April Dev Diary

[Admin]

Hello Survivors!

Now that TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is available on Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation, and Xbox, we wanted to provide a quick update about some upcoming changes, and bug fixes we are currently working on. 

 

Adding Interloper to TALES

It’s been a couple of weeks since we released TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Two: SIGNAL VOID, which included the introduction of the first ‘Tale.’ We have been reviewing feedback, and we appreciate the time many of you took to file tickets via our Support Portal. While we are working to resolve some high-priority bugs following the release (more on that later), we also wanted to acknowledge the feedback from many Interloper players in our community, and how we plan to address Tales moving forward. 

By introducing the idea of Tales to Survival Mode, we wanted to give our Survival Mode players more reasons to explore and more objectives to follow, while still weaving in some compelling narrative elements. When tuning for the Interloper experience mode, we are always especially careful not to upset the balance of the game, and so we tend to approach changes to Interloper with caution and thoughtfulness. Interloper is a very stripped-down experience; many gear items are either excluded entirely or heavily restricted, containers are mostly empty, and the general tuning settings are designed to be punishing. The addition of new locations, new gear items, places you can scavenge more loot, and resources run the risk of upsetting that “survival on a knife’s edge” feel, so anything we add into this experience mode does require an extra layer of consideration. When designing both the transponder systems that would enable the new Supply Caches to be found, and also considering the significant amount of effort that would go into completing the “Signal Void” Tale, we strongly felt that these systems would not work well in Interloper, and in particular we felt the Tale would be extremely difficult with almost no pay-off (necessary to preserve the Interloper balance), which would simply be frustrating.

After hearing from many of you in our player community who very strongly align yourselves with the Interloper mode (to the point that you don’t play any other modes in the game), we understood that you didn’t really mind if the experience would be a massive struggle with little reward. You just wanted that option.

So, after careful consideration, we have decided to introduce the “Signal Void” Tale to Interloper, with some modifications designed to preserve game balance for that specific Experience Mode: 

• Bunkers will be adjusted to provide less loot on Interloper.
• The final Bunker will still contain a couple of rare items, but adjusted for Interloper. 

Additionally, once you have the Handheld Shortwave you will be able to explore and discover the hidden Supply Caches, which will provide loot that is also balanced for Interloper. A number of them will be empty, while others will have loot that is consistent with what you would expect on Interloper. 

For those Interloper players wondering how to access the new content, you will be able to access the Tale and any new changes via your existing save, and there will be no need to start a new Survival save in order to get these changes. Simply pick up the Handheld Shortwave in the Control Tower at the Forsaken Airfield region, and you’re on your way. Just please know that your experience of the Supply Caches, and “Signal Void”, will be extremely tough, without much reward apart from bragging rights.

We plan to release these changes in the next week, so you should have access to the Tale very soon. Keep an eye out for the official release notes! 
 
For more information on the Tale and Part Two: SIGNAL VOID, please visit the March Dev Diary. 

Xbox and PlayStation - Uncapped Frame Rates  

Following the release of v2.09 on Xbox, some players may have noticed a change to the frame-rate cap on Xbox Series S/X. While this change isn't part of the overall Visual Enhancements we have promised with TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, we'd like to clarify what has changed, and what our plans are for the future. 

Recently, we upgraded THE LONG DARK to a newer version of the Unity engine and Xbox Unity plug-in. Prior to the Unity update, the console frame rate was limited to 30 frames per second (FPS), and the game would use a method of “dynamic resolution scaling” (a standard practice on consoles) to maintain this target frame rate to ensure a smooth experience. 

This Unity latest update has now uncapped frame rates on the Xbox Series S/X, so they are no longer limited to 30 FPS. These Xbox platforms should now be able to achieve up to 60 FPS with dynamic resolution scaling.

Upcoming Changes: We have made additional adjustments to uncap frame rates on Xbox One X in an upcoming update. Additionally, in order to ensure parity on PlayStation, we have done some work to enable up to 60 FPS on PlayStation 5, as well as higher than 30FPS resolutions on PlayStation 4 Pro. These additional changes are planned for release at the end of this month. 

