Sandbox Updated to v.256 "Deep Forest"!

[Raphael van Lierop]

The Long Dark -- Sandbox Alpha Updated to v. 256 -- "Deep Forest"

Hello! We're excited to share that we've just updated The Long Dark to v.256 -- our biggest gameplay update yet. Since we've changed some core systems in this update, we've produced a short video that outlines how the update modifies current gameplay:

http://hinterlandgames.com/deep-forest-v-256/

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Please take a few minutes to review the video. Full changelist below:

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX ALPHA v.256 "Deep Forest" CHANGELIST

GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS

* Replaced abstract Foraging with Direct Harvesting mechanics. You can now harvest fuel and cloth directly from objects in the world. This is a new system that will likely require ongoing tuning into the future, so we appreciate all your feedback and patience!

* Updated outdoor Campfire system. You now need to add fuel to increase the burn time and heat output of a fire. In Pilgrim and Voyageur experience modes, any fire will immediately halt all Condition loss due to Freezing (note that you won't warm up unless the fire temperature exceeds the outside temperature). In Stalker, the fire temperature needs to exceed the outdoor temperature before you begin to warm up.

* Updated the Wolf Struggle mechanic. Simplified the controls and interface. Wolf Struggle now inflicts damage events over time. Fighting back reduces the duration of the Struggle, and is modified by weapon and experience mode.

* Updated the First Aid system. Replaced the previous First Aid interface and also extended the First Aid system to support multiple afflictions per type (ex. multiple simultaneous blood loss events), as well as added new afflictions/injuries including Wrist Sprains, Lacerations/Bruising, and Hypothermia.

* Updated the player movement model to remove Running. We now have Walk (base speed has been increased), and a discrete Sprint action that has a stamina component. Stamina regenerates slowly, and Sprinting increases Fatigue.

* Physical objects now properly occlude snow and wind FX. If you see something blocking snow, it means it will provide shelter from the wind.

* Replaced the Warmer/Colder HUD text with a sheltered icon (wind with shield). When this icon is present, you are protected from windchill and fires will not be affected by wind. (Keep in mind that wind direction changes more frequently now).

* [Controllers only] Rebound Crouch to Left Shoulder to avoid accidental use.

* [Controllers only] Remapped Inventory navigation to D-pad, LS-click for sorting.

VISUAL/AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS

* Added ambient bird-song which communicates things like wildlife presence, temperature, location, and time of day. Sudden ducking of song from small birds may indicate the presence of predators.

* Added 1,500 additional ambient sound effects for high-winds and blizzards. Players should now be able to identify man-made shelters from afar, by listening to how the wind behaves (ex. metal rattling in the wind).

* Updated the campfire, torch, flare, and lantern fire FX.

* Updated the snow visual FX and increased weather and wind variability to create a more dynamic weather environment in the game. Performance of snow and blizzards has also been improved.

* The reticle now fades out unless there is something interactive within range.

BUG FIXES

* Screenshots now work when HUD is disabled

* Fixed issue with fish weight not saving/restoring properly

* Fixed some bugs related to wildlife audio sometimes distorting

* Fixed issue with campfires sometimes not being allowed to be lit in caves.

* Adjusted the two most basic beds to give some warmth bonus

* Removed equip button in inventory for broken rifles/bows

* Tuned deadzone for controller sticks to make fine adjustments easier

* Fixed white outlines on trees at night

* Exploration achievement fixed

* Fixed issue that could sometimes cause arrows to become compressed

* Peaches now lose heat over time once cooked

* Gear weight shown to two decimal places in inventory UI

* Allow extra fuel from harvested lamps to fill other lamps in inventory

* Cancelling lantern refuel will now give you fuel based on the percentage of refuelling

* [XBOX Only] Auto select of profile if only one exists

* [XBOX Only] Fix issue with unresponsive controls when using a second wired controller

* [XBOX Only] Detect and handle controller disconnects

And again, the video:

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[SteveP]

The new medical interface is very different and can be very confusing to use. A link to a help section or a video on how to use it would be very useful. I lost all progress due to wolf attack unable to use basic medical items. :-(

[kaynesyduin]

So far... Really loving v.256, Deep Forest; digging the new First-Aid interface; I miss foraging, but not as much as I enjoy smashing furniture into firewood... The light source rework is superb--and HUD elements are greatly appreciated. I haven't journeyed enough to feel the full weight of the update that brought me to v.256, however, I do know that the mesmeric sway and weightless tumble of innumerable snowflakes, trapped in the throes of a violent blizzard is as beautiful as it is a dangerous, entrancing white siren of swirling ice... So, wish me luck--as I head into frigid, Canadian desolation.

