The December Update

[omoon66]

December’s here already. It’s hard to believe, and we’re entering a Long Dark ourselves as we go into the heart of winter. But December means something else for us Long Dark players, it means another big update. This update is adding a new animal for the first time in a long while, the moose. There’s been a lot of speculation on this new animal. But for me, these are a few questions I have, and some I’ve speculated myself.

What is the balancing of this animal? My thoughts are it’s somewhere in between a wolf and bear, in all areas. In rarity, danger level, and how much meat/hides/guts it gives. Which brings me to my second question,

If they give hide, what would you make? It could be a variety of things, we don’t have an animal skin hat, shirt, or socks. So maybe moose skin toque/shirt/socks? That would be interesting, especially since hats are hard to find/maintain on interloper.

Moose aren’t carnivores, right? I would have to research that, but if they aren’t predators, then that means no intestinal parasites. Yay! Another good and safe food source. And while we’re on meat, how much do you think they’d have? I know there’s other threads on that, but like 30-60lbs? Or more?

 

Now on to other things. Mountain town region. I won’t go into too much detail since there’s other threads on it, but I think mountain town’s going to be similar to CH, as far as lots of shelter, but probably lots of wildlife (we saw the dozens of wolves that reside there in story mode). I was also thinking about if we’re going to have Mr. Mackenzie’s plane crash site. If so, will there be that little vine climbing spot that Will broke his ankles on? We might have to wait and see.

 

All in all, I’m pretty excited for this update. I stoked about moose, but most of all what they’re not telling us. In the December dev log they said they have more things planned for the update, but not telling us. Any thoughts as to what it might be? 

 

Well, thanks for reading my big essay, what’re your thoughts?

[RossBondReturns]

They are updating current sandbox areas as well.

At least Quonset Garage since Raphael posted images of that on his twitter feed:

 

[Fuarian]

Well, 

A) Experience modes in Wintermute. B) Minor changes to Wintermute

C) New decorative/aesthetic assets added to every region. D) New sprain/infection system?

It could be anything really. 

[Blinkin]

I would expect a Moose to be just as dangerous or even worse than a Bear. They're not aggressive if if they attack you you'd better run for your life. That's for sure.

I'm expecting mostly tweaks and the new difficulty system for Wintermute. I'll definitely restart the Story mode (haven't finished episode 2 anyways).
I'm very curious about the new things they haven't told us... maybe more 'low hanging fruit' as they call it?

[omoon66]

1 hour ago, Fuarian said:

Well, 

A) Experience modes in Wintermute. B) Minor changes to Wintermute

C) New decorative/aesthetic assets added to every region. D) New sprain/infection system?

It could be anything really. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the experience modes in Wintermute, that’s a pretty nice feature

[madrepityu]

Guys, what do you expect about the moose? I saw that everyone is so hyped about it, but I don't know why? Do you think the moose will make story mode great, as it supposed to be? I don't think so. That's not going to solve any of the problem the current game has, imho. It's suprising how easy to impress y'all. ..after all what's happened with the game, and how far it become from what was expected !

[Fuarian]

3 hours ago, madrepityu said:

Guys, what do you expect about the moose? I saw that everyone is so hyped about it, but I don't know why? Do you think the moose will make story mode great, as it supposed to be? I don't think so. That's not going to solve any of the problem the current game has, imho. It's suprising how easy to impress y'all. ..after all what's happened with the game, and how far it become from what was expected !

It won't make the story mode great. It will add something to both modes and that's what people want.

[Frosty]

21 hours ago, RossBondReturns said:

They are updating current sandbox areas as well.

That's a nice touch up, hopefully we see more of this within the regions with this update  

The moose will be a welcome addition, but based on Raph stating they will be "rare" makes me suspect there will be no more than 2 Moose per sandbox at most. There really isn't that much room for them to hide within the regions imo, even if they stay mobile at all times which I hope they do 

Based on released images of the moose we see they can spawn within CH, and I really hope they spawn in PV as it is the largest map and they can have a nice long AI route there. Perhaps 1 moose per CH and PV will be how it goes, but I would like to see the Moose in all regions excluding BR and DP as they're too small for them to hide I believe. I like how there will be signs of their presence on the map via chewed birch bark, it will make tracking them feel immersive. 

A nice feature would be to have the Moose re-spawn in a different region than the first one it was found and harvested in, and would allow 1 Moose per sandbox to feel acceptable to me

I really hope there is a struggle mechanic with the moose, maybe flinging the player in the air with its antlers at the end of it which will result in damaged clothing, sprains or perhaps a new affliction such as broken bones ive heard people discuss. 

Harvesting wise I would really like to see a craftable hat of some sort or maybe a crude knife crafted from the antlers without using the forge but they should be less durable and perhaps unable to be repaired. Maybe they should have more meat per kilo than the Bear if they're going to be rare, perhaps 50kg minimum. 

This update will definitely satisfy and hopefully pleasantly surprise everyone with what's included that we are unaware of 

[omoon66]

7 hours ago, madrepityu said:

Guys, what do you expect about the moose? I saw that everyone is so hyped about it, but I don't know why? Do you think the moose will make story mode great, as it supposed to be? I don't think so. That's not going to solve any of the problem the current game has, imho. It's suprising how easy to impress y'all. ..after all what's happened with the game, and how far it become from what was expected !

Um, well 

1. New food source

2. New hides and possible new hand-made clothing option

3. New predator to worry about

4. First animal that’s been added in a long time, if not ever

So yeah, moose will change TLD a bit

[Blinkin]

On 2-12-2017 at 0:50 PM, madrepityu said:

Guys, what do you expect about the moose? I saw that everyone is so hyped about it, but I don't know why? Do you think the moose will make story mode great, as it supposed to be? I don't think so. That's not going to solve any of the problem the current game has, imho. It's suprising how easy to impress y'all. ..after all what's happened with the game, and how far it become from what was expected !

It's surprising how high your expectations are.
This game has become way better than I ever expected it to be. Compare the current TLD build with the original plan the devs had:
TLD Kickstarter page

This is indeed far from what was expected, in a very positive way.

[omoon66]

4 hours ago, Blinkin said:

It's surprising how high your expectations are.
This game has become way better than I ever expected it to be. Compare the current TLD build with the original plan the devs had:

This is indeed far from what was expected, in a very positive way.

I don’t think it’s too far from current, but there are a good number of differences. But I’m happy they made TLD the way they did

Edit: now looking at the Kickstarter page, there are a lot of things different

[moistsack]

On 12/2/2017 at 9:50 PM, madrepityu said:

Guys, what do you expect about the moose? I saw that everyone is so hyped about it, but I don't know why? Do you think the moose will make story mode great, as it supposed to be? I don't think so. That's not going to solve any of the problem the current game has, imho. It's suprising how easy to impress y'all. ..after all what's happened with the game, and how far it become from what was expected !

Personally the prospect of the moose excites me for reasons related to moose styled clothing and also because it's just interesting to have another thing to think about and be aware of while you're out and about, another risk to manage, another potential source of sustenance. I don't expect the moose to change the game substantially or fix everything, but it is a very welcome addition.

[MarrowStone]

I personally think the moose will just drop deer meat and deer hides for simplicity's sake, but i could be proven wrong. We'll probably be seeing at least a deer hat and maybe a makeshift tool/hook from the antler.

I am excited for moose however, as it might offset some current wolf spawns in favor for it. Id imagine it will be all over the muskeg and replace the bears there, and probably pensive pond/bodies of water near wooded areas.