ManicManiac

@odizzido Fair enough, I think it's great that the game is already flexible enough that you have been able to tune it that way and shape your experience more to your liking. I'm all for folks using custom settings to tailor their experience how they wish. I'm just generally not so in favor of those ideas that seem to want to change the game for everyone... just to suit another's personal taste.

Then of course that's fair enough... make that its own wish list item and I will give my opinion and perspective on that as well.

Rather than just sit and wait... I decided to go collect sticks and make my way back to the previous cave (near the rope climb on the far side of this "upper shelf." The hope is that the fog will lift... if not, then I'll at least have more sticks stocked up at that cave. When I get tired enough, I can then choose which spot to bed down for the night. Hmm... the fog began to clear just as the sun was going down. I decided to check to see if the road was still clear or if the Timberwolves had returned. If the pack had come back... then I would spend the night in the cave and then make my way down the climb in the morning. If the way is clear... I'll head down to the road from the trailer and try to get to the next Pylon. No Timberwolves in sight... I decided I was going to make a break for it. I remembered this spot... this is the backtrail (and climb) that would lead back up to the Penitentiary, but that's not what I needed right now. Now that is what I was looking for... now if the fading twilight could hold on just a little longer, I could prospect around the pylon and double back to seek known shelter. The dark of the night is not a great time to be wandering around known Timberwolf territory either. 🤭 Turned out there was nothing to find up here at this one... Thankfully, I was able to make it back to safety without incident... but this wasn't where I wanted to bed down for the night. I got back to the cave nearest the rope leading down the old tool shed... I figured it would be better to spend the night here again... and look to try and make a hard push for the Power Plant tomorrow. I generally don't like to do so much back tracking or staying put in area for too long, but this time... it really seemed the wiser thing to do.

@xxfinebeanzxx There's really no need to be snide about it. 😋 However, since you already went there... Correction... we have NINE individually distinct firearms. They each have their own unique set of stats, meaning they are not "just reskins." To be specific, we have the following firearms on Great Bear Island already: Hunting Rifle - "standard," effective offensive weapon against wildlife, inflicts bleeding wounds (except to for Moose). Barb's Rifle - heavier than standard, greater durability. Vaughn's Rifle - lighter than standard, faster firing rate, lesser durability. Curator's Rifle - greater effective range. Revolver - "standard," effective offensive weapon against wildlife, inflicts bleeding wounds (except to for Moose). Forester's Revolver - greater durability, lacks rear iron sights. Hunter's Revolver - greater effective range, heavier than standard. Warden's Revolver - lighter, faster draw speed, shorter effective firing range, lacks rear iron sights. Distress Pistol - fires flare shells that will deter/frighten hostile wildlife, can even cause burning damage if projectile gets stuck to the target. ...see what I mean? NINE unique firearms... As for other "weapons" either offensive or defensive... we also have: Survival Bow - "standard," effective offensive weapon against wildlife, inflicts bleeding wounds (except to for Moose). Woodwright's Bow - heavier than standard, much greater durability, less sway (more stable). Sport Bow - lighter than standard, greater durability, Stones - will drive away stalking wolves, distracting wandering wolves, stun rabbits and ptarmigans. Noisemakers - will drive away hostile wildlife, can also cause damage within the "blast radius." Hunting Knife - effective weapon in a wolf struggle, inflicts "bleeding" wounds on the wolf. Improvised Knife - effective weapon in a wolf struggle, inflicts "bleeding" wounds on the wolf. Hatchet - effective weapon in a wolf struggle, inflicts "bleeding" wounds on the wolf. Improvised Hatchet - effective weapon in a wolf struggle, inflicts "bleeding" wounds on the wolf. Heavy Hammer - effective weapon in a wolf struggle, inflicts "bludgeoning" wounds on the wolf. Prybar - effective weapon in a wolf struggle, inflicts "bludgeoning" wounds on the wolf. Revolver (melee) - effective weapon in a wolf struggle, inflicts "bludgeoning" wounds on the wolf (also a chance to get a shot off). *Flare - will fend off and frighten wolves (both black and timber). *Categorized here as a defensive weapon, because... well, it's fire. *Marine Flare - will fend off and frighten wolves (both black and timber). *Categorized here as a defensive weapon, because... well, it's fire. *Torch - will fend off and frighten wolves (both black and timber). *Categorized here as a defensive weapon, because... well, it's fire. ...another FIFTEEN offensive/defensive weapons. This totals up to TWENTY-FOUR weapons already available to us on Great Bear Island. So yes, I will restate my opinion: I think we perhaps have too many weapons already. No more firearms, please.

