ManicManiac

Thank you Hinterland!

It's going to take me a little bit to really read through it all carefully and gather my thoughts.  

@Pyroxene For my part, I'm not upset about any of it. 
I was merely pointing out the facts of the matter based on what was actually posted by Hinterland.
No worries on my end.  No one on the forums has the power to actually upset me.  

@Max21 - you weren't being restricted.  All I did was point out that the assumptions about something official being posted today were a bit of a fallacy, and offered a correction to help folks manage the expectations they have apparently created for themselves.  However, if you continue to get hostile about it (as it seems you have)... then that's another matter.  At no time did I say your comment was inappropriate or against any rules... I was only attempting to clarify.  You, however, seem to have chosen to take offense.  No offense was given on my end... I only offered facts and have encouraged folks towards patience and to perhaps not build expectations around assumptions.   

@thekillergreece Duly noted.  However, just because a person labels something "/s" doesn't mean everything that came before it is gets a pass to be disrespectful/defamatory.  It's like saying, "with all due respect..."  it doesn't then give a person free license to then be disrespectful without consequence.  

Let's move on and let this alone now.

@Pyroxene
Thank you, I'm very glad folks enjoy it.
I also occasionally will cross-post some of my favorites over on Screenshot for Screenshot Saturday as well.

@thekillergreece
@Max21

The announcement on Steam does not say on the 13th... it say's:

Quote

TALES, Part Five, Dev Diary coming the week of May 13th
For all of you waiting for news of TALES Part Five, we will have a dev diary coming the week of May 13th.

I urge patience, rather than making assumptions.
I don't think anyone promised anything for today.

Today, the Summit.

I knew I'd be at least spending the day here... probably one night as well.  I had enough food on hand already, so I was prepared to take my time.

Now it was time to head into the Tail Section to see what I could find.

As I was opening up Cargo Containers and conducting a thorough sort and stow with each one... a blizzard hit.  So far, my clothing (both what I brough up with me and what I found up here) has been warm enough that I could stay comfortable as long as I stayed sheltered in the Tail Section.  I'd have to do some mending to get things in top condition... but for now it will do.  

Thankfully, the storm blew itself out after only five or six hours.  I still have one container left to prospect... but that could wait until morning.

I decided I'd rather check to see what was in the nearby cave, and hole-up there for the night (rather than bed down in the Tail Section overnight).

I spent the rest of the evening on a few mending tasks, filled up on soda and tomato soup... and I'd nap in short stretches until first light.

The best of what I found would be swapped out and/or packed in... but I'd estimate that about 90% of the gear and supplies I found was going to remain stashed up here for me to come back for later.

All-in-all, the Summit was much kinder this time... but perhaps not too generous either. 

I'll get as far as I can reasonably safely in one day, and hole-up at a proven stop-over point.
 I won't be pushing my luck, this time... 🤭

It was fogy, but not so bad that I can't see the way ahead.  The upside is that at least there won't be much of a windchill to contend with as long as the fog bank lingers.

The Echo Peak Bear was on its way over to the Lower Wing Wreckage... but I had enough of a lead that I could stroll across the way without any trouble.

The fog felt like it was getting a bit denser... but I decided to press on.  I did however stop off at each cave along the way to drop off about 20 sticks in each one.  I imagine future me will appreciate it if I try to drop off stick each time I pass by one of these rather nice potential stop-over points. 

I couldn't even see across Deer Clearing.

Thankfully, by the time I was done in that cave (where I swapped 20 sticks for three pieces of coal that I found inside), the fog was starting to lift.

I had to wait for the Eric's Falls Bear to amble down the path and head around the rock formation (a bit hard to make it out... but is there just towards the base of the rock formation, making its way off towards the right).  After watching it clear the trail off to the left, I knew the way would be clear (otherwise I would have spotted wolves sprinting around in a panic).

Verified the Bear's Den near Eric's Falls.

Thankfully the wolf skulking near the rope was preoccupied with a rabbit... I was really tired by the time I'd reached the rope, but I managed to make it up without losing my grip (despite being completely exhausted by the time I'd made it only halfway up.  😖  (It was a very tense and agonizingly long climb for such a short distance)

As the sun was setting, I found a rather nice overlook of Eric's Falls.