To summarize, following these improvements, players can expect: 

• Xbox One X – Up to 60 FPS at 1080p
• Xbox Series S – Up to 60 FPS at 1080p
• Xbox Series X – Up to 60 FPS at 1080p
• PlayStation 4 Pro – Up to 45 FPS at 900p (using dynamic resolution scaling) 
• PlayStation 5 – Up to 60 FPS at 1080p

Once the changes are live, you will be able to manually enable the higher frame rate cap, or change it back to the 30 FPS cap, in the Display Settings. We will share more information alongside the Release Notes later this month.

Please note that this change does not impact the Switch, or any of the PC or Mac-based versions of the game. (PC and Mac have always been able to run at higher than 60 FPS, provided the hardware is powerful enough.) 

We will continue working toward additional improvements, including providing official support for next-gen consoles, additional visual enhancements, and more. We will provide more information in the coming months.

Upcoming Bug Fixes

In addition to today’s Hotfix on Xbox, we are working on a series of other high-priority fixes and will release them in hotfixes as soon as possible.

We have introduced the Known Issues section on our Support Portal. This list provides a regularly-updated summary of high-priority bugs organized by platform. While this list is not exhaustive, it does provide a good starting point to check whether your issue appears, and it includes some helpful workarounds and tips where applicable. 

If you currently require technical support, please reach out via our Support Portal. We are working to respond to inquiries as quickly as possible. 

Thank You

Thank you, Survivors. We will share more information on TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY in the coming weeks.   
 

[Glacia]

WE DIT IT BOYS!!! 

[Lithgow_Panther]

Outstanding, thank you. 

[peteloud]

I'd rather have HTL spend their time completing the original TLD Episode 5 that we were promised and have paid for instead of spending their time developing a new product.

[piddy3825]

...really shoulda been like that from the get go...

 

[Renn]

I, for one, am grateful. Thank you, Hinterland, for listening to your community!

[mfuegemann]

Thank You for adding Tales to Interloper.

[Seajay]

Thank-you for adding TALES to Interloper, I very much am looking forward to exploring the new content on my Interloper run.

 

I have no idea what your future plans were / are with regard to TALES but I hope that the future content being released from TALES, such as the base customisation, the Ptarmigan, the Travois etc will also be included in Interloper. Thank-you again

[odium]

very pleased to see tales added to loper!  i see them more as a late game challenge that i will tackle once I am totally geared up.  will provide something meaningful and fun to complete when runs go into the hundreds of days.  

[xanna]

@Admin I think you handled adding Tales or not to Interloper exactly right. Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness in both not including it to begin with, and in now making arrangements to include it with modified loot.

[Gun Tech.]

Good stuff, thank you.

[bladerunner900]

Thank you for listening and please keep us Lopers in mind in you future endeavors. 🤘

[Leeanda]

11 hours ago, Glacia said:

WE DIT IT BOYS!!! 

Really?     A bit arrogant .  In my opinion.

[Leeanda]

I get he's happy,and I'm glad htl decided to add it for lopers but it was still their decision !   I'm just hoping that in future that people aren't going to use the push and shove more just to get what they want.

[Leeanda]

1 minute ago, diggity said:

Why not? That's what the forums are for.  It's not all sunshine and rainbows.  There's storms and blizzards! 

If everything on the wish list had been granted this game would've been something else entirely..  

Every update there's an uproar about something , and this one has been the worst so far..    I doubt any one wants to come on here and read half of what's been said lately.    I skipped most of it.. 

[Leeanda]

7 minutes ago, diggity said:

Really? I thought it was kind of mild.   Ever been on other game forums?  Blizzard, Path of Exile etc?  Players can get very passionate, shall we say.   Anyway you have your opinion and I respect that, even if I disagree. Cheers.

Thank you. And the same to you.👍

[BlueMaxW]

47 minutes ago, diggity said:

Oh c'mon lighten up.  He's just celebrating a bit and they wouldn't have done it without significant pushback.

I think Hinterland handled it masterfully. If it was there at the start, the Loper crowd would have pooped on it. Now the Lopers want to play it. Pretty slick, IMHO. I respect it.

