UpUpAway95

I think it's OK given all the extra "gadgets" people keep asking to be added into the game.  No point in having all that stuff if it's basically impossible for anyone to carry any of it from one place to another without making several return trips... lets see, lantern, whetstone, revolver, paint can, rifle cleaning kit, sewing kit, cloth, ammunition, flares, marine flares, flashlight, coal, sticks, matches, magnifying glass, hatchet, hacksaw, heavy hammer, lead, casings, gunpowder, bow, arrows, snare... goggles (for snowblindness injury), compass, thermos, etc.

Nice how you've arranged the different meats to not touch each other... my kids used to do that with all the food on their plates, too.

The youtubers you are probably watching are doing a lot to manage their resources that you probably would never easily pick up on while watching.  They do usually instinctively manage their warmth, fatigue, thirst and hunger to fit their gameplay style.   They've learned where they can push and where doing so would be a critical error. 

When you are overburdened, the amount you are slowed depends on a number of factors 1) How much weight you are over your limit.  2) That limit lessens the more fatigued you are.  3) The risk of a sprain increases if you are overburdened and varies also by the sort of terrain you are walking on.  You cannot start to climb a rope when overburdened and if your either your energy or stamina deplete while you are still climbing, you will start to slide down and may fall from the rope... resulting in injury or death depending on the distance you fell.  If you are not overencumbered when you start your climb, you run the risk of becoming overencumbered as you climb since your carry capacity will fall the more fatigued you become.

Hypothermia risk is just the warning, but hypothermia does result in increased fatigue and loss of health.  Shivering makes aiming a lot more difficult.  You cannot fire a rifle with a sprained wrist and you cannot run with a sprained ankle.  You cannot climb a rope with either.  You cannot read while sick, tired, hungry, thirsty,  or injured... or if it's too dark.

Youtubers will usually make decision about whether or not they can afford to lose a little health here and there due to cold or thirst or hunger in order to get to specific points on the map where they know they can find shelter or food or essential tools or if it is a routing that will enable them to avoid places where predators are frequently encountered.  All of this comes through their memorization of the various maps of which the game world is comprised.

The feats do make the characters stronger, but many of them can do just as well when they start characters without using any of their feats... they are just that good at playing the game... which is no indication about how well anyone might survive in the same circumstances IRL.  It is a game after all.

39 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

@UpUpAway95

I can understand why you might see it that way... but I still offer another point of view.

The survivor we start with isn't "weaker," just not experienced.
The Feats simply provide a reward to long-term players, giving extra benefit to carry over from run to run.

The character we all start with, is the base line.  I'd posit that the character is not "disadvantaged" by lack of feats... but rather, the Feats only grant advantage (to the players who've earned them).  That is to say, the "extra experience" was earned by the player, and is a boon to a new character (giving them extra advantage that a "normal" character starting out wouldn't have).
 

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This part of the post is not directed at anyone in particular... just more a general restating of my opinion on the subject. 

I think Feats (themselves) are simply extra buffs that essentially just serve to make the game a little bit easier.  To gain those extra advantages, the player has to earn them in whatever way Hinterland prescribes (and as of now that means earning them though the "standard" modes of play).

I think it's reasonable that if I decided I wanted to change the game by tweaking a series of custom settings to better suit my personal tastes... that it's fair to give up feat progress in exchange for that freedom.

As I've stated many times already, I agree with Hinterland that these rewards should be earned in the way they intended (which again appears to be through the standard modes of play).

I know many folks don't agree... and that's okay. 

You agree then that comparatively, the character started without feats is weaker than the character started with feats... or else there would be no "reward" to those players who have "earned" them while grinding away (not necessarily playing) in standard difficulty modes.  What Hinterland intended is not the reality of what is happening given the largely flawed system they developed to "deliver" their vision regarding feats.  Again, I asked any long-term player why they actually object to new players just being given these "character customization" skill points as they are habitually given similar points to allocate in most RPG's out there... and providing such points to allow the player some room to pick and choose how to strengthen individual characters in their own ways does not detract from whatever you're doing in your own single-player runthrough of those games.  Nothing now can change how you "earned" your feats.  What changes HL might make and what new players might do with those changes (like enjoy their playthroughs instead of grinding them) has no bearing on whatever you did back then.

