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We merged a bunch of individual threads into this one, so that they questions don't get lost. To increase your questions chances of getting addressed by @Raphael van Lierop please: keep them in this thread make sure they haven't been asked earlier in the thread or answered in a previous Milton Mailbag keep them as brief and to the point as possible Thanks for all the great questions, and keep them coming.

Thanks for the questions so far, and keep them coming! We'll regularly be taking questions from this thread for future Milton Mailbags. And don't forget to make sure you read the first two, so you're not asking a question we've just recently answered. Milton Mailbag Dispatch #1 Milton Mailbag Dispatch #2

Hello The Long Dark Community: Last week we ran the first of a new feature that we're calling "Milton Mailbag" where we take questions from the community from the official forums and Twitter and @Raphael van Lierop answers a few of them. We want to keep trying with this experiment. To give forum users a chance to ask questions, we've started this "Milton Mailbag" subforum. A few things to keep in mind: In this thread you can ask us questions and we'll consider them for inclusion into a future mailbag. Please keep this thread just to questions. Start a new thread in this subforum if you want to debate or discuss anything. We're not going to answer every question, and will also be taking questions from other sources. If we don't answer your question one week we may always circle back and get it again later. We may also adjust how we do this going forwards. Thank you very much for taking part in this!

Hello community, We’ve hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.30 (35412), which includes the following fixes: NOTE: Depending on your region it may take up to 24 hours for the hotfix to reach you. Version 1.30 (35412) Release Notes * [WeGame Only] - Default language set Chinese * [Xbox One Only] - Fixed UI appearing incorrectly when System Language and in-game language are mismatched * [PS4 Only] - Fixed issue keeping certain music cues from playing. * [UWP/Xbox Only] - Fixed UI issue causing older (v1.16 or earlier) valid saves to appear deleted. * [Gameplay] - Fixed rare crash that can occur when lighting torch from a fire ###END OF CHANGELIST###

