when is the long dark based

[Bearimpaler101]

when is the long dark based? It's somewhere in the 2000s it's hard to judge because there are laptops and computers. But also floppy discs and tapes. What do yout hink?

[hozz1235]

I would guess late 80s - early 90s.

[bysinda]

My bet is on the early 90s 

we see these everywhere, and even though CDs were around floppies were still very popular. 

[xanna]

90s at the earliest, I reckon. There's laptops and flat-screen TVs and Internet available in places like Camp Office, but still CRT TVs in most places. That matches my recollection of what the mid- late-90s were like.

I don't know anything about cars, particularly in North America, but that would be how I'd try to figure it out in real life. Is there a Canadian here who knows about cars who can give an opinion?

[Bearimpaler101]

31 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

I would guess late 80s - early 90s.

I'm Canadian! But unfortunately I don't know but those do look like 90s-2000s cars. Btw valid guesses but there are a few notes on wintermute that confirm it's 2000s. And survival is based after  wintermute especially in the case of interloper.

[SpanishMoss]

Well one big red flag is the laptops and flat-screen tvs strewn about the island. I believe it actually takes place in more modern times, but since the island has been so cut off from the mainland, the islanders haven't bothered/not been able to update to newer technology.  

[bysinda]

6 hours ago, Bearimpaler101 said:

there are a few notes on wintermute that confirm it's 2000s. 

Which ones?

[bysinda]

5 hours ago, SpanishMoss said:

Well one big red flag is the laptops and flat-screen tvs strewn about the island. I believe it actually takes place in more modern times, but since the island has been so cut off from the mainland, the islanders haven't bothered/not been able to update to newer technology.  

Could be, could be 

[bysinda]

could be just old

[A Big Red Dawg]

Probably late 90s - early 2000s?

[ManicManiac]

Well, the lore in Wintermute suggests that it's at least sometime well beyond September 2012:

Quote

Grey Mother refers to the collapse that started "years ago," and states that Milton needed help "ten years ago, during the collapse." A note by the front door of the Milton Credit Union states that it was forced to close due to "economic realities" in September 2012.

Beyond this I don't think we get any specified dates that are more current... because that note on the door of the Milton Credit Union is clearly pretty old.
If the note and Grey Mother are to be believed... then we might be looking at the "present" in Wintermute being maybe sometime as recently as 2022... and we know that Survival takes place sometime after Wintermute.

Other lore references:

Quote

The Collapse refers to the economic collapse of the Canadian - and wider North American - economy "in the mid-20XX." As a result of The Collapse, Great Bear Island was initially cut-off from the mainland and residents were forced to become self-sufficient. Later, supplies were brought from the mainland, and islanders were split between those who welcomed the supplies and those who supported continued self-sufficiency.

Quote

The Milton Water Tower and water mains were shut off in June 2012 due to seismic activity.

So, even though we don't have a good idea of exactly "when" we are.  We know that Great Bear Island has been "falling apart" since 2012, and even before that the island was pretty remote and cut off even at the best of times.  Lots of old stuff around, and the occasional early 2000's plasma/LCD (even the occasional laptop) would be present but relatively uncommon... while CRT TVs and monitors abound, along with other analog devices and equipment.  Also, reasonable given the poor/unreliable power grid after the loss of the Carter Dam operation... and the probable reliance on personal Generators in parts outside of maybe Milton, Perseverance Mills, and Blackrock Pen - thought we know Blackrock did also have its own electrical plant.  

Edited August 25, 2023 by ManicManiac
Cross-posted lore tangent from another thread...

[bysinda]

@ManicManiac

Sensei 

 

[theisaactrain]

I always felt the game (at least wintermute) takes place in the early 2020’s, where survival takes place in the late 2020’s

[xanna]

On 8/23/2023 at 2:15 PM, xanna said:

90s at the earliest, I reckon. There's laptops and flat-screen TVs and Internet available in places like Camp Office, but still CRT TVs in most places. That matches my recollection of what the mid- late-90s were like.

I don't know anything about cars, particularly in North America, but that would be how I'd try to figure it out in real life. Is there a Canadian here who knows about cars who can give an opinion?

Also, there's this, so well into this century: