The wrong side of the bed in FM Homestead

[GorillaDust]

This isn't a bug, but a bit of unfortunate game design that could cost some other players their life (as it did to me last night, 45 days into a Stalker playthrough). Heads up to other players and the good people at Hinterland:

I found myself stuck at night in the Spencer Family Farmstead after a day of crafting. I usually returned to a nearby cave to sleep, but this time a blizzard rolled in and stranded me. As I've done a couple of times before in similar situations, I lit a 10-hour 60 degree fire burning in the furnace, and walked up the planks to sleep 9 hours until morning. I guess in the past I 'entered' the bed from the foot, but this time, I entered it from the 'side'. The wrong side, as it turns out (ba-dum-tiss). I didn't check the temperature before sleeping. Because I was 'standing' to the side of the bed where there is no fire warmth bonus instead of at the foot of the bed where there is a fire warmth bonus, I died of hypothermia in my sleep.

Don't get me wrong, I knew exactly what had happened and why. But it is unfortunate game design that the temperature is measured where I'm 'standing' instead of where I'm 'lying down'.

[GorillaDust]

Strangely, on my current playthrough, I tried to recreate this issue (finding the spot where I could select to sleep on the bed, but be outside the temperature boost from the furnace). But couldn't do it. On my death, I was stumbling around in the dark until I found the bed indicator, so don't know exactly where I was standing when I selected it, but from my view of the furnace (in front of me) it was definitely on the side.

I remember the time when I did die of hypothermia, the fire was definitely long enough (set fire for 10 hours, slept for 9 - I could 'hear' the fire crackling until I got the hypothermia death notification), but was made entirely from reclaimed wood. On my new playthrough I used coal. Possible that reclaimed wood 'maxes out' in temperature? Anyways, I'll drop the topic now, but thought I would mention this further testing as an FYI to any players or devs who read this. If I can save just one life...

[fearofspam]

That sounds like a bug to me.  Did you happen to get a good look at your sleep screen? What was your feels like temp?  It seems like no matter where you enter the bed as soon as you see the sleep screen it will tell you what your sleeping conditions would be like.

[Jolan]

It could be the difference in burnt material.  Coal burns way hotter than reclaimed wood.  I've woken up freezing from reclaimed wood fires in the front part of caves when a blizzard rolled in at the wrong time.  Its why I now carefully check the thermal change in caves and stash some coal if possible.  And why I no longer sleep for 8 hour stretches in places where the exposure might change.

 

[Patrick Carlson]

On 1/20/2017 at 7:12 AM, GorillaDust said:

This isn't a bug, but a bit of unfortunate game design that could cost some other players their life (as it did to me last night, 45 days into a Stalker playthrough). Heads up to other players and the good people at Hinterland:

I found myself stuck at night in the Spencer Family Farmstead after a day of crafting. I usually returned to a nearby cave to sleep, but this time a blizzard rolled in and stranded me. As I've done a couple of times before in similar situations, I lit a 10-hour 60 degree fire burning in the furnace, and walked up the planks to sleep 9 hours until morning. I guess in the past I 'entered' the bed from the foot, but this time, I entered it from the 'side'. The wrong side, as it turns out (ba-dum-tiss). I didn't check the temperature before sleeping. Because I was 'standing' to the side of the bed where there is no fire warmth bonus instead of at the foot of the bed where there is a fire warmth bonus, I died of hypothermia in my sleep.

Don't get me wrong, I knew exactly what had happened and why. But it is unfortunate game design that the temperature is measured where I'm 'standing' instead of where I'm 'lying down'.

In terms of the UI, we give you exact temp in the Bedroll interface -- this should show you the Feels Like temperature as well as whatever warmth bonus you get from your bedroll, depending on its condition. I know you said you didn't check it, but this is always the surest way to know what to expect when Resting. 

In any case thanks for giving us your feedback on this topic. It always helps to know how certain systems in the game impact players in different situations.