Megaloceros

So I thought I had Frostbite all figured out after getting my initial "noob" forstbite on the 30th day of a Stalker run in Ash Canyon. Since then, that run became my main Stalker run, and I'm currently on day 600. 

Trouble is, in the last few weeks, I've gotten THREE MORE Frostbites, two of which were in the same 2-hour session of playing!

I was outside, didn't notice my gloves were frozen solid, and got frostbite.

Now I have 4 Frostbites, and I hope I can serve as a cautionary tail- Frostbite happens really quickly and easily, and no matter how many hundreds of hours you've played (I have 2,000 gameplay hours) you can still fuck yourself over if you aren't careful.

That being said, has anyone else noticed an uptick in Frostbite occurences? Wanna make sure I was just being stupid and it isn't actually a change in game mechanics. 

On 1/1/2018 at 12:45 PM, Rancid said:

Because of this I think that adding support for community made maps would solve the problem of having maps being overplayed and becoming linear with out have a ton of work added to the dev team (compared to procedurally generated maps). This would also allow the magic of exploring the maps for the first time to be there for a lot longer if not forever.

 

Rancid, I admit, I am usually pretty skeptical of the idea of fan-generated content, but you've started to convince me otherwise- this is a pretty interesting idea!

I do feel strongly that Hinterland should vet the available fan-made maps, though, but maybe I'm being too overbearing. Interested to see if a map-making program/tool will ever be released to fans to allow for easy creation of new maps!

On 9/22/2021 at 10:33 AM, manolitode said:

F i n a l l y.

It appears as banger to scare wolves with, not something to blow them to pieces.

I suspect it uses gunpowder to craft though, and I'd much rather use 100% of my gunpowder to make ammunition. Still, a powerful new tool using a very common resource (cans) that can potentially scare off loads of hostile wildlife- we like to see it!

You can quite easily survive indefinitely, on any difficulty. You simply can. I have seen a 12 in-game year run on Interloper (Google Rational Bassist TLD if you are interested). On my own stalker run, I've found that, so long as I don't get bitten by wolves (which is fully possible if you live somewhere without them like Trappers with a steady supply of rabbits) you can quite easily survive forever. The real difficulty is devoting yourself to permanent survival. 

The thing with guns is that they really do give us a ton of rifles in Stalker; I feel like it would not be all that bad to maybe add in one more gun variant, which is stronger but requires a lot more upkeep, perhaps. 

That being said, TLD is very much not a shooter, and I don't want firearms to take to central of a focus. 

I almost didn't believe you at first, but I looked it up and pretty quickly found video evidence of this bizzare, broken Interloper rifle. Great find, well done! Keep us posted on this run, especially if it keeps being so odd!

I bought The Long Dark for several people when it was on sale recently, and my advice to them was:

~Start a Survival Game on Pilgrim before looking at anything, in Mystery Lake

~Start playing Wintermute, on any difficulty (though frankly I think Capable Survivor offers the best experience, even for new players). 

~Try playing some longer runs on Voyager, before you've completely finished with Wintermute, and try to survive as long as you can. 

~From there, do whatever you want! 

I first played through Wintermute on Capable Survivor and replayed it on Hardened Survivor in preparation for the upcoming episodes; both runs were fun! I managed to never die as Will but died several times as Astrid; those damn wolves! Good luck!

42 minutes ago, Stinky socks said:

Hmm. TLD player base generally consists of patient group of individuals. Not sure where these outbursts of emotion are coming from?😁 hinterland, rest assured, stinky still love you!

I have seen a couple of players like him on this site, and I find the intensity of their frustration so baffling. It is odd how personally some players take developmental setbacks or wait times or buggy features, and how unsatisfied they can be with objectively sensible limitations. 

Then again, the videogame industry is absolutely filled with players such as these; luckily, I love The Long Dark community because it seems to attract such patient, non-toxic players who are truly interested in discussing the game and experiencing its development (yourself among them, I love getting notified of your posts, though I don't always agree with them!). 

