Dev Diary - June 2019

[Karl Grylls]

I believe we can play as Astrid and we get candles!

[Tohono O'odham Man]

Awesome thank you 

[alone sniper]

So, This means ...

"Timberwolf" mountain is gonna be a challenge ?😂

Also, Are we gonna get some new clothes based on their hide?🤔

Edited July 2, 2019 by alone sniper

[hozz1235]

On 6/30/2019 at 3:56 PM, FrozenCorpse said:

While I agree that the pack hunting behavior does appear to be the dominate trait of these formidable new predators, I parse Raphael leading with "tougher" and then "smarter" to infer a "triple-whammy" where players will not only be facing a greater number of adversaries simultaneously, but players are probably more likely to experience decreased instances of one-shotting or seriously injuring these new "higher condition" threats while being forced to defend themselves against synchronized, multi-directional assaults with new flanking and rear-assault AI behavior being probable additions.
While we're waiting for the scat to hit the fan, might I suggest you wash your arrows?  There's soap on the shelf behind the armchair and a wash basin over there on the table.

As another poster had said about hunting from the porch - I'll make sure I have a "safe" spot or at least somewhere to retreat to if I decide to tackle a pack.  Scope out their "pack tactics" looking for vulnerabilities, etc.

[bikingviking]

On 6/29/2019 at 4:59 AM, TheUnknown said:

If this comes out before the end of the summer i will glady have your babies. I can not wait. The thought of episode three has me shaking with joy. Also can not wait for the next survival update. Man im super gitty.

I don't know how other people feel about this, but I have zero interest in playing TLD while I'm sweating out another hot, humid, bug-ridden Wisconsin summer. I first got into the game in the dead of winter, and it's the perfect way to get through the bleak dark months. So whether Episode 3 comes out next week or five months now, I'll wait until January to play it.

[MarrowStone]

On 6/29/2019 at 8:08 AM, Dan_ said:

I doubt there will be that many wolves in a single spot, so my comment was pretty much in jest.

I hope not! (at least commonly) There's a whopping 10 wolves there! I've seen 6-7 in current versions of the game before though. Commonly it's more like 3-5.

If dead wolves stayed dead longer I wouldnt mind so much, however. 

[LkP]

1 hour ago, MarrowStone said:

There's a whopping 10 wolves there!

me: "what ? no, that can't be"
checking the image, counting 11: "hem, I knew it wasn't 10..."

[TheUnknown]

3 hours ago, bikingviking said:

I don't know how other people feel about this, but I have zero interest in playing TLD while I'm sweating out another hot, humid, bug-ridden Wisconsin summer. I first got into the game in the dead of winter, and it's the perfect way to get through the bleak dark months. So whether Episode 3 comes out next week or five months now, I'll wait until January to play it.

Man dont remind me of wisconsin weather. Its so bad where i live right now that i wish i was the survivor in the long dark just to escape it here lol.

[MarrowStone]

23 minutes ago, LkP said:

me: "what ? no, that can't be"
checking the image, counting 11: "hem, I knew it wasn't 10..."

Ah darn it, I accidentally skipped the closest one while counting. Lol. Actually being honest. 

Edited July 3, 2019 by MarrowStone

[LkP]

6 minutes ago, MarrowStone said:

Ah darn it, I accidentally skipped the closest one while counting. Lol. Actually being honest. 

ho, anyway, if I see more than 2, I run the other way. So 10 or 11 or 20... especially when you know there can be a bear wishing to join the party...

[odizzido]

Cool, thanks for keeping us updated :)

[The Gentleman Bastard]

Dunno how I feel about Blue light from a flare being any different from a regular one, yknow? I get the whole Flashlight Gameplay element (which I didnt like at first, but I get it, you need a special tool for those "special nights" *soo breathtaking still* But this new flare with "different powers" so to speak, seems odd to be honest :/ Ive said it before, any changes I thought I wouldnt like in the past, I have, so as a fan and not a designer, I do trust in them. But anyone else feel this way? Also, if youre adding Timberwolves to Story Mode, pleeeeaase put them in the Sandbox as well!!!!!! As always, love yall in the community, and Raph and the rest of the team ^_^

 

[devamadhu]

On 7/8/2019 at 6:41 AM, The Gentleman Bastard said:

Dunno how I feel about Blue light from a flare being any different from a regular one, yknow? I get the whole Flashlight Gameplay element (which I didnt like at first, but I get it, you need a special tool for those "special nights" *soo breathtaking still* But this new flare with "different powers" so to speak, seems odd to be honest Ive said it before, any changes I thought I wouldnt like in the past, I have, so as a fan and not a designer, I do trust in them. But anyone else feel this way? Also, if youre adding Timberwolves to Story Mode, pleeeeaase put them in the Sandbox as well!!!!!! As always, love yall in the community, and Raph and the rest of the team

 

@The Gentleman Bastard I felt the same way about the blue flares initially, but I think in the end, it'll really depend on how they work in-game. I prefer realism over spooky tools that are only really useful for one part of the game, which is why I almost never carry the flashlight around.

