Milton Mailbag -- Dispatch #15

[Raphael van Lierop]

Hey everyone! It's that time again. MAILBAG!

For any that missed it earlier this week, here's all the info on this year's exciting version of 4 Days of Night, our annual Halloween event: 

 

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Question from @Cmb1983:

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So, this is an unusual question, but I feel you're the best authority to answer it. 

You've worked on TLD for a while now, hinterland is small, but well versed in what a indie survival game should be. From creation to distribution. I'm curious if you have heard of the game 'stranded deep' also a small indie survival game. Thry just had to pull their game because the publisher (telltale) fell through.

Have you ever considered offering assistance or guidance to other small companies ? I know it sounds weird to help a technical ' competitors ' however as a company knowing the struggle, it makes sense for your company to be one of the dominant voices and faces of the indie genre, survival genre, etc. 

 

Not an unusual question at all! I have heard of Stranded Deep and I think I tried their early access when it first launched. I recall them having a pretty neat cooking system. I'm very sorry to hear they've had to pull their game in the aftermath of Telltale's collapse (which is also incredibly sad). If someone from the Stranded Deep team wanted to talk to us about publishing support, we'd be happy to discuss that. That said, I'm very focused on building our our "brand" as a creator of thoughtful, beautiful experiences so we'd only want to work with people who also celebrate those values and express them through their work. I'm not saying Stranded Deep doesn't share those values, mind you -- just saying I don't know about about the game to judge that for the moment.

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Question from @Kazmeister, going for the trio:

Heya Raph. A few things:

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1: I’ve seen the Hinterland Gear on “The Long Dark” FB page and I was wondering what percentage of the revenue from that goes to the dev team/studio. I’d like to support the team but those mugs are expensive. Just wondering how much those sales help keep the lights on.

2: I think that you guys releasing all 5 episodes for free with the base purchase of the game is awesome and noble of you, and I get that you might catch flak for dlc, but that shouldn’t apply to survival mode, which is basically an extra. I for one would gladly pay $5-6 for the ability to customize interior spaces. Especially if I could build furniture or remove dead bodies. You’ve mentioned adding customization anyway and I don’t see it being major value added for story mode, why not let us drop a few bucks on it to support the team?

3: Last one. I have an idea for your sound guy/gal. There’s an awesome sound effect that’s currently missing in the woods. That “FLOOMPH” of snow falling from a tree branch to the ground. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the woods in the winter and I just love that sound. Just an idea. It wouldn’t need an animation if it sounded distant.

Thanks for building a great world for us to freeze in. This is one of only maybe five games I keep going back to.

 

I'll try for all 3:

1) We design all the gear and produce it with trusted partners so we basically control the costs and then tack on a % of "margin" to make a bit of money off the merch items. We don't expect to get rich from them. They are mostly about extending the game world into the real world and giving our fans something they can put their hands on to feel more connected to the game. Our merch operation is pretty modest and doesn't generate a lot of revenue or profit, but we're happy to do it and it's something we will probably grow over time.

2) Thanks for that. We'll keep thinking about ways to keep the game feeling like great value and see if there could be fair ways to generate more $$ so we can keep making new stuff.

3) Yeah we've talked a lot about that one -- I'm waiting until we have a good visual effect to go with it.  

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Question from @Sipriano:

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Hi hinterland,I was wondering why the militar pants are that weird to found,  I know that there was not much,  not to say scarce, militar presence for what we know of great bear until now, but it is very difficult to find them even looking in the zones whit more resources in the game. Some reasone to make them to scarce?

By the way, I hope to find my pumpink pie this halloween, I never found it

 

They are scarce because they are good! In general, items that are more effective or useful are harder to find.

Good luck finding the pies in 4DON!

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Question from @Skelegutplays:

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Any plans to add any more food items?

Yup!

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Question from @jerry486:

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What happened to the front of the plane in TWM?

Must be in another region?

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Question from @BESt:

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Is there a connection between the broken trees in upper part of the PV and the plane crash in the TWM?

You tell me!

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Question from @ThePancakeLady:

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Just curious if Hinterland was able to get anyone to the GAC (Game Accessibility Conference) In France this year? I know you are very aware of accessibility issues in video games, and have taken steps to make TLD more accessible. I also know you are all very busy, and having someone away in France for the conference may not have been possible. Any plans on trying to work with gaming accessibility advocacy groups or organizations, to build the next game you make, from the ground up, with more accessibility built in, for more people with different types of disabilities or special needs?

