Hard at start, then easier

[peteloud]

The survival games are most difficult at the beginning, perhaps that should be reversed and become harder as the game progresses.

At the moment I'm playing at Stalker level.  At the start the wolf meat is contaminated, as the game progresses the contamination clears. It is the same with most aspects of the game. Once one is warmly clothed and well armed the game becomes a bit boring.

 

Other minor issues.

I wish cured hides could be converted to cured leather for clothing repairs.

I'd like to have an indication that a cairn has already been found.

 

[ben91]

it is a majory issue in the game, even more in interloper, there supposed "hardest mode"
the Problem is that their "opinion" about a hard survival seems to be placing wolves every 10 meters instead of focussing on the survival Aspekts.
this might be ok in the short term to give experienced Players some challenge but in the Long term Players are leaving this game so fast because they did not manage to improve the survival aspects in this game at all in the last couple of updates.
this game desperatly Needs mod Support so Players themself can deal with These issues because it seems like the developers dont care at all

[Ruruwawa]

@peteloud & @ben91  Every issue you list can be addressed using Custom Mode.  I myself play a "Voyaloper" mix that combines the loot rarity, harsher weather, rarer food animals, high metabolism, afflictions, slow healing and freezing mechanics of Interloper with far rarer wolf spawns.  And I take advantage of the settings that make weather and finding food harder over time to keep things interesting.

You can even make Interloper much harder using Custom mode -- there's ample room for harsher-than-Interloper in the settings.

[ben91]

1 hour ago, Ruruwawa said:

@peteloud & @ben91  Every issue you list can be addressed using Custom Mode.  I myself play a "Voyaloper" mix that combines the loot rarity, harsher weather, rarer food animals, high metabolism, afflictions, slow healing and freezing mechanics of Interloper with far rarer wolf spawns.  And I take advantage of the settings that make weather and finding food harder over time to keep things interesting.

You can even make Interloper much harder using Custom mode -- there's ample room for harsher-than-Interloper in the settings.

soory mate but you are wrong, custom mode might provide a short term solution for harder gameplay but it is still not enough: let me give you some simple examples of small changes that would make the survival aspects more challenging and can not be changed atm:

- respwan of wildlife: the respawn rate is just way too fast and does not provide any nice hunting aspects. additionally there are ravaged carcasses VERYWHERE and make it even more boring

- skill System: ist just bad and many Things make the late game just way too easy and take away some of the most important survival aspects

- detect range: still way to low and you can basically sneak right infront of animals without them detecting you (hence, makes hunting aspects even more boring)

- affclitions are just way to short and almost no issue in the crrent state (can easily be changed by increasing the Duration)

- Blizzards are a Little bit too short (i would like to have to sit out a Blizzard for 1-2 entire days in a shelter)

- snow shelter: in theory a great mechanic but due to the crafting materials way too useless (changing that would bring a nice Addition to the game)

- Wood weight is way too low: some Players might enjoy running around with 10kg Wood in their backpack but i think it makes the game more boring and it should be more heavy so you have to plan ahead a Little bit more if you want to make a fire

- being able to craft without workbench: again, would be so nice to sit in a cave in the evening and craft some arrows while youa re sitting next to the campfire (workbench mechanic in General is so outdated and makes no sense here)

.....and that is inly about 10% of my list that i would like to Change if i had the opportunity...and most of These Things are not even some majory changes and could be done in a couple of minutes

i understand ppl who are perfectly happy with the new custom mode, but you also have to udnerstand that there is a ton of ppl who dont Play the game anymore because it is just way too boring and it takes them ages to Change anything

[Stone]

For some, like me, games hold interest while the challenge is there. I totally understand frustration when that disappears. The Long Dark is brilliantly implemented, but obviously there's a limit to what they've delivered so far. When you hit the limits it's disappointing but the nature of the game prevents them applying some dynamic difficulty that scales with you. They've also focused on the world over more challenges. Some people want more challenges but the community says make your own. So it's frustrating but don't dis their efforts: you beat the game, good! Now try set yourself a harder challenge.

 

[peteloud]

I get the impression that people might be have the impression that I am complaining that the game is not hard enough.  That is not the point I am trying to make. If you want a hard game in absolute terms then you can do that in Custom mode.

 

My point is about relative difficulty.  If it is hard at the beginning many potential enthusiasts might be discouraged.  I feel that it is better for enjoyment, (and sales), if is not so difficult at the start.

 

I have just converted to v.1.33 a few hours ago.  I have had a very hard time. It has taken me quite a while to work out how to cook, and my wolf meat has returned to being contaminated.

[henroe32]

Any game can be broken down into a program that can be learnt and beaten. Not all players come at the game with the same levels of experience and some players can just find it hard to play in general. I for one have been playing the game for a few years now and I still find certain parts of the game difficult.

Skills do increase the game’s easiness but for a real life survivor this would probably happen. The late game does have skills but it also has factors like increased chill, total item usage (tools wearing down) and wood density reduction. Stuff like that.

I for one have no issue with the detection range. Often I didn’t notice the world was there or I’m trapped in the Quonset or another dense wolf area or something.

Ravaged carcasses can be found but they are never a complete food source. You always need to forage for food yourself. 

