Drivable cars in future update?

MartyTheGamer

By MartyTheGamer
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MartyTheGamer Survivor

MartyTheGamer

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Ever since cars have been scattered around the Coastal Highway map I've been asking myself one thing - will we be able to drive them? And I'm thinking we will. Why do I think that? Well there's a few reasons...

1. Being able to open the fuel cap.

This could be utilized in two way. First - being able to pour in fuel to start the car. Second - being able syphon fuel out for something like a generator. If we follow the first case, we'll then start the engine. From there we will either be able to driver or maybe only to turn on the electricity to use the in-car radio (I'm hoping we will be able to drive).

2. Opening the hood.

When opening the hood I've never found any items. This means there must be some other reason to open it. Maybe change the battery(which seems to be properly modeled in there) or do something with the engine? Now you'd say "But fluids would be frozen up and it won't work" well I doubt that. It's been colder where I live and all cars are fine. It also seems it's always been a bit wintery in that part of the map, even before this apocalypse, so all cars would have anti-freeze liquids.

But, all this could be wrong and being able to open the hood and fuel cap could be just a storyline thing.

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elloco999 Pathfinder

elloco999

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All electronics are broken because of the geo-magnetic disaster that took place/ is taking place. That means only really old cars that don't have any electronics would be in working order. Finding replacement parts to repair the vehicles with is also not an option as those have been broken by the same geo-magnetic event.

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JErosion Pathfinder

JErosion

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Most cars today have computers that take care of things like fuel use and when to shift up or down, the Geomagnetic event would have rendered modern cars useless, now that doesn't been an older car that doesn't have the on boards computer couldn't run.(the same goes for older radios that have tubes inside them)

That said, with the maps we have where would you go? Would you take an older car or truck into those snow covered mountains? certainly wouldn't try to cross the ravine with one. Given the snow and lack of proper roads you would probably be able to cover more ground on foot, considering there are several short cuts you can take if your trying to go from the Coastal Village to the abandoned lookout that are too steep and or narrow for a vehicle anyway

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brostoevsky Pathfinder

brostoevsky

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Cars are obviously not really appropriate in the game but I sure wouldn't mind some faster transportation. Craftable skis or snowshoes that when equipped lower your maximum carry weight but let you move faster (say you could only carry 15kg equipment with skis on, rather than 30 normally).

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Toxic_Fuel Wolfbait

Toxic_Fuel

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I did think about drivable cars as well, but then I thought about the same problems others already said. The road is barely long enough for you to ever drive on, considering the road is actually blocked off by rocks at one point, and it's not like you'll be going off-roading in any of the cars. If anything it would be awesome to get a working ATV, but again I don't think those would work either considering the geomagnetic disaster.

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MartyTheGamer Survivor

MartyTheGamer

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I agree drivable cars are out of the question, but I swear when I've seen a TV programme where they showed what would happen to Earth in case of a geo-magnetic disaster they in a way said electronics that are turned off during the disaster WILL work after it. One thing I clearly remember is that they were going to turn off major power stations to preserve them from the geo-magnetic disaster.

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brostoevsky Pathfinder

brostoevsky

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The main risk from an infrastructure standpoint is that during a powerful geomagnetic storm the additional radiation would essentially overload the power grid and fry the hell out of everything. I'm not sure if this applies purely to electrical infrastructure or extends to include any electronic equipment actually plugged in at the time of the storm.

I think it's reasonable to assume that the Fortean geomagnetic disaster in The Long Dark (which is not really explained to us) is of such a degree that it has made use of electronics impossible, especially because according to what I've heard about the storyline it seems to be an ongoing thing.

Google the 1859 Carrington event, the last major geomagnetic solar storm... telegraph machines stopped working, many of them sparked and started fires due to electrical overload, and operators across the world reported that their telegraph machines continued working AFTER BEING UNPLUGGED due to the amount of solar radiation/energy/change in the Earth's electromagnetic field or whatever (I'm not a physicist).

