ElSuperGecko

Morning all, I just thought I'd mention this strange interaction I've had with the cougar encroachment mechanics over the weekend, as it doesn't match the description I've seen for the mechanic on either the announcement post or elsewhere. I'm playing on XBox, this was an existing game (500+ days) in Pilgrim mode (don't judge me 😆). I know the cougar is being temporarily removed, but I'm not sure where we're at with this process on console. I'd seen the Tales Part 5 update download on my console on Monday, then a patch midweek and I think another patch on Friday. I resumed playing this particular save on Friday evening (clicking resume, not load). I wasn't prompted if I wanted the cougar in this game or not (I understand this is known). My survivor was in the Far Range Branch Line territory, and on loading I immediately noticed the "Cougar arriving in 5 days" message on the map screen. I thought nothing of it and headed back to Broken Railroad and the message disappeared. I crossed Forlorn Muskeg into Mystery Lake, picked up a few things and then headed back to the Far Territory as my plan was to go through the Zone of Contamination and carry on with Tales. When I got back to Far Range Branch Line - "Cougar arriving in 2 days". Fair enough - I pressed on into Transfer Pass. "Cougar arriving in 5 days". Now it had my attention. As mentioned, this was Pilgrim (😆) mode, and I certainly hadn't been hanging around in Far Range Branch Line for fifty days plus. In fact, I'd only just got there prior to the update, as I was moving my gear all the way from Timberwolf Mountain prior in preparation to play through Tales. So I'd been in Far Range Branch Line two days at most? Anyway. "5 days" I thought. "I'm just passing through". So I left my travois at the Vacant Depot and decided to scout out the rope climb area and have a wander into Sundered Pass. And when I got there, once again saw "Cougar arriving in 5 days" message. I explored the valley floor stayed overnight the Last Lonely House, before heading up the climbs towards the Weather Station, mapping as I went. Somewhere between the fallen tree bridge and the Perilous Bridge, and completely by accident, I found myself mapping the Cougar Den. It was only when it popped up on the map that I noticed that the ominous drum-beat music had been playing in the background, which was playing from the far end of the Perilous Bridge all the way back to near the transition cave to Forsake Airfield. I was now a little bit freaked out, and as my survivor was low on stamina I couldn't progress up to the weather station, so I ended up sleeping overnight in the transition cave. In the morning, I checked the map. "Cougar arriving in 3 days". OK. I climbed back down and headed back to Transfer Pass. "Cougar arriving in 3 days". OK. On a hunch, I went to Zone of Contamination. "Cougar arriving in 3 days". Forsaken Airfield? "Cougar arriving in 3 days." Uh-oh. Back to Far Range Branch Line? "Cougar present in region", and ominous music right from the start. Oh hell no. A trek all the way back to Broken Railroad would involve two long, dark, narrow yet still outdoor tunnels, and there's no way in the world I wanted to run into the murder cat there. So I went back to Transfer Pass, and I'm currently sat in the no-loading screen depot, starting at the "Cougar arriving in 2 days message" on the map, wondering what my next move will be. Checkmate? It's awesome. Anyway, I thought I'd mention this as this behaviour doesn't match what I'd seen, and I wasn't sure if it was a bug or an artifact from the updates or "resume game" process or what. Or is it something to do with the fact that the cougar's nest is nearby? I really don't know. TL:DR? Cat has me cornered in Transfer Pass. I cannot get out.

@Raphael van Lierop I just wanted to say thank you for the fast and direct response to your player feedback. I know it's impossible to make everyone happy but personally, I think the reaction shows just how much the players love your game and want to see the best experience possible. It's clear the players love the concept of the cougar and have been eagerly awaiting it. I just wanted to say that the Cougar model looks great, the attack animation is both amazing and terrifying and the very thought of an alpha predator stalking you through the regions if you dwell in any one place too long sends shivers down the spine. I'm really looking forward to seeing how you plan to redevelop the cougar, and the terror it will bring when it returns!

Thanks @Pencil - don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the cougar stalking around the environment, racing at us from cover or taking down a stag, wolf or moose, but yes, I'd be enough happy with the insta-attack as well if the event was built up to via in-game cues and gameplay rather than UI and a visible timer.

