Announcing TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY

[Luca Loquax]

I know!  Right?  I am so excited I feel like my brain will explode! 

[Sgt Socks]

43 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

I know I've said my piece but I have a question.. 

Will some of these new things be optional in the settings?

I'd be grateful to know this too.

[MrsHoneypot]

WoooHoooooooooooo!!!!!! Can't wait!

Coming out in December-ish? I may have to buy myself a Christmas prezzie this year... Hmmm would be funny to run around Bear Island in a Santa suit. (just a random thought).

Are recipes coming to the game?  As I play, I keep thinking "If I were Astrid, I'd put some Jerky in this tomato soup" or "I would eat the Pinacle Peaches with the condenced milk and pretend it was custard". What we could be the uses Burdock? I know it has medicinal properties, but in the uk we also have burdock root in teas (a soda called Dandelion and Burdock too) and in asia the leaves are eaten as you would a cabbage.

Well, pipe dreams aside. Thank you for the update and I hope all at Hinterland are well and looking are forward to another Million or so players across all platforms.

 

[Ghurcb]

20 minutes ago, Sgt Socks said:

I'd be grateful to know this too.

So would I

[Guest jeffpeng]

47 minutes ago, Sherri said:

All timelines are speculative. Software & game dev has a lot of unpredictability that you can't foresee.

This is all well and good and true, and it is the reality I - and I suspect you - live. However part of that reality is also that if I crush the final deadline for a project terminally whatever is relying on that project just cannot happen - and I'm out of the job. My company is managing, producing and developing the IT stack for a national German doctors convention that is held annually, for example (one of the two projects I'm personally spearheading). If we don't get things working by date X 20+ thousand people can't have their convention. We'd be doing this exactly once, and then never see another dime from the people hosting the convention.

So while I have tremendous sympathy for all the things that can go wrong developing ever increasingly complex software (or projects in general) and understand every bit of delay in that I actually understand why they do occur, the kind of delays, staggered releases, live "beta-testing" with products hardly working at all while being sold at full price we've come accustomed to in gaming wouldn't fly in pretty much any other "serious" industry.

Hinterland's saving grace so far has been that they eventually always delivered and stuck to their promises while remaining exceptionally humble - and I give them them tremendous credit for that as it is sadly no longer naturally the fact with other studios, big or small. But frankly: you cannot underestimate how valuable it is that you can count on an outstanding fan base that will overwhelmingly just stick with the project no matter what. And I am sure they know how lucky they got.

[Cr41g]

15 minutes ago, jeffpeng said:

This is all well and good and true, and it is the reality I - and I suspect you - live. However part of that reality is also that if I crush the final deadline for a project terminally whatever is relying on that project just cannot happen - and I'm out of the job. My company is managing, producing and developing the IT stack for a national German doctors convention that is held annually, for example (one of the two projects I'm personally spearheading). If we don't get things working by date X 20+ thousand people can't have their convention. We'd be doing this exactly once, and then never see another dime from the people hosting the convention.

So while I have tremendous sympathy for all the things that can go wrong developing ever increasingly complex software (or projects in general) and understand every bit of delay in that I actually understand why they do occur, the kind of delays, staggered releases, live "beta-testing" with products hardly working at all while being sold at full price we've come accustomed to in gaming wouldn't fly in pretty much any other "serious" industry.

Hinterland's saving grace so far has been that they eventually always delivered and stuck to their promises while remaining exceptionally humble - and I give them them tremendous credit for that as it is sadly no longer naturally the fact with other studios, big or small. But frankly: you cannot underestimate how valuable it is that you can count on an outstanding fan base that will overwhelmingly just stick with the project no matter what. And I am sure they know how lucky they got.

there is a big difference to committing to the deadline proposed by your customer.... to one that you set yourself

[JMK]

🕺💃

[manolitode]

Been away for a while. Won't be for much longer. This update is so much more than I hoped for. Never mind the lost saves, I can't wait to re-explore the expanded Great bear from scratch.

