RossBondReturns

What you're saying about Episode 5's release getting pushed back again and again just isn't true. They've been very open about the fact that it would not be coming until next December at the earliest...even before the latest Dev Diary we certainly knew it wasn't coming this year...which would be putting it at Dec. 2023 at the earliest. Also being that it is the Final Episode and there's a whole heck of a long way for Will to travel to catch up with Astrid and many plot points to bring to closure to have expected it any earlier than Dec. 2023 would seem foolish indeed. Even with a dedicated team working on Story it's still an awful lot to do. Also, there's no way at all they're going to get rid of Custom...I am actually hoping to see it being even more granular allowing even finer tweaking of game play elements in the future. What actually surprised me is that the DLC is hitting in December...but it makes a whole lot of sense. Return even base game survival to the sort of update schedule of early Access...and have a massive expansion of the playable territory of Great Bear. Overhauling the Cooking and Firestarting...and probably other things too. To keep everyone fully engaged and then some up until Episode 5 is released. Seems very, very smart.

You know what...that's an interesting point. What if it is one travel zone from say BRR and a second from HRV or what have you...to join up to the Hub Region. If it were that: BRR---Travel Zone---Hub Region---Travel Zone---HRV such a design would make a double connection of this kind the only possible place for it- without the Hub Zone being utterly humongous.

I'll simply say agreed and indeed.

I used to do the hood...but having a hood up can be a liability when you need to be able to see out.

We might finally be able to use the Fire Axe that is in the game files for instance.

@Dum_Gen I'm a fan of both Survival and Story and have been playing since 2015 Yes, they have taken a very long time to deliver all 5 Episodes of the story. And they even had to work on it remotely during a Pandemic. Yet they have consistently over delivered. Yes they redid Episode 1 and 2...that took a year but they were vastly improved. Episode 3 was a vast improvement upon what they had learned in Redux. And Episode 4 was made during a Pandemic...and yet it was even better still with much improved animations (thanks to their acquired Mo-Cap Equipment) and the best voice acting yet. As has already been stated by others in this thread....the whole of Story Mode was going to be 5-6 hours. Now all my LP Series of Story Mode last 5 times that. A great deal of care was taken to split Survival and Story which would make it much easier and quicker to update both as needed and to deal with Bugs specific to each mode. The DLC coming now is incredibly smart. As Raphael has stated recently, there is a lot that has to happen in Episode 5 of story to wrap it up well. That is another reason why Story and Survival has been split. Half the team is dedicated to Episode 5 and half is Dedicated to Survival/DLC- the future to come. While Episode 5 is being worked on for release and perfected over the next year we are going to have plenty of new Survival stuff, including multiple overhauls or various skills like Firestarting and Cooking to keep us fully engaged. And that's even if you don't purchase the DLC as well! When Episode 5 finally releases I will know that it will be the most refined episode yet because a very dedicated team will have been able to focus on Episode 5 and that alone for that entire time. And that's one thing I've never had a single second thought about...the wait for every Episode has been unequivocally worth it. The same will be true when Episode 5 releases. The reason I know this is because Hinterland has shown loved and complete dedication to The Long Dark and their fans, and will absolutely only give them their absolute best. (Which is why they did Redux). So the very moment they revealed that the DLC would come first all I could think of was...hell yes...we're getting High Quality updates all year for Survival and DLC folks- just like when the game was in early access. Except better stuff because of how much they have refined the game over the years. And then at the end they are going to fully deliver on the conclusion to story mode with Episode 5. Has the wait been worth it, has the $19.99 and the 5,000 plus hours been worth it? Absolutely.

You'll probably kick yourself when you find it. It's in the same vicinity as a waterfall that produces a colorful display.

Amazing this is Excellent so far! Mine will all come together when it's done...I've visited 7 of the Challenges P.O.I. only 30 more to go!

I understand that...but I doubt it would be a cave...it's specifically why I said they open up a path under that through the landslide. Not like the cheeky path most use to get over the landslide in BRR...but an actual designed to be used path. So once you knew how to get to the landslide in HRV...it would be easy to find the way to Travel Zone one if an opening in the Landslide was where it started. Also, to be clear, I'm only choosing here because I'm taking the long and difficult journey of getting to the Far Territory...as also meaning that the entrance is hardish to get to as well.