Furthermore, Hinterland appear to be moving away from the system you're uploading (correction - upholding) as their intention.  The Darkwalker Feat is the first feat they've issued that cannot be earned in a regular Survival Mode playthorugh, but requires that the Darkwalker Challenge be completed.

11 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

@LoneWolf5841

Your short quote of one of my earlier posts seems to me, to be a little bit of "cherry-picking."
I've not expressed any desire to control how other's play... it seems you have just taken that phrase out of context.

I've said my piece on this topic already... However, if folks read my posts in their entirely, I think it's fairly clear that my opinion on this is rooted in what seemed to me to be Hinterlands' apparent intentions, and that I prefer it.

And to restate some of what I discussed before...

I do tend to think that the Feats were intended to be a reward earned by playing the modes of the game that were intended by Hinterland, and not ones designed/tailored by players (via custom game settings).  I think this is more than a fair trade off.

I say this because, it seems to me that the "standard" modes being designed and curated by Hinterland, thereby represent "normal" play. 
Where as "Custom" is not directly curated by Hinterland, because it permits the player to modify and/or overhaul the experience to better suit their personal tastes.

I do think that Feats ought to be a reward for "standard" play... rather than for our own custom version of the game.
This seems to be what was intended by Hinterland, and I agree with them.

 

 

However, they don't reward "standard play" - They encourage repetitive grinding type play even within standardized difficulty levels that ultimately defeats the normal play of the game... however, well intended Hinterland might have been when they set them up.  They also arbitrarily force new players to play with characters that are weaker and less customizable (in an RPG sense) than those of players who have put more hours into the game (again, regardless of whether or not those hours spent have been engaged in thoughtful "normal"play or "exploitive grinding" type play within a "standardized difficulty.  That's bass ackwards, IMO.  Other RPG's allocate a set standard of skill points that players can allocate to enhance their choice of skills to start with regardless of difficulty level.  TLD forces new players to "earn" these basic skill points first... and forces them, to some degree, to earn them in game modes that they might find less engaging and enjoyable than game modes they can legitimately customize using menus provided by Hinterland (not mods).  Conversely, the player can earn "achievements" in those custom game modes... why?

On 12/20/2020 at 10:54 AM, bobbyem said:

Hi! 

First off, I want to say I love the game. I've played it almost 300 hours and I keep coming back when new content drops. I really like the new location "Ash Canyon", it's very dynamic with its long snaking ravines and large open burnt forests. The rope bridges are really dramatic to walk on and watch longingly from a distance(how do I get up there?). There is much drama to be had on this map, climbing up and down the many cliffs of this huge map. Personally I find the maps with human made structures to be the best. Mainly because starting on the harder difficulties there is zero chance of survival if  I can't find clothes and tools. Even though there is crafting that is pretty much useless when starting out with nothing. Having man made structures containing anything as basic as cloth is a glimmer of hope in those extreme situations. 

Anyway, as long as there is more content; especially more maps, I will keep coming back for my survival fix. 

So here are some suggestions:

1. Climbing badge. So climbing the ropes, especially ascending is a dramatical endeavor and I get why it is so costly for the character. Carrying all that gear, in the cold would probably be impossible, still I would like to see a badge that could give us a far off bonus for braving those climbs. 10% slower stamina drain from climbing. 
2. Candles. So I often find myself with lots of hours in the dark, having nothing to do. I keep picking up any bit of cloth, mushrooms etc to have something to do during those long bits of dark. Finding books is awesome but the problem is light. I can multitask with boiling water or cooking meat while having a fire going, there is like three in game minutes to spare before a can of water boils dry when doing one hour of reading. That is okay but I would really love to have a candle in the game. It would make sense to find candles in the cabins and these would only be used for light(stationary). It would only be useable inside and have no other uses than lighting for reading/crafting/repairing. 
3. Placing objects. I think many players would appreciate this. Just like with the lantern and the bedroll I would love to be able to place objects where I want them. Going out for a scavenge run and coming back with an extra rifle or cans of food It would be a awesome to be able to stock up my shelves. Having them inside containers is fine but think this would really be a nice addition for us that want to create a nice home in the darkness.
4. Compass. I am guessing this is a common request and I could see the devs not putting this in the game for a reason. That said I find the navigation in this game really hard at times. Even though I have played all the maps multiple times I find the map pretty much useless at times. We get no real indication for elevation and for some reason the map doesn't even center on my location when I use it. Again I can see this being a choice that devs have made but I don't like it. It makes me even more confused about where I am than I need to. Most parts of the maps have very similar features and a compass would be great help in navigating the terrain. 
5. Thermos. A way to store hot water to carry with us on long cold trips. Heavy but useful. There would be tons of them in place like Bear Island.
6. Mice. Little critters that can be trapped using deadfalls inside of buildings. Having food/gear stored incorrectly will make them destroy and or eat it when you are not looking. These could be semi random encounters as not to pester the player to much. 

