ManicManiac

If it were really objective... then everyone would share your sentiment. Your assertion that it's a "bad user experience" is subjective... not objective. I certainly respect your point of view and that you don't like save system as it exists today... but claiming your opinion is an objective truth (I think) is rather spurious. *I'm not going to be discussing the topic, because I've said my peace already... but this bit, I felt warranted some clarification.

No reason... just a good groove while hiking down the long and lonesome road. Nine Inch Nails - Copy Of A [Addendum] It was mentioned that the link to the official YT channel wasn't working in some places... providing an alternative. Nine Inch Nails - Copy of A - New Single - YouTube

Being stalked by a wolf when you've got nothing but a rock to defend yourself... Nine Inch Nails - The Great Collapse

Lost in the caves... trying desperately to again see the light of day, before the long dark claims our survivor. Nine Inch Nails - Slipping Away

I can agree that Mending is objectively the "slowest" skill to increase, taking a staggering 350 successful mending actions to fully grow the skill to its highest level. (1 point per successful action/10 points per skill book) This becomes an especially slow process if our survivor is trying to make the most of cloth/leather/pelt by waiting for clothing to wear down enough in order to make the most efficient use of materials. So for some items we can start repairing at 70% condition (like coats, pants, boots) but other things we have to wait much longer... anywhere from 50% all the way down to 25% in order to get the most condition from each repair. ...and as we out skill level increased the amount of condition restored by repairs increases, making it even slower if trying to get the most out of each repair job. Compared to the other skills... Mending does indeed just require the most "effort" to master. 🤭 For simple comparison... Archery 125 pts. Carcass Harvesting 100 pts. Cooking 350 pts. Fire Starting 200 pts. Ice Fishing 250 pts. Mending 350 pts. Rifle Firearm 100 pts. Revolver Firearm 100 pts. Gunsmithing 100 pts. While cooking and mending do both require 350 actions/pts to reach level 5, cooking is still objectively much "faster" considering eating is something we need to do every day... so there is plenty of opportunity to use the skill a lot and rather frequently. (There is even a cheeky way harvest carcasses creating smaller portions of meat that enable us to "practice" cooking on many smaller portions of meat rather than .5kg increments the UI constrains.) Now granted... we do have the option to "fast track" mending as well... But like any choice in TLD, there's a tradeoff. We can do this simply by repairing clothing anytime a clothing item loses as little as just 1% condition... but that, of course, is a colossal waste of cloth/leather/pelt. ~~~~~ Now at this point, let me be clear. I'm perfectly fine with all of this. I'm good with Hinterlands decisions regarding the requirements for masting the various skills. This isn't a complaint or a call to change/overhaul anything... I'm simply pointing out the objective facts. However, now comes the part when I'll posit that it doesn't matter that Mending takes so very long to master compared to any other skill... I say this because of how the skill progresses. By the time we get to Level 3 (75 pts.), we've gotten to the point where as long as we have a sewing kit (and the "tool bonus" that brings with it)... each mending action is virtually a guaranteed success from that point on. Beyond level 3 all we're really improving on is the time repairs take and the amount of condition restored to the clothing item. So, while mastering the skill does objectively take the greatest amount of time... getting good enough to no longer have to worry about losing material due to a failed repair attempt is gone by level 3. I think everything after that is just bonus.

And I think, those hypothetical issues you bring up are really just that individual's own personal issue... not a game issue. I'll reiterate what I mentioned before: ...I don't think Hinterland should have to compensate for someone else's time management choices. Since the conversation seems to be going round in circles a bit... I'm moving on.

I don't imbibe much at all either. But just from a chemistry standpoint... alcohol already has a freezing temperature much lower than water... and anything kept close to our core is going to stay much warmer than anything we'd carry out in the open air... or in our backpack. I think it'd work out alright.

Honest and for true though... I think the easiest solution is we'd just have it zipped up in our coats (keep it near our core). I mean, just our body heat and the coat's insulation should keep it nice a sip-able. (I say sip-able since deep cold and intoxication are a really bad combination.)

