Indirect Spring DLC

[Ice Hole]

Spring has arrived here in the Great White North and the idea for a Long Dark Spring infusion into the game came to me.

Now I do not expect Hinterland to stop what they are doing just to expand to a game platform that more than likely will be updated to LD2 in the future.  But if just a hint of Spring was introduced could be a step in the right direction for future plans. 

The idea is the game world after some plus 500 days changes slightly and reveals a short Spring that does not melt every thing and blizzards can still pass and refreeze things.  Increase in aurora frequency.  Another addition is removing snow from the trees rocks rooftops and other items.  Maybe after the short Spring time some harvestable plants return and wildlife gets a slight boost in population then it is back to Winter. 

So the game world does not need to change drastically just add weak ice areas and restore snow ice some of the plants and animals in the world afterwards.    A relatively straight forward addition to the game that can be supported indirectly by a DLC.

Have a DLC that is just cosmetic that takes effort but not too much effort.  Which if enough of us purchase will go towards this project.  Sort of similar to backing a project.  The new short Spring content is then included for all.  The DLC is of course available only to the ones who purchased it.

 

Get ready for the Spring Barn Dance!

[Ice Hole]

The Jeremiah Jig should be an EE where peering through the a crevice in some off the beaten part of Great Bear you see this figure in the shadows just givin-it to an unheard beat.

 

Click and watch this video if you dare.

Digital Dancing

 

 

[Guest hoasd1]

not bad idea.

but jeremiah dance after all of this are amazing.

[Moll]

Hinterland mentioned there is not interest in world change. Too much work for this, because it still requires create all locations from scratch...

 

So i voted No. 

[Mroz4k]

16 hours ago, Moll said:

Hinterland mentioned there is not interest in world change. Too much work for this, because it still requires create all locations from scratch...

 

So i voted No. 

However, long ago, this was one of their ideas on the road maps. Not surprised Hinterland eventually decided to move away from this plan.

That said, since Great bear is close to polar circle, game could be alternating between winter and summer easily, and I think this option would make for a pretty cool DLC. Since the summer would be still cold, I dont think it would alter the game that much, but yes, there would probably be a need to re-work the entire map to some sort of "summer" setting. 

Also, I dont think this is neccesarily what they meant by "world change" - Id guess that is more of a reply to suggestions like randomly generated map, etc. But I could be wrong there. 

[Ice Hole]

On 4/1/2019 at 7:57 AM, Mroz4k said:

However, long ago, this was one of their ideas on the road maps. Not surprised Hinterland eventually decided to move away from this plan.

I agree Story mode should be finished.  Then they can get on with a change in the base code  This thaw idea was just a quick and easy way to facilitate what players are terming an end goal.  To me the game is great just as it is but many people want to show support and DLC is one way. The four season experience should be created right from the start of coding.

Spring Thaw Time should not change the world drastically as most of the snow remains.  The only change would be in areas with flowing water.  Thin ice is everywhere.  Some areas of the map might be cut off like the fishing huts and islands at Coastal Highway.  The amplified Aurora can be utilized as an explanation for plant regrowth.  Mushrooms and rosehips return in scarcity.  Things like cattails and saplings should not regrow to full height and take an additional spring time.  With the plant growth (grass) there could be an increase in animals.  With spring of course passive animals like deer are rutting making them dangerous.  The moose is also in rut and is even more pissed off.  The addition of does and fawns could introduce the idea of wildlife management.  Where the decision you make will have an affect on population.

For thawing this doesn't happen overnight but is a gradual process.  Strong ice turns into thin ice in patches over time.  Maybe some snow can be removed if the code allows it or just place new textures on top to appear as if it is melting.

 

 

[Moll]

4 seasons mean 4 versions of every level. To keep game immersion, details cannot be area restricted you need whole level for immersion.

That means a lot of work and Hinterland dismissed this idea for a good reason.  Also snow cover makes level design much easier, without complex parts and repetitive snow texture save system resources.

If you want make Summer applied as thinner ice, or other light game mechanic changer, its pointless. because nobody will notice without drastic visual level change.

[Mroz4k]

8 hours ago, Moll said:

4 seasons mean 4 versions of every level. To keep game immersion, details cannot be area restricted you need whole level for immersion.

I am sorry, but that is just nonsense. For starters, nobody suggested all 4 seasons, simply spring, which Id correct to summer for the sake of precision, due to the Great Bears geographic location. Naturally, details cannot be area restricted - that is not the way game works, so its not even possible to do that. Whole regions would have to be re-worked as they are loaded whole when you enter that area.

8 hours ago, Moll said:

That means a lot of work and Hinterland dismissed this idea for a good reason.  Also snow cover makes level design much easier, without complex parts and repetitive snow texture save system resources.

Most major DLC projects mean a lot of work. If the amount of work was not appropriate to at least a decent portion of a content of an entirely new game, it would not be a DLC, it would be just game content update. The idea of a DLC here would be to give players a shot to further support Hinterland by giving them another set of money for the game they already paid for. This would increase their revenue and allow them to even further improve the original game down the road.

