The Long Dark

[Burning Bridges]

This game is absolutely amazing and the best thing that has come from kickstarter yet.

It should go to the RPG section because it plays like a rpg with little combat, the brutal difficulty of the old (8 bit) days, good balance (for an alpha) and tons of deep strategy. Its main weaknesses right now are repetitiveness, lack of a second map and a pretty unbalanced random generation. I am reminded of Kerbal Space program in its early days. The alpha problems etc pose an interesting challenge in itself - just how far you can go with the pure, unmodded game. I think that if you get good random seed you could survive a year, or even longer. Once the game will be polished and have extra content / mods that challenge will be gone, at least that's what happened in Kerbal Space program.

I ended my last playthrough after I reached 20 days, because I realized I should start over. This time I will leave parts of the map unexplored at the beginning and start living off the land right away. That means I went the Trappers Rest right from the start and eat meat from carcasses, without spending much time exploring. Meat is a constant race against decay, so its necessary to consume everything in 2 days. Canned food shouldn't be wasted during the collecting stage but stored for emergencies. It can be stored for weeks and the risk for poisoning is comparatively very low. So right at the beginning of my new life I have already 2-3 days worth of canned provisions, and hardly explored anything on the map. Most days I search for new carcasses and eat meat. Iinstead of looting everything right away I can explore the map when the weather is good, with a stockpile of wood, water and food in my hut. That way I also have a good chance of finding the secret bunker, without actively looking for it, just by planning out different routes across the map. I think I will eventually find it, although I don't know when.

I haven't used a single bullet so far, the first one will be for "Fluffy". That's a pretty nasty feature, a pesky wolf that guards the hydro dam and kills you 90% of the time, if you dont bring the rifle.

 

[Burning Bridges]

That's Trappers Homestead, probably the best base in the game.

Inside Trappers Homestead, it usually has almost everything you really need.

Rifle ammunition, if you dont find that you are fucked.

Such carcasses have become my lifeline. I cook every gram of meat I find, and even eat some of it raw. Fortunately the wolves kill deer now and then, so I usually find fesh carcasses.

My new life that hast just reached 5 days, but I have barely begun exploring the map, and lived almost entirely from carcasses

 

[Burning Bridges]

Continued in a new LP, as this was getting tldr and spoilerish: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/lets-survive-the-long-dark.94514/
And yes I have killed Fluffy, found the secret bunker, have found someone to talk to in The Lone Cabin any yes the game is fricken amazing ..

 

[Burning Bridges]

Back from a 10 day marathon of the game,
In case you missed the LP, I made it to 38 days with a little bit of reloading* before I reached the point where it's basically just rinsing and repeating the same things over and over.
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/lets-survive-the-long-dark.94514/
I still have resources left for 2 months, perhaps even 4, I'm not kidding.
Completely fascinated by the game. This will already be in every top ten games of my life. If they can step up a little, more content, more features, it could be number one.
In fact, since playing Pirates! around 1990 I cannot remember a game that engrossed me like this with it's sandbox.

*I felt the reloading was necessary because the food poisoning mechanics don't make much sense to me. I hope they reconsider those variables, that you dont get a life threatening situation from every second piece of meat
Everything else: top notch!

 

[Burning Bridges]

From a forum conversion I gather that cannibalism is also on the list.
I am surprised, thought that was a no-go. But hence the "how far would you go to survive"!
Raphael wrote that they are seriously considering it, but want it to have real consequences. I guess what he means is something about NPC relations or mental status.

 

[Drakron]

Why mental status?

The main danger of cannibalism is illness since they would be transmitted, this is why predators dont usually eat their own kind carcasses as they dont want to catch whatever killed them.
I would not eat human flesh because I dont want to end up with whatever killed them or catch some illness caused by decomposing, this is very much the main reason of the taboo no matter what anthropophagy says.

There are no NPCs to have relations with and even if there were, there is no cooperation meaning the entire thing is utter pointless.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Didnt know about the disease, and that this is the reason mammals wont eat their own species. It kind of makes sense though that we are so revolted by eating our own feces or eating other humans.

what I mean is
mental status: once you have eaten you own species, you can never be the same
reputation: NPCs found several human bones around your campside, you become a suspected man eater
NPCs will be in the game! I guess they will give you tasks, trade with you and occasionaly attack you.

