Backpacks, dynamics and burning houses


PeteL0af

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Firstly, please let me say that I LOVE the game. I'm about 200hrs in (trying to reach 500). So far there are only a few things that I feel could improve the experience, which I've detailed below...

  1. Backpacks as items
    My biggest frustration with the game is not being able to drop the backpack (and its contents) to pick up later - either inside for safekeeping or outside for extra speed. It would also be a fantastic way of creating movable caches or backpacks for different weather conditions.
     
  2. Expanded foraging
    Second biggest frustration is the lack of edible flora like berries or root vegetables. The game seems weighted towards hunting which I feel both encourages a reliance on weaponry,  makes exploration problematic (because meat smell) and discourages foraging.
     
  3. More dynamic environment
    Third is that Great Bear Island doesn't really feel alive. It's really well designed and full of surprises... but (apart from the weather) it's not dynamic.
        a) Dynamic obstacles like avalanches, ice melts and snow buildup could make exploration more spontaneous.
        b) Dynamic events like tree falls, bale fires and building collapse could both affect exploration and make the world feel more alive.
        c) More small, non intractable fauna like birds, mice, insects and rodents could make the world feel more alive.
    These events could happen in real-time for maximum impact or while sleeping for easier implementation.
     
  4. Increased weather patterns
    In contrast, Great Bear Island's weather is really dynamic and I'd love to see more weather types. The mysterious nature of 'the event' gives a little more creative freedom regarding weather patterns but hail, thunder or seismic activity are all believable options.
     
  5. Burning houses
    I'd really enjoy it if there was some danger to using fire indoors. Like the potential of burning the house down and having to move on.
     
  6. Campfire breakdown
    The ability to break down a campfire would be really useful.

Thanks for reading!

Edited by PeteL0af
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Number 3, 4 and 5 is the most needed in my opinion. More unpredictability to our environment would make it much more of a threat and actually force us out into the world. Which not only increases the survival aspect of the game, but also the exploration. As it stands, the environment is pretty stagnant.

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On 5/7/2019 at 7:01 PM, Fuarian said:

Number 3, 4 and 5 is the most needed in my opinion. More unpredictability to our environment would make it much more of a threat and actually force us out into the world. Which not only increases the survival aspect of the game, but also the exploration. As it stands, the environment is pretty stagnant.

Agreed. Don't get me wrong, the environmental design is great, but it definitely feels lacking - especially when you've been in one region for a while. Dynamic snowfall/depth would be really complex (probably impossible) to implement but there are definitely some more simple options.

Edited by PeteL0af
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These are all fine wish list items, I know some have been bouncing around in these forums for a while.  You are definitely not alone in wishing for them.  :) 

However, I can't necessarily agree with how you feel about the environment.  I would say keep in mind that this is the "Quiet Apocalypse," I would posit that lonely and desolate are a part of the flavor if this game.  (I'm not saying anyone is wrong, just adding my two cents).

 

Edited by ManicManiac
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Ok, first off I wanna say I LOVE all the ideas. All of them. But some of them look harder to implement than others.

I may be mistaken, since I'm no game dev, but I think Dynamic Environments and Burning Houses (which is kind of a dynamic environment) may be a lot harder to implement since they involve animations and systems that are not yet in the game.

As for Campfire Cleanup, that is something I'm sure that almost (if not) all players want.

And for the Backpack ideas, I never thought I needed this mechanic, but now that you mentioned it, it's the top 1 thing I want for this game. It would be so convenient, to just drop a backpack on the floor before climbing a mountain, and picking it up later on your way down.  I'm sure it's something that would change a lot how we manage weight, and the devs would have to give it a lot of thought, but I'm sure it can be done beautifully.

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those dynamic events, like tree fall is nice but almost impossible to do. Its valid only for area next to player, but hard to determine, what to do with that. It can affect all trees? How? Fallen trees will buggy other objects and animal AI.

Same with buildings, you have now dynamic building blocation (barricaded) and they can be burned when you start the game.  But as dynamic event? Can it burn all buildings in distant future? 

Long dark is game where level terrain isnt very dynamic. Deal with it. I really doubt that devs will do that because it can bring seriuous mess.

Possible are weather patters and some effects, like those animals. i would love to see whales in distant sea.

