Hello Community, We have just released our v2.39 (149246) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. This addresses one major issue.

GENERAL

*Fixed an issue that caused an "Attempt to Save game FAILED..." error and returned players to the main menu when they attempted to leave an interior during an Aurora.
Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2024-12-19 01:35:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.38 (149187) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. This addresses one major issue. GENERAL *Fixed an issue that caused an "Attempt to Save game FAILED..." error (as shown below) and returned players to the main menu.
Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2024-12-17 23:47:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.36 (149072) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and WINTERMUTE updated to v2.12 (148383). This Hotfix addresses multiple issues introduced in the v.2.33 update for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY.

Bug Fixes

This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues:

CRASHES

* Fixed an issue on Mac that could result in the application freezing when transitioning between load zones (interior to exterior, or between regions).

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

Additions and Changes *[Holiday Cheer] Added a Festive Sweater. *[Holiday Cheer] Added two new Festive Light Decorations that can be found in various locations across Great Bear Island and can be used in Safehouse Customization. *[Holiday Cheer] Added festive touches to multiple locations around Great Bear Island. *Added stacks of additional Batteries to the following locations, to account for long-running games that had harvested Batteries before the Trader was added to the game: Prison Interior (Blackrock Region), Main Hangar (Forsaken Airfield Region), and Hibernia Processing (Desolation Point). *Added an additional description to the interface of the Furniture Workbench to indicate that in progress and finished Furniture can be found in the "container" portion of the Workbench. *Temporarily removed Cougars from Coastal Highway until we can ensure the spawn regions do not conflict with common player routes required for Trading. *Tuned values for Vagabond Soup, Porter Soup, Last Resort Soup, and Pemmican Bars. *Tuned the Camera so that it no longer inherits the weight of Film loaded into it. *Tuned multiple Trade exchange requirements with an emphasis on reducing the cost of trades involving Batteries. *Tuned Timberwolf spawn values to reduce the chances of their appearance in Regions where they are able to spawn. *Tuned multiple Decorations, Tools, and objects which had excessive Destroy time and weight. *Tuned multiple items to allow for their use as Decoration items in Safehouse Customization. *Adjusted Broken Soda Machines to allow them to be destroyed. *Adjusted Stanchions to allow them to be destroyed. *Adjusted the "Big Cat Killer" Feat description to clarify it can no longer be unlocked and is a legacy Feat. Cougar *Fixed an issue where the Cougar would sometimes incorrectly engage the Survivor in a Struggle after being shot. *Fixed an issue where dead Cougars could replay their death animation and sound effect after a player transitioned to and from an interior. *Fixed an issue when choosing a "Close Risky Respawn" that could result in the Survivor spawning into active Cougar Territory. *Fixed an issue where Aurora Cougars incorrectly continue to glow after being harvested. *Fixed an issue where the Cougar could be toggled on in Challenge saves created prior to first installing Tales From the Far Territory. *Fixed an issue where the Cougar could be toggled on in Pilgrim and Misery Experience saves created prior to first installing Tales *From the Far Territory. *Fixed an issue that could result in the Cougar being present even when toggled off. Safehouse Customization *Fixed an issue that prevented multiple wall-mounted Decorations from being placeable on walls. *Fixed an issue with overlapping interface elements when attempting to Repair certain Safehouse objects. *Fixed an issue where Junk could be seen overlapping objects during placement. *Fixed an issue with Campfires which allowed Decorations to be placed intersecting and within them. *Fixed an issue where destroying certain objects or Decorations could result in parts of the object remaining floating in that space. *Fixed an issue where Ruined Fish could incorrectly be used to craft Mounted Fish Decorations. *Fixed multiple issues that allowed some objects and Decorations to be placed through walls. *Fixed an issue that caused some shelving to be oriented incorrectly against walls in placement mode. *Fixed multiple issues with objects and Decorations which intersected improperly with the surface upon which they were placed. *Fixed an issue that resulted in wall-hung Decorations shifting slightly after exiting and re-entering an interior. *Fixed an issue where certain wall-hung lamps could be incorrectly collected and moved. *Fixed an issue where certain Workbenches would yield two Vices when broken down, instead of the intended one. *Fixed an issue where some fallen Ceiling Panels could not be destroyed. *Fixed an issue with flag Decorations which made them difficult to place and prevented rotation in placement mode. *Fixed multiple placement issues with Plates that allowed them to be attached to walls, and positioned under floors. *Fixed an issue with the orientation of Horseshoe Decorations when mounted to walls. *Fixed an issue that resulted in objects and Decorations becoming invisible when stacked or placed too closely together. *Fixed an issue with Stage Curtains that resulted in them being difficult to orient and place. *Fixed an issue with Stage Curtains that incorrectly allowed players to put them in their Backpack. *Fixed an issue with Steamer Trunks that prevented them from being placed. *Fixed an issue where some Soda Display Refrigerators could not be placed. *Fixed an issue where Safehouse Customization could become unavailable to a player if they attempted to carry an item outside of the customization zone. *Fixed an issue where Safehouse Customization could be toggled while using the Trader Radio. *Fixed an issue where an incorrect axe icon was present in the "Break Down" and "Destroy" options for Workbenches in Safehouse Customization. *Fixed an issue in one of Mystery Lake's Cabins where a shelf was incorrectly oriented and could not be interacted with via Safehouse Customization. *Fixed an issue where choosing to "Break Down" specific Drawers had no effect. *Fixed an issue where plastic Milk Crates could unintentionally only be placed on walls instead of surfaces. *Fixed an issue with multiple Signs and Picture Frames where debug text could be seen when looking at the Decoration. *Fixed an issue where certain shelves would drop to the floor after exiting and re-entering an interior. *Fixed an issue that resulted in bloody bandages remaining after choosing to Clear Junk. *Fixed an issue that resulted in multiple objects highlighted in Safehouse Customization mode not being interactable. *Fixed an issue that resulted in certain doors incorrectly allowing players to place, move and destroy them. *Fixed multiple issues in Blackrock Prison's Barracks with objects and Decorations that could not be placed after being picked up. *Fixed an issue in Blackrock Prison Interior where objects and Decorations could not be placed on the floor of the workshop. *Fixed an issue with the Moosehead Trophy in Pleasant Valley Community Hall which prevented it from being moved along with its mount. *Fixed multiple issues in Forsaken Airfield's Hangar with containers which could not be searched or used as storage. *Fixed multiple issues in Forsaken Airfield's Hangar with objects and Decorations that could not be placed after being picked up. *Fixed multiple issues in Forsaken Airfield's Hangar with objects and Decorations that could be incorrectly mounted on walls. *Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield's Terminal building where wall-hung objects would be difficult to place, and oriented incorrectly when placed. *Fixed multiple issues in Zone of Contamination's Idle Camp where items could not be moved or placed in Safehouse Customization mode. *Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination's Concentrator which prevented many objects and Decorations from being placed on the walls and floor. *Fixed multiple issues in Mountain Town's St. Christopher's Church with objects and Decorations that could be incorrectly mounted on walls. *Fixed multiple issues in Mountain Town's St. Christopher's Church with objects and Decorations that could not be placed after being picked up. *Fixed an issue in Mountain Town's Park Hut where objects and Decorations could not be placed on a certain section of the floor. Trader *Fixed an issue where the Survivor could fall through the ground immediately after exiting the Bunker during the Trader's fifth Special Request. *Fixed an issue where the Hatch Wheel could disappear from the Survivor's backpack during the Trader's fifth Special Request, making it incompleteable. *Fixed an issue where the Trader's first line of dialogue can be heard twice when first contacting them. *Fixed an issue that resulted in the Trader's fourth Special Request being incompletable. The request can now be completed on new and pre-existing save files. General *Fixed an issue in Coastal Highway near the Southwestern bridge where players could get stuck. *Fixed an issue in Pleasant Valley's Farmhouse Barn where a player could get stuck trying to drop down past the ladder. *Fixed an issue where Notes found in the Blackrock Prison Interior were missing icons in the Survivor's Journal. *Fixed an issue where Fluffy could incorrectly spawn in the Bleak Inlet Workshop when the player revisits this location. *Fixed an issue where the number of Ptarmigan killed was not displayed in Journal Statistics. *Fixed an issue where the Heatpad warmth bonus could be lost when swapping between multiple activated Heatpads. *Fixed an issue where Heatpads were too large when displayed in the Inspect interface. *Fixed an issue where Inspecting a Film Pack resulted in the item being scaled and positioned in a poor initial state. *Fixed an issue where a "Deploy" option was present when viewing the contents of containers. *Fixed an issue where interacting with a repairable object while holding a Lantern resulted in being unable to extinguish or stow it. *Fixed an issue that resulted in a missing "Required Material" icon when attempting to repair an item that required more than one Material. *Fixed an issue that resulted in unlocking the "Something Warm to Drink" achievement after finding only one Insulated Flask. *Fixed an issue that resulted in unlocking the "To the Teeth" achievement after finding only one firearm variant. *Fixed an issue with the Nomad Challenge where time spent in the Stone Church was not registering, rendering the Challenge incompletable. *Fixed an issue that resulted in an "Attempt to SAVE game failed." error message when moving Decorations stored in the Travois. *Fixed an issue that resulted in items stored in the Travois disappearing after transitioning. *Fixed an issue that resulted in Vagabond and Last Resort Soup sharing the same icon and model in the Recipe Book interface. *Fixed an issue that resulted in Cooking Oil and Broth sharing the same icon in the Recipe Book interface. *Fixed an issue where the Vitamin-C benefit of Recipes viewed in the Recipe Book was overlapped by the Recipe name. *Fixed an issue that resulted in Cured Meat and Fish causing Food Poisoning at much too high a rate. *Fixed an issue that allowed players to pass through walls using object placement and collision. *Fixed an issue that resulted in stuttering when exiting to Pleasant Valley from any interior. *Fixed an issue that prevented Fish from being caught in Custom Survival games. *Fixed an issue with a rug in the Pleasant Valley Community Hall which caused it to flicker during and after being placed.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

* Fixed an issue that caused incorrect and inconsistent exterior lighting when moving in and out of caves. *Fixed multiple locations where Cougar claw marks on trees were stretched or warped. *Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass where a Deer Carcass was incorrectly placed beneath terrain. *Fixed multiple locations in Zone of Contamination where Pallets, Metal Sheets, and debris would appear and disappear when approached. *Fixed multiple issues in Pleasant Valley, Forsaken Airfield, Broken Railroad, and Zone of Contamination where objects could be collided with, but were not visible. *Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass which resulted in Aurora Wildlife glowing too brightly. *Fixed an issue where Aurora effects took precedence over placement and Safehouse Customization effects. *Fixed an issue where equipping a Bow and Tactical Gloves resulted in the Survivor's right hand appearing much larger than normal. *Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield where an Oil Tank would become invisible when approached. *Fixed an issue where the Pemmican Bar Recipe Card incorrectly referenced "Orca Bar". *Fixed an issue in the Ash Canyon transitional Cave that caused a visible seam in terrain.

AUDIO

* Fixed an audio issue with multiple Signs and Picture Frames where the wrong sound played when Destroyed. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2024-12-16 22:37:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today we share the first glimpse into the future of THE LONG DARK. After 10 years of developing the first game, this is a big moment for the team. While we complete the final episode of our WINTERMUTE story mode slated for release in 2025, we wanted to use the platform of the The Game Awards as an opportunity to share our vision for the future of survival games. We call it BLACKFROST, and its the sequel to THE LONG DARK. Years ago, I asked myself what the future of THE LONG DARK could look like. Despite pouring everything we have into that game, I still felt there were things I wanted to do with the setting, the mechanics, but also things that just arent possible within the current game. I knew we would have to build something new, with foundations that could support our grand vision. When we started THE LONG DARK, we had no idea wed be building it and supporting the community for 10 years. With BLACKFROST, we asked ourselves -- what if we *started* a project as though we knew it would last for 10 years, or even longer? What different decisions might we make? BLACKFROST builds on a decade of construction, experimentation, and community-informed development of an experience we love dearly. It expands beyond the ego-centrism of THE LONG DARK and asks you, not how far you will go to survive, but how far will you go to survive for others? The others could be other players in co-op, but also other survivors in the world. NPC communities hiding out from the dangers of the aurora, the radioactive black frost, and a whole host of new threats they experience in the city of Harmont and the vast wilderness surrounding it. What new scenarios, gameplay mechanics, and stories could such a setting inspire? We arent saying too much more about BLACKFROST at this point, as we are focused on completing our obligations around THE LONG DARK 1. But we hope this early look is compelling and exciting for you. We hope to enlist you in the coming months and years, in helping us build the future of survival games. BLACKFROST wont launch until 2026, so this is a very early moment in time for the project. And for those of you who have grown up with THE LONG DARK over the years, BLACKFROST is not the end. It is only the beginning of the next chapter. We see both THE LONG DARK 1 and BLACKFROST co-existing for a long time, with each game having a distinct point of view around the Quiet Apocalypse. They will be complimentary, preserving the investment of time and money you have put into TLD over the years. But with BLACKFROST, we are pushing our philosophy and vision for survival forward in ways we could have never believed possible when we first launched TLD back in 2014. We cant wait to show you more of what we are building. We hope you are as excited as we are! For now, please take a moment in your busy day to enjoy this view into the new world we are creating for you. I think it is as beautiful as it is dangerous, full of adventure, mystery, and opportunity. A place you want to survive in. [previewyoutube=4wlttElgLg4;full][/previewyoutube] Live together, or die alone. Welcome to the world of BLACKFROST. Raphael van Lierop Creative Director Hinterland For Media Queries: press@hinterland.com Media Kit here.

[ 2024-12-13 01:56:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're thrilled to partner with our friends at 11 Bit to bring you the new FROSTPUNK + THE LONG DARK: SURVIVAL MODE bundle. Anyone who currently owns THE LONG DARK, or THE LONG DARK: SURVIVAL MODE, can use Steam's "Complete the Bundle" logic to get FROSTPUNK 1 at a great discount, just in time for the holidays.

About Frostpunk

Frostpunk is the first society survival game. As the ruler of the last city on Earth, it is your duty to manage both its citizens and infrastructure. What decisions will you make to ensure your society's survival? What will you do when pushed to breaking point? Who will you become in the process? Check out the bundle, which is currently discounted! https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/20572/The_Long_Dark_Survival_Mode_x_Frostpunk/

[ 2024-12-10 17:37:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.35 (148480) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and WINTERMUTE updated to v2.12 (148383). This Hotfix addresses multiple issues introduced in the v.2.33 update for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY.

Bug Fixes

This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues:

CRASHES

* Fixed multiple issues that returned players to the main menu with a 'Failed to restore the game from a previous save' message after transitioning to a new location.

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

* Fixed an issue where First Aid Kits could not be placed on the walls of Trapper's Cabin. * Fixed an issue where players were incorrectly able to Pick Up or Destroy Buffer Memory Laptops. Players will now only be able to move Laptops. * Fixed multiple issues that resulted in warning messages being hidden behind existing menus and interfaces. * Fixed an issue in Mystery Lake, Sundered Pass and Forsaken Airfield where Ravaged Deer Carcasses would not appear as intended in Cougar Territory. * Fixed an issue where after killing a Cougar, a new Cougar would appear in the same Region much sooner than intended. * Fixed an issue that prevented Furniture Workbenches from being Destroyed. * Fixed an issue that caused Decoration placement to become greatly offset after Destroying or Breaking Down an object on which the Decoration was placed. * Fixed an issue that prevented Cougars from spawning in Custom Survival games if the 'Cougar Spawn Chance' setting was 'low'. * Fixed an issue where debug text could be seen when viewing the details of a WINTERMUTE save file. * Fixed an issue that prevented players from Quartering Aurora Cougar Carcasses. * Fixed an issue where Breaking Down a player built Workbench did not generate a Workbench Vice. * Fixed an issue that resulted in multiple objects returning less resources than intended. * Fixed an issue that prevented multiple objects from being used in Safehouse Customization. * Fixed an issue that prevented players from enabling the Cougar in a save created prior to purchasing and installing Tales from the Far Territory. * Fixed an issue that prevented players from enabling the Cougar when loading pre-existing Custom Survival saves. * Fixed an issue that caused the Rdiger's Dream achievement to delay triggering until after reloading the save in which it was unlocked. * Fixed an issue that prevented players from selecting a Photograph to place in a player-crafted Framed Photo when using any controller as their main input. * Fixed an issue that limited players to 3 exchanges with the Trader instead of the intended 10. * Fixed an issue where conversation prompts were too close to the screen when contacting the Trader from the Radio in Pleasant Valley Community Hall. * Fixed an issue in the cave leading to Zone of Contamination, Forsaken Airfield, and Sundered Pass that incorrectly allowed Safehouse Customization within it. * Fixed an issue that removed the option to Break Down some objects, preventing players from reaching certain locations. * Fixed an issue inside Hibernia Processing in Desolation Point that prevented players from searching a metal locker. * Fixed an issue inside the Lonely Lighthouse in Desolation Point that prevented players from searching the main floor dresser. * Fixed an issue in Desolation Point that caused some containers to spawn multiple times in the same location. * Fixed an issue where moveable containers could reset their contents after being placed. * Fixed an issue that caused Scurvy to become disabled in pre-existing saves where it should be enabled. * Fixed an issue that caused Woodworking Tools in some locations to fail to spawn. * Tuned Misery Experience Mode Trader values to be more in line with the expected Misery experience.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

* Fixed an issue where no icons were present in the Trader Radio interface for raw fish, animal meat, dried hides or harvestable plants. * Fixed an issue where the Cougar entrance cinematic was too dark and players could not distinguish what was occurring in the scene. * Fixed an issue that caused orange Patterned Wool Mittens to become invisible when dropped or placed. * Fixed an issue where the Pemmican Bar icon in the Recipe Book was incorrectly shown as a Recipe Card.

ANIMATION

* Fixed an issue that sometimes resulted in human arms appearing momentarily next to the Cougar during its Struggle animation.

AUDIO

* Fixed an issue that caused Cougar vocalizations to play out of sync in certain entrance cinematics.

PLATFORM-SPECIFIC

* Fixed an issue on Steam Deck that caused a black screen when attempting to take a Photograph with the Camera while reloading it with Film. * Fixed an issue on Xbox and the Xbox app for Windows that caused a crash when a new player launched the application for the first time. To check current releases on each platform, please visit our Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2024-12-06 02:42:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, PART SIX: BROKEN SILENCE now available!

With this release, the TALES DLC expansion pass is now complete!

Hello Survivors, Today were pleased to announce the release of TALES Part Six, Broken Silence. This is the last part of the TALES DLC for Survival Mode, and concludes the 2-year expansion pass. The TALES DLC will continue to be available for purchase in its entirety moving forward. Broken Silence is the biggest update for TALES and the base Survival game since the launch of the DLC expansion pass campaign in December 2022. The following 18-minute update video goes into great detail about all the new features and content in Broken Silence, for both the Paid and Free streams. [previewyoutube=_8c9NOhYLnU;full][/previewyoutube] NOTE: Paid content is only available to people who own the TALES DLC. Free updates are available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or THE LONG DARK: SURVIVAL MODE products. For a full roadmap outlining all the features and content included in the TALES DLC, please visit the full Expansion Pass site. The following major features are included in Broken Silence:

Safehouse Customization (Free for all players)

Weve added a deep Safehouse Customization system for all players to use. Over 100 locations in the game can now be modified by moving or removing furniture and decorative items, crafting new items using the Furniture Bench and Woodworking Tools, and gathering materials and decorative items from all over Great Bear island and the Far Territory. This is one of the biggest changes to the game the team has ever accomplished, and we are excited to see how players express their creativity and survival ethos through their personalized Safehouse locations. (Includes many new items never before available in the game!)

Cougar Redux (TALES DLC owners only)

The Cougar hunts and patrols its territory, mainly located in the rocky or deeply forested areas on the fringes of various regions. Enjoy it from afar, or risk your life traversing its territory. The more you encounter it, the more its territory expands, ratcheting up your risk factors for travel and survival. The Cougar is a crafty hunter and is best avoided, but if you dare encroach on its territory you will face a struggle for survival beyond anything youve encountered so far. Look for signs, listen, be wise, and be careful!

Global Wildlife Refresh (Free for all players)

Establish new patterns for hunting and travel through the world to avoid, or seek out, wildlife. Every wildlife spawn region in the game has been refreshed. Expect to encounter predators like Bears, Wolves, and now Cougars, in new and dangerous places. Find prey animals like Deer, Rabbits, and Ptarmigan have made homes in new locations. Wildlife populations have been rebalanced across the entire game world. Even Timberwolf spawns have been refreshed, so that they dont always appear where they used to.

Instant Camera (TALES DLC owners only)

Find the Instant Camera, along with colour, black & white, or sepia film stock. Take photos and add them to your journal Album, where you can notate them. Frame them and hang them in your Safehouse. Become a wilderness photographer.

Trader (TALES DLC owners only)

Keep your ears open for the emergency radios across the Island to come to life during an aurora. You may hear an unexpected voice from a boat offshore. Sutherlands been out there since the lights in the sky first appeared, and he has a story to tell. But first, youll have to earn his trust. Hell trade rare items that he scavenges off the coastline in exchange for things he needs from Great Bear Island. (Includes many new items never before available in the game!)

Meat Curing Box & Salt (TALES DLC owners only)

Use Woodworking Tools to craft a new Meat Curing box. Gather salt from caves or the coastline, and preserve meat or fish for the long haul.

Achievements (TALES DLC & Free for all players)

Weve added Achievements for TALES, including some unlocks for features that were added to the base Survival game for free, and some that are TALES specific.

And More...

Please watch the update video and visit the TALES expansion pass site for more information on what has been included in Broken Silence.

A Note on Release Platforms

Please note that todays launch of Broken Silence is for Steam, Xbox, and Epic Game Store. The PlayStation version will be updated ASAP this week; we are waiting for Sony to approve it for release. As has already been communicated to players, the Nintendo Switch release of Parts Five and Six have been delayed until the new year.

Bugs and Support

Please report any issues you have to our Support Portal. We expect a high volume of reports and the Support Portal will take precedence over our other communication channels, so it is your best way to get help. It will not be possible to respond to every forum post or social media post reporting bugs or issues. We ask for your patience as we work to resolve all outstanding reports during this busy time of year.

Winter Holiday

The team will take a much-needed break between December 20th and January 6th. Support channels and general communication will be delayed during this period as a result. We appreciate your patience.

Thank you!

Thank you to all those who purchased the TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY DLC. Your support of our efforts helps enable us to continue updating THE LONG DARK. We appreciate all your patience as we worked to deliver the promised roadmap, which took much longer than expected. Please refer to the October Dev Diary for more information on our plans to continue supporting THE LONG DARK next year, including shipping WINTERMUTE Episode Five ASAP. Enjoy Broken Silence, and well see you in the new year. - The Hinterland Team ***

RELEASE NOTES

The Long Dark Updated to version 2.33 (CL 147890) Applies to: THE LONG DARK, THE LONG DARK: SURVIVAL MODE, and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY DLC.

Known Issues

• After completing all three TALES, players will not immediately receive the Rdiger's Dream achievement. Instead, it will unlock upon reloading their save.
• Only the first loaded Custom Survival save will provide players the option to toggle the Cougar feature on/off. Loading subsequent Custom Survival saves will not provide this option, disabling Cougar by default.
• Player-crafted Workbenches do not yield a Workbench Vice as expected when broken down.
• Rarely, Decoration placement is greatly offset after destroying or breaking down an object beneath where it is placed. (Workaround: Save and reload.)
• Players using a controller are unable to select a Photograph for player-crafted Framed Photo.
• Players can place decoration objects in inappropriate locations where they can no longer be interacted with.
• Placing or dropping the orange Patterned Wool Mittens causes them to become invisible.
• Players will be unable to Quarter Aurora Cougar Carcasses.
• Players will be unable to break down or destroy the Furniture Workbench.
• Some objects that should have the option to be broken down are missing that functionality. EX: Shrubs which block player from reaching certain locations.

Bug Fixes

This Major Update includes fixes for the following issues:

CRASHES

• Fixed an issue that caused a hang, after lighting too many Campfires at once.
• Fixed an issue which caused some Xbox players to receive error code '-996' after the disclaimer screen, and subsequently returning them to the home screen.
• Fixed a rare issue that caused a crash when entering or leaving interiors.
• Fixed a rare issue where the player's game crashes and their save is deleted when choosing to Cheat Death.

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

• Fixed an issue that caused Ptarmigans to become stuck in an animation loop.
• Fixed an environment issue in Sundered Pass that resulted in players being able to climb on top of certain structures.
• Fixed an issue where the incorrect location text is displayed when waking up after Cheating Death.
• Fixed an issue in WINTERMUTE Episode Four where the subtitles were incorrectly timed with the audio of the final scene.
• Fixed an issue where items could not be retrieved after being placed on a building ledge in the yard of Blackrock Prison.
• Fixed an issue in Lonely Lighthouse where items left on the stairs could only be retrieved from certain angles.
• Fixed an issue in Desolation Point which caused players to fall through weak ice while standing safely on the damaged boat.
• Fixed an issue in Coastal Highway which caused players to fall through weak ice while standing safely on the damaged boat.
• Fixed an issue where high quality and TALES Mission items could be collected through a closed window in the Mine Headframe Building.
• Fixed an issue that caused a 'Failed to restore the game from a previous save' error when transitioning from an outdoor location.
• Fixed a rare issue with the weather system which could result in corrupt save data.
• Fixed an issue where partially consuming a Venison Pie could result in it dropping into negative weight values.
• Fixed an issue where dropping a partially consumed food item along with unconsumed food items of the same type resulted in it returning to an unconsumed state.
• Fixed an issue with the Major Bruising Affliction which resulted in it having no effect on the Survivor's Condition.
• Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented players from placing a symbol with Spray Paint.
• Fixed an issue that allowed the Survivor to quarter a carcass with no resources left.
• Fixed an issue that displayed the incorrect crafting time of items when the Survivor doesn't have the associated crafting tool in their Backpack.
• Fixed an issue in Ash Canyon where some items could spawn in unreachable areas.
• Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass where a backpack could not be searched.
• Fixed an issue where Beachcombing containers and items could duplicate when exiting and re-entering the Region.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

• Fixed an issue where inspecting Polaroids resulted in a visible incorrect watermark on the object.
• Improved the detail on all vehicle engines.
• Fixed an issue with Glimmerfog that resulted in cave entrances appearing clearly through the fog at any distance.
• Fixed an issue in Keeper's Pass that caused incorrect lighting on the mouth of a short rock tunnel.
• Fixed multiple issues in Forsaken Airfield where Cattails were incorrectly located.
• Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield where a fence was not correctly placed on the ground.
• Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass where a deer carcass was not correctly placed on the ground.
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination with a missing square piece of geometry on the ground.
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination where a sheet of ice was not correctly placed on the ground.
• Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet where a post incorrectly intersected a shelter roof.
• Fixed multiple issues in Bleak Inlet with unintentional pieces of jagged terrain.
• Fixed multiple issues in the transition cave from Bleak Inlet to Forlorn Muskeg with rocks not correctly placed on the ground.
• Fixed an issue where the Wool Toque would incorrectly intersect with the Aviator Cap when worn together.
• Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass where snowdrifts were not correctly connected to wooden structures.
• Fixed an issue with T-Shirt models that caused the interior to intersect with the exterior.
• Fixed an issue in the Pleasant Valley Farmhouse that caused a Sewing Kit to disappear from view at different angles.
• Fixed an issue in the Steam Tunnels where a portion of pipe was disconnected and floating.
• Fixed an issue in Mountain Town where snow covered rocks were not correctly displaying snow.
• Fixed an issue where global lighting was not correctly applying to the Survivor's hands.
• Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet where players could incorrectly see the exposed back face of a cliff.
• Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield where players could incorrectly see the exposed back face of a snowdrift.
• Fixed an issue in Mystery Lake where players could incorrectly see the exposed back face of a cliff.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in a corner of the Community Hall in WINTERMUTE Episode Three.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on top of the truck in Keeper's Pass.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in Ash Canyon within a ruined building at Miner's Folly.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck inside a helicopter in Forsaken Airfield.
• Fixed an issue where players could become stuck between rocks in Coastal Highway.
• Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass where players could get stuck in terrain near the bridge to the Weather Station.
• Fixed an issue in Mountain Town where players could get stuck in terrain in the Paradise Meadows Farmhouse.
• Fixed an issue in Bleak Inlet where players could get stuck in terrain on the Cannery Workshop staircase.
• Fixed an issue in Forsaken Airfield where players could get stuck on a rocky outcropping.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck when crouching near the truck in the Maintenance Yard.
• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck behind stalagmites in the transition cave between Hushed River Valley and Mountain Town.
• Fixed an issue in Mountain Town where players could get stuck near the waterfall outside of town.

ANIMATION

• Fixed an issue that resulted in the wrong animation playing when harvesting a wolf carcass with the Improvised Knife.

PLATFORM-SPECIFIC

• [EGS] Fixed an issue that caused a black screen on launch for players on the Epic Games Store.
• [PS4/Switch] Fixed memory leak when loading into a new level
• [PS4/Switch] Reduced memory usage for falling snow effect
• [PS4/Switch] Reduced memory usage for post fx by reusing render textures between passes

### END OF UPDATE ANNOUNCEMENT ###

[ 2024-12-02 19:32:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

DEVELOPER DIARY

OCTOBER 2024

Hello players, As the end of the year approaches, we have many many things to update you on, so Im going to dive right in. This dev diary is a big one, as in addition to news about THE LONG DARK, Ive tried to answer some commonly asked community questions relating to the game, and other things were doing at Hinterland.

WINTERMUTE, EPISODE FIVE

You may have noticed that we havent announced a release date for Episode Five. Our last update on progress was last December when I said we would launch it by the end of this year. Unfortunately, the episode is not quite ready yet. Wrapping up TALES for the end of this year took up much more time and resources than we originally planned for, including the time needed to redo the Cougar. The good news is that with Part Six of TALES coming out in December, that will wrap up our work on the DLC, and from that point onward the *entire* TLD team will be heads-down focused on finishing Episode Five and releasing it ASAP next year. Everyone on TLD will be working on finishing and shipping this final part of our story.
Caption: Along the frozen shore near the hamlet of Perseverance Mills. As a recap, Episode Five, titled The Light at the End of All Things, concludes the WINTERMUTE storyline, and wraps up all the various threads introduced in the previous four episodes. The Episode takes us to the Suzuki Radio Telescope, the enigmatic Atwood, Perseverance Mills, reveals the contents of Astrids mysterious hardcase, and brings to a head the conflict between Mackenzie and Mathis. You play as both Astrid and Mackenzie in this episode. Its our biggest episode to date, and will be the end of the Story Mode for THE LONG DARK. Episode Five also reveals what is *really* going on with the Aurora, and sets up the fiction and IP for future stories, in more games, film, television, and beyond. Youve waited a long time for this, and were well aware of all the delays that have got us to this point. This puts all the more pressure on us to make sure that what we release at the end is worth the wait. Theres enormous pressure. The team is handling it by staying focused on doing their best work, and only putting out an episode that we are proud of and believe lives up to all the time and effort that has gone into THE LONG DARK until now.

COUGAR 2.0

Weve nearly completed work on the revised Cougar, taking on board all the feedback from players who wanted to see this predator as a more active presence in the world. The revised system removes a lot of the previous game mechanics around territory control and timers, and instead builds the Cougar up as a dangerous hunter in the world. It can be avoided by players, but will become increasingly hostile if players seek to encounter them. You can choose to hunt them, but you may find yourself hunted instead. Rather than relying on in-game HUD elements and map counters, the new Cougar systems will put the information in the world, and youll have to pay close attention to the sounds and signs that warn you of its presence. Its a much more dynamic system, but still designed so that the risks can be avoided by making good decisions. Since every release requires Test and Release Management effort, to avoid creating redundant work by splitting the launches of Cougar 2.0 and the Part Six release, weve rolled the updated Cougar into Part Six, and they will release together. This will ensure the team can keep their focus on validating the system and ensure it launches in the best shape possible, along with the rest of the Part Six feature set.

NINTENDO SWITCH

Weve been struggling with various memory issues and crashes on the Switch since releasing the first four Parts of Tales. Weve had programmers and technical artists working on finding ways to optimize further and to solve the crashes. Unfortunately, we have really pushed the Switch hardware to its limit and its proving very difficult to address the issues. We are deep into the guts of the game and the system, trying to find where to extract more performance headroom. Our plan is to release a Switch update ASAP that fixes as many of the performance issues and crashes as we can, so that our Switch players can enjoy TLD and the first Parts of TALES without crashing. This means the Switch release of Parts Five and Six, along with the revised Cougar, have been pushed out until the new year, as releasing more of TALES before these issues are addressed will only make matters worse on the Switch. Well share an updated timeline for Parts Five and Six on Switch once the crash issues are resolved. Were hoping to be able to release a fix to the crashes before the end of the year, but it will depend on our success in identifying and addressing the issues. As with the other platforms, the revised Cougar will be included in Part Six, although our plan for Switch is to release Parts Five and Six together, so it all comes in one big release. I apologize to any Switch players who have been impacted by the crashes -- its not the quality or experience we wanted to give you.

TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, PART SIX

We are releasing TALES Part Six in December, on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Epic Game Store. This final release will conclude the TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY DLC for THE LONG DARKs Survival Mode.

Caption: The new manual instant camera, with B&W, Colour, and Sepia film stock. Part Six has some of the most significant features in the entire expansion pass campaign:

• The Trader. An enigmatic figure and a voice on the radio. Theyll trade with you, but getting access to their best items might require you get comfortable with some questionable demands. What has this survivor been doing on Great Bear Island since the Quiet Apocalypse? Note that this system also includes a variety of new items that are only available via the Trader. (Players who dont want the Trader in their game will have the option to exclude it.)

• Safehouse Customization. Move furniture and decorative props around your favourite locations in the game. Repair broken items and clean up the mess. Craft items from an entirely new series of hand-made furniture and decorative props. Collect and move every framed pancake photo in the game to one place. Make pretty much any valid interior in the game your personal Safehouse with this powerful system. Note that valid interiors in this case include any interior space that has a separate scene load (ex. Trappers Cabin, Quincys Quonset, etc.), and most of the structures connected to the region scenes (like the Lookouts and the Mountaineers Hut). The possibilities are (almost) endless. There are also some new Safehouse-centric gameplay tools included with the release.

• Cougar 2.0. As described above -- a major revision on the Cougar we originally released in Part Five (then immediately removed based on player feedback). The new version is more present, more dangerous, and entirely avoidable if you make smart decisions, but youll face a relentless stalker if you dont. (Players who dont want the Cougar in their game will have the option to exclude it.)

• Instant Camera. Discover an old manual instant camera. Take photos anywhere in the world and add them to your Album. Craft photos into wall-hangings for your personal Safehouse. Find Colour, Black & White, or Sepia-toned film stock. Be a photographer at the end of the world.

• Global Wildlife Refresh. Now that the Cougar is finalized, the team is able to complete the Global Wildlife Refresh. Every wildlife spawn in the entire game has been redone, including all predator and prey animals, so youll need to find some new play patterns as you move through Great Bear Island and the Far Territory. Its a whole new world of wildlife out there.

Caption: Trappers Cabin redecorated using Safehouse Customization, before and after. With these final features completed, we conclude the development of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. We didnt get it finished in the originally expected time-frame, but were happy to have completed it for you and we hope you have enjoyed the journey so far. And if youve been sitting on the fence about TALES, waiting for it to be finished before you jumped in, nows a great time to do so. Also remember: were heading into Steam Sale Season.
Caption: New craftable Safehouse items.

VISUAL ENHANCEMENTS

As part of TALES, the team has completed a suite of visual enhancements to the base THE LONG DARK game. These are targeted at higher-end platforms like PCs well above recommended spec, and PS5 or Xbox Series S/X, although some of the improvements will also be available on lower-end systems. To give the team breathing room to focus on finalizing the rest of the Part Six features, Ive pushed the release of the Visual Enhancements out to the new year. Well share a full list and some comparative screenshots or videos along with a Visual Enhancements update in the Spring. These will be available for free to everyone who owns THE LONG DARK.

NOW WHAT?

With TALES now coming to its conclusion, and the teams focus shifting to Episode Five to finish it ASAP in 2025, youre probably wondering whats next for THE LONG DARK, beyond that. We have some plans to continue supporting THE LONG DARK into 2025 and likely 2026, depending on what happens with our new projects. For 2025, the current general roadmap for TLD is:

• Finish Episode Five, and conclude the WINTERMUTE storyline.

• Ongoing content-focused updates to key game systems, including targeted additional content for the TRADER and SAFEHOUSE CUSTOMIZATION, in the form of new Trade Items, and additional craftable furniture and decorative items. The emphasis will depend somewhat on how many folks buy TALES and whether players are excited about these new systems.

• Visual Enhancements for high-end systems, as mentioned above.

• A completely overhauled Custom Settings system, exposing as many tunables as we can beyond the current offering, so that you can customize your TLD experience along very specific lines of gameplay settings and whatnot. This should be a very powerful set of tools for fine-tuning the TLD experience to your liking.

• Proper Mod Support, including tools, documentation, and a community hub dedicated to Mods. A lot of the modifications weve made over the past two years, to the core game structure and content needed to support the development of TALES, will now become useful in providing tools for you to create your own content for THE LONG DARK.

The majority of the TLD team will be focused on Episode Five, so our ability to do many content-centric updates to Survival Mode will be quite limited until the episode is finished. We really need to get this episode out the door so that our players have some closure around WINTERMUTE, and we feel that with the story mode completed, well finally have the opportunity to take stock of our development around THE LONG DARK, and how we want to continue to grow and maintain it in the future. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we shift into a bit more of a quiet period of focusing and finalizing Episode Five.

NEW GAMES, AND THE FUTURE

Last year, I hinted that alongside THE LONG DARK, weve also been slowly incubating some new games. This probably seems counter-intuitive to folks who have been waiting for us to complete WINTERMUTE, so I wanted to take a moment to explain a bit about why I have decided to do this. As an independent, self-funded developer, Hinterland doesnt have the luxury of having multiple years of down time between our games to build up our next things and launch them. We dont have an external publisher paying our bills while we build new things; we are our own publisher, so we have to pay our own bills. This also means that we own our own revenue, rather than having to split it with a publisher, and this means we can invest our own revenue in taking care of our people, running our company ethically, and making the kinds of games we want to make. We can prioritize quality and continuing to invest in our game even when a traditional publisher would have long abandoned it, or forced us to move on to something new. We can focus on working sustainably and supporting our game and community without being primarily driven by maximizing profitability. But we can only do that as long as we generate enough revenue to cover our costs. Hinterlands revenue is entirely generated from sales of THE LONG DARK and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and generally speaking TLD continues to sell well but only because we continue to update it. Updating it costs a lot of money, and inevitably the revenue will decline over time because no game stays successful, or relevant, forever. In thinking ahead to the future, I want to ensure the smallest possible window between the time where TLD starts to decline significantly in popularity (and sales), and when our next big game is ready to launch. This will help ensure that the new game is starting to ramp up in terms of revenue and popularity at the same time as TLD starts to wind down. I want to make it clear -- TLD has been a super steady success for us over the past 10+ years, with year-over-year revenue that is remarkably stable. Mostly this bucks the trend of games that tend to lose 25% of their revenue every year, until they wind down into a kind of maintenance mode. But at some point the revenue will decline to the extent that its not sufficient to keep our operation going, and its my primary job as head of the studio to ensure my team has long-term financial stability so they can focus their energy on making games for you. Anyone who tracks the game industry right now, understands how challenging this is for almost every developer at the moment. Not to mention for some of the biggest publishers in the business. So, probably unsurprisingly, a big thing I focus my time on is how to plan the future so that we can live up to our obligations to our current players while also preparing for the future, so that Hinterland can survive another 10+ years. For the past 4-5 years, TLD revenue has been very very stable (+/- 5% YoY), which has allowed us to maintain the team size on TLD but also to put some resources behind starting up new things. TLD has been a remarkable game for Hinterland -- most studios never have a game like this, and were super grateful for it and for the community that continues to play and support it. I dont see any reason why we couldnt, or shouldnt, continue to update TLD well into the future, as long as there are players who still want to play it and new players who want to buy it. But we cant really afford to be in a position where theres a 2-3 year gap between the end of TLD and the launch of the next big Hinterland game. And big ambitious games need a lot of time and money to conceive, develop, and launch. Because of our work on TLD, and the delays around Episode Five, weve been really reluctant to say much of anything about the new things we are working on. Its kind of sad because Im sure many of you would be excited to celebrate something new from Hinterland, and itd be a great morale boost for the team. But its just never felt like a good idea or really the right time to talk much about things outside THE LONG DARK, mainly because we dont want to upset people. But now that we can see a clear path to the end of WINTERMUTE, I think its getting close to the time where we can begin to share some of the things weve been working on. I hope that this is ok with you, and that you will continue to support our work. If you are unhappy to see us share news about new projects at Hinterland because you feel we shouldnt talk about anything other than Episode Five, then I hope you will be patient with us over the upcoming months, as we navigate the completion of TLD alongside the announcement of new things from the studio. If you have enjoyed THE LONG DARK and want to see Hinterland continue to exist as a developer, putting more games out into the world, then I hope you can see the importance of us being able to share more about what we are making. (Or, the importance of supporting us by buying the TALES DLC, which has helped finance our ability to continue improving TLD, including many free updates to the base game for everyone.) Another reason why its important to announce things at some point is because it takes a lot of time to build up to a launch. You need a year or more between announcing, starting to build up a community hub and Wishlists to help gauge interest and excitement about the game (required to ensure a successful launch event), time for internal and community playtesting, time to market and build up hype, and so on. The time between an announcement for our next big game, and when we think we will actually launch it for our players, will likely be at least a year. It could be longer. We need all this time to build up towards a successful launch, as our next big survival game will also be an Early Access title, and we want to maximize the impact of this launch and the potential success of this game for Hinterland, as it will help ensure our ongoing independence years from now. And independence is at the heart of everything we do. I want to be clear that nothing we are making will ever fully replace THE LONG DARK. But I also think its healthy for us to work on ambitious new things, and in fact, we have to. The Hinterland team is full of vibrant, creative developers who want to make innovative new experiences. I personally also need to make more games, more worlds, as this is what drives me creatively. And as much as I love THE LONG DARK and am proud of what we have made, I think its only a fraction of what we have the potential to create, and what I want to create, before Im finished with this crazy thing we call game development. And so while we absolutely love TLD and it will never be replaced, we also want to bring new things into the world, for ourselves and for our players. I hope that all makes sense, and that when you read news about Episode Five, or about anything else we might work on in the future, that you realize how much of what were doing is about the love of our craft, in a world and industry that seems increasingly hostile to hand-crafted game development. And that everything we do is to preserve the independence we have. We cant do it without your support, and I hope that by sharing some of this thinking Ive given you a glimpse into my reasoning for incubating and eventually sharing news of new projects, potentially before the current one is completely finished.

THE LONG DARK FILM ADAPTATION

My ambition for Hinterland has always been to create original worlds as games, and once established with strong player communities, take those worlds and stories to other platforms. If you follow games or entertainment in general, youll see how much Hollywood has caught up to this line of thinking, with tons of game IP adaptations in the works. We havent said much about the film adaptation for THE LONG DARK in a while. Over the years, weve gone through the cycle of television and film adaptations along with the ups and downs of the entertainment business and how its changed through streamings ascent, peak TV, COVID, the collapse of theatrical, and whatever the heck it is film/TV is doing now. Through all of that, weve never lost sight of what makes THE LONG DARK special, and how we can expand the story and world outside of the game. Although I dont have anything super specific to share around this at the moment, I want you to know that we have not abandoned this project. Its still underway, and with any luck well be in a good place to share more news about the film, and other adaptation projects, in 2025.

HINTERLAND STORE

Many of you have been asking when the Hinterland Store will re-open, so that you can buy your favourite mug from TLD, or other Hinterland and TLD merch. Well have an update around that in the second half of November. I think (hope?) youll be pleasantly surprised.

WRAP-UP

Thats a lot of stuff! I hope it was useful for you to read about it. The most important take-aways from this dev diary are that WINTERMUTE Episode Five will be released in the new year (date TBD), and that Part Six of TALES will be released in December (apart from on Switch, where it will come in the new year). Keep your eyes open for the traditional update video that coincides with the launch of Part Six, which will get into more details about the new systems like the Trader, Safehouse Customization, or the overhauled Cougar. Thanks for reading, and keep your eyes on the Hinterland YouTube Channel (we strongly suggest subscribing!), and if you want to get more regular news about whats going on at Hinterland, we encourage you to subscribe to our Newsletter, which we are overhauling and will start using as a primary tool for community and fan engagement started in the new year. All the best, and see you in December, for TALES Part Six. - Raphael

[ 2024-10-17 19:30:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.32 (138698) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and WINTERMUTE updated to v2.10 138586. This Hotfix addresses multiple issues introduced in the v.2.28 update for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY.

Bug Fixes

This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues:

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

*Added an icon to the "Injuries Sustained" counter in the Daily Log so as to be consistent with the other stats shown. *Fixed an issue that allowed players to interact with a snow pile from an incorrect position, resulting in unintended camera positions during the animation. *Fixed an issue that resulted in a snow pile reappearing after having been interacted with previously. *Fixed an issue which resulted in save files being renamed to the default "Sandbox" value after Cheating Death. *Fixed an issue that could result in a player briefly falling halfway into the ground layer after interacting with a Snow Pile. *Fixed an issue that prevented the player from being able to pick up a flare on a small set of stairs in Sundered Pass. *Adjusted the Broken Road Vista location to be larger and more forgiving. *Fixed an issue in the Affliction menu that could cause the duration timer of an Affliction to overlap with other UI elements. *Fixed an issue where the camera would slowly drift to the left on the main menu indefinitely. *Fixed an issue that prevented players using only a controller from selecting Sundered Pass as a spawn Region, if only Transfer Pass and Sundered pass had been discovered. *Fixed an issue where Skill Books could be lost permanently when Cheating Death. *Fixed an issue where the satellite dish in Sundered Pass had no collision, and could be passed through by the player. *Fixed an issue where items that spawned in the back of a flatbed truck in Sundered Pass could not be collected. *Fixed an issue where both Sundered Pass Polaroids displayed an incorrect image when viewed in the Collections Journal. *Adjusted the location of Tale collectibles in the Omega Bunker to better communicate Mission critical items. *Fixed an issue where after Cheating Death, then quitting and loading, the player could subsequently fall and die in Hushed River Valley. *Fixed an issue where players with the Settled Mind Feat active would gain skill progress after every scene transition. *Fixed an issue where Tactical Gloves would glow white when viewed in the inventory after becoming ruined. *Adjusted item conditions for Tactical Jacket and Gloves in long-running playthroughs for a better chance of not being ruined upon discovery. *Fixed an issue which resulted in the Near Death state stagger being far too pronounced on higher frame rates. *Fixed an issue in WINTERMUTE Episode 4 where subtitles were incorrectly timed during the final cutscene. *Fixed an issue where buff timers would not properly count down during harvesting actions. *Fixed an issue where entering the buried cabin in Sundered Pass while crouched would result in the player falling through the floor upon entering. *Fixed an issue that resulted in the player taking no fall damage if they harvested an inventory item mid-fall. *Fixed an issue where some items could spawn out of reach in the Sundered Pass Mine. *Adjusted the location of a Hacksaw spawn in Misery Mode so as not to be too close to one of the Survivor's spawn locations. *Adjusted the Cheat Death UI to only show the number of uses left after first Cheating Death. *Fixed an issue in Custom Sandboxes that resulted in no fish being available to catch. *Fixed an issue where items which should not appear in Misery Mode would spawn into the world invisibly. *Fixed an issue where the Survivor could spawn into a cabin awning when Cheating Death. *Fixed an issue that could result in a save error in Sundered Pass.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

*Fixed an issue where players could incorrectly get on top of a broken trailer in Sundered Pass. *Fixed multiple issues where the player could become stuck in terrain in Sundered Pass. *Fixed multiple environment issues which caused terrain to jut out in unnatural formations. *Fixed an issue that resulted in players being able to see out of bounds at a rock climb in Sundered Pass. *Fixed an issue that resulted in a visible, flickering seam in a road section of Sundered Pass. *Fixed an issue that resulted in players being able to see out of bounds in the Transfer Pass cave system. *Fixed multiple issues where terrain and objects intersected in Sundered Pass. *Adjusted multiple terrain features to better guide players on the route to Sundered Pass. *Fixed an issue where a section of road in Sundered Pass was not properly grounded. *Fixed multiple issues where, depending on the player's position, snow would appear and disappear on top of rocks. *Adjusted the wooden bridge in Sundered Pass to better visually communicate inaccessible areas of the structure. *Fixed multiple issues in Sundered Pass which allowed players to incorrectly see through the back side of terrain. *Fixed multiple issues that resulted in terrain seemingly morphing as the player approached or left. *Fixed an issue where multiple barrels were not properly grounded in Sundered Pass. *Fixed an issue in the Station Bunkhouse that resulted in a strange visual effect when moving nearer or farther from the interior windows. *Fixed an issue where objects were not properly grounded after breaking down a table in the Station Bunkhouse. *Fixed an issue where objects were not properly grounded after breaking down a shelf in the Sundered Pass. *Fixed an issue where snow intersected the interior of a Fishing Hut in Sundered Pass. *Fixed an issue where snow could be found piled up in the interior of a truck near the Weather Station in Sundered Pass. *Fixed multiple issues where trees in Sundered Pass were not properly grounded. *Fixed an issue which allowed players to incorrectly see through portions of a frozen waterfall in Sundered Pass. *Fixed an issue where the Miserable Haunt cave shone bright blue from a distance. *Fixed multiple issues where the player could become stuck in terrain in Zone of Contamination. *Fixed an issue where the player could become stuck on the wing of the plane in Mystery Lake. *Fixed an issue where the player could become stuck in a waterfall in Mountain Town. To check current releases on each platform, please visit our Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2024-08-07 17:49:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.31 (137484) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition) and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Steam and Epic Games Store. Please note that WINTERMUTEs version number has not changed. This Hotfix addresses multiple issues introduced in the v.2.28 update for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY.

Bug Fixes

This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues:

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

*Fixed an issue that resulted in players becoming stuck in the Omega Bunker at the end of Tale 3. *Players should now simply be able to exit upon loading their affected save file. *Fixed an issue where the Settled Mind Feat would not provide the associated research bonus. *Fixed an issue where the Teardrop Vista location was not revealed on the player's map when the associated Polaroid was picked up. *Fixed an issue that caused the player to lose control of the Survivor when choosing to Cheat Death after dying during a Carcass Harvesting animation. *Fixed an issue that resulted in the final Affliction for Misery Mode not being applied. *Fixed an issue that could result in the Survivor spawning in the Cannery after Cheating Death, trapping them inside. *Fixed an issue that resulted in all imperial measurement units showing incorrect values for items with a liquid component. *Tuned Timberwolves to reduce their presence between Placid Notch and Final Refuge in Sundered Pass. *Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass that could result in a player becoming trapped in terrain near the Weather Station. *Fixed an issue in Sundered Pass that prevented the Survivor from returning up a Rope Climb. *Fixed an issue that caused reduced performance in the Carter Hydro Dam.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

*Updated the "Last Horizon" text on the main menu to be more visible.

AUDIO

*Fixed an issue that resulted in intermittent audio stuttering during voice-overs triggered by collectibles in the Last Horizon Tale.