Hello community, We’ve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.27 [34908] on STEAM. This includes the Unity game engine update that we discussed in our most-recent Dev Diary, as well as numerous other fixes you will see detailed below. NOTE: The Unity upgrade included in this hotfix has changed the location of the Debug Log for Windows users: Debug Log Location in Windows (new!): ⦁ In Windows, open File Explorer ⦁ At the top of the window, switch to the View tab ⦁ Go to the Show/Hide section and check the Hidden Items box ⦁ On the left side, Scroll down to This PC and click on the C drive ⦁ Navigate to the following folder: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\LocalLow\Hinterland\TheLongDark (Note that your Windows username will be the name 3rd folder you click through) ⦁ Inside TheLongDark folder you will find a file named output_log.txt . This is your game debug log. The Long Dark v1.27 [34908] Changelist *Numerous Art optimizations to improve performance. *Numerous Environment optimizations. *General optimizations *Update to Rewired Controller API for improved compatibility using gamepad/controllers on PC/Mac * Fixed several rare crashes * Disabled crash reporting for Modded games (to reduce the amount of non-relevant crash report data) Art *[Both] Moose sign scratches now appear with the correct color and texture across all Regions. *[Both] Fixed issue where player could become trapped when walking while crouched behind chair in Milton Credit Union office. *[Both] Added Charging Station sign to the Orca Gas Station in Milton. *[Both] Starfield no longer visible through light snow in Milton. *[Both] Fixed issue causing a snowy hillside to appear inside a Broken Railroad Region Cave. *[Both] Fixed scaling issue with toilets in Carter Dam. *[Both] Blood Decals now appear correctly when Harvesting or Quartering. *[Both] Fixed issue with some Rose hip bushes appearing to float above the ground in Mountain Town Region. *[Both] Fixed issue causing footsteps to sometimes look distorted in the snow. *[Both] Fixed a gap in the terrain in Mountain Town Region, near the entrance to Mystery Lake. *[Both] Fixed issue with inconsistent appearance of arms during Wolf Struggles. *[Both] Fixed issue with terrain near the Collapsed Tunnel in Mountain Town Region that was impeding player movement. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where Ambient Occlusion improvements weren't visible on a bridge in Desolation Point. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue with incorrect snowy terrain appearing in a Forlorn Muskeg Cave. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where exiting buildings could result in a black screen. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Tractor near Quonset Garage was incorrectly illuminated. *[Survival Mode] Improved presentation of thumbnail images in the Survival Mode loading menu. *[Survival Mode] Improved road and bridge textures in Desolation Point *[Wintermute] Items in the Hunter's Blind near Alan's Cave in Mystery Lake Region now have the correct texture. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where chimney smoke would incorrectly appear coming from homes in Milton. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where a gap could be seen in Jeremiah's neck during Episode Two cinematics. *[Wintermute] Fixed issues with incorrect Rifle movement in Episode Two cinematics. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with incorrect item texture on Lake Cabin Key #2. Gameplay & User Interface *[Both] Added Clothing UI Icons and tooltips when pressing R3 on gamepads. *[Both] Removed reticle when aiming the Survival Bow (as intended) *[Both] First Aid icon no longer disappears from the screen when Cooking or Boiling Water. *[Both] Fixed issue causing awkward First Person arm movements when accessing inventory with Flashlight equipped. *[Both] Fixed issue where Slope information would incorrectly appear when climbing up and down ropes. *[Both] Clothing items no longer display incorrect damage textures at low Condition. *[Both] Improved positioning for various Scrub Brush placements in the environment. *[Both] Fixed issue where double-inputs were occurring with the Steam Controller when accessing inventory. *[Both] Fix for being able to climb up steep objects the player should not be able to climb. *[Both] Fixed issue causing players to get Cabin Fever in Wintermute. Cabin Fever is now disabled in all three Wintermute Experience Modes. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issues keeping Faithful Cartographer achievement from triggering. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Stone Church icon was not displaying correctly after being mapped. *[Survival Mode] Removed fall death triggers on cliff wall above Milton Basin. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue that prevented players from Harvesting certain Tree Limbs in the game. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Moose Hide Satchel was not showing the correct bonus when the game was set to display Imperial Units. *[Survival Mode] Improved ease of mapping the Cinder Hills Coal Mine entrances in Coastal Highway and Pleasant Valley. *[Survival Mode] When selecting a Region in a new Survival Mode game, it will now always default to the last Region the player loaded. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where no on-screen message would appear when approaching transition between Mountain Town and Forlorn Muskeg Regions. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Harvesting UI could sometimes default to “Take All.” *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Paradise Meadows Farmhouse could appear unlocked by default. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue causing various tools to spawn incorrectly in Interloper and Custom Experience Modes. *[Survival Mode] Players can no longer continue Crafting after a single Match burns out. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where subtitles remain on-screen after character voice over ends. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where crows would circle locations with no corpses present. *[Wintermute] Fixed various issues blocking progress during the opening survival missions in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where voice over subtitles were missing after sustaining a fall injury. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where Water in inventory was incorrectly counted, preventing Coffee and Tea brewing. *[Wintermute] Grey Mother's Soup no longer remains hot for too long when added to player inventory. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue causing Fatigue to apply incorrectly when Rope Climbing. *[Wintermute] Players can no longer Inspect Jeremiah’s Coat in Episode Two. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where text could flicker during Trust interactions with Jeremiah in Episode Two. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where smoke would not appear from the Trapper’s Cabin chimney, even though a fire is burning inside. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue in Episode Two Lake Gunshots Mission where the mission marker was not resolving correctly upon completion. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where error message "Failed to Restore the Game From a Previous Save” could appear incorrectly in Episode One, causing the player to return to the Main Menu. *[Wintermute] Improved UI feedback when attempting to access empty sections of the Journal. [Wintermute] Players can now transfer stacked items to Grey Mother during a Trust interaction. *[Wintermute] Changed location of First Aid Kit at the beginning of Episode One to make it more noticeable to players. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where Methuselah would appear at the wrong time in Episode Two. *[Wintermute] Added container for player gear in Grey Mother's House and Jeremiah's Cabin. Using these containers will not affect Trust levels with either character. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where mission objectives from previous save games could appear at the beginning of Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where the incorrect UI label was displayed when players attempted to create a new save game. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with Rifle sometimes not responding during Episode Two mission "Jeremiah's Folly." *[Wintermute] Improved first-person camera motion to make it easier to interact with Metal Shard at the beginning of Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where Breaking Down catwalk planks in the Upper Dam could keep players from finishing Episode Two. Audio *[Both] Fixed issue with audio that was sometimes causing too much reverb effect when exploring outdoors. *[Both] Firing a Rifle indoors no longer affects pitch and speed of voice over audio. *[Both] Fixed issue where outdoor audio reverb could be heard inside the Hunting Lodge in Broken Railroad Region. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where character voice over reverb could be heard in caves, even when voice-over audio was turned off. *[Survival Mode] Walking on the frozen river outside Milton now produces the correct footstep audio effects. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue causing incorrect audio to play when Crafting Tinder from paper items. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where fall injuries could lead to voice over audio that was out of sync. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where exploration music cues were not playing as intended. *[Wintermute] Improved Fire audio during Grey Mother cinematics in Episode One. Cinematics *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with cinematic freezing at the end of Episode One, which prevented the game from continuing. *[Wintermute] Improved Mathis character position during Episode Two cinematic. *[Wintermute] Improved Jeremiah's character position and audio syncing during Episode Two cinematic. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue causing the camera to incorrectly rotate during cinematics. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where audio and visual effects were out of sync when Will trips and falls during the Episode Two cinematic in Broken Railroad. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue causing Will and Jeremiah character models to vanish from the first cinematic when loading Episode Two and skipping the introduction. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where a chair would appear incorrectly during a Grey Mother cinematic. Lighting *[Both] Fixed issue where interior lighting could create unintended shadows. Collision Fixes *[Both] Fixed issue causing players to get stuck on a fence in Mountain Town Region. *[Both] Fixed collision issues with bridge leading to Paradise Meadows Farm. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where Bears could be stuck on broken ice in Desolation Point. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issues with player/terrain collision when walking around Hibernia Processing and on approach to the Lonely Lighthouse in Desolation point. *[Wintermute] Fixed collision issue that allowed Will to partially walk through Grey Mother's rocking chair. General Fixes *[Both] Crows will no longer sometimes fly too low and into the ground as the weather changes. *[Both] Crouching close to Bears no longer lets players move inside the carcass. *[Both] Fixed issue where blood splatter effect could appear too bright against the snow. *[Both] Fixed issue where Region and Location details were incorrectly displayed in the loading menu. *[Both] Fixed issue where Region and Location details were incorrectly displayed in the loading menu. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where Wolves would sometimes be out of position when feeding on carcasses. *[Survival Mode] Added no-spawn areas to the docks at the FIshing Camp in Coastal Highway, to keep Wolves from getting trapped there. *[Survival Mode] Adjusted Soda Can location in Mountain Town Region to make it accessible. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where various doors were incorrectly showing a locked icon when Inspected. *[Survival Mode] Improved camera position and framing of Moose carcass during Harvesting. *[Survival Mode] Closed off an unintended exit from the Milton Basin area in Mountain Town Region. *[Survival Mode] Fix for Wolves appearing on the Quonset Garage roof. *[Custom Mode] General Resource Availability setting in the Custom Toolbox now more accurately reflects the corresponding Resource level in each Experience Mode, i.e. if it is set to "Low," no Hunting Knives will spawn, as in Interloper. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where players could walk through the tree at the crouch tutorial location in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with Wolf feeding animation at Paradise Meadows Farm in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where Region information was appearing at incorrect times when transitioning from interior to exterior locations. *[Wintermute] Fixed several issues that could block progression during Grey Mother missions in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Improved camera position when interacting with Astrid's Case at the beginning of Episode One. *[Wintermute] Added a decimal point to Deer Meat amount in player's inventory for Episode Two, adding clarity to the completion of the "Survival School" missions. *[Wintermute] Removed feeding Wolf from Forlorn Muskeg Region that would appear unaffected by the Aurora. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where an error message could appear after progressing to Day 5 in opening Survival Bowl section of Episode One. *[Wintermute] Players can no longer place a Storm Lantern on Grey Mother's head. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where inventory items could be lost after cancelling out of a Trust interaction with Grey Mother. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with icons sometimes not appearing on map in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where player would sometimes be standing on a chair after finishing dialogue with Grey Mother. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with mouse inputs instantly loading manual save files in the Story save menu. *[Wintermute] Added fade to black transition at the end of Episode Two cinematic in Jeremiah's Cabin, to avoid potential gameplay interruption. ###END OF CHANGELIST###