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On 5/9/2019 at 8:01 PM, tommykneip said:

Ok, first off I wanna say I LOVE all the ideas. All of them. But some of them look harder to implement than others.

I may be mistaken, since I'm no game dev, but I think Dynamic Environments and Burning Houses (which is kind of a dynamic environment) may be a lot harder to implement since they involve animations and systems that are not yet in the game.

As for Campfire Cleanup, that is something I'm sure that almost (if not) all players want.

And for the Backpack ideas, I never thought I needed this mechanic, but now that you mentioned it, it's the top 1 thing I want for this game. It would be so convenient, to just drop a backpack on the floor before climbing a mountain, and picking it up later on your way down.  I'm sure it's something that would change a lot how we manage weight, and the devs would have to give it a lot of thought, but I'm sure it can be done beautifully.

Thanks. I’m glad you like the backpack idea. If I had to pick one thing it would be that too!

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On 5/11/2019 at 1:39 PM, Moll said:

those dynamic events, like tree fall is nice but almost impossible to do. Its valid only for area next to player, but hard to determine, what to do with that. It can affect all trees? How? Fallen trees will buggy other objects and animal AI.

Same with buildings, you have now dynamic building blocation (barricaded) and they can be burned when you start the game.  But as dynamic event? Can it burn all buildings in distant future? 

Long dark is game where level terrain isnt very dynamic. Deal with it. I really doubt that devs will do that because it can bring seriuous mess.

Possible are weather patters and some effects, like those animals. i would love to see whales in distant sea.

You’re right, dynamics (if you’re talking true dynamics) would be a lot more work. And of course adding anything new to the game would be too, but it’s certainly not impossible. Maybe not even difficult in some cases. For example avalanches and tree falls.

lot of game design is about finding creative/simple ways to implement complex looking systems. Often the systems themselves aren’t complex... but the player doesn’t know that.

For example, you don’t have to see avalanches/tree falls/snow falls happen for them to be effective. These could be simple block meshes generated and placed overnight, while the player is inside/asleep or even behind other objects in the distance with sound cues. There are a lot of ways these could be done without interfering with existing systems 🙂.

I work in game development so most of my suggestions were made with that in mind and could be faked. Though I’m not pretending to know anything about Hinterland’s pipeline or engine.

Whales and other distant animals would be awesome!

(I hope this didn’t come across as patronising or preachy btw... that wasn’t my intention).

Edited by PeteL0af
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On 5/8/2019 at 11:23 PM, ManicManiac said:

These are all fine wish list items, I know some have been bouncing around in these forums for a while.  You are definitely not alone in wishing for them.  :) 

However, I can't necessarily agree with how you feel about the environment.  I would say keep in mind that this is the "Quiet Apocalypse," I would posit that lonely and desolate are a part of the flavor if this game.  (I'm not saying anyone is wrong, just adding my two cents).

 

Thanks, I’m glad you like them. Yes it would be a shame to detract from the ‘quiet apocalypse’ the game portrays so well at the moment. 

I guess some of these events could be implemented more passively (for example overnight) so the environment changes but you aren’t walking around watching trees crash down around you.

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Although i would really love to be able to drop the backpack, Raphael has made it clear in Milton Mailbag that it would require a complete overhaul of the inventory system, and so that they don't intend to work on it. I guess we will have to wait for mod support.
http://www.hinterlandforums.com/forums/topic/19845-milton-mailbag-dispatch-1/

Otherwise, I upvote every idea in your list.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

These are all great ideas in my opinion, but I'd say most are too complicated and not likely to be implemented. But that doesn't mean it's not fun to wish for and talk about them. 

I know this has been mentioned a lot before, but the thing I would most like to see would be changing seasons. It would naturally change the dynamics of the environment and I'd love to see it. Between summer and winter it would feel like playing 2 different games. 

I know this would never happen in the long dark, but I would love to see this in a future Hinterland title :) 

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Guest kristaok

1. No I really do NOT want any changes to the Backpack System. :/ 

2. Now I would like to see more Items to Forage. :) 

3. Yea I could work with this, but I doubt it will ever happen. :/ 

4. Yes I would like to see Rain - Thunder - and Lightning but with it so Cold and Snowy I don't think that would be too realistic... but I'm no Weather Expert. :P 

5. I don't know about this one... I don't think I'd like this... :/ 

6. YES! :D 

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