Thoughts on the New Regions

[Glflegolas]

Hello everyone,

I have been playing in the new region for about 12 in-game days so far on Voyageur difficulty. I started out in Broken Railroad and got a few essentials before making the trek, and here's what I think so far:

Far Range Branch Line

It's OK -- it is rather empty, but the DLC is called Tales from the Far Territory, so this seems reasonable. My one gripe with the region is that a lot of it is very dark and requires a light source to travel through. A little less tunnel and a little more outdoors would have been ideal, but no biggie. There is an annoying wolf very close to a siding that's hard to get past, which might be a challenge on Interloper.

Transfer Pass

This region is quite small and doesn't have a lot of loot. The train station looks nice inside though, with its Victorian styling. There aren't many resources here, but this region is only meant to be a quick stopover before going farther along. I do wish the siding were extended a little farther past the coal tipple -- it is so short that only one train car could be loaded there at a time, which seems unrealistic.

Forsaken Airfield

Overall region design

The region, as a whole, comes off as very open. This makes it easy to navigate on a clear day, but it is absolutely awful when the visibility is poor. It is super easy to get yourself lost, especially in the area around Shoulder Lake. When there was a blizzard, I nearly froze to death because I couldn't figure out where I was, it was hard to get sticks, and it was hard to find a rock to act as a windbreak to keep the fire from blowing out. There are very few shelters to hide out in, and that includes caves. My favourite area is that around Drift Island, the whole staircase up from the Cove to the Island Cottage is very well done, and on a clear day the view from there is stunning. It's also close to fishing opportunities and rabbits, but I didn't find any deer spawn in the area.

Insomnia

The Insomnia affliction really isn't that big a deal. It can be annoying to wake up, but it only matters if you need to heal your condition quickly. If it instead halved the amount your sleepy-eye fills up per hour of sleep, maybe it would be an affliction that I'd spend more effort trying to avoid.

Animals

I don't know where all the animals are, but it seems to me that they're a bit sparse overall, with most wolves being around the airport and the lake, and deer being just north of the airport. The inclusion of does is a nice touch. I haven't seen a moose yet, but I did see one bear around Drift Island. No idea where his cave is however.

Shelters

I can think of three decent bases in the region: the airport area, Island Cottage, and Mindful Cabin. The airport is central, offers a lot of space and a forge but doesn't feel very homey. Island Cottage is in a beautiful location overlooking Shoulder Lake and is where I'm currently living. Mindful Cabin is nice, but there doesn't seem to be much wildlife around it.

Airplanes

Another vehicle type to enter and loot? Sure, this is great.

Visor notes

Finally it's worth checking under those darn visors! Just got to remember to do it now consistently

Loot

It really doesn't seem to be too difficult to find things in the new region, but then again I'm on Voyageur, where loot is quite plentiful anyways.

Overall

I am very happy with how this turned out, and I am looking forward to seeing updates coming every couple of months adding all the content in the DLC!

[RossBondReturns]

I love the major piece of hidden loot that can spawn in a easy to miss location in Transfer Pass.

Also it seems as if the amount of predator wildlife that spawns in Far Range Branch Line is random...my 3rd time through there was plenty.

[Morrick]

2 hours ago, Glflegolas said:

The region, as a whole, comes off as very open. This makes it easy to navigate on a clear day, but it is absolutely awful when the visibility is poor. It is super easy to get yourself lost, especially in the area around Shoulder Lake. When there was a blizzard, I nearly froze to death because I couldn't figure out where I was, it was hard to get sticks, and it was hard to find a rock to act as a windbreak to keep the fire from blowing out. There are very few shelters to hide out in, and that includes caves. My favourite area is that around Drift Island, the whole staircase up from the Cove to the Island Cottage is very well done, and on a clear day the view from there is stunning.

I wholeheartedly agree with you on the navigation. When I decided to leave the Mindful Cabin and go explore Shoulder Lake, the weather quickly turned foggy (regular fog), and after what felt like an eternity wading through a completely ash-grey nondescript landscape, I found myself near the Airfield again!

Also, I know this is by design, but going from one major location to another is one tedious trek. It's also a trek that is tricky to plan. The first time I moved from the Airfield to Mindful Cabin, I got lucky because I started on a clear, crisp, windy day. Visibility was excellent and I could make it in one go without stopping anywhere. But even in the best weather conditions, you feel like taking a break on the way… and there isn't even a interesting spot to do so. Final Approach can be a nice candidate, but if the weather's bad and the crows are not around, it's quite easy to miss, as the helicopter is hidden from the road by the snow. 

I know that it's just a smallish airfield and not a big city airport, but I expected to find a few more houses in the white expanse surrounding it, places where the airfield's workers live (something like the Cannery Worker Residences in Bleak Inlet). 

