What did you have left in your inventory at the end of the game?

[MercenaryForHire]

Barring the "You need this to complete the game" items, I had:

13 batteries (I abuse the glowstick and night-vision horribly)
12 flares (What exactly are these good for?)
2 bottles of painkillers (I took a beating getting back to the exam room)
And of course, the ever-useful Flat Coin.

I didn't even realize the machine would take the coin until my second playthrough - I just figured it being flattened made it useless, and smacked the machine with a rock.

[Kedjane]

I think I had all but two batteries (I found all, only used 2), all flares, all painkillers (I perhaps used one bottle), the flat coin and whatever guaranteed items you have (Flashlight, glowstick etc.).
The nightvision really was too powerful, honestly no human being can see so clearly in pitch blackness.

[MercenaryForHire]

The nightvision really was too powerful, honestly no human being can see so clearly in pitch blackness.

In true pitch blackness - which most humans never truly know - you can't see anything. Period. No matter how long you wait. However, if you've been "in the dark" for a good fifteen minutes or so, you'll have very good night vision. But if you're in a brightly lit area and move into the darkness, you won't be able to see a damned thing.

Now that would be something that would mesh well into the Penumbra world since everything else hinges so much on light. Let's see some medically correct rods and cones!

[Yuhaney]

You can use the coin to get the soda.

Or of course, you can throw it with the stuff you find lying around.

[Dogar]

12 flares (What exactly are these good for?)

The flares shed a larger radius of light than the glowstick, almost as far as the flashlight I think. Plus they bathe everything in a (imo) creepy, menacing red light.
I only used a few of them when I was in a really dark area and wanted a change from the usual green glow of the stick.

[Kedjane]

The nightvision really was too powerful, honestly no human being can see so clearly in pitch blackness.

In true pitch blackness - which most humans never truly know - you can't see anything. Period. No matter how long you wait. However, if you've been "in the dark" for a good fifteen minutes or so, you'll have very good night vision. But if you're in a brightly lit area and move into the darkness, you won't be able to see a damned thing.

Now that would be something that would mesh well into the Penumbra world since everything else hinges so much on light. Let's see some medically correct rods and cones!

Yeah, I disliked the night vision/sneaking system from Day 1.
I think it's annoying when you crawl around, dodging enemies, doing whatever people trapped in underground mines do and then "shuush" and the entire screen flattens and gets a blue tint.

12 flares (What exactly are these good for?)

The flares shed a larger radius of light than the glowstick, almost as far as the flashlight I think. Plus they bathe everything in a (imo) creepy, menacing red light.
I only used a few of them when I was in a really dark area and wanted a change from the usual green glow of the stick.

Yeah, they should had decreased the range of the glowstick and made you find the flashlight instead of it and not find the glowstick until later. Fewer flashlight batteries, shorter battery time and no nightvision would make the player use the flashlight less - then perhaps flares could have made the breakthrough they deserve.