Option to Increase the Difficulty Setting Part Way into a Run

[UpUpAway95]

Forgive me if there is already a way to do this that I just haven't found yet (Xbox One).  I would like to be able to increase the difficulty setting (in survival mode) as I progress through a run and I learn more about the game, the areas, and become more confident so that I don't have to start a completely new run and start over at Day 1.  Since I could get the time related achievements (50, 100, 500 days) even staying on the lowest setting, why not allow the player to start at the lower setting and then progressively increase the setting while keeping the run going?

Second item - which I mentioned on another thread - The ability to craft a tin-can forge so that forged arrowheads can be made at any workbench.  There are several examples of these little forges on Youtube.

[Guest kristaok]

I agree, I too would like to see the ability to increase the difficulty over time. Good idea op. 

[Stone]

@UpUpAway95 forgive me if you know already but part of the difficulty is that, on say Interloper, you don't get the best gear: none of the best clothing or food and you have to make hatchets, knives, a bow (no rifles), etc. So, you can see, if you have those things that dimension of difficulty is 'fixed'. However other things could get harder: world temperatures could drop, wildlife (game) could become rarer - this already happens in Interloper by the way. Beyond that I guess I'd ask what people mean by 'harder' difficulties. Keeping the game challenging would be great but the traditional 'levers' of difficulty can only be pulled so far and, once you are established, they become less effective.

What I really want to say is just start playing Interloper. Its awesome. The real achievements in TLD are the ones that suddenly pop up on screen. They're things like adapting to unexpected twists, jumping out of your skin, feeling the rush of adrenaline and coming away with a tale to tell. Go start a new run, on interloper, and come back and tell us how its goes 

[Hilayla]

I also got kind of bored on my first Pilgrim run and it now sits with like 180 days or thereabouts. Hunting is a more of a challenge because everything runs away, but that is the only challenge. I would love to at least increase the animal aggression. That being said, I did just what Stone suggested and went to Interloper. I lasted just under 24 hours my first run. I died trying to climb out of PV and got too tired to find shelter before succumbing to the dark. Oddly enough, I never saw a wolf or bear, even when looting the farmhouse.

[UpUpAway95]

5 hours ago, Stone said:

@UpUpAway95 forgive me if you know already but part of the difficulty is that, on say Interloper, you don't get the best gear: none of the best clothing or food and you have to make hatchets, knives, a bow (no rifles), etc. So, you can see, if you have those things that dimension of difficulty is 'fixed'. However other things could get harder: world temperatures could drop, wildlife (game) could become rarer - this already happens in Interloper by the way. Beyond that I guess I'd ask what people mean by 'harder' difficulties. Keeping the game challenging would be great but the traditional 'levers' of difficulty can only be pulled so far and, once you are established, they become less effective.

What I really want to say is just start playing Interloper. Its awesome. The real achievements in TLD are the ones that suddenly pop up on screen. They're things like adapting to unexpected twists, jumping out of your skin, feeling the rush of adrenaline and coming away with a tale to tell. Go start a new run, on interloper, and come back and tell us how its goes 

I have started an interloper run and, to my surprise, managed to survive over the 24 hours to get the achievement  on my first try and with being completely unfamiliar with the map (Pleasant Valley).  Not knowing all the maps yet is making it difficult to decide what to do next, so I've put that run on hold until I get my pilgrim thorugh Pleasvant Valley.    I still wouldn't mind being able to take my original (actually about the 4th try) pilgrim run towards the 500-day mark by increasing the difficulty setting (i.e increasing animal agression and detection range).  It's going to be a long slog to 500 days in pilgrim and probably a long, long time before I get that good in interloper.  I could start a voyager or stalker run, but then I'd now lose about 150 days on the clock and a lot of Faithful Cartographer mapping, which I don't really want to do.

My suggestion is not about deluding myself into thinking increasing the difficulty of a run midway makes it the same as starting a run on that difficulty.  Rather, it's about allowing a run to continue to be interesting over longer periods rather than having to abandon it to start a more difficult run.