Veskaida

I agree, this was one of the strengths of the Cougar as-implemented and I hope they keep this element, or something like it. Very ominous walking around a region and you hear that music faintly begin to play in the background, growing louder and louder. Have seen others comment before that "The Long Dark is a survival game with horror elements" and while I don't know if I'd go quite that far, it certainly has it's ominous and dire moments. This Cougar Den was definitely one of them, hope more players can experience this! Agree as well, the Cougar's model is excellent and I loved the struggle animation. IMO best animation in the game.

If you encounter a bug in TLD I'd recommend submitting a bug report to Hinterlands directly, ideally with steps to replicate the bug (you can take developer screenshots with "F8" on PC). That's more likely to get seen quickly and get fixed.

Which polaroid do you mean, what region and name? I think this bug only affects the map-preview (roughly where you need to stand, to get the map benefits of using the polaroid), so if you know where to stand and map there, it should give the map bonus, and if you have the polaroid in your inventory and approach this location, it should give you the "polaroid vista" notification. You could try checking a video (e.g. Youtube search for "sundered pass polaroid") and find a clip of the polaroid in the location you found, and then see the location where you'd need to stand to redeemed it.

Not sure which platform you play on, but on Steam (PC) it is quick and easy to change a sandbox's save name in-game. Main Menu > Survival > Load > [Select Sandbox] > Rename There was also a patch issued yesterday (v2.31 on PC) which may have fixed this issue, though if you're on Console/Switch it may take a few days for the patch to land (think console policies require some form of validation, so they're usually a bit slower than PC). If your issue isn't fixed in this patch you could also try submitting a Feedback Ticket to Hinterlands directly with information about your issue.

This is a viable strategy, though expensive given how rare stims are. If you don't want to fight Timberwolves I'd recommend

Yes, there are multiple Hunting Rifle spawn points in FA on Stalker and below, and many in TFT especially in Zone of Contamination. Like Leeanda I'm unaware of any "guaranteed" however. Sundered Pass seems quite weapon poor and loot-poor in general, even on Pilgrim; though I'm unsure if this was bad luck on my part or loot POI that I've missed/bugged, but I suspect this is intentional. Given how Hinterlands places these spawn points and how loot frequency works, I suspect there are more active points on lower difficulties and higher odds of finding such equipment as well.

Unsure if this happened for OP's situation, but yes like my post above mentions there are at least 3 current situations (likely intended optimization mechanics) where animals can despawn because of player loading screens/transitions. Yes, this can and often will result in arrows falling from the animal (to the location they were unloaded at), and it can also remove Blood Loss (not entirely sure if it resets the animal's Condition as well, but it likely does). There appears to be some ambiguity/simulation with this behavior (like mentioned in my above post for 'footprints/blood trails'), as animals subject to this mechanic will often travel much faster/further than they normally could. Wildlife mobs unload when the player transitions (e.g. "uses" the door in Mystery Lake to enter Trapper's Cabin, indoor caves/mines, separate regions, etc.): Player transitions and ~15 in-game minutes pass (60 real-world seconds) in the new area (including Time Acceleration) Player transitions and RNG call changes the weather to/from Aurora, or Blizzard except for The animal moves beyond a certain radius of the transition point the player used (e.g. animal is fleeing or 'patrolling' and moves beyond X distance) Player transitions then saves+quits and reloads gameworld Player dies in a region and chooses "Cheat Death" and the "Near" option. Far as I've tested this unloads many assets (mobs) but can also load new ones (e.g. you died to a wolf, but Cheat Death respawns you near a separate wolf/same wolf in a different location).

I agree, Cheat Death's implementation is a system to continue playing that same sandbox, but not (necessarily) with all your equipment. It has interesting benefits but also consequences. You certainly can maintain some items through it, but it's also reasonably punishing for 'cheating death'. I think it succeeds in giving player the option, while still maintaining the general spirit of "permadeath" for TLD.

Agreed, I like the implementation of Cheat Death. Wasn't necessarily advocating for Cheat Death to be 'harder', just I thought it might be interesting if some of the penalty options affected something other than just "Condition". Maybe it's just me, but I got that perception from the reveal: that the "-Condition" choices were just a sample, from a larger pool. Am fine with that being all the options for Cheat Death though, TLD does a good job wrapping many different systems into that Condition meter.

My initial reaction to the "Cheat Death" mechanic being revealed (in the TFTFT Part 5 video) was negative: I felt that permadeath was a core pillar of TLD's design/identity (something it was known for, and stood out from other survival games), and that this feature might ruin or dilute that identity; however after playing around with it a bit: I rather like it! Thematics are strong: the color filter is fun and choices are interesting and puts the player in memorable situations, rather than simply ending a story. Leads to many new and interesting survival situations: trying to survive in a different or far-away place, some pieces of gear/tools, or with low Condition. It feels fresh and unique to other TLD gameplay. Was concerned it would equate to a "lives" system, without adequate punishment for the player or be interesting. I feel it does both respectfully and in an interesting manner, without disrespecting TLD's permadeath history. Mostly experimented with it in few goofing-off 'test runs', deliberately trying to die explore the system or to see if I can survive with multiple stacks of it's affliction (fun!). In some ways it reminds me of earlier versions of the TLD sandbox, which I think had something of a rogue-like feel (namely TLD's difficulty and the soft progression system of "Feats"). In the future I don't think it is something I'll necessarily always want to use, but it definitely is interesting to play with and I enjoy the implementation: of anything I wish there was more 'punishment' options rather than just two variations of 'condition'. Perhaps the Misery afflictions, or something like them?

