The Long Dark Sandbox Updated to v.321: "Tireless Menace"

[cekivi]

8 minutes ago, djb204 said:

Having multiple threats in a game is a good thing. It forces players to adapt to new threats rather than falling into a repetitive strategy just because it's effective. Games get boring doing the same thing over and over. Even though a method to defeating an enemy/threat is effective, the encounters get annoying if it's repeated enough. Variety is key to keeping players interested. 

I agree that there should be multiple mechanics threats in the game. Grizzles and brown bears will probably be nearly identical mechanically. Hence why I don't see a need for different bear species.

[Ruruwawa]

Or red.  Currently we have icons that warn for avoidable conditions like hunger, thirst, freezing.  Dunno why this wouldn't be another.

[Raphael van Lierop]

Just now, Ruruwawa said:

Or red.  Currently we have icons that warn for avoidable conditions like hunger, thirst, freezing.  Dunno why this wouldn't be another.

Because those are core to your Condition, which we treat differently from Afflictions. 

[common]

"  Refreshed wildlife spawning in all major regions (except bears).  " 

what does that mean ...more wildlife spawns or less or less often or more often ?  sorry have not had a chance to play it yet to test it but soooo curious 

[Raphael van Lierop]

1 minute ago, common said:

"  Refreshed wildlife spawning in all major regions (except bears).  " 

what does that mean ...more wildlife spawns or less or less often or more often ?  sorry have not had a chance to play it yet to test it but soooo curious 

Not more or less, just different and less predictable from day to day.

[djb204]

5 minutes ago, cekivi said:

I agree that there should be multiple mechanics threats in the game. Grizzles and brown bears will probably be nearly identical mechanically. Hence why I don't see a need for different bear species.

Isn't the ingame bear a black bear? If it is a black bear, I could see a grizzly being a different encounter altogether. Grizzlies more curious and are way more likely to charge you, kill you, and eat you. Black bears tend to often avoid people completely.

[Ruruwawa]

5 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Because those are core to your Condition, which we treat differently from Afflictions. 

Interesting.  I guess as a player of the game I just saw everything that showed up there as warning me of a negative impact on my condition.  In my mind First Aid is a peer to hunger, thirst, fatigue and warmth.  The result of ignoring it was the same. 

[djb204]

Do navigating caves and mines count towards cabin fever?

[common]

all this sounds great to me.   One thing i would love to have clarified if not its ok ill just do my own tests once i start playing but my question is: 

As far as item degradation goes, i understand that items stored out of doors will degrade faster then in doors but is there any difference between types of containers within door or out of ? Are all containers treated the same as long as they all are in the same area ? ( indoor / outdoor )

[Raphael van Lierop]

4 minutes ago, Ruruwawa said:

Interesting.  I guess as a player of the game I just saw everything that showed up there as warning me of a negative impact on my condition.  In my mind First Aid is a peer to hunger, thirst, fatigue and warmth.  The result of ignoring it was the same. 

Ever since we launched the game, the four sub-conditions you have to monitor are: Thirst, Hunger, Cold, and Fatigue. Those are the icons you see in the HUD. You also see an indicator for Encumbered at times, and your Condition, of course. HUD icons for every potential affliction would be overkill, and contradict our minimalist UI philosophy.

[Raphael van Lierop]

5 minutes ago, djb204 said:

Do navigating caves and mines count towards cabin fever?

Outdoor caves (i.e. caves that are connected to the exterior scene and don't have their own load screen) are not counted as "indoors" for the purposes of Cabin Fever. So, they are a good place to recover. 

[Raphael van Lierop]

4 minutes ago, common said:

all this sounds great to me.   One thing i would love to have clarified if not its ok ill just do my own tests once i start playing but my question is: 

As far as item degradation goes, i understand that items stored out of doors will degrade faster then in doors but is there any difference between types of containers within door or out of ? Are all containers treated the same as long as they all are in the same area ? ( indoor / outdoor )

Nope, it's all about outdoors vs. indoors, not containers per se, anymore.

