May 2024 Developer Diary

[turtle777]

22 hours ago, Laika Ivanova said:

Still a bit disappointed that there is nothing about the Trader or Safehouse Customization, but oh well.

Don't forget that there will be Part 6 of the Tales. They had to leave some items for that last release.

Getting a new region, plus + cougar and third "tale" is plenty of an update.

It will also make Part 6 relevant, with trader and safe-houses adding substantial new game play.

-t

[bascolais]

12 hours ago, Vinceofpyrenees said:

I am worried about how cougars will be implemented.

As they are described, it mean that if I keep moving relatively quickly from region to region, I'll never see one. But I am already a nomad. 🥲 I won't be able to enjoy of this great addition to the game.

I'd much rather see cougars implemented as "normal predator". Maybe he could have the behaviour of a silent hunter that seeks the prey out if we are near its territory, also maybe hiding on trees and attacks by jumping without any warning. As opposed to the wolves or bears which alert you to their presence, we'd hear a twig snap only if the cougar runs over a stick.

Maybe there is some custom parameter for the time before cougar appearance.

[Ronger97]

For those worrying about not encountering the Cougar due to already being very nomadic, With how the Cougar has a static den in the world along with the wording of "once they are encroaching on your territory (or you on theirs)" it makes me think that Cougars have a set territory that is their own outside of when they invade your own area. So there's a chance your nomadic adventures may cause you to accidentially walk directly into the (mountain)Lion's den

[Adamo]

Switch player here very excited  no idea how the expansion works in purchase terms but it literally doesn’t matter I’m in the queue and can’t wait   (Also have TLD on ps5 pro but that’s gathering dust as the switch is just such a great way to dip in and out of Great Bear)

Edited May 14 by Adamo
Spelling

[Sashi]

I am excited about it all and I just want to try it all out.

I want a chance to buy merchandise as a way to support the team. Hopefully another chance will pop up soon.

Keep any updates coming, even if it's a delay, I just want to know that things are being worked on. The long silence is stressful. Don't give me a date, but just that progress is happening and I'll be happy.

I keep coming back to this game and have spent far too many hours in it.

Keep up the great work.

[Willy Pete]

Really cool stuff involving the Cougar. I think I mentioned some system similar to the den destroying a while back in the Wishlist. Awesome to see something like it implemented. 

[piddy3825]

2 hours ago, Ronger97 said:

it makes me think that Cougars have a set territory that is their own outside of when they invade your own area. So there's a chance your nomadic adventures may cause you to accidentially walk directly into the (mountain)Lion's den

In that case I am hoping that it is a static location so that whenever I get the urge for cougar kabobs, I can seek out his den and have him for lunch!

[Sherri]

6 hours ago, Valuable Hunting Knife said:

I'm interested by what the 'cheat death' penalties are- 

Me too!

Imagine permanent loss of a clothing/utility slot! So many possibilities... 😈

[Tonya1026]

Does the permadeath and cheat death apply to all modes (including pilgrim or whatever is the easiest one, I can’t remember) and Wintermute or all survival modes only or just Tales, specifically?
 

So if I start a game today, will I need to restart a new run in June for these new updates to take affect? 

[ThePancakeLady]

38 minutes ago, Sherri said:

Me too!

Imagine permanent loss of a clothing/utility slot! So many possibilities... 😈

A new permanent debuff- Always Hungry!

You can never get the Well Fed buff again. 😒

You're Gonna Regret This...-

Sprint and climbing speed cut in half. 😬

Well, Look At The Mess You Made!-

Your backpack gets dumped. But not all in one big pile- go gather your things, or what remains of them, from all over the region. Kitty thought they were all toys and seems to have carried it all off to play with... somewhere else. 🥴

I Can't Feel My Feet!-

No socks for you! Ever! 🦶🥶

Edited May 14 by ThePancakeLady
typo, of course

[Sherri]

14 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

A new permanent debuff- Always Hungry!

You can never get the Well Fed buff again. 😒

You're Gonna Regret This...-

Sprint and climbing speed cut in half. 😬

Well, Look At The Mess You Made!-

Your backpack gets dumped. But not all in one big pile- go gather your things, or what remains of them, from all over the region. Kitty thought they were all toys and seems to have carried it all off to play with... somewhere else. 🥴

I Can't Feel My Feet!-

No socks for you! Ever! 🦶🥶

Bahaha so fun!! 🤣

 

There's A Hole In My Bucket!

- carried water always slowly drains out.

 

Caught A Chill

- Indoor locations without fires never feel warm.

 

Rattled!

- Random headaches & vision blur.

Edited May 14 by Sherri

[Tonya1026]

18 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

A new permanent debuff- Always Hungry!

You can never get the Well Fed buff again. 😒

You're Gonna Regret This...-

Sprint and climbing speed cut in half. 😬

Well, Look At The Mess You Made!-

Your backpack gets dumped. But not all in one big pile- go gather your things, or what remains of them, from all over the region. Kitty thought they were all toys and seems to have carried it all off to play with... somewhere else. 🥴

I Can't Feel My Feet!-

No socks for you! Ever! 🦶🥶

I’m pretty sure you’re just kidding about “The kitty thinking your backpack was full of toys” but I actually really like this idea! It’s so unrealistic when you go back to pick up your stuff and it’s all right there in the same spot that you dropped it, untouched and perfect condition. If you’re in a struggle with an animal, especially if you’re carrying food, it is going to take your food and probably ruin multiple things in the process. 

[ThePancakeLady]

28 minutes ago, Sherri said:

 

There's A Hole In My Bucket!

- carried water always slowly drains out.

 

Caught A Chill

- Indoor locations without fires never feel warm.

 

Rattled!

- Random headaches & vision blur.

