Looper

3 hours ago, stapeliad said:

That assumes there is an indoors close by! 😊 @upupandaway you said before you play in voyageur mode. That is a different experience than stalker. This isnt a game to play it safe in the harder modes like stalker and interloper. You just cant. The wind comment was in response to how i died sleeping.  It has nothing to so with sprains, you are correct.  Sometimes you run out of resources and choices, sometimes you just have to make decisions and take a chance.  Sometimes it works and sometimes you die.  That is what makes the game challenging and fun!

☺️ I usually play on Interloper/DMC - there are always an "indoor" close by.

2 hours ago, stapeliad said:

The issue with adapting play style in this case is... well, read @galadhlinn‘s post which states it really well. They stopped doing certain things like going up slopes, they avoided whole areas of the map. I didnt.  I went up that slope to get the wolf hide.  I kept tracking wounded animals no matter where the path led.  I dont think avoiding slopes is the answer. 

But i did not die with any sprains and i do feel very happy the bear didnt get me, even though he tried 7 times.  😊 

Well that's a risk sometimes worth taking. But there should be a punishment if one is unlucky. In DMC one rarely follows bleeding animals running straight away due to the cooling and energy consumption. Instead headshots or closed locations are the answer. But if I goat to sneak around a wolf and gets a sprain - I take a pill (and now a bandage) and move on.

Cheers on the 7 bear dodge😁

4 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I believe the old one still applies - 8MHI-/z8M-Dw++-wSWm-bAAA

As pointed out in another thread it has wrong starting weather. 

Also deadman was every setting against the player (?) but this now has weather variability and blizzard frequency not at the top. 

1 hour ago, stapeliad said:

The wind blew my fire out. It happens. 

The whole point of this thread was about frequency of sprains, which in my experience, playing the same way I always have, are more frequent. That’s all. 

I understand - and it wasn't to be rude. I guess I'm trying to say that you maybe need to adapt your playstyle. We all do.

10 minutes ago, stapeliad said:

No i looked at my journal when I opened the game this morning.  It said 82 days, I was on the evening of day 82.  Also the timestamp when you sleep "You have survived x number of days...." said 82 and some-odd hours.  The stats are registering slightly lower.  Difference between 80 and 82 is still more than 24 hours. i don't know.  i didnt pay attention to the waking up timestamp hours after 82, just the journal days marked.  I'll have to pay attention to this in the next run.

Anyhow it doesn't matter, I was really just tracking the sprains to time.  Result:  too many.

How can we know if its too many when we don't know how you play? Clearly you take heavy chances since you can die while sleeping (which requires some great effort to do). It's like saying wolf attacks or food poisoning are to many.

On 5/18/2019 at 2:31 AM, Drifter Man said:

So that looks like design decision rather than a bug with the blizzards.

Surely must be a bug. The howling is one of the coolest aspects of the game.

On 5/18/2019 at 2:31 AM, Drifter Man said:

by a silent wolf recently too

Sounds truly horrifying. 😮

On 5/18/2019 at 2:31 AM, Drifter Man said:

Go ahead and give deadman a try

Anyone got a revised deadman challenge code?

11 hours ago, oregonoutback said:

I'll make sure my character is fully fed and hydrated, plus has plenty of stamina, then I'll park them in the garage and walk away from the game for 20 minutes or so to do other things. I don't like doing that, but it seems the least risky and least boring thing to do to pass time... Please help me with this! 

You realize that you can warp time by using the card game icon (spend time). You don't have to walk away.

As other have said the game becomes somewhat stagnant around 50-70 days. You can up the difficulty setting (which I recommend). Or you can give yourself a mission. Go to Broken Railroad hunting lodge and back to CH can be a ... challenge. 😁

8 hours ago, LilWolf said:

Yes, I read the thread and I understand what the autor says . Maybe I haven't expressed myself well. I'm not going to talk about what has already been said. I just wanted to highlight something you commented in your previous post:

I can speak for myself, but also I know other players (including youtubers) with more than 100 hours, or 200 hours, playing between Voyageur and Stalker because Interloper ("very hard") can be frustrating. Even knowing "everything", play in a constant challenge may not be the point of many players. And again, for those who want a "real" survivor game, it should be done through customizable mechanics IMO. So, I don't think it's matter of hours played.

As discussed several times - I think the troubles aren't with difficulty but with durability. In all experience modes the games becomes very stale and repetitive after say 50-70 days. This comes from fact that  no factor in the game really changes after this and you've got all the loot/clothes. 

HL (Ralph) stated several times that they would like to approach strengthening the midgame with new challenges which will give alle experience modes benefit. I think OP will benefit from this as well. A sanity-meter kicking-in, malnutrition or the need to know more of the islands history could be drivers. Longer, colder blizzards after 50-70 days with warnings could be a driver to ensure stockpiles. 