PLATFORM-SPECIFIC

*Fixed an issue that resulted in debug text appearing in the Cheat Death UI on Steam Deck, Xbox, and Playstation. To check current releases on each platform, please visit our Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2024-07-04 22:41:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Here is a message from THE LONG DARK's creative director: Hello players, Over the past few days, we've heard your feedback loud and clear: you aren't happy with our implementation of the Cougar. I want to make it clear that the design we selected for the Cougar was my decision, and we shipped it as intended (apart from the bugs, of course). But there are a lot of different ways to deliver on an intention, and so I've decided that the fairest thing for our players, as well as for the dev team, is to pull the Cougar out of the build until we can do some revisions and come up with something we are happier with. We don't want to simply fix bugs and react to player sentiment. The changes will go beyond just fixing the bugs in the current version. That doesn't mean we will deliver 100% the version that everyone is hoping for. At the end of the day, we have a clear vision for THE LONG DARK and we'll continue to work towards that vision. For now, we're taking the Cougar back, and will work on it until it's ready. I can't say for sure how long that will take, but it'll likely be more than a couple of weeks. We'll deliver a re-envisioned Cougar before we deliver Part Six of TALES. Thanks to everyone who shared constructive feedback and impressions over the past few days. Your input is useful and highly valued. I hope you enjoy the other features in Part Five, until we bring the Cougar back to you. - Raphael *** As a result of this, you will find the Cougar is no longer available in the game starting tomorrow (Friday) on Steam, and early next week on the consoles. If you already have existing raw materials collected from killing Cougars, those items will remain in your inventory. You will still be able to craft the Cougar-related items, but you will not be able to find more Cougar materials to repair them. If you have unlocked the Cougar Feat, you will still be able to use it. If you have any questions or run into issues, please report them to our Support Portal. Thank you. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2024-06-27 23:55:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.29 (136986) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition) and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Steam and Epic Games Store. Please note that WINTERMUTEs version number has not changed. This Hotfix addresses multiple issues introduced in the v.2.28 update for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. The following are mostly fixes in response to issues opting in or out of the Cougar or Scurvy on current saves, so please read carefully.

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

* Fixed an issue where the time spent in a Region in a pre-existing save would count towards Cougar Threat, and prematurely trigger Cougar Encroaching. * Fixed an issue where players were not prompted to opt in/out of Cougar and Scurvy settings when loading a pre-existing save via the Resume button * As part of this fix, the first time any save created prior to v2.29 is loaded, the prompt will appear, regardless of whether the player had received it on that save previously. * Fixed an issue where players were not prompted to opt in/out of Cougar and Scurvy settings when loading a pre-existing Custom Toolbox save. * As part of this fix, upon loading any Custom Toolbox save, all players will be prompted to opt in/out of Cougar and Scurvy settings. * Players who opt in to Cougar settings where none existed previously, will have Low Cougar Spawn Chance settings applied. * Players who opt in to Scurvy settings will have their Vitamin-C Drain Rate determined by the Base Resource Availability setting of that save. (If Scurvy was set to Off during initial Custom Toolbox creation, opting in will not change that setting.) To check current releases on each platform, please visit our Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2024-06-25 23:17:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings, players. We have just updated THE LONG DARK to version 2.28, Build 136607. This update includes Part Five of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Last Horizon, as well as a free update to the base Survival Mode for THE LONG DARK. It also includes a series of bug fixes. For a detailed breakdown of all the new features added to TALES in Part Five, or the new free additions added to Survival Mode, please watch the update video below: [previewyoutube=3yVbrJnXbWI;full][/previewyoutube]

Paid Expansion Pass Content

NEW REGION! SUNDERED PASS

Accessed from the Zone of Contamination, Sundered Pass is a dramatically vertical region that reaches deeply into the spine of the Far Territory, showcasing some of the mountainous terrain that separates this area from the rest of Great Bear Island. Seek out the abandoned Weather Station near the summit!

THE THIRD TALE: LAST HORIZON

Picking up from Buried Echoes, Last Horizon delivers the third and final Tale, a trilogy of stories started with Signal Void. Follow the clues leading from the Zone of Contamination, deep into the heart of Sundered Pass, hunting for answers to the story of Rdiger and the weird experiments he spearheaded in the dark depths of the Far Territory.

NEW WILDLIFE! THE COUGAR

Keep an eye open for this dangerous new threat. Territorial, silent, and deadly. If you arent paying attention, the first time you see the Cougar might be your last.

NEW TOOLS! COUGAR CLAW KNIFE & COUGAR-HIDE WRAP

If you survive encounters with the Cougar you might end up with the raw materials you need to craft these two new Cougar-themed gear items.

NEW CLOTHING! TACTICAL JACKET & TACTICAL GLOVES

Rare and especially tough clothing items unlocked by completing the Last Horizon tale.

NEW FEATS! SETTLED MIND & CELESTIAL NAVIGATOR

Unlocked by completing Last Horizon, these feats provide unique gameplay benefits.

Free Updates to Survival Mode

MISERY MODE

The first new experience mode added to THE LONG DARK since 2016s Interloper. Misery ratchets up the difficulty of Interloper even further, adds the Cougar and Scurvy to the mix, and over fixed intervals introduces a series of six entirely new and incredibly punishing afflictions. Experience the five stages of Misery in the most challenging experience mode yet!

CHEAT DEATH SYSTEM

The first change to THE LONG DARKs save system since launching in 2014. Upon death, be tempted to continue playing but not without accepting intriguing penalties that stack with each subsequent death. Adds an optional gameplay twist and a player choice to the experience of death and failure. And if you want to play using permadeath as usual, just resist the temptation to Cheat Death! ***

Summary & Reporting Issues

If you encounter issues with the game, please report them to our Support Portal at hinterlandgames.com/support. If you would like to provide feedback or discuss your experiences with the game with the development team or other players, please post your feedback in the Official Forums: hinterlandforums.com/forums. If you encounter a crash or issue with the game post-updating, please contact us as we can often help players address their issues, and we always strive to! This is more productive than jumping to post a negative review. Please remember that Hinterland is a small independent developer. Our Support Team strives to respond to all reports as quickly as possible, but as you can imagine, releases are our busiest time. We appreciate your patience, and please know the team is looking into your issues and we will resolve them as soon as we can. Unfortunately, we are not able to follow-up with every individual report that is submitted. But we appreciate them all. Thank you for reading, and many thanks for your support! ###

RELEASE NOTES

Known Issues

The team is currently aware of the following issues in the game. If you encounter one of these issues, there is no need to report it to the Support Portal. Fixes for these issues are slated to go out with the first Hotfix following the initial release. * The Travois can rarely fall beneath terrain after transitioning back to where a player left it. * The final affliction of the Misery Experience mode will not be applied when the player reaches their 46th day in Survival. * Rarely, players may lose control of their camera after choosing to Cheat Death. Reloading the save will resolve this issue. * Players can become stuck in the final location for Tale 3, if they choose to quit and reload in that location. * In some Regions, when attacked by the Cougar, no sound effects will be played. * Picking up the Teardrop Vista Polaroid, no associated Vista location is revealed on the map. * Players save file will be changed to a generic name after using the Cheat Death feature. * When in a Cougar occupied Zone of Contamination, the player will experience no Cougar attacks.

Bug Fixes

This Major Update includes fixes for the following issues:

CRASHES

* Fixed an issue which could result in the player hanging on a black screen if they began a new Survival game too quickly after dying.

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

* Added a new assignable hotkey to open the Cooking tab. (Default 'G') * Adjusted the Ptarmigan meat interaction to be more accurate to the visible object. * Fixed an issue where Poisoned Wolves would not leave footprints in the snow. * Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination where some areas which cause Chemical Poisoning visual effects would not increase the associated Affliction Risk. * Fixed an issue in Ravine where animals could spawn in incorrect locations. * Fixed an issue in Timberwolf Mountain where Bears could spawn beneath the terrain. * Fixed an issue where some kitchen cupboards were mislabelled as drawers. * Fixed an issue where harvesting a frozen quartered Wildlife with a lit light source would result in that light source being stowed while still lit. * Fixed an issue in Forlorn Muskeg near the High Blind which resulted in a corpse that could not be searched. * Fixed an issue which caused potatoes to stop cooking inside Foreman's Retreat when the player exited this location. * Fixed an issue which could prevent Ptarmigan from spawning in specific locations in Mystery Lake. * Fixed an issue where cups would not drop to the ground after breaking down a table in the Airfield Hangar.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

* Fixed an issue in WINTERMUTE Episode 4 which caused a cliff face to disappear when viewed from a specific distance in the Blackrock Region. * Added more detail to the interior of all helicopters. * Fixed multiple issues in the Langston Mine where objects and environment intersected each other incorrectly. * Fixed an issue in Desolation Point where a tree intersected a nearby cliff. * Fixed an issue which caused a visual strobing effect on exterior light sources from within the Forgotten Exploration tunnel. * Fixed multiple item placement issues in the Forsaken Airfield - Zone of Contamination transition cave. * Fixed multiple issues which could result in a player becoming stuck in the Forsaken Airfield - Zone of Contamination transition cave. * Fixed an issue which resulted in a visually flat rope in the Forsaken Airfield - Zone of Contamination transition cave. * Fixed an issue which caused a floating Fuse in the Maintenance Shed.

ANIMATION

* Fixed an issue which caused the Survivor's arm to jolt during the Crank animation in an elevator.

PLATFORM-SPECIFIC

* Fixed an issue where Steam controllers would continue to function if the "Enable Gamepad" Steam setting was disabled. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2024-06-24 17:00:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello fans, Just a quick note to inform you that Part Five of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, titled "Last Horizon", will launch on Monday, June 24th, at 10AM Pacific Time There will be an update video for TALES Part Five, going live on the Hinterland YouTube channel on Monday at 10AM Pacific. For more information on what's coming in Part Five, check out the last Dev Diary. See you then! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2024-06-17 23:09:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello fans, Heres some news about what to expect in Part Five of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, which we are targeting for the second half of June (depending on how long it takes to test and clear console certification), as well as an update on progress around bringing TALES to Switch.

Cougar

I recently confirmed that the Cougar will be included in Part Five. Weve been wanting to add a dangerous alpha predator to the game for a while, beyond the Wolves and other dangerous wildlife you can encounter in the game. With every new type of wildlife, we try to introduce a new element of gameplay to give it a distinct role in the overall ecosystem, and also ensure it freshens up the game for all our players. The Cougar will work a bit differently than the other predators in the game. Cougars are very territorial, and will get interested in you when you start to spend a lot of time in one region. If you hang around in one region for too long, they will take an interest in the region and occupy it. Youll then start to encroach on their territory, which is very dangerous! Youll have plenty of warning before they move in, and plenty of warning once they have occupied a region. What you wont get is plenty of warning before they attack you, once they are encroaching on your territory (or you on theirs)! So pay attention to the warning signs, move around the world and be prepared with a second Safehouse location in a different region, and youll be ok. Eventually, if you stay out of the occupied region for a while, the Cougar will lose interest and leave you alone. There will be a variety of feedback systems to keep you informed of Cougar activities, if youre paying attention. The Cougars attack is vicious (with its own new Affliction) and can end the game for you, but if youre fast and lucky youll get a chance to counter-attack, and if youre very lucky, youll kill it. Otherwise, it will escape to continue to hunt you down in a region it occupies. If you want to buy yourself more breathing room, you can seek out the Cougars den which exists somewhere in the world (a different place each game), and if you destroy the den with Noisemakers, Cougars will leave you alone for a long time. Eventually, though, they will return. We think the Cougar will keep players on edge, and keep things interesting for those who are looking for a good long-term challenge, while also giving players the info they need to avoid Cougars altogether if thats what they prefer. Since we know having Cougars stalking you in the game might be a bit too stressful for some of our players, youll have the choice to include them in your game (or not) when you start a new one, and when we introduce them in the next update youll have the option to keep them out of your current save. Were hoping that for most players, however, the Cougar becomes a force of nature that keeps them on their toes, keeps them moving and planning ahead, and adds an element of danger to long-term survival.

Mountain Pass Region (Name TBA)

In Part Five, well release the third and final new region for TALES. The Mountain Pass is our most vertical region so far, with plenty of steep and craggy terrain to pass through. You can follow the narrow road up higher and higher into the region, or take the lower path and rely on rope-climbs to find your way around. Keep an eye on key landmarks, including some human-made locations, like the Weather Station. In general, the weather in this region is bad, and the higher you go, the colder it gets. Well announce the regions final name at launch.

The Third Tale (Name TBA)

Were also releasing the third and final Tale with Part Five. Taking place in the Mountain Pass region, this third Tale wraps up the Rdiger storyline first started in Signal Void and continued in Buried Echoes. Note that if youve already finished Tales One and Two, youll be able to just continue straight into Tale Three. Completing the third Tale will provide you with some profile-level benefits (in the form of new Feats) so itll be worth your while to complete all three Tales. And doing so will give you a glimpse into some worldbuilding and mysteries that will be paid off in Episode Five.

Misery Mode

Weve been working on a new Experience Mode, specifically made for Interloper players who have maxed out that mode and are looking for a new level of challenge. Misery takes Interloper and ratchets up the difficulty by adding six new Afflictions that are applied over time. The purpose is to survive in the mode for as long as possible after all six Afflictions have come in, and while were not 100% sure yet as the mode is still being playtested (with some help from some of our Interloper players from the community), we suspect the Days Survived counts will be in the dozens and not the hundreds like some existing Interloper players are able to achieve. Just trying to keep the game fresh and challenging for a group of players in our community who really like punishment! Of course, this mode isnt for everyone.

Cheat Death System

Were adding an optional system that will allow you to cheat death. Yes, our permadeath survival game is finally offering you a way out from Death that doesnt involve backing up your save file! How this will work is that upon dying in the game, players will have two options: Die (as they do currently), or Cheat Death. If they Die, their save is wiped as it is currently, and they can carry on as usual. If they Cheat Death, theyll be offered a series of choices they need to make if they want to continue playing. These choices will offer a series of trade-offs, because while you can cheat death, you cant cheat death for free. Youll also have the opportunity to retrieve your pack with some of what you were carrying at the time of your death, but other aspects of the world will remain the same as they were when you died -- including resources and gear items you have stored in your favourite locations, places you have explored and looted, surveying progress, Tales completion progress, etc. Each time you cheat death, the game will become progressively more difficult for you, and you can cheat death up to three times (4 total lives). Your final life will be very difficult. You can Cheat Death once, twice, three times, or not at all. At each death youll have to make the decision about how you want to continue, if you do. This is the first change to our permadeath system that weve ever made in the game, and we hope it brings a new dimension to gameplay for those of our players who just arent ready to lose their favourite survivor, or those who just want something fresh. Wed love to see players get into the spirit of this and give it a try instead of backing up their saves and continuing without consequences.

WINTERMUTE, Episode Five

Were still busy working on it and well have more to say about it later this year, as mentioned in the December dev diary, where we revealed the episode title.

TALES on Switch

We were originally hoping to release TALES on Switch last week, but unfortunately we ran into several issues with memory and optimization with a few of the bigger regions in the game, which also resulted in some crashes weve been working on. We believe we are close to having the crashes resolved, and once those are fixed, the build will be submitted first to our internal Test team for final verification, and then when they give it the greenlight, itll go to Nintendo. Once the build is with Nintendo, it can take up to 20 days to pass their Certification, at which point we can release it to you. So based on our current timelines, we think well have TALES available on Switch by the second half of June. Please note that this will mean Parts One to Four of TALES, along with all the free updates to the base Survival mode, will all be released and the game will be updated to the current version available on the other platforms. The free updates will also be available to anyone who owns the game on Switch, not just people who own TALES, just as on the other platforms. Afterwards, once Part Five is released on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation, we will also submit it to Nintendo for the same approval process, which means we hope Part Five is available about a month after Parts One to Four are released. Part Six will follow the same process, with the Switch lagging the other platforms by about a month. Thanks for reading, and we look forward to sharing the update video for TALES, Part Five, when it releases in the second half of June. Well share a more precise date once we have it. Stay safe out there. - Raphael

[ 2024-05-13 20:27:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello players, We have just updated THE LONG DARK to version 2.27, build 127976. This is a Hotfix to THE LONG DARK and THE LONG DARK: SURVIVAL EDITION and contains fixes for issues introduced with our Part Four release. **Spoilers Below** Update Details ADJUSTED REQUIREMENTS TO START BURIED ECHOES TALE Players no longer need to complete SIGNAL VOID in the same run as they intend to attempt BURIED ECHOES. Instead, so long as youve completed SIGNAL VOID in another Survival game and obtained the Badge for completing it you can begin BURIED ECHOES in any new or existing run. NEW CUSTOM EXPERIENCE SETTING FOR SCURVY Weve added an additional option in the Custom Experience. Players can now choose to play with or without Scurvy, or even set it to a high rate for a more punishing experience with the 'Scurvy - Vitamin-C Drain Rate' option.
Bug Fixes This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues: CRASHES

• Fixed an issue where players would encounter a -988 or -998 error code and fail to launch THE LONG DARK on Epic Games.
• Fixed an issue where attempting to swap from the WINTERMUTE to Survival menu on Mac Epic Games would result in closing the application instead.

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

• Fixed an issue in the Mystery Lake Camp Office where the Survivor could become stuck beneath the stairs.
• Fixed an issue which caused a notable frame rate drop near the Cannery in Bleak Inlet.
• Adjusted Chemical Hazard territory to better match the visual representation of their boundaries.
• Fixed an issue which could cause the player to rotate 90 degrees upon transitioning to a new location while hauling a Travois.
• Fixed an issue where attempting to Harvest undressed Wildlife with Bare Hands and a lit Torch equipped caused the Survivor to stow the Torch while still lit.
• Fixed an issue which made it difficult to find a valid location to place a Rock Cache.
• Fixed an issue which caused Carcasses to cease defrosting when being Harvested near a Campfire.
• Fixed an issue where the Survivor would teleport to the surface above them when crouching and Harvesting in specific locations.
• Fixed an issue where players would be unable to equip the Respirator from their Backpack after picking up a fresh Canister.
• Added a message to better indicate when a Carcass cannot be Harvested with Bare Hands prior to being dressed.
• Fixed an issue where Coal could spawn in an unreachable location in the transition Cave from Mountain Town to Mystery Lake.
• Fixed an issue where players were unable to transfer stacks of items to a Container if the stack weighed more than the remaining capacity of the Container.
• Fixed an issue where the Travois could fall beneath the terrain if left on a steep slope when transitioning to and from an interior or Region.
• Fixed an issue where the text explaining what a Skill Book will improve was misplaced in the Inspect user interface.
• Fixed an issue which could cause a 'Failed to Load Save' error after using the Respirator.
• Fixed an issue where items on Benches would be left floating after breaking them down.
• Fixed an issue where the Langston Mine Keys were not included in Journal > Collections > Mementos.
• Fixed an issue where debug text could be seen when hovering the transition icon to Zone of Contamination from the Transfer Pass Map.
• Fixed an issue where the cave transition to Zone of Contamination from Forsaken Airfield was labeled 'To Transfer Pass'.
• Fixed an issue where debug text could be seen on the Harvesting interface when interacting with a Poisoned Wolf Carcass that was 50% or more frozen.
• Fixed an issue where Survivor-held light sources would not deteriorate when Harvesting a Carcass.
• Fixed an issue where Survivor Condition would not deteriorate when Harvesting a Carcass.
• Adjusted Harvesting of Rabbits and Ptarmigan to allow for Bare-handed Harvesting at the cost of a small percentage of meat.
• Fixed an issue where no idle animation would play in the Harvesting user interface when interacting with certain Carcass types.
• Fixed an issue where some canned beverages could not be reached on the floor of a vehicle interior.
• Fixed an issue where the Survivor would be placed too far from the ladder when transitioning into the Prepper Cache in Bleak Inlet.
• Fixed an issue where the Travois would become stuck in a 'Loaded' state if the player selected 'Drop All' while water was stored in the Travois.
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination where the Survivor was unable to pick up a Knife sticking out of a tree.
• Fixed an issue which could result in multiple Vaughn's Rifles spawning in Carter Hydro Dam.
• Fixed an issue where certain Books could not be interacted with in the Zone of Contamination.
• Reduced the damage dealt to Insulated Flasks from Survivor falls.
• Increased the Condition of Chemical Boots.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

• Adjusted the Simple Lure and Fishing Lure to remove some hard edges from the model.
• Updated the Dress Shirt to address inconsistencies and visual issues between the inventory and in-world models.
• Fixed multiple locations in the Zone of Contamination where snow piles could be seen fading in and out as the Survivor approached and retreated.
• Fixed an issue where shadows could pop in and out on door handles in the Concentrator building depending on the Survivor's position.
• Fixed an issue where lift cables were missing from the exterior of the Concentrator building.
• Fixed multiple visual issues where items and terrain could be found floating or intersecting with each other within the Langston Mine.
• Fixed an issue where a concrete barrier in the Zone of Contamination could shift to a new location as the Survivor approached it.
• Fixed an issue with Rope spawn orientation that could result in the model oriented stiffly against walls.
• Fixed a visual issue with the Security Chief's Remains, allowing players to see through the back of the model from the eye sockets.
• Fixed an issue where the entrance to the Langston Mine could be seen clearly through inclement weather.
• Fixed an issue which caused a visual mismatch between what the player would see prior to exiting from the main entrance of the Langston Mine, compared to what they saw once they had exited.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in some items being offset from trees they should be resting on in Hushed River Valley.
• Fixed an issue which made it difficult for the Survivor to move onto the platform above the waste pool in Langston Mine.
• Fixed an issue which caused a jarring visual mismatch between trees seen within the transitional cave to Forsaken Airfield and those after exiting the cave.
• Adjusted the pit in the cave transition from Airfield to Zone of Contamination to better communicate it shouldn't be entered.
• Adjusted the pit beneath the rickety bridge in Langston Mine so Torches and Flares can no longer be seen when they hit the bottom.
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination where Burdock Bushes intersected with nearby rocks.
• Fixed an issue which could result in the 'Security Chief's Log' being completely unlit when picked up and read.
• Fixed an issue where a shadow was incorrectly projected from the door of a Medical Locker in the Concentrator building.
• Adjusted the lighting effects of Survivor held light sources on both sides of the chute transition in Langston Mine for better consistency.
• Adjusted the chute in Langston Mine to make movement through this area easier.
• Fixed an issue where a cardboard box could be seen intersecting a minecart in the Concentrator building.
• Fixed an issue where a pallet could be seen intersecting a handrail in the Concentrator building.
• Fixed an issue with terrain in the Forsaken Airfield to Zone of Contamination cave transition which resulted in gaps through which the player could see out of bounds.
• Fixed multiple locations in Desolation Point where Old Man's Beard was not correctly connected to trees.
• Fixed an issue where a clipboard could be found intersecting a console in the Concentrator building.
• Fixed an issue where Wildlife could spawn or climb into a tree.
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination where the Trainyard building would change its level of detail too abruptly, making it look like parts of the interior were appearing and disappearing.
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination where the preplaced beds in Scaffolder's Hideout intersected with the ground.
• Fixed an issue in Zone of Contamination where weather effects would not render outside while within the Forgotten Exploration tunnel.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in a slight light source emanating from the Survivor while inside the Forgotten Exploration tunnel.

ANIMATION

• Fixed an issue where the Survivor's thumb could intersect with the Flashlight while held.
• Fixed an issue where the Survivor's hand would clip through the Elevator Crank when removing it from an Elevator.
• Fixed an issue where the Survivor's hands could intersect with an Interview Transcript clipboard when interacted with.
• Adjusted the Travois pickup animation to be smoother and reduce player disorientation.
• Adjusted Wolf Harvesting animations to look more polished.
• Fixed an issue where a Wolf Carcass could shift slightly when the Survivor bent down to begin Harvesting.
• Fixed an issue with Rabbit Carcasses that resulted in a lump on the model when held in the Survivor's hands for Harvesting.
• Fixed an issue with Doe Carcasses which resulted in the Harvesting animation being offset.
• Fixed an issue where Moose would not gracefully transition to their death pose after falling to the ground.
• Fixed an issue where using a Hunting Knife on a Doe would cause a short animation jolt on initiation.

AUDIO

• Adjusted which audio tracks could play while inside the Langston Mine, preventing calming music from playing in a decidedly unsafe location.
• Fixed an issue which caused wind ambience in the Main Menu to sound slightly tinny.
• Fixed an issue which caused too much reverb when near the pit of the Langston Mine in Zone of Contamination.
• Adjusted sound effects when climbing the rope in the Elevator of Langston Mine to better match the environment.
• Fixed an issue which caused snow footstep sound effects on the wooden bridge from the Concentrator to the locked Langston Mine gate.
• Fixed an issue in which voice-overs could be preemptively cut off when interacting with multiple items which would cause a voice-over to begin.
• Adjusted the Misophonia filter to include footsteps through Chemical Hazard Zones.
• Fixed an issue which caused Misophonia triggering sounds to play through reverb effects.
• Fixed an issue which caused snow footstep sound effects on the concrete floor of the Concentrator building entryway.
• Adjusted the audio of items thrown into bottomless pits so they can no longer be heard.

Summary & Reporting Issues Thank you for reading. If you encounter issues with the game, please report them to our Support Portal at hinterlandgames.com/support. If you would like to provide feedback or discuss your experiences with the game, with the development team, or other players; please post your feedback in the Official Forums: hinterlandforums.com/forums. If you encounter a crash or issue with the game post-update, please contact us as we can often help players address their issues, and we always strive to! This is more productive than jumping to a negative review. Please remember that Hinterland is a small independent developer. Our Support Team strives to respond to all reports as quickly as possible, but as you can imagine, releases are our busiest time. We appreciate your patience, and please know the team is looking into your issues and we will resolve them as soon as we can. Unfortunately, we are not able to follow-up with every individual report that is submitted. But we appreciate them all. Many thanks for your support. ### END OF ANNOUNCEMENT ###

[ 2024-01-24 18:02:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors, Just a quick message to bring the end of the year to a close. In my November Dev Diary and in the recent update video for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Four, I promised to post one last message before the end of the year, and that it would include an Episode Five teaser. So today Im happy to share the title reveal for Episode Five:
THE LIGHT AT THE END OF ALL THINGS is the final episode of WINTERMUTE, our story mode, and it brings to a conclusion the story of Mackenzie and Astrid, the hard case, Perseverance Mills, and the mysterious aurora. Youve waited many years for this, and were excited to get to the point where we can share this last, most ambitious episode of the story to date. It wont be the end of THE LONG DARK, but itll be the end of this major arc of the story. Episode Five is slated for release in late 2024, so we wont be saying too much more about it in the near-term, but expect us to release more details over the course of next year in the lead up to launch. A couple more things while I have your attention We havent had much news to share about the Switch version of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY to date. I want to assure you that the team is working on this, and our current goal is to release it with Parts One to Four, and all the free updates included with those Parts by the end of April 2024. After that, Parts Five and Six of TALES will likely trail the other platforms by up to a month, based on the 4-week minimum certification time required by Nintendo. Well share more details about how thats going some time in February. And finally, a small reminder that Hinterland will be closed for winter holidays from December 22nd to January 8th, to give the team a chance to rest up for the year ahead. Please note that community and support folks will still be monitoring our various channels, but that response times will be reduced over the holidays. So please be patient when reporting bugs or issues to our Support portal, or in our forums or social channels. On behalf of the entire team at Hinterland, I wish you a safe and happy winter holiday with your loved ones. And all the best for 2024. Our thoughts are particularly with those members of our player community who are living through hardship and suffering this season, in many different parts of the world. Until next year! Raphael

[ 2023-12-20 18:00:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello players, We have just updated THE LONG DARK to version 2.26, build 126828. This is a Hotfix to THE LONG DARK and THE LONG DARK: SURVIVAL EDITION and contains fixes for issues introduced with our Part Four release. **Spoilers Below** Known Issues The team is currently aware of the following issues in the game. If you encounter one of these issues, there is no need to report it to the Support Portal.

• When starting a new Custom Survival game, Scurvy will be active if Start Gear Load Out is set to anything but Very High.
• When switching to a fresh Canister with the Respirator and a lit light source equipped, the light source will temporarily extinguish.
• When placed in areas with steep inclines, the Travois can fall under the ground layer and become unreachable after the player transitions to or from an interior.
• Players will be unable to transfer stacks of items to a Container if the stack weighs more than the remaining capacity of the Container.
• Sometimes players will be unable to equip the Respirator from their Backpack. The Respirator can still be equipped through the Radial Menu, under the First Aid option.

Bug Fixes This Hotfix includes fixes for the following issues: CRASHES

• Fixed an issue where entering or exiting the Langston Mine in the Zone of Contamination from any entrance could result in a crash on Xbox and Playstation.
• Fixed a rare crash which could occur when interacting with the Security Chief's remains during the completion of the Buried Echoes Tale.

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

• Fixed an issue where time spent in the Langston Mine portion of the Zone of Contamination was not reflected in the Survivor's Journal > Stats.
• Fixed an issue where the Insulated Flask would never be damaged during Struggles.
• Adjusted Vitamin C content in Fish, so fish of the same species provide more consistent values.
• Fixed an issue where Polaroids in the Zone of Contamination would not reveal their associated Vista location when picked up.
• Fixed an issue where Bears would not spawn in multiple locations where they normally should.
• Fixed an issue where after a Bear Struggle, notifications for new Afflictions would not appear.
• Fixed an issue where the Buried Echoes Badge would not appear on-screen upon completing the Tale.
• Fixed an issue where Broth could not be consumed and displayed no Calorie value..
• Fixed an issue where Broth was no longer needed to Craft Recipes which should require it as an ingredient.
• Fixed an issue where Broth weighed twice as much as intended.
• Fixed an issue where Poisoned Wolf Carcasses could disappear after Harvesting them.
• Fixed an issue where exiting the First-Person Harvest UI for Rabbits or Ptarmigans caused the Carcass to disappear.
• Fixed an issue where some containers could not be searched in the Langston Mine.
• Fixed an issue where the Respirator could lose Condition and and in some cases be found in a Ruined state.
• Fixed an issue where some randomly spawned corpse and container locations would reset or double upon entering and exiting the Concentrator Building in Zone of Contamination.
• Fixed an issue where the camera could temporarily dip underground when interacting with a Timberwolf Carcass.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

• Fixed an issue where Travois trails would disappear upon entering and exiting an interior.
• Fixed an issue where Chemical Hazards would change their level of detail too abruptly, making it look like parts of the pool were appearing and disappearing.
• Adjusted the tank rail car to better visually match other rail cars.
• Fixed an issue where a portion of the ceiling in the Langston Mine could appear and disappear based on the Survivor's location.
• Fixed multiple locations in the Langston Mine where the player could force themselves into terrain, resulting in being able to see out of bounds.
• Fixed an issue in the Zone of Contamination where the player could climb out of bounds and become stuck.
• Fixed an issue where pipes could be seen intersecting through the wall in the main entrance to the Concentrator Building.
• Fixed an issue with an exit door inside the Concentrator Building, which resulted in a seam through which the player could see out of bounds.
• Fixed multiple issues with terrain in the Langston Mine which resulted in gaps through which the player could see out of bounds
• Fixed multiple issues where terrain and objects intersected in the main entrance to the Concentrator Building.
• Fixed an issue where collision was missing from a wall in the Concentrator Building, allowing players to fall out of bounds.
• Fixed multiple issues in the Zone of Contamination to Airfield transition cave where missing or misplaced terrain could allow the player to see out of bounds.
• Fixed an issue where a toxic barrel could be found suspended mid-air in the Zone of Contamination.
• Fixed multiple issues in the Langston Mine which could cause the player to become stuck.
• Fixed an issue which caused a Toxic Gas warning sign to appear and disappear based on the Survivor's location.

ANIMATION

• Fixed an issue where sometimes when Harvesting a Timberwolf with a Knife, the Knife would be missing from the Survivors hand.

AUDIO

• Fixed an issue where the sound effect of turning off a Flashlight was delayed.
• Fixed an issue where Chemical Hazard ambience and audio would trigger at incorrect times.
• Fixed an issue where Canisters provided no audio feedback when picked up, dropped, or moved to and from the inventory.
• Fixed an issue where ambient audio suppression was never disabled after listening to Foreman's Site Report Collectables.
• Fixed an issue where no sound effects would play when automatically reloading a Canister.

Summary & Reporting Issues Thank you for reading. If you encounter issues with the game, please report them to our Support Portal at hinterlandgames.com/support. If you would like to provide feedback or discuss your experiences with the game, with the development team, or other players; please post your feedback in the Official Forums: hinterlandforums.com/forums. If you encounter a crash or issue with the game post-update, please contact us as we can often help players address their issues, and we always strive to! This is more productive than jumping to a negative review. Please remember that Hinterland is a small independent developer. Our Support Team strives to respond to all reports as quickly as possible, but as you can imagine, releases are our busiest time. We appreciate your patience, and please know the team is looking into your issues and we will resolve them as soon as we can. Unfortunately, we are not able to follow-up with every individual report that is submitted. But we appreciate them all. Many thanks for your support. ### END OF ANNOUNCEMENT ###

[ 2023-12-14 18:12:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello players, We have just updated THE LONG DARK to version 2.25, build 126227. This is the latest Expansion Pass update TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Four: BURIED ECHOES, along with a free update available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION, and various bug fixes and quality of life improvements. For a description of the new features and content in Part Four, plus watch the latest Update Video: [previewyoutube=I9Jy7KAvDus;full][/previewyoutube] PART FOUR: BURIED ECHOES This Major Release includes the following new content, fixes and improvements: Paid Expansion Pass Content NEW REGION: THE ZONE OF CONTAMINATION
Accessed by road from Transfer Pass, the ZONE OF CONTAMINATION is a polluted wasteland, the site of the abandoned Langston Mine. Watch out for Toxic Hazards and Poisoned Wolves. NEW TALE: BURIED ECHOES
Continuing the story introduced in SIGNAL VOID, follow the clues deep into the Zone of Contamination and uncover the next layer of the mystery of Rdiger, the Security Chief, and the strange events hinted at in the last Tale. NEW GAMEPLAY: THE TRAVOIS
Crafted from Saplings, Deerskin, and other materials, the Travois is a simple, but robust Tool for carrying large amounts of items across vast distances. NEW GAMEPLAY: THE RESPIRATOR
The Respirator will protect you from pockets of Toxic Gas youll encounter underground, as well as poisonous hazards on the surface. Just keep an eye open for the consumable Canisters, as without them the Respirator cant protect you. NEW TOOLS: PROTECTIVE GEAR
Weve added Mine-specific protective clothing: a Miners Coat, Pants, Chemical Resistant Boots, and a Hard Hat. Each on their own provides a different amount of protection against physical damage, wind, and moisture. As always, youll trade these capabilities off against weight and other statistics. ADDITIONAL MUSIC New music composed by Sascha Dikiciyan, for the Zone of Contamination and Buried Echoes. Free Content This content is available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION. NEW TOOLS: INSULATED FLASK
Coming in a variety of colours and patterns, you can load multiple units of warm drinks like Soups, Coffee, Teas, and so on, into the Flask and take it with you on your next day of trekking through the snowy forests of Great Bear Island. NEW GAMEPLAY: SCURVY
Nutrition has never been a big focus for the food and survival systems in THE LONG DARK, but Scurvy is such a big part of the romance of long-term survival in frozen conditions, so we wanted to bring it into our gameplay sandbox. (NOTE: Scurvy is only enabled on new saves, to avoid the risk that players have already harvested most of the Vitamin-C rich foods in their game world.) FIRST-PERSON HARVESTING ANIMATIONS
New animations for harvesting Carcasses have been added. Note that Fresh or Frozen kills will now need to be initially dressed with an appropriate Tool. No more bare-handed Harvesting of newly killed animals. FIRST-PERSON HAND COVERINGS
Equipped hand coverings are now reflected in-game, as well as hand animations to match. Known Issues The team is currently aware of the following issues in the game. If you encounter one of these issues, there is no need to report it to the Support Portal. Fixes for these issues are slated to go out with the first Hotfix following the initial release.

• Bears will not spawn in multiple locations where they normally should.
• In new saves, Broth weighs about twice as much as it should.
• When updating to the latest version of THE LONG DARK (v 2.25) from an earlier version, Broth can no longer be consumed and has 0 caloric value.
• When starting a new Custom Survival game, Scurvy will be active if Start Gear Load Out is set to anything but Very High.
• After picking up the Zone of Contamination Region Polaroid, the associated map hint is not revealed on the Survivors map.
• Sometimes when harvesting a Timberwolf with a Knife, the Knife will be missing from the Survivors hand.
• When switching to a fresh Canister with the Respirator and a lit light source equipped, the light source will temporarily extinguish.
• Exiting the First-Person Harvest UI for Rabbits or Ptarmigans will cause the Carcass and any unharvested parts of the animal to disappear. Harvesting these animals from the inventory will not cause this issue.

Bug Fixes This Major Update includes fixes for the following issues: CRASHES

• Fixed a crash that could occur when attempting to view the Journal from the Survival Mode Main Menu.

GAMEPLAY, UI, CONTROLS

• Fixed an issue which prevented Distress Pistol Shells from being used as a light source for actions requiring light.
• Fixed an issue where entering Placement mode while in a Near Death state prevented the Survivor from stumbling around.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in thrown Flares falling too slowly after colliding with a surface.
• Fixed an issue which allowed players to place Rock Caches on invalid surfaces.
• Fixed an issue resulting in the camera shaking violently when exiting the Carcass Harvesting interface.
• Fixed an issue where food would never cool if heated or cooked, and left on a cooking slot.
• Fixed a UI misalignment issue when diagnosing the Survivors in Episode 3 of WINTERMUTE.
• Fixed an issue which could result in items falling into other objects they were placed upon.
• Fixed an issue where blood spatter location could be incorrect when harvesting a Carcass.
• Fixed a missing button prompt in the WHAT I KNOW > ACTIONS >JOURNAL OBJECTIVES of the WINTERMUTE Journal entry.
• Fixed a missing button prompt in the WHAT I KNOW > ACTIONS >CROUCH of the WINTERMUTE Journal entry.
• Fixed an issue where Wolves consumed Carcasses from too far away.
• Fixed an issue where the cupboard under the sink in the Community Hall could not be searched.
• Fixed an issue wherein completing a Tale resulted in a popup reading Mission Complete rather than the correct Tale Complete.
• Fixed an issue where Fuses and Wires were incorrectly spawning in the Coastal Highway Quonset Garage in the Whiteout Challenge.
• Fixed an issue where interacting with the Transmitter from particular positions resulted in incorrect camera placement during the Repair animation.
• Fixed an issue which allowed players to discover Signal Void Tale specific Caches and Bunkers without first initiating the Tale.
• Fixed an issue where the Mission Journal would become stuck on 2/3 survivors saved, preventing players from progressing in the WINTERMUTE Episode 3 Whiteout Mission.
• Fixed an issue where Helicopters and Planes could not be slept in without a Bedroll present in the player inventory.
• Fixed an issue where new cooking ingredients were incorrectly spawning in the Coastal Highway Quonset Garage in the Whiteout Challenge.
• Fixed an issue where descending the stairs on Drift Islands upper stairway was made difficult by collision.
• Fixed an issue where equipped clothing items would not dry when in proximity to a fire.
• Fixed an issue where Ptarmigan would not detect the player when crouched until they were far too close.
• Fixed an issue where some items could spawn below the surface of Hunters Blinds in Forlorn Muskeg, causing them to be unreachable.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in the players Cooking Skill not being applied to certain cooking Recipes.
• Fixed an issue where some ingredients could be partially consumed before being used in a Recipe. Some Recipes now require a certain ingredient weight as a result.
• Adjusted Ice Fishing UI to be more readable against different backgrounds and lighting conditions.
• Fixed an issue where time acceleration was not applied to the Moose, resulting in it remaining idle during time accelerated events.
• Fixed an issue which could cause Beachcombing boats to disappear while the player was near or on them.
• Fixed an issue which could prevent the lights outside the Maintenance Shed in the Broken Railroad Region from activating during an Aurora.
• Fixed an issue where Map icons were not added after interacting with an unmapped object in a revealed area of the Map.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in Prybars always breaking after use, rather than during use.
• Fixed an issue where death animations could cause dying animals to fall under or into terrain, making the Carcass unreachable.
• Fixed an issue where the Old Bear would stop stalking the player in The Hunted Pt.1 Challenge.
• Fixed an issue where dead Bears continued to emit breathing effects.
• Fixed an issue where the player could fall through the ground upon exiting Carcass harvesting.
• Fixed an issue which caused pelts to stop curing in certain interior locations.
• Fixed an issue which caused tooltips to remain visible beyond the load screen when starting a new Survival Mode game.
• Fixed an issue which prevented Fishing Holes from being placed in Pleasant Valley.
• Fixed an issue which allowed Rabbits to run in mid-air on Drift Island.
• Fixed an issue where Buffer Memories would not randomize correctly upon subsequent visits to the same PC.
• Fixed an issue where an inoperable Cancel button displayed when interacting with safes.
• Fixed an issue where Prepper Caches were not properly randomized in Challenges.
• Fixed an issue which could result in Wildlife floating above terrain, or sinking below the ground layer.
• Adjusted the Shortwave Radio so it can no longer be stored in containers. This should help to keep it from being misplaced.
• Fixed an issue where no damage was applied to the Survivor by the Major Bruising affliction.

ART & ENVIRONMENTS

• Fixed an issue where giant pieces of Birch Bark could be found in Ash Canyon.
• Updated Fishcakes so their bottom side is flaky and appealing, just like the top.
• Fixed an issue where the lid and base of the storage Trunk in the Community Hall were lit inconsistently.
• Fixed an issue where some food items could appear larger or smaller when heated on a Rim Grill.
• Fixed an issue when reheating Stew or Broth in a Skillet which resulted in it looking like meat while heating.
• Fixed an issue where Ptarmigan Nests appeared on the Map with debug text. Ptarmigan Nests now show on the map with correct text and new iconography.
• Fixed an issue where newer cooked Fish were missing an image in their pop-up notification after picking them up.
• Fixed an issue which made some Rifle Cartridges unreachable in certain Prepper Caches.
• Fixed an issue where barrels intersected the wall inside of the empty Prepper Cache.
• Fixed an issue which resulted in certain items being lit inconsistently.
• Fixed an issue which sometimes caused Moose rubbings and harvested Burdock to appear black.
• Fixed an issue with misplaced terrain in the Blackrock Mine which resulted in a seam through which the player could see out of bounds.
• Fixed an issue where Wolves would play an eating animation while attempting to run away after being scared off of a Carcass.
• Fixed an issue in Mystery Lake where the player could see through the back of a rock face.
• Fixed an issue with all Challenges where Keepers Pass North and South were missing key art in the Rock Cache portion of the Journal.
• Improved shadow quality on consoles. Players should no longer see shadows flickering.
• Fixed an issue where lighting was incorrectly applied, resulting in blown out or dark interiors.
• Fixed an issue where a Firestriker spawn was inaccessible in the Broken Railroad Region.

ANIMATION

• Fixed an issue where the Survivors running animation would incorrectly play when falling.
• Fixed a minor stutter in the Rifle idle animation.
• Fixed an issue where an Arrow would remain in hand when interacting with the Transmitter, causing it to interfere with the animation.

PLATFORM-SPECIFIC

• Fixed an issue where Xbox Series S models were not correctly set to run at 60 FPS. Now all the following Xbox models should have an option to target 60 or 30 FPS: Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
• Fixed an issue where players with both Steam and Epic Games versions of The Long Dark installed on a Macintosh would find the Steam version of the application launched when booting from the Epic Games Launcher.
• Fixed an issue where some players using the Epic Game store were unable to progress past the Disclaimer screen. (If you continue to encounter this issue, please send a message to our Support portal using the link provided below.)

Summary & Reporting Issues Thank you for reading. If you encounter issues with the game, please report them to our Support Portal at hinterlandgames.com/support. If you would like to provide feedback or discuss your experiences with the game with the development team or other players, please post your feedback in the Official Forums: hinterlandforums.com/forums. If you encounter a crash or issue with the game post-updating, please contact us as we can often help players address their issues, and we always strive to! This is more productive than jumping to a negative review. Please remember that Hinterland is a small independent developer. Our Support Team strives to respond to all reports as quickly as possible, but as you can imagine, releases are our busiest time. We appreciate your patience, and please know the team is looking into your issues and we will resolve them as soon as we can. Unfortunately, we are not able to follow-up with every individual report that is submitted. But we appreciate them all. Many thanks for your support.

[ 2023-12-05 18:05:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've been making THE LONG DARK for a long time. Why? Because we're passionate world creators and we care a lot about our players. Many of you have been with us for years. Some of you have literally grown up with us. Keeping you engaged with the game and world, and doing our best to make THE LONG DARK the best survival experience we can is what motivates us every day. If you think we've done a good job, please consider nominating us by voting for THE LONG DARK in the Labor of Love category in this year's Steam Awards. We appreciate your support.

[ 2023-11-21 18:01:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors, Were nearly finished with Part Four of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, the paid Expansion Pass DLC for Survival Mode, so I thought you might be curious to know a bit more about whats being added in this new part, launching early December. As outlined in my September Dev Diary, Part Four which will be called BURIED ECHOES includes the next new region in the Far Territory: the Zone of Contamination. The old Langston Mine lies at the heart of the Zone of Contamination, industrial pollution from decades-old mining operations leaving it a poisoned wasteland patrolled by toxic wolves, featuring large industrial remnants and hiding many hazards, and mysteries! At its heart, an open-pit mine scars the landscape, and deep inside its twisting tunnels if you survive the poisoned gas sits a room that holds many secrets. The Zone of Contamination is the second of three large regions that make up the Far Territory, and were excited to see how you find it pairs up with the Forsaken Airfield, which we launched in Part One.
The Zone of Contamination, coming in TALES, Part Four. To go along with the Mine theme, weve included a variety of new and useful gameplay tools: a Respirator, which when worn will protect you from poisoned gas you might find in the Zone of Contamination, and eventually, other parts of the Far Territory and Great Bear Island at large. The Respirator relies on consumable Canisters to provide its protection, so keep an eye open for those as you explore the Far Territory. Were also adding Chemical Boots, which can protect you from the toxic pools that pollute the Zone of Contamination (these pools are really hard on regular footwear!), and a Hardhat that offers strong physical protection against head damage. Theres also a Miners Coat and Miners Pants, which make up a whole set of protective gear, if you manage to find them all. And while exploring the Zone of Contamination, make sure you keep an eye out for the Poisoned Wolves that patrol the area. They are leaner than regular wolves, and more desperate. Living around the toxic pools have left them poisoned themselves, and without much to eat, so they are more dangerous than usual. Their bite can leave you with the new Poisoned affliction, so be extra careful when exploring the Zone of Contamination.
The Langston Mine sits at the heart of the Zone of Contamination, and hides many secrets. Within the Zone of Contamination, youll also be able to start the second Tale: Buried Echoes. A continuation of Signal Void which we introduced in Part Two, Buried Echoes adds another layer of mystery to the story of the mine workers, the Security Chief, and the enigmatic Rdiger. Buried Echoes presents a story that goes in a somewhat unusual direction for THE LONG DARK, and were excited to see what you think. The Tale and the new region also feature new music, which all add to the atmosphere of Part Four. And, as with Signal Void, theres a special gameplay reward to be gained for completing Buried Echoes. Youll first have to get there to see what it is. (And dont worry, the Tale will be available in Interloper experience mode.)
The Travois, coming in TALES, Part Four. Beyond the Zone of Contamination and Buried Echoes, Part Four also adds a significant new gameplay tool: the Travois. A craftable, movable container, the Travois is constructed from Saplings and other materials, and allows you to drag a large amount of extra gear around with you. But keep in mind, you will make some compromises to movement speed while dragging the Travois, and you cant take it everywhere! And depending on what you choose to load it up with, it can be a very effective wildlife attractant, so be careful to stop and look around once in a while, lest a pack of hungry wolves or a bear sneaks up on you. Its the perfect tool for moving large amounts of gear and items from one location to another, when stocking up a new safehouse or supply cache, or moving your main base of operations to a new region. As always, we dont want players who opted not to purchase TALES to feel left out, so weve also included some meaningful free updates to the base Survival game, which will be available to everyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION. As we shared in the September Dev Diary, weve finally managed to find a good way to add hand coverings in the game. Now, what you see on your hands will reflect what you have equipped in your hand slots in the Clothing Menu. Same for the lower sleeves of whatever you are wearing on your arms. Weve updated some animations so that they work better with things like Mittens. Were very happy with how this has turned out, and we feel it brings a whole new level of immersion to THE LONG DARK. We hope you agree when you get the chance to try them out. Weve also added a whole new series of first-person Harvesting Animations. Now, when you choose to Harvest a carcass for meat or other resources, you will see your hands involved with the harvesting action, as well as the tool you have chosen to harvest with. Its another way that were trying to always enhance the sense of immersion in THE LONG DARK for our players.



You will also have the opportunity to use the new Insulated Flasks, which let you store and keep liquids warm for longer. Perfect for when you want to stack some Warmth buffs for those long treks across the frozen wilderness. The Flasks come in a variety of colours and patterns, so keep your eyes open for them as you move through the world. And finally, weve added a new Scurvy affliction to the game. Certain foods will now provide you with Vitamin-C, and if you dont consume enough of them over time, you can develop Scurvy Risk and then eventually Scurvy. Its a horrible thing to contend with. Definitely something to keep an eye on for those longer-running games. That mainly sums up the focus of Part Four of TALES, and we think its a great way to end the year for THE LONG DARK. The last note I want to make is about the recent Hinterland Pop-Up Merch Store. As many of you know, we closed our store in 2021 because of COVID, and due to overwhelming requests from the community, we decided to open it up just to clear out our old inventory in time for the holidays. We didnt really anticipate the demand, and the Pop-Up shop -- which we had planned to run for 3 weeks -- sold out over 1300 items in less than three hours! Our original plan was to use this to clear our stock to make room for a whole new line of merch items in the new year, but we know many of you didnt get the opportunity to purchase a Hinterland mug, or a Jackrabbit hoodie, or one of the fantastic Granted x Hinterland sweaters. So were looking at restocking as much as we can for the new year, and our current plan is to sell many of these items along with the new items well be launching in the new year. So if you missed out this time, youll have at least one more opportunity to purchase some of this classic Hinterland or THE LONG DARK merch. If you want to be kept up to date on these sales, we recommend signing up for the Hinterland newsletter. That about wraps up the November dev diary. Keep your eyes open for the release of BURIED ECHOES and the free Survival Update that comes at the same time, early in December. You can expect a full narrated update video to launch with Part Four, which will go into more detail about each of the new additions to the game. Stay warm out there. Raphael

[ 2023-11-10 23:00:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Starting TODAY through December 1st, the Hinterland Limited Time Pop-Up Merch Store is live. Buy now to get delivery in time for the holidays, with loads of THE LONG DARK and Hinterland merch. Visit hinterlandstore.com and start shopping.

[ 2023-11-06 21:01:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Get your Hinterland merch starting Monday, November 6 at the Hinterland Pop-Up Merch Store, available for a limited time! Newsletter subscribers will receive a special discount code for their orders by signing up to our mailing list this week at hinterlandstore.com

[ 2023-11-01 20:12:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.23 (120705) Quality of Life Update for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on all platforms. GENERAL

• Fixed an issue where inaccurate time values were shown in the player Journal during the Nomad Challenge.
• Fixed an issue where Bear walk-cycle animations could break during an Aurora event.
• Addressed multiple visual issues in which objects could pop-in when approaching them.
• Fixed an issue where an Acorn location could not be interacted with in the Mystery Lake Region.
• Fixed an issue where Wolves would ignore campfires when trying to get to the Survivor.
• Fixed an issue where items left atop televisions could fall inside the object when transitioning to and from an interior.
• Fixed multiple issues where certain items within Vehicles were inaccessible to the player.
• Fixed an animation issue with Stags where they would turn oddly in certain circumstances.
• Fixed an issue in which a corpse was mislabelled as "Crow Feather".
• Fixed multiple visual issues within the Control Tower in Forsaken Airfield.
• Fixed a visual issue in which the interior of Snow Shelters could be seen from unintended positions.
• Fixed a lighting issue with the couch in the Pleasant Valley Farmhouse.
• Fixed a lighting issue in the Community Hall which caused three spotlight effects.
• Fixed a rare issue preventing Survivors from interacting with objects after searching a container while holding a lit Match.
• Addressed a visual issue caused by viewing objects through Campfire smoke.
• Addressed a visual issue where shadows in Ash Canyon could pop in and out depending on the player's position.
• Fixed an issue that could cause items dropped in particular Caves to be lit inconsistently.
• Fixed an issue where some structural objects in Blackrock Penitentiary were invisible to the player.
• Added the option to skip the initial Photosensitivity Warning screen upon subsequent launches of the title.
• Fixed an issue where some players using the Epic Game store were unable to progress past the Disclaimer screen. (If you continue to encounter this issue, please send a message to our Support portal using the link provided below.)
• Fixed multiple issues in which items on harvested surfaces would remain mid-air instead of dropping to the ground.
• Updated the Emergency Stim to allow for easier placement of the object.
• Fixed multiple issues where interacting with specific objects or terrain while holding an item could result in the game hanging, forcing a restart.
• Fixed an issue that caused Firewood to disappear on approach at the Rail Tunnel entrance of the Mystery Lake Region.
• Fixed an issue where incorrect resources could spawn in Prepper Bunkers when playing on Interloper Experience Mode.
• Fixed an issue where the Draft Dodgers Cabin was incorrectly shown as Fishing Cabin upon entering the cabin and when referenced in the Journal.

