The Long Dark

[fuzz]

Since posting here last year, I've played with randomized spawn on Stalker only and clocked 168h. Had fun, loved exploring all the regions. Died a few times due to lack of map knowledge and/or not respecting the weather system and pushing too far out into the unknown. Hated the designed for consoles UI, wish we could mod back the earlier version they had implemented, that I saw in old videos. Currently on a 260 day run that will soon run out of content, got one more region left. Not bad but again I haven't been following the game over the years and wasn't playing earlier builds. Whole thing must be frustrating and laughable at this point for folks that did.

With base customization update still not in sight

Is that a planned feature?

Yeah.

(...) Survive in relative comfort through a series of features and items that allow you to organize, optimize, and decorate your favourite interiors. (...)

sauce: https://www.thelongdark.com/expansion/

 

[Iucounu]

Since posting here last year, I've played with randomized spawn on Stalker only and clocked 168h. Had fun, loved exploring all the regions. Died a few times due to lack of map knowledge and/or not respecting the weather system and pushing too far out into the unknown. Hated the designed for consoles UI, wish we could mod back the earlier version they had implemented, that I saw in old videos. Currently on a 260 day run that will soon run out of content, got one more region left.

I'm playing Interloper, currently past 300 days mostly in Mystery Lake. With the free ice fishing holes it's become too simple, not even Scurvy is a major problem. I just pass time until midday (when it's warmer outside), cut a hole, go back inside the house and warm up, go back out and wait for fish to catch (which at the same time prevents Cabin fever), rinse and repeat. A bit repetitive in the long run, except when I need to go and fetch more metal and cloth to make new tipups.

Not bad but again I haven't been following the game over the years and wasn't playing earlier builds. Whole thing must be frustrating and laughable at this point for folks that did.

I guess that's always the case with forced updates, there will always be some changes old players don't like.

With base customization update still not in sight

Is that a planned feature?

Yeah.

(...) Survive in relative comfort through a series of features and items that allow you to organize, optimize, and decorate your favourite interiors. (...)

sauce: https://www.thelongdark.com/expansion/

Seems to be part of the Tales... DLC. A trader is planned as well: "A source of rare goods and useful information, for a price."

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Timberwolf Mountain hut isn't that bad anyway, with some warm clothes you can stay warm with no issues.

 

[Iucounu]

Although animals usually spawn in predefined areas, sometimes places are completely unexpected.

For example, I had ended Passing Time on the porch outside Mystery Lake Camp Office only to see a wolf right outside. I don't think I've ever seen one there in 100-200 days. I didn't carry anything smelly that could have attracted it either. Surprises like these sure keep you on your toes every moment.

Another time when I exited the Camp Office I saw a deer grazing on the very Lake Trail. Apparently it had spawned right there, it wasn't fleeing from anything.

Maybe it's just bugs, I once saw a deer on a cliff in The Ravine that it couldn't get down from, and where I couldn't climb up to harvest it after killing it. Another time a Ravine deer had spawned around a tree, which made it easy to kill since it couldn't flee.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Hinterland finally broke the silence - by banning any and all dissenters and imposing strict and new guidelines on all discussions. The Steam forums looked like ResetEra for a time.

Someone at Hinterland has Issues.

 

[Iucounu]

Hinterland finally broke the silence - by banning any and all dissenters and imposing strict and new guidelines on all discussions. The Steam forums looked like ResetEra for a time.

Someone at Hinterland has Issues.

What is the cause of all the drama, lack of communication?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Lack of communication, unkempt promises of game updates, s-l-o-w-a-s-s d-e-v-e-l-o-p-m-e-n-t t-i-m-e, and then most recently the draconic censorship and somehow trying to blame the fans for things.

 

[jackofshadows]

and somehow trying to blame the fans for things.

Could you

on this please? What a bunch of troglodytes. I bet that's about not going with their worst of all possible option for further game's monetization model.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

and somehow trying to blame the fans for things.

Could you

on this please? What a bunch of troglodytes. I bet that's about not going with their worst of all possible option for further game's monetization model.

I'm referring to how Hinterland whined about how the state of communication on their official forums was due to all the lurkers, who were refusing to take part in the discussion.

Regrettably I get where the lurkers are coming from, when the 'welcome' they get is either silence or some kind of ban.

This seems to be a very recent development though, and I hope it goes away as quickly as it appeared.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

We FINALLY get a developer diary from Hinterland - and it's a juicy one.

The game will be getting its fifth (out of six) updates late next month, and it'll add:

• The cougar. Instead of being wildlife which only responds to you if you get too close to it, the cougar will actively hunt you down.
• A new mountain pass-region. Lots of verticality (where's Garrett when you need him?) and a weather station.
• Misery Mode, either a new difficulty level or an option to add to the pre-existing ones. Think Interloper with six afflictions dumped on top of everything.
• The final part of the narrative tale told by the DLC. They promise that the end reward will be worth it this time!
• The traveling merchant and the customizable home base have been pushed to the sixth and final update.

The cougar immediately presents a problem, because its activity is area-based: Stay too long in one region, and you get cougars. Stay on the move, and they stay away. Great. It's Cabin Fever on steroids, but at least this time you can go on the offensive and try to drive them away by wrecking their lair. Hinterland can easily screw this one up, which is why they're making it optional in every run, even pre-existing ones.

The description of the new mountain pass-region makes me believe that the regions added in the DLC will be used as the setting of Episode 5 of Wintermute, most notably the airfield and the weather station.

They claim runs of Misery Mode will only last a few weeks at the most, compared to how Interloper-experts are pulling off runs that are hundreds of days long.

As for their extended silence? No explanation except that porting the game to the Switch is gonna take longer than needed.

Episode 5 will not be discussed further until later this year.

 

[Iucounu]

[*]Misery Mode, either a new difficulty level or an option to add to the pre-existing ones. Think Interloper with six afflictions dumped on top of everything.
[/LIST]

Wonder if the new afflictions are avoidable or inevitable? The diary also mentions a new Cheat Death System, where your new character can retrieve some of the things the previous one was carrying. Both these new features seem to be free, while the rest are part of the Tales DLC. So no cougar for me unless I get the DLC.

The cougar immediately presents a problem, because its activity is area-based: Stay too long in one region, and you get cougars. Stay on the move, and they stay away. Great. It's Cabin Fever on steroids

Yeah Scurvy already prevents you from staying too long in regions without fish, with cougars it seems you must also rotate between different fishing regions. But it also seems you can alert the cougar by entering its territory, so maybe too much travelling is not a good idea either...

The description of the new mountain pass-region makes me believe that the regions added in the DLC will be used as the setting of Episode 5 of Wintermute, most notably the airfield and the weather station.

You mean those regions will be used both in Tales and Wintermute?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The description of the new mountain pass-region makes me believe that the regions added in the DLC will be used as the setting of Episode 5 of Wintermute, most notably the airfield and the weather station.

You mean those regions will be used both in Tales and Wintermute?

That's what I think, yes.

From what I can tell, Mystery Lake was not built around Wintermute, but Mountain Town, Pleasant Valley and Blackrock Mountain definetely were. (Not sure about Forlorn Muskeg or Broken Railroad.) And considering what we know of the story of Wintermute, it is logical that an airfield enters the picture at some point, and Perserverance Mills has a laboratory/weather station that's shielded from electrical disturbances, meaning it's the last bastion of modernity on Great Bear (if not further).

It'll be weird for those who don't own Tales to play Wintermute and see all those maps, and then booting up Survival Mode and finding some of the maps behind a paywall.

The only question I have right now, is where is the new Mountain Pass-region gonna be?