We didn't send anyone, unfortunately, no. Accessibility is definitely something we're still learning about and we'd like to be able to offer more support in the future, definitely. Some things are tricky to support -- ex. autowalk to support accessibility or closed captions in the HUD indicating the direction of wolf barks, for example, are things that can also become "exploits" for players, so we have to find the right balance there.

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Question from @Guenter:

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Are you going to make a merch set, like the original clothes from the game. Like a jacket with the rabbit on it. Or the Canadian wool hat.

I would enjoy and buy something like that.

 

Cool idea! We have a few items coming, and I'd like to do more. I'd love to be able to offer a proper parka with the Jackrabbit Transport logo, like Mackenzie's from WINTERMUTE, but a good-quality one would be very expensive! That said, I'm sure we can create some more clothing items that are tied to the game world, and keep them relatively affordable.

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Question from @Tri13:

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Are there plans for new guns in the works I would love for there to be a pistol.

Yup!

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Question from @Smellyfries:

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Will we ever be able to get a teddy bear? Something to help keep us sane during our long, cold adventures. 

It'd be great until you needed tinder and then... 

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Question from @Morrick:

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Hello everyone, hello Raphael.

I've been playing The Long Dark for about three months now, and I'm really enjoying it in its current form. I really love the game world, but there's something I've always wondered with regard to the animal population: the lack of horses. Given the rural setting and the amount of farmhouses and farmsteads the player encounters, the absence of horses feels strange to me. Is it a planned addition? I certainly hope so. While I'm sure some would immediately want the ability to tame them and ride them for a faster travel across regions (and I'm sure this would be a nightmare to implement), I simply feel that their addition would add a nice touch to the game world, not to mention an additional source of meat when things get dire. (Horses wouldn't have to be everywhere, of course, maybe just a few hanging around farmsteads.)

I apologise if this was already discussed. I checked the Mailbag Index before posting, and didn't find any mention of the subject. I also apologise if the reason for the absence of horses is mentioned in Story Mode — so far I have only played Survivor sandboxes and the occasional challenge...

Thank you in advance for your time, and keep up the stellar work.

–Rick

 

I would love to add horses to the game. There are a lot of challenges with this, unfortunately. The animation alone would be months and months or work. Nevermind that the world hasn't really been constructed to allow horses to move between regions (imagine crossing the ravine trestle bridge, or going through the mine between CH and PV!). I'm downloading RDR2 so I imagine I'll be feeling a lot like adding horses to The Long Dark for the next several months or years. I can dream can't I!

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Question from @Smellyfries:

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Will we ever be able to mix fuel sources? Such as taking a lot of small lantern fuel containers and pouring them all into a jerry can? Or the opposite?

Would require, at least, a change in the UI we use for handling liquids. It's doable, and something that's been requested a lot so I imagine we'll try to support it in the future, provided we can make the UI for it not suck.

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Question from @Illuminatist:

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Are you guys planning to expand the Broken Railroad region?

I am not a big fan of this region it has very little in it and it is also one of the smallest map, even worse this map is a deadend. There are only 2 buildings to loot in this entire map, which is pretty lacking. I feel like this region was rushed for episode 2. 

A few nice examples of expanding the BR map would be by making the BR ravine lead to somewhere useful, instead of fixing the broken bridge maybe make traveling through the ravine the only way to make it to the other side of the broken bridge? This region could easily be expanded to double the size then, and the map would not lose it's "broken down feel". Before Vigilant flame update if i remember right there was an gate somewhere which could not be opened, this was closed with a rock. Just wondering if it was intended for a new region or another hideout for those terrorists. 

As of now BR feels like a really lacking region, it fills it's role in episode 2 but for survival you need to go through FM and so many wolves... So much condition lost and maybe even your whole save... For what? Maybe a new hacksaw or if i'm lucky a firestriker? This region really needs something that gives it a bigger purpose for survival right now it's not worth the risk to travel there most of the time. 

 

Whether a region is good/bad/nice/not-nice is pretty subjective. I like the way it is.   Not every region has to be a large, fully self-sufficient (resource wise) region. The region definitely was not rushed for Ep2. We may have it connect to another region (or more than one) in the future so it wouldn't be a dead-end, but as it is, the Maintenance Shed and the Hunting Lodge are both great shelters with some useful stuff to offer, and for WINTERMUTE the whole area suits the story very well.

