LkP

(stalker game)

On my way to BR from the Spence's homestead, for once I decided to use the marsh path instead of the more safe upper path. I avoided the bear, and just when I arrived near the train line, I heard a wolf dying.
I had absolutely no doubt about the sound, but I couldn't see it. I went a few step forward and ...

The body is still fresh. But I'm not the one who made the kill. Da hell ?

I took the screenshots in order to fill a bug report, and went on a few steps.
Then, I thought maybe I was missing something.
So I went back, explored around the carcass, and climbed a little to reach the small plateau that is leading to the upper path.

There was a dead man body, along with a bow and a broken arrow.

Is the game telling me a story in survival mode ?
If so, is it something known I'm just discovering ?
If not, how can it be a coincidence that the wolf died just when I arrived ? Did somebody have a bug like that before ?

In the link you gave, the challenge seems to be all interloper's settings, customized only for a few.
So no rifle. And cold.
Still, you can choose to also change the rifle setting to play with it, and make the challenge your own. But with the rest on interloper, it may not be so easy.

thanks for the comments, appreciated 🙏

On 2/7/2021 at 10:58 PM, Cranky said:

I just started a stalker survival run. I’ve played a lot of voyager and have found that once you’ve got your basic tools and clothes gathered, the game can be really easy going provided you don’t let stupid happen. 
 

Some would argue that it's the same for Stalker, once full geared you're not so much in danger. But it's also because you learned (the maps, the wolves, etc) and you "instinctively" make less mistakes.

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My only addition to this is that when hunting bears and moose you should make use of crouched spaces.

Yeah, I just found a bear cave where you can wait for him crouched in the back of it. You just have to be patient.

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I thought I killed a bear and approached it to harvest only to find out it wasn’t dead and it then got attacked

I tried to give a fair warning about that in the initial post
If you pay attention, you can hear it breathing (or snoring, don't know).

Looks like my "Ubear Meats" delivery has arrived !

We agreed on the tip of my arrow right on the spot...

I don't know if you try it, so I'll suggest

spam the crouch key while moving left and right as much as you can
try to understand when you can move up and where you're going back down
step left and right where you feel you have a chance, in different directions

I've been trapped before, and managed to escape. But once, despite all tries, I had to accept my defeat to the lord of bugs.

(and yeah, I don't play the game when updated, until at least the first patch...)

Respect J.

There will be ups and downs, but you'll ride that beast to make your journey even better.

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We also wanted to freshen things up this year and do something different that would perhaps embrace a bit of a stronger “horror” vibe than we normally would in the game.

and you made it !

Thanks for the event.  I didn't play long and, since I try not to have it spoiled by reading the forum, I have still no idea what I'm supposed to do, except survive 😝 (run baby, run ! that, I understood). For me that's part of TLD's challenge to have at first no clew about how to play, and learn it as it goes, often the hard way...
I guess I'll have a few hours of *fun*, and that's appreciated to renew the interest in the game.

Debian / Nvidia 418.152

no problem to launch a game, previous saves were available but I've started a new Stalker one.
I have not detected issues that would make the game unplayable, I had some short freezes but that could be a hardware limitation on my side (my hdd is getting tired). Display seemed to be a more precise (especially for objects at long distance) and animation smoother, but that's just impressions.

a few details :
z-fighting is still a thing (check the books)

[bug not seen in regular version, to my knowledge] pointing an object gets weird sometimes:

I'll try again if HL signals here a new version.

thanks for the update, cheers to the whole team

@jeffpenghere we go, indeed . Thanks for taking the time to rationally consider the matter.
As a side note and introduction, I have a very "problem solving" mindset. Yet, as you stated, in every project you have to put aside things instead of trying to solve how to do it. But that's just not how I think. I believe that our specie manage to evolve because we are all different with different approaches, and sometimes they fit well together to move forward, on any topic. So I'll focus on solving the issues, not if it worth the pain. I'm in no position to judge anyway. I totally respect the decision to not put that feature in TLD, I just disagree on most of the points people are making about "why". And we can disagree (not just you and me but all participants of the forum) without putting too much ego in the balance, I hope. So I'm stating my disagreement.
I appreciate reading your text, I will just try to be as clear as possible in my answer.