Like I said, I love the game. It's really inspiring and as long as the content keeps coming I will keep playing it and recommending it to friends.       

1) There is already a feat that increases stamina refresh, including when one takes a short rest on a ledge when climbing.  Coffee and stims refresh the fatique component, and now crampons improve climbing further... and good weight management helps as well.  I don't think another feat to "grind" for (e.g. climb 1,000 ropes) is called for.

2) Don't really care either way about candles.

3) Placing objects can be done with any object that is able to be picked up.  The rest are part of the art background which would take a major reprogramming effort to make them "interactable."  Not worth it, IMO.

4) Compasses don't work with the lore of the event that brought Will's plane down.  There are many, many ways to discover direction and to mark paths in the game already.  Using spray cans, locations anywhere can now even be marked on the map.  The addition of compasses specifically is not worth it, IMO.  Just another gadget that takes up weight in the backpack and, therefore, will I would likely either not bother picking it up or wind up leaving it in a container someplace and never using it.

5) Thermos.  I see a problem with it in that the teas and water are all coded and identified by their containers not the liquid... and there is no way to pour a liquid in the game.  I think this would take a lot of effort to change to accommodate a thermos container that, realistically could be carrying any hot drink.  Hot water currently has no benefit.  It satiates thirst and does not warm the character, unlike the teas, so carrying water in the thermos is of no benefit anyways.  Again, just another gadget taking up weight that I would likely not use.

6) What do you mean about trapping using "deadfalls."  Trappable mice would become too convenient a means of "indoor hunting" for food, IMO.  They should be like the crows, there but untouchable.  Recent discussions on the "Risky Meat" thread about animals stealing meat stored outdoors is more relevant, iMO.  Mice could be used as an excuse for allowing food stored on the floor to despawn when it hits a "ruined" condition... and I'm in favor of that happening for reasons I've already stated on that thread.

11 hours ago, Lone Trekker said:

Perhaps it would have a trade off. Lack of feathers to gain other benefits.

Inner peace: gradually restore condition, restful sleep, and/or cabin fever reduction.

 

I don't really see it as an issue.  There are essentially no indoor corpses that have feathers dropping around them and I really don't see too many players bothering to bury every outdoor corpse they find lying in the snow and thereby creating a "lack of feathers" in the game world.  At any rate, players can just leave the prop deer carcasses completely alone (that is, not open them to investigate the amount of meat they have on them) and they will stay in the game world indefinitely and feathers will respawn around them.

I do think buried corpses should not continue to be accessible as "containers" and feathers should not drop around them.  It makes no logical sense for carrion crows to gather over a body they can't access nor does it make sense to be able to continue to access and effectively reloot a buried corpse.

1) Take some practice shots form varying distances at a fishing hut or other build and note where the marks from the bullet striking appear in relation to where you're sighting as you aim.  This is also a good idea when learning to shoot the bow or the rifle.  Practicing on rabbits, as suggested by another poster, can also help you figure out how the weapon accuracy works in game.

2) The target is most easily hit when you line them up near the center of your screen.

3) The easiest difficulty in Wintermute plays very much like Pilgrim mode in Survival.  That is, the wolves most frequently will run away from you rather than attack.  However, if you aim a weapon at them and they see you do this, they will be incited to charge you.  In Pilgrim survival mode (and in easiest difficulty Wintermute), it is very easy to kill wolves that are feeding on their own prey (rabbits or deer).  This enables you to sneak up on them from the side without being detected and take almost point-blank aim at them... much easier than trying to shoot them as they are running away from you.

