A few things that I think should definitely be added into this game.

[Survival_Games]

More outdoor makeshift shelters, such as a frame shelter, leaf hut shelter, lean-to shelter or one-man shelter.  All we can craft is fire and a snow shelter for right now and I think the devs should add more makeshift shelters.

Another thing I'd like to see added is a first person perspective of your playermodel. Not only do you get to see your character's feet, but you also get to see the type of clothing you've equipped. You can also see torn clothing if your clothing has low condition, and blood if you've been attacked by a wolf, bear or moose.

I also think the devs should add a bear and wolf skin hat. 

So about the bear spear. I tried to use it to fight off wolves and that didn't work. The wolf just stood still and waited for my stamina bar to deplete before it attacked. So when you finish the bear spear and have available for survival mode, I hope you can use it to fight off wolves both in story mode and survival mode.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Survival_Games
I thought of something else I should add into my topic.

[thefistoffury1]

25 minutes ago, Survival_Games said:

More outdoor makeshift shelters, such as a frame shelter, leaf hut shelter, lean-to shelter or one-man shelter.  All we can craft is fire and a snow shelter for right now and I think the devs should add more makeshift shelters.

Another thing I'd like to see added is a first person perspective of your playermodel. Not only do you get to see your character's feet, but you also get to see the type of clothing you've equipped. You can also see torn clothing if your clothing has low condition, and blood if you've been attacked by a wolf, bear or moose.

So about the bear spear. I tried to use it to fight off wolves and that didn't work. The wolf just stood still and waited for my stamina bar to deplete before it attacked. So when you finish the bear spear and have available for survival mode, I hope you can use it to fight off wolves both in story mode and survival mode.

1) The lack of outdoor shelters is deliberate. You have the snow shelter,that should be all the power you're given. The cold wilderness is harsh and unforgiving, and adding more craftable shelters would not indicate how dire your situation is. Even the harsher maps have semi-ruined houses/ rooves that you can use with a fire and a bedroll

2) Full first person representation is in Hinterland's roadmap. Legs, different models based on clothing etc. Hinterland is no Ubisoft, and everything that needs resources to make needs time and patience.

3) The Bear spear is not something I have used yet, but I've seen it in action. You have to count on the fact that the Old Bear walks into it, unable to dodge because of its massive weight. A wolf can be more elusive, but perhaps you will be able to use it in the future,  with a smaller time window (based on the aforementioned agility of the wolf).

 

[UpUpAway95]

If people want to bog their game down moving about sheets of metal and packing more weight in the form of screwdrivers and pliers, I say let them... but make it so that the predatory animals will always attack more frequently whenever the player is overencumbered and that being attacked while overencumbered ensures that the player will suffer greater amounts of damage than during other attacks based on the idea that the player is likely more tired from carrying more weight and is less agile and, therefore, less able to avoid taking damage and less able to  fight back effectively.  Also, make it so that the drawing of a bow or aiming of a rifle occurs much more slowly when the player is overencumbered.

[UpUpAway95]

4 minutes ago, loriaw said:

I don't recall saying we 'should' have more tools ~ or anything at all about sheets of tin (???). A lean to shelter requires a few logs, pine branches, and sinew or leather strips. Nothing needs to be carried beyond whatever cutting implement you've already got. A windbreak for the fire only requires piling up snow! I'd rather spend two hours setting up an actual camp than putting together a snow shelter and a fire, and having the fire blow out within an hour because the blasted wind changes direction. Of course, that can happen with a windbreak as well, but not quite as often. 

Sorry. I would like something more to do with my time than just running desperately from one place to another ... or feeling like the pocket lint of a troglodyte because of all of the things I'm not allowed to do.  Fwiw, the only time I'm overencumbered is when I get done looting one region and I'm packing it back to a home base.  

However, it's easier to use the natural terrain as a windbreak rather than piling up snow as a windbreak.  On most maps I've been, there are lots of indentations in the rocks and even small hidden caves that provide wind protection from multiple directions.  Even the Pleasant Valley map (which has a large open area) has features that can be used as wind breaks (e.g. hay bales and the snow plow ridges along the various "roadways."

