Question Thread :: Milton Mailbag

[atomic]

2 hours ago, muoz said:

Are you considering to adress the problem with rotten meat being possible to be cooked?

What's a problem for you might not be a problem for the others^^

[amadeuszbx]

Straightforward question: do you plan to add option to sleep on the floor (like anywhere, even on snow)?

I'm asking cause it seem highly unrealistic (not it's-just-a-game unrealistic, but really unrealistic) that characters stay up until they die of exhaustion instead of passing out and waking up later. Sleeping on the bare floor could have no benefits of regular sleep (like very slow condition restoration or no affliction healing) and on snow it could mean temperature penalty instead of bonus so you would need a fire going. Buuut it should at least be an option, right? If it isn't, it's just quite silly that characters  stay up until they die of sleep deprivation and it makes bedroll a bit too crucial than it should be.

[Admin]

We're hoping to get a Milton Mailbag out this week so please ask any questions you might have for @Raphael van Lierop . The more he has to work with the more that might spark interesting answers.

Thanks for your participation in this everybody!

[ESWR]

Hello

what do you think about adding more wildlife?

My ideas: fox, carnivore and very shy, escapes very fast and difficult to hunt and need rabbits to bait, 2-4kg meat with less calories than wolf, pelt can be used to craft a scarf

boar, herbivore, not agressive at first but very protective if come too close similar like moose and can pin you down, 4-10kg meat, pelt can be combined with a regular sleeping bag to get some extra degrees

sitting crows, extremely shy and fly away when you are too close, can be harvested to get some meat and feathers

 

2nd question, any plans for creating a new world? Maybe Sibiria or Scandinavia? They also have wolfes and bears ;-)

[Ardawna]

Okay - I had this thought today while watching a YouTube video of Atheenon playing Interloper for his Librarian challenge.  What about a very Canadian thing called portage? Maybe it's not a Canadian thing but I spent a few weeks around the boundary waters and I'm thinking "WOW!  That would be such a cool new region in The Long Dark".  It would be a region where there are a bunch of islands, maybe some cabins, maybe not but it would be so fun to have this new concept of portage which means, you'd have to find a canoe, maybe repair it, maybe even have to build it.  You could boat out to some of the islands, find portage paths to some of the areas.  Portage bags, canoe paddles, so many things to craft!  You would definitely have wolves and moose because ... moose and water, right?!!  It could be a very cool concept.  The canoes would only be good in that region, you wouldn't be able to carry them to another region.  So many thoughts on this! 

I also realize it would involve some major, major development on the back end.  But ... wouldn't that just be the coolest thing ever???!!!  So I guess my question is, I realize I'm supposed to post a question, would you consider opening a new area where portage was a thing?

Just a though Raphael and I wanted to share it with you.  Keep warm out there!

[Faithful Cartographer]

How many people are currently working in the team? And how many work on a Survival mode, and how many on a Story mode?

Upd: I was waiting for the Development Diary 5 days, but you postponed its release to next week, can you know more accurate time and release day next week?

[FieldMedic4077]

Apologies if this has been asked and answered before.

Are there any plans to do a balance pass on the Wintermute spear mechanics / bear encounter? I feel as though the spear takes too long to deploy and the bear takes too many stabs to drive off / kill (3 stabs per encounter, 9 total by the time it's all over). I also feel as though when the bear succeeds in attacking you it doesn't move far enough away to give the player reasonable amounts of time to recover and prepare for the next attack. It's pretty easy to get locked into a failure loop because you were unsuccessful in the first engagement.

Also in the final section of the cave the bear pathing can make it needlessly tedious to get to the spear. You have to wait for the bear to get sufficient distance away from the spear to give you enough time to brace the spear or you'll fail the attack. This can lead to a lot of down time. You can cheese this a bit by aggroing the bear and then ducking into a hole. This seems to 'scare' the bear away which might send it far enough to get to the spear but I doubt this is the intended strategy. 

[Sir_Vincent]

Hi! I like very much play TLD, but the game has changed to much, lots of glitches... i hope u r trying to fix all this glitches, am I right?? And i have fell questions, sorry about my bad english:

-why change the light effect inside the houses?! Now i see a big monochromatic black... i miss the 50 shades of dark 

-could u please make the transition screen dark again?! Really, for the Quiet Apocalipse its a break of immersion, dont u agreed? 

-about quiet apocalipse: the wolfs dont stop singing.... its annoying and dont make sense: because there isnt any wolves around and they are growling unstoppable, perhaps is the ghost wolves try to scarry me ?

-do u think put some kind of kettle? Or isnt a common thing in canada? ?

-GELtaz had a special Cairn? He r working 4 u now? 

Well, i love your game! Tld is amazing! Tks for this beautiful game!

[Its_the_Gman]

Some questions about the craftable clothing in the game. 

Why is there only 1 craftable item from wolf pelts? Is it because they are so common? 

I feel that the moosehide cloak is a little bit underwhelming. It's waterproofness and protection are great, but it's weight and sprint penalty are what has kept me from hunting moose. Is there a possibility for a buff or rework for this item? 

Thanks 

[Guenter]

Will there be a custom inventory "item adder" for custom sandbox?
Because my friends and I enjoy to play our own challenges, but if you play only Hush River Valley, you may cannot find some special items, which you need to survive in just this region; so I would be thankful when you can add your own inventory items at the beginning : )

[amadeuszbx]

Do you think you will ever offer entry-level positions at Hinterland? Perhaps, when the company has grown to be big enough? Would you like to offer job and experience opportunities to beginning (often inexperienced) but determined and hard-working artists/programmers/developers?

I totally understand the current approach to Hinterland's team building, focusing on experienced veteran developers. Just curious about distant, theoretical future.