Call it sanity, humanity or whatever. In a survival situations you are faced with the dilemma: will you become an animal or stay human. In the Andes crash a married couple rather chose to die, while the others decided to eat meat from humans they did not want that.

Would also like to see a morale/mental stat and that small things, like looking at someones photograph, reading a newspaper or drinking a cup of coffee from time to time bring back this stat.

 

[Burning Bridges]

The latest news are always found only their Facebook page, not in their forum.

The new map will come 29th October!!



https://www.facebook.com/intothelon...1403/764588073577208/?type=1&relevant_count=1

***UPDATE -- New Sandbox Region Coming October 29th!!***

On October 29th, we're more than doubling the size of The Long Dark's Sandbox, with the addition of a whole new playable region.

We're also adding a new type of wildlife, a new way to hunt, many new locations, dozens of UI fixes, more optimization and bug fixing, and widespread tuning changes to account for the larger Sandbox world.

For now, here's a tease. We'll share more in the days leading up to October 29th.

This appears to be the garage that was already visible on older screenshots.

 

[potatojohn]

I don't like games where 1 rl second = minutes in-game.

 

[Burning Bridges]

No idea why this be such an immersion breaker. In my last run I survived for over 60 days, hard to do that in realtime.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Hello all!

Today we are releasing v.152 of The Long Dark's Sandbox Alpha. We're excited to announce the addition of a whole new playable area, "COASTAL HIGHWAY", which more than doubles the Sandbox's playable area!

Full changelist below:

GENERAL NOTES:

* We have confirmed that saves from v.138 are compatible with v.152.

Game tuning around the new region is WIP and will be constantly modified based on further internal testing and feedback from external playtesters (i.e. all of you). Please note that the availability of Supplies, the distribution and density of wildlife, distances between shelters, etc. are constantly being refined. Also, keep in mind that the game is now being tuned around a larger Sandbox experience -- this means that some Regions might be more suitable for certain activities, and Supply distribution is more regionalized.

MAJOR CHANGES:

* New Sandbox region added: "Coastal Highway". To travel to it, follow the railway in Mystery Lake (Dam side).
* Long-term Starvation now affects Fatigue. If you starve for too long, it becomes very difficult to avoid Exhaustion. The Fatigue increase due to Starvation is gradually reduced by not Starving. (Addresses the "Starvation Exploit")
* Removed concept of Calorie Deficit.
* Added "Rate of Change" indicators on all Sub-Conditions. This should help highlight the impact of more serious situations on Hunger, Thirst, Fatigue, and Cold.
* Fatigue now directly affects your Carrying capacity. Rather than a sudden capacity drop based on hitting the Exhausted threshold, we interpolate based on Fatigue level.
* There are now Rabbits in the game.
* You can now craft Snares at the Workbench. If placed in the world wherever you see Rabbits, there is a chance you will capture a Rabbit every 12 hours.
* All wildlife spawns are now more dynamic, and will change over the course of a game. Wolves, Deer, and Rabbits all refresh on different intervals, reflecting their relative mobility and travel/migration patterns.
* Wolves are now sensitive to player Condition. They will hunt you more aggressively if you are weak (ex. Exhausted, low Condition, etc.). This is something we are testing.
* The damage from player strikes in Wolf Struggles is now modified by the best Tool you have in your inventory, in this order: Knife, Hatchet, Prybar. The weapon is automatically selected, and the Struggle costs Tool condition.
* You can now select what type of Fuel Source you are looking for when Foraging Wood (i.e. it is no longer random).
* Added a 100% guaranteed Rifle spawn to Mystery Lake. Its location is randomized.
* Reduced daily Condition decay on all Tools and Clothing items. Reduced per-use Condition decay for all Tools. Tools should now last much longer, and will not decay when you don't use them. Clothing should not decay nearly as quickly as before. (We're still tuning the availability of Clothing items in the world, and this is something we'll continue balancing based on feedback.)
* Reduced the frequency/availability of Tools in the world. Since they now last much longer, they have to be more rare.
* In general, reduced the Condition decay for all Food items. Increased the Calorie value of most Food items. Reduced the Calorie value for most types of Meat.
* Rest can now be interrupted regardless of Bed or location type. Every bed offers and location type offers a different degree of Rest benefit and chance of interruption. Uninterrupted Rest hours offer a bonus over interrupted Rest hours.
* Fatigue is now properly affected by inventory weight. The more you carry around, the more quickly you will become tired. (Note that Calorie Burn already takes inventory weight into account.)
* Reduced the general availability of First Aid items. They are now mainly found in appropriate First Aid containers.
* In general, reduced the availability of Supplies in the world. There was far too much Food and Clothing in random containers.
* Made very cold temperatures much more of a serious consideration.
* New audio for all new locations, container types, etc. Added a lot more variety for container searching audio, to avoid repetition.