The Long Dark Version 1.21 [33995] Changelist * [Both] Fixed issue where displaced arm animations could appear for certain harvesting actions. * [Wintermute] Updated Green Survivor description text; Predators are less deadly in this Experience, but will still attack you when unprovoked. (i.e. Green Survivor does not match Pilgrim settings.) * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where items could disappear from the Milton House after breaking down the blanket. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where stored items would be duplicated and could appear in more than one location at once. This affects the following locations: Lake Cabins, Fishing Huts, Jackrabbit House and PV Crossroads House. Please note this fix only applies to games created using Version 1.21 and onward. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where a map icon may automatically appear for specific locations when they are entered (ex. Stone Church in Desolation Point) rather than through Charcoal Mapping, which would result in them not counting towards the Faithful Cartographer achievement. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue with the items placed in one location could appear in a different location instead (i.e. we created a teleportation device!). This affects the following locations: Farmhouse, Farmhouse Basement, Dam, Dam Trailers. Note that this fix applies to existing games. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ### - The Hinterland Team

The Long Dark Version 1.21 [33995] Changelist Note: We expect to have PS4 and Xbox One versions of this patch ready to release sometime on Thursday, Dec. 21. * [Both] Fixed issue where displaced arm animations could appear for certain harvesting actions. * [Wintermute] Updated Green Survivor description text; Predators are less deadly in this Experience, but will still attack you when unprovoked. (i.e. Green Survivor does not match Pilgrim settings.) * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where items could disappear from the Milton House after breaking down the blanket. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where stored items would be duplicated and could appear in more than one location at once. This affects the following locations: Lake Cabins, Fishing Huts, Jackrabbit House and PV Crossroads House. Please note this fix only applies to games created using Version 1.21 and onward. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where a map icon may automatically appear for specific locations when they are entered (ex. Stone Church in Desolation Point) rather than through Charcoal Mapping, which would result in them not counting towards the Faithful Cartographer achievement. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue with the items placed in one location could appear in a different location instead (i.e. we created a teleportation device!). This affects the following locations: Farmhouse, Farmhouse Basement, Dam, Dam Trailers. Note that this fix applies to existing games. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ### - The Hinterland Team

The Long Dark Hotfix to version 1.19 [33943] on STEAM Note for GOG Users: GOG has the Update to 1.19 as well, and is performing their own internal QA, which is typical procedure. As soon as they are complete, the Update will be live for you as well. When it is, you will be on full parity with every platform. Includes the following fixes: * [Survival] Fixed the Faithful Cartographer achievement. Fixes are retroactive but may require performing one mapping action per region to update the Achievement "checklist". * [Survival] Fixed issue with stored loot being reset in the Pleasant Valley Farmhouse. Previous loot should now be restored. * [Wintermute] Fixed issue where player could end up with second, untreatable "Plane Crash Injuries" due to conflict between manual save and checkpoint. * [Both] Fixed crash on 32-bit Windows XP systems. * [Both] Fixed crash when changing resolution on DirectX 9 systems. ### End of Release Notes ###

A note from The Long Dark’s Creative Director, Raphael van Lierop *** Hello everyone, The team’s hard at work on finalizing the (still un-named) December update and with a bunch of new players joining us thanks to the Steam Autumn Sale, it seems like a good time to preview a few of the treats we have in store. Mooooose! First off, you’re all waiting to hear more information about the Moose. The model, animation, audio, and core behaviour is all finished. We’ve populated the world with Moose — it’s a pretty rare animal so don’t expect it to be easy to find — and we’re now just tuning the AI behaviour and some of the Moose’s unique capabilities to make sure it feels balanced. This guy does not look happy to see you. Keep your eyes for these scratches on the tree bark; this might indicate Moose are in the area! We have some other fun updates to Survival Mode coming in December, but I’d like to talk about a couple of things we’re doing for Story Mode in the December update. WINTERMUTE Experience Modes A common piece of feedback we received after launching WINTERMUTE was that the first two episodes were far too easy for our experienced Survival Mode players. This made the introductory segments feel slow-paced and too “tutorial-y”, and yet these sames parts could be quite punishing for players who didn’t know anything about the game. It was challenging to balance Episode One for brand new players, and also players who had put 1000s of hours into the Sandbox, and we were reluctant to add the notion of “difficulty modes” for the Story experience, because we wanted everyone to share that experience the same way. Also, having multiple “difficulties” would create a ton of additional tuning and bug-fixing overhead for us while we were trying to finalize our first two Episodes, and we were nervous about taking that on in addition to all the other finaling tasks on our plates. However, we really want everyone who plays WINTERMUTE — new or veteran — to have a great experience with this narrative mode, and we were sad to hear so many veteran survivors just didn’t enjoy Episode One as much due to the level of challenge, so in December we’ll be rolling out three new Experience Modes, specifically for WINTERMUTE. These loosely map to “difficulty”, and are similar to how we tune our Survival Mode Experiences, but to be clear, these are specifically tuned for WINTERMUTE (i.e. they are different from the Survival Mode experiences of Pilgrim, Voyageur, etc.). Three new Experiences should provide a good range of choices for WINTERMUTE players, from the Greenest to the most Hardened survivors. This should give both the newest, and most veteran player of The Long Dark, a little more control over the type of experience they have when playing WINTERMUTE. (Please note the new Experience Modes for WINTERMUTE will only work on games started *after* the December update.) WINTERMUTE Save System Another issue we encountered, post-launch, were challenges around our implementation of the Save system for WINTERMUTE. Unlike Survival Mode, which is Permadeath (i.e. once you die, we delete your game), WINTERMUTE has a two-slot save system. Saves were triggered using the Bedroll or resting in a Bed (as in Survival Mode), and also by Autosave (as in Survival Mode), but we found that this introduced too many restrictions for players, discouraged experimentation, and also often resulted in players getting “stuck” between two bad saves, sometimes in an irrecoverable situation. This was terrible for some people, and we feel really bad about it. So with the December update, we’re rolling out a completely overhauled Save System for WINTERMUTE. You can now save pretty much anywhere, with between 20-25 save slots (depending on platform) shared between WINTERMUTE, Survival Mode, and Challenges. We also let you reload from an Autosave, or a Checkpoint (these are triggered by mission progress), so between those systems, we feel that players will have LOTS of choices in terms of how often or how rarely they want to save, and will have a much better chance to recover from a bad situation, or create their own “branches” when they want to experiment with different things in a given Episode. For anyone that already has Saves for WINTERMUTE, this revision doesn’t change anything. You’ll find your existing saves in the list, and you should be able to create new saves using the revised system. And to be 100% clear — WE HAVE NOT CHANGED THE WAY SAVES WORK IN SURVIVAL MODE (or the Challenges). Both are still permadeath experiences. In addition to Milton being playable in Survival Mode in December (mentioned in our October Dev Blog), we have some other cool stuff we haven’t shared yet – we still want you to be surprised! — but hopefully this outline gives you a bit of a better idea of some of what you can look forward to in the December update. Thanks for reading! We’re really excited to see how you like the December update, and to all the players who are joining us for the first time — Welcome to the Quiet Apocalypse! Raphael