4) Just because the animal flees doesn't necessarily mean you've missed them entirely.  Check for a blood trail leading away from the spot where you shot at them.  If this trail is present for a little ways leading away from that spot (where there is usually are larger splash of blood), this is a fairly sure indicator that that animal will eventually bleed out and die.  While following a blood trail, it will often just disappear.  This usually just means that animal got far enough ahead of you that the tracks faded and despawned.  The animal will still likely eventually die and crows will usually gather where that animal fell.  You do have several hours (possibly 4 game days) to find the carcass before it degrades and despawns.

In any difficulty except Interloper (or Custom where Baseline Resources is set to Low), knives will be found as relatively common loot.  The "Improvised Knife" is the only knife that can be manufactured at a forge and it is heavier and somewhat inferior to the knives you find as loot (so you probably won't want to waste your scrap metal and time forging them if you're not playing an Interloper-level run).  Knives and other tools seem to more commonly spawn as loose items next to human corpses than they do inside containers (although they can spawn there too).

There are innumerable regular workbenches in the game world.  Major shelters in the easier zones generally have one in them.  There are only 4 zones I can think of that do not have at least one regular workbench within them.  Two of these are transition zones between two major areas.  Conversely, there are only 3 forges and only 1 mill and these are situated in the zones rated at higher difficulty.

Absolutely worth it.  Story mode is the reason I bought TLD, and seeing the story finished is one of the major reasons I still come to play it.  Furthermore, it is what is basically driving the addition of new zones to the game and changes like the major improvements made to Pleasant Valley when Chapter 3 was released.  I don't think Survival Mode would be half of what it is today if Story Mode wasn't inspiring/influencing the devs.  It would be truly tragic if the devs abandoned their story now... it would probably also mean the abandonment of new additions to Survival Mode.

As far as the writing, I find it easily on par with many RPG's... and YES, I as likely to replay it as I am any RPG I own.

Re:  Achievement Data.. As opposed to the 1.62% who have completed the Stone-Age Sniper achievement on Xbox One or the 0.04% who have the Challenge Mastery Achievement on Xbox One... notwithstanding as well that the Stone-Age Sniper can be achieved within Story Mode as well as in Survival Mode. 

Or how about compared to the 8% on TrueAchievements who have survived 10 days in a Survival Mode game.  On TrueAchievements, BTW (just sp I'm citing data from one source), 18% have completed Episode 1, 6% have completed Stone-Age Sniper, and 0% have completed Challenge Mastery.

On 4/21/2020 at 4:01 AM, peteloud said:

I would prefer to see Feat Progression in straight Voyager and Stalker modes only.  Completing those feats in Pilgrim or simplified custom games is too east and doesn't deserve the Feat award.

I'm sorry, but lighting 1,000 fires has nothing to do with the difficulty of the game mode in which it is done; that is, it does not require a greater amount of skill to light a fire be it in Pilgrim or in Interloper.  If one dies due to the a wolf attack, one merely has to start a new game save.  They don't lose the progression they made on the feat, so the ability to "stay alive" is totally irrelevant.  It's merely a gauge of total hours spent in the game and is equally "easy" in any mode... just more time consuming on some modes than others overall.  Spending time in blizzards is actually more quickly accomplished in Interloper than in Pilgrim since blizzard frequency is higher in interloper... one just needs to keep a good fire going in a "outdoor" location and coal, which accomplishes that, is more common in Interloper than in Pilgrim.  It makes 0 sense to exclude Custom from feat progression.

I prefer the trend they are now setting with the Darkwalker Feat... earned during challenges only.  Either one completes the chlallenge or they don't... and there is only one difficulty level to the challenge.  So, very likely this change would only affect the feats already in place which you already haven acquired.  So, why really are you objecting?

ETA:  To get eh firestarting feat in Interloper mode, I could accomplish it conceivably, by starting 83 to, say 100 new Interloper files, sprinting to the nearest "guaranteed" match loot site while picking up 12 sticks and 12 cattail heads or other form of tinder... drop a knee in a cave and burn up that box of matches... collapse the file and start another.  Is it hard? No.  Is it fun? NO!  Much better for feats to be earned within file saves that the individual player actually wants to play.

ETA2:  The more I think about... I really think Hinterland should just give each new player the full slate of feats when they first open the game and give each difficulty level the same number of slots.  This would allow everyone a way to merely "customize" their starting character on par with RPG's (e.g. the Fallout franchise where the player can allocation SPECIAL points to various skill areas at the start).

