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The Long Dark


Sotha

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I've been playing The Long Dark recently. It is beautiful and calming. And scary and hopeless.

 

For an early access game it is really well done, not many bugs.

 

Wake up, cook some water, eat breakfast, go to the blistering cold to scavenge food and supplies, hunt deers, check your snares for rabbits, sneak to avoid wolfes, try not to get caught in a blizzard, get lost and freeze to death.

 

There is a grasshopper-style gameplay: slowly but surely you will run out of supplies, which forces you to explore in advance and move to another location when the resources run thin. It may be a good idea to leave some minor supplies to your old base, you never know if you return there when you are lost, freezing, dehydrated and starving.

 

Permadeath (no savescumming) is inevitable, and the player's job is to stay alive as long as possible, which is usually accomplished by optimizing resource consumption and securing safe way of gathering more. It may get repetitive after a while, but new content is added occasionally. The game will later have a story mode, which will give more objectives than simple survival.

 

One of my favourite gaming sessions took me on an exploration mission for a new area. Suddenly, dense fog came and I lost track of my surroundings. I got completely lost very quickly. I tried to start a campfire under a bridge to keep warm, but a snowstorm came, forcing me on the move. I panicked, simply chose a direction and pressed forward, hoping to find some kind of house to spend the storm in. I never found one. I tried to start fires to keep me warm, but failed the blizzard doused them and I simply lost my firewood and tinder. Soon I completely ran out of tinder and firewood. The night came and the storm ended, but then came the wolves and the cold. I was taking side tours around the wolves to stay safe, which slowed me down. I was freezing, starving, and dehydrated. I was sure I was gonna die. But somehow I ended up in a familiar-looking area, which I realized was my earlier base. I had even left minor stuff there. I was saved and the feeling was something games don't usually provoke in me.

 

Funny thing was when I later mounted more well equipped explorations to the area I was lost in during the storm, I found multiple dwellings and lots of equipment. Even a gun! It was sheer bad luck at every turn that had made me pass through the area, never hitting any of them in the blizzard. I suppose that could easily happen in real life, too, if visibility is only ten meter or so. Then again, I was fortunate enough to wander back to my old base. Few wrong turns more and my 40+ days old character would have been done for.

 

The game is now on discount on steam. Read some reviews and give it a go. This week they will be enrolling a new update with new content.

 

If you like survival games, this is a must. Hint: Do NOT read any spoilers or look at maps of the game areas. One of the great fun is learning to ropes and exploring the world. Reading spoilers will ruin the surprise and the fun.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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It's one of the few games of this type that I would really contemplate buying. Is it demanding to run ? I don't think so, but I'd like to be sure.

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I have bought the game as soon as it was available on Steam for the first time (I did not back it before, was too stubit to understand how it worked back then :blush: ). Haven't played much as of late, though. I haven't even discovered the region that was added last, and am still at a point, where they added some other new features.

 

 

That is: using plants for your survival

 

 

I usually play on the easiest difficulty. As soon as wolves are there, I usually die on the first day. Maybe it is not as unforgiving as it was before, or I am just too stupid to avoid the wolves. Don't know for sure. But it definitely is very beautiful and I can also recommend it. But I myself am waiting for the stroy mode right now. Although, it maybe would be a good idea to try it again and "train" for later and see what can be done right now.

 

It's one of the few games of this type that I would really contemplate buying. Is it demanding to run ? I don't think so, but I'd like to be sure.

 

I am playing on a computer that is six years old and could run the game without problems (the settings are on ultra quality, but only around half of the ma seeing distance).

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I haven't played Don't Starve for quite a while, and only remember hunger and possibly cold mechanics, The Long Dark tracks hunger, thirst, body temperature and fatigue, all of which interact with the main stat "Condition", and some with each other. The colder you are, the more calories you burn, and thus the faster you get hungry/start starving. The more tired you are, the lower your maximum carry load is, which makes sprinting use up fatigue faster until you reach exhaustion, at which point you can no longer sprint, and your Condition starts to deteriorate. Blizzards and animal attacks have a chance to inflict multiple status effects, ranging from hypothermia to bleeding/infected wounds and torn clothing.

 

I got attacked by a bear once, it didn't end well for me :mellow:.