I agree, of anything I'd argue the maps have been increasing in quality, size and complexity over the years. Particularly from Bleak Inlet and onwards I feel I feel Hinterlands has made some really excellent content. Definitely. Particularly on Interloper the temperature differences between TFT and the rest of GBI are very noticible, especially FA and SP. In my opinion SP is by far the hardest region in the game: bitterly cold at all hours, hostile wildife, harsh weather, few shelters. Previously I would have said that FA is the hardest with it's low temperatures and large open plains (easy to get lost in during a blizzard/fog).

Perhaps, though I might re-phrase Cougar "cheese" to "interactability", but yes I agree. I see "cheese" as generally unintended behavior, which I hope for most games would be kept to a minimum. The Cougar had relatively low levels of player engagement compared to other TLD mobs, with most player decisions involving avoiding cougars and only really 2 decisions the cougar itself ("Strike" or "Desperation"). From what I've seen, I think this is the main criticism of the Cougar as implemented and I hope this is addressed with the rework. Player-Cougar interactions (v2.29) spoilers for predux Cougar behavior: From what Raph and Hinterland have said regarding the Cougar, I believe their intention was to design/implement it as a serious threat ("alpha predator", "... maybe your greatest challenge yet") and likely something most players would/should avoid: like a 'boss', or perhaps a 'pursuer-type enemy' (e.g. like "Nemesis" in the "Resident Evil" franchise), particularly with how it behaved in Misery mode (10 days to spawn, 10 days residence). Comparing Player-Cougar interactions VS other mobs in TLD (Wolves, Deer, etc.) was quite limited, with most involving the player not interacting with the Cougar directly but rather a region (e.g. spending more time in-region summons Cougar, leaving the region avoids it). From my perception the Cougar was implemented as intended by Hinterlands as a finished product (based on how other TFTFT content has been implemented), minus bugs. I've seen other comments like this, and yes there are similarities to "Old Bear" in the Challenges "The Hunted: Part 1 and 2", and to an extent "The Darkwalker" from "Escape The Darkwalker"; so Hinterlands has created some content like this in the past. As someone who has completed these challenges and played "The Hunted: Part 1" as a 'lived-in world' (trying to survive against an invincible bear for hundreds of days) this is fun for a limited time and gets old/frustrating when you learn enough of the mob's spawning/AI behavior where it becomes predictable. I would be opposed to the Cougar being an invincible mob or behaving like Old Bear/Darkwalker, though I can see similarities or ideas which might make engaging gameplay. I would be against this for a few reasons: I feel a major design aspect of The Cougar is that it is an "ambush predator", and the behavior you describe seems to deviate from that. This behavior seems closer to how non-Cougar mobs behave in TLD, and this could make the Cougar less original or interesting

To be completely honest, I got brutally trolled by Hinterlands at this location in my first playthrough of SP; although no, I've not (yet) fallen from it (except in testing). Was lost in a blizzard wandering (low visibility) looking for shelter and arrived at this location. I thought (erroneously), it was not pathable and trying to walk across it would result in falling to one's death, or that there was a "death barrier". I turned around and suffered as a result! Yes, this small gap is 100% crossable, but it is also possible to fall from it! (as are several other drop-down areas in SP (no spoilers)) At this location, I'd recommend not being encumbered and using Sprint to cross it with higher confidence. Pain! I am so sorry for your loss! May your future bones be less crunchy.

Ouch! 10 missing arrows in one region, that's rough! Yes Timberwolves in particular can be very annoying to retrieve arrows; especially if they're Aurora TW (more health: so less likely/less bodyparts result in critical hits). The best trick I've found to find fresh carcasses is to harvesting all the Hinterlands-placed Deer/Wolf carcasses in a region (that don't decay until you touch them), so the only sources for circling crows are Frozen Corpses of humans or recent kills, or new carcasses that wash up via beachcombing. This helps a lot with trying to locate dead animals, especially on hilly or steep terrain. Also Blizzards damage the condition of carcasses, which will cause them to decay/dissapear faster. This (and harvesting) doesn't affect animal respawn times however. If you spent more than 15 in-game minutes inside of another area (another region, indoor loading screen area, etc), or if an Aurora transition (coming or going) occurs animals can despawn, or if you save+quit. If they do, then it's likely the animal will despawn and the arrow(s) attached to them will drop to the ground where the animal was last standing; it's also possible that the Blood Loss/Damage to the animal may be undone. Don't fully understand how the footprint/blood trail system works, but it isn't very reliable for tracking: only in the absolute short-term. I think as soon as an animal leaves the player's LOS it becomes simulated, so it will instantly vanish, which can cause odd behavior where e.g. you walk over a hill tracking a deer you saw, but then it is nowhere to be seen with footprints trailing off for many km, often in zig-zagging directions. Your arrows should still be present somewhere in that same region they were shot in, but they can be quite far from the shooting site. I've found arrows (sometimes in very weird/sloped terrain far from a shooting site) many hundreds of days later. Another trick I use is writing in the Journal/Note whenever I lose an arrow, ideally with: how many arrows are missing what region(s) roughly where an arrow was shot OR where animal w/ an arrow stuck to them was last seen

Is Survival mode canon, or are only WINTERMUTE and TALES but not Survival as a whole? Are we actually playing as Will/Astrid in Survival (or is this a gameplay limitation), so canonically Will/Astrid might not travel to TFT or complete TALES? The in-game description for Survival reads: "The non-narrative exploration-survival experience where day-to-day survival is the only objective, and death the only ending. Play your own story." The description of TALES ( https://www.thelongdark.com/expansion/ ) reads: "Story within Survival. Instead of Challenges, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY will include three narrative-driven Tales, stories of the territory's mysterious past, each with narrative-focused gameplay objectives that help build up the story of Great Bear Island, and connect back to the WINTERMUTE storyline which culminates in Episode Five."