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1. The obvious develoment challenge

There's a lot of examples of multiplayer games managing to deal with servers and latency issues. A ton. No, it's not trivial, yes, there are difficulties. Maybe I should search how Unity is providing support on this topic, but ok, point taken.
I don't see refactoring the code as really challenging. It can be bothering, since you're not really "creating". Technically, providing changes in variables for one or two players shouldn't be that hard. Even if that's a pain in "wherever you dislike having pain" to go through a whole program that wasn't thought in advance for some modularity, I don't see it to take more hours of work than preparing all the textures and animations for all actions (there's a lot of actions in this great game).
Yes, there are difficulties to implement a multiplayer mode. And yes, most of them are obvious... So, except if I missed something that really can't be man-made, I don't see a real challenge.
 

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2. Timelapsing with more than one player

On 7/8/2020 at 6:24 PM, LkP said:

if you imagine a 2 players game and think about what "cooperation" means

Sorry, but most of your arguments don't answer this and extrapolate on "parties" of players. With my (not so wide) knowledge, and as I clearly said, I came to the conclusion that "multiplayer" in TLD should be restrain to 2.

If someone is not able to cooperate, sure, they will not enjoy the ride. If you're a bit more into playing with others, just another one in that scenario, all it takes is two people to agree on synchronizing, more or less, their actions. And maybe a "cancel" button while sleeping (as you may have start to consider).
Maybe I should make an example, even if I'm really reluctant to :
You're playing TLD-4-2. You really want to chop that fir limb. Your mate has no choice. You need fir wood, you love fir wood, fir wood is your life
You tell him/her/they/it/yourself ( last one is in case you're mastering playing alone on two machines at the same time and get a bit schizophrenic doing so ), where did that parenthesis started ? ok... so, you tell  your mate :
- I need a 1 hour time-lapse.
- Again ? For what now ?
- FIR WOOOOOOOD !
- ok, I'll cook, at least we can do something with it...
- heeeeere I goooo !
and you're indeed staring at your screen, hopefully with an animation of your hands actually chopping that sweat limb. Because your mate is tired of your obsession with fire fuel, and makes you pay a bit for it, it may last for a few seconds. But deep down, it's a good mate. Mate starts a fire, your animation accelerate for the same time-lapse. Fire is done. Staring at animation again. Mate is cooking 1/2 liter water, because he's not using medieval measurement standards. Time is moving forward again.
Yet, you're still chopping. And, guess what, your mate is so nice that he comes beside you and start the same action, dividing the rest of the time needed by two.
Yes, you've waited 10 seconds more for it to be done, sorry for that.

Instead of worthless fir, put a bear corpse and just imaging.

Bottomline, there are some good ways of dealing with time-lapsing, ways that increase and ways that lower the diffi... what comes next ?

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3. Resource distribution and difficulty

As you can imagine, multiplayer has its own balance (some actions are easier, others are more difficult). There are some things to consider making different between 1 or 2 players games to maintain a good balance, not so much from what I'm able to consider.
Coordinate your actions, cooperate. Or pay the price... I won't put an example on every situations that would be a problem, on others that would go smoothly. and answer every single details. It is doable, in a fun way. If it is or not the nature of the game, that's an opinion.

There's too much food for one in Interloper, do you really need to add more for the second player ?
Do we have a cloth problem, or any other that some players feel really really really important for them to survive  ? Maybe, but I personally get bored before the 5000 in-game day, so if we reach 1000 that could be enough.

How do we deal with a player dropping off from a server ? Game is paused, second player can leave or wait. If both leave, they can come back together on the server and launch the last save.
By the way, I was expecting some questions like "how do we save, when ?" or "how can we change map ?". That are no details.
And

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So ..... bottomline

yes, I'd love to share that game "live". I have no real expectation for it to happen. That doesn't mean I didn't put some real thoughts in it, and try to see if it is achievable anywhere else than in my own mind.

To conclude with a personal point of view :

As I already stated (not so) few lines above, if a 2 players mode is fitting or not the game spirit is just an opinion.
And if it is not yours, I guess you don't play Wintermute, because there's only at most a trace of "loneliness identity". Yet, that  is the mode the devs had in mind since the beginning for this game.

2 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

For very good reasons which can be read in a lot of good posts about this.

Yeah ? I've never seen a good post answering this. Just repeating the same arguments doesn't make them true, let alone good.

There is no technical difficulty in implementing this (if you imagine a 2 players game and think about what "cooperation" means). There's a lot of work on characters' animation, sure. And the devs can choose not to put effort in it, of course.
All the rest is just opinions about what the game should be. Even if stated as a "True Eternal Truth", they're just opinions. And if the same people have the right to express the same opinion on every topic of the 'wish list' forum, maybe every other user can express once their wish of a coop mode, maybe...

