Toggle Old Search Bar mechanic back

[ArcherAC3]

Hello.
I wish it would be possible to toggle the Old Search Mechanic back into the game - maybe as an option that is present to you on the screen every time you start a new game
It might seem like a small thing initially (and it sure did for me as I didn't even noticed how much I liked it until the Devs simply took it out) but that feeling of searching a container, trying desperately to find a match box to save you from death, while also feeling more and more hopeless as the progress bar would progress through the screen and the searching noises would go on without any item being found (or the excitement of finding what you need on the last second) was just one of the things I mostly liked about TLD as I can now tell.

This article by PCGamer explains this very well, and I'm glad to see more people agree with me on this: https://www.pcgamer.com/why-i-love-the-long-darks-painstaking-search-mechanic/ Please, read it, it won't take 5 minutes.

Now, I've heard before that this new UI mechanic is better because you don't have to keep tapping A or B (don't know the equivalent keys on PC) to get or drop an item, especially when you're searching the supply crates on Timberwolf Mountain. But this is absolutely false! With the new UI, you will have to tap A and/or B by the end of the search because all the items found will be shown to you at the end and you must, then, choose wheter to carry them or leave 'em.

If some of you older players (from the time we had the older UI present) agree with me, please, leave a reaction and comment about this. I personally think it was a pretty interesting mechanic and we should ask the Devs why it has been just taken out like that and tell them how important it was.

For the newer players who hadn' seen this in action, here is an example of the search progress bar: 

at 12:16 - timestamp should be in the link.

[togg]

Like I said I agree 100% on this. The game feels more dull without it.

And damn that old crispy UI on the backpack... I still can't identifiy the new icons clearly, but whatever. The search mechanic is the real deal

[ArcherAC3]

3 hours ago, togg said:

And damn that old crispy UI on the backpack... I still can't identifiy the new icons clearly, but whatever.

Yeah haha.

[Hotzn]

The old search mechanic was perfect. One of those changes I fail to understand.

[exeexe]

Yes i like the older version more too

[Mentatt76]

+1

[cekivi]

+1 from me too. I miss the old search mechanic a lot. 

[Carbon]

On 3/30/2018 at 6:48 PM, ArcherAC3 said:

This article by PCGamer explains this very well, and I'm glad to see more people agree with me on this: https://www.pcgamer.com/why-i-love-the-long-darks-painstaking-search-mechanic/ Please, read it, it won't take 5 minutes.

 The aspects of searching the article discusses (and those in the video) still exist: the wait/anticipation, the rummaging sounds, the search meter. It doesn't make an argument for any particular UI ( filling ring or bar), just the anticipation factor. So...it's the ring? Or it being in the middle?

[ArcherAC3]

14 hours ago, Carbon said:

 The aspects of searching the article discusses (and those in the video) still exist: the wait/anticipation, the rummaging sounds, the search meter. It doesn't make an argument for any particular UI ( filling ring or bar), just the anticipation factor. So...it's the ring? Or it being in the middle?

I believe you didn't quite get it or did not have the game when the old mechanic was present.

The antecipation is not quite the same since items, now, only show up after the search has been completed. Before, in the searches that could take a few seconds, this antecipation was really felt since you had a chance of finding an item during any part of the search (be it at the first second or the last second before the search completes), therefore it would make you feel more and more hopeless the more the search bar moved and nothing was found.

So no, it's not the ring, it's not it being in the middle of screen, it's about the mechanic, which has been pretty well explained in the article.

[ArcherAC3]

On 04/04/2018 at 6:39 AM, Hotzn said:

The old search mechanic was perfect. One of those changes I fail to understand.

Yeah, I don't get why they changed it.
Same for the windchill cover icon. It used to be a wind symbol by the side of a shield icon, it was intuitive and everyone playing would know what it meant. Now with the current symbol, I still don't know what that's supposed to mean (looks like a tribal tatoo or something haha). I had to googgle it to understand the first time, thinking it was a new implementation of scent or something.

