TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, PART FOUR IS HERE!

[Admin]

Hello players,

We have just updated THE LONG DARK to version 2.25, build 126227.

This is the latest Expansion Pass update TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Four: BURIED ECHOES, along with a free update available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION, and various bug fixes and quality of life improvements.

For a description of the new features and content in Part Four, plus watch the latest Update Video:

PART FOUR: “BURIED ECHOES”

This Major Release includes the following new content, fixes and improvements:

Paid Expansion Pass Content

NEW REGION: THE ZONE OF CONTAMINATION

Accessed by road from Transfer Pass, the ZONE OF CONTAMINATION is a polluted wasteland, the site of the abandoned Langston Mine. Watch out for Toxic Hazards and Poisoned Wolves.

NEW TALE: BURIED ECHOES

Continuing the story introduced in SIGNAL VOID, follow the clues deep into the Zone of Contamination and uncover the next layer of the mystery of Rüdiger, the Security Chief, and the strange events hinted at in the last Tale.

NEW GAMEPLAY: THE TRAVOIS

Crafted from Saplings, Deerskin, and other materials, the Travois is a simple, but robust Tool for carrying large amounts of items across vast distances.

NEW GAMEPLAY: THE RESPIRATOR

The Respirator will protect you from pockets of Toxic Gas you’ll encounter underground, as well as poisonous hazards on the surface. Just keep an eye open for the consumable Canisters, as without them the Respirator can’t protect you.

NEW TOOLS: PROTECTIVE GEAR

We’ve added Mine-specific protective clothing: a Miner’s Coat, Pants, Chemical Resistant Boots, and a Hard Hat. Each on their own provides a different amount of protection against physical damage, wind, and moisture. As always, you’ll trade these capabilities off against weight and other statistics. 

ADDITIONAL MUSIC

New music composed by Sascha Dikiciyan, for the Zone of Contamination and Buried Echoes.

 

Free Content
This content is available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION.

NEW TOOLS: INSULATED FLASK

Coming in a variety of colours and patterns, you can load multiple units of warm drinks like Soups, Coffee, Teas, and so on, into the Flask and take it with you on your next day of trekking through the snowy forests of Great Bear Island.

 

NEW GAMEPLAY: SCURVY

Nutrition has never been a big focus for the food and survival systems in THE LONG DARK, but Scurvy is such a big part of the romance of long-term survival in frozen conditions, so we wanted to bring it into our gameplay sandbox. (NOTE: Scurvy is only enabled on new saves, to avoid the risk that players have already harvested most of the Vitamin-C rich foods in their game world.)

 

FIRST-PERSON HARVESTING ANIMATIONS

New animations for harvesting Carcasses have been added. Note that Fresh or Frozen kills will now need to be initially dressed with an appropriate Tool. No more bare-handed Harvesting of newly killed animals.

 

FIRST-PERSON HAND COVERINGS

Equipped hand coverings are now reflected in-game, as well as hand animations to match.

 

Known Issues

The team is currently aware of the following issues in the game. If you encounter one of these issues, there is no need to report it to the Support Portal. Fixes for these issues are slated to go out with the first Hotfix following the initial release.

• Bears will not spawn in multiple locations where they normally should.
• In new saves, Broth weighs about twice as much as it should.
• When updating to the latest version of THE LONG DARK (v 2.25) from an earlier version, Broth can no longer be consumed and has 0 caloric value.
• When starting a new Custom Survival game, Scurvy will be active if ‘Start Gear Load Out’ is set to anything but ‘Very High’.
• After picking up the Zone of Contamination Region Polaroid, the associated map hint is not revealed on the Survivor’s map. 
• Sometimes when harvesting a Timberwolf with a Knife, the Knife will be missing from the Survivor’s hand.
• When switching to a fresh Canister with the Respirator and a lit light source equipped, the light source will temporarily extinguish.
• Exiting the First-Person Harvest UI for Rabbits or Ptarmigans will cause the Carcass and any unharvested parts of the animal to disappear. Harvesting these animals from the inventory will not cause this issue.

