ajb1978

1. MAYBE if weak terrain were only in specific areas, and you had a warning similar to weak ice, it could be doable. But the thought of just walking along and then suddenly you drop through the ground and whoops, now you're dead. No... That would piss so many people off if it were something you could do truly by accident. In order for sinkholes to make sense as a game mechanic, the player must have some sort of warning system to enable them to avoid it. Falling through should be a consequence of being inattentive (or intentionally falling through, for whatever reason) rather than a bad roll of the dice. And any such fall should be shallow enough to be survivable unless you're already in very poor condition. Like no more than 20% condition damage. 2. As a static landscape feature, climbing ropes going straight down into the ground WOULD be pretty cool. Kind of like that big cave on Timberwolf Mountain, where the bedroll spawns, except with only one way in or out. Sounds like the kind of thing an NPC might have used as a prepper cache. Maybe stick a couple crates in the corner, which might contain loot if you take the time to bust them open.

Adding the ability to cauterize a bleeding wound using a lit torch or flare, in exchange for additional condition damage and a Burns affliction, I could get behind. Overhauling the bleeding mechanics because....realism I guess?....I don't quite see how that would improve the game. Injury management, hunger management, etc. are things that are I think best handled at a very high level. You're hungry, eat calories. We don't need to track individual vitamins. Similarly, you're bleeding, use a bandage. I don't think we necessarily need to get into severity of the bleed-out. But cauterizing, yeah I could get on board with that. I've suggested that myself in the past.

Have you tried loading the game on a fresh boot? Some users (myself included) have had issues running the game if the PC has been left on for an extended period of time.

I wonder if there'd be enough interest in that kind of play to take it global/international. @Admin please let me know if this would be out of line or not, but do you think there would be any interest in a thread where people post copies of their survivor mode saves, that others can download and pick up? You don't know what experience mode you're in for, where the previous person left off, or how much of the world has been cleared. You could get a general sense of how long they've played, based on the file size of the save, but that's about it.

Eeh sorry I'm not sure how much help I'm gonna be here. I remember it did require a lot of goating around, but I eventually got it filled in. I couldn't tell you exactly where or how though. I do know that the spot to the southeast of Katie's Secluded Corner can be cleared though. Desolation Point has some weird elevation shenanigans going on to where something that looks like you should be able to fill it in, stays completely dark. Even if you're right in the friggen middle of it. So I don't bother with it so much anymore. Same way with the Winding River region, where charcoal doesn't seem to play by anybody's rules anymore.

I don't think any of this would be anything short of impossible to implement at this point. The Long Dark is a great game, but one written with a very specific environment in mind. And all of this...well...it would basically require an entirely new game. But it'd be pretty damn cool if it existed I...no. No. No. No man. No. Hell no. No. NO. NO. No. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! No.

This post is inspired by this lovely 45 degree day (114F)...bleh. So this is a total hypothetical, but say the game supported all four seasons. Obviously we know how winter would behave, because...well..that's what we have. But what changes do you think Spring, Summer, and Autumn would bring? This isn't a wish list item by any means, I just like to think about stuff like this for the sake of thinking about it. My thoughts: Spring: Ambient temps may be above freezing during the day, dipping below freezing at night. Wetness becomes a major concern, and thawing would mean more weak ice, possibly rendering Jackrabbit Island and Misanthrope's Homestead inaccessible without using the boats. On days where the ambient temperature is above freezing, wet clothing never freezes, and you can dry out clothing by walking around outside, or dropping it on the ground. However your temperature sub-condition can still drop to zero, presenting you with Hypothermia Risk, although you do not suffer freezing damage. Paved areas (and icy areas in general) become treacherous with an increased chance of falling and spraining something, due to the layer of ice that builds up from the freeze/thaw day and night cycle. Some of the snow starts to melt, revealing the grass and dirt underneath. On dark nights, this creates areas where the ground is essentially pure black, and you can't necessarily see what's right in front of you. Some areas become particularly muddy, slowing you way down as you slog through the mire. Summer: The most profound changes to gameplay. Travel at night is dangerous, as the snow is all gone. Unless you're in an open field under a full moon, everything is nearly pitch black. The moonlight helps in the open, but thick foliage in the forests presents some extremely hazardous hiking conditions. Predators can detect you easily, but you don't see them until they're on top of you. Avoid forests at night! Cold is no longer a concern. Now, your battle is with insects, sunburn, and heatstroke. This turns the temperature gauge on its head, to where keeping it as low as possible is preferred. If your Feels Like is 25C or above, you start to get warmer. Although the wind still helps to cool you down, Heat Index is now a thing: humid days make your Feels Like go up. The higher the Feels Like, the quicker you overheat. If it fills up completely, you are afflicted with Heat Exhaustion, which results in your Thirst decreasing twice as fast, and an automatic scent line due to your profuse sweating. Left untreated, after 2 hours it escalates to Heat Stroke, which results in your Fatigue decreasing twice as fast, and 20% condition loss per hour. Cooling off can be done by spending time indoors, passing time in the shade, or by going for a swim. You can also sacrifice 1L of water by dumping it over your head, to take a small chunk out of your heat meter. Lowering your temperature below maximum halts Heat Stroke damage, although you must keep it from maxing out for 4 consecutive hours, while avoiding Dehydration to cure it. Walking around with little on means you overheat slower, however exposed skin is at risk for sunburn similar to frostbite, although sunburn damage can be healed with time. You can no longer "melt snow". You must now gather water from a source, be it a pond or stream, and then it must be filtered and boiled. (Necessitating the crafting of a filter using a recycled can, sand, stones, charcoal, and cloth.) You can also sterilize this crudely filtered water by leaving it outside for a total of 48 daylight hours (UV sterilization). Also, certain areas become hotspots for insect swarms, particularly in the Muskeg. Insect swarms cause 2% condition loss per hour per area of uncovered skin, as a result of stings and bites. This also carries with it a risk of contracting a general sickness that slowly damages condition, but heals naturally over time. Water is now warm enough that you can swim, provided you are not encumbered. Wearing wet clothing keeps you cool longer, at the expense of additional weight. You can now also fish anywhere there is water and your feet are touching the ground. Rivers, lakes, ponds, the coast--the world is your oyster. Natural medicine, cat tails, and saplings respawn. The ice fishing huts and all they contained have broken through the ice, and are forever lost. This would necessitate some kind of ice fishing overhaul, allowing you to bust a hole anywhere for the following winter. Beachcombing becomes incredibly easy, as items literally wash up on the beach now, to be safely grabbed. Better stock up on those "nonrenewables" before winter.... Autumn: Similar to Spring, temps may be above freezing during the day, and below freezing at night. All the leaves on the ground mean you make more noise than usual when traveling through the forest, causing wildlife to sense your presence from twice as far away when not crouched. Also, as everything is trying to fatten up for the winter, predators are a little more aggressive than normal, but all animals have more meat on them than in other seasons. Otherwise, pretty much identical to Spring.

