manolitode

23 hours ago, Griffen said:

However, once the tools are acquired and the clothes fabricated, the player starts to run out of decisions to make and it comes down essentially to a game of caloric budgeting.  How many calories can I get from each type of food generating activities, what resources does it consume, and how much effort does it take to replace them?  I know for myself that the reduction in permutations of the decision-making does take some of the thrill out, as I don't really need to prove to myself that I can fish X times at one location and hunt Y deer to last Z days.  I say this as someone who loves this game and has spent 100s of hours on it, but it is beginning to feel slightly stifling. 

Welcome to the forum 😊 I agree with most of your problem description. A safehouse that you could design for yourself would be a welcome project to lategame, once stores are full and survival is under control. I'm very much in favor of adding more possibilities in order to extend lategame. 

23 hours ago, Griffen said:

Perhaps allow survivors to reinforce the insulation of a safe house to improve the indoor temperature.  Granted, that might require making houses less insulating to begin with for balance.  By allowing these kinds of activities, you increase the number of options available to a player, which makes for more interesting play.  Does a player prioritize establishing themselves at a more complete safe house that might not be in an advantageous position, or does the player decide to develop a conveniently located, but otherwise unsuitable safe house?  I would love the idea of doing a play through where you could develop one of the survivor caches where it becomes more than just a place to loot and leave.

… The fact that a survivor could sew himself a bear skin coat, but not figure out how to convert a table into a useful workbench to do so, strikes me as an odd and arbitrary construct.

I see a risk here if we get to insulate or improve the standards of our improvable safe house. Sure, we'll have a neat ongoing project, but once the safehouse is finished and we are warmer and more comfortable, we end up with an even easier game than before. 

39 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

It's not personal, I just don't agree with your point of view.   

Again, my point of view has never been that Hinterland should tailorfit experiences to fit everyone's personal need. You attribute opinions and assumptions to me that are not mine. Let's have an honest disagreement instead next time around shall we.

46 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

Perhaps folks just aren't used to a game giving as much agency to the player that The Long Dark does.

What I think is true is that some of us would like TLD to provide more challenges in endgame. If you manage to challenge yourself enough, that's fine, but some of us want more for the game. The purpose of the restaurant metaphore was to examine whether you apply the same logic of "adjust expectations, not reality" to other aspects of life, or if it's a "TLD-exclusive" logic. 

38 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

 It appears from what you wrote that perhaps you expect Hinterland to cater to you and satisfy your personal tastes and desires as you "consume" the experience they made. ... So no... I don't think that Hinterland needs to wait on us hand and foot satisfy each personal appetite.

I know that you tend to respond in a defensive manner about changes being made to the game but that was just a completely dishonest way of rendering my thoughts.

Not cool.

6 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

I however, disagree about the whole idea of there being a "late-game problem," I think people just have "problems" with their late-game expectations (which again, I think it's a player issue... not a game issue).

You visit an acclaimed restaurant. You're thrilled about the starter and the main is excellent. However, the dessert is just bland and doesn't add much to your experience. Is the issue your expectations based on the starter and main or is the issue the dessert? Is it both? Would you have liked the cook to put that extra effort into the dessert to make your experience delightful to the very end? 

I'm pretty sure there would be some really annoying bugs with it, such as humming while being mauled by a bear or singing away on loading screens. But still, it's a nice idea. There was a recent interview with some adventurer (his name escapes me at the moment) who said that he usually ends up singing and humming once he's all alone in the woods. If it was to be introduced in the game I would prefer if it was quite rare and made sense in a narrative sense. For example, slaying a deer after +24 hours of starvation would make the survivor hum something cheerful at times. 

Spraycans aren't rare on higher difficulties either. After scavenging around 60% of the world in a new interloper game I've found something like 85 billion cans. So I will certainly be able to spraypaint armageddon when it arrives and anything beyond.

6 hours ago, Glflegolas said:

I know for a fact that regular knives and hatchets don't spawn in Interloper, but the Hushed River Valley has a number of guaranteed spawns if I am not mistaken.

You won't find knives or hatches, not improvised nor regular, anywhere in interloper. The only "non-loper" gear I've found after a couple of thousand hours is revolver bullets and that was indeed in HRV. 

That's a good question that I 've asked myself lately and I'm not sure that the game knows the answer either. Since one or two patches I get a strange cabin fever risk when I hang out in the Mountaineer's hut for a couple of days. It's a condition that will come and go, stay at the same risk percentage no matter what I do, then increase if I go outside just to disappear if I sleep inside the cabin. That makes me think time spent in the hut may count or partly count as being indoors. Anyways I have written a support ticket on the matter. On the other hand, there is no loading screen which is an indicator that it counts as being outdoors.