Bug Fixes

This Major Update includes fixes for the following issues:

CRASHES

• Fixed a crash that could occur when attempting to view the Journal from the Survival Mode Main Menu.

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

• Fixed an issue which prevented Distress Pistol Shells from being used as a light source for actions requiring light.
• Fixed an issue where entering Placement mode while in a Near Death state prevented the Survivor from stumbling around.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in thrown Flares falling too slowly after colliding with a surface.
• Fixed an issue which allowed players to place Rock Caches on invalid surfaces.
• Fixed an issue resulting in the camera shaking violently when exiting the Carcass Harvesting interface.
• Fixed an issue where food would never cool if heated or cooked, and left on a cooking slot.
• Fixed a UI misalignment issue when diagnosing the Survivors in Episode 3 of WINTERMUTE.
• Fixed an issue which could result in items falling into other objects they were placed upon.
• Fixed an issue where blood spatter location could be incorrect when harvesting a Carcass.
• Fixed a missing button prompt in the WHAT I KNOW > ACTIONS >JOURNAL OBJECTIVES of the WINTERMUTE Journal entry.
• Fixed a missing button prompt in the WHAT I KNOW > ACTIONS >CROUCH of the WINTERMUTE Journal entry.
• Fixed an issue where Wolves consumed Carcasses from too far away.
• Fixed an issue where the cupboard under the sink in the Community Hall could not be searched.
• Fixed an issue wherein completing a Tale resulted in a popup reading “Mission Complete” rather than the correct “Tale Complete”.
• Fixed an issue where Fuses and Wires were incorrectly spawning in the Coastal Highway Quonset Garage in the Whiteout Challenge.
• Fixed an issue where interacting with the Transmitter from particular positions resulted in incorrect camera placement during the Repair animation.
• Fixed an issue which allowed players to discover Signal Void Tale specific Caches and Bunkers without first initiating the Tale.
• Fixed an issue where the Mission Journal would become stuck on 2/3 survivors saved, preventing players from progressing in the WINTERMUTE Episode 3 “Whiteout” Mission.
• Fixed an issue where Helicopters and Planes could not be slept in without a Bedroll present in the player inventory.
• Fixed an issue where new cooking ingredients were incorrectly spawning in the Coastal Highway Quonset Garage in the Whiteout Challenge.
• Fixed an issue where descending the stairs on Drift Island’s upper stairway was made difficult by collision.
• Fixed an issue where equipped clothing items would not dry when in proximity to a fire.
• Fixed an issue where Ptarmigan would not detect the player when crouched until they were far too close.
• Fixed an issue where some items could spawn below the surface of Hunter’s Blinds in Forlorn Muskeg, causing them to be unreachable.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in the player’s Cooking Skill not being applied to certain cooking Recipes.
• Fixed an issue where some ingredients could be partially consumed before being used in a Recipe. Some Recipes now require a certain ingredient weight as a result.
• Adjusted Ice Fishing UI to be more readable against different backgrounds and lighting conditions.
• Fixed an issue where time acceleration was not applied to the Moose, resulting in it remaining idle during time accelerated events.
• Fixed an issue which could cause Beachcombing boats to disappear while the player was near or on them.
• Fixed an issue which could prevent the lights outside the Maintenance Shed in the Broken Railroad Region from activating during an Aurora.
• Fixed an issue where Map icons were not added after interacting with an unmapped object in a revealed area of the Map.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in Prybars always breaking after use, rather than during use.
• Fixed an issue where death animations could cause dying animals to fall under or into terrain, making the Carcass unreachable.
• Fixed an issue where the Old Bear would stop stalking the player in The Hunted Pt.1 Challenge.
• Fixed an issue where dead Bears continued to emit breathing effects.
• Fixed an issue where the player could fall through the ground upon exiting Carcass harvesting.
• Fixed an issue which caused pelts to stop curing in certain interior locations.
• Fixed an issue which caused tooltips to remain visible beyond the load screen when starting a new Survival Mode game.
• Fixed an issue which prevented Fishing Holes from being placed in Pleasant Valley.
• Fixed an issue which allowed Rabbits to run in mid-air on Drift Island.
• Fixed an issue where Buffer Memories would not randomize correctly upon subsequent visits to the same PC.
• Fixed an issue where an inoperable “Cancel” button displayed when interacting with safes.
• Fixed an issue where Prepper Caches were not properly randomized in Challenges.
• Fixed an issue which could result in Wildlife floating above terrain, or sinking below the ground layer.
• Adjusted the Shortwave Radio so it can no longer be stored in containers. This should help to keep it from being misplaced.
• Fixed an issue where no damage was applied to the Survivor by the “Major Bruising” affliction.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