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Question from @JohnnyTheHun:

Hi Raph,

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 I recall you said multiple times that the pressure in giving all five episodes for free is bigger than anticipated. I think I am not alone when I say I very much like your game and the episodes from the day they were released. There might be quite a good few people who would be willing to donate a couple of dollars if they felt giving all episodes away for free is too big a pressure on your company.  Have you been thinking about adding a 5-10-15-20 $ donation option whenever a new episode or this Halloween special comes out? 

Thanks for the sentiment! We appreciate it. We're ok financially but if you want to help out you can buy another copy of the game and gift it to someone you think would like it. And you can buy our next game!  

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Question from @JohnWalks:

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Hi everyone, 

With regions such as Hushed River Valley with no man made structures, will there be any scope to increase the more bushcraft side of things, such as making semi pernimant camps like lean to shelters etc and more things out of the wood we find rather than just snow dug outs? 

To allow us to live there rather than just survive in true wilderness maps etc. 

Maybe have a bushcraft skill set that each level you gain allows you to build a different structure or item made from the materials we find, that would be awesome, or even learn new bits from survival books that we find? 

This game is the closest thing to Alone Esq survival TV scenario and I feel bushcraft and survival guys and gals like myself would really dig this kind of edge. 

Also can we please be able to break down ruined shelters and old fire pits, we're all about the 'Leave No Trace' ethos 

Thank you for all your hard work, there is genuinely no greater game with such value for time spent and price paid than this. 

Kind regards 

John 

 

Yup, I'd like to expand on the "bushcraft" elements of the game. Thank you for the note about the "leave no trace" ethos -- we'll do our best to support it without breaking gameplay.

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Question from @NardoLoopa:

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How is it that the Wind Direction algorithm TLD uses always anticipates which direction I need to travel in?  Is this some advanced deep data analytic IA that reaches out to Google's hivemind servers?

I think you are merely unlucky.  Occam's Razor, and all that.

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Question from @yarimari:

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Do you want to implement more challenges into the game? With the upcoming 4dof event I can't help but think it would be a great challenge to have permanently in the game (though I understand if you just want to keep it as a yearly thing, that's fine too). My favourite challenge so far is the nomad challenge and would love to see more similar challenges but with varying difficulty. 

Thank you for your hard work on this amazing game and for being so kind to your fans. I truly appreciate how involved you are in the community 

 

Yes, we'd love to add more Challenges. We also like the idea of having timed "events" and this year's 4DON is an attempt to try that out.

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Question from @White_SnowTree:

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With HRV being a region totally devoid of human shelter, have you thought of taking this 1 step further and implementing more survival tools that would make the player rely less on human-made buildings (perhaps tents)? In regions such as Pleasant Valley for example, the Barn and Farmhouse are both very centralized on the map, and so it is kinda useless to build a snow shelter when you could easily just walk back to the farm after you hunt and score a kill 

 

The problem with snow shelters is that they are built with sticks and cloth- making shelters out of any other kind of resource is impossible

 

The Snow Shelter is meant to be more of an emergency measure, to help you avoid getting stuck and freezing to death in a blizzard, for example. Less of a permanent camp. The fact that you don't need to build snow shelters in PV when you're down near the farm is a good thing, IMO. There are plenty of other parts of PV, however, where getting stuck in a blizzard could mean your death, and you'd be happy to whip up a shelter then. But yes, we have thought about other reasonable craftable shelters (not full on houses or pallisades or what-have-you, of course).

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Question from @melcantspell:

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Do you plan to include more ways to use tinder or change gameplay so that tinder is no longer useless after you perfected your firemaking skills?

For example, I would assume that using tinder shortens the time it takes to make the fire (yeah, it's not like you could even start a fire without tinder in real life, can you?) Times might also vary depending on the type of tinder you use. 

 

It's not currently super high on our list but we'll probably overhaul the campfire system at some point.

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Question from @okapi:

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I love your beard.

Thanks! But that's not a question.

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That's all for this week's mailbag, folks. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. We hope you really enjoy this year's 4DON, and we'll be keeping our eyes out for all the cool survival stories and vignettes you're going to share with us on social media or here in the community forums. Stay warm out there!

- Raph

 

 

[ThePancakeLady]

1 hour ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

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Will we ever be able to get a teddy bear? Something to help keep us sane during our long, cold adventures. 

