What Scares You in The Long Dark Survival Mode?

[PurpleWolf13]

The Long Dark is a game that takes place after a geomagnetic storm. You're stranded in the middle of the Canadian wilderness by yourself after a plane crash, the only living beings around; stalking, hungry predators and quick, running prey. Given such an isolated setting along with the wake of such a powerful life-changing event, there are bound to be things that unsettle and scare.  

The stuff that scare me in The Long Dark is the sometimes chilling pieces of music that plays (which is awesome by the way)

When something like a bear is nearby and I'm not anywhere near a safe place and the bear spots me and I have no protection...yeah, I'm freaking out.

Times where I'm so close to death, the heart's beating and the vision is messing up and I'm panicking as I try to figure out what to do to keep myself from succumbing.

The Raven Falls Trestle Bridge (if that's the right name) The part that scares me the most is where you have to navigate the thin rail section. I'm always on edge, thinking I'll fall if I stray off just a bit.

Speaking of falling, something that scared the frick out of me was the other day when I was heading down the Coastal Highway and I decided to try to take a shortcut (I was in the process of moving stuff to Pleasant Valley) The slope was higher and steeper than I had excepted and I fell. The game froze for a moment and I had a heart attack, half excepting to see the "You Died" screen. But I survived. That moment was not just scary, but ridiculously stupid. Certainly goes in My Top Ten Dumbest Long Dark moments.

And what scares me the most in Survival Mode of The Long Dark is...

Dying (especially some nonsense way) and having to start over again in a new save. What terrifies me even more in this aspect is if I'm on a really good save. I'm sure that al-most everyone can relate to this fear while playing The Long Dark.

So what things scare or unsettle you in this game?

[nicko]

5 hours ago, PurpleWolf13 said:

The Long Dark is a game that takes place after a geomagnetic storm. You're stranded in the middle of the Canadian wilderness by yourself after a plane crash, the only living beings around; stalking, hungry predators and quick, running prey. Given such an isolated setting along with the wake of such a powerful life-changing event, there are bound to be things that unsettle and scare.  

The stuff that scare me in The Long Dark is the sometimes chilling pieces of music that plays (which is awesome by the way)

When something like a bear is nearby and I'm not anywhere near a safe place and the bear spots me and I have no protection...yeah, I'm freaking out.

Times where I'm so close to death, the heart's beating and the vision is messing up and I'm panicking as I try to figure out what to do to keep myself from succumbing.

The Raven Falls Trestle Bridge (if that's the right name) The part that scares me the most is where you have to navigate the thin rail section. I'm always on edge, thinking I'll fall if I stray off just a bit.

Speaking of falling, something that scared the frick out of me was the other day when I was heading down the Coastal Highway and I decided to try to take a shortcut (I was in the process of moving stuff to Pleasant Valley) The slope was higher and steeper than I had excepted and I fell. The game froze for a moment and I had a heart attack, half excepting to see the "You Died" screen. But I survived. That moment was not just scary, but ridiculously stupid. Certainly goes in My Top Ten Dumbest Long Dark moments.

And what scares me the most in Survival Mode of The Long Dark is...

Dying (especially some nonsense way) and having to start over again in a new save. What terrifies me even more in this aspect is if I'm on a really good save. I'm sure that al-most everyone can relate to this fear while playing The Long Dark.

So what things scare or unsettle you in this game?

The bear got me again LOL which was totally unexpected. It's like Wham Bamm thank you mam. you just take it and go arhhhhhh. I thought OK that was bit scary will I be fine, then wham bang the bear comes back for a second round. I say to myself OK death is knocking on my door this time will I survive doubt in my mind. Lucky for me I survive and wake up from the second attack and try my best to get distance from the beast.  Health critical. Apply bandages to stop bleeds, take some pain killers and apply more disinfection to wounds. Ah  my heart is pounding i still know im not good so time to go home lay down for a bit. I recovered fully in the Riken.

[PurpleWolf13]

13 minutes ago, nicko said:

The bear got me again LOL which was totally unexpected. It's like Wham Bamm thank you mam. you just take it and go arhhhhhh. I thought OK that was bit scary will I be fine, then wham bang the bear comes back for a second round. I say to myself OK death is knocking on my door this time will I survive doubt in my mind. Lucky for me I survive and wake up from the second attack and try my best to get distance from the beast.  Health critical. Apply bandages to stop bleeds, take some pain killers and apply more disinfection to wounds. Ah  my heart is pounding i still know im not good so time to go home lay down for a bit. I recovered fully in the Riken.

Bears sure are troublesome. I just got mauled by one after harvesting from a moose. Then the bear showed up later as I was coming out of my Pleasant Valley Farmhouse sunroom and I was like, "FRICK NO!" and dashed inside.

[Mistral]

Sleeping outdoors in unsecured place (not in a cave or other walled-in corner) with the fear of wind putting out your fire, whether it's blizzarding or not. Of course on Interloper you never really want to do that unless it is indeed an emergency or you are waiting for something to happen but still, you do have to do that sometimes and it is always stressing

Also not being able to overcome ambient temperature with whatever firewood you have (even you have loads) is freaky when you are freezing and don't have time or energy to get anywhere warmer. That's why I always want to have at least one lump of coal with me on later Interloper.

