Milton Mailbag -- Dispatch #14


Raphael van Lierop

Recommended Posts

  • Hinterland

5bca7c1f75634_MiltonMailbag-site_forumcopy.thumb.png.7c957266238e7709296c990d35c6f83c.png

Hello community!

Enjoy this week's Mailbag.

Next week, keep an eye (or two) open for news about this year's Halloween event, "Four Days of Night" (4DON), which will be bigger than ever this year!

- Raph

*****

Question from @MarrowStone:

Quote

 

Do you think polls on this forum accurately show what the community wants in the game? Or is it possible users of this forum might have completely different expectations of the game than the general audience that just play and don't get involved? 

Being a community informed project, have polls generated by users ever been exceptionally useful?

 

Not really. In general, people who will take the time to join and post in forums are already more highly engaged than the average player and at most will represent a very small % of the total player community. That doesn't mean the attitudes and opinions aren't valid or useful, but in general polls generated in forums are really opinions garnered from an already very biased/filtered group. For less biased polls, we'd lean on social media or online surveys where we can drive a more "mainstream" player to submit their opinions. That said, these types of things are always useful as extra data points, but I would never make final or major decisions exclusively around them. 

*****

Question from @Sipriano:

Quote

Hi Raph, I wanted to ask what animal would you like to be the next to be added to THE LONG DARK? I'm not asking what it would be if not what you want it to be, I would like the fox by the way

No promises that this WILL be the next animal, but I'd like to add a Cougar at some point. I've lived around cougar habitats and they are way more frightening than bears. Way. More.

*****

Question from @yoli

Quote

Why did you choose Unity as game engine? 

We chose Unity for its versatility as a cross-platform engine, its cost and licensing terms, and its healthy Asset Store ecosystem. When we started using Unity, Unreal was not competitive in these key areas. Things may have changed but Unity remains an excellent engine. We may try different tech/engines in the future, but we're pretty happy with how Unity has worked out for us so far. Every engine has its limitations and issues, including Unreal (we have folks on our team who are proficient with UE) so really it comes down to what kind of game you're making and if you can get the support and business terms you need to help your project be successful. (Not sure how it is now, but when we licensed Unity, Unreal required you pay a 5% royalty to Epic based on revenue, which for us would have translated to a LOT more money than just licensing Unity outright. I wasn't comfortable with that.) That said, we're open to using whatever tech that will help us develop great experiences in an efficient manner.

*****

Question from @RationalBassist:

Quote

 

Going forward, will you be providing any substantive warning before rendering old content inaccessible by new updates? 

For example, in purely hypothetical terms, were you to decide to completely remove an existing location and replace it with a connecting point to a new zone, going forward, would you provide advance notice of this change, or otherwise rework integration to ensure that existing player items remain intact in the transition? 

 

We try really hard to warn people of this type of thing. We don't always succeed in reaching everyone. We don't always succeed in identifying all the ways in which our updates might affect existing content. Sometimes we nuke stuff on purpose (and we warn players of this). Sometimes we nuke stuff by accident. We'll try to be better about highlighting the former. We'll try harder to avoid the latter. Sorry about killing your gear items that one time! :(

*****

Question from @BareSkin:

Quote

Have you ever though of using the community to introduce a bit of variety in the game on simple things? Like, if you gave out the texture file for let's say the chocolate bar and organize a 1-month challenge and pick the 10 bests you prefer, I'm pretty sure many players could come up with many different sort of packaging for a chocolate bar. Then on such an item, a texture would be picked at random in a database of maybe 10 textures? The month after that, the granola bar, next month pork and beans, etc...

This kind of thing will become more common once we roll out modding tools. We could consider something like Steam Workshop as well if that's something people were interested in. We haven't harnessed the community for creating that type of content in the game but there's no reason we couldn't in the future.

*****

Question from @Smellyfries:

Quote

Will you ever be able to put the hood up on the hoody? 

You want...instant ear frostbite!?