Imagine you have to keep a fire going indoor to survive even just for 1 day and night during a deep blizzard - how it will tax your ressources and make sense of building up. Imagine you have to find a new book, a new location or some notes, computermesages etc. to keep you from going completely crazy. Or a need for several plants to balance your diet. This will certainly drive more exploration need and more challenge in midgame.  

Imagine if you could use the radiostations during aurora to intercept broken messages. I guess with the music playing from normal radios something is going on in the mainland. ☺️

On 5/11/2019 at 4:03 PM, galadhlinn said:

Immersion is always stated as a core value of survival games by devs but then through implementation, immersion is sacrificed repeatedly to make the game challenging.  I hope that some day devs will have the tools to create survivor games that are both challenging and realistic in a way that preserves immersion. 

Yes I truly agree . On the brighter side 😉 - until then you can consolidate yourself with the fact that many game mechanics - that are very unrealistic - also works to your advantage😉. F.i.

• Water will never freeze in bottles outside - neither will meat (unless it's inside a carcass or a dead rabbit).  So cut it out and leave it on the ground to avoid freezing (and disappearence). But do not cook it until you need to eat it.
• You can live 1000 days on solely meat - every mans dream.
• Wolves can't touch you while using your mag. lense - unless they see you suck a it.
• You will become a masterchef if you cook very very tiny pieces - that's why gourmets cook tiny plates. Leveling up.

We accept this because - it's a ... an a damn good one ☺️ 

Cheers to all and no more of the infamous S-word! 😁

1 minute ago, Bmack said:

Small sample size but I sprained a wrist 1 kg encumbered after a full night sleep, fully hydrated and fed while walking from a bedroom to a hallway.  That can’t be as intended.

sometimes the dice hates you....

1 minute ago, Sunwolf said:

I kind of agree with the OP.  I have extensive real-life experience traversing mountain slopes, some very steep, and have never sprained anything.  I'm not saying the mechanic shouldn't be there, but in TLD an increased risk risk seems to have turned into a guaranteed result.

I would suggest an off-low-medium-high option in the customize menu to fine-tune the sprain result the individual player is looking for.

Have you tried putting 50 kg on you back including a bed roll, 40 sticks 15 pieces of coal and several long saplings. No.

It's a game. There has to be some punishment for goating encumbered. I rarely travel encumbered - almost never get sprains. The update almost exclusively made the game easier. Don't pick on every negative mechanic. 

On 5/4/2019 at 3:27 AM, Raphael van Lierop said:

OR partially-procedural road-journey  (ex. you have to travel 100 kms on a procedurally-generated section of highway to get to [???], mostly survival-focused but with occasional story bits along the way).

I would by that instantly..

1 hour ago, Bano said:

1. Temp loss is the most crucial element to worry about (this is true, however, in any Loper run)

2. Focus should be on knowing shelter and using resources as they become immediately available. In most Loper runs, I expect and use the condition loss as a catalyst to get to the next goal. 

3. Movement needs to be more thought out in the sense of avoiding sprains/etc. that will deduct from condition loss. My start put me on the high ridge in PV at which point I quickly made my way down to the barn but in doing so, got a sprain  and lost a good chunk of condition off the bat. NOT GOOD. 

4. Obvious avoid wolves. 

Good points. Also go for the flare gun and stims. 

1 hour ago, earthy said:

you can easily get level 5 cooking within a few days, and live comfortably on bear meat.

Doing the cooking exploit - yes. But don't do that  

Bears are to easy to hunt and needs a buff. 

On 30.11.2018 at 11:47 AM, Drifter Man said:

The initial setup (30-50 days) is hard, but once you overcome it, it becomes almost as easy as normal Interloper. I see no reason why one could not survive indefinitely (or until the day comes and deadman gets wolfed).

But the best game mode there is... ruined interloper for me. The sleepheal is a wonky mechanic.

Survival is the way to go if slowly introducing challenge and story elements.

F.i. 

• Maybe distant massages can be heard in radio towers at aurora. Numbers leading you somewhere.
• Clues leading to secret locations.
• Blueprints to big craftings.
• Wandering wolves outside normal patrol areas.

You don't have to bring everything - you can and will come back to most places.

Any news - just lost 50 cattails and all my scrap metal at the old spence about to craft ...

Ralph prev. stated that Frostpunk was a game that was a positive surprise in 2018. One of the things I like in that game is the temperature and storm cycle behaviour giving "build up" a real sense of urgency and purpose. Would such a gameplay feature be considered in long dark to challenge in the midgame? It could be more than normal cold blizzards which last longer, affect indoor temp (demanding wood stocks) and resets animal spawns. Obviously should be subject to game difficulty settings. Just to get your view on midgame development of survival mode in 2019.    

On 24/9/2018 at 12:15 PM, Hotzn said:

I have always used snares and never understood why they are so underrated by many players.

I like the trapping too - and it's not the snare mechanics fault. I think the main reason many players avoid snares is the low calorie yield pr. harvested rabbit (time+tool use) compared to simply shooting a dear.  Deadman challenge aside - it's primarily early game you are in any calorie need in interloper and in the early game cattails and carcass' does the trick easily (plus found food).  It's simply inefficient.

