Long Dark Feedback

[AlParadise]

I figured I'd start a thread with some general ideas and feelings re: the game thus far. Starting with some light complaints and finishing with what I love.

My biggest complaint is that the game got rather dull. Mystery Lake was pretty devoid of habitation, which fit with the "lost inna woods" theme and I enjoyed exploring the woods and trying not to die. Once I hit the Coastal Highway (the transition area with the bridge is beautiful and genius, I love it) things went from really exciting to boring, very fast.

The worst is that any habitation is completely devoid of people, which in itself is alright, but there's no hints as to why. One of my favorite aspects of survival-type games is finding the little clues that explain what happened to any survivors before I arrived. Notes and logs are the most obvious examples. Otherwise, maybe walking along the highway you come across a mass of bodies, which are obviously the townsfolk, who probably tried to make a go of it to the next town for help but froze on the way. Or maybe you're exploring the woods and find a burnt out campfire with a family frozen in their sleeping bags who obviously didn't make it through the night. Or maybe you find a note in the gas station left for a loved one in case they come back, only to travel a little down the road to find the author and the loved one reunited in death, frozen. Small stuff like that.

One of the things I love about this game is the atmosphere. The sense of quiet desperation, especially when you're freezing and hoping to come across any sort of shelter. Someone on the forums mentioned "The Road" by McCarthy and walking around the Coastal Highway really gives me the same desperate futility feeling the book gave me. I love salvaging stuff and managing my inventory. Planning out on where I'm going to go next, how many supplies I have, etc.

Anyway: great game. I love that you guys are indie devs, too. I hope Big Name Publishers one day become obsolete.

Also: I forgot to mention, but the music seems to be a little buggy in the Coastal HIghway. Generally, in Mystery Lake, after I discovered a new location, the music would play and add to the atmosphere. In Coastal Highway, it feels way less frequent and seems to be cut off by entering a house/location/habitation.

[AlParadise]

I thought I'd bring up a concept I figured out and piggyback onto my old thread since, you know, forums are dead and all.

Another reason Coastal Highway is a little boring is because of the abundance of homes/shelters, which is fun for a while since it's cool to explore, but anytime it gets cold or snowy I just jog to the nearest one and hole up for a while. Indeed, if I start freezing, I'd rather burn calories and get fatigued by running to the nearest shelter rather than try to set up camp somewhere outside.

What if, for one of the new sandboxes or levels, there was an area completely devoid of shelter? You could find the occasional cave, shack ruins, and so on that might cut down the wind chill a bit, but no truly indoor area? Likewise, make the level a long trek (maybe a railroad or a river?) and the tension would be through the roof.

Wind starts picking up and it starts to snow. Do you stop and hunt for wood? Or start running forward and hope for a cave? You're freezing despite the fire you built. You start to get really, really hungry. Do you go out and try to find some food? Can you risk being attacked by a wolf when you're already weak from freezing and starving? Could be a good level to implement that "build igloo" option I saw got removed with the new update, too.

Anyway, just some ideas. I figured since this game is centered around a natural disaster, rather than something supernatural, apex predators are scary, and enemy humans can be too, but there's nothing more unrelenting and frightening than nature itself.

Again, great game. Hope it all goes really well. Thanks for making it.