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed an issue where the Weapon Hotkey would not cycle through Weapon Variants correctly.
• Fixed an issue in the Hopeless Rescue Challenge where Distress Pistols could be found in unintended locations.
• Fixed an issue where Ruined meat would appear fresh when returning to it after transitioning between Regions, or to and from an interior.
• Fixed an issue where the Repair skill would improve for unintended player actions, making this improvement too easy.
• Fixed an issue where ice floes in Coastal Highway and Desolation Point would instantly drop the Survivor into the ocean, and have been updated to show the Weak Ice notification symbol as intended.
• Fixed a location in which a player could become trapped in Desolation Point near the Hibernia building.
• Fixed an issue with the Bedroll which allowed it to be placed in locations it wouldn't feasibly fit.
• Fixed an issue where the visuals for Weather effects would appear within structures and Caves, as well as locations which might have a reasonable degree of shelter.
• Fixed an issue which prevented the Survivor from revealing the Frozen Delta location trigger in Bleak Inlet when surveying from certain locations.
• Fixed an issue which prevented Recipes requiring water as an ingredient from being crafted.
• Fixed an issue where Custom Survival settings were being applied to the As the Dead Sleep Challenge.
• Fixed an issue where Wolves and Bears would not spawn in the As the Dead Sleep Challenge.
• Fixed an issue where Lockers unintentionally always contained items, regardless of Experience Mode.
• Fixed an issue where damaging a Bear after it had already died would result in the carcass flying upward.
• Fixed an issue in which Bedrolls could be repaired without the use of a Sewing Kit, or Fishing Tackle.
• Fixed an issue where Bearskin Coats only required 1 hide to craft instead of the intended 2.
• Fixed an issue where consecutive uses of the word search were used in the Frozen Corpses Journal entry.
• Fixed a location in which items could fall beneath the ground layer in a Forlorn Muskeg Region cave.
• Fixed an issue where non-potable water left on the ground would become potable when the player reloaded their save file.
• Added an option to consume Water directly from the vessel used to boil it.
• Fixed a bug where containers would fail to open on rare occasions.
• Fixed an issue where Wildlife could get stuck when moving through a particular area of the Mountain Town Region.
• Fixed an issue where Sticks, Branches, and Limbs would be removed from a location after the Survivor revisited it.
• Fixed an issue where Pelts and Hides decayed more quickly in an interior compared to outdoors.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes Peaches could not be placed within a certain proximity of a campfire.
• Added functionality to allow players to light torches via the X button (for Playstation) and A button (for Xbox) from fire sources.
• Fixed an issue where the Survivor wouldnt stow held items when interacting with Transmitters.
• Fixed an issue where cancelling while crafting Gunpowder incorrectly resulted in Gunsmithing Skill advancement.
• Fixed an issue where dead Wildlife could be found in a standing position upon reloading the game.
• Fixed an issue which prevented the Curator's Rifle from spawning.
• Fixed an issue that resulted in consumed items remaining visible in the Survivors inventory.
• Fixed an issue with loot tables which could result in certain containers being unintentionally empty, regardless of Experience Mode.

USER INTERFACE

• Adjusted the Ice Fishing UI for easier readability and removed an asset overlap when using a controller.
• Added further detail to Bleak Inlet's in-game map.
• Fixed an issue where the stars in the night sky of the Brightness Settings Menu would not appear.
• Fixed an issue in which Clothing items would appear dark or poorly lit when viewed in the Clothing Menu item carousel.
• Fixed an issue where the Region selection screen would flicker when swapping between Region views in the new Survival Menu.
• Fixed an issue where swapping game resolutions could result in UI elements becoming displaced.
• Fixed an issue where Status and Clothing Menus would exhibit noticeable lag when opened.
• Fixed an issue where the display resolution would not correctly update after changing it multiple times.
• Fixed an issue where the in-game Map would lag and stutter while scrolling if an abundance of map markers had been revealed in the Region.
• Fixed an issue which caused the News panel to open if the X button on Steam Deck was pressed during Feat selection of a new Survival game.
• Fixed an issue that could result in a ruined food item incorrectly remaining at 1% condition.
• Adjusted Spray Paint markers on the map to appear in front of pre-existing symbols for clearer visibility.
• Fixed an issue where Old Man's Beard was incorrectly referred to as "Bandage" instead of "Dressing" in the Crafting Menu.
• Fixed an issue where Security Logs were incorrectly oriented when examining them from the Journal.
• Fixed an issue where collecting multiple items at a time caused an incorrect amount to display on the item Inspection screen.
• Fixed an issue where on-hover text would not properly update an objects status after interacting with it.
• Fixed an issue which revealed Map markers in unsurveyed areas when a player picked up a Polaroid.
• Fixed an issue where activating a Vista would incorrectly reveal nearby Memento Caches on the Map, regardless if the Survivor had collected the associated Memento.
• Fixed a bug where raw meat could appear mid-air when inspecting a piece of cooked meat on a cooking surface.

ENVIRONMENT ART

• Fixed multiple issues where map gaps and visible seams could be seen.
• Fixed an issue which could cause shadows to appear incorrectly on snow surfaces at particular times of the day.
• Fixed an issue with The Control Tower rendering incorrectly from certain distances.
• Added additional lighting effects to snow based on the suns position.

AUDIO

• Fixed an issue causing doubled footstep audio when traversing the staircase in the Long Rail Transition Zone.
• Added audio for failed crafting attempts for items crafted at the Ammunition Workbench.
• Fixed an issue where wolf howls would repeat unintentionally.

PLATFORM SPECIFIC

• Fixed an issue which could cause a crash on launch for Linux players.
• Fixed a missing button prompt for more info on Xbox when a New Mission is added or updated, or when hovering over an objective on the Map.

WINTERMUTE

• Fixed an issue where the "Blood Soaked Note" could fall underground if the bush next to it is harvested before picking it up.
• Fixed an issue which rarely occurred in the Hangar in Episode 1 resulting in players being unable to progress their Mission Journal. (Players previously affected by this issue can continue their games by loading a prior save file.)
• Fixed an issue which resulted in players loading into the game after the ending cinematic of Episode 3, preventing them from progressing to Episode 4. (Players previously affected by this issue can continue their games by loading a prior save file.)
• Adjusted lighting in the Old Bear Cave of Episode 2.
• Fixed an issue where Jeremiah's Knife and the Scrap Metal Knife could appear as an optional tool for crafting in Survival Mode.
• Fixed an issue which prevented Steam Community translations from being applied in Wintermute.

TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORIES

• Airfield Region: Fixed an issue with the Field 31 memo which allowed it to be moved with the placement feature.
• Fixed an issue where holding a lit Match while interacting with a Transmitter of Bunker Hatch would ruin all Matches in a stack.
• Fixed an issue which caused lighting in Bunkers to be far too bright during Aurora events.
• Fixed an issue which prevented Players from dropping items when the on-hover text for a Transmitter was visible.

LOCALIZATION

• Fixed an issue where Ukrainian and Spanish translations would show Closed-Captioning subtitles when set to Subtitles only.
• Fixed an issue where mission objectives for the Nomad Challenge were incorrectly stated in the Finnish translation.
• Fixed multiple translation errors in Finnish.
• Fixed a translation error with the Turkish word for "smoke".
• Fixed a translation error in the Crafting Menu that resulted in the word "Craft" remaining in English regardless of language settings.

To check current releases on each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-09-26 17:01:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors, The teams been very busy since we released Part Three of TALES, and all the subsequent hotfixes. We have lots to talk about so Im going to dive right in! QUALITY OF LIFE UPDATE Between all the work splitting the game, working on TALES content, and the free updates to Survival over the past year and more, weve gotten behind in our bug maintenance, and we just werent happy to see some long-standing issues still lingering, along with newly introduced bugs. The team has spent the past several weeks working through a big list of issues, and they are just putting the finishing touches on a Quality of Life Update which will fix over 150 bugs in the game, across Story, Survival, and TALES. Were going to keep chipping away at our bug list over time, but hopefully somewhere in this list of 150+ fixes, we manage to hit at least a few of the bugs youve personally been struggling with in the game. The QoL Update is now locked, and the Test team needs a couple of weeks to finalize and verify the bug fixes show up correctly in the release branch, so were currently targeting a QoL update launch near the end of the month. For the full list of fixes, keep an eye on Steam, the official forums, or our social channels to be notified when the QoL Update goes live. And as always, if you encounter a bug and want to report it, please use our Support Portal. Bugs reported there are reviewed, vetted, and then find their way into the main database where the Test and Dev teams can review, evaluate, prioritize, and fix. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, PART FOUR
As with the other parts of TALES (our paid DLC for Survival Mode), Part Four will come with a free update to Survival, and the team is packing in a range of content and gameplay features targeting release by the end of the year. Well get more precise with the release date and feature list as we get closer to launch, but to give you a sense of whats being added, youll find:

• the new MINE region, showcasing some new hazards and a new gear item
• the second TALE, following up on Signal Void from Part Two
• several new gameplay tools and mechanics, including the Travois and some new clothing
• and great free updates to Survival, including -- wait for it -- proper coverings for first-person hands!

Well release a full list of items taken from the TALES roadmap and more information about whats being included in the free Survival update as we get closer to launch. Its a big update and will be a great way to finish the year! HINTERLAND MERCH STORE VIRTUAL POP-UP Many (so many!) of you have been asking us when well re-open the Merch store. Were in the middle of redoing the Hinterland website in anticipation of all the new things were making, and our plan is to launch a whole new store with new items when thats done. In the meantime, by your request, were going to clear out some of our existing merch in time for some holiday gifts, as the new store wont be online before the international mailing cut-off for this years holiday season. Youll be able to grab from a series of legacy items including posters, hoodies, hatchets, and mugs. This will likely be the last time they are available before the new store goes live, so if you like these legacy items, grab them when the Pop-Up goes live (exact timing TBA). Once we open the pop-up store well announce the sale on Steam, our official forums, social channels, and our mailing list. If you want to be notified of the sale and grab a discount code, sign up for the Hinterland mailing list. We dont have a firm date yet, but well announce the details ASAP. NEW PROJECTS? Many of you have been asking us about what were working on next. Obviously, were working on Episode Five, and the completion of TALES, both targeting finalization in 2024. But part of the team has also been hard at work on new things. Why? Because it takes years to create and develop new ideas and new games, and we need to have something new ready by the time THE LONG DARK is finished next year. This is critical to our continued existence as an independent game studio. This is especially true now as we can see how tough the games business has become, with independent studios shutting down all over the place, growing pressure on the business models weve come to depend on, and other macro shifts in the global markets. Hinterland and our projects exist within this broader context, and part of my role as head of the studio is to make good decisions for our long-term survival. Managing portfolio and growth is a big part of that. Were not quite ready to take the lid off our secret internal projects yet, but I will say that there are three in development, all original and Hinterland conceived, funded, and with plans to self-publish, as weve done with THE LONG DARK. Two of them are ambitious, large-scale projects that will set the foundation for Hinterlands future beyond THE LONG DARK. One of them is a smaller project that started out as an incubation with a small external team, and grew to the point where we brought the team and the project in-house so we could support them better and guide development in a more hands-on fashion according to Hinterland creative values and culture. Well have more to share about this smaller Hinterland project within the next six months or so. What I will say is its a thoughtful, beautiful, linear sci-fi game that is very very different from THE LONG DARK, and being made by a small team. And with this team having come in from outside Hinterland, the development has not impacted progress on THE LONG DARK; its just been something thats been done alongside our other work. As for the other bigger projects, we wont be saying much about them until Episode Five is closer to launch. SPEAKING OF EPISODE FIVE... Yes, its still in development. No, we arent saying much about it yet. Itll ship in 2024, and I will tell you more about it before the end of the year, including sharing a title and key art reveal, as well as a bit more information about the plot (but no spoilers!). As you can imagine, we have a lot of story to wrap up in Episode Five, and a lot of groundwork to lay for the future of THE LONG DARK IP in how we complete the WINTERMUTE storyline, for games and other projects, so Episode Five will be our biggest yet. I know youve waited a long time for this, and I cant wait to tell you more about it when the time is right. It should be a fitting end to what we hope will come to be seen as a survival epic for the ages. THATS ALL... Stay tuned for more info about TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Four, in the coming months, and keep your eyes open for the release announcement for the Quality of Life Update, and the Merch Store Pop-Up. Again, if you havent already done so, we recommend you sign up for the Hinterland mailing list, since due to the current social media apocalypse, well be using it more and more to stay in touch with our fans. If you'd like to discuss this dev diary with other Hinterland fans, we encourage you to jump into the Official Forums. Thanks for reading, and see you soon! - Raphael

[ 2023-09-13 23:31:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.22 (118386) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Steam following the release of v2.21. GENERAL

• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused Water placed in Containers to disappear if a player exited and then re-entered a Scene, such as moving between an Interior or Exterior.
• Audio - Fixed and issue that could cause a Survivors voice to unintentionally change between voice options.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that prevented the benefits from Cooking Skill bonuses to apply to cooked food items.
• Gameplay - Fixed various issues with Cooking, including an issue that caused meat to mistakenly increase in weight while being cooked and an issue where Recipes mistakenly used too many ingredients from the players inventory.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused certain cooked items, such Tea and Coffee, to become cold as soon as the player picked them up.

Please note that we continue to work toward a resolution for an issue where Calorie Bonuses are not applying correctly to some food items. We will provide more information as soon as it is available. To check current releases on each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-07-19 23:31:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.21 (118182) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Steam following the release of v2.20. GENERAL

• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where containers disappeared for players using Interloper or Custom game modes, resulting in missing items. Please note that some players may recover their lost items if the Lost and Found box was present in the same room as the impacted container, however, items will not be recovered if the Lost and Found box was not present.

To check current releases on each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-07-14 20:37:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.20 (118045) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Steam. GENERAL

• UI - Fixed an issue that prevented the Workshop Community Translations from working in-game.
• UI - Fixed a rare issue that would cause text to overlap in the TALES menu.
• Audio - Fixed an issue where footstep audio would stop playing after a player climbed a Vine.
• UI - Fixed an issue with the logic for how the Bedroll appeared in the Radial. The Bearskin Bedroll and Improved Down Bedroll will now appear in the Radial Menu, provided they are the warmest Bedroll option available.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where a lit Match would remain lit after passing through a waterfall.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused Mementos to vanish if they were spawned in a car visor, and the player reloaded the environment (either through loading a save file, or transitioning to another area.) If the note was already lost in your current save, you may need to reload again or transition in and out of the current Region.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where there could be a mismatch between the weight of some Dishes depending on where you viewed them (ex. Backpack vs. Recipes).
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused Rose Hip Pies to affect Thirst.
• Gameplay - Fixed a stacking Broth increase error due to a bad calculation based on increased Cooking skill.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused Ptarmigan to become stuck, if killed in mid-flight.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue with item spawning near areas bordering open Ocean (including Bleak Inlet, Desolation Point, etc.), where some items (such as Sticks and Coal) would appear less often than intended.
• Gameplay - Fixed a rare issue that prevented new cooking items and Recipe Cards from spawning.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that prevented the Ptarmigan from spawning in Custom Game modes.

To check current releases on each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-07-13 18:13:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.19 (117518) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Steam. GENERAL

• General - Fixed an issue that caused the game to become stuck on a black screen when launched while Steam was in "Offline Mode."
• UI - Fixed an issue that caused the Stamina Bar to appear persistently on the HUD.
• UI - Fixed an issue that caused items to stack incorrectly, resulting in all items reflecting the Condition of the base stack regardless of the condition of each item.
• UI - Fixed an issue that prevented players from placing food items from the Radial Menu.
• UI - Added a message on the HUD to indicate when a player attempts to harvest a ravaged Carcass.
• UI - Fixed an issue where, when accessing the Menu while using a controller, the Sort icon overlapped with other Menu items.
• UI - Added text for the "Ptarmigan Carcass" and "Ptarmigan Nest" in the Map Details.
• UI - Fixed an issue that caused Improvised Insulation to use the wrong icon in the Crafting menu.
• UI - Fixed missing UI elements when selecting the Tip-Up from the Ice Fishing Menu.
• UI - Fixed an issue where some players could not Exit or Select items from the Tales Journal Tab when using a controller.
• UI - Fixed overlapping text when crafting the Improvised Bed Roll.
• Environment - Airfield - Fixed an issue where the Forge was missing from the Airfield Hangar Basement.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where animals appeared to switch back and forth between living and dead states after being killed.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that allowed players to craft Tip Ups under Wolf corpses.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where the weight of a stack of items was incorrectly based on a single item's weight, and not the combined weight of the items.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused Stamina to decrease at an accelerated rate when climbing a rope.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that prevented players from catching Fish while utilizing any Lure.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused players to receive the error message Failed to Restore the game from a previous Save when trying to exit an interior to any Region, preventing the player from exiting.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused meat to revert to an uncooked state when dragged from a Cooking Slot to the ground.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused Baked Potatoes to float when placed.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused Cooked Potatoes to revert to raw if the player transitioned to a new area.
• Gameplay - Decreased the decay time for Cooking Oil, Salt, and Flour.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where the Canned Corn was not being lit correctly by light sources when placed.

To check current releases on each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-06-28 23:50:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.18 (117282) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, on Steam. This addresses one Linux-specific issue. PLATFORM-SPECIFIC ISSUE

Linux - Fixed an issue that caused THE LONG DARK to become stuck on a black screen when launched on Linux. To check current releases on each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-06-23 20:56:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.17 (117074) update for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition), TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and WINTERMUTE on Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox, and PlayStation. (Please note that it can take time for the update to appear on all platforms.) This update includes the latest Expansion Pass update TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Three: FRONTIER COMFORTS, along with a free update available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION, and various bug fixes and quality of life improvements. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Three: FRONTIER COMFORTS Note: For a description of the new features and content in Part Three, plus the latest Update Video, please click HERE.

• Frontier Cooking System: A completely new cooking system that allows the combination of ingredients using Recipes. As part of the new system weve included seven new Ingredients, a selection of 15 simple Recipes, and an additional nine Unique Recipes that offer special gameplay benefits.
• Skillet: A useful cooking tool to help you prepare some of the new Frontier Cooking recipes.
• Ptarmigan: Perfect for hunting quietly with Stones or Fire-Hardened Arrows, Ptarmigans are a source of meat, and also provide Down used in crafting the new Improvised Down Bedroll, and the Improvised Insulation Accessory.
• Hunter's Revolver: A new, vintage-style Revolver that is more deadly at long range.
• Forester's Revolver: An older, reliable, durable weapon.
• Warden's Revolver: A lightweight Revolver with a shorter barrel for faster aiming.
• Sport Bow: A light and durable manufactured Bow.
• Miners Flashlight: Equipped with a larger, more efficient battery.

Free Update Stream Note: This update is available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION.

• The updated Enhanced Fishing system includes:
• Free-Form Ice Fishing Holes: Allows you to set up your own fishing locations in regions that have sufficiently deep bodies of water.
• Tip-Ups: Place a new Tip-Up over any ice fishing hole and it will automatically catch a fish for you.
• Fishing Lures: New Fishing Lures help with catching Fish, and also increase your chances of catching the new Rare fish.
• Bait: You can now harvest Bait from raw fish to increase your chances of catching fish either when using the Tip-Up or conventional fishing.
• Rare Fish: The Burbot, Goldeye, Red Irish Lord, and Rockfish.
• Burdock: Burdock is a new harvestable plant. Eat them raw, cook them as part of a recipe, or make a warming tea that will help combat food poisoning.

DETAILED RELEASE NOTES Xbox and PlayStation Frame Rate Update Starting with this update, THE LONG DARK now supports 60 FPS on the following platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S - Targeting 30FPS at 4K. Targeting 60FPS at 1440p.
• Xbox One X - Targeting 30FPS at 4K. Targeting 60FPS at 1440p.
• Playstation 5 - Targeting 30FPS at 1680p. Targeting 60FPS at 1680p.
• Playstation 4 Pro - Targeting 30FPS at 1680p. Targeting 60FPS at 1680p.

You can manually enable the higher frame rate cap, or change it back to the 30 FPS cap, via the Display Settings: Options -> Display -> Frame Rate Target
Note: We are still working toward additional improvements, including providing official support for next-gen consoles, visual enhancements, and more. We will provide additional information in the coming months as more information becomes available. BUG FIXES GENERAL & CRASHES

• Steam - Fixed an issue where players received errors reading "failed to load HinterlandOptionalContent.Steam" on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
• General - Fixed an issue where sleeping in a Helicopter without a Bedroll would result in a crash.
• General - Fixed an issue where audio would not play the first time Harvesting something (Rosehips, etc) after entering a scene.
• General - Fixed an issue that would cause the game to crash for some players, when applying a bandage.
• General - Fixed an issue that would cause the Mountain Town Transmitter to report the incorrect GUID information, which could result in a crash.
• General - Main Menu - Fixed a potential crash if a player entered into gameplay while the News menu was still waiting for a response from the server.
• General - Fixed an erroneous error message that could appear in the players log file, eventually leading to performance issues.
• General - Fixed a very rare crash that could occur if the player invoked a menu, such as the Inventory or death screen, while also pressing a button for another input, such as walking or interacting with something.

GAMEPLAY

• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where a Carcass could become non-interactable if left in the world for an extended period of time.
• Gameplay - The Bow will now switch to Fire-Hardened Arrows automatically, if they are the only arrows left in the players Inventory.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused the Energy Drink to give the incorrect duration for the associated Headache affliction.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where Bedrolls slept or rested in could be destroyed in a struggle, even when not in a players inventory.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that prevented Bedrolls from showing their damage state when placed on the ground.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where renewable items (Sticks, Stones, Coal, etc.) were sometimes more plentiful than intended.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that could cause corrupted save data, if the player quickly equipped the Shortwave Radio, put it away, then quickly exited the game.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that would cause fully cooked, or partially cooked food items to revert to a raw state, if dragged off the cooking surface and dropped onto a new one.
• Gameplay - Interloper - Spelunker's Lantern variant is now available in Interloper.

USER INTERFACE

• UI - Map - Fixed an issue that caused Rock Cache Map markers to appear in the wrong location, or not on the Map at all.
• UI - Fixed an issue that caused the Headache Affliction meter to show a maximum of 1 hour, regardless of the actual Affliction length.
• UI - Campcraft Radial Menu - Added the Fishing Hole to the Camp Radial Menu slot and temporarily removed the Bearskin Bedroll.
• UI - Journal - Added the Challenge Objective tab that was missing from the Journal while playing a Challenge.

ENVIRONMENT ART

• Environment - Blackrock Prison - Fixed an issue that made it so players could not interact with a Battery inside one of the Trucks.
• Environment - Timber Wolf Mountain - Fixed an issue that would cause the door to the Mountaineers Hut to open on the wrong side, preventing the player from closing it.
• Environment - Pleasant Valley - Fixed an issue that would cause Recycled Cans to appear tiny, if placed next to the Rim Grill, found near the Pleasant Valley Farmhouse.
• Environment - Pleasant Valley - Updated one of the Interloper start positions to be further away from a Prepper Cache.

AUDIO

• Audio - Adjusted audio for the Lit Flare and Marine Flare so it emits properly from the Flares location.

PLATFORM-SPECIFIC ISSUES

• Xbox/PS4 - Fixed an issue that would cause the game to crash on Xbox One and PlayStation, when performing an action.
• PS4 - Fixed a potential crash that could occur if the player was sleeping during an active Aurora.
• PS4 - Fixed a crash that could occur while exiting back to the Main Menu.
• PS4 - Fixed a crash that could occur while scrolling through the Inventory.
• PS4 - Fixed an issue with the timing of the subtitles, if played on a PS5 or a framerate other than 30 FPS.

To check current releases on each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-06-21 18:01:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Three: FRONTIER COMFORTS is available NOW on Steam! (Please note that it can take time for the update to appear on all platforms.) The latest Expansion Pass update introduces major new features and content, including great new ingredients and recipes with Frontier Cooking, the Ptarmigan, and exciting new Tool Variants to help you survive the wild reaches of the Far Territory. For more information on Frontier Cooking and all of the great new content available in Part Three: FRONTIER COMFORTS, watch our new update video below: [previewyoutube=DtoCp_g5qeM;full][/previewyoutube] Part Three: FRONTIER COMFORTS Expansion Pass Content

• Frontier Cooking: Weve added seven new Ingredients to the game including Potatoes, Flour, Salt, Broth, Carrots, and more and a Recipe system that lets you combine ingredients in order to create a whole range of cozy Frontier Dishes, like Rabbit Stew, Acorn Pancakes, and Peach Pies. You can find Recipes scattered around Great Bear Island, starting with a selection of six simple Recipes (increasing to 15 as your skill improves), and an additional nine Unique Recipes.
• Skillet: We also added a Skillet to the game to help you create some of the new Frontier Cooking recipes.
• Ptarmigan: Youll find Ptarmigans in small groupings on the ground, perfect for hunting quietly with stones and Fire-Hardened Arrows. Ptarmigans are a source of meat, and youll also be able to collect their Down which will allow you to craft a couple of new items an Improvised Down Bedroll and an Improvised Insulation, which adds an extra layer of warmth.
• Hunter's Revolver: A new, vintage-style Revolver that is more deadly at long range.
• Forester's Revolver: An older, reliable, durable weapon.
• Warden's Revolver: A lightweight Revolver with a shorter barrel for faster aiming.
• Sport Bow: A light and durable manufactured Bow.
• Miners Flashlight: Equipped with a larger, more efficient battery.

Free Stream Note: This update is available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION. Weve made some significant updates and introduced an Enhanced Fishing system for this update, including:

• Ice Fishing Holes: You can now set up your own fishing locations in regions that have bodies of sufficiently deep water.
• Tip-Ups: You can place a new Tip-Up over any ice fishing hole and it will catch a fish for you (unless the line breaks, you get unlucky, or have left it out too long and it becomes ruined).
• Fishing Lures: Weve added new Fishing Lures to improve your chances of catching a Rare Fish, and you can also harvest raw fish to create Bait. These two items can be added to Tip-Ups or regular fishing lines to increase your chance to catch fish and encourage larger fish to bite.
• Rare Fish: This update includes four new Rare Fish, including the Burbot, Goldeye, Red Irish Lord, and Rockfish.
• Burdock: Weve also added Burdock, a new harvestable plant. Look out for their distinctive stalks and use an appropriate tool to dig their roots out from the ground. With a small amount of preparation, you can eat them raw, cook them as part of a recipe, or make a warming tea that will help combat food poisoning.

Additional Changes - Increased Framerate Limits Note: This update is available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK, SURVIVAL EDITION, or WINTERMUTE. Starting with this update, THE LONG DARK now supports 60 FPS on the following platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S - Targeting 30FPS at 4K. Targeting 60FPS at 1440p.
• Xbox One X - Targeting 30FPS at 4K. Targeting 60FPS at 1440p.
• Playstation 5 - Targeting 30FPS at 1680p. Targeting 60FPS at 1680p.
• Playstation 4 Pro - Targeting 30FPS at 1680p. Targeting 60FPS at 1680p.

Please note that this change does not indicate official support for next-gen consoles, but we will continue working toward additional improvements, including providing official support for next-gen consoles, visual enhancements, and more. We will provide additional information in the coming months as more information becomes available. About TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Releasing in multiple Parts, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY includes both paid updates for those who own the Expansion Pass, and free updates for anyone who owns THE LONG DARK (or SURVIVAL EDITION). Thank you for your ongoing support, Survivors. Good luck exploring the Far Territory, and we hope you enjoy Part Three: FRONTIER COMFORTS! For more information on TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, including details on availability, known issues, and the content Roadmap, please visit the updated Expansion Pass website. To share your adventures in the Far Territory and connect with a fantastic community of Survivors around the world, please join our Official Community.

[ 2023-06-21 18:01:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors! We wanted to update you all and let you know that TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Three is getting close to launch. We are in our final stages of testing, tuning and bug fixing, so expect a launch toward the end of June. Below, youll find more information about what content will be in Part Three of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, along with what to look forward to in the base Survival Modes free June Update. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Frontier Cooking
One of the big additions in Part Three is a new feature called Frontier Cooking. Weve added seven new ingredients to the game, and now with Recipes you can cook more complicated foods that involve multiple ingredients -- things like Rabbit Stew, Fish Pies, and so on. The Frontier Cooking system is launching with 15 Recipes, as well as 9 Unique recipes that can be found in the world. Were also adding a Skillet to enable new cooking options, and completely overhauled the Cooking user interface.
All of these new items will appear in existing TALES save games, and we have also done a careful pass over the placement and frequency of new food items to ensure game balance is preserved for Interloper players. Good luck, Survivors! Ptarmigan
The little Ptarmigan is the new wildlife weve added in Part Three. They can be found in most regions, but prefer more remote, higher ground. You can, of course, hunt them for meat, but youll also be able to collect their down, which you can utilize in a couple of new crafting recipes. Tool Variants
Weve also added three new Revolver variants, another Bow variant, and an alternate Flashlight. Each of these items has a unique look and some stat differences from their basic counterparts. All of these items, and the ones relating to cooking, will all be available in new or existing save games. FREE UPDATE For our base game Survival Update, weve added and updated a few elements. We've overhauled the Fishing system to provide more freedom around where you can fish, as well as adding some new species and giving you some new tools for catching and maintaining your fishing options. This is the first major overhaul of the Fishing system since we added it years ago, and it's one of the systems the community has been asking us to revise for a while, so we're excited to see what you think of the changes that are coming.

And finally, as you explore the regions, youll come across a new type of harvestable plant Burdock. Youll need a tool to dig its root out, but the root can then be eaten raw or cooked up into a recipe for calories, or made into a warming tea. Thats it for now, Survivors. We will share the full update list containing details on new Paid and Free content, along with any game improvements and bug fixes, in the release notes when we launch TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Three. For all other technical issues, please reach out via our Support Portal. Thank you for reading, and good luck exploring the new content when it launches later this month!

[ 2023-06-12 23:29:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone. Were nearing the mid-way point of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, our paid expansion pass campaign for Survival Mode, and this seems like a good time to talk about how things have gone so far. In my opinion, they havent gone that well. Certainly not how we want them to go. Certainly not how *I* want them to go. When we originally discussed the idea of doing an expansion pass for THE LONG DARK, we did so recognizing that in the years weve been working on getting the WINTERMUTE Episodes out, wed naturally had less time to focus on Survival. We wanted to give Survival some love, but also wanted to see if we could do so in a more financially sustainable way, that might set a path for the future. You see, Hinterland is an independent studio, and THE LONG DARK is a self-funded, self-published project. This means we get to keep our revenue and dont have to share it with a publisher, and we can work without external interference. But it also means that we carry all the cost and risk for the project ourselves. This is how we like it, and our independence is paramount to who we are and what we make. But for a large and complex game like THE LONG DARK, one weve been updating for years without asking for any more money from our players, we wanted to experiment with the idea of creating a new revenue stream that would help us continue updating the game well into the future, in a financially sustainable fashion. To a large degree, the ongoing financial health of THE LONG DARK, which weve built an entire company around, also determines what we can make in the future. So while this is a passionate endeavour for us, its also a business, and were focused on running it ethically and sustainably, and taking good care of our people. That means finding the right way to generate revenue from it, one that is fair to our players that doesnt burn out the team. We believed TALES would be one way to do that. Because we knew that charging for updates would come with greater expectations than when people were getting them for free, we wanted to provide some assurances of what you would get, and when, so that we werent just saying, hey, heres a thing, give us some money even though most of it isnt made yet. Thats maybe fine for Early Access, but we graduated from Early Access in 2017, and we felt that we needed to do better for this. And in wanting that, I made some decisions that led us to the present challenges around the Expansion:

• We committed to a specific roadmap of features and content, which we knew wed have to produce to a quality level exceeding what wed included in the game as free updates over the years.
• We committed to a specific number of Parts that wed release as part of the Expansion Pass campaign.
• We committed to a specific cadence; wed aim to release a Part every 8-10 weeks, to try to recapture that buzzy feeling from the Early Access days, and see if we could boost player engagement with more frequent updates.
• We committed to a specific timeline; wed release all six Parts in a year.

Why did we do this? Well, honestly, I felt that despite being able to hit this release cadence years ago in Early Access, wed lost some of that muscle memory over the years. Wed also lost a bit of that excitement that comes from frequent game releases, and I wanted to find a way to get some of that back. Also, the COVID years of 2020-2022 had been such a struggle. I hoped that this ambitious project would be healthy for the team, and give them some exciting new features to work on, to see the game refreshed and the community excited. So, after plenty of internal discussions and everyone signing on to deliver this, we rolled up our sleeves and jumped in. We launched Part One in December. And we ran into issues almost immediately. Youve experienced some of these yourselves, and some have been behind the scenes. But the reality is that, weve failed to hit the 8-10 week release target for any of the Parts so far, and were not going to be able to achieve it for Part Three either. With each Part release, there have been issues that have forced the team into a hotfixing cycle which has taken away from the progress around the next Part. Thats created pressure that has led to mistakes being made, that then force more hotfixes, and the cycle continues. This has been a cascading issue for the past six months or so, since the December release of Part One. Its put an enormous amount of pressure on the team, not just the development team working on THE LONG DARK, but the other teams in the studio that support our launches: test, releasing, marketing, community, and so on. This is my studio and my responsibility. I stepped away from the project to focus on new things, and the issues around timing, delivery, quality...these all roll up to me. Im sorry Ive let you down. I cant change the past but I can try to fix the future. Im painfully aware that youve heard some of this from me before, with the early WINTERMUTE episodes. Im painfully aware that there are people out there, reading these words right now, feeling gleeful that we failed to deliver. I know there are a lot of I told you they couldnt hit this cadence posts about to hit our forums and other channels. Those comments are entirely deserved. I take them on myself. We wont be able to hit the 8-10 week cadence for the Expansion Part releases. Im not going to provide a new number, even though we have an internal one, because ultimately we need to focus on quality and team health, and build the timeline around that. Theres no sense in shipping Parts on a schedule if the experience you get when you play is disappointing. Theres no sense in shipping on a schedule if it burns out the team. Theres no point in promising dates that we fail to hit. Yes, we already knew this going in. Weve faced these constraints before. I should have known better. I applaud the teams out there that are able to put out significant updates to their games every 8 weeks or so. We dont seem able to do it. Were still going to deliver the full roadmap weve promised. We probably wont get it all done before the end of this year, but well still deliver the six Parts, and well get them in your hands as soon as we can. The team is going to catch their breath, get Part Three done and out the door, and my hope is that with a little bit of extra time now, well be able to get you a better quality update that doesnt require so many fixes after the fact. After that, well dig into Part Four and continue the work. The 60FPS fix that the team has been working on for the past few weeks will also now be delayed so that we can release it along with Part Three. This will save us from doing an additional release in between now and Part Three, allowing the team to focus on getting that content finished and tested. (Remember, every time we release an update -- no matter how small -- it comes with an amount of overhead for testing and releasing.) So the 60FPS fixes for Xbox and PlayStation should be part of the Part Three launch. Many of you have asked about the status of the Switch version of TALES. As you know, we had originally planned to have this out earlier this year. When both the Xbox and PlayStation versions came in late, this pushed out the work on the Switch as well. I cant promise you a date for Switch yet. Theres a fair amount of work we need to get done before we can ship it, and Im not sure how we will fit it in on top of the other work we are doing for the Parts. Were looking into some options, including bringing on some more dev help to get that done. At this point, I would say well do our best to get TALES up and running for the end of the year, and if we can get it done sooner, we will. Im really sorry about that delay. It absolutely sucks if you are a Switch TLD player right now. I completely understand if any of you feel burned by this situation and want to have TALES refunded. We cant issue refunds ourselves, but you can request them from the platform you purchased the game on. We hope you wont do that, but again, I understand if you feel that youve had enough. My hope is that by the time the Expansion is finished, youll choose to come back and give it another chance. In addition to giving the team more time and breathing room to get the Parts out, Im also going to be stepping back in to focus the TLD team and get development back on track. Im going to dive back in to the design as well and make sure the systems were delivering to you are as good as they can be. Ill be there in the trenches with the team, so to speak, to guide them through this. Thats my promise to you. My goal now is to make sure that when you look back at the end of this campaign, and see all that weve added to both TALES (paid) and THE LONG DARK (free updates), youll find that on the whole its been a great addition to the game and really refreshed the sandbox. Im excited about the new features were adding in Part Three, and in the rest of the roadmap. Regarding Episode Five. A lot of you have been asking about it. As mentioned several times, but Ill say it again here, we wont be saying anything about Episode Five release dates until were close to shipping it, which wont be this year. I do promise some kind of update with some non-spoilery details around what to expect in Episode Five later this year, so you wont go the whole year without hearing any news. But for now, we dont have anything more to say, except that there are a lot of story threads to tie up in Episode Five, and its going to be a big one. The last six months have been tough on the team, and we appreciate your ongoing support and patience. Thanks for reading, and I hope to have better news for you next time you hear from me. - Raphael

[ 2023-05-18 20:02:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.16 (113628) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition) and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Steam and Epic Games Store. Please note that WINTERMUTEs version number has not changed. This Hotfix addresses a bug introduced in the v.2.15 update for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. GENERAL

• [TALES] Fixed an issue where Transmitters in Forlorn Muskeg and Pleasant Valley reverted to being unrepaired, even when players had previously repaired them during the Tale. Players who previously lost progress will once again find their Transmitters in the appropriate repaired state.

To check current releases on each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2023-04-26 22:07:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have just released our v2.15 (113209) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition) and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. Please note that WINTERMUTEs version number has not changed. This hotfix addresses TALES items not spawning in Interloper mode, including the Handheld Shortwave. Details on these changes can be found in our latest Dev Diary found here. GENERAL [SURVIVAL] Enables TALES content in Interloper. [SURVIVAL] Using the Handheld Shortwave Interloper players are now able to locate Trackable Hidden Caches, which will provide loot that is also balanced for Interloper. [SURVIVAL] Players are now able to find the Handheld Shortwave at the Airfields Control Tower and start the Signal Void Tale, while playing in Interloper.

• TALES will be accessible via your existing save and do not need to start a new Survival save in order to get these changes
• The bunkers discovered in Signal Void have been adjusted to provide less loot on Interloper
• A few extra Transmitter repair supplies will be newly available in Interloper to ensure the initial repairs are possible (applies to both existing saves or new)

To check current releases on each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal (or consult our Known Issues page) if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2023-04-20 18:27:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors! Now that TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is available on Steam, Epic Game Store, Xbox, and PlayStation, we wanted to provide a quick update about some upcoming changes, and bug fixes we are currently working on. Adding Interloper to TALES Its been a couple of weeks since we released TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Two: SIGNAL VOID, which included the introduction of the first Tale. We have been reviewing feedback, and we appreciate the time many of you took to file tickets via our Support Portal. While we are working to resolve some high-priority bugs following the release (more on that later), we also wanted to acknowledge the feedback from many Interloper players in our community, and how we plan to address Tales moving forward. By introducing the idea of Tales to Survival Mode, we wanted to give our Survival Mode players more reasons to explore and more objectives to follow, while still weaving in some compelling narrative elements. When tuning for the Interloper experience mode, we are always especially careful not to upset the balance of the game, and so we tend to approach changes to Interloper with caution and thoughtfulness. Interloper is a very stripped-down experience; many gear items are either excluded entirely or heavily restricted, containers are mostly empty, and the general tuning settings are designed to be punishing. The addition of new locations, new gear items, places you can scavenge more loot, and resources run the risk of upsetting that survival on a knifes edge feel, so anything we add into this experience mode does require an extra layer of consideration. When designing both the transponder systems that would enable the new Supply Caches to be found, and also considering the significant amount of effort that would go into completing the Signal Void Tale, we strongly felt that these systems would not work well in Interloper, and in particular we felt the Tale would be extremely difficult with almost no pay-off (necessary to preserve the Interloper balance), which would simply be frustrating. After hearing from many of you in our player community who very strongly align yourselves with the Interloper mode (to the point that you dont play any other modes in the game), we understood that you didnt really mind if the experience would be a massive struggle with little reward. You just wanted that option. So, after careful consideration, we have decided to introduce the Signal Void Tale to Interloper, with some modifications designed to preserve game balance for that specific Experience Mode:

• Bunkers will be adjusted to provide less loot on Interloper.
• The final Bunker will still contain a couple of rare items, but adjusted for Interloper.

Additionally, once you have the Handheld Shortwave you will be able to explore and discover the hidden Supply Caches, which will provide loot that is also balanced for Interloper. A number of them will be empty, while others will have loot that is consistent with what you would expect on Interloper. For those Interloper players wondering how to access the new content, you will be able to access the Tale and any new changes via your existing save, and there will be no need to start a new Survival save in order to get these changes. Simply pick up the Handheld Shortwave in the Control Tower at the Forsaken Airfield region, and youre on your way. Just please know that your experience of the Supply Caches, and Signal Void, will be extremely tough, without much reward apart from bragging rights. We plan to release these changes in the next week, so you should have access to the Tale very soon. Keep an eye out for the official release notes! For more information on the Tale and Part Two: SIGNAL VOID, please visit the March Dev Diary. Xbox and PlayStation - Uncapped Frame Rates Following the release of v2.09 on Xbox, some players may have noticed a change to the frame-rate cap on Xbox Series S/X. While this change isn't part of the overall Visual Enhancements we have promised with TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, we'd like to clarify what has changed, and what our plans are for the future. Recently, we upgraded THE LONG DARK to a newer version of the Unity engine and Xbox Unity plug-in. Prior to the Unity update, the console frame rate was limited to 30 frames per second (FPS), and the game would use a method of dynamic resolution scaling (a standard practice on consoles) to maintain this target frame rate to ensure a smooth experience. This Unity latest update has now uncapped frame rates on the Xbox Series S/X, so they are no longer limited to 30 FPS. These Xbox platforms should now be able to achieve up to 60 FPS with dynamic resolution scaling. Upcoming Changes: We have made additional adjustments to uncap frame rates on Xbox One X in an upcoming update. Additionally, in order to ensure parity on PlayStation, we have done some work to enable up to 60 FPS on PlayStation 5, as well as higher than 30FPS resolutions on PlayStation 4 Pro. These additional changes are planned for release at the end of this month. To summarize, following these improvements, players can expect:

• Xbox One X Up to 60 FPS at 1080p
• Xbox Series S Up to 60 FPS at 1080p
• Xbox Series X Up to 60 FPS at 1080p
• PlayStation 4 Pro Up to 45 FPS at 900p (using dynamic resolution scaling)
• PlayStation 5 Up to 60 FPS at 1080p

Once the changes are live, you will be able to manually enable the higher frame rate cap, or change it back to the 30 FPS cap, in the Display Settings. We will share more information alongside the Release Notes later this month. Please note that this change does not impact the Switch, or any of the PC or Mac-based versions of the game. (PC and Mac have always been able to run at higher than 60 FPS, provided the hardware is powerful enough.) We will continue working toward additional improvements, including providing official support for next-gen consoles, additional visual enhancements, and more. We will provide more information in the coming months. Upcoming Bug Fixes In addition to todays Hotfix on Xbox, we are working on a series of other high-priority fixes and will release them in hotfixes as soon as possible. We have introduced the Known Issues section on our Support Portal. This list provides a regularly-updated summary of high-priority bugs organized by platform. While this list is not exhaustive, it does provide a good starting point to check whether your issue appears, and it includes some helpful workarounds and tips where applicable. If you currently require technical support, please reach out via our Support Portal. We are working to respond to inquiries as quickly as possible. Thank You Thank you, Survivors. We will share more information on TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY in the coming weeks.

[ 2023-04-15 02:57:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We just released our v2.12 (112469) Hotfix for THE LONG DARK (including Survival Edition) and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Steam. Please note that WINTERMUTEs version number has not changed. This hotfix addresses a critical issue following our most recent v2.10 release. PC/Mac

• [TALES] Fixed an issue in the Tale in Part Two: SIGNAL VOID, where, if already holding an item in their hand, players could get stuck and fail to progress after picking up the Memo and Handheld Shortwave.

For a list of release numbers and Known Issues for each platform, please visit our new Build Status Page. Please visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2023-04-05 21:32:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors, Today, we launched TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Part Two: Signal Void. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY features the first paid content for THE LONG DARK, significantly adding to the world of Great Bear Island and the game's core Survival foundation. New Parts will be added regularly over the course of the 12-month Expansion Pass campaign, featuring new Regions, new Gameplay, and new objective-based Tales. Each Part of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY includes content that is exclusive to the Paid stream, plus free updates to Survival Mode. PART TWO: SIGNAL VOID

• The first Tale, SIGNAL VOID: Requires an estimated 5+ hours to complete
• Handheld Shortwave Radio: For use with Transponder Cache Gameplay
• Transponder Cache Gameplay: Including the Handheld Shortwave, Transmitter sites, and trackable hidden Supply Caches
• New Bunkers: Discovered as part of the Tale
• Four new clothing items: The Hockey Jersey, Flight Jacket, Aviator Cap, and Technical Balaclava
• New Surprise Accessory item: Only found as part of the Tale check out the update video to find out more!

A note for players on Interloper: Prepper Caches are have returned to the game, however, there will be no fully-stocked versions. The new Tale also isnt available on Interloper. PART TWO: FREE STREAM Along with the contents of Part Two for the paid Expansion Pass, the following free updates were applied to the base Survival game.

• Fire-Hardened Arrows: Good for hunting small game
• Enhanced Prepper Bunkers: Including visual updates, loot updates, and a spawn refresh. Prepper Bunkers are now spread out over more regions and there are more hatches than before, however only 3 are fully-stocked.
• Enhanced Beachcombing: Watch for new loot and larger items after Blizzards
• Acorns & more Oak Trees: Prepare and eat Acorns, or use them to make delicious Acorn Coffee

DETAILED RELEASE NOTES USER INTERFACE

• UI - Added a unique Icon for Cured/Dried Guts.
• UI - Updated the Insomnia affliction tooltip to reflect proper duration.
• UI - Fixed an issue where Accessibility Options and Keyboard Bindings would reset after updating the game to a new version.
• UI - Fixed an instance of debug text that would appear on the Map screen, after finding a Visor Note.
• UI - Fixed an issue that prevented players from setting a custom Display Number in the Settings Menu, locking the game to the Primary Monitor.
• UI - Added the correct Sawing text that displays when using the Hacksaw.
• UI - Fixed an issue that caused the wrong audio to play when pressing the 'X' button on a Controller in the Crafting Menu.
• UI - Fixed an issue that caused the "Back to Home" button to disappear when using a controller.
• UI - Reviewed and adjusted translated text for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY as needed.

ENVIRONMENT and AUDIO

• Audio - Fixed an issue where wind sound effects would not play correctly when loading from a Save file.
• Audio - Fixed an issue where wind was not being occluded while indoors, making it sound like the player was still outside.
• Audio - Fixed an issue that would cause the wrong footstep sounds to play when walking on carpets.
• Environment - Fixed terrian that could not be crossed near the Brittle Cave in the Forsaken Airfield.
• Environment - Fixed floating items found inside Mystery Lake Trailers near the Carter Hydro Dam.
• Environment - Fixed graphical texture issues found throughout Forsaken Airfield.
• Environment - Fixed an invisible corpse found in the Carter Hydro Dam.
• Environment - Fixed loot placement in one of the caves in Broken Railroad.
• Environment - Fixed various floating objects found in the Forsaken Airfield.
• Environment - Fixed visible texture seams found on some of the distant mountains in Broken Railroad.
• Environment - Fixed an issue that would cause the Security Hut to become invisible at certain distances.
• Environment - Fixed a light source in the Farm House in Pleasant Valley.
• Environment - Fixed an issue that caused the Water Tower to pop-in unexpectedly in Mountain Town at certain distances.
• Environment - Removed numerous locations where the player could become trapped in the environment throughout Forsaken Airfield.
• Environment - Fixed low resolution textures found on the Safe in the Hydro Dam.

SURVIVAL

• Gameplay - Updated Memento Cache Interloper Spawn Table, and fixed an issue with some Keys spawning for disabled Memento Caches. Please note that players might not see the fix in an existing save if they have already visited that location.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused Cat Tails to have the incorrect weight, after being partially eaten.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that would cause the player to teleport to a pre-placed Snow Shelter, if they saved and reloaded, while in a different Snow Shelter.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that prevented the player from breaking down the Scrub Brush found in the Broken Railroad region.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that could cause the player to shift vertically, if they saved the game while crouching.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where spray-painted Markers would not appear correctly when applied to some trees.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused cured Pelts to float above the ground.
• Gameplay - Updated the Deer Pelt icon to better match the in-game item.

CHALLENGE MODES

• The Hunted Part Two - Fixed an issue that caused the Old Bear to leave inconsistent blood trails.
• The Hunted Part Two - Fixed an issue that caused the Hunted Part Two's journal text to disappear after reloading.
• The Hunted Part Two - Fixed missing Rifle Ammo in the Camp Office.
• Darkwalker - Fixed an issue that caused erroneous text to appear when completing the Darkwalker Challenge.

WINTERMUTE ** Please note that this section contains spoilers for WINTERMUTE. **

• Episode 3 - Fixed an issue that allowed Players to inadvertently skip a cinematic during their first time watching it.
• Episode 4 - Fixed issue that caused sound effects to be cut off after the end of a cinematic.
• WINTERMUTE - Added missing Crafting icons.

MAC

• Mac - Fixed an issue that prevented players from taking a screenshot using the F8 hotkey.
• Mac - Fixed an issue that caused the Press any button and Loading text on load screens to appear very small on retina displays or other high-resolution monitors.

FURTHER INFORMATION For a list of known live issues, please click here. Please visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-03-30 17:23:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survivors, get ready for a whole new Survival experience. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Two: SIGNAL VOID is available NOW! The latest Expansion Pass update introduces the first Tale, SIGNAL VOID. Explore a narrative-driven challenge that delves into the territory's mysterious past, featuring gameplay objectives that reveal the history of Great Bear Island. For more information on the first Tale, and a look at the great new content available in Part Two: SIGNAL VOID, check out our new update video below: [previewyoutube=AV0rCaNjyQs;full][/previewyoutube] Part Two: SIGNAL VOID Expansion Pass Content

• The first Tale: SIGNAL VOID (requires an estimated 5+ hours to complete)
• Handheld Shortwave Radio: For use with Transponder Cache Gameplay
• Transponder Cache Gameplay: Including the Handheld Shortwave, Transmitter sites, and trackable hidden Supply Caches
• New Bunkers: Discovered as part of the Tale
• Four new clothing items: The Hockey Jersey, Flight Jacket, Aviator Cap, and Technical Balaclava
• New Surprise Accessory item: Only found as part of the Tale check out the update video to find out more!

Free Stream Note: This update is available to anyone who owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION.

• Fire-Hardened Arrows: Good for hunting small game
• Enhanced Prepper Bunkers, including visual updates, loot updates, and a spawn refresh
• Enhanced Beachcombing: Watch for new loot and larger items after storms
• Acorns & more Oak Trees: Prepare and eat Acorns, or use them to make delicious Acorn Coffee

About TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Releasing in multiple Parts over the course of a 12-month campaign, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY includes both paid updates for those who own the Expansion Pass, and free updates for anyone who owns THE LONG DARK (or SURVIVAL EDITION). Updates are currently planned for release every 10 weeks or so, depending on development realities. Thank you for your ongoing support, Survivors. Good luck exploring the Far Territory, and we hope you enjoy the latest Expansion Pass update! For more information on TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, including details on availability and the full planned content Roadmap, please visit the updated Expansion Pass website. To share your adventures in the Far Territory and connect with a fantastic community of Survivors around the world, please join our Official Community.

[ 2023-03-30 17:02:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

THE LONG DARK - QUALITY OF LIFE UPDATE 2.08 Hello Community, We just released a v2.08 Quality of Life Hotfix for THE LONG DARK on PC and Mac, including Survival Edition. This update includes bug fixes, along with game and performance improvements. CL Versions Displayed In-Game: You can confirm that you have the latest update by checking the CL number displayed in the top left corner of your Home Screen in-game. Please note that this release does not contain an update to WINTERMUTE. Steam:

• Windows - Survival Mode / TALES - 111676
• Linux - Survival Mode / TALES - 111676
• Mac - Survival Mode / TALES - 111676

Epic Games Store:

• Windows - Survival Mode / TALES - 111676
• Mac - Survival Mode / TALES - 111676

Please visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). USER INTERFACE

• UI - Added missing stats to the Journal screen for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY content.
• UI - Fixed the action text that appears when opening a container with the Hack Saw. Sawing will now appear instead of Searching.
• UI - Completed a general polish pass on UI items.

