SteveP

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Everything posted by SteveP

  1. did you see the poll? is it too easy?? or just super obvious.
  2. SteveP

    Our Wishlist

    For more interesting polls, brainstorming and tactical sessions check out the long dark community. See link below: ====> The poll and brainstorm topic view <====
  3. SteveP

    Our Wishlist

    Let's see if I can get a representative sample of a recent poll on the Facebook community. I'll copy the community results into a poll here. I've consolidated several recent polls. Too bad you can't have more than 20. Question 3 should be multiple choice but works this way too.
  4. Hello People! I am the founder of The Long Dark Community on Facebook. Anyone who plays TLD is welcome to join our community, just complete the three membership questions. I'd like to tell you about some new features I've developed in collaboration with Facebook. We have implemented computer based training modules called Social Learning Units. It's a bit of a radical change for some folks. Some people, especially the new folks who join each week, are taking to it like ducks! I will continue to ask Facebook for new features to support CBT especially tests or quizzes and diagramming tools to make directed graphs and ER diagrams. I have a second, companion group, Deep Thinkers, which deals with coding, UML and a plethora of useful knowledge, including the magnetic anomaly, should anyone have questions. As an engineer, I'm also collaborating with wind engineers to design new types of wind devices using a computer aided design tool to perform dynamic structural analysis as well as fluid flow models. The engineering in this field is changing rapidly. The second new feature is called tactical brainstorming. I won't explain more now; you'll have to join to find out! (Hint: how to safely hunt moose or bear) A big thanks to Raphael and the team at Hinterland. We have confidence in you guys and huge expectations. As a former QA engineer and software development lead, I know things are always a matter of options and choices, trade-offs, just like in the game. I do my best to manage the community expectations and keep them SMART, strategic, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely with hopes for the next release and down the road for TLD 2. I think it might rain... a lot and be windy. Just an educated guess. 😉 (in TLD 2) I wanted to ask Raphael if the plan is to go with more primitive technology, low-tech, or perhaps high-tech with batteries and electronics. I vote for wind power and I can explain why. Stay safe out there people; remember, static survival principles; shelter in place, move only for essentials. Avoid cabin-fever at all costs; play The Long Dark and join the community on Facebook for fun and games and education. Puns are free! 😉
  5. I'll suggest windmills for the wishlist. Want to do it up right?
  6. Hello People! I am the founder of The Long Dark Community on Facebook. Anyone who plays TLD is welcome to join our community, just complete the three membership questions. I'd like to tell you about some new features I've developed in collaboration with Facebook. We have implemented computer based training modules called Social Learning Units. It's a bit of a radical change for some folks. Some people, especially the new folks who join each week, are taking to it like ducks! I will continue to ask Facebook for new features to support CBT especially tests or quizzes and diagramming tools to make directed graphs and ER diagrams. I have a second, companion group, Deep Thinkers, which deals with coding, UML and a plethora of useful knowledge, including the magnetic anomaly, should anyone have questions. As an engineer, I'm also collaborating with wind engineers to design new types of wind devices using a computer aided design tool to perform dynamic structural analysis as well as fluid flow models. The engineering in this field is changing rapidly. The second new feature is called tactical brainstorming. I won't explain more now; you'll have to join to find out! I'm glad things have changed with the new wolf mechanic. The threat multiplier effects are humbling for the pack leaders. Good. They can use some humility. I know I do, every day. A big thanks to Raphael and the team at Hinterland. We have confidence in you guys and huge expectations. As a former QA engineer and software development lead, I know things are always a matter of options and choices, trade-offs, just like in the game. Live long and prosper; Good luck to all you adventurers striking off on your own! Remember, keep your stick on the ice; we're all in this together.
  7. Which "bugs" do you refer to? No one has reported problems with Timber Wolves in our online community, the long dark community on Facebook. The Long Dark Community on Facebook Steve
  8. Hello Raphael! Steve from the long dark community. It has come as a surprise to many of us, that the magnetic apocalypse is a real thing. The North Magnetic pole is heading off toward Siberia and a new magnetic anomaly has formed called the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly. I started documenting that phenomena in another Facebook group, linked to TLDC. I'm hoping that you are aware of the real world dangers of this to air traffic and satellites, as well as to our vital infrastructure, the next time a solar flare hits Earth. Well that's the political end; not something the gamers need be concerned about. My question is this: On a side note, this has split our community but I hope we share our information and pool our hard-fought knowledge, both for the game and the real world. I've added social learning (AKA training) modules to these two groups. The TLDC group is strictly for fun (and survival tips) while the Deep Thinkers group is for solving problems and helping people learn to be effective negotiators and community leaders. I hope to add some tactical training for TLD, as the new Timberwolves have greatly added to the challenge of the game. Well played sir!