[Looper]

On 10/20/2022 at 1:15 AM, Admin said:

Full global loot and wildlife refresh. We’ve redone all the loot tables, all the pre-placed loot, and rebalanced the loot economy across the entire game. The Resource refresh will go live for all players when the Expansion launches, and the full Wildlife refresh will come some time next year.

a whole new game for lopers ✊🙂

[Fuarian]

21 hours ago, RegentRelic said:

Use the Transponder to call the trader.

Trader air drops supplies on you in bundles of: two MRE's, two fire logs and 24 matches for 1.99, Ten MRE's, Ten logs, 100 matches and, three days of good weather for 9.99, bonus hp and an extra perk slot for 9.99, a revive, plus a bear skin coat for a limited time for 9.99 , a special set of cloths that better than any cloths in the game in every way and five MRE's for 15.99, horse armor 2.50, Ten revives for 24.99, and all of the above x10 for 99.99!

Put the pleasant valley farmhouse anywhere for 14.99, Upgrade it with a forge in three weeks or for 4.99, turn it pink for 4.99 as well! Add a potted plant for ONLY 1.99!

An air drop wouldn't work consider no planes can fly

[MarrowStone]

Y'know, another exciting thought about this is that we're one step closer to seeing this studio's new project. Itd be built with the foresight and experience the devs have acquired making this one. 

They have the opportunity to work with a game from the ground up instead of dealing with decisions made in half a decade old code! In other words they can potentially pursue a vision no holds barred!

Along with a new IP the community is potentially in for a treat in discovering a game much like the old early days when updates were frequent and we knew nothing about what the future held!

[Luca Loquax]

Well... if ANYONE has 100% market saturation in air-drops in the Quiet Apocaclipse.. it would B Amazon!

[NightJackal1]

Worst part is I have to wait until late January to early Febraury. Hoping for a surprise Christmas miracle because this game has become a Holiday tradition for me. Very much excited.

[Jolan]

On 10/20/2022 at 6:27 PM, RegentRelic said:

Use the Transponder to call the trader.

Trader air drops supplies on you in bundles of: two MRE's, two fire logs and 24 matches for 1.99, Ten MRE's, Ten logs, 100 matches and, three days of good weather for 9.99, bonus hp and an extra perk slot for 9.99, a revive, plus a bear skin coat for a limited time for 9.99 , a special set of cloths that better than any cloths in the game in every way and five MRE's for 15.99, horse armor 2.50, Ten revives for 24.99, and all of the above x10 for 99.99!

Put the pleasant valley farmhouse anywhere for 14.99, Upgrade it with a forge in three weeks or for 4.99, turn it pink for 4.99 as well! Add a potted plant for ONLY 1.99!

Horse armor? I've been burned by horse armor dlc....

 

[Luca Loquax]

HORSE ARMOR!  EEEEK  !!!

[JaySovereign]

So excited for this, even if I'll have to save up. Weird the DLC will end up costing around the same amount as the game eventually. I don't like that we'll lose our save files either, but I think it'll be a welcome change in my opinion. Had a lot of fun with them, but I feel like I've lost sight of what I'm supposed to be doing after I've got it too good.

[Carbon]

I'm honestly happy to throw some more support to one of the best games and best developers around. I paid $30 for a game from which I've enjoyed hundreds and hundreds of hours of immersive pleasure...whatever the cost, count me in. Priceless.

 

[Mistral]

I think mentions of stuff like "Trader" may seem scary on paper as they kind of sound like potentially disgusting microtransactions creeping into the game, but I remember when they first talk of "Auto walk" and there was some fear it might mean game ruining fast travel system. But we know Hinterland better than that now, they won't dilute the game with such tactics.

Overall the feeling of these news is extremely positive, even if losing of the old saves bites a little bit, not only for myself but for some long running Youtube LPs too. There is also a danger that redoings of loot and wildlife tables will mess up the mechanics of Deadman/NOGOA but at the same time they could also strengthen it's too, so it's all to play for.

Edited October 22, 2022 by Mistral

[Glflegolas]

18 hours ago, Sherri said:

Ralph has said in the past that finances have not been a concern or hurdle.

So I'd guess more the former.

I think they made a way better game than originally planned, estimating software timelines are HARD, plus they don't do crunch & a pandemic happened - while they tried to care for staff & be mindful of everyone's mental health. Plus this is their first big game as a studio. 

