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. 😁

WARNING: Spoilers for the Zone of Contamination region! Eager to jump into the new region, I was surprised to see that after the first part of the tale, I had somehow set up camp in TWM. So I had a looong trek to get back out to the Far Territories. Finally managed it last night and gave the new Langston Mine its first look. Ooo boy this is exactly how I hoped it would be! The toxic areas are pretty easy to see in clear weather. Waste barrels lying around, greenish vapour wafting off them. Damaged trees. And a green effect that creeps into the 4 corners of your screen when you're in it. At first this made it straightforward to avoid these toxic pools. That is... until the sun started going down and a glimmer fog started rolling in. I stumbled around almost blind, choking on toxic gas, until feeling my way along a fence I found a trailer. Scary!! I'm really glad that the toxic areas can be detected in good conditions. It makes it a fun new challenge to feel your way along the edge of these areas and to search out alternate routes. Just don't get chased by a wolf into a green cloud! Luckily any toxic exposure fades over time if you stay away from it. I definitely noticed a bit of damage to my boots. The new toxic wolves are fantastic. I noticed right away that they detect me from farther away and jump right into an aggressive approach. No timid following and growling for these wolves! Luckily I brought pockets and pockets full of revolver ammo to cull these poor mangy creatures. I like that if you click to harvest them, there's just flat out no meat to be had. No easy meals after defeating predators. I've yet to see if the deer in the area are similarly toxic and meatless. I did find a very complex cave that I didn't know was the transition to Forsaken Airfield, got lost exploring that and found some goodies. When I realized this was bringing me to another region I had to head all the way back! Another player who suggested bringing lots of spray cans to mark your way through caves was brilliant - good strategy. Arrived at the main building and wow this sure is a huge structure!! Been slowly making my way up the levels and looting everything. This is a LOT of fun!

I've always assumed that Great Bear was hit by all these tragedies while in the midst of a boom that derailed the island's progress. Power structures like this could have been an infrastructure project that was underway but not finished. Hence the lack of powerlines going to it.

Updated version 2.4 - Fixed location of theorized region Mountain Pass. - Rearranged ZoC and Forsaken Airfield to better reflect relative world map locations.

Oh yes.... good catch. I'll fix.

Updated to version 2.3 - Renamed Abandoned Mine to Zone of Contamination - Added icons for locations of forges and ammunition workbenches.

TLD Connections map updated to version 2.2. - Added Industrial Mine. - Region colour legend.

I'm reminded of when I started googling for info about a chronic illness I had just been diagnosed with. The vast lion's share of info online was very very dire. You eventually realize that happy people rarely post reviews, comments and long blog diatribes online. It's the unhappy people who seek out places to vent. Even with the great community we have around TLD, this forum is still beholden to that reality. You will always have more unhappy players on the forums than contented players. It creates the impression that there is more complaining and more discontent than their really is. I imagine this feeling is painful for a creator who has put a huge chunk of their life into one major creation that is out in public, vulnerable to critique. I don't blame @Raphael van Lierop if he feels hurt. It sucks to see it. But I hope he keeps in mind that truism. The vast, vast, VAST majority of happy, content players are busy *playing* the game, not posting on the forums. And I also hope that more happy players make a point to comment. I will definitely be doing so, once I make my way back to the Far Territory and check out the region. I'm very jazzed to do so because the Airfield was fantastic.

This bears extra repeating. It is extremely AWESOME that the new regions are so different. Jarringly different. Dangerous in new ways. Very few regions have reasons to come back to them after they have been fully looted and explored. With the exception of bullet crafting and forges. The thing that keeps a long run going and interesting (for me) is having places I haven't been to yet. Being out to the Far Territory and braving its unique dangers in the 2nd half of a run is a great thrill for a well equipped character. Something new and different is very welcome. Do we really want just more of the same? The fact that people both love and hate the new regions, the fact that they are SO different is a feature not a bug. HL has a banger here with this DLC- it's not easy to keep things fresh and interesting on such a long running project. Differing preferences shouldn't be worded as complaints.

It's is possible to have only found an inner later clothing item. Or to have had your outer layer toque destroyed in a wolf struggle. For completeness the tech balaclava has this stat so that it's a fully complete item even if that stat only comes into play rarely. It would be weird for it to be missing.

This is a *fantastic* idea.