*****

Question from @MueckE:

Quote

 

Now that cannabis is legal in Canada, do you plan to send something to us or do you want to smoke it all by yourself? :D

That would be a really amazing and funny addition to TlD, a cannabis plant. When you drink a tea from it, you will be able to sleep although you are fully rested. How cool would that be? "Adding more canadian style things"? - Here you go, i bet every gaming site would report about that. Any chances you consider adding this?

 

No plans to add weed to the game. 

*****

Question from @genralbeefcakes:

Quote

 

first off, I love this game and especially hinterland as a whole.  It seems like you guys care more about your customers and your game than other studios so thanks for that :)

I noticed that when a wolf if stalking you or even noticed you at all, he will go into a dead sprint if you aim at him with a bow or gun. Is this solely for balance purposes (no easy headshots) or are the wolves smart enough to know that it's a do or die moment when you aim at them? Thanks :D 

 

Thank you, we do love our community/customers more than any other game studio, especially the one guy asking about adding weed to the game. :)

As for the wolves -- a bit of both. They are smart AF. Also: why should you get all the advantages?

*****

Question from @White_SnowTree:

Quote

Was Hushed River Valley a 1 time testing of a fully nature map? Would you like to try a similar kind of map again in the future, or would you like to continue with maps with lots of human shelters, such as Mountain Town? 

I'd like to create more of a buffer between the populated regions of Great Bear on the South-East side (which you're currently playing on), and other parts of the Island we haven't explored in the game yet (North, West coast, etc.). I could see a range of more naturalistic environments like Hushed River Valley forming a kind of "wilderness barrier" between places like Mystery Lake or Milton, and other similar (possible even more built-up) regions on the "other side".  I think a region like HRV is more interesting when you pass through it on your way to another destination, vs. it being an end of itself (although it is a lovely region and full of interesting challenges and details).

*****

Question from @yarimari:

Quote

Have you ever considered adding a sort of "practice mode" where you can practice shooting with the rifle or bow, or hunting with stones without the fear of losing ammo/the hassle to find it? I've been very hesitant using the bow because I suck at aiming with it, and I don't like wasting ammo/arrows by doing target practice.

There's an archery target near the Barn in Pleasant Valley for this very purpose. Might be a few arrows stuck in it for good measure. :)

Quote

Also, do you have any plans on extending the skills further? Ex. being able to sew makeshift clothes with the mending skill after you get a good enough skill? Clothes you sew yourself would have lower stats of course, but I can see that being useful for interloper when you need a hat and they're not as easily found. Another potential for the sewing skill is decorative objects like pillows and curtains to spice up your home base.

Yes, I'd like to build on the Skills system. It needs a refresh.

*****

One more from @yarimari:

Quote

 

I just asked another question so I'm sorry for bringing a new one, but this is something I've been curious about for a while now.

My name is Astrid and this is the first time I've ever come across a fictional character that shares my name (and we're both in the medical field which is nice as well). What made you choose the name Astrid? As far as I know it's not very common outside of Scandinavia where I live. Was it because you wanted a unique name? Is she named after someone you know, or was it simply because you liked it? I would love to hear your reasoning behind her name, and also the other character's names as well.

 

It was the first name my wife and I planned to use for our daughter before she was born, but we opted to use another name because the name didn't feel right once we actually met her. I've always loved the name Astrid and wanted to keep it alive somehow.

*****

Thanks for all the questions this week! Keep in mind -- next week (starting Monday!) we'll begin dropping more details about our Four Days of Night event, which for the first time will include our Xbox and PS4 players. We'll be creating a dedicated community thread around it as well, so please play, share your stories, and enjoy! We're using this year's 4DON as a test-bed for some ideas for future events like this, so your participation is really important as a way for us to gauge whether we'll do more of these in the future.

Enjoy the weekend.

- Raph

5bca7c35f32a6_TLD4DoNprofile-facebooktwitter-720x720.thumb.png.866ced4b90efbd2145df8dbd7fb4f19d.png

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please use this thread for discussion of @Raphael van Lierop's answers. However, while we will be monitoring the thread, he won't be following up on questions here. If you have more questions please post them in the main question thread and they may be addressed in a future Milton Mailbag.