In a very real sense, on ANY difficulty level, the current feat system disadvantages new players simply because they are new players.

Just thought I'd add a link to this newspaper article that ran in The Calgary Herald about the province's (Alberta, Canada) "lost" ski hills.

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/on-the-trail-of-albertas-lost-ski-hills

I'm sure British Columbia has its share of the as well.

4 hours ago, Dan_ said:

I agree with the idea but I don't think this is technically feasible without a lot of work, specifically the random wolf spawning spots everywere, if that's what the OP means.

Remember in older updates when new zones or objects and props within a "scene" were introduced and caused lots of issues with wolves attacking through fences, ectoplasming their way through walls and sometimes not being able to find a path to the player and engaging in all sorts of weird behaviours? I'm pretty sure they changed and improved the pathing algorithm a lot of that effort went into scene design to simplify pathfinding, rather than make an even more complex algorithm I'd assume, given the game expanded to consoles ( even the switch now ) and these are not the most powerful machines on earth so the pathing must be simple for the game to run well ( CPU wise ).

That was an issue before, though HL have been improving the game substantially and good and fast animal AI was something the game lacked before, they might have improved that a lot and my concerns might be irrelevant. I'm just throwing this out there as a consideration. I love the idea, but as a programmer I'd wager the amount of work involved would immediately put HL devs off the idea.

As a player, I'd love to have random wolf spawns, hell yeah. 

In regards to the loot tables, they were introduced to guarantee tool spawns given loper random spawns are few and far between for high value items. I recall a playthrough before HRV was introduced were I looted the entire map and only found two wool toques through bad RNG. Imagine having only one hammer through the dozen or so regions we have now? To me it would be awesome, to a Loper newcomer it would elicit complaints, I'm sure.

Having more loot tables would be a good addition IMO, and it shouldn't be way too difficult to adjust. ( I assume they're simple scene configs, I might be wrong ). To me they do not spoil the experience because through looting the maps and hitting all major buildings and looting spots you'll eventually have more tools and good-level items than you realistically need in a game. Plus the only essential is a hammer, you can find enough scrap laying around everywere and the other tools and clothing you'll have to craft anyway. The loot tables also enable the Loper newbies to get a footing into forging and using the bow, so they serve a purpose. 

To end this huge and juicy steak of text, remember than last than 2% ( I think ) of the player base plays Interloper on a regular basis. The fact that this difficulty even exists with all of it's unique quirks is more than I could ever ask from HL, honestly. 

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text. TLDR: Agree with the ideas, don't think both of them will come to fruition, for reasons outlined. 

Stay safe and warm out there ( Inside IRL, please ). 

Before we say there should be more spawn points for wolves on the map... How many places are there where wolves can possibly spawn and what is the actual chance on each level of the "Wolf Spawn Chance" setting where any given site might spawn a wolf?  Does anyone even really know this ainxw even stalker doesn't use the highest setting and each individual spawn point does have a percentage chance of not spawning a wolf at any particular time.  If we increase the number of locations where wolves might possibly spawn on each map, we effectively increase the "density" of those locations... meaning we increase the possibility of more adjacent spawn points spawning wolves at the same time should the player hit an unlucky RNG.

Presumably, there is also a cap of the total number of animals of each type that can be active at any one point in time, particularly on lower-end systems where having too many active at once would crash the game.

There are still a few "small town" ski hills in Alberta that I think would be on a scale appropriate for Great Bear.  Forty years ago, many of these hills had just a single rope tow (no charis) and a prefab oilfield camp type set of trailers (think of the grouping of trailers at the Hibernia site in DP).  These trailers served as the kitchen (usually run by volunteer parents) and the "lodge'  a row or two of picnic tables.  There were some porta-potties nearby.  Of course, to use a rope tow during an aurora, usable skis would have to be added. 😀

This sounds like an OK idea... BUT I would significantly shorten the requirements for most of them.  For example, in Interloper starting 1,000 fires is a very long run or more likely many longish Interloper runs chained together or an innumerable amount of "average" interloper runs.  Not impossible, but not necessarily very enjoyable a thing to "worry" over.