MINOR CHANGES

* Every interior location now has a maximum inventory of Reclaimed Wood that can be Foraged.
* Wildlife will no longer spawn in a Blizzard.
* The Stag is more sensitive to the player's presence.
* Tinder can now be harvested from Newsprint and Newsprint Rolls.
* Bandages can now be harvested from Cloth.
* Freshened up Supplies in all Mystery Lake locations.
* Footprints (player and wildlife) now last longer, but are affected by wind and weather conditions.
* It is now possible to find single Rifle Rounds in the world.
* Kerosene can now be used as an Accelerant.
* Added a few test Non-Potable water sources to the world.
* Footprints and blood drops are now persistent across Saves.
* General bug fixes and optimization.


BUG HIGHLIGHTS

* Fixed various issues related to carcasses freezing.
* Various fixes related to player movement.
* Fixed issue with harvesting Lanterns producing unlimited light.
* Fixed issue where cooking a partial stack of raw meat produced an unequal stack of cooked meat.
* Fixed weight capacity of Containers so they can be filled to full capacity now.
* Fixed issue where last Water Purification tablet in the stack would not purify water.
* Fixed issue with locked Safe not using the correct loot table.
* Fixed exploit where players could cause a feeding Wolf to despawn.
* Fixed issue with gear not decaying in Containers.
* Fixed issue where Inventory screen occasionally didn't display all items in player inventory.
* Fixed issue where increase/decrease buttons were still active during Harvesting actions.
* Fixed issue where Toggle to Run would default back to Walk mode when opening the Options screen.
* Fixed issue where Burns would not heal themselves over time.
* Fixed issue where ear ringing wouldn't stop after firing the Rifle in the Forestry Lookout.
* Fixed issue where menu dropdowns might be greyed out when they shouldn't be.
* Fixed issue where sun position and weather would not update correctly during outdoor Harvesting/Rest intervals.
* Fixed bug where Encumbered warning would not always appear in the HUD.
* Fixed crash when player clicked Bedroll icon in survival panel when they did not have a Bedroll in inventory.

###END OF CHANGELIST###

We hope you enjoy the v.152 update, and we look forward to hearing your feedback!

- The Hinterland Team

http://hinterlandforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=2014

 

[Starwars]

I just had to try this game out even though I wanted to wait until it was further along. Just booted it up for an hour to see what it was like, then uninstalled it again.

Gotta say that the first impressions are *very* good. I'm not one to LARP in games but this is one game that really almost makes you do it unconciously. I found myself almost rubbing my hands when I lit up a fire in a stove inside a cabin. Searching containers and such feels just right, love the sounds. The atmosphere is great and most of everything just feels... right for a game like this. Actually very impressed that they managed to make mundane things like, well, most of what you do in-game really, fun and rewarding.

The main thing I disliked from my brief time with the game are the wolves which I felt were the main thing that felt really "gamey". It just feels like classic monsters in the way they behave and in the way you avoid them (at least until you get some kind of weapon), and the way they seem placed at strategic locations. That felt really artificial. Having a danger like wildlife is a good thing I think but in this incarnation, it really feels off to me. Will probably be tricky to balance what with availability of ammo vs wolf population and such.
Also, while it may not be realistic, I'd really like for the wolves to stay away from the cabins or "safehouses". That may feel weaksauce but it's just fucking annoying to zone into the outdoors and have a wolf stare you in the face right there.

All in all I was pretty damn impressed though. Will try to hold out longer before properly diving into the game.

 

[Burning Bridges]

new patch is out, adds ice fishing, improved hunting +wolves among other things.

http://hinterlandforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2417&p=13681#p13681

unfortunately this one invalidates saves, so it will be the end of my 80 day run

 

[cvv]

Bought this in the recent sale, gave it a few goes yesterday. I'm torn tho. The potential is tremendous but some design decisions seem just idiotic frankly.