6 hours ago, Dum_Gen said:

I wonder why:

• Survival mode - completed game that receives regular free gamechanging DLCs and quality of life improvements 3 years after the official release;
• Story mode - extremely slow pace development with ~60% of the game finished after the 3 years and 1.5-2 more years of wait, if nothing happens.

Story mode focused people do return from time to time, but many of them actually lost their faith in the studio and abandoned the game completely disappointed.

That's a fair point. I play for survival so it could be easy for me to disregard your frustration. But I can relate, having waited years for other games to release their story. However, many of us play both survival and story mode, it's not a black and white situation. While I loved episode 1 & 2 episode 3 was just not challenging enough. I'll finish the story for sure and if the last episodes are great I'll be delighted. Especially now with covid, which has likely made Hinterland have to restructure their production process which ought to slow things down considerably. 

It's a good question, it can be a little frustrating for sure to wake up fully rested with several hours of darkness left. One will have to figure out their own best circardian rhythm in game. I like to save reading til sunset and craft reishi/rose hips etc and sharpen tools when it's pitch black. You can break down crates by hand (edit: and clothes for cloth) in the darkness too. Apart from that, stay active and move around during daytime 😃

My biggest loss was when they removed the Wintermute theme song. While I can see a few reasons why, it remains the most distinguishing and exquisite intro song of all games I ever played. 

As for silly deaths, I visited Moose overlook in HRV some 150 days in and managed to get headbutted two times by an invincible moose. Unfortunately I was 8 rosehips short and couldn't cure the last broken rib and therefore was unable to climb up from the valley.  

7 hours ago, dahemac said:

I found ammunition for a pistol, a pistol, some miscellaneous clothing items, wood, coal, matches. Nothing awe inspiring. Some spoiled food. I think RNG was not doing me any favours. The gated room that would connect to the route from PV in Wintermute had no loot in it at all. Which I thought was odd. I had hoped for great loot. I sure prepped the heck out of going down there. But it was not any kind of windfall.

Thanks, I haven't been down the mine in survival and considering your loot it seems like a huge risk for very little reward. Not to mention the cabin flu, which cons others already described thoroughly. 

 @dahemac Pardon the derail but I'm curious, what loot did you find in the mine? 

23 hours ago, dahemac said:

But to be clear, I got lucky. I waited in-game four days to get down the mine. Without pass-time that is 8-hours of game play. It was just a fluke that there was an aurora  on a subsequent night so I could resume play. 

Do let us know if you come out alive 😊

On 5/9/2020 at 12:23 AM, piddy3825 said:

I know I'm coming in on this thread a little late, but now that my state has been on lock down for over two months I can honestly say I've had enough of sheltering in place.  I think I am suffering from pandemic induced "cabin fever" and there's only so much physical isolation that I can take.  I am so looking forward to being able to go out with friends for dinner and drinks and have a full evening of "close proximity."    Will we ever see those days again, stadiums full of people eating hot dogs, drinking beer and rooting for their favorite teams?  

this is really i how feel about it all...

https://youtu.be/sPbjPOgRtyA

 

I think you are spot on, seems ther's an unconditional need to connect with other individuals among most of us, even those who consider themsevlves 'introverted'. I visited a friend the other day, we stood by the stairwell 2m apart and chatted for 15 minutes. It felt like a big time luxury to me :)

I'd like to add a couple of things to @MarrowStone's otherwise eminent advice. You will benefit from a daily exercise routine. A 10 minute daily walk is way better than none. You may increase the length of your daily walking routine at your own pace, it's hard to overdo it 😊 Second, don't forget the intense workout 2-3 times a week, you want the good neurotransmitters that your body provides from physical exhaustion. Also, eating healthy is beneficial obviously but dieting and depression isn't the best combination. Treat yourself with an occasional unhealthy snack every now and then. Try to avoid alcohol as long as you're suffering from panic attacks. 

Thank you for sharing the load and don't forget to share your feelings with someone you love

Hey folks, hope you're holding up well. I haven't had much time for TLD lately as life is TLDish enough. Everything is on pause or distance mode here in my part of central Europe so I decided to take my family to the countryside. I've located lots of firewood so I make fires, it saves a little on the electricity bill and it feels good to provide my loved ones warmth. We have what we need and every activity that's been paused we tried to replace with something similar. Rice, pasta and toilet paper is still out most of the time, not to mention everything flour related. Some folks talk about people acting crazy but I ain't seen any such thing. I try to be friendly to the unknowns I come across and so do they. Very few glare at the bewitched sneezers and plaguesome coughers that roam the streets. The night is quiet, I can see the stars, and I enjoy reading your stories above about your day-to-day quarantine life and thoughts on how to make best out of the situation we are in.

Stay safe, stay smart.

On 3/25/2020 at 11:27 AM, kristaok said:

Perhaps Rose Hip Tea would taste better?