 

There's supposed to be a patch in the next 1-3 weeks that adds a new area, which is perfect because I just started a new character a few days ago, and have already reached 37 days (and pacifist achievement) just in Mystery Lake, so I figure I probably have a good chance at getting at least the 100 days achievement, if not the 200 days achievement.

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Looks interesting! Can't wait to play with plenty of time.

 

I'm stuck in Pleasant Valley, which is too pleasant. Survived over 40 days with only few close calls.

 

Barring sudden disasters, I think I can easily survive until I run out of matches, after which stuff gets tedious with my magnifying glass. Still, lot's of wilderness to explore in the eastern part of the map. West, south and north is familiar already.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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I usually play on the easiest difficulty. As soon as wolves are there, I usually die on the first day. Maybe it is not as unforgiving as it was before, or I am just too stupid to avoid the wolves.

I recall the article on RPS mentioning this... here you go

 

 

Day One: Dear Diary. Today I’m being eaten by a wolf.

Edited by Agent Jones
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Yeah, I can agree with it. But for that we have difficulty settings. And in The Long Dark I have actually less constraint, than in TDM to actually turn down the difficulty. But my feeling is, that The Long Dark requires more luck, whereas TDM relies more on experience and concentration (or at least I tell myself that, to justify the easy setting). Well, without attacking wildlife, the exploring is much more fun...

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Let me tell you a story about bears. It starts like "this won't be so bad", and ends like "oh god look at the size of that thing it's throwing me around like a ragdoll I can't feel my legs anymore". Wolves? Child's play, carry a knife.

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Let me tell you a story about bears. It starts like "this won't be so bad", and ends like "oh god look at the size of that thing it's throwing me around like a ragdoll I can't feel my legs anymore". Wolves? Child's play, carry a knife.

 

Bears are cute. From a distance.

 

I've never dared to venture close to them. Avoiding them is really easy. I did have the bear came after me once, but I simply ran back to my base. Also, I had to once wait a snowstorm in a bear cave. It was scary, but fortunately the animal didn't come home during that time.

 

There is one bear that wanders around my base in the morning. Don't know what they are doing: never seen them catch or eat anything unlike wolves. I've been considering shooting the bear, but always choose to avoid aggravating it (too risky) or wasting bullets. So I'm just letting it be and it lets me be. We get along fine.

 

For the time being.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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I've only tried to engage one bear in bare-knife boxing, and it didn't go well for me. Chances are you can deal with the bear if you have a rifle, though any particular techniques for doing so I'll leave for you to discover. I haven't tried the crafted bow against animals yet, given the description it's probably only good for rabbits, and I could use a new pair of mittens..

Edited by Xarg

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The bow is quite nice. I use it all the time instead of the rifle (i want to save bullets).

 

Bow pros:

very light weight - more room in inventory

Breaks slowly

Craftable and reusable ammo.

Any hit location kills a rabbit.

Headshot kills a deer. If you hit somewhere else, you need to follow the blood trail to the carcass: exciting, but could take you far from you base.

 

Cons:

Difficult to hit anything, especially when tired. But when you learn to use it is is very effective.

Cannot be repaired, so you need a new maple sapling always when the bow breaks

Each shot deteriorates both the arrow and the bow. Learning to use it is wasteful as you lose arrow and bow condition for no meat reward.

Crafting a new bow and arrows takes a lot of time: maple and birch saplings are fairly rare.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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I have about 20 arrows crafted, and another 15 or so shafts ready for heads and feathers, but as you say, the saplings are quite rare. At the same time, I've only cleared out Mystery Lake and the path from the dam to Pleasant Valley, so there's still the path to Coastal Highway, Coastal Highway itself and the mine shaft between Coastal Highway and Pleasant valley to scour for materials, and the new area Desolation Point. If Mystery Lake is any indication, provided I don't get mauled by another bear when I'm transporting my equipment around and don't have the rifle to hand, I should hit 200 days about when I enter Desolation Point. I should probably make some more Old Man's Beard bandages incase Fluffy has any cousins, though.

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I have 3 arrows and plenty of saplings and parts to make more. I usually make stuff I need in the near future.. I found something like 7 pieces of maple saplings in Pleasant Valley, so I'm good for bow & arrows for a while.

 

When I got the game, I played something like 3-4 quick characters which died within hours because I wasn't sure how to play the game and how everything worked: made useless fires and such. Then I started my current game with medium difficulty which is still running.

