ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER Feedback and Discussion

[Gracia_WolfSlayer]

1 hour ago, JMK said:

Started on Desolation, a Deer came out of the frog, I crapped myself lol ...

Had the same thing happen! The Darkwalker was getting close and a deer ran down from a boulder. I had to pause the game....

[Admin]

6 hours ago, Hawk said:

@Admin, I have a question.

I bought TLD at GoG and I download updates and patches with the offline installer option (as opposed to using Galaxy).

Is there anything else included in this version - 1.86 - other than the DarkWalker event?

The reason I ask is because I'm really not interested in this event and I don't have to install this version if there's nothing else to it.

 

There's nothing else in the update.

[Mistral]

I am left disappointed by the completely broken indoor mechanics when meeting the Walker, which I explained on the other thread, and which kind of ruined the experience. However, I do immensely appreciate Hinterland in creating this event and having this great idea, easily surpassing 4DON. Now I am looking forward to Ash Canyon, which is the real treat of 2020.

Edited October 30, 2020 by Mistral

[atomic]

I have to say this event creates a very sick athmosphere. Fits the halloween theme 100% 😱

I have my first playthrough in now. Lasted 49 mins and found 2 pages. My short journey started in BR down the cliff from the llodge. I spotted the green fire in the direction of the maintenence yard, still I decided to pay a visit to the lodge. Found some food there as far as I remember and  mucklucks and a revolver if I remember correctly. There was also a rope but next to the climbing spot there was also another rope.

Back down I wasn't able to see tha green fire anymore, but I remembered the way to the maintanence yard. Didn't spent much time there just jumped in and I think that's where I found a tin of coffee. OK, then up to the rail tracks and up the hill to the first green fire. The contdown really started to make me nervous at that point. With 7 or 8 mins or so I went on tn direction of the muskeg. While trying to walk over the landslide I swear I saw something light up, I really thought this might have been the darkwalker. I passed the landslide with my nerves tensed to the max. Now suddenly a deer came running out of the dark. I've almost had a heart attack!

OK, finally in FM. I just ran with the tracks and already saw a green light in the distance right off the tracks. There was a trunk with supplies and also a bear skin bedroll. I cooked some coffe and because my char was tired I thought I try to find some sleep. Game saved. After dealing with real life duties I came back and guess what, I fu*%&/§ forgot to mark where I came from... OK, so I decided to sleep 2-3 hours and to make some more coffee. I dropped the second rope I was carrying and also the regular bedroll. OK, now I was trying not to panic as it was getting more and more foggy. After running in circles I decided to use the anti fog glyph. It worked a bit, but I was still lost. It took some time where I was running without any orientation, but finally I saw the power supply lines. Such a good feeling! But not for long...

My char was barly able to run as I this is basically all I have done since I've left the maintanence yard. Looking back in panic if the thing was already behind me.

After the tunnel to ML I decided to go to the trapper's first as I thought I'd find the next green fire there. I should have looked at the youtube clip once more before assuming this. Now I think the barn from PV is showed there, not the rotten barn next to trapper's in ML. 

I also decided to use the warden glyph on the first tree I saw , which was a big mistake as it turned out later... However, I was so happy to see trapper's cabin lit up and looking so cosy.

Unfortunately the cabin was not lit inside - like always. The loot was nice, mainly food, more ammo, more knifes. Did not checked the safe. Meanwhile the sound was building up, but I thought the warden glyph would keep the thing away, so I decided to start a fire and cook more coffee and repair some clothes. Because of the creepy sounds I tried to spray another glyph on the cabin, but I couldn't as the other one near the tunnel entrance was still in effect. Suddenly the proximity warning came up. I knew that was it. My char had to much stuff in the backpack and was simply tired out. OK, I thought, let's say hello to the grim reaper... 👿 Here you can see him coming for me.

 

Almost overloaded and too tired to run I let him do it quick and painless. Although my char did not sound like it was painless to him.

A funny fact: during the summer event my first char died actually inside of trapper's cabin because of the cold I've underestimated. I guess this area is not good for my first chars during events 😆

My lessons learned from this first try:

- do not get in panic right from the start, do not run like crazy all the time, stay cool 😄

- do not loose too much time looting

- carry only what is essential, you do not need 10 kg of food as you'll likely find more at the next fire or in cabins on your way

-  it's getting foggy slowly, but this will make your life difficult when you decide to stay some hours at a green fire, so better put some marks to avoid getting lost

- think twice where you use which glyph

I hope this helps some who's inerested!

 

[Sherri]

Super scary and more fun than I expected! Made it an hour and half my first try. Very intense. Loved the atmosphere and the endless night.

