Carbon

Alkan's Opus 31 No. 8. A close second would be Eric Satie's "Gnossienne" suites, No. 3 in particular.

To all: I honestly hope I haven't been aggressive or antagonistic with my posts. I discuss posts, not people and I try to maintain civility, respect and manners in my replies. I truly admire the time, talent and effort that went into the software and I think I have been clear about that. It is a significant accomplishment and I have no doubt that it will be used and enjoyed by many, for better or worse. I can attest however that after viewing Whiteberry's maps, the game's shiny edge was noticeably duller and I was disappointed by this loss. The certain method of making any game wholly uninteresting is to cheat, and this seems to be even more true with TLD. Buyer beware. Now, I also understand and concur to a degree with Sofox regarding players having the right to do as they wish with their games, to play them as they will. Having said that, I must insist on a challenge to prove that this is not a cheat (or hack, whatever nomenclature suits you) and, when failing in that impossible task, then provide a reason why the topic should remain. I realize I am strongly pushing an agenda here, but until the truth is admitted unanimously, nothing else can be said or done. How can one know what to do with or even how to discuss something until it is clear to all what it is exactly? I believe I have been clear and will not post again on this topic. My apologies if I have tested anyone's patience.

You make a very good point but I will take it further. It may be argued that using the maps still requires some form of skilled reckoning to find out where you are and further where you want to be, but this is just rationalization. The software under discussion provides a real-time ongoing view where one need only stay the course, a certain step up from Whiteberries maps in terms of ease-of-use, but under examination, it is essentially the same; a game-breaker, a cheat and only in a technical sense not a hack. Location/direction markers became a 'thing' in gaming as environments got larger, objectives more numerous or, some might say, as players changed and demanded an easier or simplified experience prompting developers to add the mini-map or HUD indicators of direction and distance to objectives. The players weren't in solidarity on this and in many games, the ability to turn off what was often seen as hand-holding elements was included. Often, depending on the game, it seemed more fitting without these overlays and the experience was richer without them and I believe that this is something which the minimalist, spartan nature of TLD inherits. Now, we could take the rationale one step further and ask what the difference might be then of an actual marker on-screen or a mini-map down in the corner? Would this change the experience significantly? I claim it would and I also claim that this is exactly what the software under discussion does. That the map resides off-screen is of little significance and in reality it is only off-screen to save the author and the software from legal issues; while the software may not alter any files within the game, it has precisely the same effect. This is a grey area only to players but it is essentially game-breaking from a developer's point of view and quite disappointing, I would imagine. Let's be honest with ourselves: using Whiteberries maps is also cheating of the same nature. While the effort that went into making the maps can be applauded, as is the case here, make no mistake that their employment by players is not staying true to the intended use of the game and completely nullifies one very key aspect of playing: exploration. Did I use Whiteberries maps? On occasion, yes. Does this make me a hypocrite? No, because I did not claim not to have used them. The important issue here is to recognize and accept that while all manner of rationalization and compromise can be made, their use is cheating. TLD is a very tough game and yes, I cheated. What can Hinterland say or do in this situation? If they come out railing against the maps and this software, many will unfairly criticize them and at this point, they just don't want to engage in this type of bad PR. If they do nothing (as they currently are), accepting that this type of thing is indeed inevitable (which it is and they understand this), then silence may be misread as consent and threads like this become a reality where cheats are posted right on their forum. The only 'right' action is for this thread to be removed and the software to be posted elsewhere. Hinterland can't stop this type of thing from becoming a reality but to bring it into their house is simply wrong, in a very real sense abuses the privilege of being a member here and while it may be only one step removed from a hack, its obvious dependency on game files to function appears suspect. It may have every right to exist (I am not a lawyer, nor do I have a detailed understanding of what constitutes a hack) and once again I recognize and appreciate the skill and effort in creating this software, but it is in fact a cheat and shouldn't be posted here.

While it can be seen by passersby, you're standing in Hinterland's front yard. I don't blame the author for being proud of their work - as I said, it is without a doubt accomplished - and also understand that they would want others to see it with these forums being a sort of ground-zero for this desire, but it could be seen as impertinent. I realize that I am no arbiter of content on Hinterland's forums, but I am entitled to give my respectful opinion.

Not at all. I could claim that as one cannot play forever, anytime one stops playing would meet your criteria, but I know what you meant. I would still claim 'no' in your scenario however. I have in the past set out for destination X and had the weather turn for the worse, then made a bad decision which left me in dire straits. Quitting out in this case isn't a cheat or hack as it is simply following the design of the game to the letter, that being that quitting before a the game is saved surrenders progress to that point, for better - your argument and my aforementioned situation - or worse - real life demands, for example when you have to stop despite things going well. Either way this fortune falls is just the way the game functions without the aid of outside programs, within prescribed parameters. I actually believe that this is a gram of consolation offered against the great weight of 'permadeath'. To be clear, using additional software or enacting operations outside the normal parameters of the intended player experience - entering a 'cheat code', for example - to aid your progress, is a cheat. True, one would only be cheating themselves with this behavior and players are indeed ultimately in control of how they wish to play, but my point was that this behavior certainly falls outside of the intended experience and seems somehow wrong to bring it here, to the developers house, as it were. They are too kind to state this explicitly, but I would not be surprised if this thread hasn't caused some consternation behind the scenes.

While I applaud the endeavor and execution, I can't help but scratch my head at the usage. It seems to me that much of the appeal of the game is the navigation; be it the lack of it in the beginning or the expertise involved after learning an area, this really seems to be akin to - I dare say - a cheat. Please don't misunderstand me: use it if you like and as I said, it is certainly an accomplishment in itself, but I'm not sure that it agrees with the developer intention of the game.

Amazing story Shane. Really incredible. Thanks for sharing it and it's good to still have you with us. Did the leg heal up? I would imagine with such a serious injury and what with so much time elapsing before treatment, it was a long road to recovery. Thanks again for typing that up.