There's A Hole In My Bucket!- would surely drive me mad in short order. 🤣

Edited May 15 by ThePancakeLady
Think about it- why do I ever edit? T y p o

[Glflegolas]

I'm looking forward to this update! I'm especially interested in seeing the Cougar. I've heard the screech of one (I believe?) once, and it's very eerie. Given that I'm a rather nomadic player who doesn't stay in a region for more than a week very often, I might have to hunt down its den.

Mountain Pass sounds really amazing, like an even better Hushed River Valley (my favourite in-game region) IMO. I will definitely waste no time exploring it  Of course, I'd also like to do the third Tale while I'm there and find out what the heck Rudiger and his crew were really up to. Maybe finishing this tale will enable the Glimmer Fog machine to be destroyed?

Misery Mode sounds like something I likely won't use. Interloper's tough enough for me, I'm more of a casual survival kind of person. That being said, I'm sure that there's people who will very much appreciate it, specifically the ones who play Deadman or NOGOA.

Cheating death is definitely interesting. I can certainly see the appeal of it, it can be very frustrating to have a good long run going, only to get killed in a blizzard that popped up out of nowhere after a wolf stuggle caused significant condition loss. I'm not sure if I will use it or not, however, I do like having options.

Overall: Good work Hinterland, and I'm looking forward to kicking the tires here.

[artmunki]

You peeps really do like to keep a few surprises up your sleeve for every update, don'tcha? 

Okay, so we were all expecting (or dreading ;p) the cougar for the next update, but I don't think any of us had guessed anywhere close to this sorta distribution model. Just so different from all the other game fauna. Can't wait to see how it plays out in action, and even more to find out what those signs will be like. And to just see my first cougar too of course. I tend to play pretty nomadic so it sounds like it's not likely to cause me too much trouble, but it'll be a fascinating addition to the game. I notice there's still no mention of anything we might be able to do with any cougar hides we "procure", but hopefully that's just another wee secret reveal for actual launch. Keeping my fingers X'd anyway.

Definitely looking forward to checking out the new region and the final chapter of Tales, but there's little point in riffing on that until we actually get to see it.  And I play games just to sorta switch off for a while, so I don't really go for higher challenge modes (usually play everything on "normal" difficulty - in TLD that seems to be Voyageur),  but adding more complications in the form of this Misery Mode seems like a pretty thoughtful sop to the more committed gamers who like to gripe about changes/additions making things easier. Curious what all these new afflictions are tho, and whether any of them are ever likely to filter through to lower difficulties. It'll be interesting to see how all that plays out too, but chances are I'll probably just wait until Zak plays the new mode and watch that.

But then you threw the real curveball - cheating death! Don't think that's something any of us would ever have guessed at. Not just a challenge for the character, but whole new existential temptation for the player. Do we stick it OG and just let the Long Dark take us when that fateful day comes, or bite the bullet and save your familiar 800 day run .... oh, you torture us so! I do love that there's a price to pay too, and I'm just ridiculously curious about what those costs might be, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have to make that choice anytime soon.

[Veskaida]

Excited to play this patch! Looks like tons of new content to explore. Thank you so much for the continued work Hinterlands, loving the Tales expansion thus far!

[Gwynren]

I love this update. Looking forward to it rolling out! While personally as a custom passive wildlife/pilgrim player I wouldn't play Misery mode, I think it sounds like a super interesting addition. And the cougar mechanic sounds awesome as it offers a wildlife challenge that sounds quite manageable and different from the wolf jumpscares I disable when playing. The Long Dark provides infinitely different experiences to people depending on their chosen mode and settings, so it's great to see more additions that really lean into the spirit of this.

As for the evidently controversial cheat death mode, I LOVE it, but for a reason not many appear to have mentioned. In this game you can lose a 200-day pensive exploration save because your cat jumped on the desk or your mouse froze while you were walking across the trestle bridge. The option to recover (with an interesting penalty) from freak deaths that happen due to IRL situations is brilliant, and I can't wait to try it out.

[rush247]

On 5/13/2024 at 5:20 PM, rush247 said:

I know you probably don't want to give too much away but about the cheat death system.  Is it going to be different for each difficulty?  If so in what ways?  Like less lives or more devastating effects post cheat, etc.

 

If you don't want to answer that's fine, I can wait for release to find out.

Read through the diary again and it seems my question was actually already answered somewhat so nevermind.

"You can Cheat Death once, twice, three times, or not at all. At each death you’ll have to make the decision about how you want to continue, if you do."

I assume this is either our choices for custom or the choices you get for each difficulty, with 3 being for Pilgrim or Voyager and so on obviously.

Edited May 15 by rush247

[Enigmaecho]

On 5/13/2024 at 4:37 PM, Raphael van Lierop said:

Now please discuss amongst yourselves, and be nice to each other.

I’m very glad to see we will be able to enable the cougar in existing saves, any chance we could have the option to enable scurvy as well now that players have had time to understand the mechanic and at least a portion of those runs have potentially ended?

[Enigmaecho]

Gotta say a bit shocked not disappointed but shocked that we’re getting the last tale cougar and region this update I knew these three would be together but I expected it last after the trader, safehouse customization, photography, and wildlife reset, I figured that would’ve been part 5

[Enigmaecho]

Really really hoping there’s a functional pair of binoculars up in that weather station 🤭🤭

[Pyroxene]

[Sebastian1992]

The cheat death system, yeah we can three times die and we got the ultimate challenge, with the restrictions! Maybe I tested this with my only one stalker run? Poor Will, he must die for science 😉! Man, I can't wait until mid june 😔

[Sebastian1992]

5 minutes ago, Pyroxene said:

Hey, nice little fella 😇

[Pyroxene]

The ferocity!