The Steam Autumn Sale is now live! You can save 60% on both The Long Dark and its Official Soundtrack. Check it out! http://store.steampowered.com/app/305620/The_Long_Dark/

Save 20% right now on all official Hinterland Merchandise! From now through November 30, simply enter the following discount code when checking out from the Hinterland Store: TLDWINTER17. Please note, the discount code can only be used once per customer. And if you are looking to pick up some gifts in time for the holidays, please be aware our shipping deadline is November 30 for North American orders. For orders outside North America, we can't at this time guarantee delivery prior to the holidays. www.hinterlandstore.com

Four Days of Night is back this Halloween! Join us for some lighthearted fun in The Long Dark's Survival Mode. This is a Steam-only event. Four Days of Night starts Friday, October 27th at 11 pm PST, and ends Tuesday, October 31st, at 11 pm PST. In Four Days of Night, you'll experience: * Perpetual darkness -- the sun will not rise * Light sources (ex. Lanterns) last twice as long as usual * "Demon" wolves * Strategically located Pumpkin Pies with Warming and Wildlife Deterrent capabilities! * High-calorie value snacks in Candy Bowls * Jack-O-Lanterns that mark the location of rare Loot Participation is completely optional - after the event begins, right click on The Long Dark in your Steam library, go to Properties>Betas and enter the following code to gain access to a special branch of the game: FourDaysofNight Note: The Aurora is disabled during Four Days of Night. We also recommend starting a new Survival Mode game save during the event - progress you make won't carry back over to the regular, main branch of the The Long Dark after Halloween. Good luck, and we hope you enjoy it! - The Hinterland Team

