Hello from almost next door (in Cumberland)

[unexpected_finn]

Mevlannen here, from our delightful little coal-mining village in Cascadia. Our home is within baseball-pitching distance of Hinterland's offices, so that makes us close neighbours (although maybe not the closest-possible ones -- The Long Dark is quite a cultural sensation in our village).

Have been happily wandering around in the Alpha Sandbox for months, and like it all (except for the recently-accessible coal mines, which don't at all look at all like real coal mines, even the old workings underneath our house and in the nearby hills). The underground workings really ought to be more squared-off in shape. Oh, well, at least we occasionally find lumps of coal in there!

Fair mention -- I may possibly be the only person in our village who actually still works in coal mines (including, for some years, the mines near Campbell River on our island, and we also worked in the last mine at Nanaimo), although a fair number of our senior-aged neighbours and friends used to work in the mines, too.

Stay warm and safe! Thanks for making a lovely game!

/mevlannen

[Bill Tarling]

Couldn't resist - had to add this gem

[bBvideo 560,340:55o7tznt]

[/bBvideo]

Or if you prefer an earlier version 8-)

[bBvideo 560,340:55o7tznt]

[/bBvideo]

[unexpected_finn]

(laughs)

My very first day underground in a coal mine (back in the 70s), I fell off a ladder and landed in the mine's sump, full of very cold, black, greasy water.

It did get better after that! Love that song.... I've fallen into water, mud, and various other 'delightful' substances many times over my working career.

One thing I do like about The Long Dark's mine-workings is all the miscellaneous random junk that's lying around down there. If I made a dollar for every hammer or shovel I found lying around in the old workings at work, I'd have been able to retire rich by now.

/mevlannen

[Patrick Carlson]

Welcome to the forums, mevlannen!

Interesting stuff. I visited an old coal mine in Germany's Ruhr region once. That was quite the experience, to imagine that descent as my normal workday.

--Patrick

[unexpected_finn]

Hi, Patrick:

Riding the coal car into the mine in the morning, we're sleepy and quiet (and, in the winter, a bit too cold for comfort). Coming out in the afternoon, we're tired from work, but happy to see the daylight again (although, in the summer months, the heat of the sunshine feels like a blast-furnace). The coal-mines of Vancouver Island are quite chilly, like a walk-in cooler every day; maybe the glaciers up in the mountains have something to do with that.

I do appreciate the nice safety-first touch of having the mine-portals being gated-off in The Long Dark!

When we finally seal a worked-out mine, we build a locked gate, but we leave a key hanging just inside the mine-portal for the first week or so -- that way, if anybody is in there, they can still get outside.