[Official Crimson Flame]

I'm just a bit confused, so the update is currently on the Xbox One version or is it still in the waits?

[Ruruwawa]

 

6 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Ever since we launched the game, the four sub-conditions you have to monitor are: Thirst, Hunger, Cold, and Fatigue. Those are the icons you see in the HUD. You also see an indicator for Encumbered at times, and your Condition, of course. HUD icons for every potential affliction would be overkill, and contradict our minimalist UI philosophy.

Understood, and minimal is great.  Within those constraints my preferred solution would be to not show the red cross at all for this "risk" condition, because I don't want it masking conditions that I really need act on ASAP like food poisoning or burns from walking over a fire. Might not notice those in the moment.

PS, Raphael -- thanks for being such a good sport for discussing this with me.  Obivously your call on whether this needs tweaking, and also obvious you'll need feedback from many more users than just me. 

[Raphael van Lierop]

1 minute ago, Ruruwawa said:

 

Understood, and minimal is great.  Within those constraints my preferred solution would be to not show the red cross at all for this "risk" condition, because I don't want it masking conditions that I really need act on ASAP like food poisoning or burns from walking over a fire. Might not notice those in the moment.

PS, Raphael -- thanks for being such a good sport for discussing this with me.  Obivously your call on whether this needs tweaking, and also obvious you'll need feedback from many more users than just me. 

Yup, good feedback. We'll keep iterating, as always.

[cekivi]

19 minutes ago, djb204 said:

Isn't the ingame bear a black bear? If it is a black bear, I could see a grizzly being a different encounter altogether. Grizzlies more curious and are way more likely to charge you, kill you, and eat you. Black bears tend to often avoid people completely.

Might be a black bear. I assumed a brown bear due to the aggression and size but I may be wrong.

Sure, I 100% agree that a Grizzly will straight up kill the player. Does adding "sudden unavoidable death via bear" improve the game though? Personally, I'd rather stick with the current bear mechanics (they'll mess you up but you might live) rather than trying to have a "killer" Grizzly bear just for the sake of more animals.

[Raphael van Lierop]

7 minutes ago, Official Crimson Flame said:

I'm just a bit confused, so the update is currently on the Xbox One version or is it still in the waits?

Should be live on Xbox One, depending on where you are in the world. It takes about 4 hours to propagate the Xbox One build worldwide.

[Official Crimson Flame]

Just now, Raphael van Lierop said:

Should be live on Xbox One, depending on where you are in the world. It takes about 4 hours to propagate the Xbox One build worldwide.

Oh, alright.  Thank you!

[Jolan]

whee!

[Ruruwawa]

16 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Yup, good feedback. We'll keep iterating, as always.

A possible UX design for risk affliction warnings.  Just a suggestion, of course!

• no Red Cross in the icon tray for risk warnings
• in the radial menu, a Yellow Cross for first aid  (/salute cekivi) means there's a risk warning but no actionable affliction.  Open first aid to read the warning text (like that already implemented for risk of parasites).  
• Red Cross in the icon tray for actionable afflictions (no change)
• In the radial menu, a Red Cross for first aid means you've got an actionable affliction.  The risk warnings (if present) would also be visible (no change)

Very close (at least from the UX perspective) to current implementation, but it doesn't mask acute afflictions.  I really am signing off now, RL calls. Enjoy your update launch, been super fun so far. 

[Hobbesyb]

Wow, congratulations, the game is now marvelously beautiful ! A lot more immersive than before (and it was already good at this).

I'm playing the same run since ages (day 116, still there !), and my character saw all of the versions of the game successively

But, did you change something about the occurence of bad weather ? it seems to me that blizzard and fog happen more frequently than before. I nearly have one blizzard a day

Also, I think that we eat too much in the game : for example, when I go out to fish, I nearly need to eat the same amount of food than I catch while fishing... so I have to come back home with only one or two fishes left... and therefore I can't store enough food to do something else... than fishing.
(I need to stress there the fact that after 116 days, I don't have manufactured food anymore).

