Looking for hardcore survival games

[Mike]

Hi folks. I REALLY love the hardcore survival genre. There are a lot of survival games out there, but most that I've tried lacked too much in one or more areas. I'll give you what I'm looking for in a game, a list of games I've tried, and maybe you guys can help me.

What I'm looking for:
-no zombies
-realistic as possible
-not super futuristic, near future is ok
-medieval or earlier preferred
-primitive skills/tools would be great
-crafting
-open world
-permadeath
-extremely difficult
-few or no people (NPCs)
-single player mode option
-few big animals, lots of small game
-extreme detail, tons of variety of plants/animals/etc
-realistic hunger/thirst/etc
-not in development preferred
-building/crafting/creating should be time consuming, not instant

Games I've played:
UnReal World - This was by far the best so far. The graphics are poor though, and although it is very detailed, not quite enough.
Stranded Deep - Cool concept but way too easy. Building shelters was instant which was a huge negative. Had nothing to watch out for, no animals or natives or anything of that sort.
Sheltered - Too easy. Not very focused on survival, at the detail that I want it to be.
Neo Scavenger - Decently fun, but WAY too many animals/people around. Unrealistic thirst/hunger levels. Stuff degrades way too quickly with no option to repair. The difficulty is more about combat and fighting medical issues rather than actually surviving. Food isn't varied enough.
Don't Starve - Fun, but obviously not realistic and not detailed enough.
The Long Dark - Just ok. WAY WAY WAY too many large animals around, not enough small game. Once you find a warm sleeping situation, it's not very challenging. Also quite boring. Crafting is too limited.
Kona - Seemed interesting off the bat, then I instantly lost interest once I realized the linear path rather than open world. Plus it was too story-based.

I'm sure I've played others but can't remember them right now. I know I'm asking for a lot here, but I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks!

[Mike]

BUMP!

[Birdy.J]

Farcry primal?

[Mike]

@ HDVdeArgentina - Both those games seem interesting, but Wayward has monsters and Forsaken Isle probably does too (and has magic). Maybe you used a translator but the English was good. : )
@ Xp3nDaBird - Too combat-oriented, not realistic. Plus my PC is a bit old so I doubt I'd be able to run it well.

Thanks for the suggestions though, guys!

[papercut]

Hmm, you sure are looking very specifically. You may have to loosen your requirements a bit or try to be a little less picky or you may be searching for a while. I understand that its your fun and I shouldnt try to tell you how to have it though. But I say at least try to be a little less strict in what you look for and you could end up pleasantly surprised!

With that said, how much are you willing to budge? It will help me find something you might enjoy.

[Mike]

I have tried a lot of games that are in the realm of survival. They might be neat for an hour, but then I quickly lose interest. The most important elements are: open world, realistic*, and a very complex crafting system. I don't want something like "ok you have 'wood' in your inventory, now click it to start a fire instantly!" Randomly generated game world is a huge plus too. I can try something with zombies or monsters, but they have to be very rare. I'd like to be able to go days/weeks without combat using smarts/stealth. Basically, I want there to be a threat out there, but not have to worry every 10 minutes that something is approaching me.

*I know realistic can mean a lot, but stuff like (ideally): no magic, no monsters, animals aren't everywhere, hunger/thirst meters, time passes in-game when you craft/build

Thanks though! I'm up for looking into any suggestions.

[papercut]

Alright, my first suggestion will probably be a long shot. I have heard very good things about Fallout: New Vegas and its Hardcore mode. Same as the base game, but with added thirst and hunger, among other things that make it more 'realistic,' and though I think there are quite a few things that would set you away from it, it is worth looking into. You might already know about it, but in case you do not it is set in a post-apocalyptic United States, somewhere in California I think, where ever the hell the deserts are. Sorry, bad with US geography, as I am but a mere Dane. It has what you might classify as 'monsters' but they are really just mutants, albeit you might find them to be too unrealistic for depictions of mutated animals. It also has near instant crafting if I recall, another thing that might put you off. There is more to say on it but I do not want to waste too much time on one suggestion

Like I said, there are at least a few things that seem they would set you off from it but I would at least look into it before you take my word to heart. I did say before that you might end up pleasantly surprised if you broaden your horizons a bit.

My next is The Forest. Never got to play it myself, and I admit I dont exactly know much about the game but I think it has some of what you are looking for (sparse wild life, etc), but there are obviously details and discrepencies that I am not able to tell you since I know little of it myself. Not sure if it has thirst and hunger. Worth looking into.

Dying Light has zombies and people, and I think near instant crafting...but!!! Last I checked there was a really good mod for the game, if you dont mind using mods off a place called the Nexus (trust me, the website is reputable if you want to ask lots of people who use it like Skyrim players or Fallout 3/New Vegas/4 players). The mod basically made it very focused on survival and even adds a hunger and thirst mechanic which is exactly what you are looking for, and a focus on scavenging if you like that. I dont know if its still up or if it works with the latest version of the game but might be worth looking at.

[Mike]

I played New Vegas quite a bit because I've been a huge Fallout fan ever since the first game came out. The "hardcore" mode (combined with hardest difficulty) was so laughable that I didn't even bother to include it above lol. It's definitely a great game, but not what I'm looking for. Survival should be a struggle, and in FO:NV, the only survival elements were monsters. By the way, Las Vegas is in Nevada (which is right next to California) and I believe New Vegas is still what's left of Las Vegas.

I've looked at The Forest a few times. It's got mutants (or similar), which I'm not TOTALLY opposed to as long as it meets other key things. Plus it's still in development. I'll give it a more serious look when it's fully released.

If the mod you're talking about for Dying Light changes the game completely I'm up for trying it. From what I see in the screenshots on steam, it's definitely not what I'm looking for lol. Like I said, I don't mind zombies, just as long as I'm not being surrounded by them constantly. Maybe once a day I'll see one.

Thanks for taking the time to try to help! : )

[Hwkiller]

A really hard core survival game is STALKER: CoP + MISERY
Good luck.

[SnusHead]

Dark Souls.

Officially not a survival game but it fits pretty good to your list of attitudes the game should have.

[Mike]

Both of those games are way too action-y, although many people have recommended Dark Souls to me. I guess there's just nothing out there that fits what I'm looking for. The closest is UnReal World (mentioned above). I'd love if there was a game that copied that but made it first person with decent graphics lol.

Thanks for all your help guys. If anyone comes across this looking for a similar game, I recommend URW (it's on steam now). Actually I recommend it to anyone, lol.

[Stealthninja976]

OK so i know that this is a dead thread and the hopes of you seeing this are damn minimalistic but within the year thats passed The Long Dark has become a beautiful game they are adding a story line to it, a sandbox mode with a new difficulty called interloper WHICH IS ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ HARD they also added challenges where you have to get to a point and call for help, a bear is hunting you and you have to find the only gun that could kill it. the game has grown a lot and i think you should check it out again and its growing by the minute

[Thatbrownmonster]

don't starve
survive 23 days in default and you get a prize from me

[HypersleepyNaputunia]

metro 2033 sort of

[Sean]

man, if someone took mount and blade and turned it into an actual open world survival game i would shit myself

[محمد عباس علي شهي]

There aren't zombie's but there are mutants