Sherri

I feel that. When I left Twitter, even though I was content with my decision, I still mourned a lost community. Even though Mastodon has mostly filled that.... I'm just very sick of social media in general. Might be a good thing, to cut that attachment & find new uses for our energy. ---- I think it might help to remember that communication with the community - especially here on the forums, doesn't have to be as 'grand' as a full dev diary. It can be overwhelming to put together the equivalent of a whole newsletter when regular work is already so time-consuming. Maybe try some small but unique stuff. Like "Check out these pencil sketches from when we designed the toxic wolves." Or "Here's a funny story from when we first playtested the long route to the Airfield." Etc. little anecdotes that humanize the dev process & maybe give staff who are willing, a chance to share fun tidbits from their work. Not everything has to be a big news release. Doesn't even have to be 'new'. 😁

Last winter I stopped my daily visits to the forum. Now I stop by every few months. Sometimes I wait extra long in the hopes that with a long enough wait, surely there will be *some* type of new communication from the studio to players. I'd take crumbs at this point. Crickets. It really is a shame. No other game that I own has such loyalty from me. I keep coming back to it and the DLC is frickin awesome. It's just really sad that my enthusiasm feels one-sided. I assume that community manager role was never filled. As a fellow Canadian I know our cultural reluctance to toot our own horns and be super vocal about what we do and are excited about... I guess one learns to accept things as they are. And on the flip side- it probably means more dedication to creating great content. 🙂 Looking forward to future releases.

Another vital tip: don't waste the gas mask canisters on the above-ground toxic areas. These can be easily navigated around or sprinted through if you stumble into the edge of one. Save the mask for the mines - you'll definitely need it more!

I recently finished the Tale also.... and while it was SUPER fun & challenging, it didn't really add anything to the story. Very vague. And the security chief died somewhere on her way to "destroy" the machine but clearly failed since it's still operational. I feel like it added more questions but didn't answer any. The logs are frustratingly vague. I prefer tension from concepts that I know are a threat/problem/danger/etc and not tension from just not knowing WHAT you are supposed to be concerned about. I assume more details will come in later Tales. I didn't realize this would be another extended multi-part story. I originally thought "Tales" would be individual contained mini stories since Wintermute is the major multi-chapter story. But this is feeling like another Wintermute. That's a great or bad thing depending (to me) on if it gets more substantial & concludes concretely. I'm happy to journey through a multi-tale story if it goes somewhere. 😁 So far what I've gleaned is: - A slightly unhinged scientist discovered a new technology. Using a power-sucking underground machine he conducted experiments on people that makes them hallucinate/dream/dimension shift... which ultimately makes them crazy. Even people nearby start to suffer ill effects. To what end? How does it work? What is his goal? What is happening to the people? Where is Rudiger? *tense "to be continued" music plays* dun dun duuunnnn!! 🤔

Yes it's buried in the snow in the back of the chopper - you need an aurora and the radio to find it with the beeping tracker ... then you uncover a cache there.

Ooo that episode 5 poster is stunning!! And gives me hope!

LOLOL! Totally. 😆

The Year In Review page is out on Steam lately... you can see yours here: https://store.steampowered.com/yearinreview Nice to see TLD popping up all over mine this year, with spikes at each of the Tale releases. 😁

Finished the upper locked region of the mine (related to the Tale) and drew a similar map. More poison gas!! I hope this map helps.

Don't make the mistake I made - empty your inventory before going into the mines! I just did the second part- the upper locked area. Huffing and struggling and always over-encumbered. Didn't realize until after that I was carrying TWO rifles 😣, a bow, toolbox, and a ton of tools and stuff that I didn't need at all. Don't do that! Drop most extra gear and go in extra lean. You'll find a lot of loot in the mine and you'll need to sprint a bunch.

This is how I spray painted the start and end of each gas zone. Although in retrospect I could have used just the arrows and not the danger symbol. Because I was mapping as I went, I didn't get lost and so didn't use spray paint for anything else.

I finished what I think is the bulk of the mine exploration, and it went pretty smoothly. As I was playing, to help distract my stress from the situation I sketched a hand-drawn detailed map of the mine as I went along. I was surprised to see that there doesn't seem to be any other maps of this level of detail so I decided to share! This might help anyone else who is a bit nervous to explore it blind. Note that this map is very light on spoilers and doesn't explicitly label where to find the Tale items. Tips: You will need at least 8-10 gas mask canisters. If you travel light, and sprint a lot you can probably get away with a few less. You can find many in the mine itself. There are containers and loot IN the gas areas, but nothing critical and you can skip looting these areas without much loss. Definitely use dropped sticks or spray paint to mark the start and stop of gas areas. This will enable quick sprinting if you have to return to them. It's hard to see with the gas mask on. The flashlight is especially bad to use here. I used the lantern and it provided the best visibility. Don't be shocked if you go blind for a few seconds when changing canisters. This can be jarring and a bit scary. Your light will come back on in about 2 seconds. While I found safety gear, I'm not sure if it helps with the gas exposure. You can find more chemical boots in the mines. I found a total of 3 pairs in Voyager. The mines contain lots of clothing repair and lantern fuel + flares so you'll have an easy time getting enough light. There are several good locations to set up a 'base' in the mines. I didn't encounter any wildlife in the mine. So you might want to leave your heavy weapons at the entrance. You DO get cabin fever in the mine. I didn't like this at all. Popping out at Miner's Footpath has a nearby cave where you can recover for a day. Map notes: Little circles and rectangles represent barrels and crates. These make nice landmarks. The map is roughly to scale. Although the "To Ramp Down A" points should have ended up closer to each other. Locations where you go dramatically up or down a level are marked. The map definitely has 'floors' but I managed to sketch it all out as one.

I did later find some inside the mine!

Also noticed: Have found 0 skill books in this region so far. Haven't seen a bear or moose.... yet. Very little ammo.

Having now spent 1-2 weeks in the Zone of Contamination, I think I can dare to say that this region might have worse weather even than Pleasant Valley! Thick fog, brutal winds and bitter cold. Clear skies are very rare, and if you do get it, it doesn't last long! Don't wait for warmth AND blue skies. The second it's clear, get sprinting to your destination. Discovered some more settled areas and they are really really nice. Especially one cooking-focused area that I really love. Managed to bag a deer and several bunnies, none of which were poisoned. Whew. Although I'm not hurting for food, on Voyager this region is *stocked*. Had to camp out for several days in a cave while waiting for an aurora to progress the Tale. It was worth it- cleared my cabin fever and found some goodies in the area. 😁