November 2023 Dev Diary

[Mistral]

The scurvy thing is the one I'm actually most excited about this update (well other than the flask + the new region, even though those poison uber-wolves seem bit fantastical) as it finally brings some sort of emphasis on issues with long term survival using mainly meat based diet. It will be interesting to see how that stacks up in the end-game phase. Next up, I wish they'd also look at the "rabbit starvation" / protein poisoning issue (as Les explains here at 32:52)

As for the flask, it seems like a great tool for NOGOA/Deadman since it should help in reducing setting up new warming-up fires & new tea-buffs after every 3 minutes. I mean in a sense that makes NOGOA bit easier, which is something I usually don't want the game to do, but constantly making new fires was also bit unrealistic aspect of that game mode, so it's ok. Of course, we will actually still have to see how much liquid those flasks can actually hold, and how much more time they keep warm versus the old buffs.

Edited November 11, 2023 by Mistral

[odium]

9 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

You can know what you like, and you can dislike what you see, but I don't think you can claim to know what has made the game successful.

the game that i played in 2015 and fell in love with, the game that captivated millions of paying players allowing development to continue.  that game didnt have zombie wolves and imaginary fog.  i dont even recall aurora wolves being around that far back.  i will always play and love TLD but it has grown away from the core primitive survival game it began as, i dont see how you can dispute that

[PilgrimReaper]

2 minutes ago, odium said:

the game that i played in 2015 and fell in love with, the game that captivated millions of paying players allowing development to continue.  that game didnt have zombie wolves and imaginary fog.  i dont even recall aurora wolves being around that far back.  i will always play and love TLD but it has grown away from the core primitive survival game it began as, i dont see how you can dispute that

Change is good, necessary, and inevitable...

[deviro_verity]

Looking really good! It's nice to see some more difficulty brought into the game.

The new region gives me STALKER vibes like no other, very excited for that.

While the wait has been long for Part 4, the content also seems plentiful. The question is is there enough left from the roadmap for two more parts? I'm not opposed to ending it at part 5 if that will satisfy the roadmap's promises. With the flask and first person harvesting animations in part 4 as well, there's not that much left.

[Mistral]

12 minutes ago, deviro_verity said:

While the wait has been long for Part 4, the content also seems plentiful. The question is is there enough left from the roadmap for two more parts? I'm not opposed to ending it at part 5 if that will satisfy the roadmap's promises. With the flask and first person harvesting animations in part 4 as well, there's not that much left.

How so?

Final Region (Mountain Pass)
Cougar
Global Wildlife refresh
Safehouse customization
High-end Graphics
Trader
Camera mode
Hunted Part 3

First five things above are the ones I've waited for most since this DLC thing was first announced.

If I had to guess what happens:

Part 5 (late Spring...)
Probably another Tale thing
Global Wildlife refresh
Trader
Camera mode
Hunted Part 3
Console performance fixes
Some other minor things

Part 6 (next Christmas...)
Mountain Pass
Cougar
Safehouse customization
High end graphics
Switch version
Final touches to the Survival mode as it's officially finished

Edited November 11, 2023 by Mistral

[Mistral]

Just now, Abenico said:

Rabbit starvation is caused due to lack of fat, right? Never heared of protein poisoning

They're synonyms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning

[deviro_verity]

5 minutes ago, Mistral said:

How so?

Final Region (Mountain Pass)
Cougar
Global Wildlife refresh
Safehouse customization
High-end Graphics
Trader
Camera mode
Hunted Part 3
Probably another tale thing

When you put it like that, fair enough. For some reason in my head the big features and regions are the standouts. We have already gotten more than what was promised with each part, so I shouldn't complain.

[BugReportEnthusiast]

I hope you can't make water by boiling snow when you're sitting on toxic ground. Would be kinda silly if you could, imo

[thekillergreece]

Looking great so far! I like the idea of exploring a poisonous wasteland of the region. Reminds me a bit of Fallout 4. I am skeptical of this whole 'toxic' wolf though. I know the game is not realistic but do toxic wolves have a place in this very specific simulator game? 😅 - They sound a bit out of place in this game.
Curious how they'll play out.

You know, this is something which I was hoping one thing: A region taking place in an abandoned city. It would have been so cool.

Edited November 11, 2023 by thekillergreece

[yoli]

Thank you Hinterland to continue making awesome updates to this game after so much time. It deserves it, this is one of those game we can play "indefinitely". This last update seems to have many interesting and well thought goodies into it. Regarding the contaminated zone, even though I can understand the concerns of some, we cannot judge before playing it. And it's just one area so those who may not like it can just avoid it. I think this is generally good to experiment with new ideas and the independent areas make this possible without affecting the whole gameplay, so please keep on trying and experimenting!