[UpUpAway95]

4 hours ago, loriaw said:

All well and good until/unless one isn't handy when a blizzard hits or you need to rest ~ and I'd rather use a hacksaw I can repair to cut a few branches than eat up cloth for a single night. The same could be said for a hide tent; animal hides and sinew, along with branches, are endlessly renewing. The need to eat is also a constant. I've never been able to wear out enough clothes to use up the hides I collect ... and it would be nice to have a use for them. I play this game to relax, which leaves interloper and stalker on permanent no-no. I'm not at all interested in mechanically created or manipulated challenges ~ I prefer substance.

Right now the outside temp where I live is about 18F with a windchill taking it down to under 0. My heat comes from wood. If I didn't have a solar option to keep my led lights on I'd have oil lamps burning. If I didn't have the computer to keep me amused/occupied I'd be crocheting, quilting, or baking. See, I'm quite capable of dealing with cold and snow and no electricity. I'm just not interested in whiling away the hours dodging wolves or letting blizzards eat my clothing. I would prefer something to 'do' if that makes any sense. Ideally I'd prefer to have crafting to occupy myself during blizzards, using materials I gathered when the wind wasn't so ornery. Since there is a fully optional custom menu, it shouldn't be all that difficult to allow those who want to play as nomads and endlessly duck wolves and dare the weather to do so, while also allowing those who prefer to set up a base (or a few) and do the same. That is the definition of sandbox. 

I'm all for allowing us to craft arrow shafts, assemble arrows and continue to sew hide items while away from a workbench.  I don't see where having the ability to construct different looking structures as storm shelters would serve a huge purpose in the game that the  current terrain and snow shelters can't easily serve.  As I said, the terrain given to us in the game is such that one should never be so far away from a natural windbreak to be stuck out in the open in a blizzard and needing to rest.  Firstly, the game telegraphs the approach of blizzards by crows flying and clouds forming and winds starting to pick up, which allows sufficient time for an unencumbered player to locate and get to at least some form of natural shelter.  As you say, a lean-to requires "a few logs"  Are you suggesting that a player should then be able to find logs, drag them to a chosen location, find pine boughs and pack those to the same location and construct a lean-to in a blizzard in less time than they can just locate a natural windbreak?.  As I said, if people want to bog down their game packing around materials and tools to construct more complex structures, I say let them.  I don't really see most players using such a mechanic to shelter themselves from an onsetting blizzard.  I would rather they invest in giving us an advancement from merely surviving to actually thriving and becoming permanently settled in the game... represented by allowing us to eventually develop skills to construct an actual log cabin of our own somewhere in the game.

As I've also said, the net usage of cloth for temporary shelters can be easily remedied by having more cloth returned to the player upon dismantling of the shelter.  The usage of cloth for clothing essentially becomes obsolete in the game once the player accumulates enough hides to make clothing.  Even though cloth may be currently required to repair some of the items, it doesn't prevent the player from simply manufacturing new ones to replace ones that are wearing out instead of making repairs.

Edited January 21, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[UpUpAway95]

Correction to my post above:  "Even though cloth may be currently required to make one of the items (bear skin bedroll), it isn't required to repair them.  (Sorry for my confusion.)

[Survival_Games]

On 1/20/2019 at 2:42 PM, thefistoffury1 said:

1) The lack of outdoor shelters is deliberate. You have the snow shelter,that should be all the power you're given. The cold wilderness is harsh and unforgiving, and adding more craftable shelters would not indicate how dire your situation is. Even the harsher maps have semi-ruined houses/ rooves that you can use with a fire and a bedroll

2) Full first person representation is in Hinterland's roadmap. Legs, different models based on clothing etc. Hinterland is no Ubisoft, and everything that needs resources to make needs time and patience.

3) The Bear spear is not something I have used yet, but I've seen it in action. You have to count on the fact that the Old Bear walks into it, unable to dodge because of its massive weight. A wolf can be more elusive, but perhaps you will be able to use it in the future,  with a smaller time window (based on the aforementioned agility of the wolf).

 

1) The snow shelter shouldn't be the only makeshift shelter available to us. The shelters I've mentioned before have their purpose.

2) These are just mere suggestions, but they have mentioned a 1st person view of the in-game model in one of the dev diaries.