@xanna

I didn't make any recommendations... or refer to them as work arounds. I merely listed the options that are already available to us; nothing more. Trying to take me out of context and put words in my mouth is a bit out of order, I think. How about we let things be civil, rather than trying to make things personal...

Just because a player doesn't like it, doesn't make it a "bad mechanic."

@xanna Agreed!

Okay... I'll expound a little further and then I'm going to leave it at that. We don't have to agree... that's okay. I think you may have misinterpreted what I've been talking about. 🤭 We DO have the choice to save whenever and wherever we want to... it just comes with a consequence (as I've already said). ~~~~~ I think you may have misinterpreted what I've been talking about. 🤭 We CAN save in the middle of a trek... we can save wherever and whenever we want, it just comes with a consequence (as I've already said). I mean... I think that really comes down to more of a matter of personal priorities and time management. If there's an actual emergency... then a game that I play for recreation doesn't matter. I think obviously, the emergency would be more important than saving a game, I think that's just reasonable personal priorities. If I know I don't have an hour or two for a session... then I just don't play at that time. If I get interrupted and I don't feel like just hitting escape, then I "pass time or nap" for an hour... it saves, and I exit. ~~~~~ As I've said many time in the past, I don't think there is anything here Hinterland to "fix." I like the choices Hinterland has made for their game. I appreciate how the auto-saves and "manual" save mechanisms work. I don't really have the time or energy to get into protracted arguments about it... In fact I don't really have the time or energy for arguments at all. That's not what I'm here for. If we don't agree, that's okay. I've said my peace and I stand by it.

The current save system was a deliberate choice... and I think it was a good one on Hinterland's part. Seems to me, that the game is all about player choice, and their being consequences for every single one of those decisions. Much like most of the tools, weapons, and even locations... each have advantages and disadvantages (it's what gives each its own subjective value). Going wandering out across Great Bear Island is a risky proposition... the way the auto-save system is setup now means we have to push to get to the next shelter, because out in the open we're not "safe." If we venture out, then we're making a commitment (of sorts) to that journey. On the other hand, we also have the option to save wherever and whenever we like... the consequence is that we have to sacrifice and hour of in-game time to do that. ...it's a trade off, and I think it's a fair one. Every one of our choices in The Long Dark comes with a consequence... a tradeoff (if you will). Yes, of course, there is the auto-save that triggers when we gain an affliction. 🤭 I think that was an especially nice touch. Helps make consequences a bit more meaningful when a player has to work a little bit harder to save-scum out of a situation they regret or don't want to face. It also creates another interesting choice for a "quick-save." If we really want to quickly save that way, the tradeoff is "It's gonna hurt!"

@AdamvR That's also some good science, thank you. My previous comments were just my understanding of the mechanic from what I had understood/observed years before (as I've never had reason to really look at it closely again). I can't ever say I'm sure of those things, because I don't have access to actually look at the code to be able to confirm what's going on "under-the-hood" (so to speak). I always appreciate it when folks delve deeper and spread those findings amongst the community. Knowledge is power... but only when it is shared.

As my survivor is laying curled up on the mattress at the Old Spence Place, shivering feverishly under the blanket... Not because of the cold, but because of the food poisoning. Slipping from consciousness... not knowing if they'll ever wake up again. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb

@Bloodskye Hinterland has also been known to make "stealth changes..." Also... they have been teasing a cougar (a.k.a. puma, mountain lion, catamount, etc... -depending on the colloquial name wherever you might be from). I might ask the question, "Did Hinterland slip in such a sound, happening at rare and random times, to tease it further?"

@Tekuromoto Fair point... makes sense. I'd support that idea.

