Impressions of Interloper! Great Job Hinterlands!


cowboymrh

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Hi Folks, Now that I've been playing Interloper for several months, I hope you all don't mind if I share my opinion of "Interloper Mode"

First off, I consider myself a pretty good player! By no means great, and there are many of you reading this who are far better players than I'll ever be. But I do have a character who would rank high on the leaderboard if killed right now ...... so I'm not chopped liver as far as my game skills.

I'd like to congratulate Hinterlands for their wonderful work on Interloper. For months and months there were so many folks in the forums bemoaning the fact that the game was (just to easy) even in stalker mode! I was one of them, but perhaps to a lesser extent than most.

With the introduction of Interloper, Hinterlands absolutely "nailed it" as far as presenting a tough and formidable challenge to even the most hard core players. I honestly didn't think Hinterlands would be able to pull it off! But in my opinion, they absolutely did! Yes, it's not perfect, there's still some tweeking and tuning needed. But it's damn close!

I've managed a couple of 67 day runs and a 68 day run. 1 death by wolf, 1 by cabin fever / food poisoning, and 1 by under-estimating how cold it can get sleeping in the Mountaineers Hut without a fire! While each death pissed me off, I also learned a valuable lesson about how dangerous "Interloper mode" is, and how many ways it can kill you!!

You can't get comfortable, and you can't take it for granted, no matter how good a player you are! If you do.......you'll be fading into the long dark just as I have so many times!

I have no doubt that one of these runs, I'll exceed 100, 200, or 300 days or more. But I have to say it's a bit humbling to me that I haven't made it already!!   And I like that! I've really enjoyed that challenge that Hinterlands has introduced into this game that I love like so many of you!

Would really enjoy hearing what the rest of you think!!   And thanks again Hinterlands!!

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Interloper is great so far. it seems key to move around a bit at the beginning and get some equipment. Especially matches and the hacksaw seem to be useful to get going. And for this 'early looting' you have to know your maps. As soon as you start crafting stuff, the game reminds me of former Stalker runs. 

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2 hours ago, Hotzn said:

 As soon as you start crafting stuff, the game reminds me of former Stalker runs. 

I agree with you with 1 exception good buddy! I've found that unlike stalker mode, when playing Interloper, ......I'm never quite able to get  completely comfortable and totally relax.

Seems like there's always something that must be done pretty soon, such as wood gathering, fishing, making water, and of course timing your fires so you don't use your precious remaining matches!

Interloper keeps you "much closer to the edge" than stalker does in my opinion, where 1 wrong move or decision can put you in a world of hurt!

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2 hours ago, cowboymrh said:

I agree with you with 1 exception good buddy! I've found that unlike stalker mode, when playing Interloper, ......I'm never quite able to get  completely comfortable and totally relax.

Seems like there's always something that must be done pretty soon, such as wood gathering, fishing, making water, and of course timing your fires so you don't use your precious remaining matches!

Interloper keeps you "much closer to the edge" than stalker does in my opinion, where 1 wrong move or decision can put you in a world of hurt!

You're probably right. My last Stalker efforts were about surviving in TWM alone, so that could be where my feeling comes from.

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2 minutes ago, Hotzn said:

Ah, thank you @cekivi. She might have been a ghost. Or a Russian hacker. You never know these days, and old Hotzn is easily scared.

I take it that means you're American? Don't worry, Comrade Trump won't be in office for another week. ;)

I'm just hoping he doesn't go through with his promise to tear up NAFTA... I kinda want to have a job at the end of 2017.

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Just now, cekivi said:

I take it that means you're American? Don't worry, Comrade Trump won't be in office for another week. ;)

I'm American.  And this whole thing makes me feel like I'm stuck in that crappy alternate 1985 from Back to the Future 2 where Biff is running everything!

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3 minutes ago, Timber Wolf said:

I'm American.  And this whole thing makes me feel like I'm stuck in that crappy alternate 1985 from Back to the Future 2 where Biff is running everything!

To give Trump credit he at least is not as bad as Biff ;)

And I should stop derailing the thread :D

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2 minutes ago, Hotzn said:

I'm actually German. Does the name Hotzn not sound particularly German to you? :)

It could have been a nickname :D

Besides, there's lots of Germans over here ;)

For instance there used to be a Berlin, Ontario until that whole mess in 1914 came about. Nowadays it's Kitchener

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9 minutes ago, Hotzn said:

Hotzn, a nickname? Who would pick something that ridiculous as a nickname? Well, yeah... it could be a nickname. On a sidenote, this thread is now marked as "hot" in the list. @cekivi, is this our doing? :D

Nope! I didn't even realise that the new forums did that :D

The mouse over text indicates it's a consequence of a lot of replies in a short time... so basically us derailing the thread. Oops :$

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So after reaching Day 128 on Stalker mode I decided last night it was time to give Interloper a go. What a difference! It was desperate right from the start; spawning in FM near a signal tower in a strong freezing wind I made an immediate beeline for the exit, panicking at the intense cold I practically sprinted most of the way, only stopping for a few hours to huddle at the back of a cave to warm up a bit (no bed roll to sleep), and also managing to find a magnifying glass and a hacksaw on my way. I got to Trappers cabin in ML with 20% condition but unable to start a fire (no sun or matches). Got a bit of sleep and headed out in the dark of night desperate for a drink, found a little cabin in the middle of nowhere, still no matches but found a can of soup so I drank that then stumbled off towards the large cabin by the lake, freezing, dehydrated, I had to detour past some wolves and sprinted into the cabin. Searched frantically for matches but found none nor any drink. A couple of hours rest. Awoke to a raging blizzard. Getting really desperate for a drink and food. Repaired clothes while waiting anxiously for blizzard to pass then went out, picked cat tails, and searched the fishing huts and all the lakeside cabins for matches. Nothing. Then a miracle, the sun came out, enabling me to finally use the magnifying glass. Melted and boiled a load of water, drank my fill, then headed back to Trappers cabin knowing there was a dead deer nearby there. On the way the temperature dropped fast and started snowing, and I arrived at the cabin soaked, freezing, starving, and my condition at 30%. A quick sleep to warm up but still freezing out and no sun to start a fire to harvest the deer by. No food and desperate.....I ran out and cut a chuck of meat off the dead deer then ran back into cabin. Condition down to 17%. Too cold to go out, but would die without food.....no choice but to eat the mouldy deer meat raw. Instant food poisoning. Some antibiotics helped but I still needed to rest to heal. Slept for four hours but needed more. Starving, ill, and with a new blizzard howling outside...I knew it was the end as I set my sleep time for 5 hours and drifted off into the long dark. Total survival time 3 days and 20mins.

Absolutely fantastic! I love what the developers have done introducing Interloper, it's like I'm playing TLD for the first time again (surviving just as long as those first few games on Voyager), running about, looting everything, every find as precious as gold, every minute counting and knowing that all your decisions could end in failure. Throw in the unpredictable weather and the game is back to feeling like a desperate fight for survival again. I cannot wait to get back and try again tonight. Brilliant stuff.

 

  

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