ThePancakeLady

This year, I don't care how sick I am, I am going to play. Last year I got to play a bit of the first day, but was so sick I could not play much that first day, and could not play at all on the remaining days. That really bummed me out. Not for the pretty badges, but for missing the experience. If I die before the event this year, I have a request to my family. They must bury me with my gaming laptop, and make sure the battery is fully charged. (Seriously kidding here. Maybe.)

I am curious about your thoughts on the recent France vs. Valve court ruling, if you are able and willing to share your thoughts on it. For independent studios, even small indie studios with outside publishers, I feel like resale of a digital licence for a game (we bought a licence, not a game- like we would with a physical copy(?)), purchased on any launcher or storefront, could seriously hurt independent and indie devs. AAA games/studios/publishers would also be affected, but to a much lesser degree, financially, at least, I think.Valve says they are going to fight the ruling, rather than just pay the relatively small (to them) fines. I *think* I understand the reasons for this, but not being part of the industry, I am not sure how to view this whole mess. I understand that for legal reasons you may not be able to comment just now, but again, if you can, I'd love to know your thoughts on the situation.

I think you are doing just fine. The way you are posting, as a new thread, with links to the previous parts, works well. Posting to just the comments would mean anyone not following you may not see that you have a story up to read, since it won;t be highlighted as new in the public thread list. Then if someone who is new, or hasn't looked in this subforum happens to click on the thread, they can go right to one of the links to start at the beginning, rather than having a single thread, that is more likely to drop down the iist and get lost. As long as you are enjoying the writing, keep doing it.

Not sure how, or if it would work on consoles. Or if the Nintentdo Switch port ever gets made, if it could be added there. I know TLD was shipped on XBox One in Game Preview in June of 2015, so theoretically there should be some earlier versions for that console archived, somewhere. But not back to the Day1 version that was released on Steam in September 2014. May not be financially feasible for Hinterland to make the DLC I asked for, especially with how gamers these days tend to not want to pay full price for anything, especially independently made games vs. AAA games. But, a gal can dream, right?

I only remember the "truly" early days, thanks to the limited run of the 2014 Anniversary Edition, that some of us were lucky enough to get to play (which I do wish Hinterland would run again sometime for newer players who have only recently come into the game). I came into the game just over 3 years ago now. About midway between the very first Early Access version of the game, and where it is now. If Hinterland would make a paid DLC, an all-Anniversary DLC, showing the game from year to year, at the point it was at on the Anniversary of it's launch on Steam Early Access, and XBox Game preview, with developer commentary (from people who worked on the game at each stage in its development, not just Raph)- I would buy it. Just to support the studio, and to have the chance to go in, and catch a short glimpse of what the game looked and felt like as it got bigger, and better. What did it feel like when The Ravine and Coastal highway were first added? When Desolation Point was first added? When Mystery Lake was first changes and updated. You all can tell me how it felt for you, but that does not tell me how it might have felt, or would feel, to me. Those "first time" experiences are unique to each of us, totally subjective. I would pay to be able to experience that, for the time before I knew about and fell in love with the game. The "WhatIfSyndrome", I suppose.

Hinterland is hiring, they have been for a while now. https://twitter.com/HinterlandGames/status/1173370976899411971?s=20 But they can't force people to apply or accept job offers, and they can only hire as many as they have the money to pay, sustainably. They don't believe in crunch, and they don't expect people to work for free. I respect that.

I like it. But, as you said is it necessary? Nope. It does pose a trade off in better fuel efficiency vs needing a match or striker to light it. But, then why would you bother with a storm lantern, ever? Find the railroad lantern fill it with fuel, 24 hours of light, on one filling. Seems a bit OP. Perhaps a shorter duration from a full tank, 4 hours? 6 hours? And crafting a wick from cloth for replacement/repairs would be needed. I am not sure where we would find this, or why. Storm lanterns make sense to me, with the remote, rugged wilderness setting. But "modern" railroad would not be likely to have a railroad lantern, other than as a souvenir from a past time, or in homes, perhaps, as a decorative item. But a red lantern used for signalling in the past wouldn't be something I would expect to find on a modern railcar or engine. I do like it, it does have a a nice aesthetic to it. But I am not sure it has enough value gameplay-wise to make it worth Hinterland creating and adding to the game with the number of lighting options we already have. Mixed feelings here. Half of me wants it, half of me wonders if it would be worth it, and if they would have to limit the availability of storm lanterns and flares in the game, to balance out the risk vs reward of finding one of these. *grits teeth in indecision*

It has appeal for a relatively small, but vocal and visible section of the playerbase though. It took Hinterland, time, manhours (money) and a lot of bug fixing to create Interloper Mode and add it to the game. Not everyone is drawn to "hardcore masochism" in games, or this game, specifically. There are player-created challenges like the Deadman's Challenge (DMC) mode, and the newer Endangered Species Mode, as well as a number of others. You can find them on these forums, as well as a dedicated thread to them on the Steam forums, some with a list of custom settings, some with a share code, to just plug into custom settings. https://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/0/1635291505019529782/ With custom settings available, at least for now, I would prefer to see Hinterland put their time and effort into finishing Wintermute Story Mode, updating the Survival Mode with new content after that, and considering new experience modes last. When Modding Support is finally able to be given to us, I am sure there will be modders who will go wild creating things like what you are asking for. And giving the mods really catchy names to grab your attention. Not saying your idea is a bad one. I would simply prefer to see more that will be appealing to a greater number of players, and to more people who have not yet bought the game, or tried it.