The biggest problem are the wolves. I've read in the update section the combat system got a major overhaul, no idea what it was like before but now it's just awful. It's exactly what Starwars said - they're more like monsters in a dumb zombie kill'em'all than a genuine wildlife in a realistic-like survival sim. Plus they're practically impossible to defeat so you either run from them or you die. And considering they're fucking everywhere you're running always, all the time. That's just retarded.

But I can easily imagine if the devs pull their heads from their asses, fix the wolves, add some more features and finish the story mode this can be some pretty fucking amazing game.

 

[Burning Bridges]

That's what the alpha is for.
The biggest problem right now is that wolves are not as invincible as you say, and taking them away would make the game pointlessly easy.

 

[Burning Bridges]

last update for 2014 has been released.

Besides 3 difficulty modes we can make coffee and soup now, get wet and wear stinking wolfskin coats.

NEW! Sandbox Alpha Update v.181 - Experience Modes, German & Russian, Craftable Clothing, Hot Drinks!

We're happy to share the 18th Update to The Long Dark since we brought the game to Steam Early Access in September.

Apart from hotfixes, this will be the last major update of 2014.

We hope you enjoy the updated game! Happy Holidays to all of you, and all the best from the Hinterland Team, to you and yours in 2015.

Here is the changelist for v.181 of The Long Dark Sandbox:

NOTE: All gameplay tuning is WIP. Balance issues and bugs will be addressed in hotfixes. All current savegames should remain valid after the v.181 update.

MAJOR UPDATES

* Added Experience Modes to the game: Pilgrim, Voyageur, Stalker. Players can now select their preferred experience, between Exploration-focused, Survival-focused, or a balance. Wildlife presence, Supply availability, item decay, and Condition effects have been tuned per experience mode.
* Complete overhaul of Supply distribution, to ensure key Tools can be found. General availability of Clothing and Food has been reduced (outside of Pilgrim).
* Added German and Russian translations to the game. These are selectable from the Display settings.
* Added new Craftable clothing items: Rabbitskin Mitts, Deerskins Boots, Wolfskin Coat
* Added new Hot Drinks: Coffee, Tea, and Soup can all be heated to provide buffs to Warmth, Fatigue, etc. Canned beans can now also be cooked and eaten hot.
* UI improvements for Struggle, First Aid, Crafting, Repair, Harvest, Foraging, and Rest.
* Falling Through Ice will now result in clothing getting wet and immediate Freezing state. Wet clothing will Freeze if not dried near a fire.

OTHER UPDATES

* Added support for Multi-Monitor play, including wider aspect ratios and FOV.
* There is now a possibility for Shelters to spawn as unsearchable, burnt husks.
* General art updates throughout, including a beautification pass on Mystery Lake and Coastal Region.
* The Rifle now has muzzle smoke and hit/miss effects.
* Interior lighting brightened up for daytime.
* Length of Day/Night has been increased.
* General tuning on Decay rates for Clothing items, to reflect longer average survival times.
* Reduce per-use decay on the Firestriker Tool.
* Improvements to Save Game UI elements.
* Improvements to Game Clock "passage of time" UI elements.
* Partial progress will be awarded for cancelled Crafting, Repair, Harvest, and Foraging actions.
* Players will now have more breathing room from Wolves when exiting interiors (Stalker Mode excluded)
* Firelog heating characteristics have been retuned.
* New Leaderboards for Voyageur and Stalker Experience modes.
* Updated Antibiotics bottle and First Aid UI art to distinguish more clearly from Painkillers.
* Improved Night Sky starfield.
* Reduced clothing damage from Blizzards.
* Crafting now always succeeds provided the player has the required Materials.
* Wolves will now Flee for much longer when bleeding out, improving the chasing & tracking gameplay
* Fixed bugs causing injured wildlife to despawn.

GENERAL BUG FIXES

* Fixed issue where Fuel was consumed when cancelling Firestarting.
* Fixed issue with unlit flares and lanterns igniting when clicking to go through a loading zone.
* Made Ctrl, Alt, and Apple keys available for binding on Mac.
* Fixed crash when wolf attacked player at the moment a flare was being ignited.
* Fixed save/restore issues with stoves and campfires outdoors.
* Fixed "Exploration Game" achievement; it is now obtainable.
* Fixed issue/exploit with being able to start a fire inside a car (and then get inside the vehicle and not be burned). Now you cannot set fires in or under vehicles.
* Fixed bug with player sometimes falling through world when restoring game while on a slope.
* Fixed bug with the heat from fires not restoring after a save/load or scene transition.