Good morning all. Long time lurker here, finally creating an account to discuss the latest update - constructively. Intro: Bit of background, I first learned about The Long Dark thanks to an interview with Mark Meer where he discussed working an episodic project alongside Jennifer Hale. As a big fan of both the Mass Effect series and open world survival games in general, I quickly looked it up. I started playing right around the time Episode 4 was released, ad I've been loving life (brief as it might be) on Great Bear ever since. So much so I bought in to Tales immediately, and I've been enjoying the regular roll out of updates. So, first and foremost, please note any criticisms raised here are intended to be constructive and come from a place of love and a desire to see more and better. I'll admit straight away - I'm no game developer or programmer. I have no idea of the challenges and difficulties of implementing ideas, suggestions and wish lists into a game like this, let alone trying to keep everyone happy in the process. I'm just writing down my own thoughts and opinions, and hoping they're noted. So, first up: I love the idea of the Cougar. I'm sure the vast majority of the player base loves the idea of the Cougar. It's pretty clear the development team does as well, and they've been wanting to include it for a while. It's also pretty clear that the current implementation has left a lot of players feeling underwhelmed or unhappy, and I'm sure this has been noted by the team. So what are my own thoughts? 1: Show Don't Tell I've seen a lot of player complaints that the cougar doesn't have a physical presence in the world - that it can't be spotted, tracked or hunted before it attacks, and that you don't have a chance to defend yourself before the attack takes place. I totally understand this point of view, because it's such a different implementation from every other animal in the game, and because players agency is limited to either a: avoiding it altogether or b: ignoring all warnings and waiting until the timer reaches zero and an attack occurs. Neither option is particularly fun or satisfying - you either resign yourself to suffering an attack, or you miss the opportunity to see what should be one of the most nerve-wracking experiences in the game completely. There's no middle ground here. Conversely, I do understand Hinterland's point of view as well. The cougar is an elusive creature, and they clearly wanted it to act differently to other animals in the game. We're not stalking it - it's stalking us. So a spawn-in-ambush-mechanic rather than a persistent presence should be enough. It just doesn't seem to be implemented in a satisfying manner. Either way, I agree with the author here: put simply, the UI notifications should go. They're immersion breaking in a game that is all about immersion. I can kind of understand including them for accessibility, but from my own point of view at least they diminish the entire experience. At the very least, let us toggle the in-game UI prompts on or off (and this would go for the Timberwolf Morale Meter too!) The cougar's encroachment and presence in a territory should be visible and audible to the players via in game cues alone. Changing the environment in which you're playing would create a much more immersive and stressful experience than sitting and waiting through a set timer and on-screen notifications. So... 2: Environmental Storytelling It seems to me that rather than the intrusive UI prompts and notifications in place at the moment, various existing in game assets could be re-purposed to signal the cougar's encroachment and arrival in an area. We already have some audible cues distinct to the cougar itself - it's audible hisses and growls. But what about the following? Audible Cues: There are already sound effects in game for snapping twigs, rustling bushes, falling rocks, bunny squeals, other creaking and mechanical noises. Some of these sound effects are mainly played in bad weather and blizzards, but could they be repurposed to signal cougar activity? Imagine hearing bunny squeals out of nowhere, or rustling bushes and snapping twigs on clear, still days? Visual Cues: Animal corpses and blood streaks in the snow are already present in the game as well, triggered by hunting/harvesting, so maybe spawning these in high traffic areas (roads, clearings, near buildings etc) could be a straightforward way to signal cougar encroachment? I'd love to see additional visual clues like claw marks on tree trunks similar to moose sign, bloody trails leading to animal corpses, pawprints in the snow etc, but I'm trying to stick solely to what's already present in the game for now. Wildlife Behaviour: The cougar is an alpha predator. It makes sense that other wildlife would want to avoid it's presence as well as you. So maybe when a cougar is encroaching, other wildlife becomes scarce. The ambient and corpse crows go silent and vanish. The deer vanish. There are less wolves, they stop howling, and are more likely to be spooked and flee than attack you. The region you're in starts to feel a lot emptier and quieter, adding to the sense of dread and foreboding. A change in the standard wildlife behaviour and population for the difficulty combined with ravaged carcasses spawning as above would be an unsettling indicator for players. The Insomnia Affliction: Currently limited to Glimmer Fog events in the Far Territory regions, this could also be used to signal the cougar's presence in other regions. Imagine waking up indoors to the "something disturbed your rest" prompt, then hearing scratching or scrabbling noises, breaking glass or thumps on the roof, and seeing dust fall from the ceiling. Or seeing the same prompt while asleep outdoors, in a non-loading building, in a cave or by a campfire, and hearing the previously mentioned snapping twigs, rustling leaves, falling rocks or rustling bushes and a faint hiss or growl... And of course, the longer you remain in the region, the more your insomnia risk increases. Not always accompanied by ambient noises, reflecting your increasing dread and paranoia. Cues like these could also be used to indicate the region that contains the Cougar's nest from the moment you arrive. Finally (for now): 3: A (Really) Rare Event While I can understand wanting to err on the side of caution when making a change as big - and as potentially punishing - as this, the time needed to trigger a cougar attack seems to me to be way too long. On lower difficulties especially, it is long enough for a player who doesn't read the dev diaries, forum posts and game updates to completely miss and never experience it. And for players who are aware, potentially a month plus in game is a long, long time to stay in a single region. Personally, I would like to see the encroachment time reduced to a month in game, maximum - with certain player actions attracting it earlier. Say for example: Misery - 10 days. Interloper - 15 days. Stalker - 20 days. Voyager - 25 days. Pilgrim - 30 days. - If you're in the region containing the cougar's next, the encroachment could begin immediately, regardless of difficulty. - If you're in a neighbouring region to the cougar's nest, the encroachment could begin 5 days earlier. - Cougars encroachment could also triggered by scent and animal remains, so if you're hunting excessively or leaving a mess behind (for example, 5 or more wolf/deer/near/moose carcasses in a region at any one time, or if you've quartered an animal), the remaining time could be immediately reduced by 5 days. This seems to me like it would trigger cougar experiences more often doing normal play - that is, without deliberately trying to make it happen. Combining this with the removal of the UI aids means players would need to be more on guard, more cautious and more observant of their surroundings, even without the cougar being physically present in the game. Anyway, that's my initial thoughts (and my first post!) Sorry for the wall of text, but please let me know what you think.