 

 

 

 

My trip to Pleasant Valley wasn't very smooth. I really struggled in Mystery Lake, lacking everything and I was learning the game. Then I ran out of gear and had to move out.... but I didn't know where to go because I've decided not to read any spoilers. So I just took everything I had and pressed on, got caught in a blizzard, visited the woodloggers camp, got just enough food to survive one more night. Next day I had to continue. Starving I entered the Hydroelectric dam. Almost died to the the wolf there, but got enough food to recover (no more starving, fix hypothermia and clothes). After that I ran out of supplies again and decided to mount an expedition beyond the dam. When I got to the River, I could not go back into the dam: the door was one way. I tried to quickly look for a way back in but did not find any. It was getting cold and I was forced just to move again towards the unknown.

 

Once I found Pleasant Valley, I finally got onto my feet. Found plenty of food and gear, set up a good base, started planting snares and hunting animals. Pleasant Valley has a lot of stuff so I can survive there nicely. Presently, I'm exploring the Valley to find a way forward. Haven't found any yet. (Don't spoil it for me, you seem to know where the way forward is.)

 

I've wrestled with wolves a few times, but I think clothing is a thing: the thicker clothes I have then less body damage I get. At least 2 recent wrestles I didn't get a scratch, just had some clothing to fix. Then again, I'm not sure: I did shoot them with the rifle before they attacked me, and I do not know if I hit them.

 

 

 

Great game!

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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I have 3 arrows and plenty of saplings and parts to make more. I usually make stuff I need in the near future.. I found something like 7 pieces of maple saplings in Pleasant Valley, so I'm good for bow & arrows for a while.

 

When I got the game, I played something like 3-4 quick characters which died within hours because I wasn't sure how to play the game and how everything worked: made useless fires and such. Then I started my current game with medium difficulty which is still running.

 

 

 

 

My trip to Pleasant Valley wasn't very smooth. I really struggled in Mystery Lake, lacking everything and I was learning the game. Then I ran out of gear and had to move out.... but I didn't know where to go because I've decided not to read any spoilers. So I just took everything I had and pressed on, got caught in a blizzard, visited the woodloggers camp, got just enough food to survive one more night. Next day I had to continue. Starving I entered the Hydroelectric dam. Almost died to the the wolf there, but got enough food to recover (no more starving, fix hypothermia and clothes). After that I ran out of supplies again and decided to mount an expedition beyond the dam. When I got to the River, I could not go back into the dam: the door was one way. I tried to quickly look for a way back in but did not find any. It was getting cold and I was forced just to move again towards the unknown.

 

Once I found Pleasant Valley, I finally got onto my feet. Found plenty of food and gear, set up a good base, started planting snares and hunting animals. Pleasant Valley has a lot of stuff so I can survive there nicely. Presently, I'm exploring the Valley to find a way forward. Haven't found any yet. (Don't spoil it for me, you seem to know where the way forward is.)

 

I've wrestled with wolves a few times, but I think clothing is a thing: the thicker clothes I have then less body damage I get. At least 2 recent wrestles I didn't get a scratch, just had some clothing to fix. Then again, I'm not sure: I did shoot them with the rifle before they attacked me, and I do not know if I hit them.

 

 

 

Great game!

 

Yeah, I do know where it is (the devs spoiled it for me in a news update, so skip those until you find it if you don't want it spoiled for you too). At the same time, I've had the game a year and only just discovered the second part of the dam (which leads to the river), so it would have taken a nearly full clear of the maps to find the way to Desolation Point. The way back into the dam

involves a tiny bit of high altitude parkour and a broken window

. My personal favourite for dealing with wolves is primarily the knife, though having good clothing does seem to increase the odds of not getting a bleeding wound, but man, you want to see how much durability damage the clothes take... needless to say, that wolf was used to repair the damage he did. A shot to the head or chest of a wolf with the rifle is a 1 hit kill (I wait for them to charge me down if they're following me to lower the risk of missing), so if you shot and it still jumped you, you hit its leg or missed. Mystery Lake has an amazing amount of resources, if you were struggling that badly I can only assume you haven't found half of them yet. Coastal Highway is a gold mine too.

Edited by Xarg

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Bears are cute. From a distance.

 

Statement revision.

 

Bears are cute. As steaks. In my fridge.