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MartyTheGamer Survivor

MartyTheGamer

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One thing I clearly remember is that they were going to turn off major power stations to preserve them from the geo-magnetic disaster.

And if there's no warning that the disaster is about to hit?...

Oh come on. Surely not all electronics and cars on freaking earth are turned on at that exact moment :lol:

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Bill Tarling Pathfinder

Bill Tarling

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One thing I clearly remember is that they were going to turn off major power stations to preserve them from the geo-magnetic disaster.

And if there's no warning that the disaster is about to hit?...

Oh come on. Surely not all electronics and cars on freaking earth are turned on at that exact moment :lol:

You said "major power stations" - so that would assume they were operational at the time (even forgoing interruptible breaks or damages along the lines they also service at the time)... Even more so for very remote areas (as in the game) which wouldn't necessarily have the same type of power facilities which larger centers would maintain.

As well, it hasn't been disclosed what kind of geomagnetic disaster has taken place yet, along with the resulting effects - that's what we slowly try to discover in the continuing story mode...

Just for some background on the original game concept (from Hinterland's early concept releases on the first The Long Dark Wiki, although much has now likely changed since the story script has been written):

"During flare-ups of Aurora activity, there can be so much electromagnetic energy that some electrical devices within a localized area might become powered. This manifests as streetlights suddenly flaring up or pulsing with light. Record players or radios suddenly begin playing music, or static, or emergency broadcast messages. Television screens might become lit up, even if they can only broadcast test patterns. Light bulbs are especially susceptible to this since they simply require an electrical charge, so entire streets or town blocks can become illuminated in an unpredictable fashion.

This can make exploration more rewarding, but also potentially more risky. Locations like hospitals, police stations, banks, that use electronic security systems and vaults, might suddenly become accessible again in the presence of an active Aurora, vs. inanimate bricks you have no chance of disturbing. These places can also become traps for the unwary, or unlucky. Sudden flare-ups can trigger unexpected fires that can catch you by surprise. Or you may find yourself plunged into darkness, scrambling for a light source.

Shortwave radio communication might work, but only during periods of relatively little atmospheric activity. It might be possible to make contact with more distant locations, but such communication would be highly unpredictable. Incoming electromagnetic interference, or spikes in the amount of interference, could get picked up on a basic handheld radio. Spikes in static would suggest an incoming “flare”. Seeing static man-made light sources in the distance would also typically be a sign of heightened electromagnetic activity."

Again, a lot has likely changed from concept to current direction, but I'm mainly bringing it up as a reminder that a remote area also wouldn't likely have the priority (or maintenance budget) to maintain backup reserves in the same way we're spoiled and take it for granted since most of us live at least within a relatively close range to a larger center.

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brostoevsky Pathfinder

brostoevsky

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Also, I've seen people refer to the geomagnetic event as being "Fortean", which means paranormal or inexplicable and is an obscure enough adjective that I assume it originally came from the devs or some other official source. As such we can't assume we understand the nature of the event and its effects like Bill was saying.

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elloco999 Pathfinder

elloco999

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Whether electronics get fried or not by a geo-magnetic event depends on the intensity of the event. It is certainly true that electronics that are turned on are more vulnerable than electronics that are turned off, so it is possible at a certain intensity that all (or some) electronics that were turned off would still be working. But when the intensity is higher all electronics, including those that are turned off, would get fried unless they are shielded from electromagnetic radiation (basically only certain military grade electronics).

In 2012 we actually came very close to something like that happening. There was a huge solar eruption that sent a solar flare in our direction that would have enough power to fry all electronics on earth. If it had happened a week later than it did, we would have been right in the middle of it...

However, if some electronic devises can be powered by the aurora as was in the early concept of TLD, that would mean the electronics are not fried. That would also mean you could power them if you find a working power supply. Generators (and working cars) would be possible in this case. And even if some electronics did get fried (only the ones that were turned on at the time of the event?) surely some generators would have survived and car batteries should still work.

But this is all just speculation. I for one am very curious to what the devs have come up with!

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