It used to be that you could not make progression on any feats while on a custom run.  If that hasn't been changed in the time I've been away from playing TLD, then I'd like to see an ability to earn feats during custom runs (keep in mind we're not talking about badges or achievements, but just feats).  If that means separating out a set of feats to be used only in custom runs (as described above), so be it.  However, my preference is still that feats should be able to be earned over any sort of run since most of them merely reflect a lot of hours spent playing the game overall.  With the exception of the new Darkwalker Feat (which is earned like a badge but used like a feat), feats merely encourage "grinding" for a small perk at all levels.

I gave up on trying to figure out the purpose for that rope.  I think it might be a question that gets answered whenever Chapter 4 of Wintermute releases.

45 minutes ago, Serenity said:

I like it. I see no need to rush for the summit though. There are some nice things there, but the main attraction is the flare pistol. And you can get that from the Ravine too.

What I like it for is the two boxes of matches (one in the three-way cave, one in the hut), plus a tool (mag lens, hammer or hacksaw) and maybe a clothing item. That is Interloper loot of course. Lower difficulties have more stuff. I make my way to the hut, maybe spent the night there and then head for PV where there is more great loot in the farmhouse. Then I return and do the summit about a month later.

Yes, that is by far the more sane approach.  I don't deny it; but I like trying for the summit right away when I get a start high on TWM simply because it is the ultimate "all or nothing" roll.  If one commits to the climb and there is no hacksaw at the summit, one is dead, end of run... all in.  If there is a hacksaw at the summit and some other lucky factors happen such that I make the climb, I'm pretty much assured with food, matches, and clothing & the flare pistol to get back down (shinnying, no ropes) and off to a good run.  Whenever I start lower down (near Crystal Lake and this last time near the entrance to Ash Canyon, I will make my way to 3-way cave and the Mountaineer's Hut for sure... although I admit on that last start, it was very tempting to head into Ash Canyon... and probably a quicker death.  (All in all, my non-custom Loper runs never last long.  I think my PB is about 25 days, but who says dying quickly can't be fun!)

Have you tried going into the Custom game menus and increasing the Wildlife Detection Range settng.  You can also increase the Wildlife Smell Range and the amount your own scent increases from meat and blood... all of which will make all the animals more aware of you.  Passive animals will flee quicker (deer and rabbits) and predators will start hunting you from a great distance (wolves).  Moose and bear will be alerted to your presence sooner as well.  Each standard difficulty mode uses a different set of settings from this menu.

I wouldn't mind if they added custom settings for each animal individually

32 minutes ago, dbmurph22 said:

Variance with the Loot Tables was part of the OP - the second point in the bullet list.

Yeah I fiddle with the custom settings a lot and I'm thankful for the tool.  They could always be more detailed, but they are pretty good. I can see someone not wanting the standard list, but personally I like having them.  I would actually be in favor of adding to the standard list with a 5th difficulty.  Make Interloper the hardest but have it with low condition recovery and aggressive predators settings (far detection ranges, etc).  Add the new setting between Stalker and Interloper ("Wayfarer" or some such) and make it similar to current Interloper, but maybe a few settings easier (less container density reduction maybe, one of the weather settings down a tick).

And of course Wayfarer and Interloper both have the new settings Wolf and Loot Variance, that this thread is about, turned on.   Eight random locations in a region each have a 20% to spawn a wolf.  Five new random loot locations have a 50% chance of spawning loot and five existing ones have a 50% of having that loot removed.  My wishlist...come to pass!

So yeah, you can go with adding more wolf spawn locations and loot tables.  Or you can say it's fine, we don't need that, just more customization in the custom menu (though I persist you can't get the same effect from either).  My dream world would be to have this extra overlay.  "Oh my, I'm glad I had my flare gun out...I had no idea there would be a wolf on Marsh Ridge!" and "Well...now what do I do?  The guaranteed match spawn at Spence's is gone and got hit with the variance removal. Now I have to think of something."

Anyway, any changes to the current situation of wolf patrol settings is yeah making aggressive changes to the current player base.  But I sort of like when Hinterland is aggressive in that way.  The decoy correction was a big move.

