The Long Dark

[Beastro]

Seems they're normally not territorial towards humans, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar

"In a 10-year study in New Mexico of wild cougars who were not habituated to humans, the animals did not exhibit threatening behavior to researchers who approached closely"​

But the (now removed) game mechanic does seem to fit their normal hunting behavior:

"Although capable of sprinting, the cougar is typically an ambush predator. It stalks through brush and trees, across ledges, or other covered spots, before delivering a powerful leap onto the back of its prey"​

​

But Wikipedia also says they may stalk humans:

"Preceding attacks on humans, cougars display aberrant behavior, such as activity during daylight hours, a lack of fear of humans, and stalking humans."​

...which sounds like you might spot it from a distance days or weeks before it ambushes you, or that it will stalk you like an in-game wolf as part of the attack?

Of course if it stalked you in the game it would become much easier to kill with bow or gun. Maybe the devs wanted to prevent players from killing it that easily.

We have them here. Hasn't been a cougar attacking a human directly since the 90s.

The issue is when humans are around other animals. Most cougar attacks on humans are cougars stalking and attacking a dog being walked with the human being a bystander to the event but assuming they're the target.

Last event like that happened last year otw out of town when a guy was walking his dog in the cemetery around midnight and a cougar came up behind them. Guy fought off the cougar and dog was ok, but it ran because the guy was there.

Besides that, just like bears, the main cause of cougar aggression towards people is if they have a cub and the mom's protecting em. Bears here at least are no a problem because they're so well fed and winters are so mild. Many don't even bother to go into hibernation for those reasons. A cubless bear that attacks a human is usually a starving bear desperate enough to throw their dice attacking a person as a last gasp. That seems to be the case with the Grizzly Man dude when an old, starving bear came down off the mountains and was too weak to hunt properly so he went after them sitting around being friendly.

Wolves are much the same being afraid of people except for one subtype: the Coastal Wolves here have a different pack culture and are known for being unusually aggressive towards everything they encounter. They will attack and eat black bears and are a threat people need to take dead seriously if encountered.

People need to keep in mind that animals are a lot like us. If we're not acting like a threat and aren't hungry, we're just another creature around them. The killing machine animal in movies that is itching to attack people on sight is a symbolic expression of something else being expressed in nature than the animal itself.

The usual except is something like a shark which explores things around it with its mouth, which then results in wounds, but those come often not from serious attacks.

Same goes for crocs and gators. If you see them laying around you're safe. They're ambush predators and won't seriously attack if they know that you see them. The danger comes when you don't kmow they're there.

It's why this cat could get away with this. Gators just wanted some beach to rest on.

 

[JarlFrank]

The game explicitly states that whatever electromagnetic disturbance caused your plane to crash also makes the animals aggressive or something, so the animals in the game are far more likely to hunt humans than they would be IRL.

Therefore, the cougar hunting you makes sense within the game's framework.

 

[Iucounu]

The game explicitly states that whatever electromagnetic disturbance caused your plane to crash also makes the animals aggressive or something,

Yes especially during auroras, but maybe the rest of the time as well.

so the animals in the game are far more likely to hunt humans than they would be IRL.

Therefore, the cougar hunting you makes sense within the game's framework.

Aggression is different from hunting though. Predators don't hunt because they're angry with their prey, but because they're hungry and like to catch prey animals (even well-fed domestic cats like hunting small animals just for fun). I could imagine bears in the game hunting humans after waking up too early from hibernation and not finding any other food, but cougars should find easier prey to hunt than humans. And if the cougar was just more aggressive, I'd assume it would threaten the human before actually attacking. But again, that would allow the player to kill it easily.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Still exploring. Found the bunker in Mystery Lake, and figured it would be empty.

Nope, chock full of stuff! After looting as much as I could, I noticed that there's an unusual amount of boxes and crates around. Almost as if they're hiding something.

So I got to cutting.