3) I don't think just because the wolf is elusive, that it should always resort in a struggle between me and the wolf, even if I have a spear on hand. A spear is a great weapon to fight off predators, not just bears.

[UpUpAway95]

7 hours ago, Survival_Games said:

1) The snow shelter shouldn't be the only makeshift shelter available to us. The shelters I've mentioned before have their purpose.

2) These are just mere suggestions, but they have mentioned a 1st person view of the in-game model in one of the dev diaries.

3) I don't think just because the wolf is elusive, that it should always resort in a struggle between me and the wolf, even if I have a spear on hand. A spear is a great weapon to fight off predators, not just bears.

Then please elaborate as to what different purposes the other makeshift shelters could have within the confines of the game that would make them add something more to the gameplay than just looking different.  Making a permanent shelter would have a clearly different purpose, but I really don't see where the purpose of one makeshift shelter differs in a tangible way from another one.   It's a suggestion worth expanding upon.

Here's an idea to get it started - How about rather than just different looking makeshift shelters, Hinterland lets us build (somehow) our own fishing huts.  Then we could fish on any river, pond or lake in the game.

Edited January 22, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[thefistoffury1]

There's a lot of great ideas in this thread, but I have noticed this theme with the protagonist of the Survival Mode. Will / Astrid / etc is not meant to be a complete novice in survival ( I say this based on what he/she can craft) but until more craftable shelters are added we HAVE to assume he/she isn't extremely skilled either. That would explain why a "hole in the snow" is the best shelter they can build. Until further features are added, like a skill tree specifically for shelters, we are supposed to take it at face value they just can't build a better shelter effectively. They can get skilled enough to one hit kill a bear from a city block away, but not build a metal/ wood log shelter, at least for now.

[ltnshinysides]

I'm hoping that as the episodes progress (3,4,5) we may see some new skills appear as the story progresses and so does the characters experience, skills and abilities to survive become more developed. In this way skills that are given to you through the course of the story mode could be earned or learned in survival mode. I do think its relevant to know that this is really not a crafting game and that is why we have an apparent lack of items to craft. It is also probably why they are slow to allow more crafting as it can totally alter the mechanics of the game and cause some items, play styles, or skills to be basically irrelevant.

That being said I feel like being able to create at least one more structure maybe an igloo. This would allow harsh areas that you normally only pass through could now be used on a more long term basis. This would give us the ability to really explore and experience an area without constantly questioning if its worth it or if its just a drain on resources to stay out in the bush for too long. Also it would be killer if you could make and igloo and use it as a fishing hut, I totally agree we should be able to make our own fishing hole. Even if we have to find weak ice, heavily damages tools or has very little fish due to the area, that would all be fine. I think in a nutshell people are starting to really want to have some affect on their ability to increase gathered resources when they are more established in an area. Even if its just a slight advantage. Right now the rabbit snare is really the only way we can do this.

A better use of cloth and hide for crafting I think is sorely needed as well. More options even if they have limited use would give us something to do on downtime and give everyone a slight edge. Not to mention, dear god use up the massive amounts of cloth and hide that I've been piling up. I mean I rip down piles and piles of curtains only so it can sit around as a pile of cloth. Let me do something with it. For instance let me make more sheets or something that would make a bed more comfortable. This could provide a modest buff of either being 110% rested much like the well fed buff or even just shave off the time it takes to get a good nights sleep.

Lastly the bear spear or any kind of weapon that could be proactively used to defend against predators I feel is sorely needed. Even if its just for defense and requires many resources to fend off a predator such as almost full stamina and skill. I mean this would be a great way to encourage not being overburdened by only allowing a normal carrying weight to be able to have the chance to successfully defend against predators. This way you would have even more debates with what items to carry. A spear for defense and a bow for hunting or just use the bow for both? I think it would improve the experience and deepen the play styles.

To me this would keep the balance and allow for hoarders and bush people to set up a semi-permanent area where they have some effect over their resources and environment such as building an igloo, creating a fishing hole and using extra resources for small but useful crafting. Or players can be light and quick, scavenge and explore and use the spear to better defend and most importantly allow them to explore areas faster and possibly reach more rewarding loot.

