The problem with crates near Wolfman

[Shame]

There are plenty of items with numbers on them that could be used for crates to open them. Sadly most of them that is not the case for. Usually the codes are blatantly told to you for progression, but for anything you find, don't expect the cool surprise of being able to open a crate using a code on some item like the ration stamps. Really makes me wonder why some of these collectable journal items are there to begin with.

That aside there are 2 crates at the Wolfman's Silent Forest hideout. Brute-forcing a 4-combination lock may take nearly 3 hours in real time, since it's up to 10,000 possible combinations, and the code is randomised. Problem is, because it is randomised you could get them open very easy with your first few combinations.

This almost happened with me. I started to try out about 50 combinations sequentially starting with 0000 and going up. I later gave up and checked what the source code had it as. Turns out, if I had started from 9999 and went downward I would have opened the crate LEGITIMATELY. And the biggest problem? This was the crate with the Submachine Gun, a weapon which is not only OP as hell, but is in an unfinished state in that you don't need ammo to reload it. You just press R after it spits out like 20 rounds of bullets and a second later you have a full clip again. This crate would be fine if it wasn't for this specific weapon in there at least the way it currently is! Please just remove the weapon from the crate in the next patch, it is seriously game-breaking if you manage to get the weapon.

[MazyRun]

I think maybe they left the crates in the game as a way of keeping the vaulted weapons in the game (kinda like an easter egg). Players tend to hack the save file to gain access to them.

I agree the SMG is very OP. I would rather there were no 'unlockable' crates in the game mainly because it's confusing to a new player.. I remember hunting forever for the codes to the crate at hideout 1 and the wolfman crates..

..and then when I did find out the non-legit ways of opening them all it just spoilt the balance of the game, because the hideout 1 'starter crate' contains things which make the first days too easy and upset the pace of early game (the initial progression part)..

..and the wolfman crates just contain more things that unbalance your progression.. a combination of OP weapons (even the balanced ones feel OP because it's too early in the game to receive them).

So I learned to never use those crates if you want to do a proper playthrough. Opening them one time to experiment with the contents can be fun for a couple of minutes, then you realize it's just a way to cheese nightmare mode and you wish you hadn't opened them.

I've always thought that the best solution to this issue would be to make those 3 crates part of the 'indiegogo content ON/OFF' selection at the start of the game..

..then by turning it off you wouldn't get the backer dream (creators office), the backer crate (starter crate) or the vaulted weapons (wolfman crates).. and that would be the perfect vanilla experience..

In the absence of that option the only workaround is to just have the discipline to resist opening those crates.. which is fairly easy to do because one method of opening them requires cheating (so that's easy to not do)..

..I also treat the backer crate as if it was a cheat code because it allows you to level up your workbench & backpack inventory instantly without scavenging for it AND gives you weapons..

..it's fairly normal for kickstarter campaigns to contain these kind of backer perks.. so I pretend I don't know the code to this (or treat it like it's a DLC that I don't own).

After all, there's a reason why those 3 crates are not entirely freely accessible or fully part of a standard playthrough, they could ruin your experience of the game if they were, they are almost intended to be like new game+ options.

[Shame]

Aside from the SMG, I think the crates were fine as they were. I like the idea of progression, but with some boosted loot if you are clever with putting pieces together and exploring thoroughly. You would be lucky to open the two crates and, well...

Killing Wolfman grants you one of the most powerful weapons in the game that isn't broken, which is the Assault Rifle, and it isn't that difficult if you use a sneaky trick on him (he doesn't use the Assault Rifle on you instead just attacking you like a regular Wolf would and you can pretty much cheese the fight with a bear trap). Considering the ammo for that weapon is scarce and not renewable, it balances it out a bit more.

I like the idea of having crates personally, it makes exploration rewarding if there is a combination found somewhere, even if right nearby for you to open them. The crates at the hideouts could use the journal items found at those locations, so the Mushroom Book's year of publishing could be the code for the lock instead of being a gatekeeping one. For the first hideout's loot, it doesn't look that overpowered overall, given it's behind a code lock.