###END OF CHANGELIST###

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

The Long Dark -- Sandbox Update #21 (v.192) -- New "Pleasant Valley" Region! New Wildlife! Harvestable Plants!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***NOTE: Save games from previous versions have been confirmed to work with the v.192 update.***
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello,

We're excited to share some details about our 21st update to The Long Dark's Sandbox. Our newest region, Pleasant Valley, is nearly 10 square kilometres of rural mountain valley featuring abandoned fields, farms, caves, surrounded by a vast wilderness.

Between Mystery Lake, Coastal Highway, and Pleasant Valley, the Sandbox is now nearly 20 square kilometres of playable space.

In addition to the new region and Mystery Wildlife (details to be updated once the first sightings are reported), this update adds Harvestable Plants (so players can produce their own first aid items), Torch Brandishing gameplay (used to scare off Wolves), improved Wildlife AI, and an entirely new Inventory interface!

Details in the Changelist Below!

Accessing Pleasant Valley & Region Unlocking

Pleasant Valley is accessed through the Coastal Highway region. Please note that for existing players, Pleasant Valley will only be unlocked in the Sandbox Menu after it has been discovered in the game. New players will first need to discover Coastal Highway before they can find Pleasant Valley.

General Note on Game Performance & Optimization

We've seen quite a few notes about people with high-end systems experiencing lower than expected performance in the game. We're continuing to work on optimizing the game world, but unfortunately some of the issues are related to how our core engine -- Unity -- was built, and how it utilizes multiple CPU cores for physics objects.

You'll notice that game performance is more dependent on CPU speed than GPU speed, which is why changing graphics settings has little effect on frame-rate (assuming you are CPU-limited).

We will continue our optimization efforts and work with Unity to find good solutions. We are hopeful that the upcoming Unity 5 will address these limitations, as the existing outdated physics engine is being replaced. We're also exploring our own ideas, the goal being to improve performance without sacrificing the size or detail of the world.

We appreciate your patience as we continue to work on this thorny technical challenge!

----------------
The Long Dark -- Sandbox Alpha -- v.192 Changelist


MAJOR ADDITIONS

* New Region! Pleasant Valley. Nearly 10 square kilometres of rural mountain valley.
* New Mystery Wildlife! Keep your eyes open.
* Harvestable Plants. Collect Old Man's Beard Lichen, Rose Hips, and Reishi Mushrooms and craft natural remedies.
* Torch Brandishing. Craft Torches and Brandish them against Wolves. You might scare them off!
* Visual Inventory. Completely redone Inventory screen with improved navigation and embedded Repair and Harvesting actions.


GENERAL IMPROVEMENTS

* General improvements to wildlife AI, to support better player decision-making about Fight or Flight response and clarify wildlife presence and intent.
* Predators are now attracted to the smell of Blood (bleeding wounds, raw meat, etc.) and will come investigate if within range.
* Scent is now affected by Wind speed and direction.
* All Beds now have a Warmth value displayed in the Rest interface.
* Bedrolls now lose Condition and must be maintained. It's possible to find multiple Bedrolls in the world.
* All fires now visualize their state (ignition, full burn, cooling off, coals) through flame, sparks, and smoke. Smoke also respects wind direction.
* Various new sounds, and many previous sounds have been replaced based on a new foley recording session.
* Many UI improvements throughout.
* Updated Silent Hunter and Pacifist achievements to clarify they need to happen in the first days of a game (not after many days have already passed).
* German and Russian translations have been fully updated.


BUGS FIXED

* Fixed Exploration achievement
* Achievements are not sent to Steam if player is dead.
* Fixed key binding issue with AltFire.
* Fixed discrepancy between time survived and time of day.
* Fixed scroll wheel issue on right side of container screen.
* Fixed issue when dying during a load scene fade
* Fixed issue with failing to Transfer All showing incorrect info on screen afterwards.
* Fixed issue with fishing huts sometimes not blocking wind
* Fixed issue with phone wires dropping at game start (physics)
* Fixed inaccessible Prepper Hatch bug
* Fixed issue where First Aid items were disabled if used, then use was cancelled, then the item was dropped
* Fixed issue where Log could show incorrect days in a new session after dying.
* Fixed errors in Calorie Burn amounts being displayed for Resting, Foraging, Ice Fishing and Harvesting
* Increased navmesh accuracy to address a variety of pathfinding issues
* Fixed issue with dropped items sometimes being inaccessible
* Fixed issue with campfire disappearing if cancelling out of creating a fire in a stove.
* Display correct Calorie Burn on the UI for activities when in Pilgrim and Stalker modes

### END OF CHANGELIST ###

 

[Disgruntled]

If this is anything like Neo Scavenger but in 3D, im in.