5 hours ago, Rover East said:

 

I personally call surviving to day 500 on Interloper “The Iron Will to live challenge” and I was wondering if anyone else was trying it. If you are, share a story or two, discuss tactics, and let me know if you think they should make an official achievement honoring such endeavors.

There is a user who goes by @RationalBassistwho has survived on interloper for over 12 in game years, and as far as I know that run is still going; what's more, from what I understand, he challenged himself by never killing deer or rabbits in the game, and by spending a full in game year in every region. I recommend you chat with him if you can; his is the most impressive Interloper run I know of, so if anyone has any pointers about both surviving and staving off boredom, it's him!

Perhaps he will finally discover if William Mackenzie can die of old age, haha!

@Rover East No notes, just wanted to say this is a smart, respectful, well thought out post! I really enjoyed reading your ideas! I especially love your thoughts about having greater variety in wood, and having them have realistically diverse properties instead of just a difference in burn time. 

A common want among the community is the ability to make a crude sled or sledge, with which to haul firewood or game. I think the ease in carrying corpses to a new area to harvest would be balanced by the fact that it would attract more hostile wildlife, and you would have to stop hauling the sledge to ward them off. You could also feasibly craft a sledge using some climbing rope, and use it to move branches to a more suitable place to cut them up.

Remarkably, yours is also the first post that I have read suggesting a new gun be added in a way that actually seems reasonable, and would contribute a lot to the game! Love the idea of a flintlock, with powder bags ready to go, and having to load it with slugs and shot and all that before firing on a distant fox or lining up a mark on a feeding grizzly bear! 

Please share more of your ideas! They are great!

On 5/23/2021 at 12:03 PM, ajb1978 said:

Wouldn't fit the environment, those are migratory birds and this is winter. All the waterfowl are half a content away.

This is not a huge issue, and could easily be explained away. First of all, at very least, the geese will try to return in the Summer, but find, as we all did, that the snow simply doesn't go away. Disoriented geese make for some great hunting! It would also be cool to expect a big temporary return of geese around 300 days in; I'm at that point now in a Stalker game, and it would be cool for some big event to occur like that!

Secondly, the geomagnetic disaster has seriously altered wildlife behavior. Maybe it caused geese to fail to migrate, or to return early? 

The Snow Goose winters as far north as British Columbia, which is roughly where Great Bear is. It is not a huge stretch to say there are still some there.

All this aside, I agree with the OP @Leeanda that it would be fun to hunt birds! Geese aren't even the end all be all in this case.  We already have crows- it's a shame you can't interact with them at all right now. Could be a great way to get more feathers all at once. 

On 5/20/2021 at 12:05 PM, SpanishMoss said:

- More hostel animals

I know you said to ignore spelling and grammar, but I cannot ignore the idea of a hostel full of animals somewhere on Great Bear, hahaha!

To be fair, there are a lot of bunk beds in The Long Dark...

On 4/11/2021 at 6:27 PM, Stinky socks said:

Friends and  neighbors. Here me out:

It is all too familiar phrase we hear when astrid(or william) use a remedy against 'wrong' illness.

To me, it sounds logical that when you gulp a set of painkillers or antibiotics, you shouldn't choose which illness to cure. Obviously, taking painkillers will get rid of the pain and antibiotics will treat poisoning.

Another point I'd like to make is, if Astrid(or william) know how to make bear dressing, they will surely know how and where and in which case to apply it. Another example, if you know how to brew up tea from reishi mushrooms, it is quite logical to think that you would know what it treats.

My proposal is to have the medicine pick automatic path to cure. If you are sick to the stomach and take antibiotics, there shouldn't be a list of choices for everything your hurting.

 

 

Just remember what the game is going for here- it is trying to represent the player wrongly applying first aid, which, in a survival situation, does happen. I agree with you that the game's way of implementing this is a bit clunky and illogical, but I think that whatever system replaces it needs to allow the player to mess up, to somehow botch the treatment due to a lack of medical understanding. 

Would also be interesting to see the PC potentially become addicted to the pain meds, if they take too many too often. 

I have been wanting a more oceanic map for quite a while, and this seems to do nicely!

I just had a thought that this could be an opportunity to add new wildlife to the game. 

