Binoculars


henroe32

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I know they'd be pointless at night. I know they'd be pointless in a fog. I know they'd be pointless in a snow storm.

But please can I find a pair of binoculars to gaze at the mountain ranges of this unquestionably beautiful landscape. 

That and all this time I've spent alone has turned Will McKenzie into a paranoid schizophrenic and I think I just saw someone over at signal hill.

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I would love to see the addition of binoculars as well! However adding binoculars would probably pose a few technical problems, and I'm not sure if the draw distance is currently long enough to make binoculars useful. Does anybody know roughly how far away they can see wolves and deer etc?

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I think that if wolves and deer are far away enough that you need binoculars to see them means that any chance of hunting is lost but for avoiding wolves and bears by planning your journeys around the hotspots of them would be cool.

I play the game on Xbox One and I'm pretty sure that my console wouldn't have any trouble loading an entire map at a time without crashing (it's not nearly as big as the wasteland in Fallout 4 and that never crashes). 

They wouldn't play a huge gameplay purpose but would be nice to see implemented in places such as the fire watch tower on mystery lake (I'm pretty sure they have binoculars in them as a requirement).

Binoculars would also be quite handy for new players to a map as finding them at a place such as the fire watch could allow you to find other shelters and the lake at least from it. This wouldn't take away from the discovery too much either as once you've left a hill and found yourself amongst the trees they will become almost useless.

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On 03/04/2017 at 0:20 AM, henroe32 said:

I play the game on Xbox One and I'm pretty sure that my console wouldn't have any trouble loading an entire map at a time without crashing (it's not nearly as big as the wasteland in Fallout 4 and that never crashes). 

The game engine plays a huge role in determining how much draw distance can be supported. A game like Battlefield One is extremely optimized so that you can see characters that are several kilometers away but if I played an older game like Oblivion with the draw distance set at 1 km the game would crash immediately. I am quite certain that the game engine for TLD is not yet optimised for super far draw-distances and my hardware still chugs along to play it despite the fact that the graphics are fairly "basic". 

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+1 to the binoculars idea :)

I just really noticed the limitations on draw distance for the first time while playing last night in CH. It was a crystal clear, bluebird day and I was heading out to the ice fishing hut to cook up some bear meat. I could see clear across the lake, but began seeing wolves "pop" in as I was walking towards their location, prompting me to reschedule my cooking session. It was pretty immersion breaking. And as @henroe32 mentioned above, it would be invaluable for planning your journeys to be able to scout current wildlife positions. It would make the elevated base options much more valuable (like the watchtower in CH) if they allowed you to survey the entire surrounding area for wildlife movement.

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The reasons given (other than scenery) for binoculars are the same reasons not to have them. You shouldn't know if a bear or wolf is over that next snow bank until you get there. Anything that takes away the occasional "oh shit!" moment, takes away one of the most fun parts of the game.

 

If it is just for scenery put them in pilgrim. But not in any level where being eaten is part of the fun.

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13 minutes ago, Lovehandel said:

The reasons given (other than scenery) for binoculars are the same reasons not to have them. You shouldn't know if a bear or wolf is over that next snow bank until you get there. Anything that takes away the occasional "oh shit!" moment, takes away one of the most fun parts of the game.

 

If it is just for scenery put them in pilgrim. But not in any level where being eaten is part of the fun.

I disagree on that point. Binoculars won't let you see behind objects so there is, if nothing else, an even greater chance of getting surprised. You thought the path was safe... but the bear was behind the rocks! O_o

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9 hours ago, Lovehandel said:

The reasons given (other than scenery) for binoculars are the same reasons not to have them. You shouldn't know if a bear or wolf is over that next snow bank until you get there. Anything that takes away the occasional "oh shit!" moment, takes away one of the most fun parts of the game.

 

If it is just for scenery put them in pilgrim. But not in any level where being eaten is part of the fun.

