From the Archives: Old TLD screenshots (2014-era)

[Pencil]

18 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

I cannot tell a lie. Trapper's and the Quonset will probably always be my favourites...

...I will say that I think the team has become better and better and creating interesting and diverse regions; each has something interesting to offer. But some, to me, feel more like places you visit moreso than set up a long-term home in...

Actually really interesting you say that, because I completely agree. Quonset used to be my favorite, and although I would prefer the Camp Office, Trapper's is also a really good base. 

I haven't really thought of this, but if I choose somewhere to hunker down and stay for a while, it's always in ML, CH, or PV.  Maybe because those are the easier maps. The newer ones are more detailed and unique, but I think because they tend to be harsher or more difficult, they feel very different from the original maps. I even started playing TLD shortly after Mountain Town was added and I still love the original three maps. 

[Raphael van Lierop]

25 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Ever fall off the ravine? Or rope bridges?😁

 

Haha of course. Hasn't everyone? 😅

[Raphael van Lierop]

9 minutes ago, Pencil said:

Actually really interesting you say that, because I completely agree. Quonset used to be my favorite, and although I would prefer the Camp Office, Trapper's is also a really good base. 

I haven't really thought of this, but if I choose somewhere to hunker down and stay for a while, it's always in ML, CH, or PV.  Maybe because those are the easier maps. The newer ones are more detailed and unique, but I think because they tend to be harsher or more difficult, they feel very different from the original maps. I even started playing TLD shortly after Mountain Town was added and I still love the original three maps. 

Yeah, I also think it has something to do with the original three regions (ML, CH, PV) being at the "heart" of Great Bear, with everything else kind of coming off of them, so once you are in one of these three, everything else becomes pretty accessible. Vs. if you set up in like Blackrock or Broken Railroad, you are already quite far off to one side and everything else is a little harder to get to. (Unless you are using BR as a staging between Great Bear and the Far Territory...)

[ManicManiac]

I don't know 🤔... I've demonstrated that we can stealth all the way through Blackrock with no weapons and not get spotted by Timberwolves.  I don't think it's so out of the question for someone to want to just live in Blackrock for a long stretch.  

[context: a previous poster (who has since removed their comment) had seemingly called into question the wisdom of the idea of a player wanting to setup a base and live in Blackrock]

Edited May 9 by ManicManiac

[Leeanda]

20 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Haha of course. Hasn't everyone? 😅

The ravine most definitely 😁. Not so sure about the rope bridges though..   I've thrown myself off but otherwise been lucky.....

Is there something you've ever wanted to add to the game but couldn't,?

[Leeanda]

20 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

I don't know 🤔... I've demonstrated that we can stealth all the way through Blackrock with no weapons and not get spotted by Timberwolves.  I don't think it's so out of the question for someone to want to just live in Blackrock for a long stretch.  

[context: a previous poster (who has since removed their comment) had seemingly called into question the wisdom of the idea of a player wanting to setup a base and live in Blackrock]

I'm not a fan of BlackRock if I'm honest but the loot is good, there are plenty of shelters ,food and I really like bricklayers retreat.. but on pilgrim you don't really have any worries regarding the wildlife😁

 

[hozz1235]

1 hour ago, Leeanda said:

I'm not a fan of BlackRock if I'm honest but the loot is good, there are plenty of shelters ,food and I really like bricklayers retreat.. but on pilgrim you don't really have any worries regarding the wildlife😁

 

I really like the region.  I think what puts me off though is the TWs.

[Leeanda]

6 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

I really like the region.  I think what puts me off though is the TWs.

Is that in general or because you play with non passive?  

I don't hate it, but I'll really only go for a good loot around ,then maybe later in a game to check I haven't missed anything I need... 

[ThePancakeLady]

13 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Is that in general or because you play with non passive?  

I don't hate it, but I'll really only go for a good loot around ,then maybe later in a game to check I haven't missed anything I need... 

I can't speak for @hozz1235, only for myself. In Pilgrim Blackrock is a challenging region due to storms and confusing terrain, but it's very doable because you don't have toothy things trying to eat your face off around every bend in the road.

In Voyageur, it gets a bit nastier with hostile wildlife, who can be relatively easily deterred if you are prepared.

In Stalker? Blackrock is a death wish you decide to take a chance on- I won't go there until and unless I am armed to the teeth, and even then the lesser loot, the weather being much colder and more blizzard prone makes it a place I do not enjoy very much with all of the really hostile wildlife. It's satisfying to get through the region and loot it and still have some HP left, but I can't say I enjoy it much.

Interloper? I don't play Loper often, but when I do- if I spawn into BRM, I delete the save and hope for a better spawn the next time. 😬

[Leeanda]

5 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

I can't speak for @hozz1235, only for myself. In Pilgrim Blackrock is a challenging region due to storms and confusing terrain, but it's very doable because you don't have toothy things trying to eat your face off around every bend in the road.