There are already innumerable locations where loot can spawn.  Not being on the loot table does not prevent any of those locations from spawning a desirable item... even on Interloper.  There is merely a much higher chance of that location spawning an empty container or a container with fewer items in it when not empty.  Expanding the loot tables only adds more places where if something specific spawns at X then something else is guaranteed to spawn at Y.  The reason people fall into following those paths is because they want to play it safe and actively seek out Y when they find X.  Adding more loot tables isn't going to change the way they play.  The loot tables exist to ensure that no save goes completely without an essential item.  My solution to the "I'm following the same paths" complaint would be not to add more loot tables, but instead to eliminate all of them and if the player rolls snake eyes and there isn't a single bedroll on his map, that's the luck of the draw.  If one finds a lantern at X, great; but then there is absolutely no guarantee that a bedroll will be found at Y.

There are already innumerable possible wolf spawn points in the game.  Many of them are, no doubt, just not along the "routes" that the loot table followers habitually follow.  Leading them to think there aren't enough wolf spawn points in the entire game overall.  Adding more spawn points would just mean that, sometimes, a player might face 20 wolves altogether because each spot rolled the chance to spawn one and none of the spots rolled the chance to not spawn one.

There's a reason why our pioneers up here did not bury their dead during winter, but instead used ice rinks and such as mortuaries to store them until spring.  Believe me, 6 hours with a shovel wouldn't cut it.  However, as suggested, building a "burial cache" or a snow mound over the corpse would be feasible.  If we could drag corpses around a bit, we could also remove them from buildings or move them into buildings we're not sleeping in our using ourselves.  Of course, if we cover the corpse or move it into a building, no crow feathers would respawn around it after that... so there is a distinctive downside for heavy bow users... which I'm OK with.

1 hour ago, Gun Tech. said:

Not really. Fiddling with settings will not give more possible spots where they can be. Both this and increased Hammer/Hacksaw/Bedroll spawn spots will not increase wolf numbers or loot, because the seed is set by the same settings that have already been in the game.

It's mostly a correction of too few slots. A refinement within the difficulties; makes them richer. ❤️ It will affect other difficulties very little. Interloper forces you to interlope only from the loot setting for it (try Pilgrim with first setting set to Interloper level!)

This is why the loot table was made for Interloper in the first place. I don't mind that it's been sussed out and is used, but it might also be the sign of too few slots.

A loot table with 16 or 32 pages instead of 4 is perfectly possible for players to suss out and use; it would still be helpful but less so; one would no longer be able to pinpoint the page that seals the fate of one's character from finding just 1-2 items; more than 1 page might match.

The improvement would be coveted by Interloper veterans (because even playing without loot tables - with enough time you know all the spots where you once found a major loot item). But I'm sure it will beneficial for absolutely everyone, and greatly appreciated. ❤️ 

I have fiddled with the custom settings.  How they work is the formula coded into the game is the same for all difficulties.  The custom settings insert the variable into the formula.  The custom settings shown in the Interloper template represent the variables Hinterlands has put into the formulas for which they have settings.  If you provide more "decimal places" in the variables, you will change things "a little bit" - which was stated as the desire.  If you change the formulas, you will change the rates in all difficulties, not just Interloper.

Sure, they can add new areas of control to the custom settings... representing any of the formulas in the game that are not yet represented in the menus.  I'd be all for it.  I'd be in favor of totally turning the balancing of the game into the player's hands... ie. eliminating completely the standard settings.  More room to "fiddle" for me.  Standard settings are merely a starting point for those still unfamiliar with the game and those too lazy to customize the game for themselves.

Also, I have no idea why you're suddenly talking about loot tables, since the topic  is about animal behavior, which is unaffected by the formulae regarding baseline resources, container item density, etc.

E.G. Current settings for Wolf Spawn Chance on Stalker and on Interloper are the same at High.  Changing this setting to Very High will increase the chances (i.e. spots) where wolves spawn.  That is, for each spawn location that now has a, say, 75% chance of spawning wolves and, therefore, a 25% chance of not spawning a wolf, it would increase the chance to say 85% and lower the chance of not to 15%.

Current setting for Wolf Spawn Distance in both Stalker and Interloper is Close.  There is no higher setting.  However, Wolf Detection Range is current set to Medium for both difficulties.  This can be increased to Far, which will cause them to detect you more easily and draw more in towards you.  Conversely, it can also be lowered to Close, which means they won't detect you until you are closer to them.  Wolf Fear is also set to Medium for both difficulties and can also, therefore, be increased or decreased as desired.  The big difference between Stalker and Interloper regarding wolves is that they do more damage in Stalker... and there is probably a wolf spawn number formula that doesn't have a custom setting that controls how many wolves spawn in each location.  It may also be affected by the settings for other wildlife spawns to prevent too many animals on the map overall.

