Dan_

Good point by the OP, some of the tool usage like carcass harvesting and crafting scales with actual time spent, and some don't. I assume this was done for gameplay reasons since there's a good system in place for the aforementioned activities. I for one am grateful of the fact that I can saw 15 whole sets of steel shelves before I need to get on with repairing my hacksaw. ( We need a hacksaw emoji, forum admins... )

I also wish that tool condition had an impact on time taken to accomplish tasks, that'd be mega but a whole new mechanic altogether I reckon. 

17 hours ago, StoneyWolf said:

lol

been playing for 2 years about 1 on loper and I always find matches there to don't think any zone has ever given me zero matches, I could be wrong about this but it almost seems like this persons interloper match knowledge is coming from older versions of the game either that or they have real bad luck or me and you have good luck? I don't know, but i can say that my experience with interloper match finds is similar to yours. 

Good point, but to further the discussion:

Have you ever found loose matches anywhere in ML, or the ones you found where inside containers?

I recall having multiple loper runs and not finding a single match in ML, though this was a long time ago. My current latest start haven't found a matchbox there either, and I've never found loose matches in ML before. This suggests to me there are no guaranteed matches in ML as they're not part of the 'scene', only random spawns in containers, maybe to offset the fact that you can get a maglens or firestriker in ML most of the runs, which coupled with the 75% chance for a bedroll makes ML very OP loot-wise. 

Just finished playing ep3 and what a ride! I'm a survival junkie first and foremost but I liked the flow of ep3, I've enjoyed the side missions a lot this time around and the end left me wanting more, the last section was really interesting and enjoyable and the ending had me in shock. I was left wanting for more, so congrats on that! 

Kudos on the PV's map changes, I always liked it as it was but you guys and girls added a lot more interesting stuff ( hooray for derelict homestead's woodstove! ) without making the zone lose it's wild and harsh appeal. 

Question: Will I be able to keep Astrid's inventory for the next episodes? 

I've also got to say I really like the wolfpack mechanics, a bit wonky sometimes with the animation for changing directions but I've got my pride scuffed, it's almost guaranteed you'll at least take some clothing damage when facing a wolf band. Couple that with the hindrance of carrying someone on your back and you've got a whole new level of feeling vulnerable.

They also look much cooler than the regular wolves, less devil'ish but still fearsome in numbers. I also like how their growling and howling comes at a crescendo from a distance, the old surprise super loud wolf bark was annoying and kinda anticlimatic, the timberwolves announce their arrival by building the tension up. Love it.  Well done Hinterland. 

New voice acting work from Jen Hale, episode 3 already has me excited! Love the thought process behind Lost and Found, I was already convinced I should spend some time this weekend ferrying stuff from PV to avoid it getting deleted. Thank you Hinterland boys and girls for being considerate of our save games, I know it seems silly but I kinda get emotionally attached to my long term survivors, I'd hate Will F. McKenzie to lose the precious items he's been stockpiling the last two years of his life at GB.

PS.: PLEASE MAKE THE LOST AND FOUND BOX INTO MERCH! I'd love big boxes like that to organize stuff in my tiny apartment, branding and color are looking good on those. 

2 hours ago, selfless said:

Probably because the Valley redesigns won’t be included in the Sandbox.  Not for this release anyway.  It’s been done that way before...

Excellent point. Thanks!

On 10/7/2019 at 7:35 PM, Raphael van Lierop said:

Episode Three is launching on all platforms at the same time. Why do you think the GOG version of Episode Three would come later? We've never delayed major updates on GOG for any reason.

Apologies if this has already been answered but, I've got loads of stuff scattered all around PV, should I worry about containers being removed or cleaned in my survival save? Can I just run to the road and dump all my stuff and be safe? Excited for episode 3, I've always liked playing as Astrid more as I love her voice acting btw. 

One major caveat with the last update I have is with the fire interface, birch bark begins with a 'B' you know. 😁

Amazing, that's how you actually make progress in conquering the game mechanics. Very well written as well, thank you for sharing!

As for locating food, remember that ALL teas contain valuable calories and you only get the healing effects when you finish drinking them. 

On 10/10/2019 at 10:35 AM, Jimmy said:

Now, care to venture a guess where this is?

The sound of the waterfall can be heard in the distance as you approach a named location nearby. I wonder whether that tree on the rock spire gets lonely?

This looks a lot like Milton Basin, on the way to the Rocky Refuge. Beautiful weather and great shot!

On 10/3/2019 at 4:24 PM, Ice Hole said:

Carry a firestiker only to have the pop up menu, seems to be the best choice as I too employ that tactic.  That firestriker is akin to Wilson, always with me but never used as intended.

I thought I was the only one doing this. I've got all intact firestrikers in my long term survivor, they're like my lucky charms just like my crackers. 

52 minutes ago, jeffpeng said:

Amazing! The game is at its best in such tense situations.

Yep, it's crazy how much fun you can have when you're playing outside your comfort zone. I've been slowly getting back into the game and playing some birch assisted deadman lately, crazy fun. 

What's up man, any chance you can continue documenting this run? Was reading in awe as Keg thrived at the skeg! 

Thank you once again for taking the time to answer the questions.