The timeline for Wintermute is not a surprise or a problem IMHO. I get that people get really attached to early, speculative timelines... but this is pretty normal given how the game has really grown from original plans.

Again - as a primarily survival mode player myself, I'm not in a rush to get Story Mode done fast. I'd rather see it done well than done fast. I'm only saying that if you bought the game back in 2017 with the primary intention of playing story mode, you would have been disappointed. The gameplay mechanics of the story weren't great back then (the trust system sucked, and the story seemed... eh.).

REDUX really made a big difference, and the past two episodes have been top-class. I'm looking forward to Episode 5 myself, and -- maybe -- DLC's for Story Mode in the future, where we can do side-stories in other parts of Great Bear.

[DaGnome91]

I'm so excited!
And I just can't hide it.

These are marvelous news, thank you so much Raph and all of you at Hinterland !

[Guest jeffpeng]

8 hours ago, Mistral said:

I think mentions of stuff like "Trader" may seem scary on paper as they kind of sound like potentially disgusting microtransactions creeping into the game, but I remember when they first talk of "Auto walk" and there was some fear it might mean game ruining fast travel system. But we know Hinterland better than that now, they won't dilute the game with such tactics.

I think you are right in your assessment there. I feel like the people at Hinterland calling the shots have a certain ethic that would prohibit such things, and I go even further to say that those same people are at Hinterland to not be part of a machine that runs on profit uber alles. Yes we all want a nice income, and yes, every company essentially has to turn a profit, and the more the better, at least in theory, but I think we're starting to see those that understand the customer to be the essential part of a sustainable business reap the benefits of this more measured approach that excludes exactly this sort of predatory tactics.

At the same time I am happy to see Hinterland has finally found the time and resources to offer some content they feel is worth getting paid for. Not only will this ensure that the game will stick around for longer, also it will give them the opportunity to make more of what I already like. Which, in essence, is the meta-reason to buy anything from anyone: not just because you want the thing, but because you want them to make more and better of it.

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by jeffpeng
Stupid deutschness typos

[Vinceofpyrenees]

Two questions:

- For the moment, whatever the clothes the character wears, there are always the same that are displayed on first person animations. You mention new animations to come, but do you will finish implement modelizations to represent the clothes that are actually worn by the character?

- The bear spear was announced as a possibility just after when episode 1 and two was launched. Is it still a possibility to have it though the DLC?

[The Gentleman Bastard]

@Admin I really hope they don't overdue it on the Safehouse Customization. Like, I'd hate to be able to just make a workbench wherever, as it impedes needing to roam from place to place in order to stay alive. Also, with the Trader, I hope they don't add actual NPCs into Survival Mode. I've mentioned before about how I love the games "Haunting Loneliness" and how it made for great, contemplative gameplay. Anyone feel the same? I'm sure Hinterland knows what they're doing tho, as I've been skeptical of other gameplay additions but they've almost always proved for the best. Also, sooo stoked for the new Electrostatic Fog!! Looks sooo cool! And I love any new Aurora phenomenon in game

Edited October 23, 2022 by The Gentleman Bastard

[Raphael van Lierop]

I promise the "Trader" feature mentioned is not some stealth way to add micro-transactions to TLD. That's not our style and it wouldn't align with our general philosophy about game development or business in general, which should hopefully be evident by now.

[Sgt Socks]

3 hours ago, The Gentleman Bastard said:

 Also, with the Trader, I hope they don't add actual NPCs into Survival Mode. I've mentioned before about how I love the games "Haunting Loneliness" and how it made for great, contemplative gameplay. Anyone feel the same?

Absolutely yes. The Trader is making me antsy, not because I thought it was a way of stealth microtransactons, which even before Raph's post I knew Hinterland wouldn't stoop to.

For me the nervousness relates exactly to what you've said here, a major part of TLD'S majesty is the "Haunting Loneliness". I'm also nervous about the shortwave radio for the same reason.  Having NPCs within the world just doesn't feel right to me. However I will reserve judgement until I see what the reality is.

@Mistral mentioned the auto walk feature as an example ... personally I was and am incredibly grateful for this feature from an accessibility standpoint. Without it my play time would be reduced to about an hour at a time with many hours inbetween, because of nerve damage and pain.