September 2021 Developer Diary

[Admin]

EPISODE FOUR LAUNCHES FALL 2021, KEY ART & TITLE REVEAL

 

Hello everyone!

 

The long wait is nearly over. Today we reveal the key art and title for Episode Four of The Long Dark’s WINTERMUTE story mode:

 

 

Episode Four: “Fury, Then Silence”

 

A murderous gang of convicts has captured Mackenzie. Desperate to escape one of the darkest corners of Great Bear Island, he must somehow survive his fiercest enemy yet. Can Mackenzie recover the Hardcase, continue his search for Astrid, and also save the innocents caught up in this deadly confrontation?

 

The episode takes place in a brand new region dominated by an old prison complex built under the shadow of Blackrock Mountain. Featuring 7-10 hours of gameplay, 60 minutes of narrative cinematics, and over 40 minutes of new music, Episode Four also introduces new key characters to the WINTERMUTE storyline, and puts the final narrative threads in place that will later be resolved in Episode Five (ship date TBD). 

 

The team is heading into the final stretch of the episode. Most of the bugs are fixed, and we’re in the final stages of localization, optimization, and preparing things for launch. 

 

True to our typical tradition, we aren’t announcing a release date until we are very close to launch, so stay tuned for that. For our Survival Mode fans, Blackrock Region will be added to Survival Mode before the end of the year, along with a few other additions.

 

UPCOMING PRICE CHANGE

 

When we had THE LONG DARK in Early Access on Steam and on Xbox Game Preview, it was priced at $19.99 USD. When we launched our 1.0 in August of 2017, we bumped the price up to $29.99 USD. With the launch of Episode Four, we’re increasing the price for THE LONG DARK to $34.99 USD ($5 increase). We feel this is more reflective of the current state of the game in terms of quality and the scope of content. The new price will take effect when Episode Four ships, so this is your last opportunity to purchase THE LONG DARK at its current $29.99 price. Please note that this price increase will not impact you if you already own the game. (Your local pricing may vary.)

 

ROADMAP AFTER EPISODE FOUR

 

After we launch Episode Four, I’ll post some details about our plans for THE LONG DARK, onward to Episode Five and beyond, including how we plan to update Survival Mode in the future, our plans for Mod Support, and more.

 

Now, back to preparing Episode Four’s launch. We’ll see you soon!

 

- Raphael

[ProsPex]

13 minutes ago, Admin said:

For our Survival Mode fans, Blackrock Region will be added to Survival Mode before the end of the year, along with a few other additions.

😀 Thx... so excited!

[Gracia_WolfSlayer]

[manolitode]

Great to hear it! Looking forward to playing episode 4 this fall and even more the new survival map. Gotta say I have high hopes for the new TLD songs and the possibly new intro theme music for Fury, then silence.

[NickBeast17]

That’s awesome! Very excited 🎉

[Dan_]

Excited for episode four, but I won't even lie: I'll be trying to climb that big rock as soon as I get to it. 🤣

[mfuegemann]

Thank You for the update. I am looking forward to play EP4 so much.

[Grignard_TN]

Mostly looking forward to seeing how this will play in survival mode

[Jolan]

Squee! Happy dance, happy dance!

 

 

[SnowWalker]

October, November...Maybe...Maybe?

[odizzido]

Cool I always enjoy reading about updates even if I am waiting for episode five to be done before I play through it.

 

I am pleased with everything you've done to make the story mode as enjoyable as you can. I am quite sure I will enjoy it quite a lot when it's time.

[Mistral]

So highly likely that the now-traditional December update brings the Blackrock Region (if that is indeed the name of the region) to Survival mode, cheers! Also for the roadmap

Edited September 7, 2021 by Mistral

[NickBeast17]

I agree! December seems pretty likely for the survival update 😄

[theisaactrain]

WOOOOOO

[Sherri]

Eeeeeeeeeee!

This is great.

Really curious to see how it's going to work having to deal with human NPCs.

[RegentRelic]

5 minutes ago, Sherri said:

Really curious to see how it's going to work having to deal with human NPCs.

Probably like in the last three episodes.

[Glflegolas]

Not necessarily, Hinterland did add a survivor carrying mechanic in Episode 3, so it's possible that some new mechanic is added for NPC interaction in Episode 4.

[piddy3825]

60 minutes of cinematic narratives!

Do I see a full length feature film in our near future as well?

[ajb1978]

Will our actions from previous episodes carry over, or is Episode 4 starting on a clean slate? More specifically if I leave Episode 2 with a carefully curated selection of gear, is that all gone when Episode 4 starts?

[stratvox]

Right on. It's good to see that progress is being made. I very much look forward to what's coming down the pike. The art looks beautiful; given the high quality of the work you folks have been putting out (AC, like seriously) I have high hopes and expectations for the new region and for the story. It looks fantastic.

[peteloud]

At last, some information after 6 months of waiting for info.

7 -10 hours of gameplay,  a couple of evenings or an afternoon and evening.

60 minutes of cinematics.  I usually find cinematics time wasting and want to skip them.

Is adding Blackrock to Survival mode a separate event?

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

Did not expect Blackrock in survival mode any time soon, so that is a big bonus. Also intrigued by the 'few other additions' mentioned.

The artwork gives more clues as to the size of the region (and the prison within it), my guess now would be similar to bleak inlet/the cannery, although visually the new region looks most like ash canyon in this image.  

Also, I don't want to draw too many conclusions from artwork rather than screenshots, but that does appear to be a gun on McKenzie's back and it may be a little shorter than the current rifle?

[vlgligor]

Excited as well about the news! I hope the region will be available with the Halloween event (if any) and the Episode 4 released before Christmas (wishful thinking) :)

1 hour ago, Valuable Hunting Knife said:

...visually the new region looks most like ash canyon in this image.  

Also, I don't want to draw too many conclusions from artwork rather than screenshots, but that does appear to be a gun on McKenzie's back and it may be a little shorter than the current rifle?

Having the name Blackrock and the visuals from the image, I am expecting a region more like the Ash Canyon (different altitude areas) but with a lot of extra man-made stuff. The power lines suggest extensive use of electricity inside the Blackrock: areas access codes that have to be hunted for, doors accessed and electric tools active only during auroras, potentially new items (looking at McKenzie's boots that doesn't look like any in the game).

And yes, it does look like a shorter rifle on McKenzie's back, though does not make sense to me to have additional guns. Let's wait and see.

[Karl Grylls]

Well, that was a very short Dev Diary. And for an occassionally update on how's the episode doing it was long. Something in between i guess? But thanks for the update! Sounds very good! 40 minutes of cinematics... i wonder what the members, hired for this made for us 🤤

 

But what i'm really hyped for:

16 hours ago, Admin said:

After we launch Episode Four, I’ll post some details about our plans for THE LONG DARK, onward to Episode Five and beyond, including how we plan to update Survival Mode in the future, our plans for Mod Support, and more

Edited September 8, 2021 by Karl Grylls

[Arran]

9 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

Will our actions from previous episodes carry over, or is Episode 4 starting on a clean slate? More specifically if I leave Episode 2 with a carefully curated selection of gear, is that all gone when Episode 4 starts?

In episode 2 Will got imprisoned and robbed

, so it would be quite logical he lose all warm clothes, weapons and equipment.