[AlexandraRussia]

Thanks for the update.Personally, I'm more of a survivor :). But sometimes I can play history. But I'm waiting for more things for survival. Um. I wonder what can be done with the skins of the new wolves ?. I'm for intrigued :).

[stratvox]

22 hours ago, devamadhu said:

I prefer realism over spooky tools that are only really useful for one part of the game, which is why I almost never carry the flashlight around.

For me it's just weight that has very limited usefulness 95%+ of the time. I have them scattered at my main bases in the various regions so if I happen to be up, need to go out, and there's an aurora on I can pick it up to use it, but by and large they're just on the shelf. 

[Le Petit Prince]

"We’re not ready to spill too many details on the Episode Three story yet"

Two years passed, and this is the point we get? For a single episode? Awesome!

I've given up on this game long ago tho, don't care anymore. Take your time, like 10 years or sth. One thing i feel sorry for is the money i've paid to this game. I saw the story mode, liked it, it was told that it was going to continue soon, so i believed and bought it. You should not use the story mode as an advertisement if you are going to keep postponding next episodes. You're cheating some customers like me.

[Admin]

To clarify we haven't postponed Episode 3 in this Dev Diary. We are just being selective in what we say about it as it's still in development and we don't want to ruin the story (which is the part of the enjoyment of playing story Episodes).

We understand that you're disappointed not to learn more and that you've been fairly consistent in the feedback that you wish we would release Episode 3 sooner. We are working on the Episode and can only have it finished when it's finished. We would much rather deliver a polished and high quality episode than rush it out faster and once it's actually released we believe that most players would as well.

We've also done our best to share the details of how we are growing the studio with new hires and new equipment to allow us to deliver new content (both Survival Mode and WINTERMUTE Episodes). This does't immediately put Episode 3 in your hands, but it will help us be able to deliver on both types of updates as we move forward. (We have a significant number of players who enjoy Survival Mode more than Story Mode and we do our best to balance releasing content for both groups.)

Rest assured we are working to get you Episode 3.

[Pillock]

1 hour ago, Admin said:

To clarify we haven't postponed Episode 3 in this Dev Diary. We are just being selective in what we say about it as it's still in development and we don't want to ruin the story (which is the part of the enjoyment of playing story Episodes).

We understand that you're disappointed not to learn more and that you've been fairly consistent in the feedback that you wish we would release Episode 3 sooner. We are working on the Episode and can only have it finished when it's finished. We would much rather deliver a polished and high quality episode than rush it out faster and once it's actually released we believe that most players would as well.

This has been the official position for a while, and I think most people accept it as is.

However, I can't say I agree with it when it comes to Story Mode. It's a simple matter of player engagement with the narrative. Wintermute is one story, split into five episodes, not five different stories. It's going to have been eight months at least between the release of the Episodes 1 & 2 Redux and the release of Episode 3. In that eight months, I have simply forgotten what was going on, and I think I'm going to have to replay Episodes 1 & 2 in order to refresh my memory before I set out on Episode 3.

This is really not ideal, because part of the experience is the player's own connection with the narrative. It's not just a passive experience like watching a series on Netflix or Amazon, where the story remains identical no matter how many times you watch it: we're actually involved in the story of Wintermute, the way we pace ourselves through the different stages, the order we choose to do things in and the decisions we make. If we have to replay the story a second time, or more times, then that connection is unavoidably altered - we know what's coming next and we might do things differently. That breaks the original sense of anticipation and tension that we got the first time, and I feel like it weakens the overall experience. If I'm going to have to wait another 8 months between Episodes 3 and 4, and another 8 months again between Episodes 4 and 5, replaying the whole thing from the beginning each time, I have to ask myself whether I really want to play them at all when they first come out, or whether I'm better off waiting until the full set is available. And that seems to me to run completely counter to the purpose of an Episodic release in the first place. That is, I can understand the advantages (I think) from a development perspective, but I don't think it makes for a good experience from the players' perspective.