[ManicManiac]

The only thing I'm really uncertain and really wary about is the idea of the Contamination Zone... and by extension the Poison Wolves.🤔

The toxic gas in the tunnels of Blackrock were the part of Episode 4 that I enjoyed the least... but I was happy to go along with that because it was there for the story.

The idea for the poison wolves... I really don't know how to feel about that yet, but as of right now... I'm not really wild about the idea.  I thought perhaps it would be more akin to the Darkwalker's poison mist... and I would have expected that wildlife caught in it would just die of the toxicity.  The big catch being that the meat from those carcasses would itself be toxic and unusable...    Instead, it seems that we have poison wolves that I admit I am really worried that they might start to feel a little bit like the "zombies" of Great Bear Island; and I really don't feel good about that.

I'd understand about them being hungrier, more desperate, and more dangerous... but being exposed to toxic atmosphere... I'd also expect that whey would be a bit more frail than regular wolves (a.k.a. actually easier to kill because they are so sickly).

Now, to be fair... I want to wait and actually experience it for myself.  At first, I didn't really care for the Timberwolves... and now, I absolutely love them.    So... while I'm not sure I like the idea right now... I'm open to give it a try to see how it feels in-game.

Edited November 11, 2023 by ManicManiac

[ManicManiac]

However, for any of my worries or concerns... or (to be perfectly honest) my assumptions about what I've read about the next update, let me be clear... I absolutely trust Hinterland to do good work and continue adding interesting new elements to their game.  Anything that I may not end up caring for, I can likely just exercise a little player choice and simply ignore or not engage with those aspects (if I find that after trying them, I perhaps don't like them). 

Edited November 11, 2023 by ManicManiac

[Nervous Pete]

More strangeness afoot, things sure begin to get flaky out there on the ragged edge.

The new region sounds like an interesting shift, I can imagine some low-key Stalker vibes. To be honest, I'm definitely more fond of the more grounded, plausible, just you against nature side of The Long Dark. The aurora affecting wildlife was absolutely fine by me as it had just enough credibility given the massive world-changing solar storm. The glimmer fog was on a bit more of a shaky ground with me. The poisoned wolves... well, we'll see how they fare. 

The thing is though I can completely understand since it's tough conjuring up new threats without heading through magical realism territory and dipping toes into science / horror fiction. In a way the sheer long trek to the far territories really helps in mentally distancing the strange regions for the player. It's like going 'up the river' in Heart of Darkness, but you still can choose to just stay and ignore the regions, or visit and then *shudder* try to forget as your survivor lives their life in the familiar regions of Great Bear, relying on the long distance of a dangerous trek to place a comforting barrier between themselves and the strangeness that lies off in the far territories. If The Long Dark further steps into this strangeness I hope it'll continue to be in the J. G. Ballard style with unsettling subtlety.

So I'm sure I'll enjoy the new region. I really liked Forsaken Airfield, I genuinely felt I was in a real place when I was exploring that - despite the glimmer fog. But I'd dearly love after the Far Territories if you do commit to another, but place it on the other side and make it more traditional - with space for those of us who definitely like the 'cosy' side of catastrophe and also use The Long Dark as a release from pressures in life. A couple of frozen paradises would be nice for retirees in the Long Dark, that although comparatively easy, can always be ignored by the hardcore players.

The rest of the updates look great. Gloves look amazing, I'm really looking forward to the travois and scurvy adds a really interesting factor. I'm hoping that cooking recipes is the key to busting scurvy, but I also hope that there will be some food recipes that can still be cooked with either new oil and flour surrogates, or without them, that will combat the dread disease. Lemon snow cone, anyone? Honest. It IS lemon.

Finally I'm really looking forward to the base customisation for those of us who want to settle into our digs. Figures that'll probably be the last update as it's the one I'm most excited for, that's how it works I guess. Anyway, promising looking Diary devs, and all the best!

[Nervous Pete]

Just an added thought, but I think the implausibility of poison wolves can be offset by their randomly dying on you as well. So you could be stalked by one that starts getting slower and slower, walks in circles and then keels over and dies. That would make it kind of clear that these aren't supernatural wolves, just very unlucky canines that have gone a bit rabid huffing toxic fumes. 

[Mistral]

Yeah, you can treat them as 'sick wolves', kind of like foxes with mange or something

[bysinda]

Oh my God,  oh my God,  oh my God, oh my God 

I'm too excited *gasp for air* help o_o

Poisoned wolves..that took a dark turn

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by bysinda

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

to me that looks like maple saplings and deer hides to make the travois? love all of the concept art, btw

[AdamvR]

4 hours ago, thekillergreece said:

I know the game is not realistic but do toxic wolves have a place in this very specific simulator game? 😅 - They sound a bit out of place in this game.
Curious how they'll play out.

