? May I harvest your shoes for 1 cured leather?"

Astrid: "Hhhhhh... forget about it..."

4 hours ago, Scyzara said:

I'll do my best to be home from work at 17h CEST then. 

+1. I was going to ask who lives in the Pacific...

Yay!

How did I miss this post? Very interesting. I haven't had a wolf fight since the cartographer update, so don't know anything. I remember before the update we could sometimes fight off the wolf without any damage by starting clicking before the actual attack. I presume that trick has been removed with the 'weapon selection'?

To be honest, I never had problems with cabin fever. And still, I would like to see it removed. Why? Because it is always in the back of my head when I am staying indoors. Before the cabin fever times, I could totally relax indoors (exception: first visit to the dam in a new run). A moment of respite which let me turn to things like preparing water, mending clothes, reading books, crafting at the workbench and so on. Going outside meant cautious movement, looking out for wolves and bears, watching the weather, a certain stress level. Reaching an indoor destination meant relaxing. Ever since cabin fever threatens I have to monitor my indoor times. I can't relax the way I could before.

On another note, I don't think cabin fever was a good solution to the hibernation problem. Considering that they removed Steam's online list with survival time records at the same time, introducing cabin fever was moot from a "levelling the playing field" point of view. It is now nothing but an artificial boundary.

And I second all arguments brought forward by ChillPlayer and Ruruwawa.

Anyway, the game is nearing its release. And I doubt that cabin fever will be removed in R1.0.

On 1.5.2016 at 3:11 AM, cekivi said:

A flare in the sky

A wreck sits in falling snow

No help is coming...

A forum member,

a few words written down here.

A different world...

Holy... how did I miss that update earlier today? Boy, I feel... good. Relieved somehow. I mean I never doubted that story mode will come out and I never doubted that it's going to be great and all. But, I don't know... EA game development seems to have some - how to call it - emotional momentum? I needed some love. And there it is.

Only just took a brief look, and there is a lot of amazing stuff, much more than I expected really. But the biggest point for me is that sandbox updates are coming back. They don't even have to be big - introduce a new item, some new animal behaviour, a little honing here and there, and I feel like diving back in and exploring again. Going radio silent for too long is bad for the community, I've seen it with other EA or kickstarter games - first people get angry, at some point they start raging on various forums, then things start dying down and people lose interest. That shouldn't happen, even if the game still comes out at some point and is great.

So, all in all - I think you made the right decision at the right time. Excitement is back.