Animals aren't really problem once you get to know their territories and patterns. However, every once in a while you are kind of forced to cross path with them, and especially encountering the bear coming off the hill 5 meters from you at a place like HRV where visibility and your hearing is limited can be scary. You don't really have time to react and even if you do, you might not have the flare gun yet (having said that, I wish the wolves run just as fast as the bears as that would make it so much more interesting, and realistic...)

Edited August 8, 2020 by Mistral

[PurpleWolf13]

6 hours ago, Mistral said:

Sleeping outdoors in unsecured place (not in a cave or other walled-in corner) with the fear of wind putting out your fire, whether it's blizzarding or not. Of course on Interloper you never really want to do that unless it is indeed an emergency or you are waiting for something to happen but still, you do have to do that sometimes and it is always stressing

Also not being able to overcome ambient temperature with whatever firewood you have (even you have loads) is freaky when you are freezing and don't have time or energy to get anywhere warmer. That's why I always want to have at least one lump of coal with me on later Interloper.

Animals aren't really problem once you get to know their territories and patterns. However, every once in a while you are kind of forced to cross path with them, and especially encountering the bear coming off the hill 5 meters from you at a place like HRV where visibility and your hearing is limited can be scary. You don't really have time to react and even if you do, you might not have the flare gun yet (having said that, I wish the wolves run just as fast as the bears as that would make it so much more interesting, and realistic...)

If the wolves ran as fast as the bears, that would also be terrifying! 

[PrincessAutumn]

Wolf barks - I'm super jumpy which is why I like to play on the lower levels  Which is also why I don't play The Hunted Challenge. Too scared to try it.

Wolves, bunnies, deer coming out of nowhere and me not expecting them to be there - ties in with me being jumpy lol

The raven falls trestle bridge. Not scared of it per se but every time I cross it, my hands sweat and the game doesn't help by throwing in creepy music and being a jerk by making the bridge creak and make wood snapping sounds

Traveling at night - Back when I first started playing, I traveled at night a lot and basically pushed my luck whenever I could, seeing what I can get away with but a couple wolf attacks and seeing their beady green eyes coming after me has made me much more cautious these days as I no longer travel at night unless absolutely necessary.

Edited August 8, 2020 by PrincessAutumn

[PurpleWolf13]

8 hours ago, PrincessAutumn said:

Wolf barks - I'm super jumpy which is why I like to play on the lower levels  Which is also why I don't play The Hunted Challenge. Too scared to try it.

Wolves, bunnies, deer coming out of nowhere and me not expecting them to be there - ties in with me being jumpy lol

The raven falls trestle bridge. Not scared of it per se but every time I cross it, my hands sweat and the game doesn't help by throwing in creepy music and being a jerk by making the bridge creak and make wood snapping sounds

Traveling at night - Back when I first started playing, I traveled at night a lot and basically pushed my luck whenever I could, seeing what I can get away with but a couple wolf attacks and seeing their beady green eyes coming after me has made me much more cautious these days as I no longer travel at night unless absolutely necessary.

I remember trying the first part of The Hunted Challenge, and I managed to lose the Old Bear. But as I was traveling (this was at night too) the hunting music kept playing every ten seconds and it honestly scared the frick out of me. I eventually got killed by a wolf, but just that suspense of having no idea where the Old Bear was, and the music...

[haft2doit]

Clicking on sleep when I'm in a cave during a blizzard, and set the time to 10 hours.  Which is the norm for my indoor sleeping.  That has ended multiple runs for me.  You either wake up fine, or I put the game on the shelf for another few months

[bobsmyuncle]

Hearing that moose groan. I have strategies for bears and wolves but killing a moose is just a matter of luck for me. It comes down to whether I can crit it in the face before it steps on me.

[Booch]

Like PrincessAutumn, the trestle bridge makes me sit up properly in my chair and REALLY pay attention.  I've also gotten a bit cocky playing the game so I occasionally travel at night.  Getting caught in a blizzard and realizing I'm not where I thought I was has dropped the bottom out of my stomach once or twice.

[Wintermute_TLD]

That roar that the bears do just before they charge. Had my first encounter with an aurora bear during episode 3. Scared the hell out of me.

Saying that though, I got into a weird cave spot and it ran off. 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Wintermute_TLD

[Andy_K]

Wolf growls being the same volume when they're right behind you as when they're 100 yards away. Very unsettling.

[TiffTastic]

Sleeping in the carter hydro dam and waking up to an aurora. Then wondering if I put my bedroll over a wire inadvertently, or if I was going to step on one trying to get out. This comes from the two sandboxes I lost due to, you guessed it, sudden seemingly random electrocution...