• Fixed an issue where giant pieces of Birch Bark could be found in Ash Canyon.
• Updated Fishcakes so their bottom side is flaky and appealing, just like the top.
• Fixed an issue where the lid and base of the storage Trunk in the Community Hall were lit inconsistently.
• Fixed an issue where some food items could appear larger or smaller when heated on a Rim Grill.
• Fixed an issue when reheating Stew or Broth in a Skillet which resulted in it looking like meat while heating.
• Fixed an issue where Ptarmigan Nests appeared on the Map with debug text. Ptarmigan Nests now show on the map with correct text and new iconography.
• Fixed an issue where newer cooked Fish were missing an image in their pop-up notification after picking them up.
• Fixed an issue which made some Rifle Cartridges unreachable in certain Prepper Caches.
• Fixed an issue where barrels intersected the wall inside of the empty Prepper Cache.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in certain items being lit inconsistently.
• Fixed an issue which sometimes caused Moose rubbings and harvested Burdock to appear black.
• Fixed an issue with misplaced terrain in the Blackrock Mine which resulted in a seam through which the player could see out of bounds.
• Fixed an issue where Wolves would play an eating animation while attempting to run away after being scared off of a Carcass.
• Fixed an issue in Mystery Lake where the player could see through the back of a rock face.
• Fixed an issue with all Challenges where Keeper’s Pass North and South were missing key art in the Rock Cache portion of the Journal.
• Improved shadow quality on consoles. Players should no longer see shadows “flickering”.
• Fixed an issue where lighting was incorrectly applied, resulting in blown out or dark interiors.
• Fixed an issue where a Firestriker spawn was inaccessible in the Broken Railroad Region.

ANIMATION

• Fixed an issue where the Survivor’s running animation would incorrectly play when falling.
• Fixed a minor stutter in the Rifle idle animation.
• Fixed an issue where an Arrow would remain in hand when interacting with the Transmitter, causing it to interfere with the animation.

PLATFORM-SPECIFIC

• Fixed an issue where Xbox Series S models were not correctly set to run at 60 FPS. Now all the following Xbox models should have an option to target 60 or 30 FPS: Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
• Fixed an issue where players with both Steam and Epic Games versions of The Long Dark installed on a Macintosh would find the Steam version of the application launched when booting from the Epic Games Launcher.
• Fixed an issue where some players using the Epic Game store were unable to progress past the Disclaimer screen. (If you continue to encounter this issue, please send a message to our Support portal using the link provided below.)

Summary & Reporting Issues

Thank you for reading.

If you encounter issues with the game, please report them to our Support Portal at hinterlandgames.com/support.

If you would like to provide feedback or discuss your experiences with the game with the development team or other players, please post your feedback in the Official Forums: hinterlandforums.com/forums. 

If you encounter a crash or issue with the game post-updating, please contact us as we can often help players address their issues, and we always strive to! This is more productive than jumping to a negative review.

Please remember that Hinterland is a small independent developer. Our Support Team strives to respond to all reports as quickly as possible, but as you can imagine, releases are our busiest time. We appreciate your patience, and please know the team is looking into your issues and we will resolve them as soon as we can. Unfortunately, we are not able to follow-up with every individual report that is submitted. But we appreciate them all.

Many thanks for your support.

[ManicManiac]

Bravo... this looks wonderful.
Thank you, Hinterland!