Happy Holidays, Hinterland! I hope everyone enjoys their holiday rest/festivities.

okay... but you wouldn't want to have to convalesce for several weeks to recover from being half dead (50% or less condition), or several weeks to let a sprain recover... would you? I think this is another situation where we can say, "Sometimes a video game just has to... video game."

🤔... I think we perhaps have too many weapons already. No more firearms, please.

@Leeanda I was more looking at the one that was down a bit further in the article: but it this doesn't compare to what you saw in your area... that's genuinely impressive.

BBC featured it with some photographs: Rare 'rainbow cloud' spotted in UK skies - BBC Weather

I got a reasonably early start (not fully rested to compensate for staying up so late). I decided to head back over to my encampment at Trailer near the two pylons. However, I'm not going to back to drop off or pick up gear or supplies. What I will really need it for will be to warm up. The real purpose of heading back that way is... I need to study this bear. I want to search its territory today, and I want to sneak in and slip away undetected. In most situations I'm good at dealing with bears without either of us coming to harm... but I know there are some tight spaces down there. I need to watch this bear roam a while... get a feel for where its likely to wander. Then I should be able to route accordingly. Also, there are more Timberwolves further up the road today. ...Good to know. After a fair bit of observation, I see now what I'd need to do in order to coexist in the same territory with "Snuggles" down there. 🤔 In the meantime, I was more than half-frozen, and I needed to get to the Trailer to warm up. With the Timberwolves out enforce... it may be risky to use that footpath below the Pylon to get to the road. 🤔 I had to consider it further as I warmed up. The first hazard evaded... Next I had to visit with Snuggles... Had to get creative in order to get eyes on them. At this point I'd be able to trail behind Snuggles... at least for a little way. I'd lost sight of Snuggles, but between the tracks, distressed crows, and irritable snarls... I was able to keep a fix whereabouts they were ambling along. Further to the right... I found this narrow fissure. I would be losing track of where Snuggles was, but I just had to know where this led. It emptied out into a small chasm. Which was also totally empty. 🤔 Oh well... now I just had to get out of Bear's Bend without drawing Snuggles' ire. Even though I knew it was likely a bad idea... I spent a couple of minutes quickly goating and searching around the rockslide blocking the road. I could hear Snuggles somewhere behind me, but I don't think it's made it back here again. This part was really cagey... if I didn't handle this right, this was likely going to be where I die. I could hear crows and heavy shambling... but I still couldn't get a visual. As I sat waiting pensively... a bit of a fog seemed to be rolling in. Found Snuggles... now I just had to get out alive. Made it! ...silly old bear. 😋 That was all well and good (though ultimately not worth the risk, unless I was looking to hunt a bear). However, now I have to worry about the getting by the Timberwolves again. What was bothering me most... is that just a little while ago there were four, and they skulked a long way towards Bear's Bend. Now... I don't see any sign of them. 🤔 I felt like I didn't dare take my eyes off the road. It felt like an ambush... but I've only known Timberwolves to do that defending their "den" at the Last Resort Cannery in Bleak Inlet. 🤔 I couldn't believe it at first... the Timberwolf pack really had moved on. I'll take a bit of kind luck; Great Bear Island almost never has any of it to give. I decided to make a quick stop at the trailer. I wanted to do another quick sort and stow, to see if I could lighten my pack a bit more. After spending just a few minutes combing through and dropping some coal and a liter of water... I went back towards the road to see if the way was still clear. It seems the fog had gotten much denser, and the low visibility make it rather foolhardy to venture out into known Timberwolf territory. It seemed I was going to have to wait out the fog at the trailer for the remainder of the day, and likely spend the night there.