If you want to know if a topic has been addressed please check the Milton Mailbag Index.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Admin pinned and featured this topic
17 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

You want...instant ear frostbite!?

I asked this for those times when you don't have a hat at the beginning of the game. Although i guess i should have mentioned that when i posted the question, ell well! But thanks for the comment LOL! 

To answer your question...YES!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:
Quote

Why did you choose Unity as game engine? 

We chose Unity for its versatility as a cross-platform engine, its cost and licensing terms, and its healthy Asset Store ecosystem. When we started using Unity, Unreal was not competitive in these key areas. Things may have changed but Unity remains an excellent engine. We may try different tech/engines in the future, but we're pretty happy with how Unity has worked out for us so far. Every engine has its limitations and issues, including Unreal (we have folks on our team who are proficient with UE) so really it comes down to what kind of game you're making and if you can get the support and business terms you need to help your project be successful. (Not sure how it is now, but when we licensed Unity, Unreal required you pay a 5% royalty to Epic based on revenue, which for us would have translated to a LOT more money than just licensing Unity outright. I wasn't comfortable with that.) That said, we're open to using whatever tech that will help us develop great experiences in an efficient manner.

I have to admit, I am glad the game uses Unity, even with the usual Unity engine "issues". My older gaming rig was a strong mid-range build, when i built it 6 years ago, and when I upgraded the GPU less than a year later. It runs *most* Unity games well, if it meets and slightly exceeds minimum system spec requirements. 

Unreal? If it is Unreal 3, my rig *might* handle it. If it is Unreal 4, even if my rig meets and slightly exceeds listed minimum spec requirements, my Rosie almost always cannot run the game(s) well, if at all. No matter the graphics and sound settings I can customize, UE4 tends to chug on this rig, and overheat either the GPU or CPU, or both. It has gotten to the point that if i see a UE4 splash on the trailer video, or in a game's description, I stop looking at it right then. Unity 3D at least might let me play, so I research the game more if I see Unity engine used.

And yeah, please do not tell me to upgrade my rig and move into 2018". I can afford to. But I was raised to never throw out things that are still working. Don't toss it until it breaks. I'll replace Rosie when she stops running, or starts popping up bad sector syndrome symptoms. And the game is global. Not everyone in the world can afford a super beefy rig just to play a game or 2 or 3. This game runs well even on lower-end rigs. And i do believe that is because of Unity being used instead of UE4.

 

Just my thoughts.  Now... Pancakes. Or Pancake... ready for 4DoN. ;)PancakeSkull.jpg.8be8ad7305db7ae833670e6d0dd383d6.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

we'll begin dropping more details about our Four Days of Night event, which for the first time will include our Xbox and PS4 players. 

Oh that's fantastic news. I thought we would be left out of events  again .

Thank you for any additional work that was required to bring this to consoles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

For less biased polls, we'd lean on social media

Thanks. Yeah it makes sense that making a decision based solely on a group already quite engaged in the game might be inaccurate.

15 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

We haven't harnessed the community for creating that type of content in the game but there's no reason we couldn't in the future.

I would be eager to participate in such an event if it were implemented. In fact, I am currently replicating something from the game to practice my modeling/texture painting skills. A render might be shared soon!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome as usual !! Thanks a lot for taking time to answer some of our questions . You're a wonderful studio , you do an awesome job with your game !!
 This game is a masterpiece of experience , and anytime you update it it feel more awesome !! So a huge thank !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 20/10/2018 at 11:56 AM, Raphael van Lierop said:

I'd like to create more of a buffer between the populated regions of Great Bear on the South-East side (which you're currently playing on), and other parts of the Island we haven't explored in the game yet (North, West coast, etc.)

This sounds like the place is set to grow *substantially* :) Not that I don't have enough space to play in, but I always love to hear this. I imagine treks across the island will be an amazing experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

This sounds like the place is set to grow *substantially* :) Not that I don't have enough space to play in, but I always love to hear this. I imagine treks across the island will be an amazing experience.

Agreed. I'm especially keen on anything that might minmise some of the cul-de-sac areas and join them back up to other places.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Admin unpinned and unfeatured this topic

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.