Cabin Fever has been with us a long while now. I grew to accept it, and in the greater context... I even appreciate it. As it is, it creates a need to find a good balance between our indoor and outdoor dwell time. It's also a good motivator to "get out of the house" and stretch our legs. Is the negative reinforcement the best way to go about it? Maybe... I mean, often the most expedient call to action for most humans is the avoidance of negative or uncomfortable consequences. The subject of Cabin Fever has been discussed, debated, and argued over ever since its inception. As I've mentioned in the past: I didn't go through the entire list of search results... but I picked out enough of my posts from the past to pretty thoroughly explain my perspective on it.

I got up after only about 4 hours sleep... I was still feeling half-dead, so I knew I'd need to be careful today. I started by just searching around the local area for more sticks. Managed to run that wolf off... but decided to stick close to my main encampment until dawn. After sunup, I went out to start exploring along the ridge line heading towards the Fallen Radio Tower. Instead, I was greeted by two prowling wolves just over the blind slope. I backpedaled fast and took cover in back at the Old Spence Place. While I was waiting for the wolf to eventually lose interest and wander off... a blizzard hit. Which I suppose is just as well. I can use some Purification Tablets I've found and work on getting a healthier supply of water. I also need at least another night's rest if I'm going to have any hope of getting myself back into any kind of healthy condition. While I was searching around some more there at my main encampment. I found a safe wherein I found an MRE and a bundle of cash. The money not worth much more than tinder, but the MRE is as good as gold. 🤭 I made myself a campfire there next to the forge and started working on whiling away time waiting for the storm to pass. If I can get enough water boiled... perhaps I can brew up more of the Birch Bark, and maybe even use the Heavy Hammer I found to work on the Acorns I'd picked up along the way. By noon it looked as though this blizzard would last all day... but that's fine, I have plenty of coal to keep the fire going at least 24 hours and another 10 hours' worth of sticks besides. I figured it would also be a good time to try and figure out what I need to do to acorns in order to make them useful. 🤔 The storm eventually broke in the very late afternoon. It wasn't going to be long before evening. I decided to at least make a trip over to the Fallen Radio Tower. I managed to slip past the two wolves prowling around the backtrail... but saw yet two more skulking between the nearby cave entrance and the tower. This was not going to be the day to check out that shallow cave. I'll have to just check the tower and see about another way down to get back to the Old Spence Place. Going back the way I came would be too slow going to make it back by nightfall. One wolf picked up my sent... so I had kind of do a run-by of the tower (nothing of interest to be found). I managed to find my way back around, though it took much longer than I would have liked. Also spotted a bear up on a rock formation. I made it back to my primary encampment. I just need a good night's sleep and I'll be ready to head to the other side of the tracks tomorrow. It looked like it was going to have to be dogfood for me tonight... so I held my nose and chowed down. A few moments later, I knew I had food poisoning... This was the last thing I needed. I had already pressed my luck pretty hard. Oh well, nothing to be done about it now but to take my Antibiotics and take a long solid rest (hoping I don't freeze to death in my sleep...)

I don't know if it's been mentioned already but the normal time scale for the game is 1:12. In other words 24 hours in-game = 2 hours real-time... Also: 12 hours in-game = 1 hour real-time, 1 hour in-game = 5 minutes real-time, 1 minute in-game = 5 seconds real-time, ...etc... Meaning distance unit "per hour" is also relative depending on if we are looking at it from our real-time or the game's time-scale. I would think that the math is pretty straight forward for any curious enough to want to calculate it. 🤭

@whirls There's a lot of tweaks and changes we have control over. several out there have even published custom codes that anyone could use if you find a set of "gun-loper" settings that you like. I'm glad to help. I hope you find the experience you're looking for. Custom settings will indeed get you there.

It's also worth noting that each "step" (our foot prints in the snow) is apparently meant to be "1 meter." I don't know for sure as I can't really dig into the games guts to see if that's one of the references anchors they built into it. Much like how dropping sticks is a cheeky way to have a "compass" of sorts. (though not something I'm not willing to take advantage of... I do think people should know it is/was there)