There is a huge range in affliction length from a speain needing a few hours of rest to intestinal parasites needing 20 days to broken ribs lasting 99 days I think and then finally frostbite (incurable). Afflictions have a huge variance in length.

Tbe idea of longer blizzards is something that interests me but this should be limited to the late game where a player has a base to hide in for a few days.

I often find the snow shelter is hard to build but this is a good thing as it teaches you to anticipate weather shifts and plan shelter stops on the way. I personally find snow shelters main use is when playing in regions with little shelter. This is either FM or HRV but with the latter shelter can commonly be found if you know where to look.

I like the use of the workbench as it forces players to travel to find them and establish bases near them. Items like a bow in reality would require this equipment so I think it’s a valid aspect of the game. 

I think the wood weight is just fine. Over encumberance isn’t normally a big problem for me but on maps like TWM where carry weight is key the weight of wood is good as it already forces you to carry just enough for a fire on the ledge and not much more. Lots of players will come at TWM or HRV without the weight saving mindset so for many the encumberane from wood is high enough in my opinion.

I’m very happy with the game and I do feel that Hinterland works very hard on it. The game for many is hard enough. Compared to many other games TLD is a hard game anyway, especially for those alien to the mechanics. For players looking for a challenge, I’d love to hear people’s records for how long they can survive playing on interloper or stalker difficulty without leaving the new map. Set yourselves challenges. Have fun in the quiet apocalypse. 

[ben91]

2 hours ago, peteloud said:

I get the impression that people might be have the impression that I am complaining that the game is not hard enough.  That is not the point I am trying to make. If you want a hard game in absolute terms then you can do that in Custom mode.

no you cant even really do that, Players you are very experienced in the game have the Option to Play interloper, which is basically the idea of the developers to place wolves very 10 meters and make them respawn in a couple of days as a way to make the game harder instead of focussing on authentic survival Aspects (interloper was acceptable to make the game harder in the short term to provide experienced Players a challenge, but in the Long term it Needs fundamental reworks and implementations to bring back the challenge for those Players)

or you can Play custom Settings: but even the hardest custom Settings are not really a challenge for most experienced Players

22 minutes ago, henroe32 said:

I like the use of the workbench as it forces players to travel to find them and establish bases near them. Items like a bow in reality would require this equipment so I think it’s a valid aspect of the game. 

pls explain further how the crafting of a bow or arrow requires a workbench, which only provides a flat Surface and not actually the Tools you are working with on the bow/arrow?

to your Argument that it Forces Players to travel and establish bases. in theory i like the concept of forcing Players to move around and Keep the game interesting, but it my opinion there are better ways to do that....for example hunting: in my opinion hunting should be a Major aspekt of the game and it is just not atm. so instead of having animals respawn every couple of days at the same Location , i would rather have them respawn every couple of months on different Locations to force the Player that way to Keep moving through all the Areas.

22 minutes ago, henroe32 said:

I think the wood weight is just fine. Over encumberance isn’t normally a big problem for me but on maps like TWM where carry weight is key the weight of wood is good as it already forces you to carry just enough for a fire on the ledge and not much more. Lots of players will come at TWM or HRV without the weight saving mindset so for many the encumberane from wood is high enough in my opinion.

sorry, but i n a survival game i jsut dont enjoy the aspect of running around with 10kg Wood in my backpack to have enough fuel for a fire in every Situation.
if i Play such game i like to think and Play how it would probably be in real life, especially in such an atmospheric survival game as TLD, and therefore i would like to be forced to have some dry tinder with me all the time, but if i actually want to start a campfire, i have to search some Wood in the area.

22 minutes ago, henroe32 said:

I’m very happy with the game and I do feel that Hinterland works very hard on it. The game for many is hard enough. Compared to many other games TLD is a hard game anyway, especially for those alien to the mechanics. For players looking for a challenge, I’d love to hear people’s records for how long they can survive playing on interloper or stalker difficulty without leaving the new map. Set yourselves challenges. Have fun in the quiet apocalypse. 

well, but there are enough Players out there who dont enjoy the game anymore, because they are so experienced and are not challenged enough anymore. dont get me wrong, i totally accept the way you enjoy the game and have fun. all i say is that mod Support is needed to make more Players to enjoy the game. it is the absolute perfect solution.....Players who still have fun will have at least the same amount of fun or even more with the new mod Content and Players who dont have fun anymore can Change the game in the way how they like to enjoy it and have fun again. nobody gets put in a worse Position by that Change and some Players are just disappointed because Hinterland does not seem to provide that.

and i am a Little bit disappointed that almost nobody every seems to think about that Argument when they try to argue with me. i am happy for you guys if you enjoy the game, but as i said many Players dont enjoy it anymore and mod Support will put every Player in a better Position without anyone getting put in a worse Position. very simple welfare assumption but so true

[Tylor9261]

I always considered the difficulties to be false, in the sense of they're not really difficulties but what they say they are. Experiences. So "Stalker" difficulty could be thought of in the mindframe of "S.T.A.L.K.E.R" the game. So it's not like Pilgrim where it's almost like walking simulator with survival elements, aka "Kona". Or Voyageur which could be considered more RPG-survival akin to "Fallout". Or that's how I feel anyways. Stalker difficulty's fun lies not in what you need, but what exactly is going to be between you and that resource...and how you respond I'm lame, I know but oh well haha