Puffins was my first thought; some kind of iconic shore bird that you could potentially raid the nests of. Arctic Terns might also be cool to add, in that they are both very aggressive and also would only appear seasonally (though this could easily be ignored and explained away by the shifting geomagnetic conditions). 

Seals was the next. Harbor seals, as opposed to the truly arctic seals that would not frequent a boreal region such as this, are a clear choice in my mind. I wonder how seal hunting would work... I do not propose it would be easy, and certainly you would only be able to do it with seals that had come to rest on the shore. But seals seem like a natural thing to add, and could provide some useful materials (and at very least, some blubber to munch on!). 

I've added some pictures which I think fit well into the game's aesthetic. 

Great thread, keep it up!

I think this is actually an excellent idea! There are a lot of times that one needs to pass time in The Long Dark. Rather than always doing the time skip function (solitaire), one could simply crack open one of the many books to be found on Great Bear and read for a while.

This, I think, would go a long way into enhancing the emersion as well. The description of the books even say that they could be a source for knowledge, but are "for now, something to burn". It would be nice if you could have an option to read the ones you saved. 

There are loads of works in the public domain that Hinterland could add for free; I'm not sure how much processing power it takes to have the entire text of many different stories in the game, but I imagine it is manageable. 

Some public domain books that might be good are Robinson Crusoe, Moby Dick, The Swiss Family Robinson, and hell, even Frankenstein begins in an arctic survival situation, and matches the foreboding tone of the game. 

Great idea, Leeanda!

I find that snare lines are not really needed; I put 4-8 snares in a close cluster, in a rabbit grove, as the actual position of the snare does not, to my knowledge, affect catching a rabbit as long as rabbits regularly spawn in that area. Snare lines are inefficient, take longer to harvest, and require more maintenance. Even if you did catch 12 rabbits at a time, it would take a while to prep them all; you simply don't need that many rabbits at once. 

In late game, I can see a ton of snares being important, as rabbits get less and less common. But frankly, I'm pretty sure even in interloper that food is not the limiting factor as long as you are adept with the bow and arrow and can kill bears and wolves for food. 

On 4/3/2021 at 5:45 AM, nvrlse said:

Are the bunkers that are suppose to spawn in Mystery Lake on PC only? I am playing on the PS4 and they aren't spawning for me. I did find a bunker in Pleasant Valley at the foot of Timberwolf Mountain but that's it. Can someone please help? If I could I would just play my PC version but sadly my PC died and haven't been able to replace it yet.

The one at the base of Timberwolf spawns 100% of the time, it is "abandoned".  Keep checking around Pleasant Valley and Mystery Lake, the other commenters here made some great points! They can be hard to spot, and surprisingly easy to overlook!

7 hours ago, Stinky socks said:

Add scuba gear for some underwater exploration 👍

Haha, sorry, but I'm afraid that is where I would draw the line; already this region would be pushing it somewhat, and I feel like scuba gear is just too much of a leap. It just would cease to feel like the Long Dark, lol.

1 hour ago, axez said:

It's time to build a boat! ⛵

Hey guys. It would be a great quest to build a small boat! And a great adventure after it is built.
Just think about. You will need to find/craft parts, materials, instruments left in different locations of Great Bear island.
Next, you'll need to build (or repair?) a boat somewhere by the coast for a significant time.
Then the most dangerous part - you will sail to a new location: distant icy island that might be seen in horizon from coastal highway. The fog, the wind, low temperature, no navigation while sailing - must wear A LOT of warm and waterproof clothes and have a LOT of luck to get there alive!
So you step on new location - a sleepy volcano with caves, thermal water sources (geysers?), climbing ropes, maybe some coal but no wood at all. All wood you have is what you came with.
At the end, on the highest peak, you will find a great treasure, of course!  Let's say, an ocean fishing rod so you could use a boat in further to catch a big fish. I'm not sure why it's left on the top of volcano. But your way here was a die hard quest, the reward should be awesome!
And, as a bonus, you will see a whole Great Bear island from the distance.

So. When we will build a boat, Hinterland?

