What Scares You in The Long Dark Survival Mode?

[WillLong]

Hello all. I'm new to the forum. Pleased to make your acquaintance.

Generally speaking... the whole concept is scary because there is a slight chance it could actually happen (sans aurora electricity). As someone who actually practices bushcraft & as a student pilot, I deeply understand the gravity of being without electricity and GPS. The preparation. The constant draw towards exploration, but the need to balance gear weight, terrain, visibility and endurance. The slow pace due to having to take extreme care not to injure yourself in the middle of nowhere alone. I have to say, they really nailed the feeling of surviving on bushcraft. And surviving on bushcraft alone is a pretty terrible experience, which is why mankind invented agriculture

I still get jump scares from rounding a corner and there being a wolf there, or peeking over a hill and bear face being right there. The moments I dread are instant fog in Forlorn Muskeg and any type of blizzard where I am not near shelter, even if I am in a bag.

[FluffyComeHome]

Getting into  great position to climb down the side of the cliff, or under a branch, then finding out there is an "invisible wall" there and cant get back up. Cant go up, cant go down, cant move to either side. Just stuck right there until I froze to death. Lost a 80 day loper run that way. Cie la vie!

[Korora]

For me, it's hearing the wolves howl. If they are close to where I am, I get goose bumps and start looking around for them....

[Lumiiyx]

The Aurora freaks me out, and the Old Bear.  I have a custom with no bears, moose or timber wolves, and a low population of wolves. I wanted to get used to the game in an easier setting. I've also gotten lost in 2 blizzards, couldn't see and I thought I was going to die. I transitioned from BR to FM and was able to find my way after getting turned around several times.  I wouldn't say that scares me, more unsettles. Also, I am only familiar with Broken Railroad, Forlorn Muskeg and Mystery Lake (and Milton), the other maps I am just starting my journey in my Custom noted above. I found the little town and I am going to the Outbuildings/Barn tonight.  I have a map someone made and I have charcoal to map my the region...I'll be fineeeeeee!

[PurpleWolf13]

On 10/8/2020 at 11:42 AM, WillLong said:

Generally speaking... the whole concept is scary because there is a slight chance it could actually happen (sans aurora electricity)

Yeah, THAT is truly the scariest thing of the game honestly IMO. When I played Fallout 4, the concept of a nuclear bomb going off and the world going to waste struck me, because that's another thing that COULD happen in real life. 

[TheUnknown]

The one thing that scares me the most is being at half condition and Hearing a howl or roar. being at full health i dont mind if i get attacked but being under 75% or even 50% hearing a bear or wolf Scares me. even more so if i just landed a kill and the food would help my health.

 

Then 2nd thing that scares me is Getting an injury while walking to a new spot with minimal stuff and worrying about if the injury is going to kill me.

[OdaSamurai]

Noise.

Specially UNIDENTIFIED noise.

A wolf howl?
WOLVES! Where? Here? There? I have a gun? I have decoy? Flares?

Bear
Can I go around? If he attacks, do I have first aid to survive?

Moose
Can I go... Yes, I can go around.
Never have been attacked by a moose that I was not trying to hunt. They're easy to go around, so far.

But then, I go into the damn, walk a few meters, and hear a loud-metal-like-bang.

I KNOW it's nothing. I KNOW that fluffy isn't there anymore. I KNOW there are no NPCs, no unseen threats, no nothing.
But DAMN that shit makes me crap my pants more than anything.
Other noise in other areas also apply hahaha

[Lumiiyx]

2 minutes ago, OdaSamurai said:

Noise.

Specially UNIDENTIFIED noise.

A wolf howl?
WOLVES! Where? Here? There? I have a gun? I have decoy? Flares?

Bear
Can I go around? If he attacks, do I have first aid to survive?

Moose
Can I go... Yes, I can go around.
Never have been attacked by a moose that I was not trying to hunt. They're easy to go around, so far.

But then, I go into the damn, walk a few meters, and hear a loud-metal-like-bang.

I KNOW it's nothing. I KNOW that fluffy isn't there anymore. I KNOW there are no NPCs, no unseen threats, no nothing.
But DAMN that shit makes me crap my pants more than anything.
Other noise in other areas also apply hahaha

How about when the music changes to something creepy for no reason 🤔 

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

1 hour ago, OdaSamurai said:

Noise.

Specially UNIDENTIFIED noise.

A wolf howl?
WOLVES! Where? Here? There? I have a gun? I have decoy? Flares?

Bear
Can I go around? If he attacks, do I have first aid to survive?

Moose
Can I go... Yes, I can go around.
Never have been attacked by a moose that I was not trying to hunt. They're easy to go around, so far.

But then, I go into the damn, walk a few meters, and hear a loud-metal-like-bang.

I KNOW it's nothing. I KNOW that fluffy isn't there anymore. I KNOW there are no NPCs, no unseen threats, no nothing.
But DAMN that shit makes me crap my pants more than anything.
Other noise in other areas also apply hahaha

There's a sound effect (I'm sure a fairly recent addition) by Hibernia Processing in bad weather, a loud bang of corrugated iron in the wind that for some reason triggers the 'BEAR!' synapse in my head.  Jumpscare every time, think I even let off a revolver round once.

[piddy3825]

On 9/26/2020 at 6:17 PM, TiffTastic said:

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....

feel your pain on this one... especially in Pleasant Valley where many a time I started harvesting an animal only to have fog or a blizzard roll in and be almost completely disoriented on which direction I should proceed when i finally am finished.  to overcome that, I now  always carry at least 3 extra sticks which I use to create a "directional pointer" indicating the proper direction I should be heading in case of inclement weather before I start harvesting.   The one nice thing about the mechanics of this game is that fact you'll walk in a straight line no matter how hard the wind is blowing or how the terrain changes underfoot.  

