Ice Fishing Anywhere; however...

[Barretts Privateer]

So, had this idea while testing out Forlorn Muskeg for myself (Report over on the General Discussion sub-forum).

So, from what I saw of the map (Admittedly, that wasn't very much), I saw a whole lot of ice with not a single ice fishing hut. In that kind of environment, I would think that ice fishing would be a main source of sustenance while trying to survive/traverse this map (The latter presuming this map will connect with another eventually). I thought that if we could have the ability to ice fish virtually anywhere, certain restrictions allowing (What, I'm not sure...I'll leave that to any commenters), surviving this desolate wasteland can be made a little easier.

However, as in real life, you would need a way to create an ice fishing hole; unlike your standard ice fishing hut, there's more than just a thin layer of ice between you and the fish So, a requirement should be that, if this mechanic is implemented, players would need an ice drill, like the one below, in order to break through the ice to reach the fish.

Thoughts?

[Don Honas]

That would be something one would find in a ice fishing hut. To be honest I do find ice fishing a bit constrained and at the same time the rewards for fishing too high.

Also knowing where to try catching the fish might make it more interesting. E.g. deep waters (bigger fish), ponds (smallfry + a bigger predator fish). Also fresh water fishes are know to carry parasites like tapeworms. Mostly problematic if you have not cooked the fish long enough.

[jwcarlson]

I agree with Don, fishing seems "too easy" or perhaps too rewarding.  I can go ice fish for a few hours and not get a nibble in the real world.  The amount of calories in a decent ice fishing haul in The Long Dark is too high (my opinion). 

Totally agree you should be able to drill anywhere.  And an auger would be a huge pain to haul around, so that's an added "negative".  Along with less shelter. 

[SteelFire]

I'm not exactly sure having an ice auger would make survival easier.

You're looking at about 4 kilos of weight to lug one around, so it's not something you're going to want to take with you everywhere. As a static item that you leave in a hut somewhere, sure.

There's few places you would be looking to use it that don't already have ice huts; those being Crumbling Highway and Desolation Point. Maybe a few of the rivers in other maps could be seen as potential points of use as well, but again, it's heavy enough you're not going to lug it everywhere unless you're going to give up something else to offset the weight.

Forlorn Muskeg isn't one of those places; it's marsh land. That's why only you're lower body gets wet if you fall through the ice. Sure, there can be fish in water that shallow and boggy, but they're not likely to be of any size worth catching and eating; mostly they'd be small, bug eaters.

 

As to ice fishing being too rewarding for time spent... maybe, because sometimes it's not... but it's also pretty calorie to weight ratio inefficient. Most of the fish are less efficient than even rabbit. For time spent and calories/weight, you're still way better off taking down a deer unless you don't have that option.