In the back corner of the bunker, behind the entrance ladder, was a safe hidden from view. I opened it, and inside was an Expedition Parka, the best overall jacket in the game.

After returning to base, I took a closer look at the various recipes now available, to see if any of them are worth the effort.

Many of these foodstuffs restore condition, some 10% (med-stims heal 15%) and in one notable instance it heals 35%! So there are definetely some clear winners there.

BUT, there's a huge downside to them. If a recipe-made foodstuff is stored indoors, it decays by 20% every day. Outdoors it's 5%. Those are astronomical numbers, only raw fish decays faster than this. The only foodstuff that doesn't decay like this is broth, as it's the only one that's both made from a recipe, and then used in further recipes. A further downside to some of them is that they give a scent - though I'm finding it weird to picture a wolf chowing down on pancakes.

The game pulled a weird one on me, but sadly I failed to screenshot it. A rabbit jumped up a tree to reach the top. This wasn't one of those collapsed trees, but a fully-vertical tree. Seeing a rabbit perched on top of a tree like an angel on a christmas tree was an amusing sight.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Expedition Parka, the best overall jacket in the game

Best overall jacket out of the game as well.

 

[Iucounu]

I had over 100 kg of items I wanted to ferry over to Mystery Lake

What on earth are you going to do with all that stuff?

Carter Dam is an excellent place to set up your main base, especially in the early game.

The wolf might be a problem, if you don't see him when you go outside the compound. I've found a few elevated spots you can safely ambush from, if necessary after first luring him closer by throwing rocks. Not sure how to deal with the occasional moose, once he spawned just behind my back and I almost ran into him.

Almost killed myself by eating bad food and got Food Poisoning, and realizing that all the antibiotics I'd gathered were in another region. So I had to trek through three different maps (and a cave), at night, during a blizzard, just to take a couple of pills. Down to 40% condition after that, and still needed to rest for 10 hours. Harrowing, but I pulled through.

There are also natural remedies, but then maybe you would have missed out on that trek...

At this point I recalled that some new food recipes were added, so I read up on those.

I don't have the required DLC for that. At first glance all those new recipies seem to clutter up your game menus with cooking bloat, or do you get used to them?

The travois is straightforward, it's a drag-along sled of sorts which allows the player to carry an additional 30kg of stuff, but it has travel restrictions on it. It can't traverse certain angles and widths of terrain, and the turning rate is altered as well. This obviously eliminates certain travel paths through the game, but which ones is up to me to discover.

What happens if you get spotted by a bear with it? Leave it and flee?

 

[Iucounu]

Ken Rolston is on the design team, I wonder if this game is good

Depends on if you like the setting and pacing. Mechanically it's one of the best.

(This applies to Survival Mode; in Story Mode you get a modern, weak male protagonist and lots of strong women.)

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I had over 100 kg of items I wanted to ferry over to Mystery Lake

What on earth are you going to do with all that stuff?

Get set up early. It's been working out great so far, especially on clothes and basic materials. My plan is not having to return to Milton until I'm going into Hushed River Valley, which is quite a ways away.

The wolf might be a problem, if you don't see him when you go outside the compound. I've found a few elevated spots you can safely ambush from, if necessary after first luring him closer by throwing rocks. Not sure how to deal with the occasional moose, once he spawned just behind my back and I almost ran into him.

Which wolf, then one at the front, or the one at the back? The one at the back has been a bigger nuisance for me.

And for the first time that I recall, I actually have a moose outside Carter Dam (front). Fortunately he's easy to dodge.

There are also natural remedies, but then maybe you would have missed out on that trek...

I've been avoiding the natural remedies for now, as they don't spoil or decay. I'm also looking to avoid brewing any coffee/teas until I've raised up my cooking skill. (I want the extra bonuses.)

I don't have the required DLC for that. At first glance all those new recipies seem to clutter up your game menus with cooking bloat, or do you get used to them?

