Morrick

Damn, I've been repairing low-condition storm lanterns all this time for nothing. I always assumed condition and performance were related.

I've managed to make a car disappear! Well, almost!

I have different survival games running at the moment: 4 on Pilgrim, 2 on Voyageur, 2 on Interloper, 3 on Custom. My longest run is one of those survivors on Pilgrim: 251 days, still alive.

(By the way, these posts are hilarious taken out of context. When I was replying earlier, my wife came into my studio, cursorily glanced at the screen and said, What in the world are you talking about? When did you get food poisoning!? – It's okay, dear, it's just a game.) Oh man...

No, I was clearly joking about the sardines in the Cannery being special. Food poisoning in this game has truly been the most random thing I've encountered. I was poisoned by Dog Food at 67%, but not by Condensed Milk at 11% (no kidding). But never by beverages, no matter the condition. Statistically, however, sardines have been the worst and the most frequent case of food poisoning for me.

I consider the sardines in The Long Dark an enemy, not food. They're sneaky and vicious. Absolutely unpredictable. What was the first thing ever that gave me food poisoning? You guessed right. What was the condition of that tin of sardines? 78%. I still remember as if it were yesterday. What food poisons you at 78%? I was so mad when that happened. Totally caught me unprepared. And yet… I'm in Bleak Inlet now, and very low on food. Out of desperation, I collected the tins of sardines in better condition (ranging from 34% to 47%), and when I reluctantly ate them… nothing. I've been eating at least 6 or 7 tins in those conditions, but every time all went well. I even pushed my luck with a tin that was at 25% condition. All okay. Either I've been impossibly lucky, or the sardines in the cannery are 'special'.

I'd like less randomised complaints and remarks from my survivor as well. It's funny when you're staying in a place the game considers 'outdoors' (lookouts, caves, the Mountaineer's Hut, certain areas in the Cannery Workshop facilities, etc.), and the survivor says something along the lines of "Night is coming, time to look for shelter..."

First things first: if this topic has already been discussed, point me to the relevant thread, and I'll delete this. I have a few game runs in Survival Mode, and while sometimes it can be difficult to remember each survivor's inventory, I'm pretty sure I'm not hallucinating here. Back when I was waiting for an aurora so I could unlock the door to the Cannery Workshop in Bleak Inlet, I spent a few days sleeping in the anteroom near the fire barrel. Since I needed to come and go without unnecessary weight, I left the bedroll flat on the floor for a few in-game days. Once I got access to the Workshop and explored it, my focus shifted on continuing my exploration of Bleak Inlet, so I kind of forgot about that bedroll. Fast forward to yesterday, I was outdoors in Bleak Inlet, near one of the Hunter's Blinds in the Frozen Delta. It was getting dark and the fog didn't seem to lift. My survivor was tired, so I figured I could start a campfire near the blind, put down the bedroll and sleep a few hours. The bedroll wasn't in my inventory. So I thought — Damn, I must have left it outside the Workshop. I started a campfire, gulped down a few cups of coffee, patiently waited for better weather and visibility, headed back to the Cannery, did the usual now-getting-annoying merry-go-round to reach the Workshop… but the bedroll wasn't there either. Huh. While I wasn't sure whether I had rolled it up and taken with me or not, I am 100% sure I haven't dropped it anywhere else. Since entering the region, the Workshop buildings are the only place where I have slept in that bedroll. I spent two in-game days checking all the buildings in Bleak Inlet, just in case, but the bedroll is nowhere to be found. I know that bedrolls decay more rapidly if left unrolled, but can they actually despawn? And in a relatively short while, like 4-5 days? I'm quite puzzled.

It will. Great Bear Island "is a magical place".

Thank you for this remark. In all the debate about timberwolves, there was something I was trying to recall but couldn't put my finger on it. It's perhaps what bothers me most about this update (which should have been called "Wolfenstein Island", really): it seems to be all about the wolves. They are becoming the single, most crucial factor in the whole survival scenario. While not strictly so, everything else suddenly feels secondary — weather, clothing, calorie/resource management, etc. It's as if they've been introduced for the sole purpose of shortening survival times. While I like a challenge every now and then, this feels unbalanced and arbitrary. It's like putting out an update where all temperatures in-game are cut by a half, and no matter how many warm clothes you have on, you'll always end up freezing if you don't routinely light a fire. Challenges should be engaging, not off-putting and unnecessarily frustrating.

I thought I could get away with it, haha! I mean, in the same way you don't have to collect several rocks and logs to make a campfire. In the same way you don't have to go fetch 1-2 kilograms of snow every time you want to make water. I based my idea for a marker on these and other similar shortcuts the game allows you. Fair enough.

Yes, well, I too have used improvised objects as trail markers, like tinder plugs and recycled cans. The problem — for me — is that these items are too small for that purpose. My idea was to have a marker that was bigger and more visible at a distance, without having to scour the ground to locate it. Campfires as trail markers are an interesting solution, though perhaps a bit wasteful (a stick is enough to start a campfire, but unless you're using an already-lit item as fire-starter, or a magnifying lens, you'd waste a match every time). Sometimes I wish the game let me take and place certain bigger items (like brooms and planks), instead of only giving me the option to break them down. Anyway, I thought it was a cool addition... 🤷‍♂️

Navigating The Long Dark's world is rudimentary by design. As you know well, unlike other games you don't have a full interactive map with a convenient highlighted marker indicating your current position. A compass is also out of the question because — given that the event originating the apocalypse is a geomagnetic storm — a compass would hardly prove reliable. I'm fine with the idea of surveying the area you're in and using charcoal to sketch a map as you go along. It fits the situation. But I was trying to remember my first attempts at playing the game, back when I hadn't discovered the famous whitɘberry maps, and when I also hadn't discovered that you could use charcoal to map a region. I moved around in this unknown land and tried to orient myself visually. After finding shelter in a man-made structure, I remember venturing out to explore a bit, but not too far because I hated the idea of, say, getting caught in bad weather and not having a shelter nearby, or losing myself trying to get my bearings, etc. I remember thinking, It would be great if I could place some kind of marker here. In-world markers (like piles of stones, or pieces of wood planted in the ground) could serve different purposes. You could use them to mark how far you've gone in a region. Or you could use them to remind you of the exact spot you need to reach to access certain areas. Experienced or frequent players will probably scoff, but think about novices or simply people who don't play the game that often. Speaking for myself, even if by now I know many regions rather well, I still have some difficulty navigating Hushed River Valley, certain parts of Timberwolf Mountain, and even some specific spots in more frequented regions like Mystery Lake (e.g. I always seem to forget the exact entry point to reach the Forestry Lookout). In a region like Forlorn Muskeg, planting a marker near a tricky spot of thin ice would help when you're outdoors and you're caught in dense fog or in a blizzard. As far as mechanics and implementation go, placing and removing a marker could work in the same way as placing and removing a campfire. The shape of the marker would be fixed (like the campfire), and you could break it down when you don't need it anymore. To avoid making things too easy, placing a marker could require having some reclaimed wood in your inventory. I realise this isn't a new idea or suggestion, and that it isn't anything very fancy, but I think it could be a relatively useful addition, not extremely hard to implement from a development standpoint (I think), and in line with The Long Dark's approach to navigation.

Background music: Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Under The Bridge" When I took this screenshot I realised just how small Bleak Inlet's upper region is compared to the rest. This would make for a great "Greetings from Bleak Inlet" postcard, I think.

Fishing Camp in Coastal Highway? I tend to agree…