If this is like The Forest, im going to love the idea of the game but almost never actually play it. I found survival there too stressful while peaceful mode didnt fit. How is the pacing and exploration/loot here? im reading some info and it sounds like there is more to do.

 

[cvv]

If this is anything like Neo Scavenger but in 3D, im in.

If this is like The Forest, im going to love the idea of the game but almost never actually play it. I found survival there too stressful while peaceful mode didnt fit. How is the pacing and exploration/loot here? im reading some info and it sounds like there is more to do.

In my comment two months ago I whined about the wolves. Just like you I loved the idea of the game. Problem was they advertised it as a complex survival game in a realistic nordic environment, with foraging, crafting, managing temperature, hunger and thirst, exploring and dealing with hazards like wind, frost, ice and hostile fauna like the wolves That was the theory.

In reality the wolves were so ubiquitous and so absurdly deadly that you couldn't really enjoy the other survival aspects at all. You stepped out of a shelter and there were always at least two, instantly locking onto you and coming at you. So you constantly ran and dodged and zigzaged, dashing blindly from shelter to shelter. It was like trying to enjoy Minecraft where a pack of zombies is constantly chasing you around. Total bollocks.

Anyway I really hope the devs will pull their shit together and give us a properly balanced game by the time it goes gold. Because the basic idea is awesome.

 

[Disgruntled]

In my comment two months ago I whined about the wolves. Just like you I loved the idea of the game. Problem was they advertised it as a complex survival game in a realistic nordic environment, with foraging, crafting, managing temperature, hunger and thirst, exploring and dealing with hazards like wind, frost, ice and hostile fauna like the wolves That was the theory.

In reality the wolves were so ubiquitous and so absurdly deadly that you couldn't really enjoy the other survival aspects at all. You stepped out of a shelter and there were always at least two, instantly locking onto you and coming at you. So you constantly ran and dodged and zigzaged, dashing blindly from shelter to shelter. It was like trying to enjoy Minecraft where a pack of zombies is constantly chasing you around. Total bollocks.

Anyway I really hope the devs will pull their shit together and give us a properly balanced game by the time it goes gold. Because the basic idea is awesome.

That sounds too much like the Forest indeed. Dealing with those savages from day one was too much for me. Neo has the turn-based factor going for it, easing the stress. Plus in Neo you can somewhat control and avoid the encounters by hiding/running away in a short sequence of time. I think the problem is the physical threat being a central pillar of these games instead of an additional factor to deal with.

The devs should be able to tone it down if their intentions stay on point. The bigger world and various npcs should stop the use of wolves as a crutch, unless of course they are catering to gamers who enjoy that adrenaline rush more than the mundane aspects of exploration and survival. Worth keeping an eye on for sure.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

It is much closer to the Forest than Neo Scavenger, though it's better than the Forest (If no other reason than it's not very buggy).

The wolves tend to stick to certain areas, barring something tempting them out of 'em (If they happen to smell you for example they'll follow you and sit outside your shelter and be a pain in the ass). The pacing is slower than Neo Scavenger since it's real time (As is so often the case turn-based ends up being faster because the "Down time" moments of plodding from A to B go by quickly, while in real time games you'll be walking for 5 minutes) but if you're an atmospherefag at all it really does it well. Nice look, nice sounds, nice puffs of breath, Long Night also has surprisingly good variety in weather/lighting so it doesn't just feel like DAY/NIGHT/BLIZZARD. Speaking of the weather, the weather actually matters a fair bit. Until you find some of the highest end clothing you'll have a harder time not freezing to death than dealing with wolves, even a clear day with wind can be worse than a day where it's snowing. The exploration aspect is... Ok. The maps are static but the loot from containers is random. You'll start to figure out good spots to hit in the future but there is a degree of fishing around for loot. Speaking of loot, there's a reasonable pile here. Various pieces of varying quality clothing (Which can be worth tearing up for scraps to build/repair things if nothing else), food and potable water without hunting/cooking it or purifying it yourself, the rare and treasured rifle and bullets, various bits of medical gear, etc. Slightly less loot whoring than Neo Scavenger but it has a similar feel. You're not throwing away a shotgun because you found a better one, you're generally happy to find better shoes.