I've yet to reach the point that I'm even using them in any sense. Right now I'm in looting/hoarding-mode, and will take stock once I'm done with that.

What happens if you get spotted by a bear with it? Leave it and flee?

I guess so. Building and using a travois is on my "to-do"-list for this playthrough.

My travels have now taken me into the Forlorn Muskeg. I hate this map, and it hates me. How much does it hate me? I waited for the right weather before moving in (sunny and no wind) and in just 20 seconds after entering it changed to foggy with a chance of Fuck You. This wouldn't be an issue except the game did this to me three times.

The third time I just bit the bullet and started exploring anyway. I learned that Spencer's Old Farmstead has another of those cleverly hidden safes, and this one held some nice ammo. Forlorn Muskeg has the possiblity of two bears, and both of them are present and accounted for. I was also slightly miffed that the signal tower in Forlorn Muskeg actually has a car battery in that big supply container right next to it, I would have liked if at least one of the signal towers required that the player lug around a car battery for an extended trip... but someone whined at the devs, I guess.

Another fun fact: Repairing a radio transmitter automatically triggers an Aurora-night the next available night.

 

[Iucounu]

Which wolf, then one at the front, or the one at the back? The one at the back has been a bigger nuisance for me.

The one outside the front entrance. It always seems risky to bring deer meat from the Ravine.

I've been avoiding the natural remedies for now, as they don't spoil or decay.

True, but with Cooking 5 I don't think you need them anymore (unless you accidentally eat raw meat maybe).

My travels have now taken me into the Forlorn Muskeg. I hate this map, and it hates me. How much does it hate me? I waited for the right weather before moving in (sunny and no wind) and in just 20 seconds after entering it changed to foggy with a chance of Fuck You. This wouldn't be an issue except the game did this to me three times.

I got ambushed and killed by a wolf in the hills above Spencer's, despite carrying a lit torch. (Maybe it happened because he was within attack range before seeing me? A similar thing happened at Milton's Picnic Area building, where a wolf that circled outside attacked as soon as I left the building with a lit torch.)

Another time I just wanted to quickly explore something a short distance out the Muskeg, but then it suddenly became foggy and I couldn't find my way back. So I lit a fire to keep warm, but still took cold damage until my character began staggering back and forth and fell into the fire.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Sooo... that happened.

I've ventured twice into Forlorn Muskeg now. Unusual for myself, I spent the first day mostly sneaking across the cracked ice in the middle, trying to scrounge up some resources there before arriving at Spencer's Farm and spending a night in the prepper bunker in the hills above the farm. The next day I returned to the Hydro Dam to unload stuff and returned to the Muskeg, mostly exploring the outskirsts of the lower map. But MAN... what was with the wolves?

Before I set foot into the Muskeg I had killed 4 wolves. Now I have killed 43. There was a moment when I killed seven wolves in 3 minutes, barely getting time to reload the revolver after a kill, before the next wolf was coming for me. They would not stop, they would not take the hint that I was lethal.

It was a slaughterhouse. And after the seemingly final wolf was dead, I tried to figure out what I had done to deserve this.

Then I noticed I had my Scent at maximum. I may have harvested a deer carcass or two while in the Muskeg.

And I realized I had never taken the time to get familiar with the Scent-mechanic.

So I read up on it.

Oh.

Oh deer.

Oh deer oh deer.

I thought that the graphical UI meant the 'level' of scent you were giving off, and that there was a cap on how much Scent you could give off.

Nope! The UI-indicators are only 'markers' on a scale that has no upper end. You only get the first 'scent'-image once your Scent reaches a value of 14, and the third one at a Scent value of 80. So you could be carrying some items that give off scent without even knowing it.

And having Scent creates a radius from which your character is the central point, and predators within that radius will be made aware of your general position and come looking for you.

And, if you were like me, carrying ~20 kg of raw meat (I was on a meat run, harvesting carcasses!) and survived a wolf struggle but got a bleeding wound (which instantly adds +80 to your scent value until treated) and the wind is blowing towards the map's center, you will become a gigantic McDonalds-billboard in the sky for every wolf on the map to come find you.

