The Long Dark Sandbox Updated to v.321: "Tireless Menace"

[Raphael van Lierop]

10 minutes ago, TSmith said:

I made it through the challenge in 4 days and 9 hours, Found a rifle at the Farmhouse, no ammo there or at the radio hut

 

And to the devs, I spawned, was attacked, found shelter, got rested, realized where i was, and the route I would normally take to get to, well, where i wanted to go was "blocked", best I can describe it. Is this just on the challenge?

Maybe I need to try it again to make sure I was not just panicked

 

 

Blocked b/c it was too easy a shortcut for Hunted.

[Pasquinel]

4 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

The chance accumulates with more instances (each time you eat Wolf or Bear). It doesn't go away until you contract it and treat it. 

Ok so if I don't eat any more predator meat I will always have a 2% chance of developing parasites. If I eventually do get them then I have to treat them to go back to 0. Does this 2% chance affect my overall health and the chance of being able to receive the slow condition gain? Just looking to understand the mechanic.

 

Thanks for the update by the way so far it looks great!

[cekivi]

5 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

The chance accumulates with more instances (each time you eat Wolf or Bear). It doesn't go away until you contract it and treat it. 

Interesting. Does it cap out at 50% so you can keep eating with an 50/50 chance of contracting parasites or does it accumulate until it's at 100%?

[djb204]

Great update. I guess moose and Grizzlies didn't make the cut yet? Or are these grizzly bears I'm seeing now?

[Raphael van Lierop]

5 minutes ago, Pasquinel said:

Ok so if I don't eat any more predator meat I will always have a 2% chance of developing parasites. If I eventually do get them then I have to treat them to go back to 0. Does this 2% chance affect my overall health and the chance of being able to receive the slow condition gain? Just looking to understand the mechanic.

 

Thanks for the update by the way so far it looks great!

Correct -- if you don't eat any more predator meat, your risk won't increase.

The Risk of intestinal parasites should not impeded the gradual condition gain (but, I just checked, and it looks like it might be currently, so we'll fix that!). 

 

@cekivi It does not cap out at 50%. It continues to increase until you get it, and then if you survive the treatment, the risk is reset to 0%.

[Raphael van Lierop]

2 minutes ago, djb204 said:

Great update. I guess moose and Grizzlies didn't make the cut yet? Or are these grizzly bears I'm seeing now?

Nope, not in this update.

[cekivi]

2 minutes ago, djb204 said:

Great update. I guess moose and Grizzlies didn't make the cut yet? Or are these grizzly bears I'm seeing now?

What, one type of bear chasing you isn't enough?

[Salty Crackers]

To tell the truth, I'm dissapointed. I feel like we waited a long time for an update, and all it did was mess around with the UI to make it more confusing. I thought we would get some really cool new additions, but we got like 1 item. At this point, I may actually quit the game. It really was a good game, but I feel like you may have just messed it up.

[Raphael van Lierop]

1 minute ago, Salty Crackers said:

To tell the truth, I'm dissapointed. I feel like we waited a long time for an update, and all it did was mess around with the UI to make it more confusing. I thought we would get some really cool new additions, but we got like 1 item. At this point, I may actually quit the game. It really was a good game, but I feel like you may have just messed it up.

Sorry to hear you're disappointed, and it's too bad that you don't find more to be excited about in this update, but to be fair, this is a MASSIVE update. Did you see that changelist?

[Pasquinel]

 

2 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Correct -- if you don't eat any more predator meat, your risk won't increase.

The Risk of intestinal parasites should not impeded the gradual condition gain (but, I just checked, and it looks like it might be currently, so we'll fix that!). 

 

@cekivi It does not cap out at 50%. It continues to increase until you get it, and then if you survive the treatment, the risk is reset to 0%.

Thanks for the clarification!

Now about cabin fever. I just spent 1 day indoors crafting some clothes, then I went out just before sunset to collect some fire wood came back inside made dinner had some tea went to sleep and woke up with cabin fever... I think it will need some tuning... When I think of cabin fever I think of days spent inside before it hits. Like when getting stuck inside because of a blizzard. Also not being able to sleep inside seems to be the wrong effect. Maybe you start to loose concentration and cognitive abilities and your crafting, repairing, fire making skills diminish. Oh and you start muttering to yourself...

[Raphael van Lierop]

1 minute ago, Pasquinel said:

 

Thanks for the clarification!

Now about cabin fever. I just spent 1 day indoors crafting some clothes, then I went out just before sunset to collect some fire wood came back inside made dinner had some tea went to sleep and woke up with cabin fever... I think it will need some tuning... When I think of cabin fever I think of days spent inside before it hits. Like when getting stuck inside because of a blizzard. Also not being able to sleep inside seems to be the wrong effect. Maybe you start to loose concentration and cognitive abilities and your crafting, repairing, fire making skills diminish. Oh and you start muttering to yourself...

We're trying to determine if it's working as intended right now. Currently, you need to spend DAYS indoors out of MORE DAYS total to contract it. So, think of X days out of Y days. This means that if you spend 2-3 days indoors and then most of a day outdoors, then 2-3 more days indoors, you may get it. Blizzards don't last more than half a day at most (unless you get multiple in a row), so it shouldn't be a huge issue. Regardless, try playing with it a bit more and see if it doesn't lead to some interesting situations. 