I think we can safely say that it probably won't be off Blackrock...because the next time we're dealing with building off Blackrock will be our to be continued from the end of Episode 4. While I'd be all onboard for a Cave transition if they did it off Ash Canyon...I really don't expect it to be there. I think it would be quite fun if they opened a way to just barely crawl through the landslide in HRV...to begin the first of two large travel zones. I've already given detailed reasons why I don't think the answer is Broken RR...but I'll be very happy to be proven wrong. I just feel as if wherever the transition is it's going to end up taking us North West. And there's plenty of blank space To the NW of CH...and alongside the back side of TWM and Ash Canyon for two large Travel zones that lead to the Hub Region. End the Hub Region is the only one of the 3 we have an image of...and it has a badly buckled Rail Road in it. So the question is is the RR going through both travel zones and the Hub Region...or do we loose it for a while and only come across it in the Hub. Here's my map in case you missed it. I do agree that the map will have to be either shrunk down a bit or scroll-able.

You're welcome. I tend to upload an entire Challenge LP once I've finished....in case I die along the way. This one has the potential to be a heart breaker, to get down to one or two locations remaining and have it all blow up in your face. Also this Challenge has 37 points of interest that must be documented and either videoed/"photographed or both...it's the most I've done in one challenge, and I've created multiple challenges. So all this to say, I will probably edit some episodes tomorrow and start uploading, hoping that I'll be able to upload a completed run in the end. So far though...just in today's game play...2 Wolf attacks and 2 Bear Maulings.

My problem is that in testing with endless night on...with the Heritage filter....it made it difficult to make out the game. And then when you upload it to youtube it for some reason will also darken it more. Watching my old 4DON vids for example is difficult at best. The aurora make it easier to see while also much easier to die. So for those reasons...while I have Aurora set to max...I have it day and night as well. Besides if you weave a freaky enough story the fear follows you night and day.

Are you playing with Endless Night ticked...because I didn't make that a requirement so more people would try. If so...awesome!

Yes, I agree no one here is complaining about the new paid structure. But my goodness in the responses on the steam thread about the Dev Diary there has been a LOT of vitriol. "Why are you asking for us to pay for something when you haven't even finished story mode yet!?!?!?!" And variations thereof. Personally I think most will be happy that they have the chance to have tons of new content between now and Episode 5...but some people I just don't understand.

I love all this. And it's wonderfully different than my story which is what I imagined with the storytelling aspect.

YES!!! I'll be posting a thread with my images and stories as I go...and a full video series later! Thanks for giving it a go!

Thanks...they already chased me once...but I survived.

I chose to play it on Stalker...aka Wolf Seeking Missile difficulty. I'm just getting started in Interloper. I chose to not use my custom Stalker-Loper code.

I'm in the midst of a Bleak Inlet start...I will be posting my full LP once I've survived start to finish...early going on yet! Also, I shared it with Raphael and IntoTheLongDark on twitter....and they shared and are excited about seeing it as well!

Not gonna lie...I was quite stressed. But it added a bit of action and intensity to the run.

Wow..that sucks! My craziest and most bizarre glitch came came when I was chopping up a tree limb by Monolith Lake. I just kept chopping and chopping and couldn't get it to stop...my 95% hatchet....was scrap. I had to leave HRV...and get another hatchet.

That would be awesome! I'm going to do a run of this myself...if I'm feeling like punishing myself I might try and whip up a story of horror that joins each of my chosen locations. To everyone who ever takes the time to even start this challenge, thanks for taking the time! Happy haunting!

Man I love HRV...once I get myself in top gear and well established I head over there to live off the land for as long as possible. It's just a joy every time. I love the Monolith Lake moose. I could stay there for months.

Just so you know...I love this...this is essentially how I play...earbuds or bluetooth headphones engaged for recording but not in my ears. Also just so you know...I've also played a LOT of Time Capsule lately...and not lost any badges. In fact I lost a badge or two the first time...a while back...but got them back by playing a Pilgrim save in which I had used all of my most important badges. But in the many times I've played in the Time Capsule since then...I have not lost a badge. It seems to be much, much more stable.

In the past I've devised a number of user created challenges all of which can also be found on my blog. I had been testing a new challenge which I was going to call Faithful Photographer but the moment the Dev Diary hit I adjusted it to fit the Halloween Theme. Now I didn't make it endless night, and I can't add Jack O Lanterns, Pumpkin Pies or a Mythical Eldritch Creature. However I can make use of your imagination, and by harnessing your imagination this Halloween Challenge can be as nerve wracking as you choose to make it. The idea is to travel all over Great Bear, at each location take pictures of any unusual activity. However it is the stories and write-ups of each location that will allow you to bring the ghostly or ghastly...or both stories of each location to life. So if you want to check it out and try for yourself be my guest, I didn't get to thoroughly test it from start to finish, but if you're a creative writer and love taking screenshots you should make it to the end. Happy Halloween everyone! User Created Halloween Challenge: Ghost's of Great Bear's Past