Jump to content

Suggestions from a Kentuckian


Myth

Recommended Posts

I've spent my life as a rural West Kentucky native and I have a few suggestions from that point of view. I only feel my life experience is relevent because of the game's setting and the efforts of the developers and community to make it as realisitic in it's experience as possible(Muldraugh may as well be my hometown of Benton). Some of these suggestions have already been brought up, and some are even already in development from what I've read. As it purtains to such suggestions, I just want to reinforce them from the mentioned perspective.
We need a larger selection of practical weapons. I can imagine how many times you've heard/read this, but it's true. There are 3 melee weapons that are so commonplace here, it feels like I'm playing in a foreign country that has them outlawed. By the end of a month, a lone survivor would be sick of picking up Coleman machetes. Hatchets as well. People requesting katanas and such swords, sorry but that's not our thing here. We like our blades to serve a purpose beyond killing humans lol. Unless you're talking about knives... We like our knives here so scavenging a rural Kentucky town would yield you many mid-high end blades of various sorts, all ready to outperform a kitchen knife. I don't pretend to tell you how to implement these things, but they must be added soon. It really doesn't feel like Kentucky without these things: Machetes, hatchets, combat/hunting knives. If I get nothing else I ever ask for in the development in this game, it's this paragraph.
The only thing I'd say about ranged weapons, rifles and sport rifles are common here. We like hunting and sport shooting, collecting and even just shooting stuff for the sake of doing it. We like our guns. We have lots of them. It would be more realistic to be worried about my ammo supply. Revolver pistols would be a cool addition. They weigh less, but are less accurate and hold less ammo. A great close quarters gun for those dark office buildings and apartments.
Ammo consolidation like bandoliers, ammo cans, and hunting jackets are common enough to be found in yardsales. I've never seen slings or holsters mentioned though. Holsters should be available for keeping a pistol in its own slot with a quickdraw key.  This key would draw/holster the weapon, holstering automatically re-equps your primary wpn/tool equiped. The speed of the draw can correspond with the Reloading skill. Slings could reduce the encumbrance of a carried rifle/shotgun with a limit of 1 active, no stacking of any sort. Hunter camoflouge would be especially handy when NPCs are implemented.
Boots and raincoats. I feel too restricted in my choice of footwear and a severe lack of protection from elements. Boots could give protection from sctratches/bites on the feet/ankles(hate those crawling bastards), add to elemental resistance, while increasing the noise of your steps a bit. Raincoats are a commonplace item and it feels punishing to have my only protection against rain as a bath towel. Wearing a rain poncho when it's not raining is stifling, making the drawback the same as wearing sweaters unecessarily.
This has grown long so that'll be enough for now. I look forward to answering any questions.


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*Grabs a set of popcorn and patiently waits for Rathlord*

 Oh I suppose =D

 

As Fj45 said, almost all of that is planned- and all definitely good ideas.

 

The main reasons you're not seeing so much variety in certain classes of items (melee, firearms, etc) is because due to the alpha state the devs are more focused on getting all of the game's systems in place. Once all the systems are there, we'll enter beta and  it's there where we'll get to see more variation in items and that kind of thing.

 

It's also worth noting, bowhunting and crossbow hunting are pretty big down south, too, and that's something we'll also see added in the future at some point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, here's an idea Rathlord, why don't we have one megathread for clothing? Would stop the forum getting clogged with suggestions about one specific type of clothing and the Devs could scan over it whenever they want to implement new clothing.


 

 

 

It's also worth noting, bowhunting and crossbow hunting are pretty big down south, too, and that's something we'll also see added in the future at some point.

 

 

Knee+arrow jokes inbound!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, here's an idea Rathlord, why don't we have one megathread for clothing? Would stop the forum getting clogged with suggestions about one specific type of clothing and the Devs could scan over it whenever they want to implement new clothing.

 

I have one word for this..... Flannelette  :P

 

Knee+arrow jokes inbound!

 

Oh god.... They weren't funny the first time  <_<

 

EDIT:

Smartassed comments aside, I think this is the perfect topic to re-iterate on the fact that, other than the TIS plugs, there is little to no character in the game thusfar..... So SPECIFIC ideas aside, I totally agree that the game needs a little more "flavor of Kentucky".

Not implying that it should be turned into one big stereotype, just that when you walk into a town populated by loggers & military families, you know EXACTLY where you are..... PZ doesn't have that atm 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Hey, here's an idea Rathlord, why don't we have one megathread for clothing? Would stop the forum getting clogged with suggestions about one specific type of clothing and the Devs could scan over it whenever they want to implement new clothing.

 

I have one word for this..... Flannelette  :P

 

Knee+arrow jokes inbound!