  9. I think a podcast or video interview would be a great boost right now. There's a bit of a lull and nobody knows when something is coming so that puts them on edge. I think the idea of new challenges, afflictions and boosts is intriguing. Life at Hinterland; maybe have a few people showcase something. QA testers like zombies on coffee; coders catching naps on the furniture; cats prowling the halls; trays of discarded nachos and dip; stale pizza crust and coffee for 3am snacks! I'm kidding of course. I hope you have a nice fireplace and a calm place out in the forest to work. Kind of curious... Hello from the Facebook community! ;-)
  10. I could use a bit of help to understand the current set of open issues but specifically one problem that we are seeing reported on the Facebook community group, to wit: " Anyone broke the things in camp office and noticed your draws upstairs rising higher each time and the filing cabinet draws down? Dudes, the game has swallowed an entire f*****g draw from the filing cabinet..... Good thing i noticed and took my stuff out .... " I think he means Drawers Implies that there is a work around.
  11. No it's not. Things take time. Hinterland has poured so much time and money back into this project; it's not a large development team; they could have quit long ago. This is not Electronics Arts with a team of hundreds. Please learn about Scrum and Agile software development. This team has listened to our inputs and implemented almost everything we asked for. This is a different way of building game software. I am very pleased with the functionality to date. I'm worried, frankly, that we haven't kept up our end of this bargain; we haven't been diligent enough in testing especially in Custom difficulty. How can something be egregious when nothing has been promised? We have been given clear direction of their feature list (fantastic) and approximate time frames for the story releases. Most of us in the "community" (on Facebook) just love to play in the Sandbox. We think up challenges to keep each other from getting bored. We do science to test stuff. Thank you Hinterland. Have a great day!
  12. Thanks for the timely update and well written too!
  13. As far as I know, your noise level is related to how much you carry and specifically which items you carry. To be silent, dump all that loot! Carry only a half litre of water, if that. Then you can sneak. I try to suit the load to the chore at hand; hunting is one load out while wood gathering is different. Moving camp is when I carry the most but I cache food, water and wood and don't carry much when moving.
  14. It has already been mentioned however it bears repeating that you can start a fire beside a frozen carcass and thaw it enough to harvest it by hand, even if you have no harvesting tools like a knife or hatchet or hack-saw. This is a tip every really new survivor should remember if lost in the woods with no food!
  15. There are several excellent tips here, not only for newbies but for all you experienced players too! We've been talking about using torches to light fires for a while now privately and yet making fire the slow way is still very common even amoung experienced players that I've watched on YT. Strictly speaking, corpses refer to dead humans whereas a carcass refers to an animal. I don't know why people want to refer to a former deer as a corpse. That's not how the word is used in the game nor common usage. We do NOT harvest corpses, only what you might call road-kill. Normally I don't touch a dead animal; chances are it has died of a disease or it has already been contaminated with diseases by a scavenger or predator but in TLD these animal carcasses are an important source of guts, food and a hide. As for advice starting out, I would add some strategy. Get your clothing sorted out as quickly as you can by looting and thus extend the amount of useful time you can spend outdoors. Acquire some guts as soon as possible and get them curing; this will let you make fishing line, tackle and catch food as well as make rabbit snares. With the changes in rabbit harvesting, this should become a very respectable way of getting sustenance. For new-ish players, I highly recommend playing on Pilgrim level until you get the hang of the new mechanics (if experienced don't be too proud). I think you will find that Voyageur level is competitive enough and once you have spent a few months learning the ways of the wolves and you are adept at avoiding them, then move on up to Stalker. My opinion on Interloper is that it is a level designed for those who need to be punished for their hubris! Stalker just seems to be too easy for certain experienced players especially after they have beaten "the hump" (the beginning of the game before you acquire hatchet, knife and ranged weapons) A tip for the more experienced players: many people just run through the towns and loot everything; in the long run, eventually you will set up a base of operations (or perhaps two) and move into subsistence mode: getting enough food and water resources to survive indefinitely and make it into the day to day regime hopefully evading the many threats posed by predators, weather and terrain. It's a good idea to have plenty of items of clothing to choose from so that you can match your outfit to the needs of the day. Sometimes you will move faster and safer with less weight and you will be planning to make fires that day. That is like a hunting/harvesting day. Wood gathering can be interesting if you are going for the larger pieces; it makes sense to kindle a small fire, grab a torch and head for another location to chop up another big limb or two. By this way, a single match at the start of the day provides fires all through the day. I always try to look for an optimal location to lay my fires however that's not always possible. If there are large trees or such about, you can often find a wind sheltered spot behind one of these. Bear in mind that the winds often change direction and can snuff your fire. (pet