So that's what happened. Lesson learned. On the upside, my revolver skill is now at 4, the bears refused to get involved for some reason, I have a small mountain of meat to cook and I survived an ordeal that was entirely my stupid fault. I will be much more careful in the future.

 

[Iucounu]

And I realized I had never taken the time to get familiar with the Scent-mechanic.

That's one of my favorite mechanics, especially how it interacts with wind. As long as it blows away from them predators shouldn't smell you, but if the wind changes direction you have to completely rethink your wolf-avoidance path (if you even have time for that). Everytime I'm out fishing on Mystery Lake I need to take into account if the wind blows towards any nearby wolf, in which case I must drop the fish I caught at the fishing hole until the wind calms down again.

But you can also use scent to lure predators towards you, if you're waiting in a safe ambush spot. I've sometimes killed the bear at Trapper's Cabin that way.

the bears refused to get involved for some reason

That's odd. Could it be that the wind was blowing away from them? Or maybe bears can't move freely across the ice?

 

[Iucounu]

I wonder if the wolf outside the Carter main entrance is bugged? When I throw rocks to get his attention, he sometimes turns around, barks a single time and then just ignores it instead of investigating.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

One of the things that intrigued me about The Long Dark was that it was trying to capture scent as a game mechanic, but I'd never really looked under the hood to see how it did it. Now that I have... MAD RESPECT to the devs, that is one wickedly good implementation!

As for the bears - I guess I was just lucky. The western bear at least should have been coming for me drooling like Yogi Bear, but maybe his pathfinding wasn't up to snuff.

I wonder if the wolf outside the Carter main entrance is bugged? When I throw rocks to get his attention, he sometimes turns around, barks a single time and then just ignores it instead of investigating.

Were you located just by the fence to Carter dam? I think the Carter dam 'yard' is considered a safe zone by the game that critters don't enter, but it extends beyond the fence a wee bit. That wolf came snarling at me one time when I exited the yard, so I backed away towards the fence and the wolf immediately yipped and ran off. Something that requires a little testing.

 

[Iucounu]

I wonder if the wolf outside the Carter main entrance is bugged? When I throw rocks to get his attention, he sometimes turns around, barks a single time and then just ignores it instead of investigating.

Were you located just by the fence to Carter dam? I think the Carter dam 'yard' is considered a safe zone by the game that critters don't enter, but it extends beyond the fence a wee bit.

Yes, on the cliff on the left side (when facing the wolf). I was outside the fence line, but maybe not enough.

That wolf came snarling at me one time when I exited the yard, so I backed away towards the fence and the wolf immediately yipped and ran off. Something that requires a little testing.

Does that mean we're safe from the wolf if we stick close to the outside of the fence? That would be a pity.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Does that mean we're safe from the wolf if we stick close to the outside of the fence? That would be a pity.

Sadly it will be quite some time until I can test this, because the wolf tried to attack me while I was returning to the dam. I knelt down, pulled out my revolver, and felled it with a single bullet. The game decided to reward me for this by raising my Revolver-skill to 5, the maximum.

In other news, I have finally 'cleared' the Forlorn Muskeg, by scouring the entire map and grabbing anything of value. This is good because this is easily one of the most unpleasant maps in the game, and short of looking for radio caches later on I have no need to linger in this region. With only one indoor-location to rest in (the prepper cache), one decent shelter and generally flat and featureless terrain (don't forget the frequent strong winds!) it is quite easy to get into trouble here.

While I was in the Muskeg I also ventured into the lower Mountain Town-map to gather resources there. I made a discovery; among the scattered debris in the hermit's collapsed hut there is a large crate. Feeling suspicious, I smashed it down to see if something was hidden underneath. There was! Firelogs and a med-stim.