[darkscaryforest]

Creepiest experience I've had:

On 6/25/2020 at 12:03 AM, darkscaryforest said:

I was on top of the boat just looking out on a clear night. Way in the distance on the road I saw a wolf scurrying along in a hurry, followed by another, then another, then another.  4 wolves came down onto the ice and made a B line for the boat.  When they got close enough they got aggressive.  I was like just like WTF this has to be a bug because they were way across the map and there aint no way they could have known I was here normally.  Sure enough a few seconds later I saw a bear coming down where they ran from. They must have been displaced and I happened to be in their alternate path.  For a minute though I was spooked AF, like the game was saying "I know you're in there, you can't hide in that boat forever."

More boring answer: Sleeping in a cave on interloper maps. I'm at the point where it is *almost* always warm at the back of the cave, but some blizzards make it too cold. I don't know if one of these can start during a sleep session so I'm forced to sleep several hours at a time to not freeze to death. Sleeping in 2-3 hours bouts causes me to miss out on the higher amounts of health gained sleeping a consecutive 10 hours- so I'll rarely do that.

[Stone]

Unseen wolf barks. Even thought they are unlikely to ever lead to death (except early game). They just hit on a sort of primal level.

[TiffTastic]

Gotta add another....killing a bear or moose, esp. moose, and making a fire next to the kill, and looking up, seeing sun, and no wind, and selecting harvesting like 90 minutes worth of animal. And seeing your temperature gauge start plummeting halfway through, cause you’re in ‘pleasant’ valley, where blizzards spring up in seconds, and realizing you’re in one of those endless fields....

[odizzido]

Twigs and pebbles are the most frightening thing in TLD. When you're trying to position yourself well to handle whatever happens those are the things that are likely to kill you as you get jammed up on them. At least for me.

[Catlover]

Like many before have said, I fear the dark pelted doggos. I tend to start out in Mystery Lake and move across the maps, and the lake always unnerved me. Still does now. I remember once,  I headed out in a really foggy, slightly snowing morning to fish the day away, and a wolf must've been closer to my cabin than I had thought. Hearing the notorious barking, though unable to locate it nearly gave me a heart attack. Needless to say, that fishing trip was the last for some time. 

I also hate the bears, especially the one that enjoys jump- scaring me around the whaling place. I swear, that thing has it out for me-

 

The third, and final thing is when you start a fire and head away to gather sticks in a place where you could've sworn that they had been earlier. Then, you get lost and the TLD gods plant even worse weather on you, leading to the good old hypothermia.

[TiffTastic]

Twice today I have been mauled by bears while cooking kills. The second time through the fire on a porch with rails (CH fisherman huts). Scared the bejesus outta me. Why, bears, why?

 

That last one, I shot him in the butt as he walked away, then ducked into the cabin and stopped the bleeding. Why? Cause spite.

[PurpleWolf13]

@TiffTasticYeah, bears can scare the frick out of you especially when a charging roar comes out of the blue and you're panicking as you're trying to figure out where it's coming from and where to go next to avoid getting mauled like a chew toy.

Edited October 5, 2020 by PurpleWolf13

[Applesauce]

Wolves and caves scare me the most. Especially the cave in Desolation Point. I didn't know that a wolf could spawn in that cave, so one time I went in confidently and headed up towards the corpse where I found a rifle. I could hear distant howls the whole time but my mind shook it off. Then while I was up there I went through the process of realizing there probably was a wolf because the sounds were getting louder. I ended up getting jump scared and attacked. Luckily I didn't die but that experience changed me. I can't go into indoor caves now without checking wiki to make sure it's clear. 

Also dealing with wolves is super stressful. Even when I know I have every advantage I could possibly have, every time I hear that bark I go into full panic mode.

Surprisingly I've never developed a huge fear of bears. At least not half as huge as wolves. 

[Catlover]

@Applesauce

Wait, wolves spawn in caves? I knew that I was right to be terrified in that cave in early Wintermute! 

Now I'll make sure to be more paranoid in caves-

[PurpleWolf13]

1 hour ago, Catlover said:

@Applesauce

Wait, wolves spawn in caves? I knew that I was right to be terrified in that cave in early Wintermute! 

Now I'll make sure to be more paranoid in caves-

I believe that there IS a chance of waking up to a wolf attacking you if you sleep in caves, but I'm not sure if that's a thing in the game anymore. I DO know that if sleep in a cave that has bones...a bear mauling is in store.

[TiffTastic]

2 hours ago, PurpleWolf13 said:

I believe that there IS a chance of waking up to a wolf attacking you if you sleep in caves, but I'm not sure if that's a thing in the game anymore. I DO know that if sleep in a cave that has bones...a bear mauling is in store.

Lol yeah, if I see the bones, I kinda slowly and as quietly high tail it outta there, rifle out, slowly doing 360s like some kind of parka clad ballerina in molasses....

[past caring]

The thing that scares me most is that bloody stomach rumbling noise when I'm a bit hungry. I know it doesn't sound just like a wolf or a bear but it sounds enough like a wolf or a bear to put the shits up me. 🤣

Also, people have talked about the Raven Falls bridge....I wasn't particularly scared of it (I'd crossed it a few times without any problem) and then in my latest run I got stuck on that bit where you move sideways from one bit of the single rail to the other. I think I'd dropped slightly off the sleeper whilst still being on it, and so the game wouldn't let me get back up onto either of the rails. Horrible.