ajb1978

Good evening Raph. Could you please explain the rationale behind why brands were replaced with torches? I understand the rationale behind replacing the "brandish" mechanism with "throw", but why were brands replaced with torches? TBH this seems rather counter-intuitive to me, and if there is a solid logical reason behind it I could digest this decision better.

Ok...I rather like the mostly realistic threats we have in the game. Yeah, the geomagnetic disaster defies known physics, yeah the wildlife behavior isn't consistent with what we would expect, but it's overall hypothetically believable. Something like a Wendigo or Sasquatch, I do not support in a serious sense. However, I would be willing to accept a pseudo-entity, like a hallucination or image that flickers through the display very briefly on maybe one in 10,000 playthroughs. Just enough to spark a bit of controversy, and get the rumor mill going. Maybe one guy in the entire world happens to capture it on Bandicam, and ignites a quest to find the creature. But only as a meta-element. Not something critical to the story. Just a "bonus feature" easter egg for particularly dedicated players to find.

There's another one waiting for you to find in PV. Maybe you'll have better luck with that one.

Hot sauce. Hot sauce is life. Ideally some custom cultivar like the pepper X used in The Last Dab, as featured on Hot Ones. But in a pinch, anything will work. Even if it's something weak like Tapatio or Tabasco, just anything to give food a little kick.

Forlorn Muskeg if I'm not mistaken. I originally thought Pleasant Valley but while that rope climb block is repeated in several areas, that unique cluster of dead trees on the left is unique to the Muskeg I believe.

I wouldn't say I "moved on". I started on Voyageur, then played Pilgrim just to see what it was like without the hostility. I actually rather enjoy the experience. It's exploration and looting, and nothing to really worry about. It's relaxing, what's not to like? Of course I've played Stalker and Interloper, and done well at both. But the wolf-crazy nature of Stalker is more annoying than fun, and Interloper is all bark and no bite. I mean yeah it's easy to die early on but once you get established, it's just a matter of resource management. And since I do logistics for a defense contractor as my day job, I'd just as soon not do logistics on my off-time. I generally settle on a Custom mode that's a hybrid of Pilgrim and Voyageur. Wolves are hostile so I can't be completely careless, but the main problem is damaged gear that I then have to repair. I also like to play the challenge modes, since it's a short-term commitment so I find myself more freely able to use the stuff I find rather than hoard it. Using matches for temporary light sources, popping emergency stims just to be able to run like a goober for 60 seconds and shave a little time off my run, etc.

Well if you're going with a strop, that's what you would use to finish the edge, so it should only be usable on knives that are already nearly perfect. Say 90% or higher. A whetstone could get it up to 90%, then switch to the strop to get it to 100% or something. So if you regularly strop your blade you can keep it in perfect condition.

Yup! I don't remember where exactly but I was heading uphill away from the coastline.

Ahh trying to pull a fast one there, by omitting background details eh? That might've worked, but you see you merely adopted Great Bear. I was born there. Try this one on for size... Edit: OK on second thought a foggy screenshot is kind of a jerk move. So I will add this hint: It is a coastal region.

Ahh that's a favorite hunting spot of mine. Moose spawn point, as well as bunnies and birch bark, all in one place. A little inconvenient hauling stuff back to paradise meadows but such is life. Tag, you're it.

"Take Brand" from fires. It made a mountain of sense when they switched "take torch" to "take brand", and I genuinely do not understand the rationale behind why that was undone. Taking a lit torch from a fire, which you can douse and re-light later with a 100% success rate, just doesn't make any sense. Except this time around have them disappear when you put a 0% brand in a container, or toss them into a fire. I used to have a pile of burnt out brands in the corner I could never get rid of...

Tag, you're it! Let's try an indoor location this time.

OK, taking it up a notch eh? No worries, I'm on track. Let's see if you can find the next location.

I've a feeling episode 3 could be released today and it would rock. I suspect the team is using this next month to fine-tune things to perfection. Like it's ready to go right now, there's no worries, so they announce the launch next month. To allow time for those "oh crap why didn't we catch that already" issues.

