30 hrs of Dark-Xbox

[Random Fires]

Start: The Long Dark Alpha v.238 Voyageur

Current: Roughly 50 hrs. No in game, or game-hub time spent display.

Set-up: 8 month old Xbox, HD @ 78%, no Kinect, default controller, 8 feet from 40 something inch 1080p monitor(wall mounted up high), 60% xbox headset, 30% tv speakers.

Controls: Xbox controller responsive, button locations are natural. I did look up the controller layout fist game to change to inverted, looked at button layout 3-4 times.

Performance/Stability: No pop-up observed. Game crashed/froze once. 30 hr mark. Entered lake cabin (middle ones? did not take notes) @ Mystery Lake, game froze while picking up orange soda can. Reload, 2 steps forward, picked up same can, game did not crash. 2 sec game stutter minor occurrence after entering some areas on map like Mystery lake north/east entrance (direction to lake). Overall stability and performance excellent.

UI: Easy to navigate, all text font is clear, icons purpose clearly defined. Player inventory items/icons defined, descriptions detailed, and informative. Items in use, such as clothing, or tools could use a more identifiable check mark. White washed out, or check mark too small.

Sound: Clear. Source of sounds or levels excellent. Winds, deer movement. Title soundtrack seems louder then in game.

Graphics: Good, styled. Scale feels correct. Current particle effects are great. Camera movement smooth. Fps smooth. Lighting good. Animation okay.

Loading: Initial 25 secs, good. Loading of interiors, 3-4 secs, good. Loading of maps, 8 secs, good. Generally fast loading game, no undo idle time.

Questions: Googled, the long dark map, help, wolves, coastal region entrance, items list, wiki, and forums in that order, then found this site.

Survival Rate: 0-10 hrs in, 2-4 days, 10-30hrs, 5 days with lots of 1.5 days between. 30-40 hrs, 8-10 days with a small number of 3 days between. 40-50 hrs, 10+ days average. Quits none, respawn/restart 4. Death by wolf dominate. 1 Bear, 1 sleep freeze, 1 freeze, 3 falls, 1 food poison, 4 bleed outs from wolves.

Options: Changed to inverted. Toggled run method (20hrs in). Experimented with POV. All other values at default. Noticed no return to default settings or gama adjust. Like unit option, think in imperial, but work/write metric temps all day. No hud options. (alpha/sandbox understood)

Xbox specific; Help snap link does not direct to Hinterland site(goes to blank screen). No achievements or game hub. I know alpha.

Mechanics: Clear cut, fair. Only game issues were initially figuring out how to survive wolf attack, not enough screen information during event. (left/right trigger controls). Looked up online. Played a disturbing amount of games without finding a rifle after the initial 5 games of easily acquiring one.

That is about it. Game is exactly what was advertised. Alpha. Sandbox is generally a game+ thing to me. I'd generally play story first. So for me, playing a game in reverse is interesting. I highly anticipate story mode, and find the available Sandbox mode addictive, and relaxing(minus the death parts). I hope the preview program works well for Hinterland, it will be exciting to see how this game develops.

[bethany]

Good round-up, thanks for taking the time to document and post it. We're thrilled players are taking the time to come from XBox into the forums to share feedback, and I'll be passing your thread along.

Thanks!

[Raphael van Lierop]

Thanks for the great feedback!