Morrick

The first part of the Tales from the Far Territory expansion campaign (the paid content) is called 'Forsaken Airfield'. It's the one launched on 5 December. It contains: The new Forsaken Airfield region and the transition zones leading to it. New weather phenomenon: electrostatic fog. New affliction brought on by exposure to such phenomenon: insomnia. New tool variants. The free December update to Survival Mode contains: Complete overhaul of loot resources, updated loot tables. New spawn points. Scribbled notes under cars and trucks' visors. New wildlife: does. Added: ability to craft improvised crampons. I extracted this information from the "Part One Update Video" on the Roadmap page at https://www.thelongdark.com/expansion/ - It is my understanding that everything else will come in future updates over the next 12 months, and that the order in which all the announced upcoming features and overhauls is fluid and will depend on development and community feedback. I understand the frustration, but I'm not sure I agree that there was a failure of communication on Hinterland's part.

The last blizzard before installing the new DLC and updating everything.

I'm usually sentimental. I'm the kind of person that keeps stuff and has a hard time letting go of things. But in this specific case, my choice has been to go for a new beginning and let the old saves fade into the Long Dark. The innumerable attempts I have made at surviving on Interloper have desensitised me when it comes to feeling attached to my MacKenzies or Astrids. The two very long survival runs that remained (one on Pilgrim, one on Voyageur) both came to a point where my survivor had very little left to do or explore, and I was simply going on autopilot when I wanted to kill some time after hours of tiring work. This new DLC and update were the breath of fresh air I was looking for. It feels liberating to start all over again.

I was really looking forward to playing Tales from the Far Territory, but as a Mac-primary user, the delay has been a bit of a bummer. But since I also have a PC — less powerful than my main Mac, but still able to run The Long Dark pretty well — I was able to install the update and try it out. There are two issues that are making my new survival run rather underwhelming so far: Low-resolution textures: they seem to randomly affect items (when you discover/pick up an item, its icon is low-res; with certain items it's little more than an outline), but also entire environments. For example, I started in Broken Railroad and I spawned directly inside the Maintenance Shed. When I crossed over to that sort of ante-room with the small office and bed, all environment textures were low-resolution. Changing settings, quitting, and restarting works, but not consistently. After such a restart, everything was fine until I reached the Hunter's Lodge. I entered, and the textures inside the lodge were low-resolution. It's quite annoying. Ambient sounds sound… buggy. After exiting the Maintenance Shed, exploring the yard outside and looking inside the trucks, I re-entered, and the metal creaking sounds of the shed just kept on playing: creak, groan, squeal, grind, creak, groan, squeal, grind… I had to run outside again! I haven't ventured to the Airfield yet because my survivor's clothes aren't still enough for long treks. There are a lot of locked trunks and lockers and since the loot tables have changed, I still haven't found the prybar. Grrr… 🙂

Piddy's AirBnB in Great Bear island is the best there is!

Whoa. Is this how The Long Dark looks in 8K?

Reliable sources tell me that this approach may sometimes work when you're looking for yourself, but certainly not when you're looking for a bear. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Bridges to nothing.

Sure! 15 kilos of meat raining down! You might want to take shelter. Let's see if I can hit that moose from here with some bear meat...

Speaking of bears, look where this fool went to die. Now I have to get its meat before it falls down… (Region: Ash Canyon. Area: the cliff near Foreman's Retreat) At least it was a fat one: almost 40 kilos' worth of meat.

Worth mentioning: Pilgrim and Voyageur difficulty modes don't have Intestinal Parasites risk. At least, that's what I inferred when creating Custom sandboxes with 'Pilgrim' or 'Voyageur' baseline settings.

Count me with those who miss the older UI for the Journal. Now, technically I can't 'miss' it, because when I first purchased The Long Dark on Steam, v.426 "Faithful Cartographer" had just been released, and featured a big UI overhaul. But as I was exploring the Time Capsule on Hinterland's website, I watched the videos introducing the changes in older releases, and when I saw the older Journal UI as it had matured in "Penitent Scholar", my first reaction was that it looked way better than it is now. I always found the Journal part of the UI to be the least attractive and, in fact, it is also the part of the game's interface I visit the least. The calendar looks like a big Excel spreadsheet, and I never feel like writing exploration notes in a space that doesn't really look or feel like a journal. The old Journal interface felt more immersive. It felt like your survivor found an old abandoned journal and started taking notes on it as their journey of survival progressed. The current interface is needlessly abstract. It's a pity, because the charcoal map still retains a similar look, and still feels immersive. And not only did the 'journal' part of the Journal look great, just look at the interface and illustrations of the Skills section! Much clearer, I think. Edited to add: I also like that older font better.