 

Recently, every morning when I go out to check my snares, the bear is snooping around my house. Usually I withdraw quietly back in and do something indoors for a few hours, and then when I'm done the bear has left.

 

But today I opened the front door and saw the bear standing outside and raising to two feet, making this unpleasant noise. It was way too close to my liking. I realized that one day I'm gonna make a mistake and get into trouble with the animal.

 

I simply turned, went back in, took my trusty hunting rifle and summarily shot it twice to the face. It went down fast. It took two days to fully butcher the beast. Very fortunate it fell right in front of my doorsteps.

 

Now I have almost 30 kg of bear meat in my fridge. Now comes a challenge of logistics, how to cook the meat in the correct order so that nothing spoils. With the meat surplus, I'll next focus my survival time on crafting all the special clothing items and collection of firewood. I need tons of firewood to cook all this meat. It is like 20min per kg of cooking. The player character eats something like 3 kg of meat per day so I should be all set for few weeks of ultra-easy survival: get up, eat, craft, collect firewood, cook, craft, eat, go to sleep.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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Have you found a hacksaw yet? I want to try out the new basic metalsmithing stuff but haven't been able to turn pans into metal yet. As far as I can tell cooking meat restores quite a lot of condition to it, so even if your meat is getting down to orange/red, cooking it should make it safely edible. The pork and beans I ate going through the new and expanded Ravine, however..

Edited by Xarg

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No hacksaws yet. I did notice that metal items, that used to have no interaction labels, now have them

 

Cooking increases food condition to 100%, so if cooked at the correct time, meat can last quite long.

 

I'm not sure what the food percentage actually means, though. I got my first food poisoning by eating condensed milk that was 25%. I've eaten canned goods with low percentage before, but never got sick: apparently there is a small chance of getting sick if the food is of low condition. Food poisoning is really nasty condition if you are on the road and cannot immediately medicate and rest.

 

Btw: after the update, it is good idea to re-check cars. I'm sure I had looted all vehicles in pleasant alley, but now after the update, I've noticed that all the car containers (glovebox, trunk) are untouched again. Other world containers are empty as they should.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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I haven't found any cars yet (I know where some are, but haven't reached them) so that probably won't affect me. Food goes from white (100-50%) to orange (49-10%) to red (9-expired). I've witnessed cooking adding 50%, so a red item will be just inside the white band for food condition if cooked and eaten straight away. I wonder when we'll be able to use the car batteries for things.

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Let me tell you a story about bears. It starts like "this won't be so bad", and ends like "oh god look at the size of that thing it's throwing me around like a ragdoll I can't feel my legs anymore". Wolves? Child's play, carry a knife.

:laugh: :laugh: Think I need to try this game, the nearest I've got to playing a real survival game is Skyrim with lots of survival type mods and it certainly doesn't have the depth of play that 'The Long Dark' seems to have.

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I have also played a bit today and did not die the first day in a wolf attack :smile: And that even having encoutered two wolves (or the same one, don't know) and a bear. It seems to me, that they don't attack as fast as they used to, so if you walk away backwards from them, they don't immediately charge.

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It seems to be at least somewhat distance based, once a wolf decides to attack you it will run up near to you and start jogging along behind you. If you're not encumbered, it is possible to move fast enough that you can eventually lose it over hills or by making it into cover. However if you're moving too slowly, or the wolf gets too close, it will bark and then charge you down. That's just a hunch though, a couple of wolves have charged me very early after beginning pursuit, and some I've just turned around and walked away from.

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Also, if you don't like to deal with wolves, just use a torch or a flare. I always take a torch with me if I made a fire somewhere and continue moving. Fire gives a warmth bonus and acts as insurance against wolves.

 

I also doubled my meat haul the other day. Killed a wolf and made a campfire to keep me and the carcass warm while I butcher it. Another wolf got aggroed. Because of the fire, it did not immediately charge, but stood still and growled like an idiot while I had plenty of time to line up that perfect eye-shot with my survival bow.

 

So much meat I could barely walk back to the base.

Clipper

-The mapper's best friend.

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I'm having the same problem myself, I have 40-50kg or so of wolf and deer meat, if I don't cook and eat a bunch of it pretty soon its going to expire, but I typically don't eat very often (every 2-3 ingame days) so something must be done. I'm trying to store it in a locker in a house atm, hopefully that slows the condition degradation enough to let me eat most of it.

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