I appreciate that you want to deliver polished, high-quality episodes as opposed to ones that are rushed to a deadline - not many people are going to argue with that, least of all me. However, if eight months (or more) is going to be the standard for development time between Episodes, then personally I'd say that needs a re-think. It's too long. I would rather play 2-4 hours of high-quality, polished Story Mode every 4 months than 7-8 hours of polished, high-quality Story Mode every 8 months - purely, as I said, for reasons of maintaining that connection with the narrative. I appreciate that the standard has now been set in terms of episode play-time length for "The Long Dark Season One: Wintermute", and you may well not want to change it mid-season, but if Hinterland is planning to do an episodic release of a linear narrative-based game in future, then perhaps it's something to bear in mind.

Sorry if I've put this post into an inappropriate part of the forum, but since the issue was raised by @Admin, I felt the urge to respond to it here! I hope it's taken as honest (helpful?) feedback from a dedicated player, rather than as unfair criticism or complaining (as might have been the case with a previous poster).

Edited July 10, 2019 by Pillock

[devamadhu]

At this point, I've played countless hours of Survival Mode, and I can't believe it's still this enjoyable. I think Wintermute is great, and I'm hopeful about Episode 3, but at the end of the day, the gameplay of each new episode can only last so long. New regions and interesting additions that trickle into Survival Mode are more exciting to me, since I get to fiddle with them indefinitely. 

I am glad to hear that the episode is trucking along, even though it's taking a lot longer than expected. Since I've never worked as a game developer, I have no idea what a typical timeline is for updates with a smallish crew and limited resources. So maybe that makes it easier for me to deal with as well. 

[Admin]

5 hours ago, Pillock said:

Sorry if I've put this post into an inappropriate part of the forum, but since the issue was raised by @Admin, I felt the urge to respond to it here! I hope it's taken as honest (helpful?) feedback from a dedicated player, rather than as unfair criticism or complaining (as might have been the case with a previous poster).

We didn’t raise the issue, just clarifying for a previous poster.

We’re definitely welcoming of feedback, as long as (like yours) it’s constructive and fair.

People stating their views is helpful to us as we go forward and we don’t want to stifle that. What we don’t want is for people assuming things that aren’t true, so we do try to clarify when there’s confusion. We also try to remind people when they mistake their opinions for either universally held opinions or an objective truth. You articulated your views quite well without needing to suggest that everyone agreed with you, or that your view was the only possible factual truth. 

We’re also not punching bags, but people, and just as we ask players/forum users to treat each other with empathy and respect on our forums we’d hope the same goes when dealing with us.

[The Gentleman Bastard]

On 7/9/2019 at 12:42 PM, devamadhu said:

@The Gentleman Bastard I felt the same way about the blue flares initially, but I think in the end, it'll really depend on how they work in-game. I prefer realism over spooky tools that are only really useful for one part of the game, which is why I almost never carry the flashlight around.

Same here about the Flashlight, but I still always carry the damn thing just in case lol (And i do get that a SUPER bright light, like when you "fire [for lack of a better word]" it it would at least somewhat scare or disorient an animal, so at least theres a lil realism in that. Maybe the Blue Flares are just like, super blinding? If so, I hope that if you stare directly at them they kinda *Flash* you as well

[Gazbeard]

On 6/29/2019 at 2:00 AM, ThePancakeLady said:

No clue who "Ralphy" is. 

Raphael aka/Raph- I know who that is.

The gif with the candles... I knew it rang a bell in my head. Went into my Steam Backgrounds from Badges for the game and found this:

Hoping this image still holds true, or at least *mostly* true. A "Community Hall", possibly a converted church (?), mining union hall,  or theater with a stage (?). Where it looks like multiple survivors took shelter together after TSHTF. And yeah... candles. Hoping we can loot some.

So many bedrolls to loot - so little weight allowance!

Now we absolutely need a drag sled in the game.

[DarKube]

Personnaly, I think simple wolves, grey wolves, red flare, blue flare is too simple and not very new. But I'm very excited by the episode 3 announcements.

[Tohono O'odham Man]

They should have added cougars and new crafting clothes 

[Alone]

Can´t wait for the next region (._.)

 

Edit: oh and candles...

Edited July 20, 2019 by Alone