SURVIVAL MODE

• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where unexpected items were spawning in Interloper games.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused players to wake up from Insomnia less often than intended.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue that caused Distress Pistol Containers to lose their contents if the player transitioned through a load screen.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where some randomly spawned corpses were invisible.
• Gameplay - Fixed an issue where players using a Controller could not add fuel to a Fire.

TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY **Please note that this section contains spoilers for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY.**

• Airfield - Updated the route travelled by Bears in the Forsaken Airfield Region to help avoid areas where they could become stuck, including rocks in the middle of the river.
• Airfield - Fixed an issue where Glimmer Fog would not activate if the player was inside an interior while in the Forsaken Airfield.

GENERAL

• General - Fixed an issue that caused WINTERMUTE to ignore Launch Options set in the Steam client, such as video mode and resolution overrides.
• Audio - Fixed an issue that caused waterfall sounds to play at unintended locations.

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-03-21 00:24:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors! We wanted to update you on a few things as we get close to the launch of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Two: SIGNAL VOID. Below, you will find more details about the new content that will be available as part of the Expansion Pass, along with some helpful information to help you get the most out of your adventures in the Far Territory. Introducing the First Tale: SIGNAL VOID
The paid content for this part of the Expansion Pass focuses on the addition of our first Tale. We created Tales to give our Survival Mode players more reasons to explore and more objectives to follow, while weaving in some compelling narrative elements. The result is new gameplay that feels something like one of our Challenge Modes. Youll also encounter interesting new locations as you progress, which are exclusive to the Tale. Our first Tale, SIGNAL VOID, utilizes our new Transponder gameplay, comprised of a series of Transmitter sites scattered across Great Bear and the new Handheld Shortwave. Once a Transmitter is active, the Handheld Shortwave will be able to pick up mysterious signals in that area, leading to hidden caches, crash sites, and other locations that relate to the Tale. All in all it gives you even more to do during an Aurora, which is a fun time to explore the world albeit potentially risky!
Transmitter Repair Weve also added three new clothing items a Hockey Jersey, a leather Flight Jacket, and a matching Aviator Hat. Youll find them scattered around Great Bear, so you will find them as you explore locations and search containers. In addition, weve added a few new surprise items that are exclusive to the use of the Handheld Shortwave, one of which is only revealed at the final step in the Tale. Free March Update In Survival Edition, youll be happy to hear we have re-enabled the hidden Prepper Bunkers. We have made some significant updates to them, both visually and in the way they spawn into the world. You will now find Prepper Bunkers in nine locations across Lower Great Bear (in appropriately remote spots, of course). However, you wont know until you begin exploring whether the Prepper Bunker is fully-equipped or almost entirely empty. There will only be three fully-equipped Prepper Bunkers across a single game, the location in which they spawn will change with every new game. Each full Bunker you find will also have a unique feel, and the loot inside is themed to reflect that. Beachcombing has had an update as well. We've added new items that may appear, and tied the respawning of those potential items to Blizzards, so with every big storm there's a reason to revisit the coastline.
Fishing Boat - Enhanced Beachcombing We introduced Oak Trees into the new regions, and youll find them all over Great Bear. You can also search for Acorns underneath, which after some prep work can be eaten or ground up and used to make some delicious Acorn coffee. Finally, weve added the ability to craft Fire-Hardened Arrows, so if you happen across a bow early in your playthrough and want to make some Arrows that don't require you to head to the nearest Forge, then you may find these useful. Theyre effective for hunting smaller game like Rabbits, and might scare off a Wolf, but they won't actually damage anything big. Reminder: Save Compatibility Note: This section is most applicable to players on Xbox and PlayStation. If you previously downloaded the Expansion Pass or the free December update on PC or Mac, you will not lose your save progress with this update, and you will not need to start a new Survival run to access the new content. As previously mentioned, we made some necessary changes to help future-proof the save system in THE LONG DARK, and to enable you to receive improvements to the game moving forward. As a result, current Survival Mode saves will not work with the game once you download the update for Part One of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. This is true even if you do not purchase the Expansion Pass, however, this change will not impact Feats, Feats progress, Achievements, or WINTERMUTE saves. Since Part One and Part Two are coming to Xbox and PlayStation on March 30th, you have just over a week to wrap up your Survival saves and prepare for your next big adventure on Great Bear Island! Store Changes With this next update, we are also separating Survival Mode and WINTERMUTE on Xbox and PlayStation. If you already own THE LONG DARK, you will not need to re-purchase WINTERMUTE or Survival Edition, and you will still get all five WINTERMUTE Episodes, including Episode Five when it unlocks. For anyone who doesnt currently own the game, SURVIVAL EDITION will be available as a standalone purchase in the coming weeks, with the option to buy WINTERMUTE or the TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Expansion Pass as DLC. This offers a number of good options for new players to come in at different price points, while also offering greater flexibility for updating the game. At launch, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY will retail on Xbox and PlayStation for $19.99 USD, with a 15% discount for the first week after launch. While we endeavour to keep pricing as consistent as possible, please note that prices are subject to regional store adjustments. For more information on why we split Survival and Story Mode, please visit this post. Thank You Thats it for now, Survivors. We will share the full update list containing details on new paid and free content, along with any game improvements and bug fixes, in the release notes when TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Part Two launches. We will also share more information on the Expansion Pass launch on Nintendo Switch in the near future. For all other technical issues, please reach out via our Support Portal. Thank you for reading, and good luck exploring the new content in TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY when it launches on PC, Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation on March 30th!

[ 2023-03-20 23:00:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We just released our v2.07 Quality of Life Update for THE LONG DARK, including Survival Edition. This update includes some significant bug fixes, along with game and performance improvements. CL Versions Displayed In-Game: You can confirm that you have the latest update by checking the CL number displayed in the top left corner of your Home Screen in-game. Steam:

• Windows - Survival Mode / TALES - 111199
• Windows - WINTERMUTE - 111213
• Linux - Survival Mode / TALES - 111199
• Linux - WINTERMUTE - 111213
• Mac - Survival Mode / TALES - 111371
• Mac - WINTERMUTE - 111213

Please visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, dont forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). USER INTERFACE

• UI - Fixed an issue that caused the game to crash with the error message failure to apply graphics settings when a previously available display was no longer valid.

WINTERMUTE ** Please note that this section contains spoilers for WINTERMUTE. **

• Episode Four - Lost Power Workers: Fixed an issue that caused the game to hang if the player entered the Trailer in Blackrock when looking for the second Lost Power Worker.

WINDOWS 10

• General - Fixed a hang when launching the game on Windows 10. Please note that some players will still experience a hang when launching the game using Windows 7, however, we continue to work toward a resolution.

MAC

• General - Fixed an issue on OS 10.14 that would prevent players from being able to launch the game.
• General - Fixed an issue preventing players from accessing WINTERMUTE and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY DLC on OS 10.14 and older.

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2023-03-17 21:40:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Get ready, Survivors! TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Two: Signal Void is coming to Steam on March 30th. The latest update features fantastic new content and gameplay for anyone who owns the Expansion Pass, including a new Tale, new Bunkers, new Clothing items, and more. (To learn more about what is included in Part Two, please visit our latest Dev Diary.) If you dont own TALES, or if you want to gift the game to a friend, now is a great time to start exploring the Far Territory. The Steam Spring Sale is on now, offering great discounts on THE LONG DARK, including:

• THE LONG DARK (including both Survival Edition and WINTERMUTE) at 50% off
• SURVIVAL EDITION at 33% off
• WINTERMUTE at 25% off
• TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY at 15% off

A new adventure is waiting. Take a sneak peek at the Teaser below: [previewyoutube=XSIWwMdGca0;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2023-03-16 21:40:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survivors, we have released the v2.06 update (Survival Edition/TALES 108190, WINTERMUTE 108187) and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is now available on Mac! Thank you for your support, and we hope you enjoy exploring the wild reaches of the Far Territory. Along with this update, we have also released the following Mac bug fixes and improvements to address issues in THE LONG DARK: GENERAL FIXES / IMPROVEMENTS

• Added Mac M1 and Apple Silicon support.
• The game now defaults to using the Apple Metal rendering system.
• Fixed numerous graphical errors, particularly on legacy systems (OSX 10.14 or earlier) running OpenGL.
• Ensured continued support of OpenGL for users on OSX 10.14, or earlier. To run the game using OpenGL, please follow the instructions below.

To instruct Steam to run the game using OpenGL, please follow these steps:

• In Steam, go to your Library
• Right Click on the game title
• Select Properties
• Click Set Launch Options...
• Paste the following line into the provided text box
• -force-glcore
• Click OK, then Close.

We are also continuing to investigate several location-specific graphical issues. For other technical issues while playing the game, please contact us via the Support Portal. Thank you, Survivors! For additional news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2023-02-15 19:39:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors, We have a few updates about the development progress around TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, the paid Expansion Pass for Survival Mode, which we launched on Steam (Windows-only) on December 5th. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part One: Mac Version Were happy to announce that we were able to fix the issues that prevented the Mac build of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY from working. The Test Team is finalizing the build and it is due for release on Wednesday, February 15th on Steam and the Epic Game Store. This will bring the Mac version to parity with Windows. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part One: Xbox and PlayStation Versions The team is working hard on finalizing and testing these versions. Weve encountered a few hiccups with the respective store setups, but we have found some workarounds. The current target date for Xbox and PlayStation releases of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is Wednesday, March 15th. This will bring Steam, Epic Game store, Xbox, and PlayStation versions to parity. Please keep in mind, Xbox and PlayStation will need to approve these new versions, which may affect the release date. We will provide confirmation closer to launch. Well have more news on the Nintendo Switch version in the coming weeks. SAVE SYSTEM OVERHAUL WITH TALES, PART ONE As a reminder, as part of splitting the game between Story and Survival Modes, we have made some necessary changes to help future-proof the save system in THE LONG DARK, and to enable you to receive improvements to the game moving forward. As a result, unfortunately current Survival Mode saves will not work with the game once you download the Update for Part One of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. This is true even if you do not purchase the Expansion Pass. This change will not impact Feats, Feats progress, Achievements, or WINTERMUTE saves. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Two: Launch Date & Features We are currently targeting a launch for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, PART TWO on Thursday, March 30th. This will be for the Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Epic Games Store versions. The work on Part Two is nearly complete, and will be entering the Testing phase soon. Please keep in mind that the release date may be impacted by development realities.
Prepper Bunker Overhaul - Available in Part Two of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY The feature and content set for Part Two will include: (For those who own TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY)

• Tale: Signal Void (estimated 5+ hours of play time to complete)
• Handheld Shortwave Radio
• Transponder Cache Gameplay
• New Bunkers
• Three new Clothing items

(For anyone that owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION)

• Fire-Hardened Arrows
• Enhanced Prepper Bunkers
• Enhanced Beachcombing
• Acorns & Oak Trees

Note: In this post, Fire-Hardened Arrows were mistakenly listed under the Paid update for TALES, however, we have adjusted the lists to accurately reflect the content listed on the Expansion Pass Roadmap. Well share more details about each of the features going into Part Two as we get closer to release. If youd like to review our plans for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, please review the Roadmap. If youd like to see what is included in Part One, check out the launch video here. Windows - Upcoming Hotfix We continue to work toward resolving a number of issues on Windows, including:

• A couple of issues causing an infinite loading screen or failure to progress past the disclaimer screen after launching the game.
• An issue in the Episode Four mission, "Lost Power Workers" that caused the game to hang when entering the trailer.

We appreciate your ongoing patience and support as we work to resolve these concerns, and we will share a date for the Hotfix in the near future as soon as more news is available. For all other technical issues, please reach out via our Support Portal. Thank you, Survivors, and keep your eyes open for next weeks release of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Mac! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2023-02-10 01:11:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survivors, thank you for your ongoing support following the release of our first Expansion Pass, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. We have released the v2.06 (106075) Hotfix to address the issue below in THE LONG DARK. GENERAL FIXES

• [Survival] Implemented a potential fix for a rare issue where when entering or exiting a Cave, the Player's game could restart and place them in a new location while resetting their progress. With the additional fixes, if the issue is encountered, player progress should now be maintained.

Please remember to visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2022-12-20 22:52:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survivors, thank you for your ongoing support following the release of our first Expansion Pass, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. We have released the v2.05 (106000) Hotfix to address the issues below in THE LONG DARK. GENERAL FIXES

• Fixed an issue where loading the game in a Snow Shelter could teleport the player to an unexpected location
• Fixed a data migration issue that occasionally caused the game to get stuck on the loading screen for some players, and occasionally resulted in a black screen on loading. We are continuing to investigate the source of additional reports.
• Fixed issue where some game Settings did not save between launches
• Updated text and translations to properly reflect "18-36 hours" for the Insomnia Affliction duration
• Fixed an issue where changing the Display Number in Options would not change which monitor the game is displayed on
• Fixed a floating book in a Mystery Lake trailer by the Carter Dam
• Fixed an issue where books appeared to disappear when dropped as a stack

Please remember to visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2022-12-16 22:49:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors, Last week, we launched Part One of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, the first paid expansion for THE LONG DARKs Survival Mode. TALES will be released as an Expansion Pass in 6 parts over the next 12 months. The full Expansion Pass roadmap is available here. We also created a Video that outlines everything that has been added in Part One. Each Part of the Expansion will include content that is exclusive to the Paid stream, and to get that content you need to buy TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORIES. The launch of each Part will also include Free updates to Survival Mode. PART ONE FORSAKEN AIRFIELD The following paid features and content were included in PART ONE of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY:

• Far Range Branch Line. This transition region connects from Broken Railroad, linking Broken Railroad to Transfer Pass.
• Transfer Pass. This hub region provides access to Forsaken Airfield, and the two additional new Regions arriving later in the Expansion Pass campaign.
• Forsaken Airfield Region. An abandoned airfield on a vast snowy plain. It includes the Hangar, Control Tower, Rangers Cabin, and other points of interest. Watch for the Aurora.
• Tool Variants. Vaughans Rifle, Barbs Rifle, Curators Rifle, Woodwrights Bow, Spelunkers Lantern. Modifications of the base Tools, with custom stats and cosmetics.
• Glimmer Fog. Beware this phenomenon. It comes during the day, and getting stuck in it for too long will trigger the new Insomnia Affliction.
• Insomnia Affliction. Too much time in the Glimmer Fog can affect your sleep patterns.

Please note that when you first start your adventures in the Far Territory, you cannot access the new regions or transitions from the World Map until you have first found them in the world. No shortcuts! They will become visible after they have been initially discovered. For more details of each of these included features, please refer to the Roadmap page. FREE DECEMBER UPDATE Along with the contents of Part One for the paid Expansion Pass, the following free updates were applied to the base Survival game.

• Complete Loot & Resource refresh. All loot tables have been updated, and the location of in-world spawned objects has been refreshed. The locations and amounts of all high-value Tools and Items have also been modified. Do not expect things to appear in the same place, or quantity, as you may have experienced them before, and also know that an element of randomness to loot spawns is present in any game. Interloper balance has been preserved in the loot refresh. (Additional details below.)
• Starting Spawn Points refresh. When you start a new Survival game, the locations you can potentially spawn in each region have been changed. Feel lost again.
• Visor Notes (Mementos). Notes will occasionally spawn under car visors (and other places). Finding these will unlock the location of supply caches or other items in the world.
• Improvised Crampons. You can now craft your own. Be cautious, Survivors these Crampons are not quite as effective as the ones you find.
• Doe. Female deer have been added to the game, replacing the majority of the Stag population.

FUTURE PARTS & UPDATES Each new Part will add more items from the paid Roadmap to the game, and each Parts free components will be added to the existing Survival Mode game. Each Part will be accompanied by a video and notes that explain what has been added. Before you purchase, please read the FAQ for more information about how the Expansion Pass will work. SPLIT & CORE GAME OVERHAUL With this release, we also rolled out a major change: splitting Story and Survival mode into separate games. This was a massive undertaking, done to ensure we can continue to update and maintain THE LONG DARK into the future. This split also involved rebuilding many core game systems. In combination with other changes like the Resource refresh, you may find the game feels a bit different than it did. If you encounter behaviour that you feel seems very much out of character as compared to your previous experience, feel free to submit a ticket to our Support Portal. There will be bugs, and game balance/tuning will be an ongoing effort. We appreciate your patience. LOOT REFRESH Normally we would not get so granular in our notes, but to help understand the new baseline, here are some more precise details about the Loot refresh:

• The majority of container loot tables in the game have had tweaks and updates, so you will find there are new items spawning that didn't used to spawn, and some rare items are slightly rarer.
• Positions of placed gear items have been refreshed, so expect to find things in different places to before.
• Note that we do still have approximately the same amount of basic tools as before (hatchets, knives, prybars, etc), but their locations are updated.
• The quantities of plants is also unchanged (saplings, rosehips, reishi, etc).
• Weapons have had a significant rebalance rifles are much rarer so they are no longer guaranteed in every region. Revolvers are now more common, and Distress Pistols are also found in a few more places than before.
• As has always been the case, it is important to note that most loot placements and containers have a large degree of randomness, and this does result in a significant variance of what is a normal amount of loot and what type of loot you get. So you can just have very lucky or very unlucky runs in the game.
• Interloper has had its loot positions refreshed and more position randomness added to its important items (like hammers) to add less predictability.
• Overall, Interlopers difficulty should remain the same as before (if anything, it will be slightly harder given the increased randomness from the important item placements).
• On Interloper, guaranteed item spawns for items like matches have not been increased (or decreased), however, please be aware that there are random match spawns that can come from containers that might result in lucky rolls where you find more. This is not some thing that was changed for this update.
• If you find items that did not used to spawn an interloper in an interloper run, it is most likely a bug we especially did not intend for weapons to spawn into interloper games (a bug we addressed in one of our earlier hotfixes).
• We have not adjusted the weather tunings for any of the Experience modes, so temperature range (which is quite broad) and temperature drop over time remain as they were before this update.
• We have intentionally removed prepper hatches for now, but they will return soon.

SAVE GAMES The split and core game overhaul means that old Survival saves are no longer compatible with the game. They can be continued (on Steam only) using the Time Capsule. If you would like to benefit from the new and future free enhancements and content added to THE LONG DARKs Survival Mode, you will need to start a new game. If you would like to play TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, you will need to start a new game. Pre-split WINTERMUTE games should still work with the revised game. NEW THE LONG DARK PRODUCT FAMILY The split between Survival and Story has allowed us to create a new SURVIVAL EDITION product, which is a lower-cost, entry-level version of THE LONG DARK that only contains only Survival Mode. From SURVIVAL EDITION, players can optionally upgrade to the paid Expansion Pass, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and/or can optionally upgrade to add the WINTERMUTE Episodes to their base game. Each of the following games has its own in-game Home page with access to the revised in-game News system: THE LONG DARK, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, WINTERMUTE, and SURVIVAL EDITION. How to know which version you own:

• If you see a revised menu in-game when you start, and it says TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, you have added the Expansion Pass to your game.
• If you see the Mystery Lake Trappers Cabin menu, and it says DECEMBER UPDATE, you have the base THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION products, and you do not have the Expansion Pass.

If you owned THE LONG DARK prior to the December 5th split, you still own both Survival and WINTERMUTE, and do not need to repurchase them. You do not have to spend any more money, you still own all the things you owned before, and you will still receive future updates to WINTERMUTE Story Mode. The free updates that are part of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY will automatically be applied to our base THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION games, for free. The paid updates that are part of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY require you to buy the Expansion Pass. DETAILED CHANGELIST Due to the massive overhaul to the game, it is impossible to share every individual update or change that has been made to the game over the past year of work. In addition to all the aforementioned changes, we are also calling out these general areas of fixes and changes that we would like you to be aware of (each bullet point encompasses many individual fixes):

• Upgraded to Unity 2021.3.6f1, fixing numerous engine-side issues.
• General - Updated the game to use more asset bundles, improving load times and future update size.
• Audio - Cleaned up various audio to improve quality and consistency.
• Environment - Corrected multiple locations where the player could become stuck.
• Environment - Fixed multiple locations where items or projectiles could fall below the ground when dropped or shot.
• Environment - Fixed numerous clipping or missing texture issues.
• Environment - Fixed multiple unreachable item placements.
• UI - Ensured stats tracked the correct game values on Journal and Status screens.
• Save File - Updated the save system to better manage the size of saves, avoiding issues where saves could grow too large for safe cloud storage or become corrupted.
• Custom Game Mode - Fixed an issue where players were unable to reduce Cabin Fever Risk while Endless Night was enabled.
• Custom Game Mode - Reviewed all Custom Game Mode tuning values to ensure they are working as designed.
• WINTERMUTE - Fixed sev eral issues in Wintermute missions that could cause a Players mission progress to become stuck.
• WINTERMUTE - Fixed an issue that would cause the Episode Progression stat for a save to display incorrectly when viewing a Load Menu.
• Steam Deck - Optimized general performance for Steam Deck.

FURTHER INFORMATION For a list of Known Issues were are currently tracking, please go here. For all bug reports and requests for help, please use our Support Portal. Join the official community to participate in discussions about THE LONG DARK with fellow fans. Join our mailing list. Follow us on Twitter.

[ 2022-12-14 05:26:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello players, TL;DR:

• Im sorry about the issues around launch.
• If you owned THE LONG DARK before Monday, you still own it and also own WINTERMUTE. You do not have to repurchase it.
• THE LONG DARK includes both Survival and Story. SURVIVAL EDITION is only Survival, and you can upgrade this by buying the WINTERMUTE episodes as DLC if you like.
• TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is completely optional. Both paid and free content is being released in multiple Parts over the next year.
• Were still fixing some bugs. If you encounter any, please report to: hinterlandgames.com/support

Long version: I want to apologize for the hiccups around last weeks launch of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. I know we didnt hit the quality you expect from a paid product, and I want to try to explain a few things that happened to hopefully provide a bit more behind-the-scenes info on what was going on. Unfortunately it seems that between confusion around some aspects of the launch, and some deliberate misinformation, some of you have been given the wrong impression and I want to clear some things up. The inception of TALES was the communitys own desire for us to continue expanding Survival Mode, which weve done with free updates over the past 8+ years of development. Between Episode Five work and other new projects at the studio, there are many things our team can be working on, and it no longer made sense for us to continue putting out free updates to Survival. But we knew there was interest in us continuing to expand Survival, so we put together various potential plans, one of which was to launch a 12-month update campaign that would bring back some of the energy and buzz of our original Early Access. Its an experiment, as weve often said. Since our players have received free updates for so long, it was important to us that we continued to provide some amount of free content alongside the new paid content, because we know not everyone is in the position to spend more money on the game. We also didnt want the base game to start to feel too outdated compared to the paid stream in TALES. So we planned dual update streams -- one paid, one free -- that would launch simultaneously. The paid updates are entirely optional. Weve never telegraphed too much about what would go into our free updates, and for TALES we wanted to maintain that same strategy because its allowed every update to feel like a big exciting moment that our players can celebrate together. But we knew that for TALES, as a paid product, wed have to provide a bit more info so people would know what theyd eventually be getting, so we set out a Roadmap that outlines what will be included over the course of the entire 12-month campaign. All through our communications around the expansion, weve been clear that the full Roadmap would be released gradually over the 12 months, with new content dropping every 8-10 weeks. In order to be able to embark on this update campaign, we needed to split the Survival and Story parts of the game, because over the years the testing burden of having to review all the Story episodes, every part of Survival, all the Challenges, etc. has made it very difficult to update things frequently, or quickly. And since we had to split the game anyway, we thought this might also be a good opportunity to offer a stand-alone Survival Edition to new players, which could later on be updated with the WINTERMUTE episodes via DLC, for anyone who wanted both parts of the game. This way, you could get into THE LONG DARKs Survival Mode for a lower price point, and not pay for Story if you didnt want it. All through communicating this process, weve been super clear also that anyone who bought THE LONG DARK before Mondays launch, would continue to have both Survival and Story, and would still get Episode Five (included in the price) at launch. Same for anyone who buys THE LONG DARK moving forward. You only pay for WINTERMUTE if you want to upgrade the SURVIVAL EDITION, and again, its entirely optional. On Monday, we made a mistake, and a few unexpected things also happened. The combination of those things meant that we confused a lot of people, and it seemed like we had gone back on promises Id made. The mistake was releasing an incomplete game package to Steam when we launched at 10AM on Monday. This meant that as soon as players started updating the game, they got a failed package (it was missing some important files) and the game crashed. We realized the mistake immediately, worked to fix the package, and verified it internally, and then released the fixed package to Steam. So the crash issue existed for about an hour, between the initial launch and the moment where we were able to get the fixed package out. We also requested that people restart Steam, or restart their machines, because often this forces Steam to get the latest game update, and without that we couldnt verify if people were struggling with the initial crash wed caused, or some other issue in the game. Unfortunately, quite a bit of damage had already been done at that point, with thousands of the first players encountering the crash bug, and many of them going straight to Steam to write negative reviews. Most people, upon restarting Steam, were able to get the corrected update and the crash was resolved. Simultaneous with this crash, we discovered -- to our surprise -- that our Survival Edition SKU, which was meant to be a standalone $19.99 version of Survival Mode that could be updated via DLC to include WINTERMUTE, was instead set up as an Edition on the TLD Steam page. An Edition in this sense is a different version of the base app. It doesnt get its own Steam page, and so all the material wed prepared -- screenshots, copy, infrographics, etc. -- to help communicate how the SURVIVAL EDITION and WINTERMUTE DLC fit into the overall plan, and how it was different from THE LONG DARK (combined Survival + Story) was missing. And to anyone who came to the TLD page, it would look like they had the option to purchase WINTERMUTE DLC. Many people interpreted this to mean that we were asking them to re-purchase WINTERMUTE -- which we had said over and over would not be the case. It was a misunderstanding, caused by a mistake in how the SURVIVAL EDITION product was set up, but again, people were understandably confused, and some were angry and felt we had misled them. I apologize for this mix-up and take full responsibility for it. We spent a lot of time on Monday -- through our community team -- in Steam and the various forums and social channels, the support team, and on my own Twitter account, to try to clarify these things, to reach as many people as we could. We appreciate everyone who approached this moment with patience, and also regret that we inadvertently caused the initial crash. Were still working with Valve to try to remedy the issues with the store page. Besides those two issues, and some other bugs we discovered over the first couple of days of launch -- ex. local settings being reset which put the game back to Low-quality settings, or reset of Autowalk, a change in the radial due to the addition of the new Tool Variants, etc. -- we also found that some very old Steam packages, going back to Kickstarter Backers, or the 2015 BAFTA Awards judges package, hadnt been given the proper WINTERMUTE entitlements, and so for those players it appeared they no longer had access to WINTERMUTE. This reinforced the fear that we were asking people to repurchase the Episodes. This issue has since been fixed, but if you have bought WINTERMUTE a second time, please request a refund. Within the first 24 hours of launch, the team released 3 hotfixes, and we had the crash (fixed in the first hour) and most other game issues resolved within the first few days. There are also some other minor issues trickling in that the team is working to fix before the studio shuts down for the holidays. If you encounter issues, please consider reporting them to our Support Portal, so the team there can help you out. Again, I apologize for the launch issues. This isnt the way we wanted things to go after preparing for more than a year, which included splitting the game into two and rebuilding the entire foundation from scratch, making other global changes to the base game (ex. loot respawn), adding the structure that will enable us to add paid content to the game, adding the additional SURVIVAL EDITION and WINTERMUTE products, as well as the huge new region plus transitions, the other new features and content we added in the Paid and Free streams of Part One of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. Weve learned a lot in this first week, and were confident that the release of PART TWO, as well as the console launches in the new year, will go more smoothly for all of you. I hope this information provides a bit of insight into what happened last week. Again, Im sorry to anyone impacted by the launch issues, and well work hard to earn back your trust. We hope those of you who chose to join us in the FAR TERRITORY are finding things they like in it so far, and were excited to roll out the subsequent Parts based on the Roadmap over 2023. - Raph

[ 2022-12-13 00:24:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survivors, thank you for your ongoing feedback and patience as we continue to make improvements following the release of our first Expansion Pass, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. A more comprehensive change list is still on its way, however, we have released the v2.04 (105814) Hotfix to address an issue in THE LONG DARK. GENERAL FIXES

• Fixed issue where items appeared in the incorrect location in the Radial Menu.

For more information, please visit the Expansion Pass FAQ: https://www.thelongdark.com/expansion/faq/ Thank you for your ongoing patience and support. Please remember to visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2022-12-10 00:53:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

KNOWN ISSUES - TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Hi, Survivors! Following the recent Expansion Pass Update, which included both paid and free content, we are now able to provide faster Hotfixes for THE LONG DARK. This is very exciting, and we want to make sure you can still find relevant info quickly and easily as we continue to work to improve your experience in the Far Territory. Please refer back to this post for the latest information on recent Hotfixes and Known Issues. As a reminder, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY has not yet launched on consoles. For more information on when TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY will be available on your chosen platform, please visit the Expansion Pass FAQ. RECENT HOTFIXES Hotfix v 2.04 (10574) (Dec 7) Today's fixes listed below are for Steam PC/Linux and Epic Games Store PC.

• Fixed objects and textures appearing at lower resolution than intended when the game detail is set to "Low." Low-resolution textures can also be manually addressed by re-applying High or Ultra visual settings, which might have been reverted in the Expansion Pass Update.
• Fixed an issue where TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY did not initialize correctly for some players when launching on Steam.
• Fixed a number of locations in the Airfield Region and Long Rail Transition where players could become stuck.
• Fixed an issue where items spawned unintentionally in Memento Caches on Interloper games. Items will consistently spawn correctly on new games.

Hotfix v2.03 (105666) (Dec 6, 2022)

• Epic Games Store (PC) - Fixed an issue where new rifle variants appeared lined up inside a trailer by Carter Hydro Dam in the new Updated Survival Mode.

Hotfix v2.03 (105581) (Dec 5, 2022)

• Steam (PC) - Fixed an issue where new rifle variants appeared lined up inside a trailer by Carter Hydro Dam in the new Updated Survival Mode.

KNOWN ISSUES AND TECHNICAL FAQ - TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Please note that this list is not exhaustive. However, if you encounter issues and do not see your concern listed, please reach out to us via the Support Portal. PLAYERS UNABLE TO LAUNCH WINTERMUTE ON STEAM Players who purchased THE LONG DARK prior to the Expansion Pass Update should still have WINTERMUTE. From your Steam library, please right-click on THE LONG DARK and select properties > DLC. Ensure WINTERMUTE is selected, and restart the Steam application via the tray icon in the lower right. This should fix the issue. If you continue to encounter issues, please reach out to Steam for additional support. AUTOWALK NO LONGER WORKS Some players may have found their settings changed after updating, which deactivates the Autowalk setting. To re-enable this setting, please visit Options > Accessibility > Autowalk > Enable, and verify that the Autowalk key binding is set correctly under Options > Key Bindings. LOW-RESOLUTION OBJECTS Some players have reported that objects have notably low resolution. We are currently investigating this issue. As a temporary workaround, please manually adjust your graphics settings to "Medium" or higher, and then restart the application. Graphic settings can be found in the Main Menu or the Pause Menu, under Options > Quality. Quality settings can be adjusted at the top of the Quality Menu. CACHES ON INTERLOPER CONTAIN INCORRECT ITEMS Dis-allowed objects are spawning in error in some containers on Interloper. We have found a resolution for this issue and we will provide more information on a fix in an upcoming Hotfix. PREVIOUS SURVIVAL AND CHALLENGE SAVES HAVE BECOME INACCESSIBLE As a reminder, previous Survival saves WILL NOT work with the game once it has been updated. This is true even if a player does not purchase the Expansion Pass. Players can, however, continue to use current Save Games on an older version of THE LONG DARK on Steam, using the Time Capsule feature. Please note that since the Time Capsule uses an older version of THE LONG DARK, you won't have access to any of the new content or enhancements that are going into both the Base Game, and the Expansion Pass. For more information, please visit the latest Dev Diary and the Expansion Pass FAQ. MAC BUILD ERROR MESSAGE Please note that the Mac build isn't currently live for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and Mac players should not attempt to download the update. If the game auto-updated on Mac and you are currently experiencing issues, we suggest reinstalling THE LONG DARK and restarting Steam. For more information on the Mac build, please visit our recent post. THE LONG DARK DOES NOT DISPLAY ON MULTIPLE MONITOR SETUPS Following the Update, when a player with multiple displays attempts to launch The Long Dark, the application will only display on a single monitor, regardless of the Display Number setting in THE LONG DARK, or the primary monitor setting in Windows/Nvidia Control Panel. We continue to work on this issue and we will provide more information as soon as it is available. THANK YOU Thank you for your patience, and thank you for playing! We will continue to update this post as more information becomes available. For additional assistance with technical issues, please reach out to us via the Support Portal: hinterlandgames.com/support

[ 2022-12-07 04:01:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survivors, thank you for your patience as we navigate the release of our first Expansion Pass, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. We can confirm that a more comprehensive change list is coming, however, we have released the v2.03 (105581) Hotfix to address a couple of key issues in the new Expansion. GENERAL FIXES

• Fixed an issue where new rifle variants appeared lined up inside a trailer by Carter Hydro Dam in the new Updated Survival Mode.

MORE INFORMATION

• Please note that if you previously purchased THE LONG DARK, you will not need to re-purchase WINTERMUTE. If WINTERMUTE is not showing up in your library on Steam, please right-click on Properties for THE LONG DARK, ensure WINTERMUTE is selected, and restart Steam.
• Please note that the Mac build isn't currently live for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and Mac players should not attempt to download the update.
• As a reminder, your previous Survival saves WILL NOT work with the game once it has been updated. This is true even if you don't buy the Expansion Pass. You will, however, be able to continue to use your current Save Games on an older version of the game on Steam, using our Time Capsule feature. Since this is an older version, you won't have access to any of the new content or enhancements that are going into both the Base Game, and the Expansion Pass.

For more information, please visit the Expansion Pass FAQ: https://www.thelongdark.com/expansion/faq/ Thank you for your ongoing patience and support. Please remember to visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

[ 2022-12-06 06:06:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survivors, its time to start your adventures in the Far Territory. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is available now on Steam. Purchase and download the Expansion today and start exploring Part One: Forsaken Airfield! Part One introduces the brand-new Airfield Region, featuring plenty of open space, a Control Tower, and new mysteries waiting to be explored. For more great details, watch the Part One Update Video below: [previewyoutube=GHM3vOcqvT8;full][/previewyoutube] Releasing in multiple Parts over the course of a 12-month campaign, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY includes both paid updates for those who own the Expansion Pass, and free updates for anyone who owns THE LONG DARK (or SURVIVAL EDITION). Updates are currently planned for release every 8-10 weeks. Thank you for your ongoing support, Survivors. We are very excited to share this new adventure with you. For more information, including details on availability, pricing, and the full planned content Roadmap, please visit the official Expansion Pass website: https://www.thelongdark.com/expansion/

[ 2022-12-05 18:05:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survivors, we are looking forward to launching the upcoming Expansion Pass, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. Thank you for your support, your excitement, and for adding it to your Wishlists. Unfortunately, we have encountered an issue with the Unity engine that impacts only the Mac build of THE LONG DARK. We are working with Unity to resolve the issue, but this means that TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, and the free updates to THE LONG DARK, will not be available for Mac on December 5th. Although we cannot provide a firm date at this time, we do not currently expect that this Unity issue will be resolved before the Holidays. Our current ETA for the Mac version is early January. We will provide an update as the situation unfolds. We understand this is disappointing, and we will do everything we can to ensure that the update is available on Mac as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience and understanding, and thank you for your support!

[ 2022-11-30 23:30:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Survivors, mark your calendars and get ready to expand your adventures in the Quiet Apocalypse. TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY launches on Steam on December 5th, 2022. Look ahead at fantastic upcoming content in the campaign Roadmap, and don't miss the full trailer below, featuring a glimpse at new Regions, new Gameplay, and new objective-based Tales. [previewyoutube=xuf9HnNsNYI;full][/previewyoutube] TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is the first paid expansion pass for Survival Mode in THE LONG DARK.Releasing in multiple drops over the course of a 12-month campaign, the expansion will significantly add to the world of Great Bear Island and the games core Survival foundation. Want to be notified at launch? Add TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY to your Steam Wishlist, and don't forget to visit the officialExpansion Passwebsite for answers to Frequently Asked Questions, updated info, and more.

[ 2022-11-23 18:05:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's almost here, Survivors. Don't miss your opportunity to add TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY to your Wishlist, and be the first to experience the first paid expansion pass for Survival Mode in THE LONG DARK!
Handheld Shortwave Releasing in multiple drops over the course of a 12-month campaign, TFTFT significantly adds to the world of Great Bear Island and the games core Survival foundation, with new Regions, new Gameplay, and new objective-based Tales. Specific additions coming in the Paid stream include:

• Three new Regions: Airfield, Mine, Mountain Pass
• Three new Tales: Narrative Challenges that reveal mysteries of the Far Territorys strange history.
• New Gameplay Systems: Electrostatic Fog, Insomnia, Handheld Shortwave, Travois, Trader, Safehouse Customization, and more!
• New Clothing and Food items, and Rare Tool variants.
• 20+ minutes of new Survival music.
• ...and much more.

Forsaken Airfield "Deep along the spine of Great Bear tracks a steep mountain range that bisects the island. This is the Far Range, an imposing wall of rock that stands vigilant over Great Bears priceless resource riches. Over the decades, many have tried, few have succeeded to crack open the wealth within these rocks. And mysteries abound. Dark stories told around campfires, about abandoned mines and remote airfields that hold many secrets. Now, with the aurora blazing across the sky, is the Far Territory ready to surrender its stories? Will you survive long enough to wrest any truths from the rocky grasp of this old, dark territory?"
Oak Trees The full Roadmap for the Expansion Pass will be available at www.thelongdark.com/expansion in the lead-up to the December launch. Please keep in mind that teaser images include content that will be released throughout the 12-month campaign. Features and content added to the Expansion are subject to development realities, and may change over time.
Vaughn's Rifle For more great information, including what is included, pricing, and more, please refer to the FAQ on our website.

Don't wait add TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY to your Wishlist today and get ready to start your next great adventure in the Quiet Apocalypse!

[ 2022-11-17 19:07:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, Thanks for your patience as I put this dev diary together. It took a while. As youll see below, there is a lot of information to share, and we wanted to make sure we crossed all our Ts and dotted all our Is before we put it in front of you. First thing, thoughIm excited to reveal the title and key art for the first Expansion Pass content for THE LONG DARK. We call it, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY.
Plus, check out the teaser trailer below: [previewyoutube=pc47uXSOLEY;full][/previewyoutube] TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is the first paid content for THE LONG DARK since we launched on Steam Early Access back in 2014. Those of you who read my dev diaries or follow me or Hinterland on Twitter know weve been considering ways to create a more long-term sustainable model for ongoing Survival Mode improvements, and in my last dev diary I hinted at the form this might take. Since sharing that info, weve had more time to refine our thinking and planning, and so today Im proud to be able to share the results. But first -- the obligatory marketing blurb: Deep along the spine of Great Bear tracks a steep mountain range that bisects the island. This is the Far Range, an imposing wall of rock that stands vigilant over Great Bears priceless resource riches. Over the decades, many have tried, few have succeeded to crack open the wealth within these rocks. And mysteries abound. Dark stories told around campfires, about abandoned mines and remote airfields that hold many secrets. Now, with the aurora blazing across the sky, is the Far Territory ready to surrender its stories? Will you survive long enough to wrest any truths from the rocky grasp of this old, dark territory? Makes you feel cold just reading about it. WHAT IS THE EXPANSION PASS? The Far Territory is our first attempt to expand the world of Great Bear Island with something entirely new. To get there, you must take a long and treacherous journey along abandoned railway lines, tunnel systems, and caverns, to get to the hub region that then connects to three other large regions. Well be revealing this new part of Great Bear Island to you over the course of the 12-month Expansion Pass campaign. Some of the things you can expect to see added in TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY include:

• Three new Regions, connected by the long travel zones and hub region. The first of these Regions, Forsaken Airfield, and the travel zones all launch with the Expansion Pass. The other two Regions will be released over the course of the 12-month campaign.
• Three Tales, narrative-themed Challenges that take place within your Survival game, each revealing insights into the Far Territorys mysterious history.
• New gameplay systems including: Transponder, Travois, Safehouse Customization, Trader, Complex Recipes for Cooking, and new Item Variants. Well share more info about each of these features on the larger Expansion Pass site well be launching closer to release.
• 20+ minutes of new Survival music (10+ minutes included in the first Drop).

And much more... WHAT ABOUT FREE UPDATES? In addition to the huge amount of new content and features going into the paid Expansion Pass, we will also continue making meaningful free updates with new systems, content, and improvements to the base Survival Mode, including:

• Full global loot and wildlife refresh. Weve redone all the loot tables, all the pre-placed loot, and rebalanced the loot economy across the entire game. The Resource refresh will go live for all players when the Expansion launches, and the full Wildlife refresh will come some time next year.
• Visor Notes. Youll be able to find notes under visors (and other locations) that point to supply caches and other useful things, hidden all over the world.
• New First-Person animations. Weve added a whole bunch of new animations for harvesting actions, and more.
• Thermos. You know to keep your drinks warm.
• Visual enhancements (focused on high-end systems).
• Burdock, a new edible plant.
• Improvised Crampons, so you can make them yourself. Watch those ankles!
• ...and a range of enhancements to existing systems.

Please keep in mind these are just partial lists. Well share a more complete list as we approach launch, but this should give you a sense of the scope of the Expansion Pass, and some of the other things well be doing to keep the game fresh for all our players. All of these updates will be released in content drops, with our goal being to release a new Drop every 8-10 weeks. This cadence is pretty aggressive in comparison to how weve been updating the game since we started releasing Episodes, but with the major changes we made to the games structure, splitting Story and Survival into two separate games, and other pipeline and workflow improvements the team has implemented during the last year or so, we are in a much better place to deliver frequent, meaningful updates to Survival like we did in the earlier years of the project. And were very excited to be getting back to that! Well be releasing a full roadmap for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on our Expansion Pass site closer to launch, and well share the link here, on our social channels, in the forums, and to our mailing list. HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY will be priced at $19.99 USD at launch. (Your pricing might be different depending on where you are buying in the world, as we do our best to price sensitively accounting for the power of your local currency.) There will be a bundle option that lets you save a bit of money if you already own THE LONG DARK. At the midway point the price will go up by $5, to reflect that more of the content is available. At the end of the 12-month campaign, well increase the price by $5 again, to $29.99. So, the best time to buy TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is at launch, but if you prefer to wait until the end of the campaign to see how all the content and features turned out, you can certainly do that! We wont be sunsetting or vaulting the content afterwards, so your purchase will be protected over the long term. NEW SKUS This wont affect most people reading this as you already own THE LONG DARK, and nothing about your ownership will change. You will keep everything you have, and you will still get all five WINTERMUTE episodes including Episode Five when it unlocks sometime in late 2023 (current target; subject to change). Since we have split the game between Survival and Story Modes, we were able to create a standalone Survival-only version of the game, and so along with the release of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, we will also launch a new Survival Edition, which comes in at a lower price point and only includes Survival Mode. We look at it as an entry point into THE LONG DARK. From Survival Edition, you can get the WINTERMUTE Episodes as DLC, and/or you can buy TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. And if you want it all, youll be able to purchase the QUIET APOCALYPSE BUNDLE.
Basically, we are trying to create as many good options for our customers as possible, both creating opportunities for new players to come in at different price points, and also protecting our existing players investments and experience of THE LONG DARK. We think this is part of nurturing the ongoing growth of THE LONG DARK as a game, and as an important part of Hinterlands business moving forward. We also hope to use these changes as an opportunity to test and learn new things about how we might launch and support future games at Hinterland. SAVE COMPATIBILITY Unfortunately, your current Survival saves WILL NOT work with the game once it has been updated. This is true even if you dont buy the Expansion Pass. The reason for this is that weve made many changes to the Save system, and the underlying architecture of the game itself, to improve, future-proof, and optimize it, and these changes mean that all old saves (meaning from a version of THE LONG DARK from before the Expansion Pass launch) will be incompatible with the new Save format. A few more clarifying points:

• All unlocked Feats, Feats progress, and Achievements will be carried over to the Expansion Pass and updated Survival Mode. You will not lose these!
• All previous WINTERMUTE save files and general episode unlocks will continue to work in the updated Story Mode.

For anyone who has the game on Steam, you will be able to continue to use your current Save Games on an older version of the game, using our Time Capsule feature. Youll be able to keep your old save games going using the older Time Capsule build (any build before the Expansion Pass release, actually). But since this is an older version, you wont have access to any of the new content or enhancements that are going into both the Base Game, and the Expansion Pass. Our recommendation is that if you have a Survival run youd like to finish up, try to do so before the Expansion Pass launches. If you want to continue playing it, you can do so using Time Capsule. But youll only get to experience the new content, any of the improvements and optimizations, by creating a new game using the updated foundation that comes with the Expansion Pass release. Unfortunately, Steam is the only platform we can offer the Time Capsule feature on. Players on other platforms will want to complete their in-progress Survival runs, then start new games when the game gets updated at the Expansion Pass launch. We understand that this isnt ideal. Unfortunately, we havent made many changes to the Save system in many years, and weve found players having a growing number of issues with old saves due to this. The clean-up was necessary for the future growth of THE LONG DARK and for the quality of game experience for all our players, and although we know some of you will be upset at having to abandon your saves, were hopeful that you will find excitement in the idea of starting fresh and experiencing the early phases of a Survival adventure all over again. WHEN IS IT LAUNCHING? Well share the launch date in the coming weeks, but you can expect TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY to launch on Steam and Epic Game Store in December. WHAT ABOUT OTHER PLATFORMS? Were focused on the Steam and Epic Game Store launches for this year, with Xbox and PlayStation coming in late-January/early-February, and Switch coming sometime in March. Other smaller stores and platforms will be added as were able. Why the delay? Since its so much easier and quicker for us to update the game on Steam and Epic, were focusing on them so that when we come back after the holidays, well be ready to submit the game to the console platforms for release. So much has changed about the fundamental structure of the game, we just felt safer launching on a more limited number of platforms at first, in case any issues arise. Well do our best to keep the timing gap between platforms as short as possible. WISHLIST NOW! If you like what youve seen here, we encourage you to Wishlist the Expansion Pass so that you get a notification when it goes live later this year. Well also be running a pre-order campaign closer to launch. EPISODE FIVE We havent forgotten about Episode Five! Were focusing our communications bandwidth on educating and promoting TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY for now, but after it launches and the Expansion Pass campaign is underway, well provide an update on our plans for wrapping up WINTERMUTE. Its been a big story so far with a lot of threads to tie up, so Episode Five is going to be substantial. Already feeling sad to leave the story of Mackenzie, Astrid, the hardcase, Perseverance Mills, and the rest of it, but all good things must come to an end. WHAT ABOUT HALLOWEEN? Weve been so busy rebuilding the game to accommodate the split, and adding all the content and features going into the first Expansion Pass Drop, that unfortunately we just couldnt also make time to prepare anything cool for Halloween this year. Sorry about that. THE LONG DARK PLAYER COUNT UPDATE Its been a little while since we shared player counts for THE LONG DARK. Here are the latest cumulative numbers, platform by platform. (Weve rounded the numbers a bit.)

• Steam (paid): 4,000,000
• Xbox (paid): 750,000
• Xbox Game Pass (subscription): 2,000,000
• PlayStation (paid): 500,000
• PlayStation+ (subscription): 1,300,000
• Switch (paid): 68,000
• WeGame (paid): 125,000
• Epic Game Store (combo paid + give-away): 1,500,000+

That brings the total player count for THE LONG DARK to over 10 Million Players. We also have over 1 Million players actively playing the game every month, and were excited to see this monthly active player number go up even more as a result of the Expansion Pass rejuvenating player excitement for Survival Mode. Its pretty exciting for us to see these numbers for our quiet little (very) solo Survival experience. Thanks for all your support and being part of making this happen. NEW PROJECTS As mentioned in the last Dev Dairy, Ive stepped back from daily leadership of THE LONG DARK to focus on Hinterlands next games. Were working on some exciting new things and I cant wait to share some early news some time next year. THANKS! Thanks for reading all this, and for your ongoing support of Hinterland and your interest in what were making for you. Hopefully you found some stuff in this dev diary that gets you excited about the future of THE LONG DARK, and Hinterland in general. We cant wait to share more details of all the various things were working on in the studio. Until then, keep your eyes on our various communications channels including our Official Community and our Mailing List, and if you think the Expansion Pass sounds interesting, we encourage you to Wishlist Here. More news soon! - Raphael For further discussion on TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, please visit the dedicated discussion thread.

[ 2022-10-20 20:08:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, Note: We are still receiving reports that the Brightness Slider is not working on PS4/PS5. We are investigating this complex issue and will share an update as soon as one is available. We just released our v2.01 (98664) Quality of Life Update for The Long Dark. This update includes some significant bug fixes, along with game and performance improvements. Please note that it may take time to update across all platforms. Thank you for your patience and support. We look forward to sharing more information about future updates and other exciting news about The Long Dark in a Dev Diary toward the end of September. Please remember to visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). USER INTERFACE

• [UI] Fixed an issue that prevented the Surveyed Locations from displaying the correct number of locations when viewed in the Journal.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that prevented the Voice Audio slider from responding correctly when adjusted in Audio Options.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused the subtitles to appear underneath the Radial Menu, preventing players from being able to read the subtitles.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused the Manage Data button (found under Privacy -> Options) to link incorrectly to Unitys Cloud Analytics.
• [UI] Added a check to the Fire Starting Menu to prevent players from being able to open the menu if they do not have all of the items required.

SURVIVAL

• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused Carcasses to decay at an accelerated rate.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that prevented players from lighting torches from a lit Stove or Rim Grill.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that allowed players to duplicate Matches by adding a stack to a container, while a Match is lit.

WINTERMUTE ** Please note that this section contains spoilers for WINTERMUTE. **

• [EP 3] Trauma: Fixed an issue that caused a corrupted save game if the game was saved immediately after the first conversation with Father Thomas.
• [EP 4] Donner: Fixed an issue that prevented players from progressing past the planks after the rooftop escape sequence after receiving the call from Jace and retrieving the Hard Case. This should also retroactively fix the issue for players who are currently stuck.
• [EP 4] Donner: Fixed the interaction tag on the Prison Gate to prevent it from sometimes appearing below the gate.
• [EP 4] The Detonators: Fixed an issue that would cause an item being held by the Player to be duplicated after triggering the Mine Collapse cinematic.

