Some suggestions past 50 days


Pino69

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At first, I wanted to tell that game is one of the best amongst all those I've used to play for the last 20 years.
It owns a fantastic potential be it in the story or sandbox mode and I eagerly wait for updates everyday.
That said, there's some room for it to improve and I wished to share some though about it. Some of them have been submitted before for sure :

1- Don't focus only on story mode. I believe lot of upgrades have yet to be made on sandbox and that mode could stay a hooking one long after story mode will have been finished. The aim is to lead to a game you could follow on the long term, just as an experience to go wild for some time and struggle with nature.

2- Healing is really OP : the fact that eating 2 pills instantly treat some diseases or afflictions is not realistic. I believe the cure could take some time before being efficient (painkillers as instance) and that some illness should remain longer even if they are not deadly (bars ceilings). I'd like new afflictions too, like broken limbs that you would cure with makeshift splints and would impede your stats for a week or more... Lacerations too should demand some sort of suture to stop bleeding and completely clean infection. Not the one shot instant cure bandage.

3- On the other side, food is UP : 2 pounds of fresh meat should sustain you more than 8 hours... There's no mean to force player to constantly look for food, even if the pression should always exist. But predators should compete more for food, like wolfs and bears being attracted by fresh ou cooked meat lying on the floor in the exteriors... You should have different means to preserve food, like smoked meat or fish.

4- Wildlife is a key point for variety and struggling against boredom of the long time games. I saw you planned to add mooses and cougars but add more species would be the key. I especially think about racoons, lynx, eagles/owls (for ambient only), beavers, foxes which would perfectly fit with American Great North setting. Birds like ducks would be good option if you ever make seasons.

5- Seasons would be Heaven ! It means new activities, new landscapes, new lenghts for day and night time, new threats and aims that will vanish the long term boredom of the end game. I could easily make a 360 days run if they were ever implemented.

6- Moral setting would be welcome also. I believe struggle with nature is always a mental fight with his-herself. Moral should be tracked the same way health, with events decreasing it (long time blizzards, be mauled by a wolf/bear, food/water/wood scarcity, affliction of all sort, frozen bodies, no light source in dark places, failed crafts, etc...) and events increasing it (successful hunting or fishing, rabbit in snare, quiet weather, reading a book - maybe others than skill ones - discovering a new place, fullfiled needs, successfull crafts etc...). With a empty moral bar, you could have strange behaviours like character refusing to move further, worse healing times and skills, event suicide attempts - which could work or not). Full moral bar could bring some buffs like better resistances, exhaustion bonuses etc... Don't forget to add audio for bad or good feelings...

There are the main points I hope to see one day into your faboulous game. Notice that those suggestions are sandbox oriented. As I sais before, I believe sandbox mode shouldn't be abandonned for a story mode that will surely not satisfy everybody out there, regardless the efforts you invest in. Sandbox, on the other side, will be what you - gamer - will do of it and the maximum diversity in that part of the game is the key to hook players for long time.

Good luck for the future of The Long Dark and, again, thank you for this superb piece of art you gave us.

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+1

You present good points although I don't believe that once the story mode is updated sandbox will be abandoned. If you notice in the road map there is a point where they plan to introduce character customization which is only for the sandbox mode so yea I think that sandbox mode will grow too. However now it is time for the story mode which everyone is waiting since 3 years ago.  We shall finally see what happened to Will Mackenzie. :) 

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Welcome to the forums, @Pino69, and thanks for sharing your feedback!

We have put a lot of love into our work Sandbox Mode and certainly don't plan to abandon it. We've found that by developing The Long Dark with both a Story Mode and a Sandbox Mode, the world have become larger, more thoughtful, and more beautiful. We want to continue this trend after we bring the game to full release. 

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story mode will indeed be a welcome change of pace but the stories coming out of sandbox like @Timber Wolf does and others too are amazing in their own right. some more tweaks in sandbox and all kinds of stories could be launched from it. that is part of the beauty of the game, creating your own stories. like when I was a kid and we read books that had choices you made....do this and go to page 7, else go to page 9, etc.... our choices changed the stories. So what happens to my characters is based in part on what I make him choose to do.

I love seeing that folks have invented their own challenges too, like the vegan one. more badges and achievements (I posted quite a few suggestions a while back) could add some flare to the game quickly and easily on the code side.

yes story mode will be nice I am sure and add a lot of depth. can't wait to see what lies ahead

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