It'd be great until you needed tinder and then..

Nuuuuuu! Don't burn Fozzy!

Unless Fozzy was the one eating all of those delicious tinned Sardines you had stashed away. In which case... *FWOOOOSH**FLOOOOOOOMPH*! (Not only the sound of snow falling from branches, but the sound of spontaneous teddy combustion...)

[CalNieDaGtarGuy]

Obviously I'm not the first one to say that everyone on this forum would shuck money out to Hinterland in a heartbeat, because the quality of any and all DLC that they could potentially release would be more than worth a few dollars. Hell, I'd give em money for nothing in return, I love them so much

[Pillock]

2 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Question from @melcantspell:

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Do you plan to include more ways to use tinder or change gameplay so that tinder is no longer useless after you perfected your firemaking skills?

For example, I would assume that using tinder shortens the time it takes to make the fire (yeah, it's not like you could even start a fire without tinder in real life, can you?) Times might also vary depending on the type of tinder you use. 

 

It's not currently super high on our list but we'll probably overhaul the campfire system at some point.

Bah. I was hoping it'd be more of a priority. Oh well.

I actually feel sad each time I reach Fire Starting Level 3, because it doesn't feel right to be able to light a fire without tinder.  Even just a custom option to disable the perk would be good for me.

Great mailbag, by the way. Looking forward to 4don and counting down to the new wintermute release!

[Smellyfries]

3 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

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Will we ever be able to get a teddy bear? Something to help keep us sane during our long, cold adventures. 

It'd be great until you needed tinder and then... 

Even if i needed tinder, i would rather cuddle up with my teddy bear, and fall asleep in the cold snow (probably during a blizzard) than throw him into the fire. (Unless he has a candy bar inside him, which then i might tear open every teddy bear, especially on Interloper) 

[ThePancakeLady]

1 hour ago, Smellyfries said:

4 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

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Will we ever be able to get a teddy bear? Something to help keep us sane during our long, cold adventures. 

It'd be great until you needed tinder and then... 

Even if i needed tinder, i would rather cuddle up with my teddy bear, and fall asleep in the cold snow (probably during a blizzard) than throw him into the fire. (Unless he has a candy bar inside him, which then i might tear open every teddy bear, especially on Interloper) 

Edited 1 hour ago by Smellyfries
If Ralph quotes this i'm going to cry...

I don't know if Ralph will, but Raph might. 

Not sure who this "Ralph" is everyone keeps bringing up.  

[Vinceofpyrenees]

1 "Last one. I have an idea for your sound guy/gal. There’s an awesome sound effect that’s currently missing in the woods. That “FLOOMPH” of snow falling from a tree branch to the ground. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the woods in the winter and I just love that sound. Just an idea. It wouldn’t need an animation if it sounded distant.

2 " Also can we please be able to break down ruined shelters and old fire pits, we're all about the 'Leave No Trace' ethos "

3 "Do you plan to include more ways to use tinder or change gameplay so that tinder is no longer useless after you perfected your firemaking skills? For example, I would assume that using tinder shortens the time it takes to make the fire (yeah, it's not like you could even start a fire without tinder in real life, can you?) Times might also vary depending on the type of tinder you use."

 

Nice ideas, especially for the first ! I am sure that snow fall sound and visual could be really enjoying.

[Blinkin]

Again a great Mailbag!

I would love the addition of the suggested snow-falling-of-trees sound!

[JeremiahJohnson]

Any chance the widlife behavior will be touched up? Along with blood tracking while hunting?

[Guenter]

Thanks for responding my question! : )

[Guest jeffpeng]

I must say I'd be willing to spend a few hundred eurodollars on MacKenzie's parka. And I'd certainly have the nerve to wear it on a daily basis - at least in the fierce German winter. I think it would be great since, as TLD isn't the global phenomenon it would deserve to be, most people would be asking what the hell that rabbit stands for, but a few initiated souls would give you a knowing nod.

[Serenity]

On 27.10.2018 at 2:01 AM, Raphael van Lierop said:

Question from @JohnWalks:

Yup, I'd like to expand on the "bushcraft" elements of the game. Thank you for the note about the "leave no trace" ethos -- we'll do our best to support it without breaking gameplay.

Re: removing old campfires

Please add that It's very annoying when you have fires littering up everything after a while. Especially when you just made it to harvest an animal and won't use it there again