FIVE YEARS

[DarKube]

stop being modest Raph, you do a great great great work!!! Keep it going!

[JeremiahJohnson]

Anyone also notice the kettle on the woodstove...? Finally can boil my water in a kettle!

[MueckE]

I can't remember if it was confirmed or if it has changed that Ep3 plays in Pleasant Valley. Because it's my favorite map and i liked Redux a lot, i'm really excited for Ep3.

Maybe it's also an entire new map, that would be great too. My guess is, that we will play a few "scenes" in Milton and after the "bus-scene" we will discover the new area that you can see now at the cave between Milton and FM. That's going to be a new transition between Milton and Pleasant Valley i guess. 

What dou you guys think, how will the new area be used?

Edited September 27, 2019 by MueckE

[FluffyComeHome]

I just want to say Congratulations on your Five Year Anniversary and Thank You for making that milestone a celebration for all of us. Between the highly anticipated release of Chapter 3 and the completely unexpected windfall of the Time Capsule I feel like a kid in a candy store. I know you hear quite a bit about how we all love the game (and I certainly do love your game!) but please also know that we appreciate the care and integrity that has gone into its making and respect the leadership you have provided to both your development team and your fan community. This is what gaming should be.  If I could ask for any one single thing in all the TLD world it would be this: Please do not ever sell out to a big, souless profit-grinding company (dont get me wrong, profit is fine, but not at the expense of what you have worked so hard to create). TLD could not be what it is without you at the helm and your team by your side. So thanks to you, thanks to your devs, and thanks to all your families!

Edited September 27, 2019 by FluffyComeHome

[Guest hoasd1]

Happy 5th Year Anniversary The Long Dark!

[SpanishMoss]

Raph: I feel that sharing a end date for thinks makes people more angry if I miss them.

also Raph: Ep3 coming out October 22!

[Raphael van Lierop]

13 minutes ago, SpanishMoss said:

Raph: I feel that sharing a end date for thinks makes people more angry if I miss them.

also Raph: Ep3 coming out October 22!

There's no contradiction there.

[ManicManiac]

@SpanishMoss
Yeah, he's mentioned before that he would make announcements for updates when they were essentially completed...

Edited September 29, 2019 by ManicManiac

[ajb1978]

5 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

@SpanishMoss
Yeah, he's mentioned before that he would make announcements for updates when they were essentially completed...

I've a feeling episode 3 could be released today and it would rock.  I suspect the team is using this next month to fine-tune things to perfection. Like it's ready to go right now, there's no worries, so they announce the launch next month.  To allow time for those "oh crap why didn't we catch that already" issues.

[Guest jeffpeng]

5 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

I've a feeling episode 3 could be released today and it would rock.  I suspect the team is using this next month to fine-tune things to perfection. Like it's ready to go right now, there's no worries, so they announce the launch next month.  To allow time for those "oh crap why didn't we catch that already" issues.

I think so as well. HL has learned from past experiences when not meeting a before "promised" release date was followed with a lot of backlash from the community. Customers are a bit like children, you know: When you say "no you can't have that" they might grumble a bit, but eventually accept it. But if you promise them to go to the Theme Park tomorrow they will be outraged if you don't deliver, even if the reason is very much understandable - like a Marsian invasion. I guess this stems from the artificial entitlement customers feel they are owed by anyone they ever paid a dime to.

So, yeah, this is very good practice. Have the product ready as much as you can first and announce it then, not before. Having a few weeks lead time gives Q&A time for an additional pass, and to make sure your delivery partners (in this case Steam, GOG and the console platforms) are ready. I think this update is crucial to go as planned, and I hope the people at Hinterland are coping well with the amount of tension involved in such a thing. 

[BareSkin]

What can be better than a game you paid less than 10$ and despite all the offline gaming is now rank #1 of my steam playtimes?

When I learn I've played only 40% of it, yet.

I'm quite sure when TLD reaches its end of life, I'll have been more involved in it than in Tetris. And that's a very HUGE achievement, believe me. Tetris basically modeled my teenage brain.

On 9/23/2019 at 3:27 PM, Raphael van Lierop said:

No, I am an entirely average person, trying very hard to do great things.

This is self-contradictory. Average persons don't think like this. Statistics beats humbleness.

Edited September 30, 2019 by BareSkin

[Tri13]

On 9/23/2019 at 2:27 PM, Raphael van Lierop said:

No, I am an entirely average person, trying very hard to do great things.