[Maninpants]

I have been playing this game for the last 5-6 months on a laptop lent to me by a friend. I am a big fan and the longest I've survivded on the medium difficulty (Voyager is it?) is about 80 days and the only reason not longer is because I did get a little bored and then started on Stalker but again the lack of new maps/locations lead to it getting too repetative for my liking (I have played lots of other times as well!). I find this game is at it's best when you are lost, in trouble and in a new area. The sheer utter joy of finding a new building to enter and literally save your life is brilliant as well as the needed food/drink/items.

V.256 however (although not played for long obviously) is a sidestep for me and the following is my thoughts on it!

Running - I was a sprinter pre .256, I ran most of the time apart from when I got knackered and couldn't. This system was fine. If we ran too much we DID get tired and the Fatigue bar I thought represented this quite well (gotta love coffee

V.256 version of running for me is just odd. Yes when you are in DEEP snow then no-one should be able to run but when I've got 2500 calories and am on the road (PV) I should be able to keep a decent momentum. For me personally, V.256 running/walking feels odd and this coupled with some other changes has made me turn the game off and I want to play an older version.

No Foraging - This could be really good but not like this. Maybe we could find a few more 'ready to burn' cedar and fir firewood. The balance between surviving and thriving and real life and fun is a fine balancing act through ALL of the game. Mayeb we could forage for x2 cedar and x2 fir firewood each day or perhaps at certain zones? Clearcut forest may let us forage x10 of each (as well as letting us pick up and harvest sticks branches) however another zone may only let us forage 1 (as well as picking them up etc etc)

Harvesting items indoors - Love it, great addition. Maybe some tweaks and I know I was hyperthermic at one point but after having 12 hours sleep my fatigue bar was about 25% full, I harvested a curtain and I was pretty much 100% fatigued. I've been badly Ill before but I could pick my nose without needing another 12 hours sleep!

1st Aid - Needs tweaking but another fantastic addition. Thank god we can harvest more stuff!

The new sounds & snow etc are really nice, beautiful and atmospheric.

I still can't see much indoors. Please let us have candles or maybe place some fire stick things so we can actually see. I'm pretty sure that when kinda off grid that people have candles etc in their homes as back-ups etc. Also the glow should light up a much larger area and even slightly light up joining rooms

Clothes/items degrade too fast. Yes blizzards can tear & degrade items but wow.

I would love to see non-instanced buildings. Although a loooong walk and quite cold etc, I would often stay at the Forest Lookout or the other one (the name has gone from my head Abandoned lookout?), I would stay at those for the scenery etc. I'd forage enough wood to keep a good 11-12hr fire going and if you time it right you can heat up a coffee in the morning to keep the cold & fatigue bars happy

Calories should be maxed up to 3000 or maybe we could actually get fat and they could store 500 calories per cell/bar???

For me, a pre .256 version of the game with tweaks, the good additions (from .256) and plenty more areas (the final game having 30/40/50+ maps etc) would be brilliant. Once you know an area it becomes too easy. Yes the changes that have been made counter-act it but it now feels too restrictive.

[BedorCZ]

Like the update so far, but the new light source quik slot is confusing. I can equip a light source, I can swap between the light sources, but I can't unequip the light source.

[stwfun]

I love it!

Great UPDATE. I already loved that game but it becam so +++ wow! great perfect balance fighting wolfes, great weather great adventure feeling this ouside wood collecting: cool idea walk in trees - all

I love it sooo much!!!!!

But there´s a really little thing- what about running on playstation? Is there a thought of this?

[Cc Smoke cC]

Man I lost all of my stuff in the update!! I used the cabinets and fridge for my things and now they're ALL GONE!

Man wtf I had over 100LBS of bear meat, tons of pelts and gut curing and its all gone... Not to mention so much fire wood I could keep a fire going for days!!

I'm day 40 and all my hard work is GONE... 3 guns... 3 GUNS!!!!!!

The only thing I kept was my inventory and that's it, I'm really not wanting to play this game now. Its unfair losing my things from something I can't control.

[IcyWolf]

* Exploration achievement fixed

I presume Raphael was referring to the "Exploration Game" achievement? Does it mean that all the locations have to be explored again in order to unlock this achievement?