Since I'm halfway between the two, I'm not going to vote. My stance is, if you're going to "fix" it, then FIX it. Update all buildings with fireplaces to have glowing windows when there is a fire lit. And pay attention to detail as well. For instance, if you only have the upstairs stove lit in the Mystery Lake Camp Office, only show lights out the upstairs windows. For the farmhouse, only show lights out the kitchen windows for the stove, or living room windows for the fireplace. Carter Dam might get a pass because of how far the fire barrel is from the windows, but every other building should have at least some light leaking out when a fire is lit. Basically if you're going for immersion, go all-in. If not, then just leave it as it is. Light spilling from the windows is not a critical aspect of the game, but it is definitely a nice aesthetic touch. So if you're gonna take the time to mess with it, make it good.

After the latest hotfix, this issue has cleared up for me. I am now able to jump right back into the game without restarting my PC. Maybe it's fixed for you as well?

Ultimately everything is doable, the real question is return on investment. I also work with software developers, and managing our story points per sprint is a big issue. There are a lot of things we would like to have done, but only so many hours in a 6-week sprint...so the top value items end up on the kanban, and the nice-to-haves stay in the bucket. And TBH while yes, this would be nice, I'd really like the Bear Spear finished first

Carter Dam and Hibernia were a NIGHTMARE to hack up (Edit: And some of those mines were no picnic either. Gotta load up on lamp oil in order to have enough light to hack up all the shelves), but yes...every crate, every shelf, every stack of pallets, every table, chair, bench, plank...all of it. With a few sentimental exceptions...I can't bust up Jeremiah's cabin. And my chosen safehouse for the region. I like it to look homey. I had to pass time while waiting for buffer memories to appear, so rather than literally pass time, I figured let's bust stuff up. Bring a hammer, hatchet, hacksaw, and knife. Use bare hands when you can, prefer the hammer over the hatchet, only use the knife on pillows and old bedrolls. The big easy chairs in the cabins require a hatchet, otherwise I barely used it. Great way to pass a day by though. Saw up 3 or shelves, it's dusk already.

Beachcombing ensures you will always have enough of everything to survive. You end up with bits of scrap metal, cloth, leather, the occasional sapling, etc. washing up, which will effectively replenish resources you've used up from the world faster than you're using them up, unless you're excessively wasteful. And I mean my current run, I've broken down nearly everything. I have 1833 scrap metal and 1157 cloth, and that's not including all the clothes I haven't ripped up yet. I can't even imagine how long it would take me to use all that up.

Timberwolf Mountain is the obvious go-to place for an influx of high end items. However Hushed River Valley is a great place to pick up a free Moosehide Satchel, for a boost to your carry capacity. The safes in Hibernia, Spence Homestead, Milton Credit Union, and Carter Dam also have a chance of spawning some rare items. But even if the safe is a bust, Carter Dam is chock full of goodies to find. And of course the prepper caches in Mystery Lake and Pleasant Valley are packed with supplies. The Coastal Townsite is another good loot-dense area to search.