I've been experimenting a little bit with rose hip tea lately. Tried @ajb1978's lemon/honey idea which I quite liked. The rose hips tend to dominate the other flavors with it's sweetness, if sweet is the right word here I'm not sure. I still have half a kilo of grinded rose hips so any ideas are welcome 😃 I think for tomorrow morning I'll try reishi- and rose hip-tea. 

On 3/17/2020 at 2:16 AM, ajb1978 said:

I've also tried rose hip and birch bark tea, and those two I'm a repeat customer on.  Rose hip tea is phenomenal with a little honey and lemon, and birch bark tea straight up kind of reminds me of watered down maple syrup.

I've yet to try birch bark tea but it sounds like it could be well worth a try. Birch leaf tea is supposed to be nice too. Right now the only plant I pick myself to make tea from is heather. 

There, toilet paper gone here too. Not shortage, it's all gone. But only til mid April.

On 3/15/2020 at 5:51 PM, deathbydanish said:

I picked up some dried reishi from a farmer's market last year, it was quite bitter. Its still drinkable but I definitely prefer the more commercial preparation that I stumbled upon recently. Its probably more processed and less effective than the real stuff, but its quicker to make and easier to drink.

 

Nice! I would like to try the real deal sometime, even if it's bitter. There's also something about grinding and preparing it by yourself I suppose. I liked the jar above cause it had not additives. Do you drink it "pure" or blend it with other ingredients? I like to add some ginger root, and a few drops of lemon.

12 hours ago, jhickie said:

I would agree, this is a big deal and we should all prepare for what the following days and months may bring. No reason to be alarmist and start hoarding gasoline and guns, but I think it's rational to not want to be caught unprepared if stores start closing, especially if you have a family to consider.

I think you phrased it very well, preparation is key. 

13 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

It's blown WAY out of proportion. It's a serious cold, that's it.  It doesn't even have half the mortality rate SARS did and they're closing down entire towns because of it.  I blame the proliferation of social media outlets for the unprecedented level of mass hysteria surrounding the phenomenon.

The way media depict the pandemic seem to vary from country to country, media channel to media channel. Our public service media is somewhat balanced and provide updates on what's about to go into pause mode here (everything) and describe whatever precautions my government take (none). I'm not concerned with the virus itself but the fact that some folks aren't preparing for the second hand consequences, such as long periods of paused infrastructure and isolation. The same people may become desperate, that is not a good thing. 

7 hours ago, micah6vs8 said:

Respect to you all. I do not think a gaming forum is the place to discuss this topic. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe it should have its own sub forum?

Thank you for raising this question. I believe it is helpful to share your thoughts on this very unique situation. We have simulated survival and loneliness for some time so the topic is close at hand. Also, this is a sober forum as can be seen in the sensible comments and advice above. One thing I'd like to add to the bank is, it's a good idea to prepare to be lonlier than before when schools/activities/workplaces shut down (many are on pause where I live). Loneliness is a risk in itself and the way to minimize the effects of it is to maintain a daily routine. Don't stay in bed, do your daily exercise, stay sharp by reading etc. Play TLD 😉

If you're in a country that is affected by Corona, no need to worry yourself sick about the disease. But please prepare for the possibility of getting isolated when your society tries to limit the spread of the disease. Buy a few cans of food that will last for a while, fill a bucket with water and cover it, make sure you have whatever medical supplies you need or whatever. Take a good look at the countries that are a few weeks ahead of you for clues. See what measures they've taken and be a couple of steps ahead. No need to go fullblown prepper or let every alarmistic article get inside your head, just please have a plan and a backup plan. 

3 hours ago, jhickie said:

I may have to try this.. if only we could paint a happy face on it 

For sure, just gather a bunch of batteries and drag them to the front yard of your main base. Then place them like a happy face. 2 for the eyes, 5 for the mouth cause a big smile is always useful 😋

Do they charge you as described above no matter how many cooked meat you carry? As you may know already, if you carry more than 2 cooked meat, no matter their weight you start to exude scent. Meaning 3x10cals worth of cooked rabbit will smell the same as 3x1000cals of moose meat. You should see the scent bar activate if you pick up meat but it can be somewhat discrete, used to evade my attention for some time.

7 hours ago, Ice Hole said:

Interlopers have not yet appreciated the purposefulness of Battery, other than for some companionship.

Well done sir, you have come up with a new definition of loneliness. I couldn't help but think of Wilson in Cast away I suppose we sometimes break them down for the lead because the extra skill points in a useless skill will still look good on paper.

Some scrub bushes make a great source of emergency firewood in the wolf-infested areas of Forlorn for example, where you might not want to risk spending an hour chopping wood. A few outside Poacher's camp and Old Spence family homestead that might just save your day. Setting bushes on fire to create a "campfire" would be kind of cool in a biblical way.