Struggled to find the Hushed River Valley green fire, got totally lost and trapped myself in this region. Whoops!

I don't normally play TLD for this level of intensity and danger, but fun for Halloween none the less. Great job Hinterland!

Observations:

• I ran like a damn fool most of the time. Probably shouldn't have done that.
• Carried way too much food around. The inability to stay in one zone means you'll keep finding more food.
• Lugging the rifle might have been a mistake. There are wolves, but very few.
• The dialog and scary music and sounds were perfect.
• Map knowledge was probably the main thing needed to do well in this event. I thought I know the maps... apparently not well enough.
• Endless night and dark interiors adds to the tension and scariness.
• I wish I could have seen it a bit and shot it.

Happy Halloween tomorrow folks!

Edited October 30, 2020 by Sherri

[Al-Tamura]

Ребята, это просто офигительный event! Люто, бешено аплодирую разработчикам! 🤝👏👍

Привет from Russia 😍

[Guest jeffpeng]

Well, still on my first run, got 4 camp fires so far - but forgot to pick one of the pages somewhere -.- Whatever ^^

As for feedback....

Pros:

- Who ever does the sound design at Hinterland is a true master of they craft. The sound of the game is already amazing (buggy sound scenes notwithstanding), but this might be one of the most memorable "entities" when it comes to pure audio horror in all of gaming. Big hand.
- This also plays into the suffocating atmosphere with the perma-fog and the green fires. The developers understand how to play with the human primal fears very well. Honestly guys: Do a horror game. You clearly have the talent for it.
- Game play wise .... I think this again proves that urgency creates agency, and that some of it actually is good for the game. It worked well with As The Dead Sleep (if you speedrun it 😆), and it works astonishingly well here. Being on a clock and having an adversary you can only outrun actually creates a feeling of being actually hunted.
- Some fresh new concepts.

Cons: Well, it's Voyageur + Permanight at it's core. A seasoned survivor will have little to no problems fighting the elements and other enemies. I would have liked a bit more ... well... bite regarding this. But then again.... I think for the normal player that doesn't have all the maps memorized and knows all the little tricks to get the last bit out of everything ... this is probably pretty well balanced. So really, folks, regard this as a "well-sorta-kinda-but-not-really"-con.

Overall very well done!

Edited October 30, 2020 by jeffpeng

[Hybridizer]

I just wanted to thank Hinterland for their continued dedication to this great community and amazing game. I fired up the Darkwalker event last night and after just a few minutes really liked the look and feel. I really love the audio so far. I'll dig in more this weekend and reply back here with my thoughts. Have a great weekend everyone.

[piddy3825]

8 hours ago, DarKube said:

Love this event too ! For the fires, they are displayed on your map, as well as your position.

that's not what he was asking.  He was asking if the fires are randomly spawned or do they spawn in the same place all the time.  just to clarify...

[ajb1978]

So...anyone else notice that the basement at Crumbling Highway shares a toxic fog percentage with Coastal Highway?

[Tactical Ex]

1 hour ago, jeffpeng said:

Pros:

- Who ever does the sound design at Hinterland is a true master of they craft. The sound of the game is already amazing (buggy sound scenes notwithstanding), but this might be one of the most memorable "entities" when it comes to pure audio horror in all of gaming. Big hand.

I agree. I happened to be doing laundry last night and ran the washer before going to sleep. The sound of an unbalanced, heavy. load made the same "thump-thump" that the approaching darkwalker did and it's a good thing I was not too far asleep to make the connection because I would have probably needed new pants. Horror usually isn't my cup of tea but I enjoyed this experience. For a seasoned player that took about a 6-9 month break, coming back to this challenge was great but a bit on the easy side ... understandably. 

[piddy3825]

...why was I under the impression that the DarkWalker was the only thing stalking me?  But then Fluffy's progeny appeared after I had cleared DP and CH only to jump me outside of Trapper's?  Should have known something was up when both Spectral fires yielded a firearm with ammo...  enough anxiety coping with an anxiety inducing entity bent on killing me...

[Guest jeffpeng]

1 hour ago, ajb1978 said:

So...anyone else notice that the basement at Crumbling Highway shares a toxic fog percentage with Coastal Highway?

No. But interesting.

[PurpleWolf13]

10 hours ago, Themadlad94 said:

This event feels really out of place for a game that isn’t a survival horror. If I wanted to get chased by a malevolent entity, I would go play Dead by Daylight.

Getting stalked by someone/something wanting to kill you is out of place for The Long Dark? Hinterland stated that they wanted to try something different this year, something that they normally wouldn't be able to do with the game. The Long Dark IS a survival game and can have a few horror elements? to it, depending who you ask. 