You never forget your first meeting with Scruffy He lives in that cave--it's a different wolf than the one that ate you outside. That's one of two caves in the world that harbor wolves....so in general, it's best to stay on your guard when exploring unfamiliar interiors. Never assume it's safe, just because it's indoors.

Raph actually addressed this more or less directly in the first Milton Mailbag. Not the part about lowering your pack down a rope, but about being able to drop your pack in a general sense. Here's what he has to say on the issue.

Unless they revamped how your stomach works. Like time spent with a calorie store between 2000 and 2500 count as fattening. Calorie store between 2000 and 0 counts as maintaining, and calorie store at 0 you start to lose weight. So if you want to fatten yourself back up, keep your stomach topped off for a few days.

Well I'm replaying Ep 2 and just forged the spear. I must have been imagining things, because the spear is not an inventory item. It's available via the radial menu or by cycling through the 2 key, but doesn't actually have any weight. I'm unable to drop it, or RMB it to place it into the world.

My stance, starvation is actually fine as it is. I like a healthy dose of realism, tempered with enough unrealistic performance to make for entertaining game play. That said, a person can go days--even weeks--without food. They won't be in top form, for sure, but they would be alive. Water on the other hand, you can survive without for a maximum of a week under ideal conditions. But to stay in top form, you're actually supposed to drink about 2 liters per day, or half a gallon. Current state, you actually do need 2 full liters of water, if you stay awake for 24 hours straight, although if you sleep you will end up using about 1.5 liters for a full day...which is close enough. Food on the other hand...allowing the game to account for body fat reserves, how much fat you build up, how much you burn due to fasting for several days, that gets really dicey. I mean where do you draw the line. There actually is a survival game out there (I forget what it's called) that micromanages your nutrition down to the individual vitamins in your diet. That's not fun anymore, that's...more like work. So imposing a condition drain that is enough to force you to eat at least once every other day, ehh...that's good enough. It accomplishes the goal, without introducing an aggravatingly complex level of nutrition management. But I wouldn't be opposed to some kind of extreme starvation debuff. Like if you hit starving 3 times within a 72 hour period, give an "Emaciated" debuff, that subtracts 5kg from your carry weight, and caps your condition at 95%. (Edit: On second thought, just dipping into "starving" 3 times would be a bit extreme, but you catch my meaning. Maybe track negative calories accumulation, and if you dip too far into the red, you get a "Malnourished" risk, which can deteriorate to "Emaciated".) The exact opposite of staying well fed. That would discourage blatant abuse of starvation, while allowing some leeway to ration.

Lately I've been having similar issues which requires me to restart every time I want to play TLD. If I play the game, exit, then attempt to start it up again right away, half the time it freezes on the that initial disclaimer screen. Sometimes it will load past that, but at about 1/20 its normal speed, with horribly stuttering audio. If I restart my machine, all is well.

Dang it, that website won't ship outside the EU...I really wanted to buy some blue flares... There's a merch idea for the Hinterland store. Blue flares.

Keep an eye out for footpaths that let you bypass rope climbs. Spending 2 minutes taking the long way around, is much more efficient on your fatigue than taking a rope climb. However some of those footpaths are very steep, and you risk a sprain...so weigh your options carefully. Never attempt an upwards rope climb if you're at half fatigue or below. You might not have enough to make it to the top. Climbing down on the other hand, is much more forgiving. If you expect to do any climbing, try to top off your Fatigue somehow, either with rest or coffee, prior to climbing. You will go up the rope more quickly, and the sooner you make that climb the less fatigue you burn up. Carry at least one emergency stim, in the event you get stuck and need to make an emergency rope climb to safety. Those Go energy drinks are very helpful here too. And lastly, under no circumstances use a hacksaw that's at or below 20%. There is a chance it can spontaneously break on you, and if that happens, there is also a chance you can ruin the container you are attempting to open, and the contents will be forever lost to you.

Costa Rica. Will shields his eyes from the sun, seeing people in bathing suits playing volleyball on a beach next to palm trees. "...what the hell?"

Desolation Point I think. The mine is a way around the blockage, but if the blockage were removed I am 95% sure it would lead to DP.

Yes, it's worth it. Interloper is meant to be brutal, thus maintaining "Well Fed" in Interloper is difficult early on. Later on, after you've gotten over the initial "I'm gonna die in 7 minutes" hurdle, you're fine. This, as far as I'm concerned, is OK and expected. Everything is fine, nothing to see, move along.

Each time I play through Wintermute I catch one new detail I missed previously. This time around it's that Methuselah is wearing a hoodie with what appears to be a gold Omega symbol on it. So, assuming that is an Omega, is there anything you can reveal about that? Thanks as always for taking the time to do these Q&A sessions!