I'll do you one better. I'll capture a screenshot at that exact location, with a lit match for proof. The second photo here is my challenge back to you. This should be an easy one--I'm not aiming for impossible here.

Good observation on player positioning, but I have to admit this is getting pretty far into the weeds in regards to game exploits. I would argue starving yourself all day and surviving on 2 candy bars and a cup of tea right before bed is a much greater exploit than harvesting 50% torches. I personally prefer the brands we used to be able to harvest, since that makes much more sense, but I can live with torches.

The one thing I DO want to see is the ability to bundle sticks together as a singular firewood item. Small, medium, and large bundles let's say. 20 sticks for a small bundle, 40 sticks for a medium, 80 sticks for a large. The weight is the same as that many sticks, and it is worth that many sticks worth of heat and burn time (Edit: 80 sticks would just instantly be worth a 12 hour fire, since that's actually more sticks than any one fire can hold), but it registers as a single item. Highly useful for when you want to drop your firewood in a pile. I've written a function in AutoHotKey that maps E to "rapid click" which makes it easier when I want to pick up a mountain of sticks for the fire, but still...having hundreds of sticks indoors increases the chance that the game will crash on area transition. Everything else, like making paper logs, harvesting scrap metal from steel soup cans, etc. would be nice, but I'm honestly fine without it. Being able to craft stick-bundle firewood items is something I'm actively in favor of.

I'm seriously hoping Sasquatch makes an appearance in 4DON.

Alcohol could provide calories, at the cost of increased drop of heat, thirst, and fatigue when consumed. Basically if you're desperate for calories and can afford the cost, sure go ahead and have a drink. Otherwise, alcohol could serve as both an accelerant and an antiseptic.

Heh...you want something tougher than Interloper? You got it. 8sHM-/z8P-Dz+j-wXam-LwAA May as well just lay down on the ground as soon as you spawn in, cuz you ded.

Here's a wish-list item that'll end up buried and forgotten, but hell with it. Here goes anyway!! Maybe it'll spark someone's imagination somehow. A Railroad Lantern. Similar to the Storm Lantern, but requires a match or firestriker to light. It casts a red light thanks to its red glass globe, and barely lights up a room. It casts more light than a lit match, but less than a torch, emits the same heat as a regular lantern. You can navigate using its light, but you can only see a few meters ahead of you. However, the lantern is VERY fuel efficient. A full tank of lamp oil burns for 24 hours, making the Railroad Lantern a great way to craft or read in the dark. Necessary? Nope. But as I type this by the light of my actual railroad lantern that I just lit for the heck of it (I'm weird, I like the smell of burning kerosene) I figured I'd throw this out there on the off chance it's secretly a brilliant idea.

Just wanted to tag in and voice my support of a procedurally-generated highway travel survival game. TLD is great, but I (and I think most veteran players) always get to the point where I'm just going through the motions. I'm settled, I have everything I need, and barring some monumental screw-up on my part (which happens because I'm human, but rarely because I know the game backwards and forwards) it becomes a Retirement Simulator. Tracking progress by distance traveled in a procedurally generated landscape would really turn that on its head. You might learn the mechanics but you can never afford any degree of complacency, because you do not and cannot know the terrain ahead.

The second one. If you position a 99% cured hide, and it hits 100% before you release it, you automatically lose your grip on it and it stays in that place. So you can use this method to sort of hang hides on the walls, staple them to the ceiling, or in that screenshot somehow slam it through a wall.

Wildlife can't chart a course that includes a sheer drop. A common way to evade wildlife is to take an action that they can't, such as dropping off a short cliff, or tactically dropping halfway down a steep incline such that they can't reach you, but you still have a clear line of sight to them.

Thanks boss! Here is the image that started it all, three years ago... I was moving a bear hide and it hit 100% as I was RMBing it around. And the rest, as they say, is history.