 

Oh god.... They weren't funny the first time  <_<

 

EDIT:

Smartassed comments aside, I think this is the perfect topic to re-iterate on the fact that, other than the TIS plugs, there is little to no character in the game thusfar..... So SPECIFIC ideas aside, I totally agree that the game needs a little more "flavor of Kentucky".

Not implying that it should be turned into one big stereotype, just that when you walk into a town populated by loggers & military families, you know EXACTLY where you are..... PZ doesn't have that atm 

 

 

Agree there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for input! I've only been playing for about 2 months and that's about how far I went back in posts trying to make sure I wasn't just repeating tired stuff. Good to know I've simply missed the mentioning of some of these things.
 

 

 

 

It's also worth noting, bowhunting and crossbow hunting are pretty big down south, too, and that's something we'll also see added in the future at some point.

 

I was going to mention this. Archery is a very difficult skill to learn and unless a survivor had previous training, he's not gonna hit a zed standing still 10 feet away, and is probably going to hurt themselves in the process lol. You are right, it's a big thing here to bow hunt. Snagging a dear or turkey with one gives special bragging rights around here. But it's not very realistic for a layman average joe to be able to pick up a bow and make good use of it, so I'm in no hurry to see them specifically. Crossbows on the other hand, they're simple enough to learn proper use in a day and while they're more of a novelty down here, most bowhunters have at least one just for the fun and cool factor lol
I totally appreciate that the game is in early development stages and it's easily the most fun I've had with such an experience. This game has loads of potential and Indie Stone is doing great seeing to it. I just want to do my part as a fan who's very impressed with this effort. I really want to take care to ensure my criticisms and contributions are helpful ones. I've no desire to diminish the hardwork being done :)

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

EDIT:

Smartassed comments aside, I think this is the perfect topic to re-iterate on the fact that, other than the TIS plugs, there is little to no character in the game thusfar..... So SPECIFIC ideas aside, I totally agree that the game needs a little more "flavor of Kentucky".

Not implying that it should be turned into one big stereotype, just that when you walk into a town populated by loggers & military families, you know EXACTLY where you are..... PZ doesn't have that atm 

 

This is what encouraged me to make this post as well as future posts from this perspective. I wanna help if I can, add that Kentucky feel and flavor.

Again, thanks for the input!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, here's an idea Rathlord, why don't we have one megathread for clothing? Would stop the forum getting clogged with suggestions about one specific type of clothing and the Devs could scan over it whenever they want to implement new clothing.

 

 

It's also worth noting, bowhunting and crossbow hunting are pretty big down south, too, and that's something we'll also see added in the future at some point.

 

 

Knee+arrow jokes inbound!

 

Probably still wouldn't stop it, I mean we have a commonly suggested suggestions thread and we still get repeat suggestions on a regular basis. Wouldn't be bad though. Convenience and all that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's easy to miss some stuff, especially if you've been around for only a few months. Raincoats had their origin almost two years ago, though it has been reiterated once or twice since then.

Edit: And I totally agree about bows. Compound bows aren't terribly hard to use, but some people (such as myself) own longbows, and it takes years to become competent with them. He'll, most people couldn't even draw my bow (75 lb draw) and keep it pointed in the right direction, not to mention actually loosing an arrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, here's an idea Rathlord, why don't we have one megathread for clothing? Would stop the forum getting clogged with suggestions about one specific type of clothing and the Devs could scan over it whenever they want to implement new clothing.

<...>

 

Knee+arrow jokes inbound!

 

Fun Fact: An arrow to the knee is Nordic slang for getting married.

"I used to be an adventurer like you... Then I took an arrow to the knee."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Hey, here's an idea Rathlord, why don't we have one megathread for clothing? Would stop the forum getting clogged with suggestions about one specific type of clothing and the Devs could scan over it whenever they want to implement new clothing.

<...>

 

Knee+arrow jokes inbound!

 

Fun Fact: An arrow to the knee is Nordic slang for getting married.

"I used to be an adventurer like you... Then I took an arrow to the knee."

 

 

(I made a QI joke but the link system kept cocking up the link so had to remove it.)

 

This will have to do.

 

 

 

Did not know that, but that actually redeems the joke.

 

 

It's a bunch of crap.

 

http://sfwflot.tumblr.com/post/49846339760/arrow-to-the-knee-as-old-norse-slang-a-tribute-to

 

It's just one of those things that people thought meant something else then it became a game of chinese whispers and so people assumed it's true. It's sort of like the Vader, father thing, which admitidely I fell pray too.