[common]

ok just tried the game after the update.... first off ..looks amazing!!! great job, the night time is amazing...( a little FPS drop when snowing ).   Wolf animation ROCKS!  My home is coastal highway, and i see you guys added climbing ropes, .... love it...but i had snares setup close to the eastern trailer by the lookout ...they are gone ...but no biggie i can craft more.   Btw the bed in the abandoned lookout in CH still provides zero warmth bonus , i posted it the the bug section but i am not sure if that is intended or not...great job so far on the update ( only played for about 10 minutes ) was actually forced to sleep in the trailer, ( sprained ankle ) night, a bear and ropes to climb.   Im also liking the way brandishing flares works.   Ill post again with feedback ...

[Raphael van Lierop]

Just now, Hobbesyb said:

Wow, congratulations, the game is now marvelously beautiful ! A lot more immersive than before (and it was already good at this).

I'm playing the same run since ages (day 116, still there !), and my character saw all of the versions of the game successively

But, did you change something about the occurence of bad weather ? it seems to me that blizzard and fog happen more frequently than before. I nearly have one blizzard a day

Also, I think that we eat too much in the game : for example, when I go out to fish, I nearly need to eat the same amount of food than I catch while fishing... so I have to come back home with only one or two fishes left... and therefore I can't store enough food to do something else... than fishing.
(I need to stress there the fact that after 116 days, I don't have manufactured food anymore).

We haven't changed the weather tuning, no.

For Fish -- good point. Now that they are more important (due to the risk of Intestinal Parasites from Wolf and Bear meat), we may need to re-tune Fishing to make it a more rewarding option. Deer and Rabbits are also a good idea. A mix of all three is the best option.

[Sima]

Hi. I'm new to the forums but have been playing the game for a couple of months now with whatever time I can spare. Have to say it's an incredibly addictive game and can't wait for more of it all the time. Well done, Hinterlands.

I must say, however, that I was really expecting someone to have pointed out how greatly gameplay would be improved with an 'Auto-move' key binding - Not sure if someone has indeed mentioned it elsewhere as this is my first post. Seeing how environmental and other restrictions encourage us not to sprint, it goes without saying that we end up pressing the forward (W) key for minutes at a time more often than not. And, being the old fart that I am bordering on metacarpal syndrome, it would be of most benefit if there was an option to bind any key to such a function. Would be awesome to see that.

Played the 'Hunted' challenge for a few mins at work - yes, I get paid to play games (not really) - and have to say it has gotten under my skin, i.e. it's really challenging and am looking forward to overcoming it soon. Just can't seem to find that Hunter's Lodge that I can only heal at (EDIT: Whaddya know? I didn't realize I could get patched up anywhere. Thought I had to find the trapper's cabin first and could only heal there). I will though.

Great job and keep up the amazing work, fellas.

EDIT: Forgot to say how tremendously pleased I am with the cloud save addition. Now I can play the same game at work that I play at home

[PraiseTheSun]

Hey all, new addition to the forum as well

Really enjoying the update so far, minus one thing. I'm currently in the Mountaineer's Hut, and had a good amount of supplies stored in the hatch in the corner. However since the update I can't interact with the hatch at all. Not sure if they're lost or not, but I thought I'd put it on here and see if I could get some help. 

Aside from that, I like the new stats "overlay" so I can check my stuff on the move, and the radial menu is awesome! One more thing, can we no longer light torches on a fire? I think it could be some kind of bug, but when I tried, a weird menu popped up that said "use hatchet" in the center, and then "light torch" and "cancel" in the corner but none of the buttons did anything. I'll see if I can replicate it.

Thanks for the awesome game!