Lol! Love it!

We'll have them, someday. If Hinterland does not add them, I will, once we have modding support and tools added.

It would not really be a substitute for coffee as a stimulant. Dandelion root coffee has no caffeine. No stimulant properties at all. And I have to agree with @ManicManiac, with deep snow cover and frozen ground, Winter is not the time to try to harvest them. Especially without a good shovel and pick, and random luck, since there would be no leave above the soil line to find them. They have a deep taproot, they are difficult to harvest even in summer, the roots breaking off easily. Part of how the plant survives so well. Leave a small piece of a dandelion root in the ground and a new plant will regenerate from it. Though, if Hinterland would make a survival game with 4 seasons, they would be an ideal plant to look for in Spring Summer, and Autumn. All parts of the plant are edible, and quite tasty. We never killed them when we had our farm. We ate the leaves in salads (though I did not like the sappy stems), made dandelion tea (or dandelion coffee, as it were...), cooked the roots and ate them like tiny parsnips or cut and mixed in with green beans, and Grandma taught us how to make wonderful dandelion wine, the old-fashioned way, from the petals of the flowers. Not really a coffee substitute at all, but a good idea, perhaps, for another game, if Hinterland decides to make another survival-based game with full seasons.

Pancakes. That is all.

Hey Dude! Welcome to the forums! Good hunting to you as well!

Not - Or WASD to move. There are many point & click games that do not, and most aRPGs do not. One of my favorites- Grim Dawn, a relatively popular hack & slash aRPG by another independent game studio, uses "LMB click to move" (or the controller equivalent). Click to pick up items. Some autolooting has been added in a recent update, but only for socketable components, and mana & health potions. LMB and RMB for targeting and swinging/firing weapons or casting spells, along with hotkeys for spellcasting. Click, Click, Click. Most aRPG's and many RPG's are the same. You may be used to games that use [E] to inteact, but that does not mean I have RA, OA and tendinitis issues. If a game becomes too painful for me to play, I stop playing it. Devs cannot make every game accessible for every person, or cater to every singular subjective desire for features or mechanics, given by a million+ different players. There are third party key remapping programs, and voice control programs that have made both Grim Dawn and TLD and a number of other games more accessible and "hand-issue-friendly" for me. I don't expect devs to add these programs to their games as a toggle-able option. Limited number of people that will find them useful, with a great number of manhours needed to incorporate them effectively into a game this far into development. Your needs and wishes are yours. They are not everyone's. Not every game is going to be a good fit for you. Perhaps you should take a break from TLD, and play a game that you enjoy more, and have less issues with. Just my opinion, but you have made complaints, over and over and over... you repeat them regularly. I know seeing these posts annoys and bores me, and I am sure it does the same for others. Saying the same things over and over and over, after other players, and likely the devs as well, have read the same thing from you dozens of times, does not increase the likelihood of your individual requests being fulfilled. It does result in many people just getting tired of seeing the same thing posted, over and over and over, myself and my family included. I can't help but think that it may have the same effect on the devs who see them over and over and over. But They are not as free to tell you so, because #OutrageCulture. Simple solutions have already been posted here... the easiest one being- don't run around with a weapon equipped at all times, rifle, revolver, flare gun, ect. Equip it as needed using the hotkey, or controller button. Re-holster it when you don't need to shoot at things, or before you interact with something. Then re-equip, if needed or wanted. Or do like I did, when I had one arm in a sling due to a torn rotator cuff, and use voice control/command SW to enable you to play the game *almost* hands-free. It works/worked nicely. And only cost me a little time setting the SW up with all of the needed keybindings. There are free and paid key mapping and voice control programs out there, and at least Windows has a decent Accessibility voice command program, that with a little additional scripting, works surprisingly well too. But it's up to you to take a little time and find the SW, and set it up.

Still playing around with staying in CH for 50 days before leaving. I think my gal has gone bonkers. Why is she doing this? 😧 Finally got *almost* everything moved to the Fishing Village, that I wanted to move there. 29 days in, still no arrows, still no cleaning kit for my super low condition rifle. Still don;t trust it not to jam on me if I try to use it. So, lots of goating and evasive maneuvering going on, traveling a good bit at night or in the wee hours or morning. I finally reached my second-most favorite place in CH, just after dawn. Not much loot to be found, but bunnies to stone, so we have food, pelts and guts. But, surviving, and not too badly. Though I do hear wolves howling not far away. Despite the lack of loot, the view from up here made the trek completely worthwhile. Speaking of those wolves howling nearby... a tad nervous, since the usuals on the ice seem to be missing... Tomorrow, maybe the next day, we will go up, to the rabbit grove, campground and down Bear Creek. Hoping to stay out of sight of the bear who may be lurking there. Wish me luck. And enjoy the scenic overlook views.

