Terror in The Long Dark

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

The Long Dark is a very fine game as it stands, don't get me wrong.  And it's plenty scary already.  But there are directions that a survival mode could take that would blow your mind.

Imagine:

• Playing hundreds of days in survival mode, and then seeing the silhouette of a stranger on a distant ridge, carrying a rifle

or

• A bullet missing you by inches, seemingly out of nowhere, then hearing the rifle crack two seconds later

or

• Being stalked by a cannibal cult in the dark

or

• Being woken up by someone (or something) moving around in your safehouse in the dark

 

You get the idea.  Anyone else ever wanted some "human" opposition in survival mode?

[Leeanda]

1 hour ago, I_eat_only_wolf_meat said:

The Long Dark is a very fine game as it stands, don't get me wrong.  And it's plenty scary already.  But there are directions that a survival mode could take that would blow your mind.

Imagine:

• Playing hundreds of days in survival mode, and then seeing the silhouette of a stranger on a distant ridge, carrying a rifle

or

• A bullet missing you by inches, seemingly out of nowhere, then hearing the rifle crack two seconds later

or

• Being stalked by a cannibal cult in the dark

or

• Being woken up by someone (or something) moving around in your safehouse in the dark

 

You get the idea.  Anyone else ever wanted some "human" opposition in survival mode?

A few years ago as a newbie I was on a custom run , and I was walking across the lake when I heard two rifle shots and a kind of pinging noise near me! I really felt like I was being stalked!  It never happened again but it certainly scared the hell out of me! 

Now I would love the chance to play against a potential  "assassin" !

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

The reason "The Long Dark" has such potential for outright terror is that there are long, long stretches of nothing really extraordinary going on.  So, when something bad happens suddenly it's a genuine shock.

Unlike other "horror" games where you're like, "Let's explore this old mortuary!"  Obviously something sketchy is going to happen and you're ready for it.

[ChillPlayer]

3 hours ago, I_eat_only_wolf_meat said:

Playing hundreds of days in survival mode, and then seeing the silhouette of a stranger on a distant ridge, carrying a rifle

Yesterday I was crafting some ammo at the workshop when suddenly I heard something like a door opening. I turned around and halfly expected Mathis to stand in the doorway - unfortunately he wasn't but I too thought how cool this would've been, jump scare guaranteed

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

2 hours ago, Leeanda said:

I was walking across the lake when I heard two rifle shots and a kind of pinging noise near me! I really felt like I was being stalked!

I've never heard a rifle other than my own, but I really, really think I heard a plane on at least one occasion.

[Leeanda]

2 minutes ago, I_eat_only_wolf_meat said:

I've never heard a rifle other than my own, but I really, really think I heard a plane on at least one occasion.

I'm just wondering if some of these sounds are glitches/bugs or intentionally put in to add some tension to the game! 

[A Lamp]

Oh man i would love somekind of hallucinations or insanity system in this game, surely making it even more scarier than before.

Also i don't know why but one time i was walking in the darkness somewhere in CH, at some point i saw somekind of white eyes, worst part was they we're tall as me ingame. No clue if i was hallucinating or somehow i thought ingame stars were some eyes.

Edited November 1, 2021 by A Lamp

[ajb1978]

I don't know about turning this into a horror game or anything, but there is definitely a middle ground. Especially if you're exhausted for too long, start to introduce hallucinations like shadow figures that appear very briefly at the edges of the screen but disappear when you look directly at them. Or you start hearing growls from nonexistent wildlife, mysterious whispers, etc. You as the player know it's not ghosts or anything, but it's still unsettling, and might provide you with some incentive to not exploit exhaustion.

I just hacked up the entirety of Hibernia pretty much without sleep, and just exhausting myself down to nearly the red zone for condition before I finally rested. The only consequences of performing like day after day of heavy labor without rest was huffing and puffing when I walked around. Or heck even "If I don't rest soon I'm gonna faint," make that actually happen. Fainting risk that goes up the longer you stay exhausted, and at some point sooner or later you're going to collapse on the spot and sleep 1 hour. (That could be a way to take the edge off Cabin Fever too.)

[Leeanda]

23 minutes ago, ajb1978 said:

I don't know about turning this into a horror game or anything, but there is definitely a middle ground. Especially if you're exhausted for too long, start to introduce hallucinations like shadow figures that appear very briefly at the edges of the screen but disappear when you look directly at them. Or you start hearing growls from nonexistent wildlife, mysterious whispers, etc. You as the player know it's not ghosts or anything, but it's still unsettling, and might provide you with some incentive to not exploit exhaustion.

I just hacked up the entirety of Hibernia pretty much without sleep, and just exhausting myself down to nearly the red zone for condition before I finally rested. The only consequences of performing like day after day of heavy labor without rest was huffing and puffing when I walked around. Or heck even "If I don't rest soon I'm gonna faint," make that actually happen. Fainting risk that goes up the longer you stay exhausted, and at some point sooner or later you're going to collapse on the spot and sleep 1 hour. (That could be a way to take the edge off Cabin Fever too.)

I have to admit that a few times I've wished they would just pass out instead of just doing nothing! Only problem is you'd probably do it somewhere stupid . Then either freeze to death or get mauled while your out cold!

Edited November 1, 2021 by Leeanda

[DiscoJonny]

 I dropped a tab of acid once and played TLD for 9 hours straight.  It was in pilgrim mode cause I knew going into it that I didn't want to have to deal with wolves attacking me every other minute.  Anyways, walking out on the ice of Coastal Highway at night with a full moon during an aurora and it was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had playing a video game.   However all that was soon to change...