PLAYSTATION 4

[HDR] Fixed an issue that prevented the game from enabling HDR mode on HDR-enabled devices. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2022-08-23 17:00:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

April Developer Diary -- The Future of The Long Dark In a couple of months, itll have been ten years since I submitted the incorporation documents for Hinterland Studio Inc. and the company became a real business. I guess that milestone has me in a pretty pensive mood as I write this. Ten years is a good amount of time for a game company to exist. I look back at photos of my basement home-office, to the various studio spaces weve grown into and then outgrown, to now looking around at my non-basement home office and big screens with 60+ people Zoom calls, and I reflect back on the journey that has gotten us to this point. I look at the mix of faces I see looking back at me on that screen during our team Town Hall meetings. All kinds of different people with all kinds of different backgrounds. Every one of them a wonderful human being who is putting their heart and soul into Hinterland, to help create experiences for you, our players, and, in our own way, trying to shift the medium a little more towards thoughtfulness. A ten-year anniversary seems like the right moment to talk about the future. Whats Next for The Long Dark For those of you who know your TLD (and Hinterland) history, you may recall we announced The Long Dark with a Kickstarter (one of the first to use CAD!) in the fall of 2013, and followed up with a Steam Early Access launch of our sandbox mode in September 2014. For the next few years, we continued to expand and evolve the sandbox portion of the game (adding Xbox via Game Preview in 2015) while we also slowly built out the first parts of WINTERMUTE, our story mode. We launched our TLD 1.0 with Episodes One and Two of WINTERMUTE in August 2017 (adding PlayStation), then re-released the Redux versions at the end of 2018, followed by Episode Three in 2019, Switch in 2020, and Episode Four in October of last year. In between, we continued to update the sandbox portion of the game, which we renamed to Survival Mode. Somehow, along the way, we managed to build a community of nearly 10-million players. Without you, The Long Dark, and Hinterland, would very likely not be here today. When we launched our Kickstarter back in 2013, I promised that all backers would receive the five planned episodes of our story mode for the backing price, a promise we carried over to our Early Access and Game Preview backers. Meanwhile, our plan was to incrementally update the games foundational Survival Mode and align those updates (generally) with features and content we knew we wanted to include in later episodes (sometimes we did the opposite and introduced new features or content into Episodes which later found their way into Survival), and to keep players engaged in between the episodes. But this early 2013 backer promise meant that we have updated the game for free ever since we launched it, despite the fact that the games scope grew with its success and each episode represented a lot more effort and time than we had originally intended. (Keep in mind that our plan for TLD with the Kickstarter was a ~10-hour narrative-driven survival game and no freeform sandbox. Now, each of our episodes can be longer than 10 hours and the sandbox is now one of the biggest available within the entire genre of open-world games.) Aside from the fact that its important to live up to your promises, I think this free updates paradigm has resulted in a lot of good will with you, our players, and has hopefully strengthened our relationship and your loyalty to us as a team and studio. So, were really happy about this initial promise and were happy to have been able to go above and beyond to deliver on this over the past several years. But it hasnt been easy. One of the challenges of supporting both Survival and Story modes in The Long Dark has always been managing our resources to sustain both. Delivering WINTERMUTE was a promise, an obligation, but continuing to support Survival Mode was a choice. We did it to ensure our Survival players didnt feel neglected while we worked on the story episodes, but as a result, some of the magic that drove the early years of The Long Darks success, and the growth of the game and the community, was lost. We werent able to update Survival as frequently, as our studio focus was necessarily split between both modes, and these frequent updates were a big part of what helped the game take off. Last year we ran a community poll, asking how you would like us to dedicate our focus for the future of The Long Dark. Amongst other bits of useful feedback, we discovered that nearly 80% of you wanted us to begin producing paid expansion content for Survival Mode. Weve always felt fortunate that theres been a core group of you that have been asking us to start charging for content for a while now, but this was the strongest indication of what our players wanted us to prioritize for The Long Dark. Unfortunately, updating Survival mode with paid DLC is not that simple. Due to the decisions we made early in the projects inception, the games survival foundation has been inextricably linked to the story mode, and the story mode has been completely dependent on the core survival game. This has meant that over time, as the game has increased in scope and complexity, with new mechanics, new regions, new challenges, and new episodes, the game has become...unwieldy. Every update requires the entire game to be re-tested. Systems, content, and code have their roots deep into both parts of the game. Our testing times have gone from maybe a week per update (in the projects early years), to more than a month per update. The deep interrelationship between mechanics and content between the two modes has also meant some updates we would have liked to make in one area, couldnt really be done because of how they might impact the other. In short, the game has just become too big for us to maintain well. To address this, the team has been hard at work since we launched Episode Four, to decouple Survival and Story from each other. Its been a huge amount of work, involving careful separation of content but in some cases also the wholesale refactoring of code and entire systems. The good news is that we are now at the point where Survival Mode runs as a standalone experience, with no linkage back to Story mode. What this means is that we can now update Survival independently of Story. Updating will be easier, and faster. Testing will be simpler and more streamlined. And it means we can make changes and improvements specifically for Survival, without any concern about how they might impact WINTERMUTE. The opposite will also soon be true. The WINTERMUTE episodes will be completely separated from Survival, and when we update to Episode Five, well be able to do that without concern for how it might impact (or be impacted) by Survival. This also means that the WINTERMUTE episodes can potentially receive targeted updates without concern for how those changes might impact Survival Mode. This process has been a ton of work for the team, and unfortunately its all behind-the-scenes work to the extent that you are probably asking yourself but how does this impact me? Well, how it impacts you is that the split opens the door to a whole new era of Survival Mode content updates that will bring new life and new energy back into The Long Dark. It doesnt change anything about content you already own, and everyone who owns The Long Dark (on all our supported platforms) will still get Episode Five when it releases. And this split means we can finally deliver on your request that we start producing paid content for Survival Mode. So thats what were doing. Later this year, well be launching a paid update path for Survival Mode. This will be the first paid content weve added to The Long Dark (apart from our soundtracks) since we launched it nearly 8 years ago. Were still working through the details of the roadmap and our release plans, but I can tell you this much with a high degree of confidence:

• Itll be some kind of season pass-type approach (actual name TBD), where we have a ~15-18 month campaign of updates that unlock for anyone who has purchased the pass. The updates will come on a regular cadence over the course of that period.
• The pass will include a combination of content and gameplay system updates, including new regions, new challenges, new mechanics, etc., as well as general improvements and updates to core systems in the game.
• Additionally, for anyone who doesnt like the season pass style approach and prefers to only pay for content when its complete, we will re-package the seasons content into 3-4 individual paid DLC packages.
• Were still working on pricing, but the season pass will provide a discount on the combined price of the DLC, and each piece of paid DLC will be very fairly priced.
• We want to make sure our existing players who choose not to buy any more content (or are unable to afford it) are still going to have a great experience of The Long Dark, and wont feel left behind. So well also continue to provide some free updates to the base Survival game, so anyone who doesnt buy the pass will get something. These updates will generally be smaller, more modest improvements compared to what you will see being added to the paid content stream, which seems only fair.

I know that this is a big departure from our history of releasing major updates for free as part of the base price of the game, but we feel that after nearly 8 years of content updates its time for us to put a little more attention around ensuring the game continues to be financially self-sustaining, and the kinds of major improvements and content we want to add to Survival Mode are significant enough and require enough team effort that we just cant justify giving them away for free anymore. We want to ensure The Long Dark can continue to be a vibrant game with a vibrant community, and we think this is a necessary and logical step to supporting that goal well into the future. We also hope that our three-tiered approach will ensure that everyone can get something regardless of their financial circumstances or their comfort level with season pass type solutions. In a way, we see the paid stream almost behaving like a second Early Access, not in the sense that the content isnt polished, but that it brings us back to a cadence of more frequent updates and faster evolution of the base game, without some of the constraints weve been fighting with for the past few years. Well release more information about our plans, and provide some visuals to help communicate our planned roadmap and a simple product matrix well before we launch. There will also likely be a short pre-order period for the pass, on the platforms where such a thing is possible. Currently, we are targeting a launch of the paid stream for the second half of this year. Leadership Changes The Long Dark has sustained Hinterland for nearly a decade. Ive worked on it for nearly a decade. Just like its time for the game to turn to new things, its time for me to do the same. Im handing leadership of The Long Dark to Katie Sorrell, who takes over as Project Lead. Katie is no stranger to TLD or Great Bear Island, having personally designed every region from Pleasant Valley onwards, and having led the development of all our WINTERMUTE episodes as Lead Designer. Not only is Katie a 30-year game design veteran, but shes been my close design collaborator for the past seven years, and I cant think of anyone more qualified, or more suited, to take The Long Dark into the future. I feel so fortunate to have such a strong partner in this game, and so grateful that under Katies leadership, The Long Dark will continue to thrive well into the future. Katie is supported by a fantastic team of leaders and creators on the team across all disciplines, many of whom have also worked on The Long Dark for years, and I know that under her leadership and their steadfast support, The Long Dark is stepping into a new era of exciting growth and innovation. As for me -- its time to move on to new things. Ive put more years into TLD than I initially expected, and while I love the game, its world, and its fans (and it will always occupy a special place in my heart), I need to flex my directing, design, and writing muscles by solving some new creative challenges for Hinterland. Its time to create something new. My final hands-on contribution to The Long Dark is the script for Episode Five, where the WINTERMUTE story is brought to its conclusion. Beyond that, Im heading into a quiet, and hopefully fruitful, creative period so that I can attempt to come up with something that has even greater longevity and impact that The Long Dark has had on you and all of us during these past years. It will be difficult. I hope you will be there to see the results when Im able to share more. I promise this is not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning. Despite this shift in leadership for TLD, I remain the creative director at the studio and I will always have a hand in reviewing and guiding the experiences we make, so this doesnt mean I wont still look at every bit of The Long Dark that goes out the door to you. It just means I wont be driving it in the hands-on way I have been over the past several years. And I think this will be good for the game, good for the team, and allow Hinterland to evolve into a multi-project studio that can thrive and impact the medium positively well into the future. I now turn my thoughts to new horizons, and the next Hinterland decade. Thank you for all the incredible years you have given me, and us, so far. And I hope that I, and the entire team at Hinterland, can continue to count on your support and your fandom, in all the current and future worlds and experiences we create for you. In the next dev diary, well share more details about our plans for the Survival Mode paid stream. Episode Five is also still firmly on our radar; I currently anticipate a 2023 release, but we wont have much to say about that for the rest of this year. Theres a lot of story to tell, and a lot of threads to tidy up, before we close the chapter on the epic survival journey of Mackenzie, Astrid, and the other survivors of the Quiet Apocalypse. Thanks for reading, and until next time, stay safe and see you out there in the snowy wilds of Great Bear Island, where I will be wandering, thinking, and looking to the future. - Raph

[ 2022-04-29 17:30:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We have released our v2.00 (91441) Quality of Life Update for The Long Dark. This update includes some significant bug fixes, along with game and performance improvements. Please note that it may take time to update across all platforms. Thank you for your patience and support. Please remember to visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game, and visit our Forums for a list of Known Issues. For additional news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). A note about the Unity Upgrade: This Quality of Life update includes a major update of the Unity Engine, to version 2019.4.34f1. Updating Unity touches every system we have in the game, and requires the entire game to be tested. Despite our best efforts, it is possible that such a major update to core technology may have unforeseen outcomes. If you experience any bugs or unusual behaviour that you think might be the result of this Unity update, please submit a Bug Report to our Support Portal. Please note that this update will likely impact any mods you may have installed or have created. While we dont provide any official support for mods, please feel free to visit our Mod Forum with any questions and we will monitor questions to help where we can. GENERAL FIXES

• [Update] Updated Unity to 2019.4.34f1
• [Rendering] Fixed an issue that caused excessive Z-Fighting (flickering) to appear on numerous objects and the environment when playing the game on Linux.
• [Rendering] Updated Linux builds to use Vulcan by default.
• [General] Optimized save data to help reduce the overall size of save files.
• [General] Fixed an issue that could cause stuttering or freezes when Lighting a Campfire or Torch.
• [General] Fixed an issue that caused containers that the Player had already searched, to re-randomize their contents.
• [General] Fixed the issue where explosion decals from Noisemakers disappeared between game sessions.
• [Gameplay] Added measures to prevent Players from falling through objects when they wake after sleeping.

USER INTERFACE

• [Map] Fixed an issue that caused the Prepper Caches to appear on the Map, even when the Player hasnt Surveyed that area.
• [UI] Blackrock Region: Fixed an incorrect button icon for the Go Down prompt when using the Elevator found in the Blackrock Mine.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused some text on the Main Menu to render at a lower resolution than expected.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that prevented Players from properly opening the Radial Menu when Steam Input was enabled.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused the Crafting Filter to default to the Ammunition Crafting Filter for all benches, after interacting with the Ammunition Crafting Bench.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused Subtitles and Closed Captions to no longer appear when the Voiceover audio level was set to 0.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that would cause fuel to automatically be added to a fire when accessing the Add Fuel menu with an Xbox Controller.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused item-related warning messages to appear underneath menus when attempting to use them.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused some locations to report as newly discovered when they had already been discovered.
• [UI] Fixed an issue where the Journal displayed the incorrect number of collectable Buffer Memories.
• [UI] Fixed an issue where the Blackrock Region map was missing some roads.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that would cause an empty UI box to appear if the Player pressed Escape when viewing the Cooking Slot menu.

ART FIXES

• [Enviro] General art and environment polish pass on all Regions.
• [Enviro] Fixed numerous locations where bushes and grass would clip through the environment or other objects.
• [Enviro] Fixed a number of floating objects found throughout the world.
• [Enviro] Fixed a small hole found on the interior geometry of cars.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed an issue that caused light effects to appear in the Steam Tunnels during the Aurora, even if there are no electrical items in the area.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed a misaligned water trigger so that Players will no longer drown before reaching the water below the Power Plant entrance.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed numerous locations that provided Players with access to invalid areas of the Region.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed many floating or misplaced objects.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed many issues where items could fall through the world if dropped at certain locations.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed many issues where players could become stuck or fall through the world.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed many issues where snow wasn't being lit correctly.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed an issue that caused some door frames to disappear, allowing Players to unintentionally see through them.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Adjusted the Level of Detail settings in a number of locations to prevent geometry from unsightly popping-in.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed scaling issues with some of the rock facades found throughout the region.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed an issue that prevented the Player from breaking down the Hand Truck found in the Prison Interior.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed an issue that would cause some materials to float after breaking down an object when in the Old Substation.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed a small hole found in the Steam Tunnel geo.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Replaced a static version of the Car Battery found in some vehicles with the correct (interactable) version.
• [Enviro] Blackrock Region: Fixed an issue that would cause Players to sink through the planks found in the Mines if they saved the game and then reloaded while standing on the planks.
• [Enviro] Hushed River Valley: Fixed various Birch Saplings that were placed too deeply in the snow.

SURVIVAL

• [Gameplay] Mountain Town: Fixed an issue that would cause the Key for Paradise Meadows Farm to de-spawn, preventing Players from being able to retrieve it.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused pre-existing Carcasses to decay faster than intended. (Still investigating decay rates for animals killed by Players.)
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused the Ballistic Vests buff to remain active even after the vest was taken off.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that prevented the Noisemaker from exploding if thrown at exactly the same time a struggle starts.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that would cause some items found in the Blackrock Mines to create new stacks when added to inventory, instead of stacking with existing items.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused Noisemakers to become unlit if lit before transitioning through a load screen, resulting in inconsistent fuse burn times.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue where players could interact with containers while holding a lit Noisemaker.
• [Crafting] Fixed an issue where Crampon Repair mistakenly required a Sewing Kit.
• [Crafting] Crafting the Noisemaker will no longer increase your Repair Skill.
• [Crafting] Fixed an issue that allowed Players to craft more Bullets then their current supply of Gunpowder would allow.

WINTERMUTE ** Please note that this section contains spoilers for WINTERMUTE. **

• [EP 2] Fixed an issue that could prevent the Player from being able to open the gate to the Carter Dam.
• [EP 2] Fixed missing dialogue audio when asking Methuselah about Wildlife.
• [EP 4] Fixed a bug that could cause the game to hang or enter other incorrect states if an autosave occurred while a cinematic was playing. This addresses numerous issues including NPCs becoming stuck or the game loading to a black screen.
• [EP 4] Fixed an issue that would cause Players to become stuck in the Suffocating state if they saved and reloaded while suffocating.
• [EP 4] Blackrock Blues: Fixed an issue that prevented Players from being able to climb through the window leading to the Infirmary.

CUSTOM MODE

• [Custom] Fixed an issue so that Voyager and Stalker default difficulty are now correctly set to Random.

CHALLENGE MODES

• [Darkwalker] Fixed an issue that prevented Players from viewing the text warning "Cannot rest when Anxious/Afraid" when suffering from the Anxious/Afraid Affliction.
• [Archivist\As the Dead Sleep] Fixed an issue that would cause locations to incorrectly appear as Surveyed at the start of the Challenge.
• [As the Dead Sleep] Fixed an issue that would cause the Journal to appear corrupted if the challenge ended while the Journal was open.

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2022-04-06 17:07:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Are you waiting for your Steam Deck to arrive, or considering buying one? You'll be happy to know that The Long Dark is Steam Deck verified! Access your Steam library on the go, and use Steam Deck to explore everything the Quiet Apocalypse has to offer. Plus, the Hinterland team has been hard at work on visual and performance improvements on Linux to make your experience on Steam Deck even better.
To learn more, or to reserve your Steam Deck, please CLICK HERE. Great Bear Island is waiting, and there has never been a better time to explore!

[ 2022-02-25 18:00:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, Weve just hotfixed The Long Dark to version 1.99 (87977). This hotfix primarily addresses a potential blocker in Episode Four. Please find the full list below. (NOTE: list may contain spoilers for WINTERMUTE.) Please dont forget to visit our Support Portal for useful articles, or if you need to log an issue. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). WINTERMUTE ** Please note that this section contains spoilers for WINTERMUTE. **

• [Ep 4 - "The Detonators"] Fixed an issue that could cause players to become stuck on a black screen after returning to Blackrock Penitentiary with the Explosives.
• [Ep 4 - "The Detonators"] Fixed an issue where an unintended steam effect could occur after closing the third valve in the Mines.

SWITCH

• [UI] Updated the Main menu to the latest version for PERILOUS CONSTRAINT.
• Please note that the 1.99 update is not yet available for Switch, but we will provide an update as soon as one is available.

[ 2021-12-14 18:00:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Survivors, We just launched our latest update to Survival Mode, called PERILOUS CONSTRAINT. This update includes:

• New to Survival! Blackrock Region added to Survival Mode. It connects to Pleasant Valley via a Transition zone, and to Timberwolf Mountain via a cave system.
• New to Survival! The Noisemaker from Episode Four is now available for crafting and use in Survival Mode. Note that the Blueprint unlocks after you find your first Noisemaker, currently only discoverable in Blackrock Region.
• New to The Long Dark! The Ballistic Vest. Its the first piece of protective gear in the game and offers strong defense against physical harms from wildlife attacks.
• Various quality-of-life improvements, including making Crampons repairable, and a new piece of soundtrack music, along with many bug fixes.

You can check out more information about the update here: [previewyoutube=o7QXyRF2zm4;full][/previewyoutube] Mod Support in 2022 Were setting up a small internal team dedicated solely to supporting Modding and User Generated Content at Hinterland. Our initial focus will be on supporting The Long Dark, but we plan for this to be a long-standing investment in time and resources, and the things we learn and the modding community we build with you, will hopefully become a strong foundation of more things to come in future Hinterland games. As first steps, were setting up a Modding & UGC section of the official Hinterland forums. Well have dedicated focus from our Community team on this area, so please focus your mod discussions here so we can best support you. Weve also set up a new email alias, mods@hinterlandgames.com, which you can use to contact us with any requests or information youd like to share. In the Spring, well be sharing more info about our Creator Hub, which will have documentation, some tools, and other resources for modders, and other types of fan creations for The Long Dark. Until then, well be active in the new Modding & UGC section of the official forums, and well also be proactively reaching out to many of you who have been busy modding the game over the past years. We want to know more about what you need in terms of tool support, documentation, and also to provide you a clear path to communicating with us as we grow this area of The Long Darks community. Survival Mode Updates in 2022 & Beyond Weve been working on a plan for how to tackle ongoing support for Survival Mode between now and Episode Fives launch, and beyond. Ill share more details about our plans in the new year, as there are a lot of technical aspects were still figuring out. But as a high-level direction, based on the guidance weve received from many of you in our player community through our community poll earlier this year -- and after providing nearly over 7 years of free updates to Survival Mode -- our plan is to move to a more sustainable paid update path. One of the first stages were working towards is splitting Story Mode and Survival Mode into two separate games and executables. This wont affect your ownership in any way -- everyone who currently owns The Long Dark will automatically have both games. In fact, depending on how we handle this, the split may be mostly on the back-end and invisible to you as a player. This split is mostly about how we structure content and data in the game on the development side. Until now, Story content has been a layer on top of the core Survival Mode foundation, which has allowed us (over the years) to share the world and mechanics between the two modes, then using tuning variables and a complex system of scene layering to keep the two different experiences separate but relatively cohesive. This was a fantastic decision for us earlier in the project when the game world was smaller and we had less episode content, but as the years have passed its become harder and harder for us to maintain this structure, and we feel its become overly limiting to our ability to continue to grow The Long Dark for the future. One illustrative example of this is that every time we change an element of UI, or a foundational art asset or system that is shared between the modes, we have to then test all the episodes, all the survival mode regions and content, and all the Challenge modes against this change. As a result, over time weve had to spend an increasing amount of effort on testing and validating our existing content and systems every time we want to release something new, and this has prevented us from updating the game as frequently as we would like. Its also limited the kinds of things we can update, and we feel that many of the architecture choices from back in 2014 and onward have now become detrimental to the games growth and evolution in 2021 and beyond. What splitting the game into Story and Survival will mean for us is that well be better able to compartmentalize content, features, cinematics, etc. so that every time we make a change in Survival, we dont have to retest the entirety of the rest of the game, and vice versa. In theory, this should make it easier for us to update the game in the future, both shortening the testing cycle and ensuring it can be more focused on a narrower band of changes. Our belief is that this will help us better maintain the game and ensure a high-quality experience for our players. Well share more details about this split in the new year, and as I said our hope is that for most current players this split will be very behind the scenes. Beyond this, our plan for 2022 and beyond is to introduce some form of a paid update path for Survival Mode. Were still working out the details of this -- and there are many! -- but our primary goal in developing this strategy is to focus on: 1) fairness to our current players, 2) creating multiple entry-points so that players can opt-in depending on what they want and what they can afford, and 3) long-term sustainability for the development team. Part of our update plans also include how to handle next-gen visual enhancements. Thus far the only way to play The Long Dark on Xbox Series X|S, or PlayStation 5, has been through backwards compatibility. We want to create some next-gen native visual enhancements that really capitalize on the greater processing power and memory in the new consoles, and also on high-end PC, but again because of how our game is structured -- and because of how the platforms prefer developers to handle this content -- its been tough to reconcile the dev work required to make these changes with the impact they would have to our bottom line. We think we have a good plan for this and well share more news about our approach and the list of enhancements were tackling at the same time we roll out more details about the paid update path for Survival Mode. And just to be crystal clear -- none of these changes will have any impact on the delivery of Episode Five. This will still be free for all existing customers. If you own The Long Dark, you will not have to pay extra for Episode Five. And speaking of Episodes, in case you missed it, we released Episode Four: Fury, Then Silence, in October. If you havent had a chance to check it out yet, we encourage you to play it over the holidays! [previewyoutube=-AzzG1Iaczw;full][/previewyoutube] Studio Closure As usual for this time of year, the Hinterland team will be enjoying well-deserved rest with loved ones this holiday season, and the studio will be shut down from December 20th to January 3rd. If you run into any issues with the game during that period, and wish to contact us, please use our Support Portal. Please keep in mind that due to being on holiday, our responses might be delayed. Were excited to share more news with you in the new year, but until then, get some rest, stay safe these holidays, enjoy time with your loved ones, and well see you in 2022 to begin a whole new phase of The Long Dark. All the best, and thanks for your support this year. - Raphael ***** The latest update to Survival Mode is called PERILOUS CONSTRAINT v1.98 (87574). This update includes:

• New to Survival: Blackrock Region is now available in Survival Mode. It connects to Pleasant Valley via a Transition zone, and to Timberwolf Mountain via a cave system.
• New to Survival: The Noisemaker from Episode Four is now available for crafting and use in Survival Mode. Please note that the Blueprint unlocks after you find your first Noisemaker, which is currently only discoverable in Blackrock Region.
• New to The Long Dark: The new Ballistic Vest is the first piece of protective gear in the game, offering strong defense against physical harms from wildlife attacks.
• Various quality-of-life improvements, including making Crampons repairable, a new piece of soundtrack music, and many bug fixes.

There are also a couple of known issues affected players should be aware of:

• Please note that on Switch, the Main menu art will not be updated with the release, though the game should still update. Players can verify the correct version via the top left-hand side of the main menu screen v1.98 (86821).
• When attempting to repair the Crampons, you need either the Simple Tools or High Quality Tools item. If you do not have these items, you will receive an error message stating the Sewing Kit is required.

Dont forget to visit our Support Portal for useful articles, or if you need to log an issue. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ART, ENVIRO, and UI

• [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas the player could escape/leave the regular game environment.
• [UI] Fixed an issue in Survival Mode that caused six incorrect Possible Old Bear Locations to appear in the list of Mystery Lake Surveyed Locations.
• [UI] Fixed an issue when using a Controller that caused the Start Fire menu to skip when starting a fire in a Fire Barrel.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that prevented items from appearing in Inspection Mode when the HUD was disabled in Options.
• [UI] Fixed a performance issue that caused the WINTERMUTE menu to become unresponsive when the Player had many save files.

GAMEPLAY

• [General] Updated Feats, so they now always save up completion.

CHALLENGE MODES

• [Darkwalker] Fixed an issue that could prevent the game from saving correctly.

WINTERMUTE ** Please note that this section contains spoilers for WINTERMUTE. **

• [Ep4] Fixed a bug that could cause the game to save in an unloadable state.
• [Ep3] Fixed a bug that caused the UI to disappear after exiting various sequences, such as a phone call or a dialogue sequence.
• [Dialogue] Fixed an issue that caused the text to appear distorted during a dialogue sequence.

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2021-12-07 18:27:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Nominations are open for the 2021 Steam Awards, recognizing some of the best the games industry has to offer. This year, The Long Dark is eligible in one game category: the Labor of Love Award. This award goes to a game that has been out for a while, but continues to grow, improve, and gain new content. If you feel The Long Dark is a good candidate, please consider submitting your nomination by December 1st at 10AM (PST). As a bonus, you can earn Steam badges and up to 100XP for participating in the nomination process. Click HERE to learn more, and to submit your nomination. Thank you for playing, Survivors!

[ 2021-11-25 19:16:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, Weve just hotfixed The Long Dark to version 1.97 [85101]. This hotfix addresses issues that emerged with the launch of Episode Four, addresses certain gameplay bugs, and offers general game improvements. Please find the full list below. (NOTE: list may contain spoilers.) It may take some time for changes to take effect as platforms update. Thank you for your patience. There are two issues in particular affected players should be aware of:

• For any PlayStation players impacted by missing Episode Four Trophies at launch; we have a way to potentially regain your progress. Please visit this page on our support portal for more info.
• [SPOILERS] Episode Four Steam Tunnel puzzle; some players reported that they were unable to open the Control Room door after the ice thawed while solving the Steam Pipe puzzle. If you encountered issues with this puzzle, this document might be helpful.

Dont forget to visit our Support Portal for useful articles, or if you need to log an issue. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). * * * * * GENERAL FIXES

• [Optimization] Fixed a rare issue that would prevent the Players footprints from appearing correctly in certain circumstances.
• [Optimization] Fixed numerous performance hitches, which should result in a smoother play experience.
• [Steam] Updated the Workshop String Table to include all Episode Four strings.

ANIMATION

• [Animation] Numerous tweaks and polish to various mission related animations.
• [Animation] Fixed an issue where certain climbing animations were broken when the FOV was set to maximum.
• [Animation] Fixed an issue where the animation twitched during the Kill/Release choice after catching a Rabbit.
• [Animation] Fixed an issue where Mackenzies arms shook incorrectly when climbing various areas.

ART, ENVIRO, and UI

• [Accessibility] Updated Mature Language Filter to include some lines that were missed.
• [Art] Optimized render distance on various objects found in Episode Four so they will become visible at the appropriate distance from the Player. This will reduce instances of distant objects popping in to the world.
• [Art] Optimized the Steam Tunnels object and lighting draw distance to improve the overall visual quality and performance.
• [Art] Tuned lighting in various interiors and fixed mismatched lighting on objects.
• [Environment] Fixed an issue that caused the walls inside the Radio Hut to remain visible regardless of what room inside the Radio Hut you were in.
• [Environment] Optimized the Mines to ensure the Gas is not drawn when not needed, resulting in performance improvements.
• [Environment] Added some extra collision to the pipes in the Steam Tunnel to prevent the camera from clipping into the pipes.
• [Environment] Fixed a gap found in the doors of the Power Plant.
• [Environment] Fixed large black shadows found on the beds in the Blackrock Prison Infirmary.
• [Environment] Moved the Danger Electric Cables Over-Head warning sign in the Steam Tunnel to make it more visible.
• [Environment] Fixed numerous floating or clipping objects throughout the Blackrock Region.
• [Environment] Fixed an issue where the water splash sound effect was missing when walking through water found in the Abandoned Mine.
• [UI] Fixed an issue in the Journals exit button on the Collections -> Surveyed Locations screen so Players no longer need to change to a different screen to exit.
• [UI] Fixed an issue preventing the Region displayed on the Map from updating correctly when using a cave to transition to a new Region.
• [UI] Fixed an issue where the Mission Status tab would not reflect the state of the current active mission.
• [UI] Tuned the icons on the Map screen so Mission Markers are sorted above other Map Markers.
• [UI] Fixed an issue where the weather could change from the intended calibration preset while adjusting the Brightness in the Main Menu.
• [UI] Fixed an issue where Open Cans can appear as closed when viewed in the Cooking Menu.
• [UI] Fixed unaligned buttons on the Continue to ...? screen that appears after completing an Episode.
• [UI] Updated the Hardcase item description.
• [UI] Updated the icon for Key 8 found in Episode One to a higher quality version.

GAMEPLAY

• [AI] Fixed an issue where Wolves continued to eat carcasses after the carcass is gone.
• [Audio] Added audio ducking to the Marine Flare, so its audio is no longer louder than in-game dialogue.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue where water longer disappeared when clicking the Move All to Container button, then immediately transferring the water back to the container.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue where the Maple Syrup would remain attached to the Player, instead of being removed from the world after being picked up.
• [Gameplay] Sprain Risk is no longer disabled when taking a phone call.

CHALLENGE MODES

• [Darkwalker] Tuned the wait time between placing a Banish Glyph and the Darkwalker appearing. Players should not have to wait extended periods of time, now.
• [Hunted 1/2 and Whiteout] Added Socks to starting inventory.
• [Whiteout] Tuned the mission complete percentage to be more accurate.

WINTERMUTE ** Please note that this section contains spoilers for WINTERMUTE. **

• [Cinematics] Fixed several lighting issues across a range of Episode Four cinematics.
• [Cinematics] Fixed an issue during Chapter 1: Blackrock Blues that could cause the audio in cinematics to no longer align with the animations, if the Player skipped a cinematic.
• [Cinematics] Fixed an issue that would often cause in-game dialogue to be skipped if it was intended to play immediately after a cinematic during Episode Three.
• [Environment] Fixed an issue with the Wolf found near the farm during Episode One so it now feeds on corpses, as intended.
• [Environment] Fixed numerous locations where the Player could either become stuck or escape the map or intended progression route during Episode Four.
• [Episode One] Fixed an issue where Mackenzie would appear without a bandaged hand while picking up the Hardcase.
• [Episode One] Fixed clipping that could occur when climbing out of the Crash Site.
• [Episode One] Fixed an issue that caused the audio for the fires at the Crash Site to continue to play after they had burned out.
• [Episode One] Fixed an issue that would cause the skybox to briefly appear when exiting back to the Main Menu from inside the Grey Mothers House.
• [Episode Two] Fixed overlapping audio that can occur while speaking to Jeremiah.
• [Episode Two] Fixed an issue where the Active Objective UI element would not appear as intended when bringing up the Radial Menu, after getting the Bear Spear during The Best Defense.
• [Episode Two] Tuned the Aurora that occurs during the Return to Dam mission so it will now be fully active, instead of just starting.
• [Episode Three] Fixed an issue that would prevent the Player from being able to progress if they saved the game right before answering the Phone at the burnt-out cabin, then reloaded the save during the Phone Call.
• [Episode Three] Fixed an issue so that removing the fuse now correctly disables both the electrical visual and sound effects during Aftermath.
• [Episode Three] Tuned the mission complete percentage to be more accurate during Forest Talker.
• [Episode Three] HUD will no longer remain disabled after speaking to Molly.
• [Episode Four] Fixed an issue where the final gauge could appear at full pressure when the valves were still incorrectly set during Steam Valve Puzzle #1.
• [Episode Four] Fixed an issue that caused the interaction point on the Valve to shift if the Player entered the tunnels, then returned to the Valves during The Detonators.
• [Episode Four] Fixed an issue where weapons and gear were not confiscated properly after completing The Detonators.
• [Episode Four] Added safeguards to help prevent the Player from dropping the Bolt Cutters into unreachable locations in The Detonators.
• [Episode Four] Fixed an issue that caused the Status bar to flicker prior to returning to gameplay after the cinematic sequence in Donner.
• [Episode Four] Dialogue will no longer continue to play on the Death screen if the Player is caught during Donner.
• [Episode Four] Increased the range at which the entrances can be seen during Convict Caches.

PLAYSTATION 4

• [General] Fixed an issue where the game crashed for some players on launch.
• [General] Fixed a potential crash that could occur when throwing an item.

WINDOWS 7

• [General] Fixed an issue where players using Windows 7 would become stuck on an unskippable black screen when playing an in-game video, such as the opening credits.

MAC

• [Rendering] Fixed an issue that would cause rocks to not render on OpenGL systems.

SWITCH [Rendering] Decreased the compression on numerous textures to increase the overall visual quality.

[ 2021-10-27 20:08:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! Octobers been a big month for Hinterland and The Long Dark. In case you missed it, we launched Episode Four: Fury, Then Silence. So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, and were grateful for that.

Current Issues

With Episode Four, like most of our big releases, we tend to find issues post-launch. I wanted to address a bit about how this can happen. Right now we are tracking 3-4 issues that are impacting a small number of players but in highly visible ways. They include:

• Windows 7; there is an issue with video compatibility on Windows 7 which prevents certain videos (like the opening credits) from playing correctly. We have provided a work-around here, but we understand that its not very satisfying. This issue disproportionately impacts players in parts of the world where Windows 7 is still commonly used.
• Mac rendering issue; some Mac users have encountered a rendering issue that can result in weird visual glitches, and a separate issue can result in missing geometry. Weve suggested a workaround for the first issue.
• PlayStation Trophies; these were missing at launch but have since been added.
• In addition to these, there are other miscellaneous issues that we have been tracking and working on.

I know it seems tough to understand how a studio can release game content that has bugs in it. For some background, we have a full-time in-house Test team who regularly comb through the game and find bugs for the team to fix. We also have a Support team who receives all the bug reports you share at our Support Portal (thank you to everyone who takes the time to do this -- it is extremely helpful!), as well as a Community team who takes note of the issues you flag in the forums and on our social accounts. All this information gets put into an internal database that we use to evaluate outstanding issues. We then review each issue and consider how often a bug seems to appear, how seriously the bug affects players, and then we assign bugs out based on priority. The first step to fixing a bug is being able to reproduce it reliably, and this is where getting info like log files, screenshots, and videos can be very helpful in pinpointing the issues. Things like crashes and progress blockers are always the top priority to fix. Minor things like floating items get prioritized last. These bugs get assigned out by the team leads. The development team works on fixing them, and we create an internal version of the game that has all these fixes in it. At some point in the process we have to lock the build so that the Test team can test it all again, because every time something new is added to the build it invalidates most of the testing that has been done. For really big releases like our Episodes, we supplement our internal Test team with an external team of about 5-10 testers (depending on the release) who help us review the entire game. Remember, every time we release an Episode, a Survival Update, or a Hotfix, we have to pretty much test the ENTIRE game again, to make sure we havent introduced issues elsewhere (its common for bug fixes to cause or reveal other issues). This includes all the Survival Mode mechanics on all Experience Modes, all the Regions, all the Challenges, and every Episode of WINTERMUTE. Its a huge game that requires a massive amount of testing. This explanation isnt meant to sound like Im making excuses for why bugs end up being released -- as you know we work hard to release a clean build and we then work hard to stomp out any bugs that come to light after the fact. But its a really big game and every release reminds us that its getting harder and harder to ensure we find all the bugs before release. This is something were discussing internally to see how we can improve our approach and ensure a better quality product for you, because I dont think the current testing cycle is sustainable, and it just slows things down too much.

Hotfix Work

The development team has a hotfix with our internal Test team now. This hotfix contains fixes for over 200 issues (many of them pre-date the Episode Four release and were held back until post-release). We dont have an exact ETA for this, but were hopeful that we can get it out some time late next week (the week of October 25th). If it comes in too late we may have to push it to the following week because we dont release hotfixes right before the weekend, since we cant be around to monitor and help players if things go wrong. We will be following our standard hotfixing protocol, which is to bring hotfixes to platforms as quickly as we can (rather than holding some to simultaneously ship on all platforms together), therefore the Hotfix will not arrive on every platform at the same time. The typical order is: Steam, Xbox + PlayStation, other digital stores (Humble, Nuuvem, etc.), WeGame in China, and Switch. This order is purely determined by how quickly and/or convenient the hotfixing process is. (For example, on Steam we can simply update the game immediately. On the other end of the spectrum, Nintendo usually takes 7-10 days to review every hotfix before it can be released). Unfortunately, these are not timings that we control, and we apologize if you happen to be impacted by any delays around deploying these fixes. Well share more info on Hotfix progress on our Social accounts and in the Steam and Official forums, so please follow us on Twitter if you want to have up-to-date info.

End of the Year Survival Update & Halloween Event

As mentioned in the lead-up to Episode Fours launch, the team is working on bringing Blackrock Region to Survival Mode for the end of this year. They are also incorporating the Noisemaker into Survival Mode, and were including one new gear item that was not in Episode Four. Well share more details about these things in the lead up to launching the update. We dont have an ETA on the Survival Update apart from before the end of the year. Between the Episode Four launch, the subsequent hotfixing work, and preparing the Survival Mode update for the end of the year, I unfortunately had to make a tough call to sacrifice the Halloween Event this year. I know many of you were looking forward to getting a refresh on Escape the Darkwalker, and we were excited to release a 2021 version, but the team just doesnt have the bandwidth to produce the Hotfix, release an updated Darkwalker, and also produce a Survival Mode update for the end of the year. In terms of priority, it felt that the Survival Update was more important to you than the Darkwalker event, so we triaged out the event. Apologies to anyone that will be disappointed by this, but theres only so much development bandwidth to go around and we need to make these calls at times. Well try to make it up to you next year. * * * Ill share another dev diary closer to the end-of-year Survival update, and as mentioned well keep you posted on Hotfix progress as it unfolds in the coming weeks. Thanks for your patience and support of our efforts! We hope youre enjoying Episode Four, and for those of you who are currently impacted by bugs, we hope to get you some fixes very soon. - Raphael

[ 2021-10-21 22:04:01 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today is a big day for Hinterland. After two years of development, we are finally launching Episode Four of our WINTERMUTE story mode for The Long Dark. Fury, Then Silence continues Mackenzies story after his ill-fated meeting with the convict Mathis in Carter Dam. You may remember that meeting didnt end well for Mackenzie. Now we get to see what happens to our everyman bush pilot as he tangles with some very unpleasant people in a prison complex at the end of the world. Developing the majority of this episode during a global pandemic has been a challenging experience to say the least. All the while, the team has banded together to support each other during the ups and downs. Within our small team, weve experienced the highs of births and new life, and the deep lows of losing people we love. And all the while, we pushed forward to tell the story of Mackenzie and Astrid, the quiet apocalypse, the wintery wilderness of Great Bear, and the mysterious aurora in the sky, all to the best of our ability. The parallels between our isolation and fears of the outside world and Mackenzies experience in the episode were not lost on us. For us, Episode Four will always be the pandemic episode. The experience of making it, and of playing it, will always be coloured by this time. Art doesnt exist in a vacuum, so maybe you will feel some of those influences as you go through and experience Blackrock for yourselves. Today is a bittersweet day. We give you the fourth episode of our survival odyssey, and we come one step closer to the final part of our story. We have set the table for Episode Five, and now we turn our attention to bringing it to a close. There are still many challenges ahead. In the coming weeks, Ill be sharing more information about our plans for the future of Survival Mode, next-gen enhancements, mod support, and other things were doing at Hinterland. But today is about Mackenzie, a prison in the mountains, and a tough journey that will push him -- and you -- to your limits as a survivor. We hope you enjoy the experience we have created for you, and on behalf of the entire team at Hinterland, I thank you for all your support and patience as you waited for this day. Thank you for believing in us, as we believe in you. All the best, and safe travels. - Raphael The Long Dark, Episode Four: FURY, THEN SILENCE is available now on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games Store, and Nintendo Switch. Watch the full trailer below. [previewyoutube=-AzzG1Iaczw;full][/previewyoutube] Visit our Support Portal to find useful articles or to log an issue you encountered. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter @IntoTheLongDark | @HinterlandGames Accessibility Features Weve organized all of our accessibility features into a single menu available through OPTIONS->ACCESSIBILITY. Weve also added two new options to assist players:

• Swear Filter - Disables swear words in both spoken dialogue and subtitles
• Misophonia Filter - Turns off the sounds that often play when eating or drinking food items in the game. There may be other sounds that trigger misophonia (ex. yawning when the Survivor is tired, lip-smacking when they are thirsty) and we will address those as we are able.

Known Issues - Were currently working to address these issues in an upcoming Hotfix: Switch Only

• The In-Game News Messages will appear as placeholder text
• When setting the Gyroscope Controls to Aim Only they will act as if they are set to Always On

Windows 7 Only

• The game will freeze after the disclaimer screen, when trying to play the Intro videos. Please see this support article for a workaround https://hinterlandgames.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408005055636-Windows-7-Black-Screen-After-Disclaimer-or-Starting-WINTERMUTE-Episodes

General

• If the Player unlocks a Feat and then exits the game before saving, the Feat will not be unlocked and progress may appear incorrect after restarting the Long Dark. To avoid this issue trigger a save after earning the Feat to ensure it is saved, before exiting.

[ 2021-10-06 17:00:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

The long wait is nearly over. The next Episode of THE LONG DARK's Story Mode: FURY, THEN SILENCE is coming to Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch on October 6, 2021. (Free for all current owners of the game.) A murderous gang of convicts have captured Mackenzie. Desperate to escape one of the darkest corners of Great Bear Island, he must somehow survive his fiercest enemy yet. Can Mackenzie recover the Hardcase, continue his search for Astrid, and save the innocents caught up in this deadly confrontation? Click to watch the teaser below. [previewyoutube=zV3-8ZW4ZVE;full][/previewyoutube] For more info on Episode Four, visit the September Dev Diary on our forum and connect with other Survivors around the world.

[ 2021-09-22 17:10:55 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone! The long wait is nearly over. Today we reveal the key art and title for Episode Four of The Long Darks WINTERMUTE story mode:
Episode Four: Fury, Then Silence A murderous gang of convicts has captured Mackenzie. Desperate to escape one of the darkest corners of Great Bear Island, he must somehow survive his fiercest enemy yet. Can Mackenzie recover the Hardcase, continue his search for Astrid, and also save the innocents caught up in this deadly confrontation? The episode takes place in a brand new region dominated by an old prison complex built under the shadow of Blackrock Mountain. Featuring 7-10 hours of gameplay, 60 minutes of narrative cinematics, and over 40 minutes of new music, Episode Four also introduces new key characters to the WINTERMUTE storyline, and puts the final narrative threads in place that will later be resolved in Episode Five (ship date TBD). The team is heading into the final stretch of the episode. Most of the bugs are fixed, and were in the final stages of localization, optimization, and preparing things for launch. True to our typical tradition, we arent announcing a release date until we are very close to launch, so stay tuned for that. For our Survival Mode fans, Blackrock Region will be added to Survival Mode before the end of the year, along with a few other additions. UPCOMING PRICE CHANGE When we had THE LONG DARK in Early Access on Steam and on Xbox Game Preview, it was priced at $19.99 USD. When we launched our 1.0 in August of 2017, we bumped the price up to $29.99 USD. With the launch of Episode Four, were increasing the price for THE LONG DARK to $34.99 USD ($5 increase). We feel this is more reflective of the current state of the game in terms of quality and the scope of content. The new price will take effect when Episode Four ships, so this is your last opportunity to purchase THE LONG DARK at its current $29.99 price. Please note that this price increase will not impact you if you already own the game. (Your local pricing may vary.) ROADMAP AFTER EPISODE FOUR After we launch Episode Four, Ill post some details about our plans for THE LONG DARK, onward to Episode Five and beyond, including how we plan to update Survival Mode in the future, our plans for Mod Support, and more. Now, back to preparing Episode Fours launch. Well see you soon! - Raphael

[ 2021-09-07 18:02:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.94Hotfix for The Long Dark. If you encounter any issues while playing the game please visit ourSupport Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for ournewsletterand follow us onTwitter (Game|Studio). ***** GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Fixed a systemic issue when tracking time that caused tracked time in Challenges and the Journal screen to be incorrect.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue where liquids would not become Burnt Dry, when being cooked for too long.
• [Gameplay] A loaded Rifle will now no longer lose the additional weight of the loaded cartridge, after transitioning between locations.
• [Gameplay] Fixed a rare issue that could cause a players keyboard controls to become unresponsive, for no obvious reason.
• [Audio] Cans and Pots now play sound effects when placed onto a cooking slot, as intended.
• [Audio] Fixed an issue that prevented Players from starting Episode 1 if their Master or Voice volume was set to 0.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Fixed several rough geometry locations found in the Crumbling Highway that could hinder the Player's movement.
• [Enviro] The Wolfs Jaw Overlook Polaroid location is no longer blocked by terrain.

USER INTERFACE

• [UI] Fixed alignment of the Carcass Harvesting trigger to better align with the center of the model.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused the Technical Packs item description to disappear after a transition to a new area.
• [UI] Implemented a check in the Journal to try and recover lost Survival mode stats. Note this cannot recover data from deleted saves, but will try to recover the best values available.
• [UI] Menus will now correctly remember the last selected item, when returning from a sub-menu.
• [Map] Filters no longer reset when navigating away from the Journal page.

WINTERMUTE

• [EP 3] Removed Pass Time as an option when the Player is unable to pass time due to narrative events.

CHALLENGE MODES

• [Nomad] Fixed an issue that caused the Players Journal to appear empty, when first starting the Nomad Challenge.
• [Nomad] Fixed an issue that caused the Nomad Challenge to only track half the time spent at a location.
• [Darkwalker] Localized several missing strings.

[ 2021-04-28 23:47:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear community, Its time for an update on Episode Four progress, which Im sure is the topic at the top of all your minds right now.

Episode Four Progress

The aurora illuminates Blackrock Penitentiary, Great Bears maximum security fortress and the main location in Episode Four. Were at the stage of episode development where Ive been able to complete a couple of full run-throughs of the entire episode from start to finish. This is an important stage as it shows us what we have as a contiguous experience (this is different from how we build and test during development, which is often more in chunks that are out of order), and therefore highlights what is working and what isnt. When you can experience the full flow of the episode from start to finish, you can get a sense of the overall pacing, the relationship between narrative and gameplay, clarity around objectives and motivations, peaks and troughs in the players activities, and generally a sense of how the whole thing fits together. This is the period of episode development where we usually change (or remove) things that arent working, and add moments or content here and there where we feel the experience needs to be shored up a bit. It might be something as minor as a single line of dialogue or editing some objective text, all the way to cutting a section of a mission or adding an entirely new piece of narrative (as we did throughout Episodes One and Two when we released the Redux versions in 2019). In the specific case of Episode Four, this includes adding a new section of gameplay and a new mechanic were experimenting with. Its a bit late in the process to be doing this, but we just feel the episode needs a bit more of a punch in some areas so were testing things out to see how they feel, and hopeful that we can make it all work and feel intriguing. In terms of overall progress, I can say that the episode environments themselves are mostly finished, apart from a few small areas that are getting completed right now. After that well roll into the polish phase for environment content. All the cinematics are complete and have had multiple passes with full voice-over, so were now moving into the lighting phase on most of them, and audio (sound-effects and music) which is the last phase. Were tightening up some objective text, adding collectibles here and there where they are needed, and layering some secondary side mission content to reward you players who like to explore off the beaten path a bit. [previewyoutube=gol51sjW3zQ;full][/previewyoutube] We met Mathis in Carter Dam at the end of Episode Two, when he threatened Mackenzie within an inch of his life. Things have not improved for Mackenzie since then. The whole team has done a great job despite the challenges of COVID, but Im particularly proud what the animation team has managed to pull off in Episode Four, despite not having access to our motion-capture equipment (due to COVID and it not being safe to travel to the studio). Instead, they used home-based capture suits and a lot of keyframed (i.e. hand-made) animation including for facial animation, which is a big departure from some of the time-saving tools and tech we were able to use for our Episode Three development. The narrative moments in Episode Four are some of the most complex weve produced yet in The Long Dark, many involving multiple characters with heavy acting beats, so seeing them turn out so well is a real testament to the teams work ethic and creative problem-solving. We also hired our first lighting specialist at Hinterland for Episode Four, so you can expect the general quality of the lighting to improve significantly, both in terms of execution and how its used to highlight atmosphere and the sense of drama. We have at least a couple more months of production and then a testing and optimization phase, which could take a long time or be resolved quickly, depending on how things go. Being on the Switch now, and also continuing to support a low-spec on PC that goes back to our Early Access launch in 2014, means every major addition to the game introduces a lot of extra optimization and testing work. So, as per our usual studio policy with regards to release dates, Im not going to guess at this point -- well share a date when we are closer to launch. But, were in the final stretch now. You can expect a teaser trailer and a date announcement before we launch; we arent planning a surprise launch. [previewyoutube=vdQfhPcRKjw;full][/previewyoutube] Just like everything in The Long Dark, theres more to Blackrock than meets the eye.

What Comes Next?

With Episode Four development coming to a close, Im finishing up the writing on Episode Five so the team can roll into that development. But, this also brings to mind a big question for Hinterland -- with the end of WINTERMUTE in sight, what comes next for The Long Dark, and for our studio? This is obviously a lot on my mind lately, not only because Ive been working on The Long Dark for nearly 8 years at this point, but because incubating new project ideas and building prototypes to prove those ideas is a time-consuming process. Its important that these things have the space and resources they need in order to find success. The expectations around our work are a lot different in 2021 as compared to when we first launched The Long Dark in 2013. Weve also learned a lot in the past years, become a stronger studio and better developers, and want to build more sophisticated and more meaningful experiences for our players. These things require time and resources. One of the gifts of The Long Dark is just how expansive it has the potential to be. The world and gameplay systems themselves are highly extensible, although we have run up against some technical limitations going back to decisions we made in the early years of the project -- things wed do differently if we were building something from scratch today, but things that we cant really change at this point without tearing the entire game apart and rebuilding it. That would be time-consuming, expensive, and would delay a lot of other things wed like to be doing. Weve been hearing a lot from our players that you would like to see more content beyond WINTERMUTE and the free Survival updates and events we produce a few times a year. Given that weve never charged for content beyond the purchase price of the game, our revenue has come entirely from new sales of The Long Dark. Were really fortunate that the game still has a vibrant audience and continues to sell really well for us, allowing us to cover our costs and make a tidy profit which we pour back into the business. But in thinking about new projects and how wed like to build them, and how important it is to maintain our independence and avoid putting ourselves in a financial position as a studio where we lose that independence, we have to start weighing the future of The Long Dark against the future of the studio. To be clear -- we are 100% committed to shipping Episode Five for all our players, as part of your game purchase. Thats a promise we made back when we did our Kickstarter in 2013, and thats a promise we will deliver on. What Im talking about here is what comes *beyond* Episode Five. Since so much of what weve done as a studio has been informed by what youve told us about what you hope for the game, wed love to hear from you. Weve set up a simple survey that will give us some idea of what youd like us to do with The Long Dark after we finish Episode Five. There are also questions about what youd like to see us do with Survival Mode, which while it can always be improved, has technically been complete for a while now. Please take a few minutes to review the survey and share your thoughts so we can take them into consideration as we plan our future. We arent committing to anything beyond Episode Five, but depending on how passionately you want us to keep expanding The Long Dark, and provided we can make it work from a business perspective, we are open to considering a variety of things. We love The Long Dark as much as anyone, and would love to see it continue to grow and flourish into the future. For us, its more than a game. For me, I still want to push forward and show that Hinterland is the industry leader in creating thoughtful survival experiences.

Milestones

We dont tend to focus too much on these things publicly, but Im really proud of what the team has made and its not often you get to celebrate these achievements, so I just wanted to share with you the exciting news that sales of The Long Dark have now surpassed 5-million units, with another 3.5-million active players coming to us through Xbox GamePass and the Epic Game Store (through the free give-away there at Christmas), bringing the total to over 8.5-million players to date! That is a shocking number to me, when I think back to the humble origins of The Long Dark (which was then called, simply, Survival Story) back on a whiteboard in my basement home office years and years ago. One of the most exciting things about this number is how international our audience is! Weve been humbled and amazed at how popular our little Canadian survival experience has resonated with players around the world. Thank you for your support over the years, and we look forward to continuing to deliver delightful experiences to you in The Long Dark, and hopefully in other games in the future! For us, there is a joy in exploration in its many facets, and we are excited to continue sharing this journey with you.