The Road Ahead Hello, all. It’s been a little while since you heard much from me. August was our launch month, and kept us quite busy with post-launch support (patching, mainly). Most of the team took September off to rest up, apart from a contingent who worked on some platform support tasks, and now most of the team is back at work and it’s time to fill you in on our plans for The Long Dark, moving forward. While there were a lot of things to celebrate about our 1.0 launch, one thing it showed us was how 100+ updates to The Long Dark while in Early Access and on Game Preview, didn’t fully prepare us for the challenges of a full 1.0 launch on multiple platforms (including two consoles). Launching a game “for real” involves a lot of extra steps as compared to releasing an update, and while we understood this intellectually, it was only in the last few months of the project that we fully comprehended the scope of the challenge we’d taken on for ourselves. I think that in many ways, we bit off quite a bit more than our small team could handle, and that showed in the first couple of weeks of our launch. As you might recall from my last devblog post, I wasn’t very happy with the state of the game we launched and while we’ve been able to address most of the launch issues, we can’t erase any good-will we lost from the community due to the imperfect launch. This weighs heavily on my mind, as we move forward. In order to avoid this situation in the future, we’re building up an internal platform and publishing team that will focus on all aspects of getting the game into your hands, including testing, localization, certification, and the promotion and marketing of our updates and future content work. While we’re still sorting out the structure and needs of this team, we’ve already made the first steps towards this plan, and I believe that this approach will help ensure our future launches are as smooth as they should be. This is just the “cost” of self-publishing games, when you are an independent studio. In terms of the game itself — although our plans for Episodes One and Two were always that they be introductory to both gameplay and worldbuilding, our approach to releasing an open-world game in episodic format was always very experimental. Having been able to better gauge response to this approach, we can see that many of you didn’t like the more constrained approach we took with our Story mode, compared to the free-form, self-directed openness of Survival Mode. Development of The Long Dark has always been iterative, and we see no reason why this approach shouldn’t also apply to helping us make better and better episode content. While we’re still committed to our episodic structure — as it lends itself well to certain storytelling conceits (ex. playing two different protagonists) and certain production methodologies (ex. we can continue to build the game and world in incremental steps, which means we can remain a small studio) — I think we need to bring our narrative mode more in line with the core experience of Survival Mode. This means, a new approach to how we present story and characters, more variation in our mission type and structure, and more freedom in how you can overcome the various obstacles we throw in your way. This increased freedom means we have to revisit some of the tools and tech we set up for Episodes One and Two, and we also need to rethink our approach to how we create mission content, and how you experience it. I’d also like to fix some of the areas of criticism in Episodes one and Two, relating to how experienced players found the opening sections of Episode One to be too much of a tutorial, the linearity of missions, the lack of full voice acting in our dialogue sequences, and the over dependence on “fetch” quests. While the fundamental building blocks of The Long Dark’s gameplay do depend on acquiring resources, and those resources take on new meaning in a world where you have to think about people other than yourself, we realize that for some of you, the lack of choice in when and how you approached certain missions detracted from the freedom you expect to find in our game. It’s never good when a game sets certain expectations in one mode, that aren’t fully paid off in another, particularly if players don’t understand this. Although we tried to educate our players around how our Story mode content would differ from Survival mode, it’s impossible to reach everyone, and certainly many players came into the episodes with certain expectations that we just didn’t meet. I’m not yet fully sure how we will do all these things, but my aim for The Long Dark is to ensure that by the time we launch Episode Three, not only is that Episode a much stronger expression of The Long Dark as a narrative survival experience, but that Episodes One and Two have also been substantially improved. All of this is going to take a lot of work, so I don’t want to set the expectation that it will happen quickly. We won’t be launching Episode Three this year. We won’t announce a launch date until it’s ready to go. In the meantime, as we had to put Survival Mode aside while we finished Episode work for launch, we now want to get back to it. We’re working on a big Survival Mode update to launch some time in December. This update will add a few things we know you’re waiting for — for example, Milton as a Survival Mode region, the Moose — as well as a few things you may not be expecting. We’ll share more about the December update as we get closer to launching it. It’ll be a pretty substantial update to Survival mode. I’d also like to try to find a way to balance our resources so that we can get you more frequent Survival Mode updates in the future — it’ll likely mean smaller updates that come more regularly. With Hallowe’en around the corner, there have been a lot of questions about if we’ll reprise last year’s “4 Days of Night” event. We’re worried about 4DON interfering with other work we’re doing in the game right now, so we *are* going to run the 4 Days of Night event again, but it’ll be in a separate branch of the game. This way, we can roll it out without it derailing our December update. Unfortunately, there’s no way for us to run multiple branches of the game on Xbox or PS4, so this will be a Steam-only event. But we think “live” events could be a fun way to create some shared experiences for you, so we’ll be investigating ways we can support more of these types of community events — across all our platforms — in the future. I’ll also do my best to publish a devblog update more frequently moving forward, to keep you in the loop about what the team’s working on. Thanks for your ongoing support! – Raphael

The Long Dark hotfixed to v1.15 (32683) on STEAM V1.15 has now been re-released. Thanks again to everyone for your patience while we fixed these bugs! --- FYI: We've since rolled back this hotfix due to the UI bug noted below - the current Steam version is v1.14, until we re-release the hotfix. Thanks for your understanding. --- ***NOTE: We're aware of a new issue with Mouse UI interactions when performing some menu actions, such as Harvesting or Cooking/Boiling Water/Adding Fuel. You can still navigate the menus using WASD and Enter, or with a Controller. And Mouse inputs can still be used to change between Fuel/Food/Water, for example. *** Thanks for your patience as we work to resolve this issue. *We'll have hotfixes up for additional platforms, as they become ready for release.* * Fixed issue with not being able to ascend rope in Broken Railroad region * Fixed collision issue in Dam that could cause player to fall out of the world. * Fixed issuse with gamepad and Start Fire UI ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