And a malevolent entity already was a thing in The Long Dark; it was in the form of the Old Bear in Wintermute and The Hunted Challenges. 

I get you may not care for the challenge, not as much as 4 Days of Night, I respect that.But this event does make somewhat sense in terms of taking place within The Long Dark universe.

[Kranium]

Here's where I am so far, on my first run. Went in kind of blind (I totally missed the green fires in DP & CH because I didn't look at the map & didn't notice them, I just ran off), but I did plan my route first; here's where I am so far:

DP > crhwy > CH > chcm > PV > wr/chd > ML > rv

Just had a nap in the cave in the lower part of the Ravine, about to enter BI. I think I've gotten pretty lucky in finding a lot of coffee & stims & some good clothes without having to deviate. But I'm curious - do the lures you leave still work after you leave the region you put it in? (the timer disappears) Otherwise I'm wasting them... Anyway, seems like I've got a big head start, so I think I'll be able to sidetrack in-and-out of BR on my way to HRV, which is my end goal! (rest of planned route: BI > FM > [BR] [maybe also back thru ML?] > MT > HRV )

 

BUG REPORT: tried to warm up a cup of coffee, on the ground beside a green fire, while I had a nap > woke up to a cup of burned inedible crap?!!!? In the regular game, it just keeps warm indefinitely, unless the fire goes out...

 

[edit] Just wanted to add that I feel this is the best event yet. Great feel to it! Glad there's no massive grind like the last one where you had to find all that maple syrup (I ended up spam saving to get that one!)

 

Edited October 31, 2020 by Kranium

[Cheese_ZA]

Just wanted to thank the support team for the fix yesterday!  

It took less than 24H for you guys to mail back, and I am stoked beyond words. You lot are legends! 

For anyone who had the Mac "TV Snow" loading screen issue, just set your launch options for the game in properties to: -force-glcore

Keep up the great work and cheers   !

[DarKube]

I love the fact that the sound when the DW is killing you is in fact the same sound as when you destroy crates. 😄

[ajb1978]

Gave this one my all.  Even toughed out the toxic fog until I was nearly dead on several occasions, just to squeeze another minute or two out.

 

[k0s0ff]

I got the first badge and a lot of adrenaline. I really enjoyed this event.

I even recorded a video and posted it on instagram. However, I didn't write the hashtag correctly.(((( 

I can say for sure that this is not an ordinary experience. And I like it more than the previous event. I want to have more events in General. It is very cool.

I'll be back for the second badge soon.

I also have a question for the developers.  Is it planned to add the effect of an anxious state to the survival mode? I'd really like to see him there. For example, when wild animals roam around and it would be impossible to rest or wait by the fire.

And kind of like a suggestion. It would be interesting to add a short event in the future. So the lighting works everywhere. Something like an alternate state of the TLD Universe. an attempt to look at the world before the disaster. Or something like that.

Thank you so much for your work!)

[GothSkunk]

5 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

Gave this one my all.  Even toughed out the toxic fog until I was nearly dead on several occasions, just to squeeze another minute or two out.

 

Dude... I think you win.

[devamadhu]

On 10/30/2020 at 11:50 AM, lore-nmj said:

Exactly the same on my Macbook pro.. *sigh*

Update from Hinterland which resolved the glitch:

1. In Steam, go to your Library
2. Right Click on the game title
3. Select Properties
4. Click Set Launch Options...
5. Paste the following line into the provided text box
   -force-glcore
6. Click OK, then Close.

[ManicManiac]

5 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

Gave this one my all.

Bravo, and congratulations.  Most impressive.

[Dascomb]

A little advise.you dont even needed to loot enivorments the supllies around green campfires provides enough and more sources for the next campfire( and you dont even have to carry weapons they have zero effects on DW so drop em same thing for Hatchet knife and metal saw)

Edited October 31, 2020 by Dascomb

[piddy3825]

16 minutes ago, Dascomb said:

A little advise.you dont even needed to loot enivorments the supllies around green campfires provides enough and more sources for the next campfire( and you dont even have to carry weapons they have zero effects on DW so drop em same thing for Hatchet knife and metal saw)

yeah, you're probably not gonna need a prybar or the hacksaw all that much and the heavy hammer is heavy after all.  But I coulda/shoulda paid attention to picking up that handy revolver and all those cartridges I came across as that might come in handy on those two wolves that jumped in during my last run.  Well at least I didn't drop the knife...

[Randomanufacturing]

So here is my success so far. This is my 3rd run. For those that are having a hard time, I suggest starting in Mountain Town so you have the strength to climb the ropes early.