I know its a lot but I feel like it would be a good start and wouldn't create a whole list of problems of how the game currently plays. Let me know what you think and any ideas you have about items that could be crafted that would give a modest solution or slight advantage.

Edited January 25, 2019 by ltnshinysides

[Guest kristaok]

On 1/20/2019 at 1:48 PM, Survival_Games said:

More outdoor makeshift shelters, such as a frame shelter, leaf hut shelter, lean-to shelter or one-man shelter.  All we can craft is fire and a snow shelter for right now and I think the devs should add more makeshift shelters.

In the Winter there's hardly any Leaves unless it's an Evergreen Tree, so I don't think any of these "Shelter's" would work, instead a Teepee or an Igloo might work. 

On 1/20/2019 at 1:48 PM, Survival_Games said:

Another thing I'd like to see added is a first person perspective of your playermodel. Not only do you get to see your character's feet, but you also get to see the type of clothing you've equipped. You can also see torn clothing if your clothing has low condition, and blood if you've been attacked by a wolf, bear or moose.

You mean 3rd Person? I usually dislike first person Games, but I think TLD is fine just the way it is right now - it's one of the only first person Games I like tbh.

On 1/20/2019 at 1:48 PM, Survival_Games said:

I also think the devs should add a bear and wolf skin hat. 

So about the bear spear. I tried to use it to fight off wolves and that didn't work. The wolf just stood still and waited for my stamina bar to deplete before it attacked. So when you finish the bear spear and have available for survival mode, I hope you can use it to fight off wolves both in story mode and survival mode.

I agree I would love to see more Clothes from Skinned Animals. Last I checked you cannot kill anything other than the Old Bear with the Bear Spear, but I could be wrong.

[stratvox]

28 minutes ago, kristaok said:

In the Winter there's hardly any Leaves unless it's an Evergreen Tree, so I don't think any of these "Shelter's" would work, instead a Teepee or an Igloo might work. 

Well, here's the thing. The vast majority of the trees (and by vast I mean more than 99%) in the part of the world (Haida Gwaii) where Great Bear Island is set are evergreens. Using pine/fir/cedar boughs as part of a survival snow shelter is a real thing that exists. Dig a trench in a snowdrift, cover it with boughs, cover them with snow, lather rinse repeat for a foot or three. Pull boughs in behind you when you climb in.

A survival tool I would love to see in this game is a shovel.

Edited May 10, 2019 by stratvox

[Guest kristaok]

6 minutes ago, stratvox said:

Well, here's the thing. The vast majority of the trees (and by vast I mean more than 99%) in the part of the world (Haida Gwai) where Great Bear Island is set are evergreens. Using pine/fir/cedar boughs as part of a survival snow shelter is a real thing that exists. Dig a trench in a snowdrift, cover it with boughs, cover them with snow, lather rinse repeat for a foot or three. Pull boughs in behind you when you climb in.

A survival tool I would love to see in this game is a shovel.

I just don't like the idea of a Leaf Hut Shelter in TLD, idk why... I think something with Furs or Ice like an Igloo is better.  

[stratvox]

Oh, I'm down with allowing the use of cured hides as well as cloth to build snow shelters, but the people that make igloos live over a thousand kilometres away from the place this game is set. The reason is because the geography and climate in the Haida Gwaii is just not suitable for getting the kind of snow you need to build igloos.

Igloos would be a jarring anachronism in the game.

[ThePancakeLady]

1 hour ago, stratvox said:

Well, here's the thing. The vast majority of the trees (and by vast I mean more than 99%) in the part of the world (Haida Gwaii) where Great Bear Island is set are evergreens. Using pine/fir/cedar boughs as part of a survival snow shelter is a real thing that exists. Dig a trench in a snowdrift, cover it with boughs, cover them with snow, lather rinse repeat for a foot or three. Pull boughs in behind you when you climb in.

A survival tool I would love to see in this game is a shovel.

Just a quick note- we know we are in Northern Canada, we do not know we are in the Haida Gwaii area. Great bear id fictional, and we all have made guesses about where we are, Hinterland has never given a precise location that I am aware of. And look around at the world we are in... Taiga forest- Birch and Maple (neither evergreens), Fir, and Cedar. And with logging going on, we have no way of knowing if they are all native old growth, or if some were mass planted many decades before. 