That makes for a nice quote. Heres to five more 

[michaelyork777]

To You Raphael, and All at Hinterland, I have nothing but praise for The Long Dark, it has always exceeded my expectations, Wintermute is wonderful,  and I had no doubt, that Episode 3 would come when ready. This game is unique, and brilliant, and will be a Cult Classic Game forever. Thanks for all the commitment to excellence, and hoping that your next game is also unique, and wonderful. No Pressure LOL

[Admin]

Thank you all for the kind words. It matters.

[Hotzn]

Cool, thanks Hinterland! Haven't played in a while due to loads of work, but will get back to it when Ep. 3 is out!

[Brandon Goeringer]

So will Xbox One X finally get it’s enhancements with this update?

[Sceh]

On 9/23/2019 at 7:20 PM, Admin said:

We’ll have more tidbits to share about Episode Three in the weeks ahead. We’ll also shed some more light on the next Survival Mode update we have planned for December.

Not to ... you know ... nag or anything, but I'd really appreciate some more info on what's to come. Launch is 5 days away and still no word about changes to our Sandbox saves.

Anything you can share is greatly appreciated. Hyped for Ep. 3!

[ThePancakeLady]

3 hours ago, Sceh said:

Not to ... you know ... nag or anything, but I'd really appreciate some more info on what's to come. Launch is 5 days away and still no word about changes to our Sandbox saves.

Anything you can share is greatly appreciated. Hyped for Ep. 3!

I am guessing that would likely be due to them not making changes to Survival Mode until the December Survival Mode update... 

[ManicManiac]

@Sceh ... um, we already got a lot of tidbits about what's ahead.
FIVE YEARS
Dev Diary

I'm not sure what some might be expecting but they gave us a lot of teases to anticipate... we wouldn't want them to spoil all of it would we?
In terms of the survival update... I imagine they are all focused on the Ep 3 update right now.  I'd wager we will get more info about the next survival update when they are closer to getting it ready for release.  We have to let them get this update done before we start clamoring about info on the update after that...

Edited October 17, 2019 by ManicManiac
Edited to correct typographical errors and to use nutral terms.

[Sceh]

Thank you both for chiming in.

What I actually wanted to know: Will the changes that are DEFINITELY coming to PV with Episode 3 (way ahead of the December Survival Mode update) endanger our loot stashes in various areas and indoor locations around the map - since the map will be updated simultaneously for Story Mode and Survival Mode. This was something we were specifically warned about when Redux was launched and it will be an issue again this time, as confirmed by Raphael in a recent Milton Mailbox. I have asked this question on more than one occasion and was promised a heads-up ahead of launch with enough wiggle room to prepare. Since I have seen a number of people ask the exact same question in other forum threads in the last couple of days I must assume that the question has not yet been answered.

I am not looking for Story Mode spoilers or any ingame info about characters or anything. I specifically want to know what the heck will happen to my stuff in PV.

But, again, thank you both so much for adding your thoughts.

[ManicManiac]

47 minutes ago, Sceh said:

Will the changes that are DEFINITELY coming to PV with Episode 3

Best guess is that additions to Pleasant Valley will likely come into play.  We saw the same thing with Redux, where changes to Milton updated on both Survival and Story modes.

I didn't mean to imply anything specific about your personal intentions... sorry about that.  I meant it in general terms so I did change that to reflect.

I did add a question to the Mailbag Question thread because I was/am concerned about those changes impacting my pursuit of the Faithful Cartographer achievement (though the achievement itself is incidental to what I'm actually challenging myself with).  I absolutely get your concern about the map changes.  However, I imagine that if there was a possible disruption... Hinterland would have issued that warning.  I trust them though, so if we don't get that warning... I would assume it's not going to be an issue.  Though I suppose with any changes there is always a chance of that.

I acknowledge that I may have misinterpreted your question, and for that I do apologize.
 

Edited October 17, 2019 by ManicManiac

[Sceh]

I think it's way cool that you have so much faith in the devs and maybe I should follow your example. Raphael did mention that they were working on a solution that would circumvent the necessity of hauling all our stuff out of the affected regions.

I guess I'm just still traumatised from the literally days-long endevour to get my stuff to safety before Redux launched. I had to gather up everything from Milton, the Muskeg, the Railroad and Mystery Lake and haul it to the Ravine, where I stashed it for safekeeping. Milton especially was a pain in the butt, because the two rope climbs meant I couldn't go one gram over carry capacity. I laboured at that task for close to a week and it sucked a lot of the fun out of playing the game for me. Later I realized that a lot of that work was unnecessary because not all locations were impacted equally. Now, I fully acknowledge that I could have just as well left everything where it was and just risked it, so to speak, but that's my personal messy hoarder demon and I wasn't prepared to lose even a single darn mushroom.