Thank you, Hinterland! I for one am glad to wait for as long as it takes... I always have been. Whether looking back at the previous Episodes, "REDUX" Improvements, Survival Mode Updates, Overhauls, DLC, Challenges, Special Events, etc... all have been well worth the wait, and I think that Episode 5 (along with remainder of Tales From the Far Territory) will be every bit as worth it also. I respect so much that Raph (and Hinterland as a whole) have always been so candid with us and put in so much effort to give us the best game/experience they can craft. As far as I'm concerned, they've never let me down... and I think they've more than earned all the support we can give them. I've been a stalwart player of The Long Dark since the later part of 2014, and I know I will be for years to come. 🎄🎄 I hope everyone at Hinterland enjoys their holidays and well-earned rest.

I have to admit... today was the day I grew to love Blackrock.

I'd only meant to do a bit of scouting this morning, but instead... I found the weather to be surprisingly mild. I figured I would start with this footpath just beyond the Creek Bed Cave. Looks like I had a couple of choices, so I started with the path off to the right. This turned out to be where the slope I passed on in the fog from yesterday. Now to head back the other way... There's a Bear down there... duly noted. Still trying to keep an eye on the bear... trying to get an idea of its territory. Eventually I will be going down there. 🤭 This so many winding paths to find here. I guess I will head to the "high ground" first. 🤭 And this route led me right to next two pylons... and a trailer. Hard to see perhaps, but this was the only view of the next pylon that I could get lined up properly. Just below it was the way back down to the road... but I wanted to head back and check the other path first. In the meantime, though, this was a safe enough place to set up another primary encampment. It was about time to unload some unnecessary gear and supplies anyway. Having gotten back the "branching" paths mentioned before... now it was time to scout out the lower route. It's very hard to spot when they aren't moving... but there is a Timberwolf skulking around down there. ...Duly noted. Another gorgeous little cove. With a cave... nice. At this point I should have gotten settled in to hunker down for the night... but there was still some daylight left and I wasn't really tired yet. So, I decided to continue scouting ahead. Neat little spot, I suppose, but nothing really to be found there. Rope leading down... noted (likely another way to get down, towards the road). More interesting to me though... that this spot looked like a goating opportunity. And I was correct! Great view of the area below. Looks like another structure near the bottom of that rope climb. Also the view of the eminence of Blackrock Mountain from up here was spectacular. Before getting back to the cave I wanted to verify where that rope climb led... I was correct. Again, I really didn't need any fire this evening... but I did kind of want to cook up the can of peaches I'd found along the way. While I was tending the fire... I noticed an aurora was churning up the night sky. I knew I shouldn't be staying up so late, and that I should go to bed. However, I wasn't going to pass up a chance like this with such a nice goating spot right nearby.