Steam and PS4 editions of The Long Dark are now updated to v1.14 (32663)) *Patches for other platforms are currently in testing and will follow when they are ready for release.* WARNING: There may be story spoilers in these notes.* Improved screen flow leading to Episode Two once Episode One credits are complete or skipped.* Episode Two: Fixed issue preventing Jeremiah's Flare Trust mission from triggering correctly.* Episode Two: Fixed issue that could prevent Old Bear from progressing to next waypoint in Bear Hunt mission.* Episode Two: Fix for Lake Cabin key using the incorrect key asset.* Episode Two & Survival Mode: Added Rope Climb to River area in Broken Railroad region.* Survival Mode: Tuned Aurora frequency values to make it more rare.* Survival Mode: Fixed duplicated gear items in Trailer.* Added scrolling for Journal text that won't fit entirely on screen.* Fixed issue with gamepad controls when viewing Journal Notes.* Fixed issue with Back button returning to Main Menu instead of previous screen when viewing Journal Notes from the Main Menu.* Fixed issue with Cairn and Note collectibles not saving to Journal after death.* Fixed issue where Flashlight pick-up "hot spot" was awkwardly large.* Fixed issue where Backer text appeared as "N/A" instead of the correct English text in translated versions; this text is meant to be left untranslated in all languages.* Fixed issue with duplicate Bears spawning in the Challenge: Hunted, Part Two* Fixed issue with duplicate Jeremiah Knives spawning in Episode Two.* Fixed issue with being able to get past the collapsed bridge in the Broken Railroad region.### END OF PATCH NOTES ###We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience.- The Hinterland Team

Hello Community, Our latest Dev Diary is now live. In it we take a look at our launch and what's in store for The Long Dark going forward. http://www.thelongdark.com/news/dev-diary-september-2017/ Please also note the information at the bottom of the post regarding studio and community activity during the month of September. Thank you! - Hinterland Team

Hello all,We've released the soundtrack for Survival Mode and Episodes One and Two of The Long Dark. Find it on Steam as DLC for the game, or Get the Soundtrack on Bandcamp. --- Original score for The Long Dark. Music for The Long Dark - Volume One, features 100 minutes of music composed by Cris Velasco (Mass Effect, God of War, Overwatch, Resident Evil 7, etc.) and Sascha Dikiciyan (Borderlands, Quake III, Mass Effect).Volume One includes the entire soundtrack for WINTERMUTE Episode One: "Do Not Go Gentle", and Episode Two: "Luminance Fugue", as well as all the ambient exploration music from Survival Mode.Total Volume One Run Time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes) --- The direct link to the Soundtrack's Steam Store page is here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/690180/Music_for_The_Long_Dark__Volume_One The direct link to the Soundtrack on Bandcamp is https://hinterlandstudio.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-the-long-dark-volume-one We hope you enjoy it! - The Hinterland Team

Steam Updates The Long Dark to v1.12 (32503) PS4 Updates The Long Dark to v.1.12 (32503) WARNING: There may be story spoilers in these notes. PS4 Specific * Fixed flickering on intro movie. General * Fixed issue preventing "Lake Gunshots" mission from completing correctly. * General cinematics polish. * Clarified Survival School "Harvestable Plants" mission requires adding plants to crate outside Jeremiah's cabin. * Fixed issues with Distress Pistol animation. * General memory optimizations. * Fixed issue where storage container in Lodge appeared to be interactive when it was not. * Fixed issue where duplicate Trust option appeared for Grey Mother. * Fixed issue where Torch Blueprint would not unlock correctly when starting a fresh Episode Two game. * Fixed issue where players could return to Milton after completing Episode One. ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

We're thrilled to announce we've just released Trading Cards for The Long Dark on Steam. For more information about Trading Cards and how they work, go here: https://steamcommunity.com/tradingcardsHave fun!- The Hinterland Team

XBOX ONE PATCH 3 - Updates The Long Dark to version 1.10 (32415) WARNING: There may be Story spoilers in these notes. * Fixed issue with Jeremiah's Flare Cache not spawning correctly. This fixes a blocker in getting the Supply Caches achievement. * Fixed several small typos in various Trust dialogues. * Memory optimizations. * Fixed issue where Survival music could occasionally be heard in a story episode. * Fixed issue where Jeremiah would be inanimate after completing the Bear Hunt mission. * Fixed issue where the Snow Shelter would not unlock properly after completing the relevant Trust unlock. * Fixed issue where Methuselah cinematic might not play in Renewed Hope mission. * Fixed issue where Rifle could end up in a broken state when reloading during a door transition. * Fixed issue in Survival Mode where the female survivor voice sometimes plays when playing as the male survivor. * Fixed issue with a series of multiple exertion sounds being played after a Bear struggle. ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

For additional information, check out this story at the Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/resident-evil-producer-developing-long-dark-film-1025426