peeve) Having an adequate source of cloth (curtains, towels, bedrolls, pillows etc) is important so you can maximize your sewing and repairing skills and maintain your kit. I like to have a base where I can store the wardrobe. I don't harvest the looted clothing; I often repair it. If the weather outside looks iffy, that's the order of the day. It's a good plan to go outside to check the weather several times each morning because each time you go out, the chances of the weather being good improve (typically) until about midday. Seldom does it storm all day even though you may have several days of storms; usually there is a good time of day. Of course, that depends upon your level and challenge such as white-out. There seem to be three or four long term food supply strategies: fishing, trapping and hunting deer. I don't know if beach combing is a sustainable subsistence but you can try that too. Fire is key to everything. I like that we can get fire with the magnifying glass but I'd also like us to have other ways to get fire long after the last match is gone. Stealing prey from wolves is a fair strategy using fire; more fires is better!! (hint hint) Often, if you have a bonfire and a torch, that is enough to convince the wolf to head elsewhere. Of course, later on, when you are perhaps loaded with guts, you may again need fire to repel that wolf and his pals. The good news is, for now, he won't steal things you drop on the ground, or better yet, put into a container. (yes portable container please!!) Dropping the guts and meat should minimize your risk of attracting wolf/bear and you can hopefully return for those items later. Often you can also cook the meat using the same fire that kept you from freezing while you harvested the meat. If you play on Pilgrim level, the weather can be mild enough that you can keep warm without fires; still, it's good to understand the importance of fire early on! Thank you Mel for posting such an engaging topic!
  16. New members may like to read the comments and take the poll. This one has been discussed to death!
  17. There are a number of variants for loading aids such as pull lever, push lever and crank. Pull Lever: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow#/media/File:Armborst_1,_Nordisk_familjebok.png Push Lever https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow#/media/File:Armborst_2,_Nordisk_familjebok.png Rack and Pinion Crank: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow#/media/File:Armborst_3,_Nordisk_familjebok.png Windlass: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow#/media/File:Armborst_4,_Nordisk_familjebok.png
  18. I believe the roadmap describes gun smithing. I would see this as reloading cartridges since it is more realistic to find such equipment. It should be rare and only found in one location (perhaps random) I think we should find gun powder; you can't reasonably create your own propellant (AKA gun powder). It would be more reasonable to be able to craft a crank winding cross-bow. A regular long bow has a limited effective range, let's say 30 to 50 meters whereas a crossbow effective range might be farther since it is so much more powerful. Here is a reference for the effective range of cross-bows. http://www.bestcrossbowsource.com/how-far-can-you-shoot-a-crossbow/ http://www.fieldandstream.com/forums/hunting/big-game/effective-killing-range-bow Here is a video on DIYS crossbow design: Here is another design showing compound design using coil springs. Coil springs might be in short supply; leaf springs from cars are easier to find but you still need to improvise pulleys. A winch or reloading lever is another nice touch but I don't see that on youtube.
  19. Isn't there a poll for weapons? What are we missing? Time for a new poll?
  20. why make assumptions about the helplessness of our survivor? Why insist that many of these easy things are hard? They are not that hard if you just have the courage and initiative to try and to experiment. If improvising things like weapons, I would favor a kind of experimental mode where certain attempts don't work but if you keep on trying, you can find the right combination or approach. Unfortunately,the limited inventory of items, makes improvisation difficult. Perhaps add the capability to make custom shapes and parts. When making twitch up snares, for example, it takes a bit of thinking to get the trigger right. I'm not looking for new weapons per se but adding improvisation to the game would be a good goal. Of course, how is it to be done? This is where we have to put our collective imaginations to work.
  21. This posting from 2014 was the most viewed topic on Wishlist. Many of the ideas here were added!! There were a lot of different ideas so perhaps that's why it was often commented on and viewed. Catchy title too.
  22. I was wondering how many folks use the Creative Commons license. In that way, I think Hinterland could integrate some of your stuff into a promotional video. Not sure how that works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_license
  23. Well to be honest, there was more than one tip in there I did not know before; the use of the open porch on PV was one I did not know for example and aiming for the bear's right eye (on the left) is a really cool one! The side shots drawing a line between the ear and the eye is another good one; does that work better than simply aiming for the centre of the neck? How many hours did it take you to discover and record all this? I am guessing you spend at least 10 hours on play and video editing. Your channel should really be taking off now. With the recent upsurge in interest in Hinterland Forum should promote your videos since they are, in my not so humble opinion, some of the very best. Hinterland should let you get early access to the next release for early testing and in that way, you would have a leg up on a video for moose and cougar hunting, assuming those additions will be in the next release. The new animals are my personal favourite new enhancements.