While I did get an early start this morning... it was bone chillingly cold out, so I did spend some time repairing my bedroll before setting out to scout around today. It was so cold, that I had to stop back at the previous cave just to warm up again before venturing out some more. While those backtrails didn't really lead to much... I was able to scout a little of the road ahead. Heading back to the (small frozen marsh?) area near the Old Substation... I found the way up to the next pylon. While there was nothing to find at this one (except a couple of pieces of cedar), it was a good spot to check out more of the road ahead. I found a clear path... but also, a decayed & crumbling bridge. 🤔 The weather was also getting more threatening. However, I wasn't about get pinned down and spend another night in the Old Substation. I thought I would finish looking around on the other side of the road to maybe find a good spot to warm up again. Seemed there was a good footpath on the other side of the road. I was a bit surprised to find another cave so close to the Old Substation. I did vaguely remember this cave from the last time I visited this region (nearly a year ago now). In any case, it was a good spot to warm up. If a blizzard didn't hit before I could get warm... then I'd head back to that bridge and see about finding a way across. The weather seemed to be holding... now I just needed a way to get across. Oh... okay. 😖 I suppose it's just going to have to be one foot in front of the other. I hope my assumption is correct... I don't think I've ever tested this bridge before. 😖 Thankfully, it held together... which I figured would be the case. However, it was a bit nerve wracking to inch my way across. I had no way to know if there were more Timberwolves ahead or not. I still wasn't sure... but it looked clear. It also looked like there was maybe a path branching off to the left. It seemed there was indeed a path leading off to the left, but first... I wanted to take a good look at the riverside. Nothing much to find except sticks and a couple of footpaths presumably leading back to the road. Next though, I wanted to see where this footpath led to. Spotted a live deer off to the right... so a good indication there were no Wolves, Timberwolves, or Bears nearby... at least not right now. This was indeed a beautiful spot... Deer and Rabbits just frolicking about. Also a cave. This was very probably going to be where I would bed down for the night. However, there was still a few hours of daylight left, and the weather had let up. I was going to go scout more of the road ahead first. The bend seemed clear enough for me to venture down and take a closer look. Keeping low, I went to go check out an abandoned vehicle that I could see in the distance. Nothing really at all to speak of in the car (empty except for some driving cloves in the glove box). Turning around... it seemed I had two trails to follow. I think I'll check the one leading towards the river first. As expected... it did lead to a nice view of the river, but that was all. Before making my way up the slope, I did want to scout the road ahead a little more. I won't lie... this blind of corner makes me nervous. Looked to be a dead end... but I had to be sure. Almost got stuck trying to see if there was a way to squeeze through... there isn't (at least not one that I could find). And a bit of a dense fog seemed to have rolled in while I was preoccupied. Change of plans... rather than try to feel my way up the slope to scout the other footpath, I'm going to follow the road back and return to Creek Bed Cave. The going was easy enough... the fog wasn't so thick that I couldn't keep my bearings in a place I'd scouted, but I absolutely didn't want risk heading to unfamiliar ground in it. I spent an hour or so gathering up sticks, breaking down branches by hand, and watching the deer and rabbits milling around looking for their own food (or what not). Even though I didn't really need a fire that night... I decided it was good time to cook up a couple canned food items I had to hand and bolster my water supply a little bit. Best to prepare when it's not an emergency though. 🤭 Not a bad way to spend a foggy evening.

Well done... I've still not found one yet.

All speculation aside. I feel like Hinterland has more than earned "the benefit of the doubt" (so to speak)... so I think it's probably better to just wait and see how Hinterland has actually chose to implement the Trader. Regardless of how the trader will manifest, how it will work, or what will be up for "trade"... I will remind folks that we do always have the choice to just not use the trader if we don't want too. #### other notes: Folks could also just take care of their flask and take precautions not to take falls or get into struggles. Could also keep it in a safe place until we actually want to use it, rather than just lugging it around everywhere whether or not it's empty or full. I think it's easy enough to just take care of our gear rather than wanting everything to be "repairable." Personally, I preferred when things like crampons weren't repairable... it made it much more important to conserve and use them wisely. After they were made repairable (to my mind) they became trivial. Long story short... I hope the flask stays unrepairable. Also, I think that finite resources make the gameplay experience richer... since again, it asks the player to really have to manage and use what recourses they find wisely.

I hadn't realized it when I got settled in the cave... but the next morning when I stepped outside to scout around some more, I realized I had made the right call. There ahead was a structure... must be the old sub-station. However, before checking out the sub-station, I need to prospect each of two electrical pylons. This would be the one that was just after the rope climb. I had checked around and I didn't see a good way to get to it. After making the climb down the rope... I had to be more focused on looking for shelter, but now I can scout around a bit more thoroughly. And now for the second reason taking the climb was the right decision. This seems to have been the only way to get up to this pylon. I would make my way down to the next one... but it was bitter cold this morning and I what I really needed was to get back to the cave to warm up. I also suppose it's worth mentioning that I am beginning to run low on food. I hope to find at least a little more at the sub-station if not a little bit near and around the pylons. My supplies aren't dangerously low yet, but I've managed not to need to hunt or harvest and I was kind of hoping to keep it that way... at least until I was done with Blackrock. The next few days till tell the story though. After getting warmed up again... I went to scout the next pylon. Timberwolves there ahead. I get the feeling this pack likes to skulk around the Sub-station... Duly noted. Found it, but I'm a bit too close to those Timberwolves to my comfort... so I felt I had to get low and crawl up the slope. There is one more pylon before the old Sub-Station... but I count no less than five Timberwolves down there on and near the road. I'd have to be very careful if I was going to get in and out undetected. Staying low... I crept over to try to get a better vantage point. Searching the truck looked like it was going to be most risky at the moment. I have watched at least a couple of Timberwolves get uncomfortably close, but the pylon and the Sub-Station should be alright (assuming there aren't more Timberwolves I haven't spotted yet). As it turned out, there was nothing really up at the pylon. Worth noting though, is that there was a transmitter tower up there as well. It looks like everything needed to repair the transmitter box, I was able to collect up in and around the Sub-Station. However, it's not really the time for that, yet. Considering there is a safe approach, I have no qualms about setting this up as a primary encampment. Which is luckily... I needed a good spot to stow some the gear and supplies I've found along the way since the last drop off. I will go press my luck and see if I can find some more food in the truck. I did find a little in the Sub-Station but most of what I found was already ruined. May be hard to make out... but there is one of them just ahead. They are close enough I can hear their "footsteps." 😖 I may have to wait and watch for a good opportunity to search the truck. Turned out to be not worth the risk... but I still had to find out. Heading back inside the Sub-Station for the night. Hopefully I get my Gauntlets repaired before it gets too dark... can't really afford to waste the leather.