[marcmc333]

the game is more about avoiding wolves than surviving the cold it has lots of potential but its being lost, the game is far to basic not enough to do for a serious gamer

[Japp1e]

Really nice work, really the update was a nice overhaul. Still would like the large log that are found around the map to be useful. For example with the new foraging system allows object to harvested over a period of time an hour or less depending on what you find. I think the large logs could have the same idea but when you harvest log you remove a segments, each taking a good amount of time like 2-3 hours or something. but being rewarding like 6-9 piece of fir, cedar, or maybe firewood. Adding on to that maybe allowing firewood to be made with the hatchet or by an axe. The axe being similar to the hatchet in that it can harvest wood and object just over a longer time, plus the weight making an equal option to the hatchet which would be light and fast just not able to create firewood or chomp one of the logs into a segment. But overall Loved the update. can't wait for story mode!

[Strav]

I find this game is at it's best when you are lost, in trouble and in a new area. The sheer utter joy of finding a new building to enter and literally save your life is brilliant as well as the needed food/drink/items. ... Once you know an area it becomes too easy. Yes the changes that have been made counter-act it but it now feels too restrictive.

I completely agree with this and just want to second it. While the improvements of v.256 are substantial (hurray for wind/snow occulsion!), I think that the importance of unknown areas cannot be overstressed. Of course the underlying mechanics of the game are crucial but as time goes by, I hope enough care will be given to expand the playable areas. Thanks for the great work!

[bethany]

Man I lost all of my stuff in the update!! I used the cabinets and fridge for my things and now they're ALL GONE!

Man wtf I had over 100LBS of bear meat, tons of pelts and gut curing and its all gone... Not to mention so much fire wood I could keep a fire going for days!!

I'm day 40 and all my hard work is GONE... 3 guns... 3 GUNS!!!!!!

The only thing I kept was my inventory and that's it, I'm really not wanting to play this game now. Its unfair losing my things from something I can't control.

Are you playing on XBox One? This is the byproduct of an old bug that was just fixed with this update, as it was our first for console. It's a very strange bug that basically can be explained as a "parallel universe". If you enter through another door in your base, you should see your items return for this save -- Just be sure to use that door from now on until you start a new game. The bug should not be an issue with a new game, but we're sorry it's causing a bit of frustration.

* Exploration achievement fixed

I presume Raphael was referring to the "Exploration Game" achievement? Does it mean that all the locations have to be explored again in order to unlock this achievement?

Yes, this is what is being referred to in the changelist. You should not have to rediscover every interior, but the discovery must happen in one game. This achievement basically covers every interior that requires a loading screen in Coastal Highway and Mystery Lake.

To everyone else: Thanks for the feedback, and keep it coming!

[federico]

I like the new version, got me back into the game after some time away.

One thing that I think it should be added is to auto stop harvesting/cooking actions if condition falls below some threshold. As an example, I killed a bear in pleasant valley, I put to harvest all meat, which would take 8 hours, and I died of exposure. I think the game should warn you, like "hey, I thing you are dying, do you still want to keep doing whatever you are doing or go inside and have a hot coffee instead?"

Cheers.

[IcyWolf]

Man I lost all of my stuff in the update!! I used the cabinets and fridge for my things and now they're ALL GONE!

Man wtf I had over 100LBS of bear meat, tons of pelts and gut curing and its all gone... Not to mention so much fire wood I could keep a fire going for days!!

I'm day 40 and all my hard work is GONE... 3 guns... 3 GUNS!!!!!!

The only thing I kept was my inventory and that's it, I'm really not wanting to play this game now. Its unfair losing my things from something I can't control.

Chill dude, 40 days aren't easy, I know, I died on day 64, froze to death while I was taking a 3 hours nap outside in my bear bed roll... There was no UI prompt or whatsoever, just a silent death. It's a game in alpha stage so we are here to help the dev team building it, unexpected things happen. Tell the team what happened and post your suggestions, stay professional.

Now I'm in my new game play, day 124, still rolling.

[goji]

Why is the update called "Deep Forest"? I thought it was a new region! Sad.. So that introduces the question : is this a hint a new region's coming soon (in next update maybe)?

[bethany]

Why is the update called "Deep Forest"? I thought it was a new region! Sad.. So that introduces the question : is this a hint a new region's coming soon (in next update maybe)?

Not really. We just decided to start naming all of our updates after the "Silent Hunter" update (the one that added bows).

There is a hint at the new region if you watch the entire video =)

[SteveP]

Why is the update called "Deep Forest"? I thought it was a new region! Sad.. So that introduces the question : is this a hint a new region's coming soon (in next update maybe)?

Not really. We just decided to start naming all of our updates after the "Silent Hunter" update (the one that added bows).

There is a hint at the new region if you watch the entire video =)

It's good that they are introducing new types of map with different terrain to make one adapt to the new circumstances and adapt game strategy accordingly. One has so many choices.