Onward!

In any case, its back to Episode Four reviews for me! I hope this developer diary has been informative and answered some of the questions you have about our progress, and we hope you like the teaser content weve shared here. Expect more news about Episode Four in the coming months including a teaser trailer, episode name, and a release date. And please take some time to respond to our Future of The Long Dark survey. While well always make our own decisions about what is best for the game and our business, we love to hear from you and feel privileged to have your participation in this virtuous feedback circle. Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there! - Raphael

[ 2021-03-18 21:23:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.93 (71192) Hotfix for The Long Dark. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Fixed an issue that could cause players Custom Keybindings to be reset.
• [General] Fixed an issue that caused the camera to shake erratically, if the player tried to aim while freezing.
• [General] Fixed an issue that could prevent the Polaroid found in the High Meadow, in Ash Canyon from spawning correctly.
• [Genera] Equipping an item in the left accessory slot, while the Crampons are equipped will no longer remove the Sure Footing buff.
• [Audio] Fixed missing reverb in Ash Canyon.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Updated caves in Ash Canyon to count as interiors when curing items.
• [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas where animals could path behind cave entrances, in Ash Canyon.
• [Enviro] Fixed lighting on some corpses found in Ash Canyon.
• [Enviro] Adjusted Cat Tail placement to avoid unintentional clipping.
• [Enviro] Environment polish pass on Ash Canyon.

USER INTERFACE

• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused external links to not open properly, when playing on the Mac Epic Game Store or GOG release.
• [UI] Remove erroneous prompt at the end of the Episode Three credits.

WINTERMUTE

• [EP 3] Fixed an issue that prevented players from transferring items to the Community Hall pantry container, during the Coming Storm mission.

CHALLENGE MODE

• [Darkwalker] Darkwalker Feat will now be awarded if youve completed the criteria, but the feat did not unlock.
• [Darkwalker] Feat and Badge are now correctly displayed on the summary screen, when the Darkwalker is defeated with a banishment.

KNOWN ISSUES

• [EGS] Some users' login token to the EGS client may expire unintentionally. Were currently with Epic to resolve this issue.
• [EGS] Some players have experienced video playback issues during some cinematics. Were currently investigating this issue with impacted users.

[ 2021-01-18 23:32:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.92 (70699) Hotfix for The Long Dark. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Fixed an issue that prevented Players from unlocking the Dark Walker Feat

[ 2020-12-19 00:46:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear community, 2020 has been a tough year. But we're nearly through it. And in a year of a global pandemic, we were still able to ship two major updates to Survival Mode, two seasonal events, and launch the game on Nintendo Switch. We also made a ton of headway on Episode Four, which we're excited to share with you in 2021. And in case you missed it, make sure you take a moment to try out the new content we added in our recent update, HESITANT PROSPECT. This is a good moment to remind you that the team will be off between December 21st and January 4th, and while we have some light support coverage during the holidays, we'll mostly be resting up and enjoying time with our loved ones before we embark on our ambitious plans for 2021. We really appreciate all the support we've received from you throughout this year. We hope that The Long Dark brings you some seasonal comfort over the winter holidays, and we look forward to seeing you all back in January. On behalf of the team at Hinterland, we wish you a safe and enjoyable holiday season, and all the best wishes for 2021. - Raphael

[ 2020-12-19 00:05:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.90 (70139) Hotfix for The Long Dark. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Fixed a crash that would occur if the in-game language was set to Turkish.
• [General] Fixed an issue that caused players Badges and Feats to disappear
• [General] Fixed an issue that would cause Players to spawn inside of the Main Menu scene, after exiting the new Survival game creation flow.
• [General] Ash Canyon added to the Random Region list in Survival Mode.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Fixed missing cliff detail on numerous vistas found in Ash Canyon.
• [Enviro] Fixed numerous floating and clipping items.
• [Enviro] Pass for terrain traps in Ash Canyon.
• [Enviro] Fixed floating environment meshes found in Ash Canyon.
• [Enviro] Rabbits will no longer climb on the broken fishing hut, in the Main Menu.
• [Enviro] Fixed low res textures appearing on the rope bridge, when visuals are set to Ultra.
• [Enviro] Fixed an issue that caused item piles to become non-interactable when stacked on top of piles of the same item type.
• [Prop] Fixed level of detail popping issue on Camp Fires.

USER INTERFACE

• [UI] Fixed missing region name from the You started in journal stat, when starting in Ash Canyon.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that prevented tracking Time Spent in Ash Canyon in the Journal.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that prevented the region text from properly fading out after viewing the Map. This would cause a faint shadow of text to remain on screen.
• [UI] Load screen icons will now fade out after loading is complete, as intended.
• [UI] Localized text now correctly appears when selecting Timberwolf Mountain in the Region Selection.
• [UI] Added missing localized strings and fixed several translation issues.
• [UI] Loading into Ash Canyon now uses the correct load screen art.

SURVIVAL MODE

• [General] The Sure Footing benefit will no longer expire and then reactive after a transition.
• [Ash Canyon] Items can no longer be dropped when on a bridge, as intended.
• [Ash Canyon] Pass for missing environment sound effects.
• [Ash Canyon] All Abandoned Fires now appear as burnt out, as intended.

CHALLENGE MODE

• [Darkwalker] Fixed an issue that could cause the Player to become stuck on a black screen after dying in a Darkwalker game, if the death animation could not be played in full.

KNOWN ISSUES

• [WINTERMUTE] Placing the last Fuse in Episode Three does not work on Xbox or PS4 and causes the game to hang.
• [General] Players on PS4 Pro may sometimes encounter a black screen while playing. The game continues to run, and the Player will be able to hear gameplay. Users can press Start to bring up the Pause Menu to exit, or quit back to the dashboard.

[ 2020-12-11 01:11:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Long Darks Survival Mode has just been updated to a new version, HESITANT PROSPECT. NEW REGION: ASH CANYON Far on the other side of Timberwolf Mountain is a difficult-to-reach area defined by steep cavernous walls and burned-out forests. If you can navigate your way through the treacherous landscape, you might find an abandoned mine that hides treasures worth more than gold to any survivor. Just be careful when crossing the harrowing rope-bridges. Its a long way down! NEW GEAR ITEMS CRAMPONS, left behind by an intrepid climber who ran out of luck. Wearing these helps prevent sprains, and makes it easier to travel over Weak Ice. A TECHNICAL PACK adds a permanent capacity buff to your Survivors inventory, giving you a little more breathing room as you carry your life-saving supplies around on your back. NEW CHALLENGE: DARKWALKER + FEAT HESITANT PROSPECT also presents an updated version of the popular ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER Halloween event we launched this year. You are being hunted by a malevolent invisible force. Use special paint Glyphs to buy yourself time to escape. Time spent in each region counts down towards toxic green fog appearing which will slowly suffocate you. You must BANISH the Darkwalker before you run out of time! Completing the Darkwalker Challenge unlocks a new Darkwalker Feat, which, when enabled in Survival Mode, gives you a stamina boost at night, while draining stamina during the day. NEW CUSTOM MODE SETTING: ENDLESS NIGHT You can now set up your custom Survival games so that day never comes... QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS Weve made some quality of life improvements to the games Front End, including the Region Selection menu. Youll also notice that weve updated the games Main Menu in honour of HESITANT PROSPECT, and moving forward every major update to the game will come with a new Main Menu that reflects the latest new content. [previewyoutube=1fkqAZ2eSEw;full][/previewyoutube] --- CHANGELIST v1.89 [69558] HIGHLIGHTS

• New Region: Ash Canyon
• New Challenge Mode: Darkwalker
• New UI: Region Selection Menu
• New Gear Items: Crampons and the Technical Backup

GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Fixed an issue that caused the game to hang when loading, while a third party overlay (IE Steam, Nvidia overlays) was active.
• [General] Fixed a potential hang that could occur when launching the game.
• [General] Post Unity 2019 upgrade optimization.
• [Audio] Fixed an issue that prevented wildlife audio from playing.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Fixed various floating or clipping objects found throughout the world.
• [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas Players could become stuck on terrain.
• [Enviro] Fixed misaligned texture on the Park Sign found in Milton.
• [Lighting] Optimized indoor light volumes to help remove seams in dark areas.

USER INTERFACE

• [Map] Improved how icons are sorted when in close proximity on the Map.
• [Map] Added missing icon for the Mystery Lake, Carter Hydro Dam exit.
• [UI] New Region Selection Menu.
• [UI] Tuned the Crafting menu to approve the general quality of life.
• [UI] Update the States Menu to be more visually clear.
• [UI] Added more Loading Icons on the Load Screens.
• [UI] Localization pass and bug fixes.
• [UI] Improved the Russian description for the Hunted Part 2 badge.
• [UI] Fixed Gear items not appearing correctly when viewed Inspection mode, while the HUD is disabled.

SURVIVAL MODE

• [General] Fixed an issue that could cause the Spray Glyph option to appear in Survival Mode games.

WINTERMUTE

• [EP3] Fixed an issue that could cause the game to lock-up, when answering a phone call.

CHALLENGE MODE

• [Darkwalker] Fixed the incorrect death message appearing when killed by natural causes.
• [Darkwalker] Fixed an issue that caused the Spray Paint cap to appear at an incorrect offset, when spraying a Glyph.
• [Darkwalker] Improved how the Darkwalker tracks the Player after transitioning to a new Region.
• [Darkwalker] Added ropes to some climbing points in Broken Railroad and Pleasant Valley.
• [Darkwalker] Fixed an issue that caused some localized Tool Tip text to be cut off.
• [Darkwalker] Added missing subtitles.
• [Darkwalker] Fixed an issue that prevented the audio stringer to play correctly, when the Darkwalker appears while inside an interior.
• [Darkwalker] Ward fires now go out once the ward has expired.
• [Darkwalker] Wards placed on the outside of an exterior now expire correctly, while inside.
• [Darkwalker] Interiors now prevent players from placing a ward fire while one is already active.
• [Darkwalker] No longer able to remove a banish glyph, once placed
• [Darkwalker] Fixed an error that would cause a dialog to appear in-game, if the player left, then returned to a region with an active ward fire.
• [Hunted Pt 2] Fixed an issue that would cause the Old Bear to disappear, if the player transitioned at a very specific point in the Old Bears animation.
• PS4
• [Enviro] Fixed an issue that caused some waterfalls to appear black.

KNOWN ISSUES

• [Xbox] Intro video can appear corrupted when playing with HDR enabled. This does not appear to impact any other part of the game.
• [All] Ash Canyon time explored is currently not tracked and does not appear in the journal.

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2020-12-07 18:00:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.88 Hotfix for The Long Dark. If you encounter any issues while playing the game please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** THE LONG DARK v1.88 (69021) CHANGELIST GENERAL

• Removed the ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER artwork from Main Menu.
• Users are no longer able to load DW saves via the Challenge menu.
• Fixed an issue that would allow players to enter an unplayable state, if they tried to re-enable the DW event by changing their local system time.

[ 2020-11-23 20:13:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.87 Hotfix for the ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER event. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. A big part of any of these events is player participation and we would love to hear about your experience playing ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER in our event subforum. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** THE LONG DARK v1.87 (68069/68142 ) CHANGELIST GENERAL

• Fixed an issue where text overlapped in some languages.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Player to remain crouched when attacked by the Entity, while crouched.
• Added map icons for Bleak Inlet to Ravine transitions.
• Add subtitles for when the Players character is coughing from toxic smoke
• Updated localization.
• Map now centers on the Players position when entering the screen, during an Escape the Darkwalker game.
• Dying from the Entity when in a menu, now breaks you out of menus correctly.
• The "Darkwalker Devoured You" screen now only plays if the Player was killed by the Entity.
• Fixed an issue that caused Toxic Fog to appear when exiting a menu, during the Escape the Darkwalker event.
• Fixed an issue where the player could become stuck in the Safe Cracking ui, if attacked by the Entity while in the UI.
• Removed the ability to Spray Paint on items that can be broken down.
• Fixed an issue that caused the male voice to sometimes play instead of the female voice, when dying.
• Fixed the volume for the Glyph breaking down sound effect.
• Fixed an issue that caused stomping sound effects to loop after placing a ward indoors.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Toxic Fog indicator to flash on screen when exiting interiors.

[ 2020-11-03 23:31:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Something is hunting survivors in The Long Dark and its not just the games usual wildlife. Running from October 29th to November 12th The Long Dark players will be stalked by a mysterious entity in our latest Halloween Event: ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER. As youre playing the event feel free to talk about it and share your best survival times on our forums, or on social media using the hashtag #DARKWALKER. To help you survive for as long as possible in this event weve put together this information. Follow them and you may delay your death a little while longer. Starting Out

• Your character will begin near an abandoned camp where youll find an introductory collectible item along with supplies to start you out scattered around a burned out campfire.
• You have fifteen (15) minutes without being hunted by the Darkwalker to prepare yourself in any way that you wish. At the end of the fifteen minutes the Darkwalker will appear in the region and begin to hunt you.

Surviving

• As with any game of The Long Dark you have to manage your cold, hunger, and other aspects of your Condition to ensure your survival.
• As the Darkwalker nears, your character will experience a series of disturbing effects that will make survival increasingly difficult. These effects mostly disappear as you get more distance from the Darkwalker.
• An inescapable Toxic Fog follows the Darkwalker spreading throughout the region youre in threatening not only you, but also wildlife, and even your food supply.
• Your main defense is to spray-paint Glyphs which offer a couple of tools for dealing with the Darkwalker.
• Event Camps with green fire offer refuge from being hunted by the Darkwalker as well as vital information about what it is thats hunting you, so be sure to search the Camps carefully.

Game Over

• There are two badges to win during the Event.
• Players who manage to survive one hour will be awarded the Umbra Badge.
• Those that manage to find six of the ten diary pages from the EVENT CAMPS will win the Deadly Dreamer Badge.
• The Game Over screen will show the time survived plus your longest time survived, allowing you to share that with The Long Dark community. Post in on our forums, on social media, or elsewhere using the hashtag #DARKWALKER to show off your best times.

We hope you have a frighteningly good time this Halloween in The Long Dark as you play Escape the Darkwalker. Let us know what you think of the event on our forums. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). https://youtu.be/VNl2SvuWt6o

[ 2020-10-30 02:09:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

It's nearly here! The Long Dark's newest Halloween Event ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER is coming later this week. Prepare to be hunted by a mysterious and deadly entity that chases you across Great Bear Island in this limited-time event. For more details read our latest Dev Diary. [previewyoutube=5Zo0Nnr4NPQ;leftthumb][/previewyoutube]

[ 2020-10-27 18:17:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, With the Switch launch behind us, I wanted to update you on our activities around THE LONG DARK for the remainder of this year.

NEW EVENT: ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER (October 29th - November 12th)

This years Halloween event, ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER, is different from what weve done in the past. In broad strokes:

• In an endless night, you are stalked by an invisible, malevolent entity bent on your destruction. Keep your distance from the entity for as long as you can. Once it closes in on you, you die. The only objective is to survive for as many real-time minutes as you can.
• You cant hurt the Darkwalker, but you can slow it down. Using special spray paint Glyphs, you can temporarily dispel or attract the entity.
• You can play in any region of the world, but you can only stay in a region for 30 real-time minutes (Note: all timings are being tuned based on playtesting and may change before the event goes live) before toxic fog will appear. When the fog appears, youll have 5 real-time minutes to escape the region before you die. Once the fog takes hold, the region is impassible. A lot of your strategy will come down to where you travel and how far ahead you can plan your movements through the world.
• Since you cant see the entity, youll have to count on what you can HEAR to stay alive. Listen for the entitys cries, its footsteps, and how the spooky music builds as it approaches your location.

You can run but you cannot hide! Walls wont keep the Darkwalker out. So your success depends on the route you take through the world, and how you manage your sparse GLYPH resources. Why did we decide to switch up the traditional FOUR DAYS OF NIGHT formula? We took on your feedback about the last few iterations of our annual Four Days of Night Halloween event. One of the consistent things we heard was a sadness around missing the timed event for various reasons, or the fact that it was hard to get all the badges without playing every single day (I mean, we *want* people playing The Long Dark every day, but sometimes life gets in the way!). We also wanted to freshen things up this year and do something different that would perhaps embrace a bit of a stronger horror vibe than we normally would in the game. Halloween is a fun holiday and this gives us the opportunity to play around with ideas that might not make as much sense in core gameplay, but can provide a lot of suspenseful enjoyment for our players! ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER runs from October 29th to November 12th. Participating in the event earns you some special unlocks, including a new Custom Mode unlock: Endless Night.

DECEMBER SURVIVAL UPDATE

Were working on a new update to Survival mode, for a planned December release. This update will include a variety of UI improvements, some tuning changes, and two new gear items, but the highlight will be a new region: ASH CANYON. Well release more details as we get closer to the update, but this piece of concept art might give you some ideas.

EPISODE FOUR

The teams been working hard on Episode Four, and as I outlined in my last developer diary, we have delayed the episode until 2021 due to COVID. Look for an update on episode progress some time in January.

HOLIDAY SHUTDOWN

Just an early reminder that the whole Hinterland team takes an extended holiday between Christmas and New Year. Well share the dates closer to the holiday. During this period, support and test resources will be limited, so we appreciate your patience as it will take a little longer to respond to any reports you send through the Support Portal. Were looking forward to seeing what you think about ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER. Get ready, and have fun with it. - Raphael

[ 2020-10-16 00:40:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

After a long slow-burn development process, were happy to announce that The Long Dark is now available on Nintendo Switch! For the first time ever, you can take The Long Dark with you wherever your own exploration takes you, with all of Great Bear Island in your hands and all the experiences contained in the WINTERMUTE Story Mode, as well as our award-winning Survival Mode. Whether youre sitting at your desk, on your couch, or on the road searching for your next shelter, youll have the same innovative exploration-survival experience regardless of what platform youre playing on. For more information on The Long Dark on Nintendo Switch, including the announcement trailer, please visit www.thelongdark.com/switch Keep in mind that your purchase of The Long Dark entitles you to all five episodes of WINTERMUTE (with Episodes One, Two, and Three currently available, and Episode Four around the corner; new episodes will be automatically unlocked as they become available), as well as regular bug fixes and updates to Survival Mode along the way. Head over to the Nintendo eShop and venture into the Quiet Apocalypse of The Long Dark! And if youre a journalist or a streamer and are interested in giving The Long Dark a try on Switch, please contact us here. We hope you enjoy The Long Dark on Nintendo Switch! The Hinterland Team

[ 2020-09-17 15:01:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Apologies that its been a while since you last heard from me. 2020 has been a pretty tough year so far. I have a feeling that most of you will agree. The great news is that everyone at Hinterland continues to be healthy -- no COVID! Were thrilled about this. So thats one really positive thing and I try to focus on that. Were also happy that despite things being pretty upside down, we were still able to release our FEARLESS NAVIGATOR update, as well as run our WINTERS EMBRACE event through July (which also added new content to the game). We shut down our physical studio back in March and everyone has been in lockdown since then. I remember at the beginning of this quarantine I found myself thinking, Wow, think of how much Ill be able to get done!. Looking back at that time, I realize how naive that thought was. Weve been spending a lot more time on Zoom calls, have been doing as many small things as we can to help make the team more comfortable and to keep morale high, and have adapted as well as possible to exclusively working from home. But Im sure you can all appreciate that this is not a normal way of working. We typically depend a lot on in-person communication for relationship-building, planning, content reviews, and making clear progress towards common goals. Apart from being generally healthy and safe, which were grateful for, I think the team also feels a sense of malaise from being in lockdown for months on end. And while I believe the future is positive, Id be lying if I said that this year has been business as usual for Hinterland as a team, or for our work on The Long Dark. Pretty recently we came to the conclusion that we dont feel good about releasing Episode Four this year. We had originally hoped to have it ready for launch in December, but with everything thats been going on, its just been tough to work very optimally. Weve lost some momentum and some parts of our production have been slower than usual just because of not being able to work on things face-to-face, nevermind everyone is also juggling their personal situation at home whether its being alone all the time, or balancing parenting duties with work, or whatever new personal dynamic we find ourselves in. Everyone is still focused on the game, and were making progress every day, but I just dont feel good about keeping the team locked to a December release because we dont crunch at Hinterland and the only way to hit December is if we compromise on quality or scope. We dont want that, and you dont want that. So we arent going to do that. So were not shipping Episode Four this year. Im really sorry about that. We wanted to let you know as soon as we decided to delay, rather than wait another few months. I hope you and your loved ones have all been healthy throughout this COVID pandemic. I hope that The Long Dark has been able to bring you some solace during these difficult times. Were still here for you. Just fighting through the long dark, in our own way. Ill send a more uplifting update within the next couple of months, with some more info on our planned activities throughout the rest of 2020, and into 2021. Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there. - Raphael PS A lot of you have been asking for news about the progress of the Nintendo Switch port of The Long Dark; we created a mailing list you can sign up to to be informed of news about it.

[ 2020-08-21 02:00:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.83 (64569) Hotfix for WINTER'S EMBRACE. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. Thank you to everyone who took part in our first ever Summer Seasonal Event. We hope that you enjoyed struggling to survive in the frosty cold of WINTERS EMBRACE. A big part of any of these events is player participation and we would love to hear about your experience playing WINTERS EMBRACE in the comments below. What would you like to see us do next time and what would you change about the event? To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** THE LONG DARK v1.83 (64569) CHANGELIST GENERAL

• [General] Disable the WINTERS EMBRACE event.

### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2020-07-31 17:01:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.82 (64400) Hotfix for WINTER'S EMBRACE. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** THE LONG DARK v1.82 (64400) CHANGELIST GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Fixed an issue that caused the Disclaimer at launch to appear in the incorrect language.
• [General] Fixed an issue that could block the Winter in July badge from triggering. If youve met the days survived criteria, but the badge has not triggered yet, it will trigger after the next full day survived.
• [General] Fixed an issue that could prevent Players from loading or renaming a save file.
• [General] Fixed an issue that could cause players to crash when transitioning between an interiors and exteriors.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Fixed the missing textures on several logs found throughout the game.
• [Enviro] Fixed texture visible seams found in the Echo One Control Tower.
• [UI] Fixed issue that would cause the Hunger/Thirst indicators to be hidden if subtitles triggered at the same time.
• [UI] Map Filter Labels will now only appear when selected.

GAMEPLAY FIXES

• [Gameplay] Items left in a cooking slot will now properly cool when the fire has burnt out.
• [Gameplay] Fixed issue that would cause Players to become stuck if they entered placement on Inedible Burned Stuff.

### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2020-07-20 16:59:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.81 (64098) Hotfix for WINTER'S EMBRACE. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** THE LONG DARK v1.81 (64098) CHANGELIST KNOWN ISSUES GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Disabled Save performance improvements as they caused some Players sessions to enter an unsavable state. As a result of reverting these changes you may notice a slight pause when saving. We are continuing to investigate the cause of this.
• [General] Introduced several safeguards against a potential crash.
• [General] Fixed duplicate cargo containers appearing in Timberwolf Mountain, while playing the WINTERS EMBRACE event.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Fixed large sheet of ice blocking the cave entrance found at the top of Timberwolf Mountain.
• [Envrio] Fixed missing computer monitor that contained a Buffer Memory, found in the Camp Office.
• [Enviro] Fixed missing computer monitor that contained a Buffer Memory, found in the Rural Store.

### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2020-07-07 17:13:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.80 (63997) Hotfix for WINTER'S EMBRACE to turn off Cabin Fever for players while participating in the Event.If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit ourSupport Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game|Studio). ***** THE LONG DARK v1.80 (63997) CHANGELIST GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Cabin Fever disabled when playing WINTERS EMBRACE
• [General] Players who are currently suffering from Cabin Fever while playing Winters Embrace will automatically recover after loading their WINTERS EMBRACE save.

### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2020-06-30 19:56:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello players, Were excited to share our new month-long event in The Long Dark. Running from 10am Pacific on Monday June 29th, and lasting until July 31st at 10am PST, WINTERS EMBRACE makes the harsh Winter environment of Great Bear Island even harsher, with:

• Average world temperature is reduced by 10 degrees Celsius
• Interior temperatures are reduced by 10 degrees Celsius
• More frequent, and longer-lasting Blizzards

And since Canada Day occurs during this Event (on July 1st) were also adding two new Canadian-themed Food items:

• Maple Syrup
• Ketchup Chips

To celebrate your time in WINTERS EMBRACE, well unlock two badges for you if you accomplish the following tasks:

• Canadian Feast: Find and consume 25 bottles of Maple Syrup and 25 bags of Ketchup Chips across multiple saves while WINTERS EMBRACE is active.
• Winter in July: Survive 25 consecutive days across a single WINTERs EMBRACE save, while the event is active.

Please note that you dont have to accomplish both these tasks in the same game! As another nod to Canada Day, were also adding a Heritage Filter mode, inspired by old National Film Board TV and film content we grew up with in the 1970s and 1980s. This mode adds an old-school TV filter to the game world (but it does not affect the in-game user interface). And for film buffs out there, weve also added a Noir mode, which lets you experience The Long Dark or WINTERMUTE in a classic monochromatic filter. Both Filters can be applied from the Display settings.

Maple Syrup, Ketchup Chips, and the new view filters (Heritage & Noir) will persist in the game after WINTERS EMBRACE ends, but you wont be able to get the badges after July 31st at 10am PST, so we hope youll jump into the event and test your survival skills in the coldest The Long Dark has ever been! To join the event, make sure you have updated the game to the latest version, and select the WINTERS EMBRACE item from the Main Menu. If you run into any issues, please contact us at thelongdark.com/support.
We hope you enjoy WINTERS EMBRACE, and please feel free to share your survival stories with us in the Official Community, or on social media using the tags #thelongdark and #wintersembrace. The Hinterland Team THE LONG DARK v1.79 (63945) CHANGELIST

• Added WINTERS EMBRACE Content & Event.

GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Added collision to the car's hood, so the Battery can no longer be interacted with through a closed hood.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Fixed various floating or clipping objects found throughout the world.
• [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas where small chunks of rock appeared to unintentionally push through the snow.
• [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas Players could become stuck on terrain.
• [Enviro] Fixed issue that caused Backpacks to clip into objects they were placed against.
• [Enviro] When spray painting the hood of a truck, the decal will no longer clip through the snow.

USER INTERFACE

• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused the Pleasant Valleys Prepper Cache map icon to not appear on the map after discovery.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused an incorrect UI callout to appear after lighting a Match, and then opening and closing the Inventory.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that prevented Players from editing Rock Cache notes when using a controller.
• [UI] Fixed overlapping between Stamina UI and Spray Paint UI.
• [UI] FIxed an issue that caused Mysterious Signal Fire to appear twice when viewing Surveyed Locations in the Journal.
• [UI] FIxed an issue that caused the Map screens help to appear too low on the screen, cutting off text.

ALL GAME MODES

• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused clothing to become wet when left in the Trailers found next to the Cannery.
• [Gameplay] Spray Paint Cans weight and durability now decrease at the same rate when used.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that prevented Timberwolves Pack Morale from being drained when using the Flashlights high beam.

WINTERMUTE

• [WINTERMUTE] Timberwolves will now react to the Flashlight when appearing in WINTERMUTE.

SURVIVAL MODE

• Fixed an issue that prevented feathers from spawning on carcasses after long amounts of time have passed.
• Removed duplicated polaroid found in the FM Shortwave Tower, in the Forlorn Muskeg region.

### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2020-06-29 17:13:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.78 Hotfix for FEARLESS NAVIGATOR. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** THE LONG DARK v1.78 (62973) CHANGELIST GENERAL FIXES

• [General] When spraying a Marker with Spray Paint, after shooting a Wolf, the sprayed Marker will no longer appear as a blood drip texture.
• [General] Improved stability for Players who were crashing when transitioning from between exteriors to an interior, and vice versa.
• [General] Faithful Cartographer Achievement now updates progress correctly, when loading a save file from version 1.75 or earlier.
• [General] Removed erroneous output in the debug logs, when inserting a Steam Controller
• [General] Improved framerate while inspecting an item.
• [General] Draw distance on the First Aid Kit increased, so it no longer appears to pop-in to the world.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Burnt out cabins now properly show bullet hole decals, after being shot.
• [Enviro] Collision polish pass throughout all regions, to remove superfluous collision.
• [Enviro] Microwave door state is now restored correctly, when reloading a save.
• [Enviro] Fixed a number of locations where the Player could become stuck on the terrain.

USER INTERFACE

• [UI] Players can now scroll using the mouse wheel, or clicking on the scroll bar, when viewing the Rock Cache page, in the Journal
• [UI] Improved how Markers on the map are clustered together, to reduce crowding.
• [UI] Spray Paint Marker localization is now properly updated, when changing the in-game language.
• [UI] Discovered locations are now tracked correctly when viewing the Locations Discovered page in the Journal.
• [UI] Total available Notes displayed on the Collections page, in the Journal, updated to show the correct total available.

ALL GAME MODES

• [All Modes] Meat now decays at the correct rate, when stored in a Rock Cache.
• [All Modes] Rock Caches can no longer be placed inside a building, by standing outside of the building and entering placement mode.
• [All Modes] Crafting Ammo now requires light as intended. Players will no longer be able to craft Ammo without a light source.
• [All Modes] When throwing a physics based object, such as a flare, it will no longer appear to stutter.
• [All Modes] If the Player enters and exits the Crafting Menu while holding a Lantern, the Lantern is no longer hidden from view.

SURVIVAL MODE

• [Survival] Bleak Inlet Polaroid will no longer spawn in the Quonset Garage, as it was unintended.

### END OF CHANGELIST ### Update: Due to technical issues we have turned off the interactivity of our in-game notification relating to the new telemetry system that was released with FEARLESS NAVIGATOR. To opt-in to the system please turn this on in the games Main Menu, under Options>Privacy.

[ 2020-06-02 17:07:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

At Hinterland, we value the diversity of our community of millions across the world. We also value the diversity of the game industry, and the strength of our medium to represent different points of view. We look on in pain at the current violence erupting against Black people across the United States, and also reflect on the racism that exists in our own country. We acknowledge that it isnt enough to simply not be racist. We have to actively work to be anti-racist, and to intentionally dismantle the racist structures that we as privileged people are often not even aware of. We also know this statement is just the beginning of the work we must do. To turn words into concrete action, we have made financial donations to the following organizations: Black Lives Matter (US org), Black Lives Matter (Vancouver chapter), and Minnesota Freedom Fund. We stand in solidarity with the Black community. #blacklivesmatter

[ 2020-06-01 22:23:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

I believe that creators must be the custodians of their own content, and that developers should be able to determine for themselves which platforms their games are experienced on. In fact, I strongly believe that the continued vibrancy of the independent games industry depends on us being masters of our own destiny. Back in March I decided to remove The Long Dark from NVIDIAs GeForce NOW game streaming platform, as I disagreed with our game being incorporated into the service without our consent. We discussed our position with NVIDIA, which they respected. This week, NVIDIA announced they are shifting to an opt-in program for getting games onto GeForce NOW. This means developers now fully control whether or not their games appear on the platform. Im thrilled to see NVIDIA move to this model as its best for everyone for players, for the platform, and for the developers who create the games you love. Accessibility is important to us. GeForce NOW is a great service that offers players with low-spec or incompatible hardware the chance to play the games that might otherwise be out of reach, and were happy to announce that were bringing The Long Dark back to GeForce NOW, effective immediately. I applaud NVIDIA for embracing this opt-in approach, and for their support of independent creators like Hinterland. I also support any developers who choose, for their own reasons, to withhold their games from any platform, and I hope you will respect their decisions to do so as well. Developer choice is at the heart of a strong independent games industry. Sincerely, Raphael van Lierop Founder & CEO Hinterland

[ 2020-05-28 13:04:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Weve released our v1.77 Hotfix for FEARLESS NAVIGATOR. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). ***** THE LONG DARK v1.77 (62748) CHANGELIST KNOWN ISSUES Were currently investigating an issue that results in some locations not appearing in the Journal, when viewing the Faithful Cartographers achievement progress. A full list of all locations can be found here. GENERAL FIXES

• [General] When using a Spray Can to place a symbol, quickly selecting Erase while still spraying will no longer cause a soft lock.
• [General] Cap on the Spray Can will now match the colour of the Spray Paint.
• [General] Windows found on the Forestry Lookout can no longer have Spray Paint applied to them.
• [General] Spray Paint will no longer clip through snow, when sprayed on picnic tables.
• [General] Added additional checks to ensure Players can not exit the game while a save is in progress.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Fixed an issue in the Mystery Lake to Mountain Town transition that caused invisible collision to spawn, blocking the Player.
• [Enviro] Fixed an issue in Mystery Lake that caused some logs to appear to pop into the world.
• [Enviro] The Milton Park Notice Board now checks for collision when retrieving a Polaroid, preventing the Player from being able to interact with the Polaroid from an invalid direction.

USER INTERFACE

• [UI] When building a new Rock Cache, errant text will no longer appear briefly on the screen.
• [UI] When editing Rock Cache Notes, in the Journal, the character limit is now properly enforced.
• [UI] When editing Rock Cache Notes, in the Journal, the Player can now use backspace to delete previously written content, as intended.
• [UI] When viewing the Journal, the scroll bar will now animate correctly when scrolling through content.
• [UI] When viewing Rock Cache Notes, in the Journal, the Edit option will no longer appear unless there is content to edit.
• [UI] Fixed an issue that prevented Players from editing previously written Rock Cache Notes, in the Journal.
• [UI] When viewing the Map, the Player no longer has to press Escape twice if they try to exit the Map, while having the cursor over a cluster of icons.
• [UI] Fixed overlapping UI when inspecting a Polaroid.
• [UI] When deleting a Rock Cache icon cluster on the Map, Delete All now properly removes all associated icons from the Map.
• [UI] Text size has been increased on warning messages as it was appearing too small.
• [UI] Fixed overlapping Text and Button icons found on the Map, when using a controller.
• [UI] Fixed incorrect Map cons for the Coastal Houses found in Coastal Highway.
• [UI] When Spray Painting in a previously surveyed area, the New Area Surveyed on Map message will no longer erroneously appear.
• [UI] Indoor markers will no longer appear on outdoor maps, after spray painting certain buildings.

ALL GAME MODES

• [All Modes] A Full Moon during a Snow Storm will no longer allow the Player to perform actions such as crafting or reading a research book.
• [Audio] Fixed missing wind sound effects during a Blizzard.
• [All Modes] Surveying is restricted during low visibility weather, as intended.

Mac Only

• [General] Spray Paint Markers will now appear correctly on the map.

### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2020-05-26 17:01:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, Weve just updated The Long Dark to v1.76 (62505) FEARLESS NAVIGATOR. For a detailed breakdown of the new features and changes, please review the latest Update video. [previewyoutube=WBpMFegfykw;full][/previewyoutube] Full Release Notes are available below. SURVIVAL MARKERS Find Spray Cans in the world. Leave markers identifying important survival information such as the location of supplies or dangerous places to avoid. These in-world indicators appear on your map so that you can find things back even days or weeks after youve left a region. ROCK CACHES Build a landmark to help you navigate, and create emergency supply caches along commonly travelled routes. Review your Caches in the Journal, and leave notes on what youve stored in them so you can find vital tools or resources in the future. VISTA SURVEYS Hard to find Polaroids in the world indicate locations that offer sweeping Vista views of a region. Get to those locations and Survey them to reveal the majority of a regions map! IMPROVED CHARCOAL SURVEY The Charcoal Survey action now reveals an enhanced radius on the Map. Surveying from higher altitudes now increases how much of the Map is revealed. MAP & JOURNAL IMPROVEMENTS Turn layers of information on and off in the Map. Locate and rename Rock Caches. Keep track of all Surveyed locations to know if youve found them all. Especially useful if you are hunting locations for the Faithful Cartographer achievement. TELEMETRY & QUALITY OF LIFE New Autowalk accessibility feature ensures comfort for players with hand or wrist issues. New Opt-in Telemetry gathers gameplay data the development team will use to inform future balance and feature development efforts (Note: Telemetry is defaulted to OFF and needs to be turned on in the Options>Privacy settings.) in addition to the dozens of general improvements listed below. ***** THE LONG DARK v1.76 (62505) CHANGELIST KNOWN ISSUES These are issues were currently tracking and will be addressing in an upcoming hotfix:

• [UI] When viewing the Rock Cache Notes in your Journal, the scroll bar will not scroll.
• [UI] When viewing the Rock Cache Notes in your Journal, the edit button will appear, even if there are no notes to edit.
• [Audio] Sometimes during a blizzard, ambient wind sounds may become muted.

GENERAL FIXES

• [General] Fixed stuttering when looking towards Wolves, while in Milton.
• [General] Fixed null exception that would occur when lighting the Pot Belly Stove.
• [General] Bear sound effects no longer play when a carcass is removed from the world.
• [General] Updated Steam Controller profile.
• [General] Fixed an issue that prevented Players from being able to save or load their game if the save contained invalid data.

GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Numerous optimizations to improve performance.
• [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas the player could become stuck in.
• [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas the player could get outside of the intended play area.
• [Enviro] Fixed numerous clipping and floating objects.
• [Enviro] Performed various optimizations to avoid texture popping.
• [Enviro] Added casting shadows to numerous trees.
• [Enviro] Improvements to item placement system to reduce frequency of out of reach items.
• [Enviro] Fixed many minor art bugs to improve general polish in Bleak Inlet region.
• [Enviro] Environment art polish to improve sight-lines between major visual landmarks in Bleak Inlet.
• [Enviro] Removed extra window outlines that could appear on Trailers.
• [Enviro] Fixed several instances of trees placed incorrectly in Coastal Highway.
• [Enviro] Fixed several instances of collision being incorrect on porches in the Milton townsite.

USER INTERFACE

• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused icons on the Map to no longer populate, after mapping or discovering a large number of locations.
• [UI] Updated alignment on help text to make it consistent.
• [UI] Added missing Map icons found in the Town of Milton.
• [UI] Added missing Map icon hover text, when viewing the Derailment in the Ravine Crummy.
• [UI] Fixed missing UI elements when viewing notes, while the HUD is disabled.
• [UI] Fixed an incorrect tooltip found in Options->Display menu.
• [UI] Cooking UI now displays updated weight of items, instead of always showing the base weight.
• [UI] Added Audio options for selecting Headphones or Speakers.
• [UI] Fixed incorrectly named transitions areas on the Bleak Inlet Map.
• [UI] Updated labels on transition zones to be more consistent.
• [UI] When Crafting Tinder Plugs, the craft value will no longer appear as Rounds.
• [UI] Updated scroll bars to work consistently across all menus.
• [UI] Removed an extraneous line in the Skills menu.
• [Loc] Fixed multiple instances of overlapping Russian text.

ALL GAME MODES

• [All Modes] Added Lost and Found boxes to all remaining scenes.
• [Gameplay] Players will no longer lose Stamina if they are holding shift, while lighting or extinguishing a Lantern.
• [Gameplay] Replaced the non-interactable stack of papers found on the Workbench, with an interactable version.
• [Gameplay] The Cooking Pot now provides the correct bonus when cooking meat.
• [Gameplay] Breaking down items will no longer cause nearby gear items to drop through the ground.
• [Gameplay] Updated the water in the Mine Tunnels to deal less cold damage.
• [Gameplay] Fixed bug where Revolver Bullet weight changed when added to your inventory.
• [Gameplay] Improved moving items to the Lost and Found box, if they have fallen outside of the world.

WINTERMUTE FIXES

• [WINTERMUTE] Completing an Episode 1 or Episode 2 Side Missions now displays a completion message.
• [EPISODE THREE] Fixed an issue in the Mine exiting Pleasant Valley, where players would be repositioned after reloading a saved game.
• [EPISODE THREE] Added missing foley to the second part of the Mine Tremor cinematic.
• [EPISODE THREE] IDs are now removed from the Players inventory when completing the Fallen Star mission in Episode Three .
• [EPISODE THREE] Removed access to Timberwolf Mountain from Pleasant Valley.
• [EPISODE THREE] Fixed the spawn condition of the Revolver found in Mollys basement.

SURVIVAL MODE

• [Survival] Fixed incorrect spawn rate for the Prepper Cache found in Pleasant Valley.
• [Survival] All cabins now display smoke coming out of their chimney, when a fire is lit inside.
• [Survival] When sleeping, the save file screenshot will now occur after the player transitions from sleep, instead of during the transition.
• [Survival] Players can now place a Rifle on the gun rack found in the Hunting Lodge.
• [Survival] Cancelling while drinking Coffee will now award the appropriate amount of progress to the Straight to the Heart Feat.
• [Survival] Pre-Spawned campfires will no longer respawn, when loading a save where they were previously broken down.
• [Saves] Implemented a check to force the Aurora to be enabled on Survival Mode save files created prior to the Aurora being enabled.

### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2020-05-19 17:02:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, I hope youre all doing well in these strange times we find ourselves in. Its time to update you on some of the goings-on at Hinterland these days. COVID-19 Like many of you, our entire team is currently in Lockdown. British Columbia was one of the earliest Canadian provinces to have verified cases of COVID-19, back in January, so we were pretty aggressive in shutting down the physical studio. We had everyone work from home for half of February, and then by the first week of March we decided to just shut it down for at least a few months (back then everyone was still thinking week-to-week and this was tricky for planning so we figured it would be less disruptive just to assume wed all work from home for at least a few months). Weve all been doing this for about eight weeks now so that few months is probably going to end up being a few months more than that. I dont expect us to go back to working in the studio until the Fall or later. Even when it becomes safe to start slowly re-integrating into our old lives (as much as that will even be possible), our priority will continue to be ensuring our team is safe and protected. We wont go back to work in the studio until we know we can ensure our staff will be safe. Were pretty fortunate that our work can be done largely virtually, although we do miss sharing time together in our physical workspace. During pre-COVID times, everyone at Hinterland had the option to work from home a couple of days per week, so everyone was already well equipped with home offices and our internal communications and development tools were already set up to support working from home. As a result, this transition hasnt been as disruptive for us as it has been for a lot of businesses. That said, Id be lying if I said the lockdown situation hasnt impacted the team or our production. We all suddenly find ourselves working from home, with our kids and families around us, worried about their safety, access to supplies, what school will look like this year, what itll look like next year, and how this global situation may change how we live and work togetherpotentially forever. We were able to add a counselling component to our employee benefits package, which gives the team access to professional support if they feel like they need to talk to someone. We also got everyone on the team an annual pass for MasterClass, and weve set up Zoom rooms for things like a Friday Happy Hour hangout. Theres been a lot more sharing around hobbies and personal interests and its been great to see how everyone has pulled together to support each other. Weve been thinking about the world at large, and the disadvantaged people who are most affected by this situation. Earlier this month, we ran a fundraiser on Steam to raise money for the United Nations Foundation and the World Health Organizations fight against the spread of COVID-19. We donated 100% of the proceeds from that sale (including the 30% platform cut) and managed to raise nearly $200,000 to put towards these global efforts. One of our core values is taking care of others, and we feel really fortunate to be able to harness the work we do the creation of video games into something that can make a positive contribution in this challenging world. It makes us feel a little less helpless, I guess.
Weve also been thinking a lot about you, our players. We know a lot of you are feeling trapped at home, and so weve been trying to keep you engaged by running various activities on our social channels, including game key give-aways, and suggestions for ways to make the most of Social Distancing. Weve also been working on some new game content to keep you occupied. NEXT SURVIVAL UPDATE The team has been working on a Navigation-themed update to Survival Mode. Without spoiling things too much, I can tell you that its a suite of new features that will enhance the usefulness of the in-game Map, without sacrificing our current Landmark-based navigation paradigm. Also, the new features will all be optional, so any players who enjoy the game as it currently is can choose to ignore them. Were also finally adding an Autowalk accessibility feature, as this has been requested by various players in our community who struggle to play the game without this functionality. The team is currently tracking towards a mid-May release for the next update. Well share more details as we get closer, so make sure you follow the studio accounts if you want to see those. As always, well release a fully narrated update video along with the update launch, to help explain how some of the new features work. EPISODE FOUR The team has also been hard at work on Episode Four, since wrapping up the Episode Three launch at the end of last year. I spent the first couple of months of the year completing the outlines for Episodes Four and Five to make sure we wrap things up in a satisfying way, and also leave some questions for the future. Since I completed those, the team has been working on creating the Episode Four mission content and world assets since then. In Episode Four, we also take up some of the hints we laid out in Episode Three, and begin answering some of those questions and mysteries. One unexpected issue weve encountered due to the COVID situation is that we dont currently have a good way to create our story content, like cinematic sequences or dialogue mode, as these depend on being able to get into the studio with our actors, record their performances, and then process those performances into data that we can then apply to the 3D characters. Weve been working on some fallback plans to figure out how to do as much of this as we can while maintaining social distancing, but this will definitely put us behind schedule. Were still aiming to get Episode Four out this year but were not committing to any specific dates at the moment, because were still trying to understand how this will impact our production schedule. In any case, well keep you apprised of our general progress. For the time being, Ive focused the team on what they need to do to stay healthy and to take care of themselves and their families, while doing the best to continue making progress towards our shared goals. Our plan is still based on delivering Episode Four in 2020, and well continue to work towards that. MOD TOOLS As an update on this topic thats popular amongst some people in our player community, weve created a small internal team to focus on carrying out our Mod Support/User Generated Content strategy for The Long Dark. Weve also been working on a global strategy for the studio, so that the effort we put into mod support/UGC for The Long Dark extends into the future as well. The first step is to outline what we believe the right kind of modifications and user-created content types we can support with the game, as the engine (Unity) and the game itself were not really designed with Modding in mind. Weve also begun to identify the tools and technology well need to create to support this effort. When the time is right, we will present our plan and begin consulting with the community to learn more about what you would like to see out of our Mod Support efforts. While we may not be able to do everything you want, well do our best. MAILBAG
Many of you might have followed my (almost) weekly Milton Mailbag post in the official forums. Unfortunately, due to the weekly time commitment required (each Mailbag post typically took me 2-3 hours to put together), I wasnt able to maintain regular updates as we were finalizing Episode Three, and I just havent been able to justify the time since then, for the relatively small number of people (around 1,000-1,500 per entry) who would read the posts. But, I still want to respond to questions and engage with you around The Long Dark I just need to find a more efficient/effective way to do this. One option we are considering is switching this to a video format essentially, I would put together a video (it would not be anything fancy, as Id be recording it in my home office) on a monthly basis (more often if were able), where I respond to 3-5 community questions. I might not end up going into as much detail in this format, and I may not be able to respond to 20-30 questions each week, but I think this will be a pace and time commitment I can sustain. If any of you would like to see the Mailbag become a regular video segment on our YouTube channel, please let us know on social or in the forums. SWITCH VERSION Not much to say here. The game is pretty much ready to go, apart from performance. Were still working on that, trying to hit a reliable 30 frames-per-second in all areas. XBOX GAME PASS We recently brought The Long Dark to Xbox Game Pass. This is an evolution of our ongoing relationship with Microsoft, going back to helping them launch the Game Preview program back in 2015. Were excited to welcome a new generation of Xbox players into our community, and we look forward to learning more about the specific pros and cons of having a game inside a subscription service. While I have concerns about what this business model might mean for independent developers like Hinterland, Microsoft has been a great, respectful partner for us over the years and were excited to bring the game to a new audience while also gaining some key learnings well need as we adapt to new industry business models in the future. To any Xbox Game Pass subscribers reading this dev diary right now welcome! We hope youll stick around for the long term. Please join us in our Official Community, sit by the fire, and stay a while. ### Thats pretty much it for this instalment of my Dev Diary. Keep your eyes peeled for the May Survival Update. It should land in the second half of the month. Apart from that, if you want to stay abreast of the goings on at Hinterland, please feel free to sign up for our newsletter, join our Official Community, or follow our social channels. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the next update! Raph

[ 2020-05-01 17:32:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

We all have to do our part to fight the spread of COVID-19. To that end, we are proud to have raised $194,619 USD through our recent Social Distancing Fundraiser on Steam, to support the United Nations Foundation and the World Health Organizations COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. In the face of this global pandemic, we all have to do our part to support each other, and this is a time where game studios and the experiences we create can make a real difference in peoples lives, said Raphael van Lierop, Hinterland Founder & CEO. Were proud to be able to donate 100% of the revenue from this Fundraiser, and to join other world-leading brands in the fight against this terrible virus. With the original pledge being for $100k USD, the fundraiser ended up raising $194,619 USD, the amount which Hinterland is donating 100% (including covering the 30% platform royalty) in order to maximize the impact. This infographic illustrates the breakdown of how donations are being allocated by the WHO so far. Hinterlands contribution will help the WHO to understand how the virus spreads, provide patients the critical care they need, and also supports frontline workers with essential supplies and information. We launched the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund seeking support for the World Health Organizations life-saving global response, said Elizabeth Cousens, President & CEO of the UN Foundation. We are thankful that donors big and small have answered that call. And, we are grateful to Hinterland for generously increasing their original donation to do even more good. Our thanks goes to our community of players, and all those who bought The Long Dark to contribute to their crucial work to combat this pandemic. The Hinterland Team

[ 2020-04-13 20:08:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

We all have to do our part to help in the global fight against the spread of COVID-19. Hinterland is partnering with the United Nations Foundation to raise money for the World Health Organizations COVID-19 response. For one week starting Tuesday, March 24th at 10AM Pacific, you can fight your own cabin fever by buying The Long Dark for 60% off during our special Social Distancing Fundraiser on Steam. All our revenue from the fundraiser goes directly to the United Nations Foundations COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization. "This urgent moment calls for urgent global cooperation, said Elizabeth Cousens, President & CEO of the UN Foundation. And we need everyone across all sectors to work together. I am grateful to Hinterland for contributing to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization. Their donation will help make sure health workers on the frontlines have the tools they need to prevent, detect, and respond to this pandemic. Please share news of this fundraiser amongst your network, as every dollar we raise will make a difference in the fight against this global pandemic. Thank you for your support. Please remember to stay safe during this time, practice social distancing, and wash your hands! We can get through this, together. Raphael van Lierop Founder/CEO Hinterland

[ 2020-03-24 17:00:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, So far in 2020 weve released four Hotfixes for The Long Dark's ERRANT PILGRIM Update. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. FEBRUARY 5th, 2020 - CHANGELIST v1.74 [58755] GENERAL FIXES

• Fixed an issue that caused items to fall through the ground, when breaking down a nearby object.
• Fixed an issue that caused some items to fall through the ground when transitioning between locations.
• Added check to the Lost & Found Box to recover inaccessible items that were lost when breaking down an object or after a transition.
• Added additional checks to the Lost and Found Box to avoid moving invalid items to it.

JANUARY 29th, 2020 - CHANGELIST v1.73 [58590] GENERAL FIXES

• [EP2] Fixed a crash that could occur when the Old Bear charges at the Player, if they had taken a specific path through the cave prior to the encounter.
• [General] Fixed a crash that could occur during an active Aurora.

JANUARY 22nd, 2020 - CHANGELIST v1.72 [58487] GENERAL FIXES Fixed an issue that caused the message "Unable to restore the game from a previous save.

• Press confirm to return to the main menu." to appear, after performing a transition.
• Fixed an issue that caused foods cooking progress to reset after the Player performs a transition.
• Fixed a crash that could occur if a Stag or Rabbit was removed from the world, while being chased by a Predator.

JANUARY 20th, 2020 - CHANGELIST v1.71 [58341] GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixed numerous areas where the Player could become stuck.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Additional pass for locations where the Player could get outside of the intended play area.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixed various clipping and floating objects.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixe numerous texture pop, stretch and flickering issues.
• [Enviro] Windows will no longer glow during the night.
• [Enviro] Fixed an issue that caused Players to teleport, if they fell off the rope climb in Bleak Inlet.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixed a variety of floating and clipping objects.
• [Lighting] Fixed an issue that caused corrupted lighting to appear on various objects in the world.