That said, I love the region, really. I just wish it had more landmarks to help you orient yourself by sight.

[Luca Loquax]

I love it here!  There is tons to explore and I already have a great Fluffy Throw Rug collection.

Fluffy LOVES being a throw rug. 

[Serenity]

4 hours ago, Glflegolas said:

but I did see one bear around Drift Island. No idea where his cave is however.

I think on the eastern side of the island down on the ice.

There is another bear around Mindful Cabin

1 hour ago, Morrick said:

I know that it's just a smallish airfield and not a big city airport, but I expected to find a few more houses in the white expanse surrounding it, places where the airfield's workers live (something like the Cannery Worker Residences in Bleak Inlet). 

That is a good point. There are some rooms in the hangar and a kitchen, but that doesn't seem great for permanent living.

[RossBondReturns]

I ran into a Bear while looting Final Approach.

[Luca Loquax]

I do agree on one point: the airport is is missing a  building.  Shouldn't there be an office/cafe with maybe a little room out back with a bunk and a wood stove?   This is Canada, a wood stove in the back room is a Canadian as Slupees in Winnipeg!    

Make no mistake, still loving the new content. 

[Mistral]

8 hours ago, Serenity said:

That is a good point. There are some rooms in the hangar and a kitchen, but that doesn't seem great for permanent living.

The person in charge of the airfield probably lives in Mindful cabin for at least part of the year. Someone used to live in Surveyor's Memory location too,  maybe in Justy's Hovel as well (Island Cottage seems like a recreational summer place though).  The mechanics and some other staff either in the Hangar directly (there are few beds) or in the two trailers temporarily... I think majority may come on go on rotation. Maybe in the upcoming Minining map, there is some settlement next to the quarry, where some of the staff might have commuted from

Edited December 13, 2022 by Mistral

[Glflegolas]

This could be a good region for spray-painting arrows on the ground at regular intervals! That way you can navigate from one location to another, especially when the weather's not great.

EDIT: Forsaken Airfield is in many ways the polar opposite of Hushed River Valley. Where the Hushed River Valley consists of deep valleys and high cliffs with narrow walking paths, Forsaken Airfield is largely empty space. It's like a more challenging version of Pleasant Valley in that regard.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Glflegolas
compared region to others

[k0s0ff]

20 hours ago, Glflegolas said:

Animals

Hello. I saw a moose. I can throw a screenshot here where I saw it.

[RossBondReturns]

3 minutes ago, k0s0ff said:

Hello. I saw a moose. I can throw a screenshot here where I saw it.

I killed a moose in the Cove outside the Cottage just the other day...and a Black Bear the day before that.

There's a lot of wildlife...there is just a 3 times the size of PV amount of space for them to live in.

[turtle777]

3 hours ago, RossBondReturns said:

There's a lot of wildlife...there is just a 3 times the size of PV amount of space for them to live in.

On Interloper, there is not much wildlife.

I have not seen any of the IL streamers (or myself) run into a bear or moose, and deer seem to be confined to two different areas (north and north-east of airfield).

On the plus side, there are plenty of bunnies around.

The blizzards on IL can be really nasty. This is a tough area to navigate in IL past day 25, and I'm not looking forward to day 50.

-t

[RossBondReturns]

36 minutes ago, turtle777 said:

On Interloper, there is not much wildlife.

I have not seen any of the IL streamers (or myself) run into a bear or moose, and deer seem to be confined to two different areas (north and north-east of airfield).

On the plus side, there are plenty of bunnies around.

The blizzards on IL can be really nasty. This is a tough area to navigate in IL past day 25, and I'm not looking forward to day 50.

-t

'Loper...

There's your problem!

I play Loper too from time to time but I'm relaxing playing Voyageur aka Normal on my current run.

[Kranium]

I really really dig the rough & tumble feel to the new regions. More boulders lying around, more undulations. Nooks & crannies everywhere. Feels more realistic this way, more like home. Great for sneaking/hunting. Both for a human and a cougar.

[DaGnome91]

Contains spoilers...

 

Found 2 caves on the western side of the map, both up the slopes and with rabbits very near their entrance. The bear which roams up to Final Approach has its own refuge downhill in between those 2 caves, can't really miss it... Also found a shortcut to go back to Transfer Pass : from the Hangar, go south-southeast up to the vista, and then you can go up some more, around and up the chasm that hosts the road by walking on fallen trees, there are even some rabbits up there. Finally climbing down this one-way path, you arrive very near the entry of the zone. So much safer and quicker than going through the road

There are still several places I've not clearly seen (blizzards or fog hit easily) : mostly between Drift Island and the rocky eastern walls... except when I stumbled upon a helicopter crashed by a small pond (a lucky refuge actually, could spend the night there). I still don't know if you can go in the northeastern corner of the map: I've seen wolves patrolling there but had not enough time to try and look for a path. For the rest, even though my map is still not fully cleared, I've passed through them.