Edited December 5, 2023 by ManicManiac

[yoli]

Woaw this update is HUGE! It looks fantastic, thanks for this amazing update to close the year!

[xanna]

The carcass harvesting animations look really great!!

[Leeanda]

Thank you all for your hard work... it looks awesome💗

[xanna]

1 hour ago, Admin said:

Fixed an issue where entering Placement mode while in a Near Death state prevented the Survivor from stumbling around.

Lads, we've been rumbled. No more fire-placing for steady movement

[Dan_]

Top job! Can't wait to play tonight!

Enjoy the holidays HL! 🎄

[Renn]

This is looking amazing, I can't wait to explore! My first Flask just has the perfect vibes too 🎄

[BugReportEnthusiast]

RIP Big Birch, you will be missed.

Great update, i can't wait to hop in and play

[xanna]

The new region, items, afflictions and animations are all looking awesome, but WOW look at all those bug fixes! I'm really happy about all those too. Amazing work, @Admin!

[Smellyfries]

This update looks amazing! Thank you very much Hinterland! Hope everyone there enjoys their holiday! 

[xanna]

1 hour ago, Admin said:

Fixed an issue where Ptarmigan would not detect the player when crouched until they were far too close.

Uh-oh, getting ptamigans just got more challenging

[Pencil]

Looks incredible! Super excited to try this out.

I do have one suggestion; can we can an option to turn off harvesting animations? Some of them are a little intense 😅

[piddy3825]

Look, I'm wearing gloves!  

[xanna]

Over on lemmy, @rbos has done a great job of summarising details glimpsed in the release video: new item weights, vit C content etc.:

https://lemmy.ca/post/10711212

 

[Edsel]

@AdminDo you have any news with the nintendo switch update?

[Karl Grylls]

That was a long update video! Thank you Hinterland, the whole update looks amazing! To my surprise, the Immersion update catches me more than i expected 😱 And the region itself looks very interesting too.

Enjoy your holidays and i wish you all a safe and wonderful christmas time

[LostRealist]

2 hours ago, Admin said:

Adjusted the Shortwave Radio so it can no longer be stored in containers. This should help to keep it from being misplaced.

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I know, all this cool new stuff and all the nice fixes and here's this fricker right here who picks an item way deep in the list to bitch about - but thank god I already did throw it into a container, because I don't intend to use it, it annoys me unreasonably in my inventory, and if I had known I can't decorate a base with the thing I wouldn't even have picked it up... I want to misplace it.

Either way, lots of good stuff on that list, I appreciate many of the fixes. Quite excited to get into the game and try some stuff out.

[hozz1235]

Yayyyyy!!!!  

2 hours ago, Admin said:

No more bare-handed Harvesting of newly killed animals.

2 hours ago, Admin said:

Fixed an issue where Ptarmigan would not detect the player when crouched until they were far too close.

I always thought that we could get VERY close but didn't question it

 

[Admin]

22 minutes ago, Edsel said:

@AdminDo you have any news with the nintendo switch update?

While there is no new information to share at this time, we hope to share more information on Switch in the future. 

[LostRealist]

1 minute ago, hozz1235 said:

Yayyyyy!!!!  

I always thought that we could get VERY close but didn't question it

 

Gotta say it doesn't really apply to me with the custom settings I play, but I am intrigued as to what the harvesting change will mean to some of the more "hardcore" interloper people. I reckon that's gotta be trouble in the early game.

[GothSkunk]

at 06:22 of the video, during Raphael's introduction of the Insulated Flask, I noticed a lit candle on the fireplace hearth.

 

Can you elaborate more on that, @Admin? Are candles now a thing in this update?

[Glflegolas]

Nah, most early-game Interlopers use the hacksaw until they get their improvised knife.

[Toki1666]

You guys have my praise again, I've been waiting months for that series s fps fix! This update looks to be loaded to the brim, seriously good job, you've really outdone yourselves with this one.

[JigglyN]

YESSSS!!! 60FPS IN SERIES S HOLY CRAP FINALLLY