We have not lost Fluffy. This gets brought up, a ton. I asked Raphael about it on twitter after the update 2 years ago (my gawd, time flies...), and here is his response: https://twitter.com/evilginger013/status/893311638648082432?s=20

The one I removed in that screenshot did not light up green when I right clicked it under the hood at first, but I tried again, and it moved, no green until I tried to move it. (Until it was actually out of its spot under the hood...) It was a little odd, but it worked.

Got a screenshot of The Lighthouse Wolf? I never met it, in over 3000 hours of playtime. Far as I know, TLW is a myth, never seen a screenshot of it here or on Steam.

Just having a little fun today. Tested with one battery, will have to see what happens with multiples. The game is very picky about where you can place a battery on top of an open car hood, but right at the front edge seems to be allowed. Then close the hood. We'll see if it stays hanging there through a save and exit, and is still there when I go back in again. Yes, I am tired, and not well caffeinated yet. When I am, I may regret doing this. Then again, I may not.

@Raphael van Lierop: Thanks for the answers! Interesting to know what you once thought of, or dreamed of doing with your life, before you found the path you are on now. And yes, Anni was part of the reason for my question. She's playing around with the Unity Bundle and some other tools right now, messing around with fairly simple Unity 2D projects, and a few others. She's starting to make assets. And seems to be having a lot of fun doing so. As always, great Mailbag Dispatch, and thank you for taking what free time you have to answer our questions. It is appreciated.

Still slinking around CH, I have a rifle, but no cleaning kit to bring it up to a "safe" condition to use it. I have made 2 bows, but have no arrows. So, I try to avoid and evade wolves, as much as possible. Living mostly on rabbits and fish. No firearm cleaning kit yet, but I have been lucky finding hooks and fishing tackle. Time to go loot the other side of the map. So I go to one of my favorite places in the region. My personal "retreat" spot. Great. Deer, and no way to hunt them, lol. So I eat what I have, and go to bed. Only to wake up to... I have to go outside and look. Even though I have heard wolves howling nearby, all day, and all evening. The next morning, it is time to head up, to the trailers, and the tracks. Knowing instinctively where those wolves were at... And at least one of them was there, not long before I got there. Tomorrow we go further. I have a few sprains to sleep off, after taking the "back way" to get here. But, you only live once, right? So... onward. Onward.

Ah, yes. But there are also now many areas where you used to be able to climb, that now have invisible walls, or insta-kill areas added, to keep us from going where we are not supposed to be. Part of the draw for me was always to find a way to those "forbidden" places, to see a view few people, or no people, had seen before. Tied very much to my IRL fascination with such views, rock climbing or caving in my youth. No invisible walls there in the real world, but "death zones" ... sure. In real life my physical limitations and medical issues now stop me from seeking out those views. Video games became my way of seeking that excitement and thrill of discovery. And though I completely understand why some areas in this game, and any other, are closed off, it does frustrate me to not be able to go there any longer. Seeing someone else's screenshots or video of those places, reached legitimately or through "cheats" is not satisfying for me, it does not give me the sense of accomplishment I got/get from figuring out the puzzle of getting my character(s) there using legitimate game mechanics, or even glitches, seeing that rare view, and bringing my character back "safely". Of course, I still try. Legitimately, no mods, no "cheats", (but glitches are fair game). And I may have many character deaths before I succeed, or give up. But the urge to be the first, or among the first, to discover these places still lives in me. And I will never stop trying. Probably why I am still alive IRL, in the real world, death is final, no respawns or new saves. So... yep. My gal will keep trying to climb those hills and mountains in this game, and many others.

Not being able to climb to the top of every single hill and mountain. I mean... Every. Single. Hill. And. Mountain. If I can see it, I want to climb it, lol.

The Milton Mailbag Question Thread, here: https://hinterlandforums.com/forums/topic/21075-question-thread-milton-mailbag/

No, it caught me just as I was getting to the hut, on the ice just outside of it. I have not had one clip through the walls yet, or enter through an open door. But I have seen enough reports of t happening, and seen plenty of screenshots of it happening, posted by friends on Steam (bear and wolf clipping through the walls, and screenshots of the blood inside of the hut), to believe that it is happening. But I can't say if it is a bug, or working as intended. The people I know on Steam who have told me it happened to them are all veteran players, who have no reason to lie about it, and who I trust. Only Hinterland can tell us if open door fishing huts are safe, or if there are situations where a predator may enter through an open door and trigger a struggle, but I feel like it may be possible. My attack here was a case of me not paying attention, and keeping an eye and ear out for what was happening behind me.