For my next venture I journeyed into Coastal Highway, and got in quite a predicament: While scavenging in one of the little cabins I found three cans of dog food (in 8% condition) in a crate in the corner, along with some other loot mostly comprised of books. I didn't think much of it until a little later I'm scavenging in another little cabin... which had three cans of dog food (in 8% condition) in a crate in the corner, along with some books dotted around the cabin. Somehow I'd beaten the RNG for cabin interiors, and rolled the same one twice.

I found that interesting for a while, until I did it again with two of the trailers in the map; they too had the exact same loot (of note was the 'Advanced Firearms'-book under one of the bunk beds). I saw this as a sign of good luck. In truth it was the exact opposite.

A little later on I'm out on the ice with a clear sky, full visibility. Then in literally ten seconds the weather changes to pea soup fog, followed by a blizzard. Only luck got me into a fishing hut I had looted earlier. As I was not 100% certain of my location I decided to wait out the storm, but I was close to starvation. Those dodgy-looking cans of dog food were looking mighty tasty now. Knowing the risks of food poisoning (30% in this case) I ate one can anyway.

Food poisoning. Damn. Fortunately I could treat it, I just needed time. So I slept it off, but realized that I was starving again and would need to eat something to fuel my travels. So I ate another one. Food poisoning again. "It's OK, I can deal with that, but now that I've beaten the odds this won't happen again," I think to myself.

You can all guess what happened, can't you?

FIVE times in a row I got food poisoning from eating dog food. This depleted my resources, wasted valuable time and left me with no choice but to hightail it back to base with a steadily decreasing condition. Despite the game's best attempts, I survived the journey and have recovered, ready to set out once more.

I'm only at Day 80, but is easily the most interesting run of the game I've had so far.

 

[Iucounu]

With only one indoor-location to rest in (the prepper cache), one decent shelter and generally flat and featureless terrain (don't forget the frequent strong winds!) it is quite easy to get into trouble here.

There are a couple of warm cave systems as well, I recall one even has a bed if you lack a bedroll. But I avoid Forlorn Muskeg too, except for crafting tools and arrow heads at the furnace, and even then I try to stick to the railroad or map edges so I won't get lost.

A little later on I'm out on the ice with a clear sky, full visibility. Then in literally ten seconds the weather changes to pea soup fog, followed by a blizzard. Only luck got me into a fishing hut I had looted earlier. As I was not 100% certain of my location I decided to wait out the storm, but I was close to starvation.

Often it's possible to navigate in fog just by the sound of the waves. Haven't tried it during a blizzard though, maybe the wind noise drowns out the waves?

FIVE times in a row I got food poisoning from eating dog food.

Sounds like gambling in a Casino! What would happen if you instead ate several of those cans at once, so your Calorie Store was at 100%? Food poisoning would be almost guaranteed, but once cured from it you wouldn't need to eat for almost the entire next day.

 

[Iucounu]

I've now played well over 500 days in Interloper, most of the time collecting fish from tip-ups in Mystery Lake.

Repetitive but effective routine

1. Craft a couple of tip-ups.
2. Go out in the afternoon (when it's warmer) and use the hammer to make one or two holes (depending on how cold you get) in the ice close to a warm house.
3. Make a snow shelter close to the holes, so you don't need to go all the way back to the house several times per day. Drop the catch next to the holes.
4. When it's sunny, light a stick campfire next to the holes with the magnifying lens. Reopen the holes while cooking the fish. Take a torch and kill nearby wolves.
5. Repair the hammer with fir when needed. Chop up more fir with the hatchet, while using a coal fire to stay warm.

The above can go on almost forever, except that you eventually run out of cloth for making new tip-ups (and saplings for new bows and arrows). Now I've depleted both Mystery Lake and Mountain Town, so when my current stash is gone I'll have to go to Pleasant Valley or similar to get more. Maybe it's better to just relocate to the coast and resort to beach combing once and for all.