[thepatsbro]

@Raphael van Lierop I was thinking of an idea that isn't exactly multiplayer but also allows you to have a good time with the game with other people.

A versus mode where the game would generate the same loot, start location, starting loot etc. to both players that are playing the mode.

How it would work is basically 2 people play in there own seperate games to see who can survive longer with the same starting materials. This way it still stays away from an actual "multiplayer" feel. It'll be just 2 players trying to see who can survive longer in certain situations.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!

[Azdrawee]

Will we ever be able to work with lantern fuel the same way we can with water? Dropping only a bit of a fuel instead of the whole can or even defueling storm lanterns would be a great addition, imo. Thanks for your answer! :-)

[Erroneus]

How about that dev diary update?

[Michi]

As you revealed in the dev diary post, the entirety of Episode 3 is going to take place in Pleasant Valley. Looking at the world map, that region is quite far from Milton. Is the episode going to pick up after Astrid has reached PV or is her transition from Milton to PV gonna be shown in the form of cutscene or is the gameplay sequence just so short that you don't really count the transition region as part of the episode's setting? (or something else entirely?)

[thekillergreece]

1. Will the new survival update affect the current save files?

2. Will we find the revolver on existing save files? Perhaps only at areas we havent gone/searched yet?

[Kissodeath]

Are you planning on adding some critter backstory ... Like why are the critters acting crazy what's affected what isn't why are they affected ECT...  And are you planning on a critter AI revamp maybe add pack behavior to wolves or maybe that's a affected behavior. If changes are to be made any hints as to what changes you have in mind?  

Could you go as far to have the wolf fog up windows trying to sniff you out while your hiding in a car or maybe even in a cabin. That would be terrifying 

Edited March 7, 2019 by Kissodeath
Added sniffing

[Kissodeath]

Any plans on expanding fishing .. Like the addition of a fishing rod or using hand to use the line if yes what mechanics will you add. 

Will I be digging around for grubs to use as bait anytime soon. Fish so hungry now they bite empty hooks

[Pillock]

 I know you don't like talking about release dates anymore, but I was wondering whether you can say if the next update - whenever it comes - will be for Survival Mode or for Wintermute? Or with the splitting of the team into the two sides of the project, will it just be whichever of them finishes first?

 

(I can't seem to get rid of this quote box on my phone, but it doesn't matter much, I guess)

On 07/01/2019 at 10:45 PM, Innie said:

 

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Super excited to see what the motion capture studio has in store for the future at Hinterland! I do know that you literally just said you don't want to release any dates about future updates and such, I don't mean to be a weenie...but are we expecting this amazing sounding Survival update within a few months or soon? Just want to say thank you for letting us know whats going on. 

[PlayerPawn]

So in religious texts, Methuselah is thought to have incredibly long life, or is sometimes even portrayed as immortal in various creative works.  There is also a book called: Forever Young: A Cultural History of Longevity wherein the author posits that Methuselah is actually a symbolic link between the creation of man and the great flood, which could draw some parallels of Methuselah in the game.  He himself says this has all happened before, which makes me think he's been witness to a previous "rebirth" of civilization (creation) and is now witnessing its downfall (the great flood).  Considering that Methuselah in the game seemingly is all knowing and appears in the right locations at the right time, I would wager a guess that his presence is either divine or even predestined.  Maybe even time travel, depending on how sci-fi this story goes.  I honestly felt Great Bear might be like the Island on Lost, shifting through time.  I know it's probably spoiler territory to ask but, is there any truth to anything I said?

Edited March 8, 2019 by PlayerPawn
Clarity.

[Skelegutplays]

Some questions regarding the revolver.

1. Will the revolver have separate shooting skill from the rifle?

2. Will it always spawn in a hunting bunker?

3. How rare will it be compared to the rifle?

4. Will it be possible toi use it in a bear/wolf/moose strugle?

[Sceh]

What are your plans concerning the Buffer Memories? Will you implement a way for us to read them again later (like the notes we collect)?

As a side note, the counter seems to be broken. After collecting all the Memories available at the time in Survival mode and then going around and collecting some more for the Archivist challange, it shows me 34 of 31 collected (and I know there's more than 31 in this version).

I LOVE them by the way. What a great addition to the game's world and what a nice glimpse into the pre-lights lives of Great Bear. Huge props to whoever is writing those.

[xantippee]

Though I know what almost all sounds in the game are supposed to be, I have not yet figured out what that kind of scratchy metallic sound is which you hear inside a house or building every now and then. It doesn't seem to be similar to any of the other sounds, such as wind noise. The closest I get is a tropical bird someone I knew had as a pet, who'd make a metallic type of sound like that, but I am sure that's not it. ;-)

Thanks for the well fed bonus, it really makes interloper play more interesting, as you can make a choice to slightly game the system by starving yourself, or to try and eat enough and be able to carry a bit more. It's really well tuned and adds additional depth to the decision making process and strategy, especially on interloper.

Would it be possible to have a well dressed bonus, similar to the well fed bonus? For example, you have all clothing you're wearing at 90% or up, which gives you a few degrees Celsius of warmth bonus. This disappears once one of your clothing items drops below 90%. This would especially be handy when you have lost, or never found clothing to fit all the clothing slots. To make it less easy it could be introduced after the time period when the game's climate is at its coldest (50 days on interloper I believe). It could add additional depth and strategic decision making, such as are you willing to waste so much cloth, or when is a good time to do this, for example when moving to another region or when living in a colder region.

Edited March 8, 2019 by xantippee

[Yodie78]

 not to nitpick or anything but have you ever thought of modifying the deer so that there’s a doe (female) version and making it so that there’s just a bit more meat? Just kinda wondering also a use for antlers?