[Carbon]

On 4/8/2018 at 2:36 AM, ArcherAC3 said:

I believe you didn't quite get it or did not have the game when the old mechanic was present.

The antecipation is not quite the same since items, now, only show up after the search has been completed. Before, in the searches that could take a few seconds, this antecipation was really felt since you had a chance of finding an item during any part of the search (be it at the first second or the last second before the search completes), therefore it would make you feel more and more hopeless the more the search bar moved and nothing was found.

So no, it's not the ring, it's not it being in the middle of screen, it's about the mechanic, which has been pretty well explained in the article.

 I understand your point (a point which the article doesn't support in your comparative argument) and was around at the tail end of the old mechanic's existence (though simply watching an older YT video would achieve the same understanding). I believe that if the article were written yesterday it wouldn't read any differently.

[ArcherAC3]

On 12/04/2018 at 9:43 AM, Carbon said:

I believe that if the article were written yesterday it wouldn't read any differently.

Please, read it again.

If it were written yesterday, this quote from the article "as that once innocuous 'Searching' bar takes on a whole new level of urgency and importance: whereby the closer it gets to completion without spoils, the further your heart generally sinks." wouldn't make any sense.

So yes, it would read differently.

[MarrowStone]

I agree, i mostly think the search ring is to cater to console players I believe, much like how the amazing UI we used to have was downgraded to be acceptable for them as well.

However, the shift to include consoles was a good decision financially if they were to realistically keep developing new episodes i guess so dont take this as me bashing hinterland's choice. Im just explaining how a shift in market creates a shift in whats important for gameplay and UI.

Im happy at least theres a setting to disable the "hold to search" for those who have trouble with it.

[ArcherAC3]

12 hours ago, MarrowStone said:

I agree, i mostly think the search ring is to cater to console players I believe, much like how the amazing UI we used to have was downgraded to be acceptable for them as well.

However, the shift to include consoles was a good decision financially if they were to realistically keep developing new episodes i guess so dont take this as me bashing hinterland's choice. Im just explaining how a shift in market creates a shift in whats important for gameplay and UI.

Im happy at least theres a setting to disable the "hold to search" for those who have trouble with it.

Yup, even though I'm a console player, I do think that too.
Although I prefer the older (and, in a way, simpler) UI. Guess I'm an odd console player xD.

[MarrowStone]

@ArcherAC3, at least one good thing about the pc is that its easier to tolerate and navigate even the worst UI so Im not all that bothered by the console tweaks. It does bring up an interesting discussion on how reaching out to different platforms (and therefore different audiences as well) can affect a game's vision and development focus. 

The old search mechanic where an item could appear during the search bar was really cool because it felt like you were rummaging through each layer of loot in hopes for something better deeper into the container. Sort of like one drags all their clothes out of the dresser looking for their favourite pants. And grumbling at how all the neatly folded clothes are not anymore because the pants were at the bottom. Lol.

The current mechanic feels like dumping everything out on the floor and stuffing the useless stuff back in and since its all at the end of the search bar it doesnt really have that effect where your heart sinks more the further that bar fills up only to jolt when you pluck out an MRE or Expedition Parka hiding ubderneath all the stuff at the last second! 

 

[private duksworth]

I use the toggle search bar thingy as the hold and use one just feels foreign to me. I don't know what I would do without it. I also agree the old system good the new one was weird

[ArcherAC3]

18 hours ago, MarrowStone said:

The old search mechanic where an item could appear during the search bar was really cool because it felt like you were rummaging through each layer of loot in hopes for something better deeper into the container. Sort of like one drags all their clothes out of the dresser looking for their favourite pants. And grumbling at how all the neatly folded clothes are not anymore because the pants were at the bottom. Lol.

The current mechanic feels like dumping everything out on the floor and stuffing the useless stuff back in and since its all at the end of the search bar it doesnt really have that effect where your heart sinks more the further that bar fills up only to jolt when you pluck out an MRE or Expedition Parka hiding ubderneath all the stuff at the last second! 

 

Exactly! This is just what I felt.

The mechanic seemed like a small thing, but only after losing it I could notice how awesome it was.