[Glacia]

1 hour ago, Leeanda said:

Really?     A bit arrogant .  In my opinion.

I was just celebrating, not being arrogant.

Im happy with HTL choices and indeed they add tales to loper due to players asking for it. There is nothing bad with this, everyone it's happy!

Sorry if my post have been confusing about my intentions.

[Leeanda]

2 minutes ago, Glacia said:

I was just celebrating, not being arrogant.

Im happy with HTL choices and indeed they add tales to loper due to players asking for it. There is nothing bad with this, everyone it's happy!

Sorry if my post have been confusing about my intentions.

Thank you ...   My apologies  for taking it the wrong way. 

 

 

I hope you all enjoy the tales.

[Glacia]

50 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

If everything on the wish list had been granted this game would've been something else entirely..  

Every update there's an uproar about something , and this one has been the worst so far..    I doubt any one wants to come on here and read half of what's been said lately.    I skipped most of it.. 

I understand your point but this is the first time where HTL changes something quickly due to players asking for it. 

Even raph says they are not usual reactionary, this is an exceptional issue and HTL quicky adressed because it's very reasonable.

This doesn't happen with other contents added to the game, even if the people complain, nothing changes.

[Leeanda]

There's always an exception to the rules.  I'm glad lopers can enjoy the tales ,I was never against it in the first place. It was just the attitudes of some players ,that's all.      I'm happy to admit when I'm wrong.

As long as there's no complaints about lugging batteries across half a map.😁.  

[BlueMaxW]

3 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

As long as there's no complaints about lugging batteries across half a map.😁.  

I doubt you'll hear complaints about difficulty from Lopers. (Can't make promises for anyone else, including me). I do wish I hadn't recycled so many batteries into lead in my current playthrough. Gonna be a lot of walking to fix those Transmitters.... I have lots of lead for bullets, but few batteries left for the transmitters... Oh, well. If it was easy, it wouldn't be TLD.

[Leeanda]

1 minute ago, BlueMaxW said:

I doubt you'll hear complaints about difficulty from Lopers. (Can't make promises for anyone else, including me). I do wish I hadn't recycled so many batteries into lead in my current playthrough. Gonna be a lot of walking to fix those Transmitters.... I have lots of lead for bullets, but few batteries left for the transmitters... Oh, well. If it was easy, it wouldn't be TLD.

I forgot how rare they are on loper ,even I'm not finding a lot and pilgrim is usually rife with the things.    

I hope you can find one though,having to start a new run just for the tales is unlucky.  

[Sherri]

This is absolutely the first time ever that I've seen a significantly sized studio respond so well, so compassionately & so swiftly to player feedback.

This is 100% the right decision & the reasoning behind why it was not in interloper originally was very enlightening & informative. I don't think Hinterland was wrong at all to be so cautious regarding preserving the difficulty of interloper and not wanting to add something so hard with little gain.

But the feedback was that players wanted it no matter how hard or how little reward it had & Hinterland pivoted swiftly.

This is not easy from a development perspective... hats off & a warm cup of acorn brew to Hinterland. ❤️

[UpUpAway95]

2 hours ago, Glacia said:

I understand your point but this is the first time where HTL changes something quickly due to players asking for it. 

Even raph says they are not usual reactionary, this is an exceptional issue and HTL quicky adressed because it's very reasonable.

This doesn't happen with other contents added to the game, even if the people complain, nothing changes.

That's rather unfair... I can think of several things that have been changed when complaints were made.  Rifles and revolvers were made toggle-able in Custom after some players complained that they couldn't use a rifle without getting "stalker" loot.  The birch tea toggle was added when Lopers complained that it was too OP.  Originally, after that change was made, ammo wouldn't spawn on Interloper, so it was fixed.  The behavior of T-Wolves has been changed a few times in response to player complaints about it.  Sprain healing mechanics were changed from the way they were when they were first introduced.  Even the mechanics have been adjusted a few times since I first started playing. 

HL have changed things... usually, but not always, by adding toggles in Custom... still, they are changes.  As devs go, HL is a cut above most in responding to player concerns.