1 hour ago, JAFO said:

Fair enough.. but it kinda gave some others the impression that only that kind of gruelling slog could get one across the finish line.. which is why a couple of us were being somewhat critical of it. It is possible to do this challenge and also have fun doing so.

Yes. As demonstrated by others it is very possible to play the game normally (without minmax, seeing beyond code etc.) while still having a shot at this. As in normal game getting the bow is key if you don't wanna exploit the cooking skill bug and other min/max-stuff.  You need a bit of luck early game getting namely a hacksaw though.  

This challenge demonstrates to me how The Long Dark can really benefit from a higher skill ceiling by increasing the challenge of survival over time in the normal interlooper game. It will be more fun to play and more fun to watch. 

Actually this is a lot of fun. 

My first attempt I spawned in ML near the logging camp and went unnamed pond, trappers and camp office 1 day. No prybar, no matches, no Mag.lens. but a bed roll. Found matches at the derailment, made 4 L water and went to sleep somewhere around 80 pct. health. NExt day was lookout where I found a hammer then logging camp and the dam. Tried to harvest cattails at the river but had to maneuver around a moose (). Day 3 I was going through ravine getting cattails on the way sleeping in rabbit groove in CH. Day 4 was Rabbit Island, fishing camp, logging camp and the dear by the camp around 45 pct. health. Day 5 I went to the qouncet where I found my beloved hacksaw. From there to the lookout and the small village beneath it. Day 6 the food situation was kinda dire, so I chopped some rabbits near misanthropes. Bad weather and a pack of wolves caught up and I was flanked without any bait or wood for emergency fire. Survived the attack with 11 health so could have dragged it to  7  days - but GG.

My 2 cents on strategy at this early stage

• Go even faster than regular Interloper.
• Calories is time - don't waste time on rabbits or repairs unless it really fits in your day. 
• Use teas/coffee or cans to boost cold protection since matches won't be an issue anyway.
• Only real option to get to 30 days seems to be to get a bow somehow - I think by going through FM forge where food is ample. Since the world is cooling I would guess that you need to hit the forge around day 7 - 8 to have a chance with saplings curing somewhere at the same time. 

 Will try again some time.

7 hours ago, JAFO said:

8 hours ago, Hotzn said:

Interesting challenge getting back to the roots of TLD.

That it is.. honestly, it makes for the most entertaining TLD streaming I've ever seen..

Isn't it interesting? Attention and excitement comes when the skill ceiling is raised. 

Might try this

28 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Yes, I'll assume that's how it was designed because that's how it works.  Do you know otherwise?  If the developers have stated somewhere that the game is not designed to work this way, I'd call it a bug, or part of the game that is not finished.  We don't know every decision that went into the planning and development of this game, and the side-effects of those decisions.  Maybe the calorie issue is one the developers didn't like, but left it this way because of other factors.  Who knows?

1 hour ago, Pillock said:

From an objective point of view, fixing them would make the game better.

 

This is the point. It really doesn't matter if it was intentional or not at some point. We all try to make the game better - some by suggesting new wildlife others adjusted mechanics.  

(I doubt it however it was intentional - why make a caloriemeter to show burned calories pr. day while allowing 1/3 consumed with very little consequence. Doesn't make sense. Seems like a simple scaling problem; the damage from starvation in one day makes sense but continued starvation doesn't). 

I can only speak for myself. (As can you ). When opinions meet its a debate and from that can come a better understanding for both parties. I would rather you told me which mechanic of the above you like?

While I start to realize that many players have concerns about making the game harder, I really don't think any of the abovementioned makes the game significantly harder - just different. 

1 hour ago, Ruruwawa said:

Advantage over whom?  Yourself?

So you don't like 900 kcal/day, mountain-goating down from TWM, or stoning bunnies, etc?   You could just not do it.  I never skip ropes to cheat the carry weight mechanic, my Interloper games average about 1700 calories per day, and I shoot bunnies with bow and arrow.  I'm not saying my way is better, because there is no right or wrong here.  It's just a game, and that's the way I prefer to play.  I absolutely do not care if other people do these things -- seriously, let folks do whatever they enjoy. 

 

Yes myself - haven't found any others yet. To me at least the game is about surviving at all cost what challenges presented by the game to the best of my abilities . Thus getting thrilled when locating stuff to help, avoiding danger in a new way or to find a new strategy. That's in fact the whole game element. Selfimposing a lot of selfmade "laws" draws from the experience.  Adjusting mechanics can give new experiences, contain new need for strategies etc.

Example. Ralph teased that there could be introduced a need for drying wood before it will burn as good in the game. If introduced it will surely force new gameplay, new strategies for survival, restrict something, forcing innovation. In short - fun fun fun. Using your argument however, you would say "no, people who want it can just simulate it by choosing not to burn wood before its dry and the can make up their own rules for that" Let folks do what they want  ?  

Thats is why the new cooking system was brilliant in my opinion - forcing new gameplay.