It wasn't until I was really tripping balls that the weather changed and a raging blizzard rolled in and as I struggled to make my way to safety, the snow demons began to form around me and their howling and shrieking literally had me shivering in fear.   They somehow managed to lure me the wrong way and soon I fell thru the ice.
I was so immersed in the moment that I actually thought I had hypothermia.  When my roommate came in to check on me,  he said he found me literally bathed in a cold sweat and trembling uncontrollably.  

It was at this point I swore never to take acid again...  I still see apparitions in the game when the snow is blowing really hard.

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

7 hours ago, DiscoJonny said:

 I dropped a tab of acid once and played TLD for 9 hours straight.

Argh.  Maybe Candy Crush next time 😆

[Pencil]

Perhaps the longer you survive, the more aggressive the animals get and the more they stalk you. Such as in several hundred days or something, bears have 2x of a detection radius than when you first started the run. Would make things interesting. Also, what if bears could actually pound on the door outside like in The Hunted part 2? If you enter an interior while being chased by a bear, perhaps he makes an effort to get in for a couple minutes before he finally leaves. 

I think a cave interior with a possible bear spawn would be really interesting, such as the wolf in the ice cave, but a bear instead. *chills* 

Also, I think the old "being stalked music" that played a couple years back was much more terrifying than the current one. Me and my brother were playing The Hunted part 1 at night irl, and we would get chills every time the music started. The music now is just like, "oh, the bear is coming. Ok." 

Anybody remember the old music? 

Also: I prefer the concept of being alone in the long dark; I can hardly enter a cave with a possible wolf in it. I would never step foot into the carter hydro dam again if there was a possibility of somebody stalking me. That place already sounds scary as it is. I would much rather be worried about wildlife getting worse than another survivor stalking me. 

 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Pencil

[Catlover]

This sounds like a pretty cool idea. I play another game similar, but also vastly different to this, Green Hell, and their sanity system makes the game so much more interesting. 

On one hand, I like the whole 'last person on earth' vibe TLD gives off, but it would be interesting to have mild hallucinations like hearing someone following you in the dam, or hearing a random rifle shot. As already said, it could be something for when you're exhausted, because for me, that bar is almost always low or on red because nothing really happens. Adding hallucinations when you have cabin fever, or are critically exhausted, or whatever could be pretty cool if done correctly 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Catlover

[Michael1986]

On 11/2/2021 at 12:50 AM, Leeanda said:

I'm just wondering if some of these sounds are glitches/bugs or intentionally put in to add some tension to the game! 

You want real long dark horror ? take a look at The Long Dark:????, you will understand

[Leeanda]

19 minutes ago, Michael1986 said:

You want real long dark horror ? take a look at The Long Dark:????, you will understand

Lol😁😁 

The two best games  ever merged would be awesome!

[Bimbobjoejr.]

I would so love to see a hallucination mechanic in the game, from either being too tired or maybe even low condition mushroom tea???? I also really thought when I heard say that fainting line, I thought he'd actually faint. But lo and behold it never happened and I got kind of disappointed. It'd would really add to the sense of urgency and awareness in this game.

[ChillPlayer]

There is however the Escape the Darkwalker challenge, hallucination, eerie sounds and visuals included. I kinda like it, one truly feels h(a)unted.

[Bromstarzan]

I once lay by a mountain creek listening to the water endlessly streaming over rocks and plunging into the valley. 3 days from any civilization. In that sound carpet I heard trains arriving at central station, I heard people cheering at the beach and I heard calls and chat at the food market. I sometimes hear similar things in a blizzard in TLD. Brain keeps playing tricks on me... even in computer games. Or is it real?

Edited November 23, 2021 by Bromstarzan

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

@Catlover

I really enjoyed Green Hell, but "The Forest" gave me my biggest WTF moment in gaming.  After hearing those odd noises at night for like, weeks, I finally spotted one shambling along the beach in the moonlight.  I won't ruin anyone's fun with a spoiler, but AiIIIIGGGHHHH!

[Matt Lomax]

I'd like the occasional ground tremor; very rare, mind. Would love to experience that low, bassy rumble reverberating through my speakers in survival.

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

8 hours ago, Matt Lomax said:

I'd like the occasional ground tremor; very rare, mind. Would love to experience that low, bassy rumble reverberating through my speakers in survival.

That would be interesting, but it would need to have some kind of threatening in-game effect to make it more than window dressing.  Avalanche, tsunami, that sort of thing.

[Pınar51-06]

When ı play wintermute for the first time, in episode 2, ı finished the bear part and ı had one last main mission(going to carter dam in aurora). But first, ı wanted to do some side quest and ı left camp office to go to the lake cabins for ‘Lake Gunshots’ sidequest. I talked with foresttalker and when ı was bringing ammo and foresttalker staff to him, ı remembered ı heard a gunshot. And ı was like ‘Yeah now ı understand why is this mission named ‘lake gunshots’ 😁

Ofcourse the shotgun was never heard my other wintermute replays but ı wish we hear this. Yes sometimes we hear some creepy noises but ı would like to see if some permanent creepy moments maybe in some spesific buildings like lighthouse or quinset garage) will be in the game might be cool.

[Matt Lomax]

9 hours ago, I_eat_only_wolf_meat said:

That would be interesting, but it would need to have some kind of threatening in-game effect to make it more than window dressing.  Avalanche, tsunami, that sort of thing.

For me, atmosphere equates to immersion and sometimes a random sound or sensation is enough to get the nerves jangling and stop me feeling too comfortable 😬😁

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

Quote

stop me feeling too comfortable 😬😁

  Just think how much less comfortable you would feel if you could be swept into a chasm by an avalanche!

[Matt Lomax]

1 hour ago, I_eat_only_wolf_meat said:

  Just think how much less comfortable you would feel if you could be swept into a chasm by an avalanche!

Haha! Excellent point 😂