UI

• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused the Episode 1 intro cinematic to freeze, if the Voice or Master volume slider was set to 0.
• [UI] When repairing at the Milling Machine, the correct repaired condition is now shown.
• [UI] Fixed missing line break in Bleak Inlet description.
• [UI] Updated the Forlorn Muskeg description to include the Bleak Inlet transition.
• [UI] Updated localization and fixed typos.
• [UI] Full Lantern Fuel now properly displays correct weight

WINTERMUTE

• [EP2] Added additional checks to ensure the Old Bear does not become stuck.
• [EP2] Aurora lights now appear properly after the Old Bear knocks over the tram.
• [EP3] Players can no longer skip the Timberwolf Tutorial, by placing a survivor at the same time the tutorial triggers.
• [EP3] Fishing sound effects no longer persist after catching the Big Bass.
• [EP3] Players can no longer get stuck after the Mine Collapse cinematic.
• [EP3] When loading a save at the Mine entrance, the crates will no longer appear in new locations.

GAMEPLAY

• [AI] Stags now animate correctly after being felled by a Wolf.
• [AI] Fixed an issue that allowed Timberwolves to become hostile, regardless of game mode settings.
• [AI] Fixed an issue that could cause Wildlife to slide under certain terrain, such as ice and steep hills.
• [AI] Polished Stag and Wolf animations and transitions.
• [AI] Wolves will no longer attack immediately after completing a Crafting or Harvesting action, while near a fire.
• [AI] Fixed issue that prevented Timberwolves from attacking the Player, if they have entered and exited a vehicle.
• [AI] Timberwolves will now only pick valid locations to wander to, preventing them from becoming stuck.
• [AI] Add check to ensure Wildlife is always on navmesh.
• [Gameplay] Updated the location count for Faithful Cartographer to include missing Mountain Town locations.
• [Gameplay] Interrupted Progress made while repairing an item with the Milling Machine is now saved as progress, instead of repaired condition.
• [Gameplay] When reloading a Revolver in a vehicle, the casings now stay in the car.
• [Gameplay] Lost and Found Box added to Bleak Inlet.
• [Gameplay] Stags now check for collision when falling after death, to avoid falling into objects.
• [Gameplay] Torches pulled from fires will now properly randomize their condition.
• [Gameplay] Tea will no longer remain hot forever.
• [Gameplay] Added check to ensure equipped items used in crafting are unequipped correctly after crafting is complete.
• [Gameplay] When harvesting shelves, unrelated items will no longer drop to the floor.
• [Gameplay] Added additional checks to ensure Badges and Feats are not removed when moving between game versions.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused unusable items to appear in the Lost and Found box.
• [Gameplay] Added additional check to ensure Wildlife conditions persist after exiting and re-entering a Region.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that prevented Rifles from being placed on gun racks.
• [Gameplay] User can longer perform Fix or Repair actions when in the dark, as intended.
• [Custom Mode] Bullets now spawn correctly, when Low Availability Resources is enabled, in Custom Mode.

[ 2020-02-10 19:57:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve released hotfix 1.74. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.74 [58755] GENERAL FIXES

• Fixed an issue that caused items to fall through the ground, when breaking down a nearby object.
• Fixed an issue that caused some items to fall through the ground when transitioning between locations.
• Added check to the Lost & Found Box to recover inaccessible items that were lost when breaking down an object or after a transition.
• Added additional checks to the Lost and Found Box to avoid moving invalid items to it.

[ 2020-02-05 18:04:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve released hotfix 1.73. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.73 [58590] GENERAL FIXES

• [EP2] Fixed a crash that could occur when the Old Bear charges at the Player, if they had taken a specific path through the cave prior to the encounter.
• [General] Fixed a crash that could occur during an active Aurora.

[ 2020-01-29 18:00:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve released hotfix 1.72. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.72 [58487]

• [General] Fixed an issue that caused the message "Unable to restore the game from a previous save. Press confirm to return to the main menu." to appear, after performing a transition.
• [General] Fixed an issue that caused foods cooking progress to reset after the Player performs a transition.
• [General] Fixed a crash that could occur if a Stag or Rabbit was removed from the world, while being chased by a Predator.

[ 2020-01-22 19:57:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve released hotfix 1.71 [58341]. In this release, weve focused on addressing a number of world art issues found in the Bleak Inlet region, as well as resolving several Predator AI and Quality of Life issues. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.71 [58341] GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixed numerous areas where the Player could become stuck.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Additional pass for locations where the Player could get outside of the intended play area.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixed various clipping and floating objects.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixe numerous texture pop, stretch and flickering issues.
• [Enviro] Windows will no longer glow during the night.
• [Enviro] Fixed an issue that caused Players to teleport, if they fell off the rope climb in Bleak Inlet.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixed a variety of floating and clipping objects.
• [Lighting] Fixed an issue that caused corrupted lighting to appear on various objects in the world.

UI

• [UI] Fixed an issue that caused the Episode 1 intro cinematic to freeze, if the Voice or Master volume slider was set to 0.
• [UI] When repairing at the Milling Machine, the correct repaired condition is now shown.
• [UI] Fixed missing line break in Bleak Inlet description.
• [UI] Updated the Forlorn Muskeg description to include the Bleak Inlet transition.
• [UI] Updated localization and fixed typos.
• [UI] Full Lantern Fuel now properly displays correct weight

WINTERMUTE

• [EP2] Added additional checks to ensure the Old Bear does not become stuck.
• [EP2] Aurora lights now appear properly after the Old Bear knocks over the tram.
• [EP3] Players can no longer skip the Timberwolf Tutorial, by placing a survivor at the same time the tutorial triggers.
• [EP3] Fishing sound effects no longer persist after catching the Big Bass.
• [EP3] Players can no longer get stuck after the Mine Collapse cinematic.
• [EP3] When loading a save at the Mine entrance, the crates will no longer appear in new locations.

GAMEPLAY

• [AI] Stags now animate correctly after being felled by a Wolf.
• [AI] Fixed an issue that allowed Timberwolves to become hostile, regardless of game mode settings.
• [AI] Fixed an issue that could cause Wildlife to slide under certain terrain, such as ice and steep hills.
• [AI] Polished Stag and Wolf animations and transitions.
• [AI] Wolves will no longer attack immediately after completing a Crafting or Harvesting action, while near a fire.
• [AI] Fixed issue that prevented Timberwolves from attacking the Player, if they have entered and exited a vehicle.
• [AI] Timberwolves will now only pick valid locations to wander to, preventing them from becoming stuck.
• [AI] Add check to ensure Wildlife is always on navmesh.
• [Gameplay] Updated the location count for Faithful Cartographer to include missing Mountain Town locations.
• [Gameplay] Interrupted Progress made while repairing an item with the Milling Machine is now saved as progress, instead of repaired condition.
• [Gameplay] When reloading a Revolver in a vehicle, the casings now stay in the car.
• [Gameplay] Lost and Found Box added to Bleak Inlet.
• [Gameplay] Stags now check for collision when falling after death, to avoid falling into objects.
• [Gameplay] Torches pulled from fires will now properly randomize their condition.
• [Gameplay] Tea will no longer remain hot forever.
• [Gameplay] Added check to ensure equipped items used in crafting are unequipped correctly after crafting is complete.
• [Gameplay] When harvesting shelves, unrelated items will no longer drop to the floor.
• [Gameplay] Added additional checks to ensure Badges and Feats are not removed when moving between game versions.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused unusable items to appear in the Lost and Found box.
• [Gameplay] Added additional check to ensure Wildlife conditions persist after exiting and re-entering a Region.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that prevented Rifles from being placed on gun racks.
• [Gameplay] User can longer perform Fix or Repair actions when in the dark, as intended.
• [Custom Mode] Bullets now spawn correctly, when Low Availability Resources is enabled, in Custom Mode.

[ 2020-01-20 17:59:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

From everyone at Hinterland we wish you a meaningful and relaxing time with friends and family as you celebrate the end of another year. 2019 has been a fantastic year for us, culminating in the recent releases of Episode Three CROSSROADS ELEGY for The Long Darks WINTERMUTE Story Mode, and our ERRANT PILGRIM update for the games Survival Mode. Now onto a new decade, 2020, and beyond! We are incredibly grateful for your continued support, and for the thoughtful interactions we get to have with our players through the official Hinterland community, our Twitter accounts [studio | game], as well as our other various communications channels. Please note that the team at Hinterland will be enjoying a holiday break from December 20th to January 3rd. You will still be able to reach us through our Support Portal, but please keep in mind responses may take a bit longer than usual over the holidays. In the meantime, please refer to the games Technical FAQ for a list of troubleshooting steps for common issues. All our best and happy holidays, - The Hinterland Team

[ 2019-12-20 18:50:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve released our v1.69 Hotfix for Errant Pilgrim. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.69 [57923] GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixed numerous areas where the Player could become stuck.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Additional pass for locations where the Player could get outside of the intended play area.
• [Enviro] All Regions - Fixed various clipping and floating objects.
• [Enviro] Fixed unreachable Revolver that would spawn in the Workshop.
• [Lighting] Light sources no longer appear overly bright when multiple lights are active.

UI

• [UI] Updated missing subtitles for inspection comments, when playing as a male Survivor.
• [UI] Added missing Map icons in the Bleak Inlet region.
• [UI] Fixed Custom Mode setting for revolver availability when using Interloper as a base.
• [UI] The Buff notification will now move out of view when aiming.
• [UI] Fixed the colour of help text when hovering your cursor over heated items.

GAMEPLAY

• [AI] Timberwolves will no longer freeze in place if they try to attack a target they cant pathfind to.
• [AI] Wildlife will no longer attempt to dodge the Player, when they are far away from the Player.
• [AI] Added check to prevent Predators from attacking players through Fishing Hut walls and closed doors.
• [Animation] Pass on Timberwolves to fix numerous animation pops and hitches.
• [Audio] When joining a pack, Timberwolf howls are no longer cut off or repeated.
• [Challenges] Challenge Mastery now awarded as soon as its earned.
• [Gameplay] Improved collision detection between thrown objects and wildlife.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that would cause Fishing Hut doors to swing further than intended.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused the Flashlight to turn on before the Aurora was fully active.
• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused arrows to become non-interactable, if the arrow deflected off an object or animal after being fired, and the Player reloaded or transitioned to a new area.
• [Gameplay] Players will no longer get stuck after entering a pre-placed Snow Shelter.
• [Gameplay] Pre-placed Snow Shelters no longer disappear upon reloading a save.
• [Gameplay] The Gunpowder Can will no longer refill, when loading to a new area.
• [Gameplay] Rosehip Tea and Reishi Tea now replenishes the correct amount of thirst, when drank.
• [Gameplay] Increased amount of Gunpowder used, when using it as an accelerant, from 0.01 to 0.1.
• [Gameplay] Medical Locker in Bleak Inlets Radio Tower no longer needs Bolt Cutters.
• [Gameplay] Fixed non-interactive Workbench found in the cannery. It is now usable.

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2019-12-18 18:34:45 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve released our v1.67 Hotfix for Errant Pilgrim to address an issue we introduced in today's earlier Hotfix (v1.66). In today's previous release we focused on addressing a number of world art issues found in the Bleak Inlet region, as well as resolving several Predator AI and Quality of Life issues. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.67 [57811]

• [Gameplay] Fixed an issue that caused the Workshop door in Bleak Inlet to no longer open, if a User loaded a save with the Workshop unlocked, from V1.64

Note: Due to processing time for Xbox One Updates V1.67 will not launch for this platform until Monday. We apologize to our Xbox players for this delay. CHANGELIST v1.66 [57718] GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas in Bleak Inlet where the Player could become stuck.
• [Enviro] Polish pass on locations in Bleak Inlet where the Player could get outside of the intended play.
• [Enviro] Fixed clipping and floating objects located throughout the Bleak Inlet region.
• [Enviro] Removed various instances of invisible collision found in Bleak Inlet.
• [Enviro] Survivors will now become wet if standing in, or near a waterfall found in the Bleak Inlet region.
• [Envrio] Wolves will no longer appear to flicker when walking along the docks in the Bleak Inlet.
• [Enviro] Removed Weak Ice location that was unintentionally placed on land in the Forlorn Muskeg.

USER INTERFACE FIXES

• [UI] Saves now correctly display Region text for Bleak Inlet.
• [UI] Crafting Time now updates to show the selected tool, instead of the most efficient tool.

WINTERMUTE FIXES

• [WINTERMUTE] Timberwolf carcasses no longer disappear if the Player saves, then reloads.
• [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that could unintentionally cutoff dialogue.

CHALLENGE MODES

• [Challenge] Fixed issue that rewarded the Nomad Badge when completing the Whiteout Challenge.
• [Challenge] Nomad Badge now correctly rewarded when completing the Nomad Challenge.
• [Challenge] Challenge Mastery achievement now unlocks as soon the Player has earned it.

SURVIVAL MODE

• [Survival] Timberwolves will now hunt prey, as intended.
• [Custom Mode] Revolvers option updated to Revolver Availability for consistency.
• [Gameplay] Fixed a crash that could occur when entering the Snow Shelter, when using a controller.

ALL GAME MODES

• [Gameplay] Sewing Kits no longer lose condition when harvesting Clothing.
• [AI] Predators will no longer flee from Survivors who are atop a sloped hill.
• [AI] Added additional line of sight check to Timberwolves, to prevent attacks through walls and out of reach locations.
• [AI] Timberwolves will now break-off their attack if a Marine Flare is lit, before the struggle occurs.
• [AI] Timberwolves can no longer flee to excessive distances.
• [Gameplaye] Fixed a crash that could occur on some save files when loading into Bleak Inlet.

Playstation 4/Xbox One

• [PS4] Fixed HDR lighting in the Hunters Lodge and Grey Mothers House.
• [PS4] Fixed missing music for some players.

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2019-12-14 04:10:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve released hotfix 1.66 [57718]. In this release, weve focused on addressing a number of world art issues found in the Bleak Inlet region, as well as resolving several Predator AI and Quality of Life issues. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.66 [57718] GENERAL ART FIXES

• [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas in Bleak Inlet where the Player could become stuck.
• [Enviro] Polish pass on locations in Bleak Inlet where the Player could get outside of the intended play.
• [Enviro] Fixed clipping and floating objects located throughout the Bleak Inlet region.
• [Enviro] Removed various instances of invisible collision found in Bleak Inlet.
• [Enviro] Survivors will now become wet if standing in, or near a waterfall found in the Bleak Inlet region.
• [Envrio] Wolves will no longer appear to flicker when walking along the docks in the Bleak Inlet.
• [Enviro] Removed Weak Ice location that was unintentionally placed on land in the Forlorn Muskeg.

USER INTERFACE FIXES

• [UI] Saves now correctly display Region text for Bleak Inlet.
• [UI] Crafting Time now updates to show the selected tool, instead of the most efficient tool.

WINTERMUTE FIXES

• [WINTERMUTE] Timberwolf carcasses no longer disappear if the Player saves, then reloads.
• [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that could unintentionally cutoff dialogue.

CHALLENGE MODES

• [Challenge] Fixed issue that rewarded the Nomad Badge when completing the Whiteout Challenge.
• [Challenge] Nomad Badge now correctly rewarded when completing the Nomad Challenge.
• [Challenge] Challenge Mastery achievement now unlocks as soon the Player has earned it.

SURVIVAL MODE

• [Survival] Timberwolves will now hunt prey, as intended.
• [Custom Mode] Revolvers option updated to Revolver Availability for consistency.
• [Gameplay] Fixed a crash that could occur when entering the Snow Shelter, when using a controller.

ALL GAME MODES

• [Gameplay] Sewing Kits no longer lose condition when harvesting Clothing.
• [AI] Predators will no longer flee from Survivors who are atop a sloped hill.
• [AI] Added additional line of sight check to Timberwolves, to prevent attacks through walls and out of reach locations.
• [AI] Timberwolves will now break-off their attack if a Marine Flare is lit, before the struggle occurs.
• [AI] Timberwolves can no longer flee to excessive distances.
• [Gameplaye] Fixed a crash that could occur on some save files when loading into Bleak Inlet.

Playstation 4/Xbox One

• [PS4] Fixed HDR lighting in the Hunters Lodge and Grey Mothers House.
• [PS4] Fixed missing music for some players.

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2019-12-13 18:01:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just released our latest update ERRANT PILGRIM! [previewyoutube=XaRNygzfPMc;leftthumb][/previewyoutube] NEW REGION: Bleak Inlet A wind-swept coastline reveals an abandoned industrial facility -- an aging Cannery that holds some useful secrets. But finding your way to it is a two-stage affair, involving accessing the region from both the Raven Falls ravine, and Forlorn Muskeg. But watch out! Vicious Timberwolf packs have moved into this region, and will defend their territory to the death. NEW CHALLENGE: As the Dead Sleep Youre a tortured soul on the edge of death. Find five grave markers in the distant corners of the world, and maybe you can feel some peace before you fade into The Long Dark. Inspired by the community-conceived Deadman challenge, this is our harshest Challenge yet. NEW GAMEPLAY: Ammunition Workbench Look for the Ammo Crafting Workbench. With the right supplies, you can assemble your own ammunition for the Rifle or Revolver. But assembling the gear you need, and finding the bench, wont be easy. NEW ITEMS: Gunpowder & Ammunition Components
Weve added all the raw materials you need to craft ammunition. If you manage to gather them all, and find an Ammunition Bench, youll be significantly enhancing your life expectancy on Great Bear. 1) Lead from batteries to make bullets 2) Collect sulfur from plant fertilizer + Charcoal from burned out fires + potassium nitrate from Stump Remover = Gunpowder 3) Shell casing 4) Bullet + Gunpowder + Shell Casing + Ammo Bench = Ammunition NEW GAMEPLAY: Gunsmithing & The Milling Machine With the help of the active Aurora, the Milling Machine comes to life, giving you the capability to restore ruined firearms, and repair damaged ones, along with future capabilities. Just keep in mind youll need the Gunsmithing skill to make any headway with this tool. NEW FEATS: Blizzard Walker, Expert Trapper, Straight to the Heart New in-game achievements that lend gameplay benefits to Survival Mode games. QUALITY OF LIFE: Campfire, Emergency Shelter Breakdown By popular demand, weve added the ability to break down Campfire rings and Emergency Shelters, for those players who like to pack out what they pack in. CHANGELIST v1.64 [57505] HIGHLIGHTS Added new Region: Bleak Inlet Added new Challenge: As the Dead Sleep Added new Feats: Blizzard Walker, Expert Trapper, and Straight to the Heart Added new gameplay system: Ammunition Workbench Added new gameplay system: Gunsmithing Added new gameplay system: Milling Machine Added new raw material: Lead Added new raw material: Stump Remover Added new raw material: Dusting Sulfur Added new craftable item: Gunpowder Added new craftable item: Bullet(s) Added new craftable item: Ammunition Added new Custom Mode setting to disable Birch Bark Tea crafting GENERAL ART FIXES [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas the player could become stuck in. [Enviro] Fixed numerous locations where the player could get outside of the intended play area. [Enviro] Fixed numerous clipping and floating objects. [Enviro] Increased the visible distance of lights during an Aurora Event. [Enviro] Fixed area in the Ravine that players could escape the map [Enviro] Fixed missing roof in Prepper Bunker [VFX] Adjusted interior light shafts that were too bright during mid-day [VFX] Fixed flames clipping through Barrels and Pot Belly Stoves USER INTERFACE FIXES [UI] Fixed an issue that caused the Revolver to display the incorrect weight when viewed in the Backpack. [UI] Fixed an issue that caused some Cooking HUD messages to appear too quickly. [UI] Blueprint Requirements now appear correctly during the first instance of viewing the Crafting Menu. [UI] Radial Menu can no longer appear overtop of other menus, such as the Backpack. [UI] Fixed the Revolver and the Distress Pistol Condition displaying as the value from the previously viewed item. WINTERMUTE FIXES [WINTERMUTE] Male survivor vocalization no longer plays when Astrid is attacked by Timberwolves. [WINTERMUTE] Timberwolves now react properly to Marine Flares. [WINTERMUTE] The Crummy in Broken Railroad now falls over correctly after the Old Bear pushes on it. [WINTERMUTE] Adjusted the rate that the Old Bear turns while in the cave. CHALLENGE MODES [Hopeless Rescue] The Distress Pistol can no longer spawn outside of the Timberwolf Mountain Crash Site. SURVIVAL MODE [Survival] Black screen no longer appears after being trampled by a Moose. [Survival] Fixed an issue that prevented the player from interacting with the Buffer Memory in Signal Hill. ALL GAME MODES General performance improvements across the game. [Animation] Improved animation for when a Wolf transitions to the hold ground AI state. [Audio] Aurora effects are no longer disabled when aiming. [Gameplay] Updated item placement range to better match interaction distance. [Gameplay] Updated wildlife pathfinding so they dont bump into each other as often. [Gameplay] Updated Wildlife pathfinding to better handle passing through gates. [Gameplay] Fixed the missing highlight when moving Sticks in Placement Mode. [Gameplay] Adjusted depth Wildlife carcasses can sink into the snow. [Gameplay] Campfires no longer collide with Wildlife during placement mode [Gameplay] Fixed issue that caused Wolves to not eat some prey. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2019-12-10 18:34:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, The last six weeks have been pretty busy, with launching Episode Three on October 22nd, supporting our annual Four Days of Night Halloween event, and finalizing our next big Survival Mode update. We said wed do our best to deliver you one more big update before the end of the year, and Im here to tease out a bit more information about what to expect in December. The next update is called ERRANT PILGRIM, and it features some new stuff were pretty excited about:

• A new region. This will be our first region to feature a two-part environmental puzzle of sorts in order to unlock the regions full potential, youll need to access it from two different locations. Theres a new area with several industrial buildings, and this region will be the first to feature Timberwolves in Survival Mode. Watch out!
• A new challenge. Weve taking inspiration from the communitys Deadman take on custom mode settings, and have created our own version as a standalone Challenge mode which, frankly, we think is the toughest experience weve ever made. Nobody in the office has been able to complete it yet. (Dont worry, were exempting this new challenge from the Challenge Mastery achievement. Were not monsters.)
• New gameplay systems. Without getting into too much detail at the moment, were introducing a few new gear items, tools, and systems that should help make late-game survival a little more viable for most players. You might get a hint from the piece of concept art included in this dev diary.
• New Feats. We havent shown the Feat system much love since we introduced it, so were adding three new Feats, to give you some gameplay objectives to work towards as handy new buffs for your Survival Mode games.
• New Survival Mode music. 10+ more minutes of brand new music, from Survival mode soundtrack composer, Sascha Dikiciyan.
• The Return of Fluffy. Hmm?
• Did I mention Timberwolves in Survival Mode? Relax. Theyre only in the new region. (For now.)

There are some other tidbits here and there, some quality of life updates, and of course, lots of bug fixes. We hope this next update comes just in time for you to fire up The Long Dark over the cold winter holiday, when its best appreciated! You can expect the next Survival Mode update to land around the middle of December, depending on how long it takes us to get things optimized and the bugs cleaned up. Well launch it with our customary update video, fully narrated by yours truly. Should be fun. Keep an eye open on our social channels as well likely share more tidbits about the update leading up to its launch. As usual, this will be a free update for all current owners of The Long Dark, on Steam (where the game happens to currently be on Sale), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and the other platforms were currently available on. This might also be a good moment to remind you to nominate The Long Dark in the Labour of Love category in the 2019 Steam Awards. Thanks for reading, and look for more bits of info over the next couple of weeks! Raph

[ 2019-11-28 21:02:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve released hotfix 1.62 [55870]. With this release weve continued to address a number of issues specific to Episode Three as well as issues with the Crafting Menu, Wolf behaviors and numerous world art issues. If you encounter any issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. Gameplay * Fixed an issue that caused Wolf pathfinding to become confused after a decoy was dropped in certain scenarios. * Fixed the distance which Wolves can grab decoys. * Added further checks to prevent Wolves from attacking players through objects. * Fixed an issue that prevented players from dropping a decoy from the Radial Menu. * Fixed animation popping during the Wolf Struggle Animation while holding a Revolver. * Fixed Bears resetting to their dens after loading a save. * Fixed an exploit that allowed players to craft arrows even if there was time remaining. UI/World/Art * General polish throughout the world. * Added a third digit to imperial values to prevent rounding errors. * Fixed missing shadows from Fridges. * Fixed missing quantity when crafting. * Fixed Tool Selection not appearing when crafting arrows. * Fixed materials being consumed when cancelling crafting. * Fixed flames disappearing on pre-placed fires after exiting and reloading the game. Episode Three * Polish pass through the episode. * Survivor stats now displayed while passing time. * Added map icon for Survivors dropped by the player. * Fixed numerous areas the player could become stuck. * Fixed being unable to place the third rescued Survivor in some scenarios. * Gwen can no longer die after completing her mission. * Fixed issue that caused players to be forced out of aim when attacked by a Timberwolf. * Adjusted the size of Wades campfire. * Adjusted the distance which Timberwolves will hold ground when the player is holding a lit Marine Flare. * Fixed Timberwolves howling more than intended. * Fixed Timberwolf corpses resetting after transitioning indoors. * Fixed player position changing when exiting Diagnosis. * Fixed incorrect location being displayed when viewing information on the Load Screen. ###END OF RELEASE NOTES###

[ 2019-11-01 06:34:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our annual Halloween Event -- 4 Days of Night -- is now live The Event runs until Thursday Oct 31st 11PM Pacific. For complete details, please visit our official forums below: https://hinterlandforums.com/forums/topic/35657-four-days-of-night-2019/?tab=comments#comment-182480

[ 2019-10-29 01:05:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve released our first hotfix following the launch of Episode Three - v1.61 [55716]. Weve addressed a number of issues specific to Episode Three, added Lost and Found boxes to all regions, and fixed the lighting issues some players were experiencing. Lighting should now be closer to what you experienced in Steadfast Ranger. Note: This change list may contain spoilers! If you still encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter ( Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. Changelist v1.61 [55716] Gameplay * Added Lost and Found boxes to all regions. * Fixed issue that caused animations for crouching, opening drawers, and the swinging of the lantern to play slower than intended. * Fixed issue that caused animals to clip into the ground when the player sleeps. * Fixed issue that caused Bears to sometimes spawn under the map. UI/World/Art * Fixed issue that resulted in brightness to be incorrectly calculated. * Fixed visible seams on the Rural Region Houses. * Fixed Timber Wolves Morale bar resetting if they fled during the Tutorial. * Fixed missing collision on the Community Hall Sign. * Fixed stretched texture in the back of the Burnt Ridge Cave. * Fixed flickering on some rock edges in Pleasant Valley. * Fixed disappearing snow texture near the Shed in the Rural Region. * Re-enabled player placed light sources during a cinematic. Episode Three * Subtitle and localization tuning. * Polish pass through the episode. * Fixed issue preventing Timber Wolves from transitioning to and from Aurora state. * Fixed being able to run while carrying a survivor after trying to place them and then opening and closing the inventory. * Fixed issue that caused a currently carried Survivor to disappear when manually saving and loading in the Community Hall. * Fixed issue that caused Mollys photo to change size after its picked up. * Fixed cinematic playing from an incorrect angle when arriving at the plane crash site from a specific direction. * Staggered animation will no longer play when exiting or entering a location, while triggering dialogue. * Fixed missing collision on some of the plane seats at the crash site. * Fix to prevent Astrids arm from popping into place after closing the Diagnosis UI. * Fixed rare issue that caused Weather effects and the skybox to disappear after exiting a cinematic. ###END OF RELEASE NOTES###

[ 2019-10-28 07:11:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Our annual Halloween Event -- 4 Days of Night -- is back for 2019! The Event kicks off Sunday, October 27th, at 10PM Pacific. For complete details, please visit our official forums below: https://hinterlandforums.com/forums/topic/35657-four-days-of-night-2019/?tab=comments#comment-182480

[ 2019-10-26 02:00:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

After a long wait, we're proud to present to you, Episode Three of The Long Dark: CROSSROADS ELEGY. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqXDGS6qNuc We hope you enjoy it! Please be respectful of other players and avoid discussion spoilers in the community. And if you run into any issues while playing the Episode, please make use of our Support portal at www.hinterlandgames.com/support For all those new players joining us, you can jump straight into Episode Three if you like. Welcome to the Quiet Apocalypse! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2019-10-22 13:11:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Its been a long time coming, but Episode Three is just around the corner. At 6AM Pacific on Tuesday, October 22nd, youll all have the opportunity to jump in to CROSSROADS ELEGY, and learn more about the story of the Quiet Apocalypse. Were very excited to share this new part of the story of Mackenzie and Astrid, the mysteries of the aurora, and whats happening on Great Bear in the midst of this (potentially?) world-changing disaster. But before that, we have a few housekeeping things to update you on, so here goes!

A NEW PERSPECTIVE

For those of you that have been following The Long Dark for years, youve known that our intention with WINTERMUTE, our story mode, has always been to show aspects of the story from each of our main characters points of view. Episodes One and Two were presented from Mackenzies viewpoint, and Episode Three picks up the story of Astrid after she and Mackenzie get separated in Milton at the opening of Episode One. Were excited to be able to share part of Astrids story with you, and we know youll find her version of events just as compelling as Mackenzies.

ALL EPISODES UNLOCKED

Since you are playing as Astrid, you arent continuing your same playthrough or save from Episode Two. So, we decided to just unlock the three episodes for existing and new players, so that if people prefer, they can start by jumping directly into Astrids story in Episode Three, and then go back and play the first two Episodes. There may be some minor spoilers for the earlier episodes, but in general we think this flow can work. We still recommend new players go through the episodes in order, but this way you have the choice!

LOST & FOUND

Historically, making significant changes to existing regions in the game has sometimes resulted in people losing stored items. Since weve just done a major overhaul of the Pleasant Valley region for Episode Three, weve implemented a new system designed to avoid us accidentally wiping out your hard-earned loot. The Lost & Found box will appear any time we have changed a scene to the extent that your loot would have been deleted we just respawn it all in the Lost & Found box for you to grab it. You can only take things out of the Lost & Found, not put things into it, and once you have emptied it, it disappears. THESE ARE NOT LOOT BOXES. These are just our way to safeguard your items in the event that a scene edit would have resulted in us deleting your stuff.

CONSOLE VISUAL ENHANCEMENTS

With the Episode Three update, we are also including our enhancements to the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro. These enhancements include HDR lighting (works on Xbox One X, XBox One S, PS4 Pro, PS4), and High Resolution support (4K on Xbox One X, 1440p on PS4 Pro). All versions of High Resolution support feature dynamic scaling. Youll notice weve added a new calibration screen for HDR settings. Keep in mind that there is currently no standard implementation of HDR lighting so your results will depend heavily on the TV you are using. If you run into issues with these enhancements, please submit a ticket to our Support Portal: www.hinterlandgames.com/support

NO MORE 32-BIT CPU SUPPORT

This shouldnt affect 99% of our players, based on the statistics we pull from Steams hardware survey, but we have stopped supporting a 32-bit version of the game. This only matters if you are still running a 32-bit CPU, which would be fairly old by now. The main CPUs impacted by this would be: Intel Pentium 4E (released in 2004) AMD K7 (released in 2004) Intel Atom CPUs (released in 2013; mostly used for netbooks and tablets) So if you have a system that uses those CPUs, The Long Dark will no longer work for you. All our other builds have been 64-bit only for a while, so this switch to only supporting the 64-bit version of Windows for The Long Dark will result in some nice performance gains, and also helps eliminate some crashes that were only occurring because of the 32-bit support.

FOUR DAYS OF NIGHT (4DON)

We will be reprising our annual Four Days of Night Halloween event this year, starting at 10PM on October 27th (Pacific) and running to Nov 1st. Unfortunately, given our focus on shipping Episode Three, we werent able to add any new twists on last years formula, so the 2019 event is the same as 2018, but with updated Badges to reflect 2019 participation.

DECEMBER SURVIVAL MODE UPDATE

Were still on track for a December Survival Mode update. Well share more details of whats in that update after things have calmed down a bit. We expect to be pretty busy in the immediate aftermath of the Episode Three launch, so Id like to give the Survival Mode update information its own room to breath. You can expect more details about it in November. *** Thats pretty much it! Well be heads down doing support for Episode Threes launch on October 22nd. We cant wait to hear what you think about our latest work, and we look forward to hearing from you in the forums at www.hinterlandforums.com, and on our social media channels. And remember, if you run into any issues, please use our Support Portal at www.hinterlandgames.com/support to get help. Were really excited for all of you to experience the next chapter in the WINTERMUTE story. Watch out for those Timberwolves! Raphael

[ 2019-10-18 17:28:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community! We shared a whole bunch of news and updated around our Fifth Anniversary announcement last week, so you might have missed the news that we're launching Episode Three: CROSSROADS ELEGY, on October 22nd. That's only a little over three weeks away! Here's the teaser: [previewyoutube=lfjegZDT7VA;full][/previewyoutube] We'll be sharing more information leading up to October 22nd. We hope you enjoy the teaser, and we look forward to bringing CROSSROADS ELEGY to you very soon. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2019-09-30 17:42:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

We launched THE LONG DARK on Steam Early Access on September 22nd, 2014. Since then, we have updated the game over 150 times. Until now, everything but the most current update has been unavailable to our community. We created the TIME CAPSULE to let you step back in history and play every major update since our launch. Think of it as a playable retrospective of how the game has evolved over the years -- based on developer vision tempered by player feedback. We have created a forum on the official Hinterland forums for players of THE LONG DARK to discuss playing these TIME CAPSULE builds and sharing their experiences in the earlier versions of the game. The TIME CAPSULE builds are all unsupported, meaning that we no longer are providing fixes or updates for them. Please do not submit queries to our Support team for anything but the MOST RECENT (Current) update. We have taken steps to protect your Save Files but please ensure you follow the TIME CAPSULE instructions carefully. To access the TIME CAPSULE builds and for more details on the individual builds offered please visit the TIME CAPSULE page on THE LONG DARK's official website. NOTE: TIME CAPSULE only works on STEAM. It's the only platform that currently offers us the tools we need to provide this playable archive.

[ 2019-09-23 17:08:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Five years is a long time to work on a single game. Truth be told, Ive probably been working on The Long Dark for closer to seven years. I officially started Hinterland back in the summer of 2012. I knew how to make games, but I didnt know how to start a business or run a company. Im grateful to the people whove been there to support me along the way. This all feels like so long ago. When did I know I wanted to start Hinterland? I always knew Id want to start my own studio one day. I just needed to get experience. Later on in my career, it became important that I make something that felt a truer expression of my creative values than most of the games Id worked on to that point. Id often thought about striking off on my own over the years, but one moment that really stands out in my memory is reviewing Ridley Scotts IMDB page, and seeing that hed already made something over 70 films (including several medium-defining ones), and when I looked at the paltry four titles to my credit to that point, I felt my legacy as a game creator would be pretty insignificant unless I could start shipping games more frequently. So yeah, after years in triple-A working on games that took years to ship I started Hinterland with the intention of making smaller games, shorter projects, so that I could ship multiple games per year. Whoops! Like for some of you, for me The Long Dark started out as a game but is now a significant part of my life. I think about it all the time. Ive watched my kids grow up from small children to being almost teenagers, while Ive thought about The Long Dark. My youngest doesnt even remember a time where I wasnt working on The Long Dark. This game and studio has dominated my life for years. Its become part of who I am, woven into the fabric of my being. Working on this game and running this studio has also afforded me the opportunity to be there for my wife and kids in ways I wasnt able to when I worked for other people. Thats been this games biggest gift to me, and that flexibility has informed a lot about how I run Hinterland today, to be able to provide that same flexibility to others. When I now look around our studio and see the nearly 40 people who put their time and energy into making The Long Dark for you, I think about the deep honour that has been bestowed upon me, being able to work with so many incredible people, as well as the responsibility I have to them due to the faith they have placed in me. They are paying mortgages, putting their kids through school, carrying the worries and stresses we all carry, watching their own families grow up within the shelter The Long Dark has provided us all. A game is more than a thing players experience it can also be a thing to build a future around. I feel a huge weight of responsibility to each and every person who buys The Long Dark will they feel good about their purchase? Will they see how much care weve put into what weve given them? Will they understand what weve tried to show them? Today, its so easy to be cynical about the industry and the motivations of developers. Most of the cynicism is, in my opinion, an easy cop-out, and deeply unfair. Most developers are in it for the love of the craft. For us, the motivation is simple to create work of lasting meaning. We hope our work speaks for us.
I feel a weight of responsibility to preserve a place for the pride of craft that is a big part of why we chose to dedicate our lives to this medium. You often read that a game is nothing without players there to experience it, and while technically this may be true, I strongly believe in the importance of our place as its creators. We arent merely here to build something and put it out into the world, ignorant of its flaws and values, waiting for our players to tell us what we have made or where we should take it. That lets us off the hook, and ignores the critical part we play in the dialogue. We are working to create something that has its own inner values, its own truth, and were striving to create the best version of that experience we can. Thats what we owe our players. We owe it to them to create something they cannot find anywhere else. We owe it to them to have a clear vision for what we are creating, and then the will to bring it to life. To that end, any successes in The Long Dark are the teams success, and any failings of the game are mine. This is what I reflect on, on this day, the fifth anniversary of bringing our creation to the world. Of bringing it to you. I think about what The Long Dark has come to mean to us, and to our players. Is it a finely crafted thing that feels true to its inner values? Where have we hit the mark? Where have we failed? I think about that day, five years ago, where we pressed the launch button on Steam, having only trepidation and very modest expectations about how the game would be received. I think about the days, weeks, and months afterwards, realizing we were going to survive as a company. I think about our growing community, the various wants, backgrounds, and attitudes of our players what The Long Dark means to them, what they want out of it, and how we can provide for them without breaking this thing we have created. I think about my team and what they need, and will need in the future. I think about where we sit within the ecosystem of the industry, and the community of players, and what our responsibility is to shift the dialogue, move the needle, to try to create a more positive, more thoughtful place for discourse to happen. Again, we hope our work speaks for us. I think about the next five years, what they will mean for Hinterland, how we will continue our Good Work, the ways in which I hope we leave a legacy for our players, our friends, our families, and what that legacy will be. I reflect on the world around us and how we can use our audience, our work, to have an impact. No art exists in a vacuum. May our work speak for us. Thank you for the part you have played in helping to give us this voice. *** At long last, today, we announced the next episode of WINTERMUTE, our Story Mode, is launching on October 22nd less than a month from today. Episode Three: CROSSROADS ELEGY is the culmination of the foundational work we did in REDUX, and presents a series of events experienced from Astrids point of view. In our own way, and in our own style, it moves the story forward. I dont expect all of you to like it. But its a story that is true to the world of The Long Dark, true to Astrid, and I believe, also true to the world we live in today. [previewyoutube=lfjegZDT7VA;full][/previewyoutube] Reflecting on the five years on Steam, weve also published a TIME CAPSULE, unlocking access to the 15 major Steam builds weve released since Sept 2014. We hope you enjoy this playable archive of The Long Darks development history. Its been fun for us to look back at some of our own work and see how far the game has come in the past five years. Well have more tidbits to share about Episode Three in the weeks ahead. Well also shed some more light on the next Survival Mode update we have planned for December. In the meantime, we really hope you enjoy todays Teaser for CROSSROADS ELEGY, and the TIME CAPSULE content. Thanks for all your support over the past five years. I know our progress hasnt always been what youd like to have seen, and I know a lot of you probably thought wed never release Episode Three. Thanks to all who kept the faith and believed in us all this time. We may not work quickly, but we do work hard, and we hope you like us feel excited about whats to come. All the best, and heartfelt thanks from the team at Hinterland. Raphael

[ 2019-09-23 17:06:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Long Dark's Creative Director Raphael van Lierop was interviewed by Danny O'Dwyer from Noclip about the inspiration behind the game and designing loneliness in the Quiet Apocalypse. [previewyoutube=KlQ65IUDHvw;full][/previewyoutube]

[ 2019-09-16 01:56:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, To address issues an issue with The Hunted, Part Two Challenge we have hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.56 [49966]. If you still encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.56 [49966]

• [CHALLENGE MODE] Fixed issue preventing players from being able to damage the Old Bear in The Hunted, Part Two.

###END OF RELEASE NOTES###

[ 2019-07-15 19:07:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Its time for an update on what the Hinterland team has been busy doing since the last dev diary in March. First off -- most of you probably know that we released a substantial update to Survival Mode, called STEADFAST RANGER, in May. If you happened to miss it, heres a ~10-minute video that outlines the new content and changes introduced in that update. The most significant new item is the Revolver, which is an important tool in Episode Three. Having STEADFAST RANGER out in the wild, so to speak, has given us some useful player feedback on the Revolver and our revised shooting mechanics, and this feedback goes directly back into improving Episode Three. EPISODE THREE Im sure youre mostly here to get an update on Episode Three. Im happy to say that its been progressing really well. Since were not giving public release dates anymore (reasons outlined here), Im hesitant to put a label on where were at with progress, but I will say that the main story and mission content is mostly in place and were heading into deeper playtesting and bug-hunting now. In terms of overall process, nows the time where I go in and start doing deeper dives into the episode and making hundreds of editorial refinements to how everything plays -- does this event happen at the right time, is there enough time between these two big narrative beats, does this conversation flow naturally based on choices the player has made, do we need to add some dialogue to help clarify this characters motivations, does this music sound right for this moment, does this part of the episode feel too empty, etc. Theres always a lot of fine-tuning to be done. For this process, I play through the episode from start to finish, trying as much as possible to see it with fresh eyes, as a player would, and I also play through it with my leads team so that we can workshop the episode as a group. The test team also starts doing a more thorough pass on things to make sure everything is working correctly -- save files, mission objectives, no content is missing, etc. This part of the process is a bit different from the rest of the episodes development which tends to be more piece-meal. Now that we can see the overall structure and flow of the episode and test the content as its intended, we can see how well everything is (or isnt) working. Its the part of the process that can really make or break the quality of the experience, I believe. A lot can still change with the episode during this part of the process -- for example, this was the part of Episode Two (Redux) development that we felt the Bear Hunt gameplay fell kind of flat and as a result we conceived of the Bear Cave section, to give the bear a more impressive ending to the story Jeremiah introduced us to. So, its still possible that significant things can be added or changed at this point. Its probably also worth recapping for you the things weve already shared about Episode Three to date: the episode takes place in Pleasant Valley, the core story and mission path will take about 5 hours to complete, and there is probably an additional 2-4 hours of side mission content. Of course, as with our other episodes, theres a lot of variability in this play time based on how you choose to approach the game and missions, but were pretty sure Episode Three should come in at about the same length as Episode Two, maybe a bit longer. Were not ready to spill too many details on the Episode Three story yet, but I asked the team to pull together a few pieces of content they wanted to share with you, with the promise that it wouldnt spoil too much. Please check the captions for more info:

Caption: In Episode Three, you might notice a new predator stalking you along the Pleasant Valley horizon line. Timberwolves are a lot tougher and smarter than the average Wolf you may have become used to tangling with. And they dont usually hunt alone.
Caption: New threats mean youll need new tools to defend against them. The Blue Flare casts an unearthly glow on the landscape as you risk exploring at night.
Caption: Thomsons Crossing. Most of Episode Threes story takes place in this former mining town, and the surrounding area. Itll take all of Astrids skill as a doctor to navigate what she finds here. What survivors will she encounter along the way, and what stories will they have to tell?
Caption: A warm fire within a sheltered hall. But who stands watch here, and why? NEXT SURVIVAL MODE UPDATE In my last dev diary, I mentioned were working on a new region that might be released in the next Survival Mode update (the next one after STEADFAST RANGER). I dont have much to offer as an update to that yet except to say were still working on it. Were trying something a bit different with this region, sticking with the approach of using each region to support a different play style or gameplay theme. The Survival Mode team is working on some other cool stuff but I cant talk about it yet or they will [redacted]. NINTENDO SWITCH Some of you may have seen this shared on my Twitter feed (where I often share unofficial tidbits of news and info about the game, when I can sneak it by the community team), but we recently managed to get the game running pretty well on Nintendo Switch. Its taken a small group within the dev team several months to get to this point, so were pretty happy to finally be here. Performance is not great -- mostly the game runs around 15 frames-per-second, which can feel pretty choppy at times (30 frames-per-second (or 30 FPS) is the minimum needed to get smooth performance) so were still working on it. Weve been working closely with engineers at Unity, the people who make the game engine weve used to build The Long Dark, because a lot of the issues weve encountered can only be solved at the engine level, and theyve been super helpful and were making slow but gradual progress. Well keep you up to speed on how things develop but this is the first time weve been able to run the game properly without it crashing constantly so its definitely progress! WRAP-UP Looking over this dev diary, I feel like I havent shared much. I think its because most of what weve worked on since the last dev diary has been very spoilery stuff related to Episode Three and I just cant tell you about it right now. As we get closer to launching Episode Three, well begin teasing out more details and will release a story trailer at some point so that hopefully youll get properly hyped for the episode. We know its been a long time since Episode Two, particularly for those who didnt try the REDUX re-release from last December (which, I must say, you really should play, just for all the new content and major improvements made over the original release of Episodes One and Two). I know at this point it feels like news is a bit few and far between, but please know that the team is hard at work on Episode Three and while its not as close to shipping as you may think, its not as far from shipping as you may think either. If youd like to ask questions about the game or our development process in general, I invite you to participate and read the (more or less) weekly Milton Mailbag column I do in the official forums. Ive answered dozens and dozens of questions in over 36 individual dispatches over the past year, and while I try to stay away from spoilers there too, there are definitely some nuggets of gold hidden within some of my answers there. I hope youre enjoying these first early days of Summer. Well keep you posted and expect to hear from me with another developer diary in a couple of months. Thanks, and stay frosty out there! - Raph

[ 2019-06-28 22:49:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, To address issues around how Arrows work in game we have hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.55 [48657]. If you still encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.55 [48657] GENERAL FIXES * [ALL] Fixed issue where Arrows could deflect off surfaces incorrectly. * [ALL] Fixed issue where Arrows could be pushed through the ground. * [ALL] Fixed issue where Arrows could become stuck in mid-air. ###END OF RELEASE NOTES###

[ 2019-06-03 16:55:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, To address an issue introduced to the game in yesterdays v1.52 Hotfix we have hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.53 [48567]. If you still encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.53 [48567] KNOWN ISSUES CURRENTLY UNDER INVESTIGATION * [Survival Mode] Arrows deflecting incorrectly off soft surfaces * [Survival Mode] Arrows being pushed through ground in certain scenarios * [Survival Mode] Arrows becoming stuck in the air after being fired GENERAL FIXES * Fixed issue where rapidly picking up items took longer than intended ###END OF RELEASE NOTES###

[ 2019-05-28 18:38:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.52 [48486]. If you still encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio ). If you have any other questions or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A. CHANGELIST v1.52 [48486] KNOWN ISSUES CURRENTLY UNDER INVESTIGATION *[Survival Mode] Arrows deflecting incorrectly off soft surfaces *[Survival Mode] Arrows being pushed through ground in certain scenarios *[Survival Mode] Arrows becoming stuck in the air after being fired GENERAL FIXES *General performance improvements across the game. *Fixed issue where players could be pushed off ledges or through the world by an invisible bubble, including when traversing the exterior of Carter Dam. *Fixed issue causing wildlife to become stuck and run in place in various areas. GENERAL ART FIXES *[Enviro] Numerous optimizations to improve performance. *[Enviro] Fixed numerous issues causing players to become stuck in the environment. *[Enviro] Fixed numerous issues allowing the player to get outside of the intended play area. *[Enviro] Fixed numerous issues causing clipping and floating objects. *[Enviro] Fixed issue causing an unintended low-res texture in Carter Dam. *[Art] Fixed issue causing a stretched texture on large Water bottles. USER INTERFACE FIXES *[UI] Fixed issues causing typos in some subtitles. *[UI] Fixed issue where players were unable to use a controller button/keyboard key to access the "More Info" option when viewing the Journal. *[UI] Updated Revolver description flavour text. *[UI] Added flavour description text to Revolver Small Arms Handbook. *[UI] Fixed issue causing missing Duration Remaining UI label on the Headache status. *[UI] Fixed issue causing HUD status indicators to appear on Load Screens, if the status was triggered immediately before a scene transition. *[UI] Updated HUD placement to avoid overlapping messages. *[UI] Fixed issue causing the Improvised Head Wrap to appear incorrectly on the Clothing screen when combined with a second Hat layer. *[UI] Fixed issue causing the player to become stuck in the New Game menu if they had more than the max saves allowed across all game modes. *[UI] Fixed issue causing the UI to display more Fuel than was actually available, due to a rounding error. *[UI] Updated Rabbit Carcass flavour text description to account for all harvest states. *[UI] Fixed issue causing the End Credits to pause when finished and waiting for player input. WINTERMUTE FIXES *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed a typo in the Mystery Lake & Area pamphlet Knowledge Item. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that kept the Reishi Mushroom tooltip from appearing after collecting Reishi Mushrooms. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the Journal shortcut to remain visible on-screen when Sleeping after the plane crash in Episode One. SURVIVAL MODE *[Survival Mode] Fixed screen blurring after firing your last arrow. *[Survival mode] Fixed issue where players were unable to climb up and dismount the rope outside an Ice Cave entrance in Hushed River Valley. *[Survival Mode] Tuned damage dealt to Bears and Moose when using the Revolver. *[Whiteout Challenge] Fixed issue causing new items to appear in the Quonset gas station at the start of the Challenge. *[Custom Mode] Updated Wildlife Respawn Frequency tooltip description to match intended behaviour. ALL GAME MODES *[All] Fixed issue where players couldnt interact with the world while reloading a weapon. *[All] Fixed rare issue that would cause players to become stuck if grabbing a Rabbit while holding a gear item from their Backpack. *[All] Fixed rare crash that would occur when taking High Resolution screenshots. ###END OF RELEASE NOTES###

[ 2019-05-27 19:17:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

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[ 2019-05-16 17:40:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We hotfixed The Long Dark to V1.50 [48029]. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). If you encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal: http://hinterlandgames.com/support If you have any other question or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A: thelongdark.com/mailbag

CHANGELIST v1.50 [48029]

GENERAL FIXES *[Tuning] Reduced Revolver Ammunition to 10 per box from 12. *[Tuning] Increased likelihood of Revolver spawns at the expense of fewer Rifle spawns. *[Gameplay] Improved Rifle aiming system to address shortfall in raycast technique. *[Gameplay] Fixed issue with Bow aiming where Arrow position was slightly offset, affecting accuracy. *[Gameplay] Fixed missing transition to walk when the Player runs out of Stamina while running

### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2019-05-14 21:04:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

Fixes to Sprain System -- Phase 1

Hello everyone, We're really sorry to everyone who has experienced unfortunate Sprain activity since we released STEADFAST RANGER. We thought it might be useful to explain a bit about what's been going on. The "old" Sprain system calculated sprain chance by taking a slope angle, applying a % chance of sprain based on a base value, and adding more risk as the angle increased. We also increased the risk based on if you were Sprinting, Encumbered, or Exhausted. The fact that you didn't know what slope angle might cause a sprain when walking on it, was a large contributor to the sense of getting surprise sprains because you had no way of knowing you were "at risk". In STEADFAST RANGER, we added the Slope indicator to tell you when you are "at risk". The idea here was to give you a sense that you might get a sprain if you didn't change your behaviour, i.e. find a safer path. The Slope indicator doesn't guarantee you will get a Sprain, but it tells you that you are in a place where you MIGHT get one. There was a bug in the 1.48 release of STEADFAST RANGER where we were calculating Slope Risk modifiers for Encumbrance, Exhaustion, and Sprinting, when on FLAT surfaces. This meant that over time, even when walking on flat (non-sloped) surfaces, you might end up with a Sprain, if you were Encumbered, Exhausted, or Sprinting. Since we check on an interval, over time you are highly likely to get one. THIS WAS A BUG AND SHOULD BE FIXED IN THIS LATEST HOTFIX. Some people found the "flashing" warning exclamation to be anxiety-inducing so we removed it. The Slope indicator itself should be sufficient warning. Another thing we added in STEADFAST RANGER was a "Sprain Risk" affliction to Status. This is only meant to appear when you are Exhausted or Encumbered, to indicate that you are at greater risk of Sprains due to being in these states. This risk should only apply when you are walking on valid slopes. It does not mean you are generally at risk of getting sprains. You MUST be on a valid slope for Exhaustion, Encumbrance, or Sprinting to trigger a sprain. Some people are confusing the Slope indicator with the Sprain Risk affliction in Status, and they are not the same thing. There was a bug where the SPRAIN RISK affliction would appear any time you transitioned to a new scene. We've fixed that in this latest Hotfix. Please keep in mind that the new Sprain system means you are now more knowingly at risk of getting sprains than you were before STEADFAST RANGER. You might have become accustomed to spidering along the environment or walking up (or down) slopes that should have triggered sprains but didn't for a variety of reasons. This means that you may have to ADAPT your traversal of the world. It means there may now be paths that are more dangerous than they were before. Keep in mind that the Slope indicator is meant to be a warning, similar to Weak Ice. If you back away from the path you are on, you can avoid the risk of getting a sprain. If you persist on a path or slope where you see the Slope indicator, you accept the risk that you might get a sprain. It's in your power to decide where you want to travel, and how you want to get there. You may have gotten used to taking risky shortcuts that now have a more visible cost associated with them, whereas that risk was hidden before. Now that we'll have the Sprain system working as originally intended for STEADFAST RANGER, we'll continue listening to feedback from our players. Phase 2 will be to consider modifying the tuning on either the Slope Angle required to trigger sprains, or the probability of getting sprains over time when travelling on a slope, but we don't want to make those changes until we're first sure people are playing the system as it was intended. Changing too many things at once makes it difficult to know what is working and what isn't. Thanks for reading and we hope these fixes improve the Sprains "situation" for you. - The Hinterland Team

THE LONG DARK -- HOTFIX TO v.1.49 [47860] -- FULL RELEASE NOTES

Fixed issue where revised Sprain system could trigger sprains on flat surfaces when Encumbered, Sprinting, or Exhausted. Fixed issue where Sprain Risk affliction indicator would appear on every scene transition. Removed flashing exclamation mark on Slope indicator due to causing widespread anxiety amongst our community. Let's face it, we could all use a little less anxiety. Tuned Revolver effectiveness when used against Moose (reduced) and reduced critical chance against Bears. Fixed issue where text was missing for the Small Arms (Revolver) research book. Fixed issue where players could not dismount from rope on upper cliff edge in an Ice Cave (Hushed River Valley region).