Not sure how I want to take on the rest of the region... so today, I was just going to cross the bridge again (over near Cook's Farm) and check out some of the electrical pylons. I was willing to bet they would lead me to the powerplant, sub-station, and prison. However, not sure how I want to tackle those three locations just yet. A day prospecting just out in the wilds will give me time to mull it over. There in the upper right looks to be closest pylon... I think I'll scout up that way first. I caught sight of another one to check out after I track down the other near the ridgeline. Unfortunately, I have no good vantage to see what maybe skulking around... so I had to stay low. It turned out that the pylon I was looking to start with isn't the closest after all... oh well. I was still determined to see if I could get there. (Also, the truck was totally empty... moving on.) I must be getting close to something... My first look at Blackrock Prison in (I think) more than a year... and much longer since I'd seen the inside. In any case, today I'm just scouting... I wanted to get to the pylons first. Oh... also worth knowing. We have a potential moose on the loose. I found nothing here except one scrap of cloth. However, it was a great vantage point. Good lines of sight for the next two pylons I'd like to visit. (Something to keep in mind... it was getting rather foggy, rather quickly.) I'd forgotten to bring a piece of charcoal with me... I'll have to come back to survey this vista view. I'm not sure if that path off to the right is a dead end... or leads further around the backside of the prison. I suspected a likely dead end. I was correct... a dead end. If this run of pylons lead me right to the Prison... then back in the other direction should take me to the power plant and sub-station. Fog was starting to lift... from the higher elevations, this region is really gorgeous. Figured I'd look at the other side on the way out. I had to be getting moving to the next pylon. Looks like a promising backtrail to keep in mind for later... And there's the next target... also a few things here to prospect. Hmm... I had two choices here. Risk the road down below on the left... or the rope climb down there on the right. 🤔 Rather that make that decision right away... so instead I choose to go check on that backtrail. The footpath around that rock formation led to a very nice view of Blackrock (both the mountain and the prison). Further below I spotted a recessed little out of the way trail... I suspected a cave. I was correct. Though it's a nice spot... there was still enough daylight for me to explore more of the area below that climb. I know I'll need to get back to the road eventually. But for right now... the wilderness in between the pylons seems the safer place to roam. That, and I can always come back here if I don't find any other suitable shelter. I may need to backtrack tomorrow I seem to have passed the next pylon without finding a way up to visit it. This next one in my line of sight is easy enough to reach... but I want to go back for the one I just missed by going down the rope (or at the very least head over the area below it and see if there's a footpath leading up). The weather is feeling threatening again. I need shelter soon... I don't think I have the energy to get back up the rope. 🤔 No sooner had I thought that; I found a nice out of the way nook... ...with a cave. Wonderful, I feel much better about holing-up for the night now. As I got settled... I soon found I wasn't alone. Hopefully she doesn't mind a roommate for the night. And just as I was getting my bedroll ready... the weather made good on its threat. A blizzard rolled in fast and hit hard.

