Constructive Criticism

[inanorbit]

Combat:
Combat in this game is sorely in need of some reworking. The most glaring issue is the defenselessness of the player character. Wandering around, I am vulnerable to the myriad threats surrounding me. I have taken up the habit of using my ATV to kill every creature on the map before I begin morel harvesting. This, however, is not fool-proof.

Despite my best efforts, there seem to be some animals which do not take damage from the ATV. No matter how many times I ram a bear, it just stands there.

Consider adding more weapons, like rocket launchers or tactical nukes. When I'm morel hunting, I don't want to always be looking over the shoulder in case a horde of bobcats wants to make people bacon out of my backside. A sniper rifle would also be a thoughtful addition and finally give some use to those sniper towers some of the maps have.

Also, as far as I can tell, none of the animals are armed. Aside from arms. But most don't even have those.


Realism:
If the developers were trying to go for realism, unfortunately they failed immeasurably. For example, when I encountered a grizzly bear in the Rocky Mountains, I did everything by the book. I stayed still, made myself look large (jumping), and spoke in loud, stern tones. I got excited when the bear even bluff charged me. I thought it was really impressive that the developers included bluff charges. Well, it wasn't a bluff charge. The bear ate me and I found this rather unfair.

The game has bug spray. For realism, it should also have bear spray.

In one map, I encountered three bobcats, one mountain lion, a grizzly bear, and a certain xenobeast of mythical origin. And I also collected over 100 morels. If this were real life, it would have been the craziest day of my life. I have been looking for wild cats (bobcats, lynx, mountain lions) for decades in real life and have never seen one. For that matter, I have also never seen a real life morel.

Another criticism for realism is that I am unable to try any of the mushrooms. I know some are poisonous, but if this were real life, I'd totally be trying a false morel. It looks like candy. I would eat an amanita so fast my wife wouldn't even need to pack a picnic.

Speaking of picnics, any time I want to go out into nature, my wife wants to bring a picnic lunch. How was this not included in the game? There should be some mechanic whereby you have to convince your partner not to bring a lunch, that it will just get in the way, there will be bugs, and that you have things to do and sitting on a blanket is bad for my back.

Alligators really need to be on more maps and be more aggressive. They are killing machines and they are super good at hiding. I've seen gators in all 50 states. They also don't stop until they catch their prey. Ever. They will follow you home. And then it will be their home.


Glitches
I'm not trying to be rude, but this game has a few bugs and glitches. Honestly, though, they're hilarious, so I'd keep them in. One time I got killed by a bunny because it somehow flung me high up into the sky when I bumped into it. Speaking of sky, it's rather amusing to see three owls just fall vertically out of it right in front of you right before they start hooting and/or screeching at you.

Why does my horse constantly destroy my ATV by touching it lightly?

Why does the all terrain vehicle have trouble with almost all terrain? i can't even drive over an old stick without having to call it a day. Or risk taking my horse by to nudge it free even though there's a fifty percent chance it will just explode after doing more flips than an Olympic gymnast.

Why can I sometimes find cows and baby chicks in the middle of the redwoods?

Music
Music is phenomenal, just wish there were more of it. Can't really imagine collecting mushrooms without listening to soaring guitars and badass riffs. But also, perhaps, a radio station playing NPR might be an appropriate addition.


Future Ideas
Here are some thoughts for future updates. Definitely rework combat. Let's get some guns in here. Add in a squad that you can control. And a medic as part of your unit. Have a skill tree where you can upgrade stuff like, say, your aim and fire rate. Collect 20 morels and get a talent point to spend on your abilities. You should be able to unlock special abilities like magic spells or dragon shouts.

Loot. Needs to be more loot. Every animal you kill should be lootable. They can have knick knacks that they acquired by eating previous mushroom hunters or just ammo and gold or whatever. Animals should have and equip animal armor that you can modify to put on your horse. The golden morel lootboxes are on the right track, but it needs to be expanded.

Make it so your energy drains faster and the only way to restore it is via special milkshakes you can only purchase with the morel tokens that you get for completing weekly quests. You can only use one token per day, though, unless you spend ten tokens to buy a special hunter's badge that lets you use multiple tokens per hour.

You should be able to build a base with buildings to gather resources and craft items from those resources. Some of these places look like great spots for oil drilling. Imagine how great your base would be if you strike it rich. Add a component where you can manipulate global oil markets with your inky bounty. Bribe a senator and engage in insider trading, but make sure to cover your tracks so you don't get caught. Buy expensive lawyers and lobbyists.


Random Notes/Suggestions
More outfits for the main character. When drinking water you should sometimes spill some drops onto your clothes. Your outfits should get progressively dirtier throughout the day, unless you go on the water, which, by the way, should basically always be an automatic drowning. Especially the moving streams, holy crap. Should be able to skin and eat any animal you kill. Craft leather armor from a fox hide or whatever.

When you take a step back and look at it without bias, this is a great game that is being held back by a rudimentary morel hunting mechanic. Think about ditching that entirely and replacing it with the improvement I have suggested. I am a gamer, and you are the developers, so, basically, you owe us.

Anyway, those are just some thoughts for your consideration.

[Ever]

@inanorbit LMAO! "Why does the all terrain vehicle have trouble with almost all terrain?" I drive that thing like a monkey with a gun. I feel ya. This was an AWESOME read, and love your sense of humor!