Fixes to Sprain System -- Phase 1

Hello everyone,

We're really sorry to everyone who has experienced unfortunate Sprain activity since we released STEADFAST RANGER. We thought it might be useful to explain a bit about what's been going on.

The "old" Sprain system calculated sprain chance by taking a slope angle, applying a % chance of sprain based on a base value, and adding more risk as the angle increased. We also increased the risk based on if you were Sprinting, Encumbered, or Exhausted. The fact that you didn't know what slope angle might cause a sprain when walking on it, was a large contributor to the sense of getting surprise sprains because you had no way of knowing you were "at risk".

In STEADFAST RANGER, we added the Slope indicator to tell you when you are "at risk". The idea here was to give you a sense that you might get a sprain if you didn't change your behaviour, i.e. find a safer path. The Slope indicator doesn't guarantee you will get a Sprain, but it tells you that you are in a place where you MIGHT get one.

There was a bug in the 1.48 release of STEADFAST RANGER where we were calculating Slope Risk modifiers for Encumbrance, Exhaustion, and Sprinting, when on FLAT surfaces. This meant that over time, even when walking on flat (non-sloped) surfaces, you might end up with a Sprain, if you were Encumbered, Exhausted, or Sprinting. Since we check on an interval, over time you are highly likely to get one. THIS WAS A BUG AND SHOULD BE FIXED IN THIS LATEST HOTFIX.

Some people found the "flashing" warning exclamation to be anxiety-inducing so we removed it. The Slope indicator itself should be sufficient warning.

Another thing we added in STEADFAST RANGER was a "Sprain Risk" affliction to Status. This is only meant to appear when you are Exhausted or Encumbered, to indicate that you are at greater risk of Sprains due to being in these states. This risk should only apply when you are walking on valid slopes. It does not mean you are generally at risk of getting sprains. You MUST be on a valid slope for Exhaustion, Encumbrance, or Sprinting to trigger a sprain. Some people are confusing the Slope indicator with the Sprain Risk affliction in Status, and they are not the same thing.

There was a bug where the SPRAIN RISK affliction would appear any time you transitioned to a new scene. We've fixed that in this latest Hotfix.

Please keep in mind that the new Sprain system means you are now more knowingly at risk of getting sprains than you were before STEADFAST RANGER. You might have become accustomed to spidering along the environment or walking up (or down) slopes that should have triggered sprains but didn't for a variety of reasons. This means that you may have to ADAPT your traversal of the world. It means there may now be paths that are more dangerous than they were before.

Keep in mind that the Slope indicator is meant to be a warning, similar to Weak Ice. If you back away from the path you are on, you can avoid the risk of getting a sprain. If you persist on a path or slope where you see the Slope indicator, you accept the risk that you might get a sprain. It's in your power to decide where you want to travel, and how you want to get there. You may have gotten used to taking risky shortcuts that now have a more visible cost associated with them, whereas that risk was hidden before.

Now that we'll have the Sprain system working as originally intended for STEADFAST RANGER, we'll continue listening to feedback from our players. Phase 2 will be to consider modifying the tuning on either the Slope Angle required to trigger sprains, or the probability of getting sprains over time when travelling on a slope, but we don't want to make those changes until we're first sure people are playing the system as it was intended. Changing too many things at once makes it difficult to know what is working and what isn't.

Thanks for reading and we hope these fixes improve the Sprains "situation" for you.

- The Hinterland Team


THE LONG DARK -- HOTFIX TO v.1.49 [47860] -- FULL RELEASE NOTES

Fixed issue where revised Sprain system could trigger sprains on flat surfaces when Encumbered, Sprinting, or Exhausted.

Fixed issue where Sprain Risk affliction indicator would appear on every scene transition.

Removed flashing exclamation mark on Slope indicator due to causing widespread anxiety amongst our community. Let's face it, we could all use a little less anxiety.
Tuned Revolver effectiveness when used against Moose (reduced) and reduced critical chance against Bears.

Fixed issue where text was missing for the Small Arms (Revolver) research book.

Fixed issue where players could not dismount from rope on upper cliff edge in an Ice Cave (Hushed River Valley region).

*** END OF RELEASE NOTES ****