Clearly, this map is huge, and unforgiving if you're stuck in a blizzard and don't have the slightest idea which way you're heading: as said earlier, very few landmarks and short on wind-breaking materials in the main parts. Nevertheless, it's magnificient and fresh, gotta love that feeling of discovery (again!), and as I read in a hidden note in Mindful Cabin, I still haven't found the mine neither

[Shadox]

I absolutely love it!

Already liked the transition regions, the tunnels created a almost Horror atmosphere.

The transition zones also had the perfect length, it did feel like going on a long trip before reaching the new Area, so that "far" is justified, but it doesnt feel dragged out, and it was challenging to pass because of the cold tunnels and going there completely blind on interloper, not knowing where shelter is, made it extra interesting. The first thing i had in mind when i entered FA was "oh, im already there" 🤣

Forsaken Airfield has an interesting Design, it has variety, its challenging (-62 degrees with 30 degrees windchill on interloper around day 80). And while some place have that natural HRV vibe, the hangar and its surroundings contain alot of good loot, even on interloper. 

The way to it felt logical connected to the other areas, you can tell there was alot of work involved putting it all together like that.

Its not something i say often, but i really think Hinterland charges to little Money for all the Content they provide. I got over 800 Hours in TLD and paid like 30€ for normal game and that DLC together.

[turtle777]

On 12/13/2022 at 2:47 PM, turtle777 said:

On Interloper, there is not much wildlife.

I have not seen any of the IL streamers (or myself) run into a bear or moose, and deer seem to be confined to two different areas (north and north-east of airfield).

On the plus side, there are plenty of bunnies around.

The blizzards on IL can be really nasty. This is a tough area to navigate in IL past day 25, and I'm not looking forward to day 50.

-t

Update: bear and moose do appear on Loper, sparsely.

There are two deer spawn areas that seems to have multiple deer, and on occasion, you can see a single deer completely out of place.

I'm on day 43 on IL, and it's pretty cold. Staving off cabin fever is now a big concern. Takes a lot of fuel every single time. Hangar has a lot of crates that you can live off, but that is finite. Going past 100 days on IL just in Forsaken Airfield is a challenge, for sure.

-t

[mfuegemann]

I started a new loper run to explore the airfield. The temperatures and weather are very hard to cope with. Wildlife is quite good in my opinion, but I do stick to shooting wolfs and not wasting arrows on deer, as they may run off. I got my first moose near the surveyour's ruin and now I am waiting for the hide to cure. No cougar so far.
There are some very twisted mountain paths left and right of the road leading toward the airfield. I was happy to find mindful cabin just in time in a very cold night.
The new indoor locations without a loading screen can make it difficult to end a game, when it is necessary. And sleeping for an hour outdoors is not always an option in this region.

Oh, and I was annoyed by the new pop up region information too. It would be nice to just remove it. If one needs this information, the map is always an option. 

[Larryfine]

I took my current interloper run to the airfield around day 107. It's constantly freezing. I currently have a bear hide coat and a moose cloak but I think for this region you'll need double bear coats. Can't do anything outside at any point during the day without freezing instantly. So far i've had the worst blizzards I think i've ever seen in this game, holy moly it's awesome! The longest lasted almost 2 days and I was stuck in the island house. They weren't lying when they said this zone would be the coldest yet.

I'm currently heading back to BR to craft another bear jacket and see if that makes any difference on the temps. It sure would be nice to be able to go outside in the afternoons and maybe chop wood because there are very little sticks.

I'm torn on my overall feelings of this zone. I really like this zones aesthetic and i personally like how open it is. It reminds me of CH or PV and it makes the weather scary.  It's open but it has its areas of concentration. I really wanted to see more happening up near the mindful cabin. It feels lacking up there. The center of the zone near the downed chopper/tree island is neat and saved my run one night! You can build a fire inside it and there is a bed!

I think building a base in the hangar for the future zones will be a good option simply because of the forge but I don't expect loper players to be spending much time in this zone later in the game. I feel like it might act as a Forge Base and Hunt the Bear/Moose and leave to the other zones. Coal is an issue currently but that might be a non issue with the mine down the road. We will see.

Looking forward to see how this zone fits in overtime and i'll still keep trying to explore it!

 

[yoli]

I am still in progress but somewhat questioning the level design in some areas: why do we have these endless tunnels like before Transfer Pass, and again when entering Forsaken Airfield (this is not a tunnel there but corridor within mountains). These are sooooo boring to walk through. I am not sure to get the point of such a level design. I understand the interest of taking a while to get to the main region Forsaken Airfield, but couldn't the way through be... less boring? Well it is not always boring, but these tunnels and corridors... please no!