Going back to your point about having faith: you are right, of course. Still, I think a tiny disclaimer along the lines of "Don't worry guys, we got you! Play the latest version after Tuesday to see what amazing solution we came up with!" or even "Move everything from the Rural Crossroads and the Farmhouse, but the Barn is a safe storage space!" would ease a lot of players' minds either way and not give away anything spoiler-y. I'm going to be away all weekend, so there is literally no time left for me to save my loot if they come out - let's paint the worst case scenario here - Monday with an announcement that we will have to move all our stuff again because an alternate solution couldn't be implemented in time after all. I'd love to just be HYPED for launch, and not dread a number of soul sucking hours running back and forth through the largest map of the island. I just wanna look forward to the next delicious piece of my favourite game and I know I'm not alone in this ^^

Just my two cen ....well, actually just my lengthy explanation! lol

[ThePancakeLady]

1 hour ago, ManicManiac said:

Best guess is that additions to Pleasant Valley will likely come into play.  We saw the same thing with Redux, where changes to Milton updated on both Survival and Story modes.

I didn't mean to imply anything specific about your personal intentions... sorry about that.  I meant it in general terms so I did change that to reflect.

I did add a question to the Mailbag Question thread because I was/am concerned about those changes impacting my pursuit of the Faithful Cartographer achievement (though the achievement itself is incidental to what I'm actually challenging myself with).  I absolutely get your concern about the map changes.  However, I imagine that if there was a possible disruption... Hinterland would have issued that warning.  I trust them though, so if we don't get that warning... I would assume it's not going to be an issue.  Though I suppose with any changes there is always a chance of that.

I acknowledge that I may have misinterpreted your question, and for that I do apologize.
 

I disagree. I don't think we will see any changes in PV in Survival Mode, until the December update. When Redux dropped, there were significant changes on some maps, and Hinterland gave us warnings for a full month, on all channels, to let us know to expect issues. And Redux was combined with a Survival Mode update at the same time. This is only a Wintermute update, with the Survival Mode update planned for December.

I'm leaving my stash at PV Farmhouse right where it is. I don't expect any changes in Survival Mode until the December update.

[ManicManiac]

3 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

I disagree. I don't think we will see any changes in PV in Survival Mode, until the December update. When Redux dropped, there were significant changes on some maps, and Hinterland gave us warnings for a full month, on all channels, to let us know to expect issues. And Redux was combined with a Survival Mode update at the same time.

I think you're probably right.  I'm not taking any special action either, because I do agree with you that if it was a potential issue they would post a warning like they did last time.

Edited October 17, 2019 by ManicManiac

[Sceh]

@ThePancakeLady let me quote Raphael himself, answering this exact question in the Milton Mailbag dispatch #38:

"We're working on what I hope will be a better solution for both Episode Three and the game in general -- a system that "protects" your gear items whenever an interior location or container ends up being changed for whatever reason (sometimes this can happen accidentally, for example if an artist is working in a scene and accidentally selects then moves a container item a tiny bit).

The idea would be that we spawn a temporary container, something super obviously not part of the world, and move all your stuff to that magic container until you can get it back. This would hopefully address the various ways in which people might lose lot due to updates, and is generally a good failsafe for us because as careful as we are about not breaking the game or removing your loot, it does happen occasionally and sometimes things slip through our net (ex. one of our players lost a bunch of items they'd stored in the Mountain Town cave that links to Hushed River Valley when we added the cave transition).

That said, I think your solution could also work. If you moved everything outside the PV Farmhouse, for example, and then picked it all up such that you didn't have to move (you wouldn't be able to anyway, you'd be so over-encumbered), the items would be on your character (and not in the scene) and therefore (theoretically) you wouldn't lose anything, and post update you could drop it all back into the world and move it back in."

The way I interpret this answer is that there will be changes to PV in our sandbox saves once Episode 3 launches, because he specifically states that a solution to this problem is needed for Episode 3 in his very first sentence. At that point I didn't even know a survival update was coming in December so my question was specifically about Ep 3 and what its launch would do to the sandbox. Raphael wouldn't have told me to go through all the trouble to save my stuff from the Episode 3 launch if PV wasn't going to change in our sandbox saves. He said they're "working on" a solution, and that was the last we heard on the topic. Seeing as a number of people have posted similar questions to mine over the last couple of days I figure that I am not the only one to interpret Raphael's answer in this way. Now, especially if I'm wrong and you're right on this: I'd love an update due to the many reasons specified in my lengthy reply to @ManicManiac 's last comment. If I worry over nothing: halleluja! I just want to know.