I had maybe an hour or two before sundown... I decided to try to get back to Jailer's Residence and back to sort and stow before hiking back to this cave or perhaps stopping over at Cutty's Cave. After getting back to the small barn... I dropped off as much as I could as quickly as possible, but it was already starting to get dark. With the snow... it was going to get deadly dark rather fast. I decided if it got dodgy, that I would stop off at Cutty's Cave instead. Nearly there... I can push a bit further (even though the snowfall is getting heavier... probably better to get to the cave before it decides to spin up another blizzard). I was beyond exhausted by the time I made it back. I slugged down three cans of soda... and hunkered down for the night. As I suspected, a blizzard blew through overnight. I'd woke up a few hours before sunup to find the storm still raging outside. I rolled over and went back to sleep... hoping it would blow over by the time I got up.

I managed an early start (nearly lost the hatchet under the planks of the walkway at the entrance of the mine but managed to find and recover it from where it "fell" between the planks. 😒 It was bitter cold outside, and the wind was beginning to kickup... so I wouldn't be able to stay out long before having to stop in to warm up again. Found a promising spot to goat up... Unfortunately, wasn't able to find a way to get to see this side of the collapsed bridge. I decided to head back to the mind for a bit to warm up again. After warming up, I went out searching around again for a foot path (or goating path) out of the area. Of course, there are the two climbs... but I'm always on the lookout for alternate routes. This vista is view is wonderful... but nothing here for alternate routes. I suppose before another blizzard hits, I ought to get going. Back down to the frozen river... now I need to find another way up. There ahead is the gap that I'd spotted a few days ago... I know there is a rope just on the other side of it. There's a very nice little nook that might make for a good emergency spot to hole-up. Duly noted... Ahh... okay, the climb up above and across this fallen tree bridge. I circled back to check it out (I wasn't sure if I wanted to try the climb... I was getting a bit too tired for attempting a rope climb). Yeah... that's a bit of a long climb, I'm too tired, and I don't see it as being worth a Go! Energy drink. Moving on to look for another option. Looks like a promising way up (off to the right)... but first I wanted to continue on down the river, just checking for caves or more alternate routes. It looked like the end of this stretch of the river... but I search around through the logs to see if I could find a way through. However, I didn't find anything significant, so it was time to quickly head back. I double backed and started along the other path... Two short climbs promise an easy way in and out of this narrow ravine. Now it's just a matter of where it puts me on the other side. 🤔 If memory serves this is bridge behind Cook's Farm. I should be able to get to a good shelter from here relatively quickly. I would explore further, but I only have an hour or so before nightfall... exploring would have to wait, right now I need shelter. I opted for the cave just a little way up the road from Cook's Farm. Tomorrow, I think I'll drop off some non-essentials back at the Barn over by Jailer's Residence before starting to explore that other side of that central stretch of the narrow river ravine.

Fair enough. I'd forgotten about that... I will happily correct the statement.

@Leeanda I'd love it if other potentially fragile items (like say... the storm lantern) could break from falls and struggles too. Of course, bedrolls and clothes also take a beating from struggles... so I suppose there is that.

@Leeanda Agreed... I think the flask losing condition from falls and struggles is fair. Clothing Items tear/loose condition from falls, so there's certainly precedent for it. With recycled cans, cooking pots, and skillets... they lose condition when a food item "burns" or batch of water "boils off." Point is, despite other people's gripes... I agree with you. The tradeoff seems more than fair considering its proportionally massive benefit. I think that the implementation that Raph spoke of is a good one.

After a good night's sleep... I decided that I think I've done as much as I could with the mine, for now. Right now, I think I ought to consider what (and how) to get some of the gear and supplies I've found here out of the area, and back to one of my encampments. 🤔

This is all just very subjective, really... also the study you allude to seems dubious (especially without citation), or at the very least way too "generalized" to fit the niche that TLD fills. It seems to me, that folks who love this game are probably not bothered by lengthy journeys... and I think it's fair to say that a lot of the survival sandbox experience of TLD is lengthy, difficult journeys. And I think that for those folks who are bothered by it, there are plenty of games with fast-travel systems or trivial overworld traveling out there... just not this game. Frankly, I for one, love the long (sometimes brutal) treks that come inherent with making our way across Great Bear Island.