I'm very sorry. If it's any consolation, I once shot a moose eleven times at that distance and the only thing I managed was to scare it into despawning (because I never saw it in the same spot afterwards). My survivor then kept having this recurring dream of satchels running away from him…

Region: Forlorn Muskeg Area: Poacher's Camp The revolver may not be a long-range weapon, but… This is a one-shot bear kill, with the revolver, at a distance I would be more comfortable shooting with a rifle (if I had one). I was crouching behind the wagons, saw the bear come down from that little hill, and shot. To my amazement, the bear moaned and fell down right away on the spot (Fig.1). Maybe I was lucky and the RNG gods were (for once) benevolent. In Fig. 2 you can see where I was posted. The subsequent bearbecue at Poacher's Camp was a success. Fig. 1 - No more than a small dark stain in the distance. Fig. 2 - I was behind the wagons, right there.

I think it's probably the real reason why the region is called Desolation Point. 😄 But seriously, the Lonely Lighthouse could use at least a toilet with a shower, and the lack of such facilities at Hibernia Processing is an especially glaring omission. Unless there were bathrooms in the destroyed buildings near the trailers...

I love Balaclava-Man! Balaclava-Man is my new superhero. Back to the original video clip, given the presence of items and actions (turn lights on/off) I've never seen in Survival Mode, I assume this is from Story Mode, right?

Another place I've found a fair amount of coal is the Coal Mine №3 (transition between Old Island Connector and Desolation Point).

From Lookout to Lookout during an aurora.

I'm enjoying this series and I like your style of commentary while playing. You have inspired me to start a new run with a Custom sandbox, using settings from Voyageur difficulty, but with the option 'Endless Night' enabled. After a Random spawn, I've started in Mountain Town. It could have been worse, but after raiding half the town, I've only found one tin of coffee. So far I've survived one day, but it's trickier than I thought. Since I haven't found a storm lantern yet, and the night has been moonless so far, I need to constantly light matches if I want to explore or see where I'm going. And I only have 18 matches left. Still, I'm having fun. Cheers!

Yes, please do. I've been on these forums 'only' since late 2018, but I have always read and enjoyed your adventures. And I'm frankly annoyed that Bleak Inlet and the stupid Timberwolves got the best of you. The community could use your expertise and guidance, and who knows, maybe in turn make you change your mind about the game. In any case, all the best and Happy New Year!

I'm simply waiting for all the episodes to be released. I've played a bit of Episode 1, just to get a feel of how Wintermute plays as opposed to Survival Mode, but I wouldn't like to finish an episode on a possible cliffhanger to then wait months before a new one is released. I know it's been a long wait, but Survival Mode has successfully kept me busy and entertained.

Thank you. Very appreciated!

This challenge is interesting. I think I'll create a new Custom game based on Voyageur settings and I'll add 'Endless night' to give it just the right touch of irony. 😉

Agreed. It's not. Yesterday I resumed an old Interloper saved game to give this experience another go. It's my longest-running Interloper game — I've survived 11 days, I hope you Interloper veterans won't point & laugh — and I'm afraid I'm getting closer to fading into The Long Dark instead of the other way around. I am currently stationed in one of the trailers near the Carter Hydro Dam, at 15% condition, with 56% Cabin Fever risk, no weapons, no food, 5 matches left, books and sticks as fire fuel. I've been practicing many tips I've seen here on the forums, I've played this game long enough to know my way around most regions, but I've been consulting the maps anyway especially to be reminded of which parts of a region may crawl with wolves. But I've been abnormally unlucky with the weather. I mean, one blizzard after another… in Mystery Lake of all places? Now, the Carter Hydro Dam is tempting for whatever meagre loot it might contain, but with Cabin Fever risk getting higher, perhaps it's better I spend some time in the Ravine first, and try to recover some condition. I just hope for a break in the weather at this point. I'm seriously in awe of those players who manage to survive hundreds of days on Interloper. Sorry for the little rant! Cheers!

Haha! Or, The Long Monday on Great Bear Island DLC. 😄 My thoughts exactly! I'm still trying to find where on Great Bear this particular herb grows... 😉