"Bad moon on the rise..."

After getting the climbing rope deployed (so I could maybe bypass Eric's Falls on future trips), I returned to this cave system for the night.  Blizzard or no blizzard, I'd be warm enough and could sleep soundly without worry.

Tomorrow... the Summit, and to see about gathering most of the gear I want for an expedition into The Far Territory.

I suppose there is also the modern equivalent:

Jeremiah S. Sullivan's "Shark Suit"

I do enjoy the discussions of lore and the theorizing that goes with it.
Makes for some interesting threads and some good "game science."

@dmnk

Welcome to the wilderness... though I see you're no stranger.  🙂

To my mind this is a place for people with a love for the game to be able to share and celebrate that with others.
For my part, I will do what I can to help foster a welcoming and safe place for fans of The Long Dark (and the future projects from Hinterland).

Those that come here to mistreat others or to register their contempt/disrespect for Hinterland and folks in the community... those people will likely find they will have to take their vitriol elsewhere.

I know that some of those folks sometimes cry "censorship" when they get comments removed or receive warnings about their behavior... but I think that's just people trying to use that as a shield for bad behavior.

I like to think of this place more like a nightclub.  Yes, it's open to the public... but if you don't follow the rules, you're likely to get bounced.  

@Pencil

@bysinda

That's a good point, and certainly merits consideration. 😆

I'm glad folks who want it, have it.
Personally, though, I have never found much of a need for it. 
It's been a long while since I've been in a wildlife struggle. 
Even longer since I've been caught by Timberwolves.

For the most part I don't even carry weapons when I roam around Great Bear Island.  Once I got good at evading and avoiding the hostile wildlife... I tend only to go get particular tools or weapons from my primary encampments when I find I want them for a specific purpose (in the case of weapons - a Hunt).

So for me, the ballistic vest is kind of like pain killers... it's nice that it's around and it's nice to be able to go get it if I want, but I really find that I don't have a need for it.

@TheCoolCario
It was a special item for the Four Days of Night events.
I don't recall ever coming across it during the Escape the Darlkwalker event.

3 hours ago, Cr41g said:

I have always wanted a Long Dark roguelike in space so to speak..start with nothing, craft or build anything you require from minerals or your crashed vessel and survive, no antagonist, no drama... just survive

While perhaps not a survival game in the strictest sense (most places lists it as strategy)... You might consider taking a look at Duskers.

As soon as I'd gotten out of bed, I was already starting to get cold... I really needed to get a move on.

I sat and watched the Crystal Lake wolves for a moment or two... seemed like they were skulking around a bit too close to the mouth of the river.  I decided I would take the safer (but longer) way around to get up to the bluff.

As I was crawling my way up the slope, I head wolves howling uncomfortably close.  It turned out there were at least three prowling the area.  I'd need be stay slow and be cautious.  However, I was also very quickly losing warmth...

Nice... but I did also bring along a rusty hacksaw as well, so I think I will wear the lesser quality one down first and save this one for the summit.

I was interrupted by the sound of wolf paws lightly crunching the snow and seemed like they were getting closer.  As I backed off to a respectful distance from the Cargo Containers... I found I was correct to do so.

Just as I had finished gathering up the gear and supplies from the two Cargo Containers up on the Bluff, I spotted the River Bear making its way in my direction.  I quickly put on two of the (better quality) Old Fashioned Parkas and Ear Wraps that I'd managed to find in one of the containers (just enough that I was able to start warming up while still out in the open) and crept back towards the ledge.

Rather than take the time to either try to maneuver around both bear and wolves (knowing that wolves would also be likely to get scattered in any number of directions), I decided instead it was worth it to shimmy my way down the bluff.

I had found a nice little goating path... as long as I kept low, I'd be able to slip past the wolves at the mouth of the river and get back across Crystal Lake without any trouble.

Please and thank you.   A little mending should get this Balaclava fixed right up.