Scurvy risk has been no problem at all due to my fish diet, it just prevents you from staying too long in areas with limited opportunities for tipup fishing or crafting replacement tip-ups (manual fishing seems way harder due to the cold). But if you set out saturated with vitamin C and bring along a few tipups you should be able to stay for a while anywhere. It may only get dangerous if Scurvy risk suddenly spikes, and you don't have time to get back to a fishing area in time.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Making progress. Nothing really to report. Have arrived at Desolation Point, certainly lives up to its name.

Got into a wolf struggle as I reached the top of a small hill, and glitched the game a little bit in the progress; I was quick enough to pull out my revolver and shoot the wolf in the face, but not before it started the wolf struggle-sequence. The camera zoomed in then immediately zoomed out as the wolf keeled over and the struggle sounds could be heard in the background. Boy, that dead wolf sure is putting up a fight! Game went back to normal afterwards, so that was just funny.

Something I need to study further: If I'm located at the top of a steep enough slope, but close to a wolf, the wolf won't bother to approach. (Improvised) crampons are essential to this to avoid straining limbs.

Knowing that repairing a signal tower triggers an aurora night gives me an idea, but I need to plan it a bit first.

 

[Iucounu]

Now I've encountered Intestinal Parasites for the first time. This was something of an ordeal.

A while ago I started a second Interloper run, where I could indulge in more risky behavior without endangering my long Interloper save. I also disabled Scurvy, in case it prevented freedom of movement. Things were going well, until I cooked some bear meat at Trapper's Homestead. I couldn't see if the meat was finished cooking or not (the fire had burned out while I was away) and the tooltip said neither raw nor cooked, so I ate it without thinking and got sick right away.

Curing Intestinal Parasites on Interloper takes 20 days of medication, but if you take your daily dose before each 24h interval has finished it seems the dose is wasted. I of course didn't keep track properly, and so wasted precious medical resources. I also kept eating the infected bear meat (you can't get more parasites while already infected) which gave me Food Poisoning on top of the Intestinal Parasites, requiring even more medication. Fortunately you can sleep as much as you want while ill, but eventually this resulted in Cabin Fever; so at one stage I had Intestinal Parasites, Food Poisoning and Cabin Fever all at the same time, with just one dose of Antibiotics left. Now I urgently had to search for more Antibiotics (and outdoor sleeping opportunities to cure the Cabin Fever). Mountain Town seemed like the closest destination.

Next followed about 14 days in Mountain Town, searching everywhere for Antibiotics (found none), Reishi or Burdock; sleeping as much as possible (to save calories) in caves (to avoid Cabin Fever). Max Condition was gradually reduced down by 40% the last days; while Fatigue increased to 100% no matter how much I slept, so that I couldn't run at all the last couple of days (and likely not climb ropes either?), with carrying capacity reduced to about 15kg. When the Intestinal Parasites were finally cured I didn't have a single Food item left, except some almost ruined food that I didn't dare to eat since I had now also run out of medication.

 

[Iucounu]

Now I've tested the Cheat Death mechanic for the first time, after being careless in Forlorn Musked and dying of cold damage. This turned out to be much harder than even starting a new game.

For my first rebirth I chose a "close, risky respawn", but didn't remember that your lost loot is indicated on the inventory map. Instead I quickly made it back to the place of death, couldn't find my loot and died from cold damage again shortly after.

For my second rebirth I chose to respawn in a "far safe respawn", which turned out to be the Substation workshop in Blackrock. This time I had no clothes, only three matches and nothing to boil water in. Sneaked past a pack of timberwolves, but died of cold damage shortly after. Just before I died a scared timberwolf rushed past without paying any attention to me. Not sure why, I can't remember ever seeing bears or moose in the vicinity.

For my third and final rebirth I again choose a "far safe respawn". This time it was in the courtyard of Bleak Inlet sardine factory, with timberwolves guarding the entrance. Again I died of cold damage even before figuring out where to go next.