[Corruck]

Hey Hinterland,

Absolutely love the update. I made it to 258 days on my last big play and I only died because I got bored and just started doing risky things to pass the days. With the new wood foraging system and the extra plant life hanging out (not to mention the impending new region) everything feels fresh. I've loved that you've managed to fill the world with additional features but managed to keep it stark and desperate. I do miss the clock, not sure why, the new system isn't really an inconvenience, and I miss running. I feel like it's staggeringly easy to get fatigued too far from home simply because you sprinted to a place and now you can't sprint back.

But. Truthfully, it's still the most impressive game I've ever played, and I'm definitely still on my toes (and after more than 100 hours of gameplay: color me impressed).

Looking forward to more.

P.S. More maple saplings? Thanks.

[cpt0101]

I love this amazing game!

But, the last update removed crucial thing for survival. I'm a strong man, who managed to survive for well over a year in freezing environment. I have a hatchet, therefore, I should be able to forage some cedar and fir firewood, not to mention tinder, which, in any case, even when all the newspapers have gone, shouldn't be a problem at all.

Indoor foraging is a great addition, specially because of the cloth, but I don't think it's good to switch main fire fuel source from outdoors to indoors. At least, make foraging outdoors available when close to trees, because, I believe that only sticks and branches won't do.

Also, the new walking system makes everything a lot harder. Even smaller distances, for example, in PV, from the house to the barn, now seems like a proper expedition, specially when weather turns against you. Perhaps tuning a bit stamina, I don't know...

Just, maybe reconsider a bit foraging outside, beside that, excellent and beautiful game.

Regards to all!

[nicko]

I love this amazing game!

But, the last update removed crucial thing for survival. I'm a strong man, who managed to survive for well over a year in freezing environment. I have a hatchet, therefore, I should be able to forage some cedar and fir firewood, not to mention tinder, which, in any case, even when all the newspapers have gone, shouldn't be a problem at all.

Indoor foraging is a great addition, specially because of the cloth, but I don't think it's good to switch main fire fuel source from outdoors to indoors. At least, make foraging outdoors available when close to trees, because, I believe that only sticks and branches won't do.

Also, the new walking system makes everything a lot harder. Even smaller distances, for example, in PV, from the house to the barn, now seems like a proper expedition, specially when weather turns against you. Perhaps tuning a bit stamina, I don't know...

Just, maybe reconsider a bit foraging outside, beside that, excellent and beautiful game.

Regards to all!

I was thinking same as you but all you need todo is find those bit bigger branches / logs that allow you to chop them up to get either fir or cedar wood. plenty around as long as you have the axe. and will to survive to find them and get back to your shelter in time. it's cool because you need to decide / plan what your going do each day.

[Bill Tarling]

I should be able to forage some cedar and fir firewood, not to mention tinder, which, in any case, even when all the newspapers have gone, shouldn't be a problem at all.

Indoor foraging is a great addition, specially because of the cloth, but I don't think it's good to switch main fire fuel source from outdoors to indoors. At least, make foraging outdoors available when close to trees, because, I believe that only sticks and branches won't do.

There are more than just the sticks and branches... there are also various size limbs [which is where you can now get your fir and cedar]. For tinder, simply harvest down the sticks.

[cpt0101]

Thank you! From that perspective, I completely agree.

[cpt0101]

I should be able to forage some cedar and fir firewood, not to mention tinder, which, in any case, even when all the newspapers have gone, shouldn't be a problem at all.

Indoor foraging is a great addition, specially because of the cloth, but I don't think it's good to switch main fire fuel source from outdoors to indoors. At least, make foraging outdoors available when close to trees, because, I believe that only sticks and branches won't do.

There are more than just the sticks and branches... there are also various size limbs [which is where you can now get your fir and cedar]. For tinder, simply harvest down the sticks.

Thank you very much! Most helpful!

[Mafti]

Back after this update.

The UI is improving a lot, it looks more mature now, which is great.

The minimal HUD I love 100%,

Iteration of First aid is great.

General downside of the new UI:

for some reason, it takes me more time (physically, number of clicks) to actually drink, eat, harvest, repair.

This is not an improvement, but the opposite!

Crafting, it looks nice, but going through the "recipes" is also cumbersome.

Still, keep up the great work!

on a side note: ok, 1500 sounds.. What da...

[Soopa Twinkie]

I'd first like to say it's 2:42AM where I live and I'm hooked playing this sexy game. I got on and registered to the forums to let the devs know that the newest update is 100% better and is a game changing experience. Thanks for all the love and time put into this game and keep up the great work!

P.S I'm on the XBox One