There was still some good daylight left... and I wasn't near enough to being tired to justify sitting around in the cabin to wait for nightfall.  I decided instead to go out and gather sticks (and hopefully a little Birch Bark too).

As I started gathering up sticks... it started to snow.  However, I was good and warm with the clothing I had now... so I decided to keep prospecting until it got suitably dark (or cold) to warrant heading back inside.

Good, I was hoping there would be a warren nearby.  Future me will most certainly appreciate it.

Also, Moose Scrapings... very nice.  This is a good spot to find one.  Future me will also very much appreciate that too.

So now, I know that I have rabbits on either side of Crystal Lake, Deer and Wolves on Crystal Lake itself (along with the Fishing Hut of course), two bears nearby that I could lure to the lake (the River Bear and the Echo Peak Bear), and Moose territory between the Mountaineer's Hut and the Landing Gear Wreckage.  This was as perfect a setup for Crystal Lake as one could hope for.  

I made my way up to the back trails behind the Mountaineer's Hut (coming up from the steep slope near the Landing Gear Wreckage), and I came across this very shallow nook.  It reminds me that I never did pick any Old Man's Beard Lichen.  At some point I really should collect some (in the very remote change I get ambushed by wolves), but not today.  Moving on.

The snowfall was getting really heavy.  I'd managed to goat up one of the ridgelines bounding the region.  In this exact spot is usually a rather beautiful view of what I've come to refer to as The Mountains of Madness...  However, this evening the rest of the outside world may as well not exist.  It all just looks like a snow filled void. 😖

The visibility had gotten really horrible... it was even hard to make out the Mountaineer's Hut that was just ahead.

Even though I didn't really need to... I spent a match, got a fire going, cooked up some canned goods, and bolstered my water supply a little more.  After a couple of hours, I was close enough to exhausted that I knew I could sleep soundly through most of the bitter cold morning that was surely to come.

Tomorrow, I'll start making my way towards the Summit of Timberwolf Mountain.

Feels like I've been resting up for a whole week...  
It's time I got back out there, started prospecting, and working my way up Timberwolf Mountain.

@Sebastian1992
I agree.  For me, Timberwolf Mountain is my favorite region to live in.
Although, of course, Mystery Lake will always feel like home to me also.  

I am as well: 

On 1/3/2021 at 2:50 PM, ManicManiac said:

The only weapon that I'd be curious about (and solely because Hinterland has discussed possibly reworking it for implementation into Survival Mode in the past) would be the Bear Spear.

Although, if we expand what we think of as survival games... 
Then there's a good argument for The Oregon Trail (1971) as an early innovator as well.  

Platform(s):
Minicomputer (HP 2100)
Mainframe (CDC Cyber 70/73-26)
PC (Apple II, Atari 8-Bit, Commodore 64)

I think the first game that I remember playing with what I might identify as having survival game type elements was Fallout: New Vegas [Hardcore Mode].  

To me, this is when I got really interested in this kind of gameplay, and when I found The Long Dark, Subnautica, and even Ark Survival Evolved... that's when I knew I loved it, and it really was going to be the new mainstay of all the games I regularly play.

If just talking about which are just most influential... then yeah, I guess Minecraft does have to be a part of the conversation. 🤭
However, to my mind, the games that have crystalized what I think of as quintessential examples of "Survival Experience Gameplay:"

The Long Dark (should go without saying...)
Subnautica
Stranded Deep

Fallout: New Vegas [Hardcore Mode]*
    *(as one of the progenitors of the modern survival genre)
 

That was a bit uncalled for... @BugReportEnthusiast
I was merely clarifying.

I tend to agree...
I do think we have more than enough weapons in the game already.
 

That being said... if Hinterland did choose to add another [firearm], I would of course respect that (and simply choose for myself if I ever want to use it or just ignore/scrap it).

I don't know 🤔... I've demonstrated that we can stealth all the way through Blackrock with no weapons and not get spotted by Timberwolves.  I don't think it's so out of the question for someone to want to just live in Blackrock for a long stretch.  

[context: a previous poster (who has since removed their comment) had seemingly called into question the wisdom of the idea of a player wanting to setup a base and live in Blackrock]