No low hanging Fir or Cedar branches around either. Just deadwood that has fallen to the ground. With the number of deer and moose on the island, if they are starving as well, they would eat any edible greenery, including needles from low hanging branches. I have made lean too shelters while camping, hiking and backpacking over the decades. Woke up once to a doe happily chomping on the white pine branches we had used to make a rough shelter to get out an unexpected snow. She seemed more concerned with the num-nums we had placed within easy reach for her, than with humans being underneath them, lol.

I like the idea of the lean-to made from branches, but we do not have them, and I don't expect Hinterland to suddenly make the damaged island we are on pristine all of a sudden to let us make them. The shovel to dig a snow cave or a trench and laying branches across it makes more sense, as a quick emergency bivy. Though they would have to make branches movable with RMB like other interactive items are. 

I do like the idea of being able to use hides for snow shelters, if the cured hides got a big increase in decay rate if left outdoors in the elements. They would need to decay like cloth doe, or the option would be far to OP, IMHO. I like the ideas, but I also see the game becoming larger and larger, causing performance issues for more players who were able to run the game well on lower-end systems before. The more they add, the more likely it seems that they push Unity 3D to its boundaries, and start creating a game that many of their current player can no longer run on their computers. And while they may have been able to afford a copy of the game, they may not be able to afford to upgrade their computes, right away, if at all. And new people looking to buy the game that own computers that n meet minimum specs now, may not meet minimum specs after additions that don't add much to gameplay other than giving more options for things we already have. Hinterland does have to consider the wishes of current players, but they also have to consider the new potential customers who ave not yet bought the game, and who may not buy it because of the increased demands put on a machine. 

I love the game, I want to see it get better and better. But I don't want to see it become so cumbersome that I or anyone else can no longer play it, the way Subnautica did for many of us. Great game as well, that my rig ran well during Early Access, but cannot run at all above 10-fps on the lowest settings due to all of the new things that got added, and the increased system demands they carried. Someday i will update my computer, and be able to play it again, but not right now with a pile of medical bills to be payed off, and my 2nd child getting ready to start college this fall. I do not want to see The Long Dark become another game that I can't play because I can't or won't spend a ton of money upgrading to a super-beefy gaming rig. 

 

My 2¢, and don't get bent. It's just my opinion, and no one has to agree with it. But I love this game, more than any game I have played in the last 30 years or so. And I want to keep playing it, so I am giving my opinion for consideration by the devs. 

[stratvox]

6 hours ago, ThePancakeLady said:

Just a quick note- we know we are in Northern Canada, we do not know we are in the Haida Gwaii area. Great bear id fictional, and we all have made guesses about where we are, Hinterland has never given a precise location that I am aware of.

We know it's in BC, and we know it's an island in the Pacific Ocean. There's a reasonable spread of biomes in that region, but none that would suggest igloos, and all of which would have plentiful material for using evergreen boughs for a snow shelter. Also, where you find igloos is up on the coast of the Arctic Ocean in the North West Territories or Inuvut and in the Arctic Archipelago... and they don't have trees at all.

[ThePancakeLady]

26 minutes ago, stratvox said:

We know it's in BC, and we know it's an island in the Pacific Ocean. There's a reasonable spread of biomes in that region, but none that would suggest igloos, and all of which would have plentiful material for using evergreen boughs for a snow shelter. Also, where you find igloos is up on the coast of the Arctic Ocean in the North West Territories or Inuvut and in the Arctic Archipelago... and they don't have trees at all.

Where did I say anything about igloos, lol? And evergreen boughs would be great. If they actually existed in the game, and new assets and art for all of the Fir and Cedar trees on the entire island did not need to be created and added, adding to the already "getting heavier" graphic load on older machines like mine. I love the game, I don't want a makeshift shelter to prevent me from being able to run it and keep enjoying it, when we already have one in the game.

[Guest kristaok]

I do want more stuff but at the same time, I hate Games that have way too many Crafting options because it confuses me and stresses me out. So this is why I advocate for more Items like Clothes, Food, etc. but I don't want too many Craftables.