I've got a sort of OT one: Did you enjoy your recent trip to Iceland? Did any TLD applicable inspiration came up when visiting the land of ice and fire? There are plenty of absurdly beautiful natural sanctuaries worldwide ( the Canadian wilderness being one of them ), but Iceland strikes me as somewhere mythology would've easily developed in the olden days of civilization, natural beauty and the juxtaposition of volcano and blizzards would've had a profound effect on people. I wonder if creative people in modern times get the same pump of inspiration from seeing nature nowadays. 

10 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

However at this point I sometimes regret that TLD wasn't written after Unity introduced chunked world loading. My favorite "house" in the game still is the Moutaneer's Hut for the very fact that it isn't an indoor location and hence can be looked out of in looked into. (Plus I just find the fact that it is subject to temperature changes very interesting).

I second this passionately, I know Trapper's inside cell is bigger than the outside frame of the house, but if Hinterland redesigned the map to make the cabin transition-less it would be awesome. Even if it meant the inside or outside had to be changed, it's THE  building that epythomizes early alpha TLD ( best bed, FTW ), it could get some more love from the devs. 

The Mountaineer's Hut is also my favourite place to be in TLD, nothing quite like watching a blizzard while sitting beside the warm fire. 

9 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

To me one of the most crucial no-shows in the game. I really hope candles make it in the game some way or another at some point.

Just hope the game doesn't turn into a shoot'em up at this juncture. Plus so far I feel like this could overextend on the zombie-wolf gameplay. But let's wait and see.

In fairness, I think this is just stage home décor, they just spawned a bunch of doggos to take that screenie. I doubt there will be that many wolves in a single spot, so my comment was pretty much in jest. 

Excited to have timberwolves in the game, I feel like wolf struggle damage was diminished compared to the olden early days. Hopefully, these can one-shot you even when you're rested and fur clothed and are used to guard the loot rich locations of the maps. 

9 hours ago, Admin said:

Whoa, you're wearing my coat there buddy.

With Ten wolves in front of my porch I'll never feel lonely again in TLD, thank you Hinterland boys and girls! Haven't had the chance to play the game much lately but I'm really looking forward to episode three. 

Cheers! 

Hushed River Valley still has much to offer. It is as rugged as it is rewarding, though you need to pay attention to unravel all of it's mysteries and claim your just rewards. 

Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions. 

14 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

My recommendation for @Dan_:
I would say that an easy solution to that particular problem you mention, would be to simply chose not to use the birch bark tea.   This game is already all about player choice, so we don't necessarily have to wait for the team to patch in an option to turn off the effects of birch bark tea...  All we have to do is choose not to use if we want the old "deadman" custom experience.

I agree with the sentiment, it's what I do when I play 'Outerloper' as well, just make up the rules and go. The issue is that we have two health regen aiding teas in the game now, and they differ mechanically when it comes to condition recovery as you set up a custom game, the herbal works with disabling at sleep condition recovery, the bark tea isn't disabled when you disable at rest condition recovery. It's not game breaking in any shape or form, this was more of a request to see if hinterland can look into it and adjust the custom mode toolbox accordingly, given it could very well have been something that was overlooked or whose impact was not planned on the update. If this is how it is going forwards, I'm fine with it. 

Cheers!

11 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

We're looking at this. Deadman is not an official Challenge so we didn't balance the Birch Bark around it, but we've seen this feedback from the community and we'll see what we can do.

We understand this is a fringe game mode with a minuscule public, this makes the effort and attention is even more appreciated regardless of the outcome. Thank you for looking after the entirety of the player base. This is one of the reasons Hinterland got a customer for life in me.  

8 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

This can start to cause loading issues if you have too many piled up in one location.  We're talking like thousands of sticks on the floor, but at one point I had a safehouse that would crash the game on entering it about 1/3 of the time.  Took over 700 hours to burn up all the sticks, and resolve the issue.  So now I exercise a little restraint when grabbing sticks on my way here and there. 

Just drop some in a container if it becomes too much of an issue. But then again, I only player loper and deadman, my stick piles never get that big anyway and usually I only drop 50 or so in a container in case the game suddenly becomes more difficult ( the opposite has happened... ). 

I don't like the hassle of picking them up one by one so I only drop if a container is unavailable. 

Any plans to add toggles in the custom mode toolbox for some of the new features? I'm talking specifically about the healing powers of the birch bark tea. 

Many of the more adventurous players play a custom mode dubbed "Deadman" on which there is no condition recovery at all, except for the 15% per stim. So it's a game of risk-reward of travelling to get the stims versus the 15% per use you get. The tea kinda ruins this balance, given it is indeed a renewable resource you can get in every single region. The herbal tea already doesn't work when playing Deadman, so it's just like any other food item, my understanding is that the bark tea should work similarly. 

Other than that, no qualms. I love the update, specially the revolver and new sprain mechanic. 

Wow, just caught up on your adventures. Haven't played the update since the release day and boy, did they just wreck deadman with the bark tea, huh?

You can make a very convincing deadman-lite ( barkman? ) mode with the new features but it just lost that appeal of "once my health and stims are gone, they are GONE" that the original deadman had. This makes me sad.

Still, I guess it's a foregone conclusion that regular loper players are a small minority of the player base, and Loper+ adventurers like us are an even smaller niche. I'd just like them to provide options within the custom game structure to parametrize the new features as well. No reason it can't be done, other than the target audience is very small. 

Removing the campfires is more about preserving the beauty of the scenery. It would be great if we had the option to clean the visual pollution.