I shared a bit over in screenshot showcase but it could probably be its own thread so people can discuss it not in that channel, so here:
I was thinking the other day I wonder if it would be easier for people to get into it if the difficulty ramped up slower at the very start, with maybe some more neutral or less hostile entities in places like the metro, instead of it being the butcher first, and then only them.
So let people wander around the metro to get familiar with their surroundings and mechanics, then bump into things that maybe wont outright kill them but teach about entities that will scream when they spot you or things like that. So later on when they end up in hotel and they run into that guy and they scream, they might understand why something else came running, heh. or maybe a hearing only enemy that spawns very far from the entrance can hear that scream across the whole map, and you gotta deal with them only after accidentally triggering the scream, heh.
Kinda leads into another thought i have for a potential entity, that would activate after hearing a certain number of screams.
This entity is somewhere around the map sleeping, and each scream either has a chance to make them wake up, or a number of screams will, based on difficulty/map. So in the metro maybe you need three, and maybe in bunker you only need one. And when it wakes up, it lets out a loud and different scream you can hear from across the map, letting you know you just fucked up really bad.
I think maybe that kind of feedback might help people to start being more mindful of how much sound they're making, and they can sortof keep count in their head how many times they've messed up sneaking past one of these screamer guys, and if they're about to activate the bigger one.
It is less immediately punishing on failure and maybe gives some better room to practice sneaking around without an immediate risk of death, as what you're sneaking around wont turn around and kill you but your mistakes will stack up for something potentially worse that will. Maybe this sortof "librarian" type could get really mad and smash doors in real fast to come after you, so you even hear it coming :)
Those are some thoughts I've had while new and playing the game, I'm curious if yall have any similar thoughts, heh.