 

Firstly, let me say that I do like this idea! I was thinking there should be a more oceanic zone, with more sea ice and, since we see dead ones in Wintermute, the occasional lurking orca swimming around our makeshift raft. 

Terrain:

A small island (though decidedly not a volcano, in my humble opinion) would be great! I have also seen some amazing fan-made concept art of a huge wrecked ocean liner, perhaps an ice-breaker that lost power as it was headed South, that beached on a sandbar or an iceflow. The ship would serve much like the cave systems on the rest of Great Bear, with passageways and corridors. Small islands could speckle the area, some connected by sea ice, some not. Perhaps a lifeboat can be found beached on one, or on the ship, so that in the lower difficulties, if your makeshift raft breaks, there is a realistic chance you can still escape back to the mainland. 

Weather:

Storms with big waves would be really cool to add, though we could do without them, for the same of ease for the developers. Tides, however, would be really cool to incorporate! Perhaps, like with the Aurora affecting accessibility in the Carter Dam, high tide could restrict access to the lower part of the shipwreck, or reveal some islands that are usually underwater! And once you're there, you'd best get out quick, before the tide returns in a few hours! 

Animals:

There would be no deer or rabbits in this region. Instead, an excellent but difficult to hunt alternative could be seals, sitting on the rocks or on the deck of the shipwreck! Careful now, seals are no joke, and even if you do manage to shoot one, it might just dive down into the water, attracting another predator... As stated before, we know Great Bear has orca whales in its waters, though many have died. Just imagine a long, sleek black fin slicing through the waves as it approaches your boat, or a massive jaw leaping up to grab the seal you were just about to capture! In fact, orcas would also serve as a great way to restrict the borders of the region without obvious walls. It's simple- you go to far, you see fins, and if you don't turn back, your boat will get bumped and flipped. There is also the possibility of a polar bear walking across the sea ice, possibly onto the shipwreck, but I honestly feel like polar bears are still out of place here; Great Bear is still too far South, and with the world getting colder, they'd actually be more up North than usual. Additionally, puffins or other sea birds could replace crows, though again, this doesn't really matter. Fish would remain the same.

Items:

The ship will certainly have a decent amount of the regular items- flares, rations, and some cozy mariner's peacoats. The craftable raft could be made with recovered wood and cured gut, with perhaps the option to create an oar. There would also be one or two premade lifeboats to be found in the region, as a new item. New clothing or items would also be added, and would be craft able using seal skin. 

Location:

The location is obvious- it would connect Desolation Point

Bienvenidos, amiga! Me gusta tu nombre. Perdóname por mi español, no es mi lengua natal! Era emocionado cuando vi tu introduccion, porque no he visto muchas personas que hablen este idioma en este sitio. Me pregunto si hacer que la muerte permanente sea opcional sería mejor o peor. Creo que sería mejor por dificultades más fáciles como Voyageur o Pilgrim. Quieres que la muerte sea opcional en todas las dificultades? 

Estoy de acuerdo sobre la actividad de miebros de esta sitio, no hay suficiente jugadores para discutir con, jaja

Fue divertido conocerte!

Ciao, 

~M

On 3/7/2021 at 11:28 AM, ChicaDystopica said:

Disculpen por escribir en español, se puede?

Llevo unas 170 horas jugando, contando el modo historia y supervivencia, amo The Long Dark🧡.  Mi unico deseo es que la muerte permanente fuera opcional y que la comunidad en español fuera un poco más activa jaja

On 2/8/2021 at 12:53 PM, Satouthedeusmusco said:

@Schrodingers Box

I have. Snow doesn't glow during the night.

Did you see the image I posted with my OP. There are no lightsources there yet the snow still glows. That is not how actual snow works.

Sure if you had a torch or latern out THEN the snow should be visibly white again. But without a lightsource snow doesn't appear white.

 

I'm not saying they should up the visibility at night. The falling snow should still block your vision. It just shouldn't literally glow an uncomfortably bright white.

I have no issue with the point, I don't know why so many people are calling you out for it. You are simply correct; on a dark night, snowflakes aren't bright white. Though, it does not bother me personally, and I do not think it needs to be changed, but maybe it is worth addressing.