In Voyageur, it gets a bit nastier with hostile wildlife, who can be relatively easily deterred if you are prepared.

In Stalker? Blackrock is a death wish you decide to take a chance on- I won't go there until and unless I am armed to the teeth, and even then the lesser loot, the weather being much colder and more blizzard prone makes it a place I do not enjoy very much with all of the really hostile wildlife. It's satisfying to get through the region and loot it and still have some HP left, but I can't say I enjoy it much.

Interloper? I don't play Loper often, but when I do- if I spawn into BRM, I delete the save and hope for a better spawn the next time. 😬

The weather is definitely worse, colder and more blizzard prone.. I guess I'm used to it a bit more because i spend sooo much time in pv..   I certainly wouldnt go on loper either..   

I've actually been trying to get the twolves to go into their attacks on pilgrim,but I don't think it's possible.. yes I'm mad lol.,😁.  

[ThePancakeLady]

34 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

've actually been trying to get the twolves to go into their attacks on pilgrim,but I don't think it's possible.. yes I'm mad lol.,😁.  

Theoretically it is possible. I haven't had it happen yet, but I have provoked the regular black wolves and a bear or two into attacking on vanilla Pilgrim. The bear? Going in its den cave and then bonking it in the face with multiple stones. Bear not likely that. The wolves- running up on one eating a fresh kill and not pausing before reaching the kill- literally running up to it and trying to pet it. Also by stepping backwards onto a wolf that killed a deer or a rabbit directly behind me, and it only happens if I step directly onto them while they are eating their kill. Might work the same way with timberwolves scarfing down a fresh kill, maybe?

[Leeanda]

6 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

Theoretically it is possible. I haven't had it happen yet, but I have provoked the regular black wolves and a bear or two into attacking on vanilla Pilgrim. The bear? Going in its den cave and then bonking it in the face with multiple stones. Bear not likely that. The wolves- running up on one eating a fresh kill and not pausing before reaching the kill- literally running up to it and trying to pet it. Also by stepping backwards onto a wolf that killed a deer or a rabbit directly behind me, and it only happens if I step directly onto them while they are eating their kill. Might work the same way with timberwolves scarfing down a fresh kill, maybe?

I'm a coward with the bear ,so flare gun only lol.. I'm not surprised he didn't like it😁. 

I did a thread on getting mauled on pilgrim and the wolves  really don't like you stealing their dinner do they..,.most if not all attacks I got were from approaching from behind..

I've tried the same with a few twolves but they just won't go into agro.. 

[Raphael van Lierop]

6 hours ago, Leeanda said:

Is there something you've ever wanted to add to the game but couldn't,?

Certainly. But that might deserve its own thread. 😇

[ThePancakeLady]

7 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Certainly. But that might deserve its own thread. 😇

*whispers* milton maibag milton mailbag milton mailbag

[Raphael van Lierop]

4 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

*whispers* milton maibag milton mailbag milton mailbag

🫠

[Leeanda]

24 minutes ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Certainly. But that might deserve its own thread. 😇

The early mystery lake thread is what got me on that line of thinking ,but understood😊

[thekillergreece]

13 hours ago, Raphael van Lierop said:

Certainly. But that might deserve its own thread. 😇

Insert *Well? We are waiting! gif*
For real, that thread would be nice. However I'm not sure if my questions could be answered because they might happen in the future! *coughs* bear spear in survival mode *coughs*

[hozz1235]

On 5/9/2024 at 7:38 AM, Leeanda said:

Is that in general or because you play with non passive?  

If I do play passive, ofc, they are not a bother; otherwise, yeah, it's just their erratic movement, howling...idk, they just put me on edge more than the other predators.

[Leeanda]

1 minute ago, hozz1235 said:

If I do play passive, ofc, they are not a bother; otherwise, yeah, it's just their erratic movement, howling...idk, they just put me on edge more than the other predators.

Oh I see...  Well even on passive they can be a bit annoying.. especially during the aurora..

[Laika Ivanova]

On 5/5/2024 at 6:58 PM, Raphael van Lierop said:

The game world, or the reception to the game itself?

Game world -- no. I found an early "pitch" deck for TLD that I put together when I was first talking to potential financing partners. This is what I had scoped out at the time. And this was the intended scope when we did our Kickstarter as well. You can see that the original plans for story mode were pretty modest. (This is a slide from an early 2013 deck.)

In the end, each of the WM episodes is about 6-8 hours and the entire thing will likely be closer to 40-45 hours once Episode Five is done.

In terms of sales success and audience -- no, I thought we would be lucky to have 100k players. We now have over 10M. There's nothing about this concept that suggests it would have/should have been this successful. I would like to pretend I always knew it would be big, but I honestly always thought about TLD as an "art house" game. That's still where most of its sensibilities come from.

 

 

The game definitely deserves it's 10M. But I think the main reason why it ended up being this successful was the constant updates that kept evolving the game over time, coupled with the already well executed foundation.