I think part of the fun is the sense that your initial helplessness and vulnerability steadily gives way to a (limited) degree of mastery of your new environment. The game does a great job of not letting you get too comfortable, although I think some improvements could be made here. But at any rate, the binoculars could be a rare and sought after item which only spawns in a handful of locations. Additionally, and in all honesty, even if you could see everything it wouldn't provide that much of an advantage. As @cekivi said, there is no guarantee that your vision won't be otherwise obscured, or that the wildlife won't migrate before you're able to get where you intended to go. But I think it adds additional information, which encourages thoughtful decision making and strategy, without trivialising any other mechanics.

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13 hours ago, cekivi said:

I disagree on that point. Binoculars won't let you see behind objects so there is, if nothing else, an even greater chance of getting surprised. You thought the path was safe... but the bear was behind the rocks! O_o

If you take your binoculars to a high point and survey the land, you should be able to plan your day. Particularly where the pack of wolves is. If the pack is by the train derailment you can head safely somewhere else without ever having to deal with the four wolves. When they move on, you can head to the derailment. It's not like you would look through your binoculars for 3 seconds. You would look through them long enough to give whatever is in your sightline a chance to move out from behind obstruction. Once you know where the Bear/s is you can avoid that area completely

 

You also should not be able to find buildings, cave entrances, medical needs (mushrooms, rose tips) or dear carcass' from a distance. you should have to explore to find them.

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With regards to the scare factor, having a bear or wolf attack you while actually looking down your binoculars.

They would also not make the game to easy as (like I have already said) the weather could be that of a fog, mist or blizzard rendering them useless.

Another feature of them could be that it takes binoculars time to focus or perhaps you could use something like a mouse wheel or a joystick on a controller to focus the lenses. This might work in a similar way to how safes work and would add to the feel of immersion.

For those of you who complain about them making the game to easy, you could also add a feature where in cold conditions the lenses slowly begin to freeze up meaning that you then have to manually remove this ice. Perhaps even your condensed breathing could steam up the lenses as you gaze through them.

Because binoculars are also a very specific item I can't see a repair option available for them if they become damaged. Perhaps the worse the condition, the longer it takes to focus or there could be a jagged crack or scratch on the lense as you gaze through.

Binoculars are a good idea.

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On ‎4‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 5:43 PM, henroe32 said:

They would also not make the game to easy as (like I have already said) the weather could be that of a fog, mist or blizzard rendering them useless

 

Arguing to add an Item that would be useless seems counterproductive.

 

If they will not aid in avoiding wildlife and finding necessities easier, what is the point in adding them ? If it's for the scenery, put a non movable telescope in each look-out. .

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32 minutes ago, Lovehandel said:

If it's for the scenery, put a non movable telescope in each look-out

Binoculars would be very situational dependent (e.g. they sometimes work) but I would also be fine with fixed vantage points.

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58 minutes ago, Lovehandel said:

 

Arguing to add an Item that would be useless seems counterproductive.

 

If they will not aid in avoiding wildlife and finding necessities easier, what is the point in adding them ? If it's for the scenery, put a non movable telescope in each look-out. .

That would mean you wouldn't be able to use them in places such as the summit of timberwolf mountain 

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1 hour ago, henroe32 said:

That would mean you wouldn't be able to use them in places such as the summit of timberwolf mountain 

 

That is the perfect example of what I mean. You can see the hut, the dock and a lot of the lake from the summit as it is. If you could look through your binoculars and see the four wolves, you could just wait until the next day or so to make the trek down. It is a long journey to the summit, but only a 10 minute trip down, especially if you know you don't have a pack of wolves to deal with after you sprain your ankle.

 

I am not really against binoculars in the sandbox. If it adds fun they should add it. If I don't like it I don't have to use it. Even though they changed parasites, I still don't eat wolf meat.

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1 hour ago, Lovehandel said:

 

That is the perfect example of what I mean. You can see the hut, the dock and a lot of the lake from the summit as it is. If you could look through your binoculars and see the four wolves, you could just wait until the next day or so to make the trek down. It is a long journey to the summit, but only a 10 minute trip down, especially if you know you don't have a pack of wolves to deal with after you sprain your ankle.

True that you could see the lake from the summit but you wouldn't be able to see into the ravine where the creek that feeds the lake. So, you can know for sure there are no wolves on the ice that instance but there could still be one hidden from view. As such, binoculars would be very useful tools for evaluating risk without removing risk completely.

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