I also prefer the old one,
but I disagree with that

On 6/26/2020 at 9:14 PM, oplli said:

The one that we have right niw does not let us shoot at more than 25 meters without missing.

(stalker, rifle skill 4)

On 6/25/2020 at 6:03 AM, darkscaryforest said:

Wow so even one wolf struggle is doom in interloper? Or is it just like that until you can secure a weapon and have protective clothing?

Serenity gave you a good answer.
To be clear : yes, with a weapon, even a prybar, and enough protective clothing, you'll survive a wolf. But it's rare you're full on health, it's rare you're not already freezing, and most of the time you get into a struggle because you took a risk to access a resource you really lack, etc. You won't survive all of that combined.

3 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

sorry to bother y'all, but after I did a little more digging, I came across this list of  known moose spawn points.  So from what I understand, Look for the tree rubs where possible. If they are present, one will eventually spawn, but don’t camp the area. Ensure you are entering an region (or leaving the region) and come back to check. If you setup camp right where the Moose should spawn, you’re unlikely to ever see it. If you do see one, take it down because it could vanish at any point and not return for days.
So I just wanted to share what I found...

Sometimes the lists you can find are not up-to-date, I wonder if some players have intel to share.
I totally agree with "If you do see one, take it down because it could vanish at any point". Don't risk your life for it, but don't think that you can just go drop your stuff nearby. Just entering a house and come back can make you miss the opportunity.
I think that for some spawn points, if you kill the bear that share the same area it will increase the chance of a moose appearing. I'm not totally sure, but it seems to be a factor.

Some remarks to discuss :

Mountain Town
St. Christopher’s Church (Pond to the East) : that's on the same level that the trailer, not really nearby the church

Broken Railroad
Hunter’s Blind (Northeast) – Tree Rubs : it's not near the hunter's blind (but that's a great spot for bear and wolves), the moose is closer to the access gate to the lodge (on the other side of the bridge, along the cliff)

Coastal Highway
Coastal Townsite : I've never seen one there, I've just seen a post talking about it. That can be a great spot !

Desolation Point
Stone Church  / Matt’s Truck
Aren't these two just one and the same ? I've seen the moose on the bridge or uphill nearby the church, but I thought it was just its whole area.

Hibernia Processing : really ? same as coastal townsite, I wish I'd seen one there...

Hushed River Valley
Moose Overlook (West) – Tree Rubs : the Moose Overlook ... overlooks the spawn point in the valley, in fact

15 hours ago, darkscaryforest said:

1. Would you say that I shouldn't be afraid to have more wolf exposure or is it better to continue to learn paths where no wolves are?  Are there even wolf free paths in other regions?

If you plan to play on interloper or hard custom mode, train now in stalker how to avoid wolves, and consider a struggle as a lost (but don't be afraid, in Stalker with some good clothes, you'll survive and be able to learn more )
There is now safe heaven, only less risky places. I've died in paths where there is no chance for a wolf to spawn, but they came because a bear pushed them away, or because they followed a prey, and you can't always predict.

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2. How many days do you find yourself doing in a session?

I've never checked, but I guess it depends if you're "settled" or not. If you have a good camp base with everything you need, there's nothing much to do per day.
Early game, there's not enough hours of daylight to do what you'd like, so you have to play more to be able to pass a day... and survive it.

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3. What do you think, should I leave the safety of my Riken and go somewhere new or should I stay and power to level 5 on all my skills..break 100 or maybe even 500 days?

I play Stalker to learn the animal behavior, test the limits... and try the guns. So, if you play to raise your levels or/and reach a time limit, good for you !
Anyway, if your clothes protection is enough, you don't need level 5 on anything to go exploring, you will be able to learn by mistake. But there's no goal in this game, so if your fun is to be the more safe you can be, why not.

Perfectly clear report, to my opinion.
I can confirm the "understeer" bug, having played "catch me if you can" with a running moose around a tree.

I'm not sure to understand your question, but if you're asking if anybody can share it with Hinterland, if think @Admin can take the actions required.

by the way, I like the Chinese interface for the skills, as shown in the first video. I may give it a try even if I can't read it 😃

15 hours ago, Griffen said:

 Perhaps allow survivors to reinforce the insulation of a safe house to improve the indoor temperature.