[TiffTastic]

1 hour ago, piddy3825 said:

, I now  always carry at least 3 extra sticks which I use to create a "directional pointer" indicating the proper direction I should be heading in case of inclement weather before I start harvesting.   The one nice thing about the mechanics of this game is that fact you'll walk in a straight line no matter how hard the wind is blowing or how the terrain changes underfoot.  

I love this....I do the same thing with cattail heads...in certain maps I set em out preemptively in dangerous confusing areas, like the ice in coastal highway...

[piddy3825]

2 hours ago, TiffTastic said:

I love this....I do the same thing with cattail heads...in certain maps I set em out preemptively in dangerous confusing areas, like the ice in coastal highway...

especially out there, right?  you can accidentally get disoriented and practically walk the entire length of ice shelf seeking a landmark without seeing anything in a whiteout

[TiffTastic]

3 minutes ago, piddy3825 said:

especially out there, right?  you can accidentally get disoriented and practically walk the entire length of ice shelf seeking a landmark without seeing anything in a whiteout

Yeah I’ve lost a character that way, wandered till hypothermic, then got wolf mauled, lost gloves and hat, then frostbite, and a second wolf just as I saw land, the second wolf got tiffburgers for lunch......so now I’m OCD about doing that....

[Guest jeffpeng]

On 9/25/2020 at 9:41 AM, darkscaryforest said:

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.

Even when a blizzard starts in your sleep, the temperature drop will not apply until you wake up. Even better: if it ends before you wake up, you effectively dodged it. Also good to know: Temperature usually doesn't drop more than 1°C per hour. The coldest time of day is 5 am. @Drifter Manhad an interesting graph about that a long time ago, but I can't find it.

On topic: The one thing that scares the living shoot out of me is fog. Even in a blizzard you can retain a sense of direction if you pay close attention. But with fog you are just blind and will start to run in circles eventually. Especially when you're on the ice, like in Desolation Point or Coastal Highway. 

Not too long ago I found myself literally marooned on the ice in Coastal Highway, with wolves circling in every direction, in thick fog. After stumbling about for a few minutes I decided that best course of action is to just light a fire and sit it out. When the veil finally lifted I found myself ridiculously far off course and had to camp in a fishing hut escaping the blizzard rolling in.

Fog, especially when followed by a blizzard, can be worse than any predator.

The other thing is when I suddenly hear a wolf howl loud and clear, without the echo-y reverb it has when it's far away. The moment when I realize there is a wolf just next to me, without us having seen each other yet, usually when there is some obstruction like a snow bank, a hill or some structure between us, still makes me jump. 

 

[darkscaryforest]

8 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

Even when a blizzard starts in your sleep, the temperature drop will not apply until you wake up. Even better: if it ends before you wake up, you effectively dodged it. Also good to know: Temperature usually doesn't drop more than 1°C per hour. The coldest time of day is 5 am.

Wow knowing this is a game changer. Thanks for you response.

[Guest jeffpeng]

13 hours ago, darkscaryforest said:

Wow knowing this is a game changer. Thanks for you response.

Most welcome 😉

[Senauer]

On 10/13/2020 at 5:49 PM, OdaSamurai said:

Noise.

Specially UNIDENTIFIED noise.

A wolf howl?
WOLVES! Where? Here? There? I have a gun? I have decoy? Flares?

Bear
Can I go around? If he attacks, do I have first aid to survive?

Moose
Can I go... Yes, I can go around.
Never have been attacked by a moose that I was not trying to hunt. They're easy to go around, so far.

But then, I go into the damn, walk a few meters, and hear a loud-metal-like-bang.

I KNOW it's nothing. I KNOW that fluffy isn't there anymore. I KNOW there are no NPCs, no unseen threats, no nothing.
But DAMN that shit makes me crap my pants more than anything.
Other noise in other areas also apply hahaha

Speaking of noises, the sound effect that plays when you get a badge makes me piss my pants each and every time. Holly molly, I tell you that creepy chime half way between a mourning wraith and Händel’s hallelujah comes from the depths of the nine circles of hell. And when it happens during 4DON you better have your defibrillator close!

[ManicManiac]

As of right now?  ...The coming of the Darkwalker.

[Lumiiyx]

8 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

As of right now?  ...The coming of the Darkwalker.

That is gonna be sooo awesome!

[TiffTastic]

10 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

As of right now?  ...The coming of the Darkwalker.

As long as it’s not some kinda bear.....

[PurpleWolf13]

3 minutes ago, TiffTastic said:

As long as it’s not some kinda bear.....

Nah, it's just an evil spirit bent on catching and killing you.

[TiffTastic]

13 minutes ago, PurpleWolf13 said:

Nah, it's just an evil spirit bent on catching and killing you.

That, I can deal with😃

<<<<breathes a deep sigh of relief, smiles, and saunters away, without a care in the world

[piddy3825]

I'm Ready!

[WillLong]

On 10/13/2020 at 11:52 AM, LumiStylesTTV said:

How about when the music changes to something creepy for no reason 🤔 

THIS. For that reason I just turn the music volume to 5%

[Guest jeffpeng]

13 hours ago, Senauer said:

Speaking of noises, the sound effect that plays when you get a badge makes me piss my pants each and every time. Holly molly, I tell you that creepy chime half way between a mourning wraith and Händel’s hallelujah comes from the depths of the nine circles of hell. And when it happens during 4DON you better have your defibrillator close!

Oh yes, I know what you mean. That one made me turn around in terror more than once 😄