Also dunno if CVV has played semi-recently but they supposedly toned the wolves back a bit. He's not wrong in saying you have to deal with them a lot though, since they're one of the few threats in the game I guess they decided to make them numerous. Plus they said the reason for the ultra aggressive wolves is some lore thing which we haven't got since no story mode yet.

It's not Neo Scavenger levels of cool but it's a pretty good game even at this point. If they add NPCs to the survival mode who scavenge the same way you do and can be sometimes hostile and sometimes willing to trade (Maybe even join up?) it would be cool as hell. Not sure they're going to go that far, they may leave the NPCs relatively fixed and in story mode only.

 

[Burning Bridges]

It seems to be a repeating pattern that after every major patch the wolves become insane killing machines. It will then will be patched back to acceptable in two or three steps. So there is good reason not to try the game directly after a major update, or to draw too many conclusions. Also there is an Easy difficulty now, perhaps you should begin with that? The game is not unfair or overly hard once you learned how to play it is no problem to survives for weeks if not months. It is all a question of setting prorities and not doing things that get you killed.

I agree that wolves were ridiculous directly after the update and I would normally die after 1 or two 2 from a wolf attack. I'll try a new game with the latest patch in a few minutes, from the first impressions the wolves have already been patched back to normal aggression levels.

In this last patch they also introduced some sort of persistent wildlife so that wolves will not simply respawn if you killed them. This is exactly the direction this game should take, if you ask me so that predators and wildlife in general may become depopulated, forcing you to move to me hunting grounds (in theory). They also added a shit-ton of harvestable plants which is a completely new element of gameplay.

Even though I agree about the wolves you should not give up on this game easily it's in my opinion on of the maturest games in years.

And btw, another very simlar game gas surfaced very recently, it's called Stranded Deep and it's a bit more lighhearted and very early state but what they have shows a lot of promise
http://store.steampowered.com/app/313120/

 

[Burning Bridges]

I will keep you updated. The wolves seem terrible at first but I am sure there is a way to overcome them.

From my limited experience it seems super important that you don't carry meat with you. The wolves seem more attracted by the meat than by you. If you still must do it, you can try hitting '4' to drop the meat so it acts as a decoy.

Another thing that I consider is that I will return to the town once I have a rifle and kill all wolves. With the new persistence this should give me an opportunity to raid all houses and also enough meat for several days.

 

[Burning Bridges]

From my experience in the last days, those concerned about the wolves should let their hands from this version and wait.
It's not that the wolves make the game unplayable or broken, it's just the way it is implemented. You can play days without problems and in perfect condition and 5 seconds later you are dead. This seems not right for a game that is mostly played by people who usually hate fast paced shit. It's true that you can normally survive the first wolf attack, but there is often another and it feels too simplistic. I had the impression that - provided you are stupid engoug to chase an injured wolf like I did - that they sometimes turn around and seem to have regained health points. Often they attack so fast that you can't even fire at them. Another wolf fled to the thin ice and died there. The aiming is too primitive to waste bullets on flleeing wolf, unless you are are an outstanding marksman and have good framerates (I have neither). The melee interface is clunky and still does not feel right. The end result is that even with a rifle you probably just drove off the wolf most of the time, if you do the smart thing and let it run. I would wait until they balanced this some more and added persistence for all areas and all animals (right now it's only CH and wolves).

I would let my hands from the Pilgrim difficulty it is too easy and animals dont attack at all. Voyeur has too much loot but the annoying wolves. My wish would be Stalker difficulty with wolfs that don't automatically attack you after they spot you. Once I literally ran into one that was behind a lift. He directly jumped at me and I died within seconds. It was then that I thought, hey this is bullshit. If you suddenly come jogging over a lift, and appear 5m in front of him, every wolf would have been scared and run off, 100% of the time.

Otherwise this version is in an incomplete state anyway, the UI being a mixture of old and new. The new one is fantastic though.

 

[belowmecoldhands]

Looks interesting. It'd be nice if hte wolves were an optional setting.

They should make it moddable so the vanilla game can be easy to play and to make. Single player game without moddability gets watered down or loses funding almost everytime, carrying with it a bad reptutation even if it succeeds.