Yes, please, let me fix that roof in mountainer's hut with wood and hides

I've redone the decoration of the mountaineer's hut. What do you think of it ?

At first, I wasn't sure about the choice made by Hinterland to support WHO.
At first, I wasn't sure about the choice made by Hinterland to support BLM.
Not that I don't agree with the causes they work on, but I was wondering if it was the right call for a game company. After all, that's not what we, at first, are expecting from them.

At first, I wasn't sure Ralph had the best answer, the best behavior, in regard of the company, but also for the causes he was trying to defend.

Now, we've seen what it triggered, here, on Steam, on social networks.
Now, we see the real face of a small but sadly loud part of the humanity, of a part of the kind of community we have around this game.
Now, we have a small glimpse of how it feels like to be a minority, to be racialized constantly, to have to face the insults with no real right to answer back. We see how often it happens, even if it is not done by the majority of people, but because every day you cross the path of one of these trolls who think they are clever, better, stronger because of the amount of melamin their cells produce...

Now, I fully support Hinterland. Thank you. And thanks for the trolls for reminding me that I also have to fight against racism and for social justice in my everyday life, that I have to speak up.

Black Lives Matter.

First, choose the field you know, the land you like

Me ? I love the wilderness, so, as soon as I'm geared up, I'm heading to HRV or TWM. That time, I went HRV first (and then TWM)

I'm not good at close range, so I use the terrain to my advantage

If you can, lure your game to a place you can easily anticipate their moves. Put your aim just before them, and don't hesitate. Trust your gut.

I may not be confident with close targets, but I really enjoy long shots. Of course, I miss a lot, but sometimes it works. And when it doesn't, at least I have a chance to retreat safely (always check your exit before shooting, an angry bear taught me that...)

Talking about angry bear, always respect the game (even when that's the third arrow you put in it, it may not be dead yet...)

don't kill for the pleasure

respect their habitat

learn to not shot
The old me would have shot, half out of hungriness, half out of fear. The wise me knew that at least 2 of his brothers were roaming nearby. So, why kill it ? I may miss and trigger an attack, I may kill it but I won't be able to harvest safely. It granted me a long howl, and quickly disappeared with the rest of the pack.

You may even end up with a new friend


(did someone try to feed them with cattails ?)

Train for long shots.
Here's two shots in a row, to clear my path to some looting. The first died on the spot. I was inspecting it, wondering if I had time to take the meat before the other one would been back, when I saw the said second one reappearing from the top of the hill. He went back there running...

have fun, enjoy your environment !

I don't play often on stalker, but I really liked the trip

On 5/22/2020 at 7:37 PM, Semmel said:

You should get a trait for visiting all locations on the map at least once for all the play-throughs: you dont get sprained ankles from slopes any more. (such a pain these things!). Reason is: you have been everywhere and can walk like a dear on any terrain without problems.
 

Good idea. Maybe not removing it completely, but lowering the probability would still be a nice achievement. It could be an ability mixed with other requirements, to raise the bonus by steps.

Men, such aggressiveness around a simple proposal... If you don't like it, just say so, don't bite the poster.
As an option, I wouldn't activate it. But since some may need/prefer it, it's a good idea, and doesn't look like asking for the moon.

4 hours ago, wizard03 said:

Yeah, I still got issues of animal animations not being displayed correctly. Lets watch a wolf stand still and howl loudly while his body scoots across the snow at breakneck speeds

https://gamerdvr.com/gamer/wizardo3/video/85933759

second problem is a fleeing wolf instantly shifting to killing mode. But maybe that's the new behavior...

'Woohoo two hotfixes in a row !'
*launch an interloper game with a few days of survival, already on his way to the summit

I crouch to try to detect the roaming bear before it detects me. A few meters away comes a wolf. That's not his usual territory but maybe it was pushed off tracks by the bear. Anyway, now it's here, going straight toward me, it must have detect my sent but hasn't see me yet. It's too close to flee, I stay crouched and draw a stone. Bam ! In the nose ! The wolf start calling its mummy and run 2 meters forward, passing just to my left, smurf-turn while still yelping and jump to my throat.
 

*aaarf, going back to Voyager, killing anything on sight to stay safe

Man, you can't just reverse the meaning of a quote.
Using the same strategy :

6 hours ago, JMK said:

Timberwolves are great

what ? did you ever play in interloper ?

P.S.: I wonder what ( 😛 ) means...