 

The actual origin of arrow in the knee is supposedly an in joke between the developers regarding the armour system change between Skyrim and Oblivion. However I have found no solid proof for this statement either. To be fair it's just one of those things which taken at face value makes alot of sense you can see it as that way, but it hardly seems to be the case.

 

Personally I just think it simply means they took an arrow in the knee and some cocked up programming just made it get spoken about alot more than they intended.

 

A bit of evidence the line is supposed to be taken at face value: http://kotaku.com/5886648/how-they-came-up-with-skyrims-arrow-in-the-knee-line

 

Was trying to use this http://qiklaxon.com/ but just wouldn't work, type in It's Nordic Slang and click again and you'll get the intended effect.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's easy to miss some stuff, especially if you've been around for only a few months. Raincoats had their origin almost two years ago, though it has been reiterated once or twice since then.

Edit: And I totally agree about bows. Compound bows aren't terribly hard to use, but some people (such as myself) own longbows, and it takes years to become competent with them. He'll, most people couldn't even draw my bow (75 lb draw) and keep it pointed in the right direction, not to mention actually loosing an arrow.

I have a recurve myself. I've had it for about 2 years and I still can't manage to hit movign targets with any consistency. I'm scary accurate with firearms, not so much with bows lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bow hunt, but from the ground not using a tree stand.  I am not good enough to take down any game on the move further than about 5 meters.  Just way to many darn variables for a person who does not live and breath the outdoor life.  You put a hart out there at 50m , eating some grass and I can bring home meat!!

 

If you wanted me to head shot a stationary zombie from the roof of a house 50m away, I could do it.  If it was runnning toward me, maybe.  I would be able to do a lot better at like 5m :)  Put me on the ground with more than one at 5m and them all in a rush to get me... no thank you.  I would rather have a bat!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aye, with my Remington 700 I'm a pretty fucking accurate shot, but once stuff starts getting close it gets impossible. I once dropped a moving buck from about 20 feet, but that was a fluke (and I never would have taken the shot except that I thought I had already winged him with my last shot; turns out there were two identical bucks- I hit the first one, he took off running, and when I chased I saw the second; when I took the second down, the first buck was down not 10 feet behind him). I'm fairly experienced with a pistol, but they're hard to shoot accurately (especially .45's and other heavy loads) even at still targets. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I flanked a buck on the hoof with a compound bow when I a teenager, it was moving about 20m in front of me.  I could not get my wits together enough to take the second shot.  My uncle had to put the it down as it was zig-zagging away, at over 100m, using a 30-06 with iron sights... standing next me.  He was one hell of a shot.

 

My uncle cuffed me good after it was over, near blacked my eye.  Told me if you are going to take a life, do it clean.  If you can't do it clean, then don't do it.  I have never shot at a moving buck sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

American Steel, If you've done enough bowhunting, surely you've seen a deer "duck the stream." Most people wouldn't believe it unless they saw it, but often times deer can hear the arrow coming and they will drop to the ground or jump over it's path of trajectory. I always thought that was so amazing that they could do that. Pheasant do it too against shotgun shot.
Rathlord,You just might have the same synrdome with handguns as I do with bows :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

American Steel, If you've done enough bowhunting, surely you've seen a deer "duck the stream." Most people wouldn't believe it unless they saw it, but often times deer can hear the arrow coming and they will drop to the ground or jump over it's path of trajectory. I always thought that was so amazing that they could do that. Pheasant do it too against shotgun shot.

Rathlord,You just might have the same synrdome with handguns as I do with bows :P

 

I have never seen a deer duck the stream.  However, I go through some pretty extreme measures to mask my scent before hunting.

  1. I don't eat meat for a week leading up to the hunt.  Why?  I dont want to smell like a carnivore.
  2. I only drink water for two weeks leading up to and through hunting season.  Why?  All that crap we consume has a smell, and we sweat it out.  Trying to purge my system as much as I can.
  3. I try to work up a good sweet for a solid hour every day for a week leading up to a hunt.  Why?  Again, getting as many impurities out my system as I can.
  4. Day before the hunt, I go horseback riding for an hour or two.  No bathing after.  Now I smell more like a herbivor.  Thank goodness I am sleeping at my campsite that night.  My wife would kick me out of the house as rough as I smell :P

 

I then hunt from the ground using wind, cover and concealment to my advantage.  If they are in rut, I like to take a set of antlers with me to rack together.  Stomp.  Snort.  You will be suprised how many BIG bucks will come out into a clearing thinking some other bucks are in his territory.  Heads up and nostriles a flaring.  Doe will come a looking to.  See if they can land a new stud :)  Twang!  One tag filled.

 

We hunted bucks in Colorado from horseback, but that was with a long gun.  Allowed us to cover more ground, masks your smell and gives a height advantage (better sight lines).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...