[Pasquinel]

1 minute ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

We're trying to determine if it's working as intended right now. Currently, you need to spend DAYS indoors out of MORE DAYS total to contract it. So, think of X days out of Y days. This means that if you spend 2-3 days indoors and then most of a day outdoors, then 2-3 more days indoors, you may get it. Blizzards don't last more than half a day at most (unless you get multiple in a row), so it shouldn't be a huge issue. Regardless, try playing with it a bit more and see if it doesn't lead to some interesting situations. 

Thanks for the response Raph. It's kinda nice interacting with the developers this way, you don't see it most other places. I'll keep at it and pay more attention to what I'm doing to see how it works.

 

 

[Raphael van Lierop]

1 minute ago, Pasquinel said:

Thanks for the response Raph. It's kinda nice interacting with the developers this way, you don't see it most other places. I'll keep at it and pay more attention to what I'm doing to see how it works.

 

 

Just keep in mind that simply stepping outside doesn't "reset" the Cabin Fever clock. It's based on a ratio of indoors vs. outdoor time over a given timescale. 

[Pasquinel]

understood

[cekivi]

1 minute ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Just keep in mind that simply stepping outside doesn't "reset" the Cabin Fever clock. It's based on a ratio of indoors vs. outdoor time over a given timescale. 

I can see that potentially being a problem depending on how that ratio is determined. I have had bad weather days followed by a bear camped outside the Homestead on Pleasant Valley that did lock me indoors for 2 days on end. I just had time to go out to check my traps before coming back in for the night. 

[reki]

You "fix" the smoking chimney in Trapper's ... That was a memorable bug, great update

[Raphael van Lierop]

1 minute ago, cekivi said:

I can see that potentially being a problem depending on how that ratio is determined. I have had bad weather days followed by a bear camped outside the Homestead on Pleasant Valley that did lock me indoors for 2 days on end. I just had time to go out to check my traps before coming back in for the night. 

And if it is, we'll retune it. Ideally, we'll retune it based on ACTUAL play experiences and not assumptions from reading the changelists. 

[cekivi]

4 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Just keep in mind that simply stepping outside doesn't "reset" the Cabin Fever clock. It's based on a ratio of indoors vs. outdoor time over a given timescale. 

Also, does the Cabin Fever clock go on standby if you're injured? If you survive a bear attack it's not uncommon to need two days of rest to fully recover the lost condition.

[cekivi]

1 minute ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

And if it is, we'll retune it. Ideally, we'll retune it based on ACTUAL play experiences and not assumptions from reading the changelists. 

Completely agree 

Just trying to get a sense of how the new mechanics work before I dive into the game on the weekend. Or maybe earlier if I'm lucky.

[Ruruwawa]

Overall it's an awesome update so far.

But I stopped playing long enough to come learn about the parasites.  Thanks for the clarification -- I'm fine with the mechanic.

I still have a concern:  the UI for parasite risk.  I've checked the First Aid tab dozens of times since I ate my first piece of meat, because I keep thinking there's a chance that a new condition might be hidden behind the red cross, and better safe than sorry.  I wonder if it makes sense to have a separate icon for parasite risk, like we do for freezing.

[Raphael van Lierop]

2 minutes ago, Ruruwawa said:

Overall it's an awesome update so far.

But I stopped playing long enough to come learn about the parasites.  Thanks for the clarification -- I'm fine with the mechanic.

I still have a concern:  the UI for parasite risk.  I've checked the First Aid tab dozens of times since I ate my first piece of meat, because I keep thinking there's a chance that a new condition might be hidden behind the red cross, and better safe than sorry.  I wonder if it makes sense to have a separate icon for parasite risk, like we do for freezing.

Parasite Risk info is in the First Aid screen.

[Ruruwawa]

2 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

You can't kill this bear...yet.

AND... more tease.  

[djb204]

28 minutes ago, cekivi said:

What, one type of bear chasing you isn't enough?

Having multiple threats in a game is a good thing. It forces players to adapt to new threats rather than falling into a repetitive strategy just because it's effective. Games get boring doing the same thing over and over. Even though a method to defeating an enemy/threat is effective, the encounters get annoying if it's repeated enough. Variety is key to keeping players interested. 

[Ruruwawa]

5 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Parasite Risk info is in the First Aid screen.

yep understood.  But the red cross in the bottom left part of the main screen is now shown for a huge % of every playthrough.   I've had a red cross at 2% for 36 hours.  I feel it greatly dilutes the quality of the information conveyed by the red cross.  

More info: in the past everything that had caused a red cross to show was actionable.  Take a medicine, or rest.  Parasite risk is only avoidable, not actionable.

[cekivi]

3 minutes ago, Ruruwawa said:

yep understood.  But the red cross in the bottom left part of the main screen is now shown for a huge % of every playthrough.   I've had a red cross at 2% for 36 hours.  I feel it greatly dilutes the quality of the information conveyed by the red cross.  

More info: in the past everything that had caused a red cross to show was actionable.  Take a medicine, or rest.  Parasite risk is only avoidable, not actionable.

That's a really good point. Maybe it needs a new icon? Or at least a different colour?

E.g. Yellow for parasite risk, red for actionable illnesses/wounds?