 

[jackofshadows]

No one cares about interloper players. All of these retarded features pretty much always for casuals who manage to fuck things up even on easy and then write down complains. This dev team come such a long decline way so quickly it's almost painful to think of. Like, does anybody remembers the old UI which wasn't developed for consoles yet?

 

[Iucounu]

No one cares about interloper players. All of these retarded features pretty much always for casuals who manage to fuck things up even on easy and then write down complains.

I wouldn't say that. The new Misery Mode seems much harder than Interloper. Cheat Death will not help players that don't know how to play (you'll just die again just like I did above), I think it's more for cases like a cat stepping on your keyboard or similar mishaps.

does anybody remembers the old UI which wasn't developed for consoles yet?

That was long before I started playing TLD. Not a big fan of radial menus myself.

Other than that I miss a generic Drop keyboard command for equippped items, especially torches and flares. There's no way to simply drop a torch next to you except indirectly, either by first equipping another item or throwing the torch with full force. And even when you do equip another item you get different outcomes depending on context:

- if you carry an unlit (or burned out?) torch and equip a new torch or weapon, the unlit torch goes back into your inventory;
- but if you carry a lit torch and equip a new torch or weapon, the lit torch drops to the ground.

Granted the above outcomes are usually what you want anyway while playing, but it still feels like your actions are constrained by the programming, like a straitjacket.

Drinking (or dropping) tea from a thermos flask is also a bit convoluted: you must open the thermos menu, move a cup of tea to the left side screen, close the thermos menu, go to the First Aid (or Food) menu and then finally be able to drink from there. It would be faster and more logical to drink directly from the thermos menu (or at least its left side screen).

 

[Unkillable Cat]

New Dev Diary just dropped, five months after the last one.

The tl;dr version:

# Episode 5 - The Light at the End of All Things, will be released sometime in 2025. It features at least two new regions that appear to be exclusive to Wintermute (Suzuki Radio Telescope, and Perserverence Mills itself) but time will tell. You will play both as Will and Astrid. It's an episode much bigger than any of the previous four (though it may be on par with Ep 1+2, which were linked together).

# Part Six of the Tales from the Far Territory update will be out this December. It will include the revamped Cougar (who now appears to be an in-game threat, instead of a UI indicator), the Trader who has unique items for sale, the option to customize various known 'bases', and finally an analog camera for players to take snazzy photos with.

# Once Part Six is released (followed by a HDR-update in early 2025) more resources will be shunted onto Episode 5.

# The Switch-version is encountering massive performance issues, and they're doing their best to resolve them. But they're also pushing the system pretty hard.

# The Long Dark should see support and development into 2026, but after that most of the team will move on to Hinterland's next unannounced title.

 

[Iucounu]

# The Long Dark should see support and development into 2026, but after that most of the team will move on to Hinterland's next unannounced title.

That might be good actually, if the game is finished it's better to stop adding thing so it doesn't end up bloated. All those food recipes seem a bit over the top to me.

 

[Iucounu]

Ruined raw bear meat looks similar to cooked, so I accidentally ate some and got a 75% risk for intestinal parasites (plus food poisoning). Right after that I ate another piece, and that made the intestinal parasites set in for real right away (my second time now). Strange, I was pretty sure the second piece of meat was cooked (it was ruined, but I'm at Cooking 5) and I didn't take it from the same pile as the first.

At least this time I was prepared, with a big supply of medication, as well as lots of (now cooked) bear meat. But it's incredibly boring to wait for the parasites to go away, while constantly having to go in and out to prevent cabin fever. It would have been nicer if we could just sleep it away in one go if we wanted, like with food poisoning. The main challenge with intestinal parasites is still to find enough medication (in addition to food and water, as usual).

Cabin fever risk is never a challenge really, as long as you check the risk meter (which is easy but boring) so it doesn't go to 100%. Even during blizzards you can always go outside for a few minutes at the time to keep the risk low.