The situation with the Loot Tables is much the same.  On Stalker, I can still use the Loot Tables set up for Interloper and I'll usually find the specialized items  they list them.  However, since there is no reduction to the container item density and a high chance of finding loose items and a lower chance of finding empty containers, I'll find a few more items overall in Stalker than on Interloper even if I change the Stalker Baseline Resource setting from medium to low.  So, you can instead decrease the amount of overall items you find in Stalker mode by increasing the Loose Item Availability from Medium to Low, the Emty Container Chance Modifier from Medium to High and the Reduce Container Itme Density from Low to High (meaning you'll find less gear in any container that is not empty) to get something in the middle with the high end gear being still available or you can approach it from the Interloper Baseline Resource setting and change the other three to increase the amount of stuff found slightly but still restricting the high-end gear and having no knives or guns spawn.

1) You can make marks on your map by using the spray cans (selecting one symbol from a variety).  This places the mark you selected in the snow (or on the door, etc.) and also marks the location on your map.  Spray cans are found in containers on all difficulty levels.

3) Black widow spiders don't survive the cold too well (they aren't indigenous to the NW area of Canada) and any that are found here are imported from souther climates (usually in grocery produce) or hitching rides on vehicles coming from the US and they only survive in places that are continually heated.  Even the indoor locations in the game are unheated.  Southern Alberta does have rattlesnakes but I don't think they are found in British Columbia or the Yukon.  At any rate, they are cold blooded and not active during the winter.

No comment on the rest.  I'm sure some of your feelings about things might change as you put more hours into the game.

5 hours ago, dbmurph22 said:

I mean....a little.  This is modifying things around the edges, but you're not creating managed unpredictability.  You know what you're expecting after the setting.  And it's usually increasing or decreasing volume more than adding variability.  I nearly always play custom.  Even then the baseline patrol routes and loot tables are pretty entrenched.  I mean it's not like it's the worst thing in the world, but it could be even more awesome!  This is after all, a wishlist.

I'd be more in favor of adding more fine tuning into the custom options rather than asking Hinterlands to effectively "customize" their standard difficulty modes  By definition, the standard difficulty modes are just Hinterland's selections from the custom menus that they feel work well for a broader range of players.  As another in the thread stated, what works best for you is not going to work best for everyone. 

For example, if they changed the Wolf Spawn Chance from the current 5 choices (None, Low, Medium,. High, & Very High) to a numerical choice from 1 to 10, players would have very fine control over how many wolves spawn in their games).  If they also increased the Wolf Spawn Distance choices from current 3 (Close, Medium, Far) to a numerical 1 to 5, this would give players very fine control over that aspect.  Then do the same for the Wildlife Smell Range, Scent Increases, Wolf Fear and Wildlife Detection range... and you'd have a tremendous range of ability to customize their attack behaviors to your liking.

Personally, I find it more than good enough as it is... and I can really change the "character" and "feel" of my playthroughs by manipulating these toggles... but I wouldn't object to more settings with finer increments of adjustment.

Affliction counters count down not up.  If you look carefully, you'll probably see that the treatment screen is asking for another dose of painkillers and a  bandage (i.e. IIRC, you won't yet see a check mark beneath their symbols - it has been awhile since I've had broken ribs).

8 minutes ago, gotmilkanot said:

Ah I see, I don't play Custom so I didn't know about the ammo not spawning issue. That fix might've been the reason why I found an odd revolver round in HRV on my Interloper run, though. But again, the ammo crafting materials and gun skill books still spawn in vanilla Interloper so at this point, I'm not sure what's intended and what's not.

All the skill books will spawn on any difficulty.  Which books spawn where is completely random.  I believe fewer spawn overall when BRA is llow, but I'm not absolutely sure about that... truth being that I don't loot as many sites when I'm trying to hit the key points on the map and move fast (which is most of my BRA low runs).  The only exception, might be a guaranteed spawn of a Wilderness Kitchen book on the bookshelf in the Camp Office (I can't remember if I've done runs where that one hasn't spawned).