Besides this I love the game of course, but this part is a little off to me.

Edited December 16, 2022 by yoli

[Leeanda]

I haven't got the dlc yet but watching it on ytube . I love the train tunnel. It looks rather creepy!🙂.  I could just imagine hearing the slow tread of paws and that long low growl reaching out in the darkness. 

Hoping htl branch out into horror games as well as survival.🙂

Edited December 16, 2022 by Leeanda

[stratvox]

43 minutes ago, yoli said:

I am still in progress but somewhat questioning the level design in some areas: why do we have these endless tunnels like before Transfer Pass, and again when entering Forsaken Airfield (this is not a tunnel there but corridor within mountains). These are sooooo boring to walk through. I am not sure to get the point of such a level design. I understand the interest of taking a while to get to the main region Forsaken Airfield, but couldn't the way through be... less boring? Well it is not always boring, but these tunnels and corridors... please no!

Besides this I love the game of course, but this part is a little off to me.

The main reason for the long walks is to  weed out the players who don't plan adequately basically. Sub par clothing or leaving on those walks with an empty stomach will come at a cost.

 

[Shadox]

Another amazing find now. Thanks Hinterland for the possibility to find Noisemakers in other Places than Blackrock! Its just a gimmick below Interloper, but pretty cool for Interlopers once you run out of Flareshells. And the only real use for Gunpowder anyway. I really love to get that Blueprint without pesky Timberwolves

[Shadox]

29 minutes ago, stratvox said:

The main reason for the long walks is to  weed out the players who don't plan adequately basically. Sub par clothing or leaving on those walks with an empty stomach will come at a cost.

 

Exact! Also i think people complaining about the transition zones being boring dont play on Interloper. Those long, cold tunnels with places to warm up being spread out rather far makes it an interesting trip. Warming up bonus and chain-torching is needed unless you want to lose a chunk of health before even arriving in FA.

 

40 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

I haven't got the dlc yet but watching it on ytube . I love the train tunnel. It looks rather creepy!🙂.  I could just imagine hearing the slow tread of paws and that long low growl reaching out in the darkness. 

Hoping htl branch out into horror games as well as survival.🙂

They are indeed creepy! There is one passage a looooong and dark stair down, with some light shining out an open door. That looks so cool, like the final steps in a Horrorgame before you enter a Bossfight.

[Glacia]

Im currently on day 150 of my interloper run and i have explored around 90% of the airport region, these are my thoughts:

Far Range Branch Line:

I find this small transition zone amazing, isn't very interesting but it fits very well the concept of the railroad. Also, the tunnels are creepy and a wolf here would have been a nice addition  (Fluffy vibes)

Transfer Pass:

Im not sure about this one, is a 'Hub' region and it's very empty. Of course i don't expect a massive region with several resources and so on, but the train station it's just a temporary shelter to sleep if you need, you don't even have a workbench or wildlife to live for extended periods of time.

Overall, i think the train station is very pretty and cool, but the lack of workbench and enough wildlife ruin the opportunity to enjoy the region, considering that from there we will travel to the next regions.

Forsaken Airfield:

Good region design but the gameplay is affected by some details. The hangar and close buildings are among the best bases in the entire game, with a forge, workbench, tools and a massive amount of loot.

This region can be one of the best regions to travel early in the game!

But.. i find the rest of the map very inconsistent and sometimes weird. The two cabins (The one of the island and the other in the mountain) are VERY chill and beautifull places with good hunting and overall resources, but the lack of workbenchs and protection against the fog can really annoy the experience. No matter what base you choose, you will always need to go back to the hangar. And i find quite dissapointing, this places are very cool but unviable, you can only use the hangar as a decent base.

¿Overall? 7/10.  I really like the aesthetics of the region and the concept, but you are gonna ignore 90% of the map if you want to long-term here, which considerably affects the gameplay. Also, the wildlife is very sparse and feels unrealistic compared to all other regions of the game, making living here very challenging.

Insomnia / Glimmer Fog: 

The electric fog it's a very interesting mechanic and visually amazing. However, the Insomnia affliction it's considerably rare, it is not bad as Hypothermia, but neither it's something irrelevant. I think Insomnia should do something different, not necessarily harder, but work in a more consistent way than being random.

My final thoughs overall:

- The wildlife on both transition zones and the airport seems bad at the moment, it is not like any other region ever created and it doesn't feel very good. Im not sure if this was intended because HTL want an insolated region with low resources (Animals are resources after all) or just a mistake, but most players aggre about this is not very well done.

- Insomnia is a 50/50, a good idea but without much impact on the game.

- The regions aesthetics and shape it's an amazing job!