1 hour ago, TheKnightIsDark said:

By itself, no interloper is not toxic for mental health.

But for you it seems to have become exactly that. In the past when I've felt a fraction of how upset you are, and been self-aware of it, I've taken a break from the game or moved on from it permanently. Because personally when I get obsessed with a game, or anything else really, to this degree as reflected in your OP and subsequent elaborate comments... it means I'm no longer happy playing the game. And that I'm still hanging on for whatever reason even though the experience has soured. And for me, playing games is supposed to be enjoyable, relaxing, challenging, thrilling, distracting etc. But certainly not stressful or torture.

I was in love with TLD for the first 250 hours of my playtime. But after that the infatuation slowly started to fade and I could sense myself getting irked by various gameplay elements that didn't make sense, or were missing, or immersion-breaking etc. And this happened the more thoroughly I started to learn the game. And that lead to me having a vision different than Hinterland for the game. I agree and admit both interloper and stalker are far from perfect. TLD overall is not perfect either and could use a lot of fixes, improvements, additions etc. You make some good points but... the quantity of points that you've made, and your sheer frustration is just... strange. But also interesting.

Maybe you love this game too much and need to loosen your grip on it a little bit. For your own good. If this is just a vent to get it out of your system and you'll be back to enjoying the game and will have brushed off and forgotten all these... expectations... then sure carry on. But if not, and this is how you've been consistently feeling about the game for a long while, then I'm afraid I see you being unhappy playing TLD for the foreseeable future as well. And at that point you need to question your motive in playing any game.

Entirely agree! I couldn't have said it better if I tried.

I personally love this game, but as many players who also love the game can probably agree, TLD is not for everyone. Give it a chance, but if the difficulty or limitations of the game is making you so deeply frustrated and upset that you are suffering mentally, there is no shame in moving on to another game. That doesn't mean you're bad, and that doesn't mean the game is bad. It's just not the game for you sometimes, and that's okay. 

On 1/23/2021 at 7:39 PM, galahan said:

Hey Folks and devs,

After spending 130 days in wilderness in survival mode, my journey ended by surprising accident again (my previous attempt was stepping on fire). Not by a bear, or wolf or even a cold weather. i was running around in warm weather comfortably in +32 degree C attire, and slept on outside w/o paying attention to my effing glove getting wet. I was planning on climbing a rope, so i figured let me sleep a bit more before the climb. i did barely notice the frostbite warning just before clicking the sleep, but in truth it never occurred to me one of my clothes could be wet. There was no snow storm or anything, temp was rising,  why would it be wet anyways. I have thought hmm, it might be bugged. Anyway after waking up from sleep; frostbite, bam, end of my journey. classic Long Dark style another effing grand finale, x5 frostbite half of my health is gone.

You might as well  kill me long dark devs, what is the point of playing the game from there again. Game should be screaming at you to get your attention before you un intentionally suicide yourself. Why would i sleep if i can remove the darn glove or make a fire, if i was aware of the darn thing. 

You cannot cure the it so its game over. what a horrible game design.

really entirely lost the will the play this game again. if any devs care at all. make your games punishing, but not idiotically punishing. 

cheers

Hey man, 
I know your frustration, I know your pain, and I'll be damned if I haven't been angry after a sprained ankle on a flat surface prevented me from escaping into the safety of a cabin before the wolves got me. But this is another tier altogether! Holy shit! Wet gloves triggering the frost bite effect FIVE TIMES?! That is ridiculously excessive. I mean seriously, wow, did not even think that could happen.
I would like to offer this, for your consideration- you have inadvertently been given an incredible challenge: continue, on day 130, to play, with half health. I'm not even sure how possible it is, but your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to survive.
And if you do live another 130 days, PLEASE post about it! Good lord, what a story that would be.

ALTERNATIVELY- it really can be fun to just climb to the top of a big hill, and jump off. I call it "Doom Sledding"; no more enjoyment left to be had by suriviving another day, so how about enjoy the ride to the jagged bottom of this cliff?