3 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

The idea for the poison wolves... I really don't know how to feel about that yet, but as of right now... I'm not really wild about the idea.  I thought perhaps it would be more akin to the Darkwalker's poison mist...

My first thought about the poison wolves has also been a bit like... wouldn't they die of that poison...?

But I came up with a second explanation, that makes it - for me at least - more believable and fitting for TLD. Namely, that these wolves are the ones who were immune to the toxin (i.e. all others died), but they carry it on their fur/body. Given that most other animals also die of it, they are skinny, hungry and more aggressive.

The toxic gas in BlackRock has been baffling me a bit: there was clearly a sign that we should be wearing a mask to enter. So I have spent quite some time to check everything for a gas mask. Only to realize, I am expected to just go in, and run as fast as I can. (I did backup the save before, tbh...) I'm happy it gets rounded out now.

Edited November 11, 2023 by AdamvR

[xanna]

A thought I had about the Contamination Zone is that it gives real vibes of desperation. The survivor has to go into that obviously dangerous area, get protective gear to do so - in a survival situation you're not doing that unless you need something really badly. I like this feeling. You have that desperate energy at the beginning of the game but it eases off as you become equipped and adapted to your new reality. Obviously it won't usually be desperation that drives us as players into Langston Mine, it will more likely be curiosity or completionism, but I like to be suspending my disbelief and imagine the terror and desperateness that would lead someone to go there. True apocolypse vibes.

[Raphael van Lierop]

The notion of "realism" and how much is right for TLD has been a topic going on 10 years now, and I'm really not sure what to say about it other than...then entire premise of the game world is that a mysterious geomagnetic disaster has basically wiped out technology, but then again sometimes it operates based on inexplicable rules -- which gives you things like Buffer Memories, electrical hazards, Glimmer Fog, aurora-affected wildlife, and a host of things in WINTERMUTE that you have and have not seen yet. 

I understand that maybe you thought TLD was going to be this super realistic survival sim, but that's never been the goal or the premise. I think I've said that for 10 years now. Everything in the game is meant to be in the game. You can dislike it, but you can't say it doesn't belong. The IP has always had some sense of mystery and surreality to it and that's always been part of the tone of the game, and it's what keeps it interesting for me. And with TALES, we deliberately created some distance (metaphorically and physically) so that'd we'd have a palette to play with that's a bit different from the stuff you typically see in the rest of Great Bear. A sense of mystery, abandoned projects, the wrecked environment, etc. These are all ideas that exist in other aspects of TLD as well (not just WINTERMUTE, but Survival too).

Beyond that, there's all the typical jumping to conclusions about how different mechanics might work (mainly all the ways in which people fear they might not work the way they hope), which I guess I will just respond with: I guess it's good you have something new to talk/argue about. 😅

[Leeanda]

Aside from the scurvy,which I hope long runs won't be affected by due to lack of resources,my other concern is if the toxic waste is going to spill into the rest of great bear and take away the beauty of the maps ..  I really love the way they all look now ,even hrv and I'd hate for the landscape to change..

Edit....

But of course I'll always love the game  and keep playing it.

Excited to get a new region I can explore ..😊

Edited November 11, 2023 by Leeanda

[Enigmaecho]

10 hours ago, Adamakas said:

Will new achievements be added? I really want to see new achievements, with the condition that everything is passed for platinum)

that unfortunately is unlikely i dont remember the exact specifics but having asked about it previously if remember right i believe that achievements need to be set before the release and they can only have a certain number or point value per the platforms rule so thats why dlcs dont in general dont bring new achievements, i too would love some new ones though

[UTC-10]

I just get to Forsaken Airfield region and now they will spring another new region on me.  😞

Will have to see (eventually) what the new region holds in store for me.  When I get there after I get through Signal Void, Part 1.  🙂

Glad to see things moving along. 

[Serenity]

1 hour ago, Enigmaecho said:

i believe that achievements need to be set before the release and they can only have a certain number or point value per the platforms rule so thats why dlcs dont in general dont bring new achievements, i too would love some new ones though

I'm sure there are some issues with Steam and registering them, but there are tons of games that add new achievements with each DLC.

I've also seen cases where achievements were only added later in the release recycle.

Edited November 11, 2023 by Serenity

[conanjaguar]

Hm. Toxic wolves, toxic pools… sounds kinda like Stalker . I don’t think it really fits with the theme of the game, but I’m willing to reserve judgment until I actually get there and experience it for myself .

The new scurvy affliction sounds sick (pun intended) as well.

Edited November 11, 2023 by conanjaguar