The Hinterland Forums strive to be a place that is positive, inclusive, welcoming and comfortable. A community where intelligent, entertaining and meaningful conversations can occur. The rules are presented with these goals in mind. NOTE: Warnings, bans, and lifetime bans are all at the discretion of Hinterland depending on the seriousness of the infraction. Rules and Guidelines for the Hinterland Forums No Backseat Moderating Let the moderators do the moderating. Backseat moderating is when people who are not moderators try to enforce the forum rules. If you see a person breaking the rules, take advantage of the Report () button or simply ignore the offensive post(s), thread, or review. Report Posts to Moderators Should you observe a fellow Community member breaking these rules please report the post or item by clicking flag button located on every item, post, and review. Do not do any of the following: • Flame or insult other members • Bypass any filters • Post personally identifiable information (i.e. name, address, email, phone number, etc.) • Bump threads • Derail a thread's topic • Post links to phishing sites • Post spam or Re-post Closed, Modified, Deleted Content • Repetitively post in the incorrect forum • Openly argue with a moderator Off-Limit Topics/Replies Do not post any topics/replies containing the following: • Porn, inappropriate or offensive content, or leaked content or anything else not safe for work • Any discussion of piracy will result in a permanent ban from the Hinterland Community including, but not limited to: Cheating, hacking, game exploits • Threats of violence or harassment, even as a joke • Posted copyright material such as magazine scans • Soliciting, begging, auctioning, raffling, selling, advertising, referrals • Racism, sexism, homophobia, or discrimination • Abusive language, including swearing • Religious, political, and other “prone to huge arguments” threads • "Farewell" threads about quitting the game (constructive feedback is, however, welcome) No support will be given to those using cheat tools, or hacked/pirated copies, and any forum users who discuss pirated/pirating software will be removed. Please note that these guidelines may be edited or added to by Hinterland Studio as needed. If there is something you do not agree with, please email info@hinterlandgames.com

Starting July 18, you can save 20% off the launch price when you pre-order The Long Dark on PS4! You can find us right now on the PlayStation Store here, as well as through the PlayStation store app on your console. Currently, pre-orders are available in most of North and South America. Check the PlayStation Store page to see if it’s available in your territory. We hope you check us out and join us in the Quiet Apocalypse! – Hinterland Team

RATINGS & LAUNCH DATE(S) Hello intrepid survivors, With our launch around the corner, we wanted to update you on the ratings we’ve received and how that impacts our launch timings. We’ve been navigating the lengthy ratings submission process with the various government ratings boards, and here’s where things currently stand: THE AMERICAS For ESRB, which covers North, Central, and South America, we have been issued a “T” rating, which means anyone 13 or over can purchase and play the game. GERMANY For USK, which covers Germany, we have been issued a “12” rating, which means anyone 12 or over can purchase and play the game. EUROPE & RUSSIA For PEGI, which covers all of Europe, and also Russia, we have been issued a “16” rating, which means you have to be 16 or older to purchase and play the game. This PEGI-16 rating was an unexpected surprise to us, as we had a PEGI-12 rating going into our Certification process with Microsoft and Sony. Unfortunately, we just received this rating earlier this week and we are now forced to re-submit the game to Sony Europe for approval. As a result, our launch in Europe on PS4 is being delayed until August 8th. For Xbox One, we will launch in all countries covered by our three current ratings, on August 1st. Additional territories (ex. Australia, New Zealand, etc.) will be made available as soon as we secure ratings and get those versions through Microsoft. For Steam, we will launch worldwide on August 1st. There is no ratings requirement or certification process on Steam. We’re really disappointed about the PEGI-16 rating, and we think it’s quite out of line with our other ratings, but this is the rating we’ve been issued. We are currently working with Sony Europe to get the game through their certification process with this new rating, and our goal is to have it in the European PlayStation store by August 8th. We are also working with Sony Europe to secure a launch discount to soften the sting of having to wait an extra week. IN SUMMARY • Steam launches worldwide on August 1st. • Xbox launches worldwide in ESRB, PEGI, and USK territories on August 1st. • PlayStation 4 launches in ESRB territories on August 1st. • PlayStation 4 launches in PEGI and USK territories on August 8th. Apologies to our European PlayStation fans for this unexpected delay. We hope it doesn’t diminish your excitement for the game in any way. Thanks for reading. – Raphael QUICK REFERENCE STEAM Launches worldwide on August 1st No ratings required XBOX (Canada, United States, Mexico) Launches August 1st ESRB Rating: T XBOX (Europe, Russia) Launches August 1st USK Rating: 12 PEGI Rating: 16 XBOX (Australia, New Zealand) Launches August 8th (tentative) Not Yet Rated PLAYSTATION 4 (Canada, United States, Mexico and whatever else the ESRB applies to) Launches August 1st ESRB Rating: T PLAYSTATION 4 (Europe) Launches August 8th (tentative) USK Rating: 12 PEGI Rating: 16