I dont think the strain on resources would really be that noticeable in difference, maybe slightly. My guess is you play with lower settings - as even right now, the game can have grass displayed, which also increases the strain on system. But naturally that is a toggleable option. Spring (or summer) would not be that different, just less snow and more mud, which acts in quite a similar manner, so there really would not be that much difference. However, it could allow for a realistic, and quite balanced way to introduce some level of world regeneration into the game, which is something most players wish for - because if done right, it enhances immersion. 

Sides, endless winter is not exactly very immersive. Geomagnetic event would not affect temperatures so drastically, and taking a look at Great Bear with farms, it is an island which allows for growth in the summer... at least historically. You could say that could have changed recently due to global weather changes. Unless we assume that geomagnetic event somehow triggered Golf stream collapse, and triggered a new Ice Age.

8 hours ago, Moll said:

If you want make Summer applied as thinner ice, or other light game mechanic changer, its pointless. because nobody will notice without drastic visual level change.

That is also nonsense. If anything, forums are a prove of that - players in TLD are as a rule very perceptive bunch. Even if the changes were really subtle, they would notice very soon. But very subtle changes would not really justify it as a DLC, at least in my opinion.

I understand and respect your opinions, but I cannot agree with your arguments there. I dont think its much worth to argue the technicalities behind it - none of us are familiar with the code of the game, it is very difficult to make an assumption how much work would be involved. The only thing we can discuss really is what kind of content would be feasible and what would not be.

There was a discussion on varied levels of snow when its snowing where I touched down on some of the issues, and suggested a solution that I have seen on different games that tried to mimic this behaviour without adding too much strain on the system. It was to increase and decrease snow texture in certain areas depending on how long it was snowing, each time the player leaves and re-enters the outdoor area. To mimic some increase. It could easily work this way - the current game design would be winter version of the map, the minimalistic would be summer version of the map, and certain areas would increase in snow size in between these two map variations based on the amount of snow and the current time of the year. So on a very ugly summer day, when it snows for a while, you would see marginal increase in snow if you left the outdoors for 2-3 hours, then re-entered them again.

[Ice Hole]

12 hours ago, Mroz4k said:

There was a discussion on varied levels of snow when its snowing where I touched down on some of the issues, and suggested a solution that I have seen on different games that tried to mimic this behaviour without adding too much strain on the system. It was to increase and decrease snow texture in certain areas depending on how long it was snowing, each time the player leaves and re-enters the outdoor area. To mimic some increase. It could easily work this way - the current game design would be winter version of the map, the minimalistic would be summer version of the map, and certain areas would increase in snow size in between these two map variations based on the amount of snow and the current time of the year. So on a very ugly summer day, when it snows for a while, you would see marginal increase in snow if you left the outdoors for 2-3 hours, then re-entered them again

if that type of mechanic was only going to be introduced I would certainly pay a ten for that DLC because the immersion levels would be almost near saturation. 

I want to got outside and shovel  snow and make an army of snowman!

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@Mroz4k

has completely comprehend the idea.  It was never about a drastic change to the world we all enjoy.  Just about subtle changes. 

Spring was chosen because in Eighteen Hundred And Froze To Death the frost reached down to Virginia in August decimating the crops; long term crop growth is not possible.  That is why saplings and catails need two full Spring seasons to regrow.  The weather could be similar to those days of past with every day fog.   Fog has always made me extra nervous in TLD due to the lack of sight; my hearing becomes focused; then every sound's amplitude increases; making me extra jumpy.   Living in The Long Dark Spring is not going to be a picnic with butterflies and daisies, you are going to count the days till Winter returns and hope it arrives soon to get back to normalcy.

This time period is going to impact the characters emotional state.  Another mechanic that was mentioned in the road map.  This project could be a testing ground for implementing psychological effects where Cabin Fever is the least of your character's troubles.  The increased temperatures bring increased snowfall and being trapped for a few days is going to make the character panic.

Completing TLD story should be first priority for HL and we could all agree.   The teams talent pool has been increasing and TLD story could be completing soon.  Odds are in favour that most of the player base have Survival as their primary mode.  This project could allow that new team to build something within the current engine with the benefit of synchronizing with this Survival mode player base.  This project also could be considered small steps toward the TLD2 goal of four seasons which for most players is highly anticipated.

Also I appreciated all the feedback on this topic.  

 

[Moll]

TLD 2 with 4 seasons? Plausible.

TLD 1 with seasoning, when game core isnt supporting this at all? No way, especially the have better things to do.

 

End of story.

[Guest kristaok]

With the way things are with the Aurora I don't think seasons or even just one season would work.  I mean don't get me wrong It would look cute with the art style, but I don't think it would match realistically with the storyline. 

But you do get a like for the dancing Jeremiah.