*** END OF RELEASE NOTES ****

[ 2019-05-09 00:46:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.48.1 [47676] to address a crashing issue on PC. If you still encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal: http://hinterlandgames.com/support To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio). If you have any other question or are just curious to know more about the game, please also consider joining our weekly Milton Mailbag Q&A: thelongdark.com/mailbag

CHANGELIST v1.48.1 [47676]

[All] Fixed issue causing crash to desktop on PC.

###END OF CHANGELIST###

[ 2019-05-08 17:47:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve just updated The Long Dark to v1.48 [47675] STEADFAST RANGER. For a detailed breakdown of the new features and changes, please review this update video. Full Release Notes are available below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIwjUU_6DIY New! Revolver A close-quarters defensive tool against hostile wildlife. New! Birch Bark Tea A slow-gain condition restoration item brewed from a renewable natural resource. New! Energy Drink Quick-shot Stamina and Fatigue boost, useful for getting yourself out of a variety of bad situations. New! Improvised Cloth Wraps Stave off Frostbite on your Head and Hands with these basic wraps. Overhaul! Rifle & Shooting Gameplay Completely overhauled shooting and aiming mechanics for the Rifle and other ranged tools. Overhaul! Sprain System Improved Sprain gameplay dynamics and first aid solutions. and much more.
Youll find the complete changelist for the Update below. Please be aware there may be WINTERMUTE story spoilers in the changelist. If you encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter, and follow us on Twitter (studio | game).

CHANGELIST v1.48 [47675]

Known Crash We are working with Unity to resolve a known, rare crash in the engine. This crash appears to only affect Windows and Mac players, although it may appear on other platforms. The crash seems to be a memory issue that is triggered by transitioning between scenes. We will release a fix for the crash as soon as were able to diagnose the root cause. In the mean time, we recommend you Save Often (in WINTERMUTE) or Rest Often (in Survival; Resting triggers a save). For more information, please refer to our Support Portal. General Fixes General performance improvements across the game. Upgraded to a new version of Unity, enabling widespread improvements across the game. Fixed issue that restricted the games framerate to 120fps (on applicable systems). Streamlined the information appearing in players session output logs, to aid with support queries. General Art [Enviro] Numerous optimizations to improve performance. [Enviro] Fixed numerous issues causing the player to become stuck in the terrain. [Enviro] Fixed numerous issues allowing the player to get outside the intended play area. [Enviro] Fixed numerous issues causing objects to clip and float in the world. [Enviro] Fixed numerous issues causing stretched or missing textures. [Enviro] Fixed issue causing lighting hotspots in the Bear Cave in WINTERMUTE Episode Two. [Enviro] Updated LOD to reduce popping on buildings and cliffs. [Enviro] Fixed issue causing hinges to appear on the same side for both exterior and interior doors. [Enviro] Updated transition zone entrance from Mountain Town to Mystery Lake to be more visible to the player. [Enviro] Updated flags to animate. [Enviro] Fixed numerous issues causing unlit textures. [Enviro] Fixed issue causing Cat Tails to appear out of alignment during their animation. [Enviro] Fixed issue causing inverted snow textures on trees. [Enviro] Updated numbers on lock boxes in the Milton Credit Union bank. User Interface [UI] Updated Disable HUD setting to remove object labels (useful for game footage capture). [UI] Updated various text localizations. [UI] Fixed various overlapping UI elements in all languages [UI] Fixed issue causing mission sub-objectives to overlap with the next line. [UI] Fixed issue causing the Archivist badge to always appear as Complete. [UI] Updated various missing subtitles. [UI] Fixed issue causing a rounding error in Imperial Units when Melting snow. [UI] Fixed issue causing incorrect scroll bar alignment on the Stats screen in the Journal. [UI] Fixed issue causing the Scent Indicator to not always appear on the Status screen. [UI] Fixed issue causing the Radial Menu to inconsistently show the correct number of Light Sources in the Backpack. [UI] Fixed issue causing sub-objective text to overlap in certain Challenge Modes. [UI] Fixed issues causing the Stone ammo counter to be missing from the HUD. * [UI] Fixed issue causing the Milton Water Tower icon to appear in the wrong location on the Map. [UI] Fixed issue where the player was unable to add potable Water to the Radial Menu after dropping the Water and drinking from it. [UI] Added an Accessible Struggle option, allowing players to select between Tap to Win and Hold to Win options. [UI] Updated the Weak Ice indicator. [UI] Added a new Slope indicator to warn players when they are traversing slopes that are steep enough to cause Sprains. WINTERMUTE [WINTERMUTE] Made several updates to the Bear Spear encounters in Episode Two, including adding a checkpoint and streamlining the final Cave encounter. [WINTERMUTE] Polish pass on various cinematics and dialogues. [WINTERMUTE] Updated tutorials to reflect gameplay modifications introduced in this update. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed various issues with subtitle typos and timing. [WINTERMUTE] Updated description for the side mission Basics of Survival: Find and harvest some medicinal flora native to Great Bear Island. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the Milton Credit Union bank vault door to play a closing animation when reloading your game, if the player was standing in front. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing a black screen to appear if a dialogue pop-up occurred during a cinematic. [WINTERMUTE] Updated Medicinal Flora tutorial text with additional details for clarity. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed script issue where the Carter Dam Control Room door cinematic wouldnt play during The Wounded Trapper mission in Episode Two. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing players to be pushed into another room when opening the vault door in the Milton Credit Union. [WINTERMUTE] Numerous updates to Wildlife pathfinding. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing Blueprints to disappear from the Journal between Episodes One and Two. This fix is retroactive and will resolve it for players already impacted by the issue. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing players to become stuck in the floor if they loaded a game after saving it at the exact time the Milton Credit Union vault door was unlocked. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing overlapping text when hovering over a mission objective on the Map. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing Jeremiah to clip through his bed when reloading a save at the beginning of Episode Two. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issues that allowed players to get on top of the burnt Schoolhouse in Milton. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that kept the Bear Spear from appearing properly in the Journal after examining it. * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing players to spawn in the wrong location if they reloaded a game saved immediately after the first Bear encounter in Episode Two. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing players to spawn in the wrong location if they reloaded a game saved while falling from a rope. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing mismatched values to appear for collected wood in the Journal, and when inspecting Grey Mothers Firewood Bin. [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing Milton Knowledge Items in the Journal to update incorrectly. Survival Mode [Custom Mode] Fixed issue causing certain combinations of Custom Mode settings to generate an invalid sharing code. [Custom Mode] Fixed issue causing incorrect container loot to appear in Custom Mode. [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where Forging actions were not being interrupted when the Forge ran out of fuel. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue causing a partially-crafted Survival Bow to be usable if it was picked up while a completed Bow was equipped. [Survival Mode] Updated the Cold Fusion Feat description to properly reflect Air Temperature bonus. [Survival Mode] Updated medicinal Tea so it now acts like a First Aid item if a treatable Affliction is present. Otherwise it will still work as a Food item. [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Archery Skill Bonus was not applying reduced Arrow Condition loss correctly. [Survival Mode] Fixed issue causing some lockers to display the locked icon incorrectly. Challenge Mode [Hunted] Fixed issue causing the Old Bear to clip through trees when fleeing. [Hunted] Updated Deer carcass placement. [Archivist] Fixed issue causing the sub-objective to update incorrectly after collecting the Buffer Memory from the Milton Post Office. All Game Modes [All] Fixed issue where the fade to black transition would not appear correctly when exiting to the Main Menu [All] Fixed numerous pathing issues in the world due to missing nav mesh. [All] Fixed issue where Water in the Backpack would be consumed when drinking Water from the Cooking Screen. * [All] Fixed issue causing audio for feeding Wolves to play even when the player wasnt near one. [All] Fixed issue causing chimney smoke to be visible when no fire was active inside a house. [All] Fixed issue causing ambient audio to cut off when entering a car. [All] Fixed issue causing the player to limp incorrectly after holstering a weapon while suffering from a Sprained Ankle. * [All] Fixed issue causing the Storm Lantern extinguish animation to play after death, if players fell off a high cliff while holding a lit Lantern. [All] Fixed issue where the player was unable to extinguish a Storm Lantern if they opened the Radial Menu while placing it. [All] Fixed issue where Worn Thermal Underwear appeared as New Thermal Underwear in the Backpack. [All] Fixed issue that kept the player from fighting back during a Struggle if they were attacked while Repairing clothing. [All] Fixed issue causing muffled dialogue VO after firing a Rifle indoors. [All] Adjusted the amount on Condition decay on the Bedroll when it is left outside. [All] Fixed issue where the Wolf growl audio was missing in some scenarios. [All] Fixed issue causing absent wind audio when standing outside a cave entrance. [All] Fixed issue where the screen could become blurry during Wolf Struggles. [All] Added dialogue VO for quartering Wildlife. Xbox One-Specific Issues [Xbox] Fixed issue where the game would no longer update information in the gamercard after resuming from standby. Steam-Specific Issues [UI] Fixed issue where an incorrect mouse icon would appear when using left-handed mouse settings. [UI] Added scrolling with the keyboard arrow keys for the Buffer Memory screen interfaces discovered in-game during an Aurora. [General] Fixed issue causing graphical corruption when playing in OpenGL on an Nvidia GPU.

###END OF CHANGELIST###

If you encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter, and follow us on Twitter (studio | game).

[ 2019-05-06 19:05:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We're excited to share the news that our next update to The Long Dark's Survival Mode, STEADFAST RANGER, will launch this Monday, May 6th (Pacific). The update will be accompanied by a nearly 10-minute video outlining the various new additions and changes to the game, including details about the new Revolver. The update includes several new gameplay tools, improvements to existing systems, as well as a host of bug fixes and optimizations. This update will apply to all in-progress Survival games and should not affect existing inventories or progress. The full release notes will be included in Monday's launch. As always, we encourage you to start a new Survival game to fully experience the breadth of changes! So this weekend is a great time to wrap up your current game and get ready for STEADFAST RANGER. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2019-05-02 05:23:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, The teams been hard at work since the holidays, which we used to recover from finaling the massive December Redux release, and its time to update you on some of the things weve been doing in the meantime.

EPISODE THREE

The teams been working hard on Episode Three this year. Wed started work on it in 2018 and then put it aside to finish up Redux and work through all the tech and pipeline improvements we wanted to use for the remaining Episodes of WINTERMUTE. One of the first things we did after coming back from the holidays was re-evaluate our plans for Episode Three scope based on the lessons wed learned from building and shipping Redux. A key lesson there was the importance of having enough gameplay and narrative content to fill the space of the game, to avoid the feeling of senseless backtracking or the world just feeling too empty, as it sometimes did in the 2017 Episode One and Two release. Building Redux provided a fresh perspective on how to better balance our narrative and survival experiences, as well as how to better write for narrative flow in our open-world survival experience. These key learnings let us review our plans for Episode Three to ensure we would hopefully avoid making some of the same mistakes wed made in the original 2017 releases, which we werent super happy with (and nor were many of you). Based on how we feel Redux turned out, and how you also seem to feel about the improvements, were confident were on a much stronger path now. Building Redux also showed us that the ideal length for a WINTERMUTE episode is about 5-7 hours. This gives us enough time to present a few interesting story threads, some compelling open-world survival gameplay, and enough narrative momentum to keep the story moving. Its also an amount of content that feels substantial -- these arent throw-away one or two-hour experiences -- but they are compact enough that you can finish them in a weekend if you like. In our original planning, we had considered building the episode around three major story hubs, each in a different region, but that episode would have ended up being larger than Episodes One and Two combined, and amount of content that just isnt sustainable for our team size. Just the testing on an episode that big would be a hugely daunting task, nevermind populating it with enough interesting narrative and mission content to fill the space. The Redux knowledge has helped us focus Episode Three down to a tighter experience that takes place in a single region.
Therefore, Episode Three is the story of Astrids survival after escaping Milton, and takes place entirely in Pleasant Valley. As you probably know, Pleasant Valley is a *huge* region, with a lot of scope for interesting environments and some great story moments. Weve been updating the region to freshen it up for the story, while adding some new landmarks and locations that are introduced in Episode Three. Im really excited about how its all coming together, particularly in how true to Astrids character and background the episode is.

COMMUNICATING FUTURE RELEASE DATES

As you know, hitting publicly announced release dates has never been our strong suit. As an independent studio without a huge marketing machine behind us, we count on our relationship with our community to be positive so that youll help us spread the word about the work were doing. We know we harm this relationship when we promise to deliver things to you and then, for whatever reason, they fail to happen. Unfortunately, project planning and game development as a whole is not an exact science, and while we are ready to work really hard to hit our goals, Im not willing to crunch my team to do so. In order to be more fair to the community, and also more fair to the development team, I think the best approach for us is to refrain from offering any more public release dates. So, moving forward, we wont publish release dates around any of our content, whether that be full Episodes or Survival Mode updates. Well keep working towards internal deadlines, of course, but we wont share news on when we plan to ship updates until those updates are essentially finished. That way, when you hear a release date from us, you know it will happen.

SPLITTING THE TEAM

One of the things weve been working towards this year, with the development team, is hiring enough people with the right skills to be able to create two separate teams -- one to focus on Survival, and the other to focus on Story. Weve made some great progress towards that goal and were getting very close to having all the people we need to accomplish that. Once were there, itll become easier for us to make consistent progress in both areas of the game, so that we can ensure a more steady supply of free Survival updates, as well as ensuring the Episodes get the resources they need. We still have a few positions to hire for to have full redundancy across both teams, but Im hopeful well get there within the next few months. If you know any great developers with experience crafting memorable and award-winning interactive experiences, please send them to our careers page!

SURVIVAL MODE UPDATE

Last year, we put a ton of effort into Redux and solidifying our foundation for the future Episodes, so this year were working to get back on track with producing more frequent Survival Mode updates. To that end, were working on a bunch of new features and content for the 2019 Survival releases. As per my earlier point about release dates, we wont be sharing any tentative release windows for the next Survival release, but I will say that weve already done a fair bit of work on the new systems and content that will comprise the core of the next free update.

A few things were working on for the next Survival update include:

• Adding the Revolver to Survival Mode.
• Overhaul of the aiming mechanics for the Rifle, Bow, etc., to do a better job of integrating Fatigue and the breathing cycle, and making aiming less frustrating.
• Adding a new Food item.
• Adding a new Clothing item.
• Fixing the Sprains system.
• ...and more!

One feature I can confidently say *will not* be added in the next Survival update is the Bear Spear. This has turned out to be much more challenging to integrate well into the core Survival experience, so were taking a bit more time with it to make sure its a solid and promising addition to the Survival toolbox. It will eventually make its way into Survival mode, but it wont be ready for the next update. And speaking of the Spear, we know that some of you [SPOILERS!] have been finding the Spear gameplay in Episode Two to be quite frustrating, particularly the last section in the Bear Cave, so were working on improving that. Were also hard at work on a new Survival region, but that wont be ready until (most likely) the update *after* the next one. As you know we always like to keep a few surprises in our back pocket, but everything will be outlined in detail in the traditional Update Video we launch on update day. If you arent already doing so, its not a bad idea to subscribe to the Hinterland YouTube channel so you get notified when the update video goes live.

MOTION-CAPTURE SPACE

In a previous dev diary I mentioned that wed been able to get our hands on the motion-capture gear from Capcom Vancouvers now closed dev studio. Weve been using the equipment and we thought you might like to catch a glimpse of the current set-up; this image is from the camera test we did to check out 18 of the 36 cameras. Unfortunately, we dont have enough space in our current studio to set up all the cameras, but were looking for some overflow space so that we can set up all 36. In the short term, were going to remove the built-in desks and set up the gear in-house so that the animation team can very quickly and easily iterate on narrative scenes or gameplay animation in support of our Survival and Story goals. The animators whipped up this simple little animation to show you how well it works -- all told this took about an hour or so to shoot and integrate. Its only a quick test and obviously not something wed ever ship, but its fun as a proof of concept and, lets face it, Jeremiah has some sweet moves worth sharing.

NINTENDO SWITCH VERSION

We get a lot of questions about when The Long Dark will be brought to the Nintendo Switch. As you may know, we spent some time last year trying to get the game up and running on Switch devkits and ran into a lot of performance issues. The latest version of Unity -- which well be rolling out as part of our next Survival update -- does offer some performance improvements (which should also make the Xbox and PlayStation versions of the game run more smoothly), but we still dont find the Switch performance to be at an acceptable level yet. Were going to keep working on it alongside our other priorities, but I want to set reasonable expectations around this -- not every game can run well on the Switch, and if were not able to get The Long Dark running at a level of performance and visual quality that Im happy with, we wont be shipping it. All that said, Im still hopeful that we can find solutions to the current issues, and we think The Long Dark would be really compelling on this portable platform, so were not giving up! ***** Thanks for reading this update, and if youd like to share your thoughts about the contents of this developer diary, I hope youll take a few seconds to join the official The Long Dark community, as well as following us on Twitter. If you havent already done so, and youd like to be kept up to date on project announcements outside of general development updates -- for example, sale events, new merchandise, and information about the studio -- please consider signing up for the Hinterland Newsletter. And if youre interested in more regular, bite-sized responses to community questions, make sure to check out the (almost) weekly Milton Mailbag. See you where we see you! - Raph

[ 2019-03-06 21:02:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.47 [45127] to address some issues that surfaced since our REDUX Update in December. NOTE: Please be aware there may be WINTERMUTE story spoilers in the changelist. If you encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter. Youll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

CHANGELIST v1.47 [45127]

*[All] Fixed issue causing the Stamina Bar colours to be inverted. *[All] Fixed issue where the warmth bonus from equipping a lit Storm Lantern or Torch wasnt being applied correctly in-game. *[All] Fixed issue where ice textures could appear distorted in various locations. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue causing various shrubs and rocks to float in Pleasant Valley. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where cabinet doors could shift out of place after breaking down other objects in the same interior. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where ice was missing collision in several locations, causing players to fall through. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the Push/Pull Knife UI text to overlap in German and French during the encounter with Hobbs in Episode One. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing Jeremiahs Storage Bin outside Trappers Homestead to appear sunk into the ground in Episode Two. ###END OF RELEASE NOTES###

[ 2019-02-25 18:13:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.46 [44395] to address some issues that surfaced since our REDUX Update in December. NOTE: Please be aware there may be WINTERMUTE story spoilers in the changelist. If you encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter. Youll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

CHANGELIST v1.46 [44395]

General *[ALL] Fixed issue causing Wolves to become stuck in their howling animation and unresponsive to the player. *[CHALLENGE MODE] Fixed an issue where the game would need to be reloaded after changing languages in order for the change to take effect. *[CHALLENGE MODE] Fixed issue preventing the Old Bear from reacting to the player during Hunted Part Two if they had transitioned indoors numerous times during the Challenge. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue where a Mackenzie VO line about the locked bank vault could be triggered multiple times in a row in Episode One. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing Grey Mother to float if a Deer Hide was placed under her chair. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that kept some cinematic sequences from triggering when a player placed the Bear Spear on the ground in Episode Two. Players can no longer place the Bear Spear from the Radial Menu. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the interior of Trappers Homestead to appear briefly prior to a cinematic at the beginning of Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the FINISHED option displayed during NPC dialogues to be missing Italian and Polish localization. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the Crumpled Note to appear twice at the Maintenance Shed in Broken Railroad during Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue with the Old Bears pathing to prevent it from running into a cave wall during the What One Man Can Do mission in Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that would sometimes leave the player with a black screen after an encounter with the Old Bear in Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing a brief visual anomaly to appear prior to the beginning of the final cinematic in Carter Dam at the end of Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing out-of-sync subtitle timing during the Old Bear encounter inside the Crummy in Broken Railroad. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the Campfire associated with the Hanks Hatch side mission at Mystery Lakes Unnamed Pond to burn indefinitely. *[WINTERMUTE] Added animation to the red cloth around the Bear Spear when returning to Jeremiah at the end of the What One Man Can Do mission in Episode Two. Art *[ALL] Fixed various environment art issues. *[ALL] Fixed issue that could cause cupboard doors to appear out of place in various interior locations. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing the Breyerhouse Winter Crew Warning note to display incorrectly when examined. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing wildlife carcasses to sink into the snow at various locations in Mystery Lake. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed issue causing items to float and overlap in the Maintenance Shed due to the new Forge location. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed an issue where breaking down furniture inside a building could sometimes cause kitchen cabinet doors to become offset. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed issue causing a lamp to float after breaking down a table in the Milton House location in Mountain Town. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing papers to float after breaking down a table in Mystery Lake Camp Office. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing a Tinder Plug to become embedded inside a chair in Trappers Homestead. Gameplay *[ALL] Fixed issue that kept players from being able to interact with objects after rapidly equipping and throwing Stones. *[ALL] Fixed issue preventing proper Rifle Placement on the wall mount inside the Broken Railroad Hunting Lodge. *[ALL] Fixed issue where players could become trapped after crawling inside a pipe outside Carter Hydro Dam. *[ALL] Fixed issue preventing players from placing Hacksaws and Arrows on flat ground. *[ALL] Fixed issue that allowed players to interact with an invisible terrain barrier near the tunnel in Forlorn Muskeg that connects to Mystery Lake. *[ALL] Fixed issue that incorrectly allowed Placement of Clothing items on top of Fires. *[ALL] Fixed issue preventing players from using the keyboard to select weapons during a Wolf Struggle. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue where players could incorrectly place items above NPCs, making the items appear to float. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue preventing players from picking up various loose Rifle Ammunition in Forlorn Muskeg. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that kept some objective information for the Survival School side missions from being visible to players. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue blocking the completion of the Start a Fire objective if a player had already placed a Campfire prior to the objective kicker appearing on screen. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed an issue where Mackenzie could become stuck near the cave to leave Milton at the end of Episode One. User Interface *[ALL] Fixed issue where, while Charcoal is equipped, the Ammunition UI would appear when bringing up Quick Stats. *[ALL] Fixed issue that kept the New Location Discovered kicker from appearing after finding Mackenzies crashed plane. *[ALL] Fixed issue where Clothing item slots would remain highlighted after closing the Clothing menu and switching between keyboard and gamepad. *[ALL] Fixed issue where the HUD would display the Rifle Ammunition count on the wrong side of the screen when putting the Rifle away or switching equipped items. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing text to overlap when the RELOAD command appears after equipping the Distress Pistol. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed issue causing overlapping text to display when interacting with Cairns. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed issue causing the Map screen to run out of memory and stop displaying icons for newly mapped locations. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed an issue with overlapping text on Jeremiahs Storage Bin. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the incorrect name to display for some locations on the Save/Load screen. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the Knowledge item for frozen corpses to be missing from the Journal after the tutorial kicker appears on screen. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed an issue where the wrong location would appear on-screen when inside the Bear Cave in Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed an issue where the Journal would not update when Mackenzie retrieves the Bear Spear in the cave during the What One Man Can Do mission in Episode Two. LINUX *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that kept the final Episode Two cinematic in Carter Dam from triggering if a player had an item in Placement mode as the sequence was about to begin. Windows/Mac/Linux *[ALL] Fixed an issue where changing key bindings could alter the appearance of the description text when equipping certain items. Xbox One *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue preventing players from picking up the Storm Lantern and Torch from the shelf in Trappers Homestead at the beginning of Episode Two. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2019-01-17 21:03:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.45 [44231] to address some issues that surfaced since our REDUX Update in December. NOTE: Please be aware there may be WINTERMUTE story spoilers in the changelist. If you encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter. Youll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

CHANGELIST v1.45 [44231]

*[ALL] Numerous environmental art fixes. *[ALL] Fixed issue that allowed the player to move between the bed and the wall inside Orca Gas. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing the loading screen tip for Sprains to appear with incorrect localization. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing ambient daytime lighting to appear during nighttime in some indoor locations. *[ALL] Fixed issue where save file naming conventions were not consistent across all game modes. *[ALL] Fixed issue where players could simultaneously Cook Meat and Boil Water on the same Cooking surface. *[ALL] Fixed various issues causing problems with alignment and overlapping text on some UI elements. *[ALL] Fixed issue where players could become trapped against the rocks near the radio tower in Mountain Town. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing players to become trapped in a stack of pipes outside Carter Dam in Mystery Lake Region. *[ALL] Fixed issue with the terrain near the North Tower in Forlorn Muskeg that caused some players to become trapped in the ice. *[ALL] Fixed issue that kept the Crafting menu from scrolling correctly when using a gamepad or the mousewheel. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the Old Bear to appear invisible during the encounter in Broken Railroad Region in Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue where the Stamina bar was not displaying when Crouching and Aiming with the Bear Spear. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing some tutorial kickers to appear with incorrect localization. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that allowed players to stack items on Grey Mother. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue where a UI or game element could sometimes appear briefly before the loading screen, when loading a WINTERMUTE save. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the camera to spin after Mackenzie blacks out during the first encounter with the Old Bear in Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issues with the Old Bears pathing around the fallen radio tower in Forlorn Muskeg in Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that kept the audio from playing when cables sparked inside Carter Dam. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue with the description for the Snare a Rabbit Survival School side mission that kept some players from completing the objective. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed typo and updated the description for the Decent Mountaineering Boots given to the player by Grey Mother in Episode One. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that kept snoring audio from playing correctly while Grey Mother sleeps in Episode One. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that caused exploration music to continuing playing during an encounter with the Old Bear in Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing Methuselah to continue appearing at Orca Gas during the Leave Milton mission at the end of Episode One. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that kept the elevator doors from opening in Carter Dam at the end of Episode Two, if a player interacted with them while Mackenzie was speaking. *[WINTERMUTE] Tuned Wolves in Green Survivor Experience Mode to be less aggressive. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed issue with an invisible barrier preventing players from entering a cave in Hushed River Valley Region. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed issue with the collision shape for the Hacksaw to make Placing the item easier on various surfaces. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed issue that kept several markers from appearing correctly on the game map. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed issue causing the Radio Tower to appear incorrectly on the game map for Mystery Lake. Linux Only *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue causing the cinematic to play incorrectly after killing the Old Bear in Episode Two. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2019-01-10 22:04:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

From everyone at Hinterland Studio we wish you a great and relaxing time with friends and family. Its been a fantastic year for the game and the studio, culminating with the recent release of Episodes One and Two Redux. We are incredibly grateful for your continued support, and the thoughtful interactions we get to have with the community through the Milton Mailbag and other channels. Now onto 2019, Episode Three and beyond! We also wanted to let you know that Hinterland will be on holiday break from December 21st to January 8th. You can of course still reach us through our new Customer Support Portal. Please keep in mind that while our support team will follow up with you, it may take up to 48 hours before we respond. In the meantime, please refer to the FAQ available on the Portal for a list of troubleshooting steps you can check out before we get back to you.

[ 2018-12-22 00:25:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.44 [44110] to address some issues that surfaced after our REDUX Update. NOTE: Please be aware there may be WINTERMUTE story spoilers in the changelist. If you encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter. Youll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

CHANGELIST v1.44 [44110]

*[ALL] Fixed colour grading for early-morning ambient lighting effects. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed Rabbitskin Hat not appearing on the Paper Doll screen for the female survivor. *[WINTERMUTE] Improved the Old Bears pathing when in the cave system during the What One Man Can Do mission in Episode Two. Please note were still working to resolve all scenarios where the Old Bear can become stuck. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2018-12-21 21:04:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear players of The Long Dark on NVIDIA on Linux: Unfortunately, the latest version of Unity (used in the Redux version of The Long Dark) introduces graphical corruption issues when played using NVIDIA video cards. Fortunately, there is a workaround that may address these issues for you by forcing the game into OpenGL 4.2. To do this:

• Right-click on The Long Dark in your Steam Library
• Select Properties
• Select Set Launch Options
• Paste the following in the resulting text box: -force-glcore42 -force-clamped

Well continue working with Unity to resolve the issue with a proper fix, but until then this work-around should allow you to play the game. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-12-21 18:46:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.43 [44083] to address some issues that surfaced after our REDUX Update. NOTE: Please be aware there may be WINTERMUTE story spoilers in the changelist. If you encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter. Youll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

CHANGELIST v1.43 [44083]

*[ALL] Fixed the entrance to the basement at Skeeter Ridge in Pleasant Valley appearing in the wrong spot. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2018-12-20 22:50:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Weve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.42 [44062] to address some issues that surfaced after our REDUX Update. NOTE: Please be aware there may be WINTERMUTE story spoilers in the changelist. If you encounter issues while playing The Long Dark please visit our Support Portal. To stay-up-to-date with news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter. Youll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

CHANGELIST v1.42 [44062]

*[ALL] Fixed 'Suppress Discovery Text' setting being carried from WINTERMUTE into Survival Mode. *[ALL] Fixed issue where gaining an Affliction during a Struggle was not saving the game. *[ALL] Fixed scrollbar leaving a gap when scrolling to the bottom of the list in the Crafting menu, keeping some Crafting options hidden. *[ALL] Fixed being unable to light a Torch from a campfire. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed incorrect location text appearing when reloading the game indoors in Milton. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed arms clipping into camera during the Bear encounter at Carter Dam when FOV was set above 90. *[WINTERMUTE] Removed deer carcass from the Survival Bowl sequence in Episode One that could cause a crash. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed Episode Two not starting correctly when a player walks beyond the Cave transition trigger at the end of Episode One. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed the Old Bear not rearing up before starting its attack when in the Bear Cave. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed Rifle not returning to player inventory at the end of What One Man Can Do mission in Episode Two. *[WINTERMUTE] Fixed Bear becoming stuck in flee after stepping off a fallen tree adjacent to the Bear Spear in Episode Two. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed missing truck in Pleasant Valley. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2018-12-20 00:29:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

THE LONG DARK - REDUX version 1.4.1 RELEASE NOTES

WINTERMUTE REDUX

https://youtu.be/PAKw7yokYFg Weve just released the completely overhauled versions of Episodes One and Two. This reflects over a year of effort to improve our Story Mode experience based on player feedback, and to strengthen the technical foundation of our game in anticipation of the remaining three episodes to complete WINTERMUTE, which will be unlocked as they are completed. The Redux represents thousands of fixes and improvements, as well as entirely new content. The number of changes are too numerous to list here. Generally, the changes are along the following themes: * Narrative Presentation: New dialogue mode; all story is now experienced in first-person; all dialogue is fully voiced and animated. All cinematic moments have been redone. * Narrative Content: All dialogue has been re-written and re-recorded. While the high-level story arc of Episodes One and Two remains the same, many of the supporting details have changed. Weve introduced new plot elements, new locations, a new introduction, and overall a general layer of presentation polish on narrative content. * Mission Structure: Weve opened up the mission structure; previously there were several plot elements or side mission content (ex. Jeremiahs Survival School) missions that were prerequisites to progressing in the story. As much as possible, while maintaining a logical story flow, weve made the mission structure more flexible. Side content is properly optional now and can be accessed over time and in between key narrative moments. * Gameplay Improvements: In addition to opening up the structure somewhat, weve also retuned many of the mission objectives to provide the right amount of challenge. Weve worked to reduce the amount of backtracking that is required to complete missions (while maintaining the right amount of open-world exploration to keep things interesting). Weve completely overhauled the Bear Hunt mission structure, integrating it more fully into Episode Two, adding new Bear Spear gameplay, and adding climactic new encounter to complete that story. Weve also made improvements to how we present mission information to the player. And finally, weve retuned the Survival needs per Story Experiene (Green, Capable, Hardened) and increased the amount of ammunition (Rifle, Distress Pistol) available in the world. We hope you enjoy the Redux versions of Episodes One and Two. Please note that Predux (i.e. the previous version of the episodes) story saves are not compatible with Redux. If you have previously completed Episodes One and Two and you have no interest in experiencing the Redux versions, you will still be able to progress into Episode Three once it is unlocked in 2019.

DECEMBER SURVIVAL MODE UPDATE

The Redux game update includes some improvements to the games Survival Mode, notably: * New Craftable Item: Rabbitskin Hat. This completes the suite of craftable clothing options in the game. * New Health Buff: Well Fed. If you avoid Starvation for 72 hours, you will get a buff to Condition and Carrying Capacity. The 72-hour timer gets reset every time you begin to Starve. * New Challenge: Archivist. Scour Great Bear to collect the last memories contained in several Aurora-animated computers. Please note that the Bear Spear is currently a Story-mode only tool. It will be added to Survival Mode in a future update. As part of the Redux overhaul, weve also made the following changes to the User Interface: * Revised the HUD condition indicators. The game also now defaults to an Always On HUD configuration, which can be changed in the Display settings. * Improved the Fire/Stove interaction interface, to clarify Firestarting, Fuel-Adding, Cooking, and Water production activities. This replaces the direct placement action from the Radial as the default, primary Fire/Stove interaction type, although we have also maintained the radial placement system for those who wish to use it. * General improvements to the Map, Objectives, and Knowledge areas of the Journal (for Story mode only). * Added new Load screens with gameplay and world information. ... in addition to the dozens of general improvements listed below. *****

THE LONG DARK v. 1.41 CHANGELIST

KNOWN ISSUES Due to Unity issues, we are seeing lower than expected performance in some areas of the game on Xbox One and Xbox One S. We are investigating this issue and will release a fix ASAP. Xbox One X is not affected by this issue. There are some rendering issues when using the latest NVidia drivers on Linux. We are working on a solution. This issue does not affect AMD video cards. GENERAL FIXES * General performance improvements across the game * Widespread audio optimizations * Upgraded to a new version of Unity, enabling widespread improvements across the game GENERAL ART FIXES * [Enviro] Numerous optimizations to improve performance * [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas the player could become stuck in * [Enviro] Fixed numerous areas the player could get outside of the intended play area * [Enviro] Fixed numerous clipping and floating objects * [Enviro] Performed various optimizations to avoid texture popping * [Enviro] Improved alignment on some power lines * [Enviro] Updated many snow banks, rocks, and fauna * [Enviro] Numerous environment improvements * [Enviro] Improved Aurora visuals; reduced the visible banding effect * [Enviro] Improved blood decal lifetime * [Enviro] Improved waterfall splash effects appearance when dark * [Enviro] Improved light flicker visuals during an Aurora event * [Enviro] Update to many items to prevent floating after an object is broken down * [Enviro] Improved decal sorting * [Enviro] Improved grass reflections lighting for time of day * [Enviro] Fixed many instances of grass clipping through trees and railway tracks * [Broken Railroad] Fixed invisible rocks near Rope Climb * [Broken Railroad] Fixed overlapping pipes and debris near the Maintenance Yard * [Carter Dam] Fixed box clipping into wall * [Mystery Lake] Fixed corpses spawning sunken into the ground * [Coastal Highway] Fixed stretched snow textures around some cabins * [Mystery Lake] Fixed visual artifacts in river terrain * [Mountain Town] Fixed flickering textures on mountain near Milton * [Mountain Town] Fixed missing texture on rocks near transition to Mystery Lake * [Mountain Town] Fixed missing collison on the barn at Paradise Meadow Farms * [Mountain Town] Fixed flickering textures on the cars outside of Milton * [Mountain Town] Fixed player being able to clip through parts of the silo USER INTERFACE * [Mac/PC/Linux] Fixed Xbox One menu buttons appearing for 1 frame when using a PS4 controller * [PC/Mac/Linux] Fixed selection swapping back and forth when cursor placed between two buttons * [UI] Improved the visibility of HUD button prompt when using a controller * [UI] Improved Main Menu appearing off-center in 21:9 * [UI] Fixed back button taking player to wrong screen when viewing a Note at the end of a Survival Game * [UI] Fixed Reticle appearing over non-interactable cabinets * [UI] Fixed alignment of UI when reading a note * [UI] Fixed Online Messaging only showing only the latest announcement, instead of all new announcements * [UI] Fixed Back button option being highlighted by mistake in certain scenarios * [UI] Fixed player being unable to back out of Save/Load menu if it was empty WINTERMUTE FIXES * [WINTERMUTE] Improved map markers to allow merging of critical information when multiple icons are at the same location * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed frightened Wolves becoming aggressive after game is saved and loaded * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed conditions that caused players to start Episode Two holding a lantern * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed pelts not curing if partially cured when completing Episode One * [WINTERMUTE] Added option to easily start Episode Two if the player quit after completing Episode One * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that caused audio to cut out when entering certain cars in Milton * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed multiple sound effects playing when climbing rope breaks * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed Neighbours Note clipping into ground * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed deer carcass disappearing when loading an autosave * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed Wolves not always fleeing from flares * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed Wolves being able to attack players while in Dialogue Mode * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed weather not restoring correctly when loading a game * [WINTERMUTE] Improved accuracy of the Episode Completion stat * [WINTERMUTE] Fixed issue that caused players to be pushed into another room when opening the vault door in the Bank * [WINTERMUTE] Numerous wildlife pathfinding updates SURVIVAL MODE * [Survival Mode] Fixed player being able to use weapons while afflicted with a sprained wrist by saving then reloading the game * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue with mapping in Mountain Town on some legacy save files * [Survival Mode] All bedrolls now use the same skill when repairing * [Survival Mode] Prevented deer from fleeing to inaccessible areas in the Ravine transition * [Survival Mode] Fixed items becoming lost under the Farmhouse in Pleasant Valley after a struggle * [Survival Mode] Fixed animal sound effects playing when leaving Trappers Cabin * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where a cairn found in Coastal Highway could be found twice * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue that could cause Rifles placed on racks to fall off when player exits the building * [Survival Mode] Fixed Bear spawning in terrain in Mystery Lake ALL GAME MODES * [All] General gameplay tuning across a variety of systems. * [All] Improved aiming mechanics for thrown Stones, to make Rabbit Hunting a bit easier. * [All] Retuned Wolf flee behaviour to react to being hit by a thrown Stone (probability is subject to Experience Mode). * [PC/Mac/Linux] Fixed cinematic audio continuing to play when the game is minimized * [All] Bear breath effect optimization * [All] Male survivor can no longer be heard breathing when Survivor Voiceover is turned Off * [All] Fixed players arms becoming stuck if entering a wolf struggle while holding a Flashlight * [All] Decreased campfires placement size to avoid players trapping themselves * [All] Fixed condition that could result in the the player becoming stuck when picking up a stunned Rabbit * [All] Fixed exploit that allowed Encumbered players to travel uphills at regular speed by crouching and standing repeatedly * [All] Fixed Cooking Pots sinking into cooking surfaces * [All] Improved how items snap onto cooking surfaces * [All] Fixed last Cartridge in a stack dropping as a box * [All] Fixed Bows and Rifles floating above placed location * [All] Fixed placed Campfires sinking slightly after player leaves area * [All] Fixed You are not thirsty message appearing incorrectly when trying to drink soda or tea * [All] Fixed player becoming stuck in animation if attacked by a wolf while reloading the Rifle * [All] Fixed Distress Pistol becoming stuck in hand if the reload button was pressed rapidly * [All] Fixed instances where subtitles could play when turned off * [All] Fixed issue where the fade to black after wolf struggle hid the get up animation * [All] Fixed unplugging the controller during movie a not pausing playback * [All] Fixed Ropes becoming inaccessible if player saves and reloads while on a ledge * [All] Adjusted Flashlight lighting effect * [All] Player can no longer enter a door when a Struggle has been initiated * [All] Improved wildlife pathfinding in Milton * [All] Fixed issue that caused Aurora to not appear correctly when using OpenGL * [All] Improved wildlife pathfinding in Paradise Meadows Farm * [All] Fixed player being able to throw a Flare while opening a car trunk * [All] Fixed flickering sky that could occur during wind storm * [All] Fixed not being able to place a Campfire on concrete * [All] Fixed unlocked lockers in Trappers Cabin requiring a pry bar to open CUSTOM EXPERIENCE SETTINGS * [Custom Settings] Updated several description strings to reflect specific settings more accurately. * [Custom Settings] Fixed "Struggle player strength bonus" option not working correctly * [Custom Settings] Fixed "Struggle damage received modifier" option not working correctly * [Custom Settings] Fixed Stick, Branch, and Stone spawn frequency always being set to high * [Custom Settings] Fixed Hidden Caches in River Valley not appearing as empty in Custom Mode * [Custom Settings] Fixed animals fleeing when Custom Mode set to Interloper mode * [Custom Settings] Fixed Blizzard Frequency not working correctly * [Custom Settings] Fixed Wildlife Respawn Frequency not working correctly * [Custom Settings] Fixed Wolf Spawn Chance settings not matching intended preset * [Custom Settings] Fixed Cabin Fever and Parasites being On when using the Pilgrim preset * [Custom Settings] Fixed Medical Treatment voice over playing when Survivor Monologue was disabled * [Custom Settings] Fixed Custom Experience options being unavailable until user scrolls to the bottom of the menu * [Custom Settings] Fixed "Interrupt If Freezing Starts While Sleeping" option not taking effect PS4-ONLY FIXES * [PS4] Fixed missing Bear breath * [PS4] Improved stability when transitioning scenes * [PS4] Optimized Aurora performance * [PS4] Improved lighting performance * [PS4] Fixed cursor not resetting to correct position * [PS4] Improved visual effects on Flares when thrown XBOX-ONLY FIXES * [Xbox] Fixed grass rotating to face the camera * [Xbox] Improved performance when in the Whaling Station * [Xbox] Improved performance during strong wind conditions * [Xbox] Improved performance on breath effects STEAM-ONLY FIXES * [Steam] Episode 2 now unlocked properly when player has the Leaving the Old World Behind achievement ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2018-12-17 19:00:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

REMINDER: Story Save Wipe

A quick reminder that well be wiping all existing Story Mode save games when we launch the REDUX versions of Episodes One and Two, NEXT WEEK! (If you completed Episodes One and Two prior to Redux, Episode Three will still be unlocked for you when it launches in 2019, even if you dont play the Redux versions of these episodes.)

WARNING: SUPPLIES AT RISK?

For the upcoming Redux launch of Episodes One and Two, weve had to make some changes to locations in the following regions:

• Mystery Lake, Milton/Mountain Town, Forlorn Muskeg, Broken Railroad

Its very likely that these changes will not affect your current Survival Mode games, but to be on the safe side, if you currently have a supply stash or any valuable items stored in any of these locations, it might be a good idea to move them to an unaffected region. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-12-13 21:36:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Community, The Steam Awards are back! Please help us make it into the shortlist - by nominating us BY NOVEMBER 27th 10AM (PST). (Please note that you can nominate both Hinterland, under "Best Developer", and The Long Dark, under any other category.) For additional details on how to vote, please visit the official Steam Awards page.

[ 2018-11-22 19:36:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Community, Weve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.40 [42090]. Youll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

CHANGELIST v1.40 [42090]

*[ALL] Added online messaging feature to distribute game news through the Main Menu.

[ 2018-11-21 18:10:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Is there something that you've been wanting to ask about The Long Dark? The game's Creative Director Raphael van Lierop has been answering fan questions on our official forums. Fans of the game can ask questions, and for each Dispatch a handful of those are selected and answered. You don't need to be a member of our official forums to read the answers - though if you do sign up you can ask your own questions! Be sure to read past Dispatches to see if your question has already been addressed! So get your questions posted on our official forums now to be considered for the next Mailbag. Stay informed on the Milton Mailbag and The Long Dark by our newsletter.

[ 2018-11-09 22:17:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

HINTERLAND GROWTH, EPISODE THREE DELAYED, WINTERMUTE REDUX & SURVIVAL MODE IN DECEMBER, SAVE WIPE!

Hello community, I have some news and a progress update to share on how things are going with various parts of the game, and the studio. Some of it is good news, some of it will be disappointing. I hope that for the vast majority of you, the news is mostly good.

HINTERLAND GROWTH

Some of you might be clued in to recent industry turmoil and a spate of closures, Telltale being the highest profile of these. A bit lesser known, but really big news for our local Vancouver game dev community, was the complete shutdown of Capcoms Vancouver studio. About 200 people lost their jobs, and in the weeks following we scrambled to interview people to see if we could help them, and to see how we could build up our own development strength. Fortunately for us, we already had several ex-Capcom Vancouver people in the studio, so we were able to identify high performers who would fit in to our culture well. As a result of the Capcom situation, along with some other people we were interviewing at the time, weve hired six new team members in the last month. This is Hinterlands most significant growth in the past five years. One area we were really able to bulk up was animation, which has always been a challenge on this project. Our current animation team of three has been able to do some truly incredible technical and creative work over the past 18 months, but weve always been limited on how much content we could produce and thats held us back in some areas of the project. For example, the decision to ship unvoiced dialogue scenes in the original Episode One and Two. We just couldnt produce all the animation needed to support full voice over. For Redux, we adopted some new facial animation technology, and things have improved significantly, to the extent that were able to ship Redux Episodes One and Two with full voice-over and fully animated characters. I think this really elevates the quality of the narrative presentation in the game.
We were also able to purchase Capcom Vancouvers nearly new motion capture studio (or the equipment from it anyway). This purchase gives us a 36-camera set-up which will be more than enough to carry us through the next few projects. Having our own motion capture equipment means we no longer have to plan our production around a motion-capture studios availability, which will give us a lot more flexibility to shoot, iterate, reshoot, etc. In addition to the two animators, we also hired two new programmers, a new user interface/visual effects artist, and a new tester. Were also interviewing additional people who may end up joining us, including some folks from Telltale and other studios that specialize in narrative experiences, all people whove been recently let go and are looking for a new home. This is a great opportunity for us to build up our team in anticipation of future work on The Long Dark, and our next game. This team growth means were big enough to seriously consider splitting the current team into two production teams -- one focused in WINTERMUTE, and another focused on Survival Mode. Weve long struggled with trying to produce enough content to keep both Story and Survival sides of the project fully resourced. So Im feeling pretty hopeful for the future of The Long Dark, and our update progress moving forward. Being able to have two dedicated teams will help ensure we can make more consistent progress in both areas of the game.

EPISODE THREE DELAYED

Suddenly having access to all this new development talent and the motion-capture gear makes a huge difference to what we can accomplish in Episode Three. Ive decided that Id like to be able to use these new resources -- along with the new motion capture equipment -- to add more content and polish to Episode Three. This means it wont be ready for us to ship in December. Theres not much more to say about that at the moment. I know this will be disappointing.

EPISODES ONE AND TWO "REDUX" IN DECEMBER

This may be bittersweet after the Episode Three delay news, but well be delivering the updated Redux versions of Episodes One and Two in December. While the high-level narrative of these episodes remains the same, the details and the implementation of the missions and narrative content is significantly different from what you played last year. Everything has been re-written, re-recorded, and re-animated. There are also new mission beats that didnt exist before, things that flesh out the experience and story of WINTERMUTE. In December, youll be able to play these Redux episodes and get a great sense of what to expect in Episode Three and beyond, as these now serve as the template for how well approach all our mission and narrative content moving forward. This also means that with the December Redux update, well be deleting your old WINTERMUTE saves. They will no longer be compatible with the game after the update, as so much has changed. So, if you havent already started playing WINTERMUTE, we suggest you wait until our December update. And if you really want to finish your current WINTERMUTE playthrough, we recommend you do it soon! If you finished the original Episodes One and Two and want to roll right into Episode Three when it launches, you can also do that, although we hope youll go back and experience Do Not Go Gentle and Luminance Fugue again, as they are much changed and improved since their original iterations.

SURVIVAL MODE UPDATE IN DECEMBER

Just so that we dont leave you without something entirely new to look forward to before the end of 2018, were releasing another free update to Survival Mode this December. I dont want to spoil the contents yet -- that deserves its own dev diary -- but I can say the update will include the following: New Craftable Hat, New Challenge Mode, New Condition Buff, some UI fixes, some gameplay tweaks, and general bug fixes as well. There may also be a few other surprises in there, if we can get them finished in time.

STORY MODE SAVE WIPE IN DECEMBER

Remember: we are deleting all current WINTERMUTE saves with our December update.

• If you are just starting WINTERMUTE and dont mind waiting a bit, we recommend you wait for December so you can play the revised and much improved Episodes One and Two.
• If you have an in-progress WINTERMUTE game youd like to finish before we wipe the save, please finish it soon! Pre-Redux (Predux!) WINTERMUTE saves will not be compatible with the game, post-update.
• If you completed the original Episodes One and Two, Episode Three will be unlocked for you when it releases.
• This save wipe has ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT on Survival Mode games. We will not be wiping those. If you play Survival and dont care about WINTERMUTE, simply carry on.

Well release more info about the December Survival Mode update when we get closer to launching it. Thanks for reading, and if youd like to discuss this dev diary with other members of the community, please jump into the conversation here in our official community forums. Thanks for reading! - Raphael

[ 2018-11-08 01:05:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've added a few more hours to 4 Days of Night to give you more time to work towards the badges. The event will now end on November 1st 10am Pacific Time. Keep sharing your stories, images, gifs and livestreams with us by tagging them with #4DON and make sure you follow us on Twitter at @hinterlandgames. Thanks for playing, and Happy Halloween everyone!

[ 2018-10-31 19:27:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Embrace the final night of 4 Days of Night! You can find details about today's daily challenge below.
For additional details about 4DON, please refer to our original announcement.
Good luck, and we hope you enjoy it! Share your stories, images, gifs and livestreams with us by tagging them with #4DON and make sure you follow us on Twitter at @hinterlandgames where well share regular updates. The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-10-31 05:59:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

4 Days of Night is on fire for night three! You can find details about today's daily challenge below.
For additional details about 4DON, please refer to our original announcement.
Good luck, and we hope you enjoy it! Share your stories, images, gifs and livestreams with us by tagging them with #4DON and make sure you follow us on Twitter at @hinterlandgames where well share regular updates. The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-10-30 05:57:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

4 Days of Night is a howling success and continues for the second day of night! You can find details about today's daily challenge below.
For additional details about 4DON, please refer to our original announcement. Note: Make sure you use the same Save all the way through the event to unlock badges!
Good luck, and we hope you enjoy it! Share your stories, images, gifs and livestreams with us by tagging them with #4DON and make sure you follow us on Twitter at @hinterlandgames where well share regular updates. The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-10-29 05:59:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

4 Days of Night is now (a)live! You can find details about today's daily challenge below.
For additional details about 4DON, please refer to our original announcement. Note: Make sure you use the same Save all the way through the event to unlock badges!
Good luck, and we hope you enjoy it! Share your stories, images, gifs and livestreams with us by tagging them with #4DON and make sure you follow us on Twitter at @hinterlandgames where well share regular updates. The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-10-28 06:02:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Four Days of Night is back this Halloween! Join us for some lighthearted fun in this time-limited event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCyCylzMB-8

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Just launch the game between Saturday, October 27th at 11 pm PDT, and Wednesday, October 31st, at 11 pm PDT, select Four Days of Night from the Main Menu, and do your best to survive as long as you can. If you dont want to participate, simply continue playing Story, Survival, or Challenges as usual!

EVOLUTION OF THE 2018 EDITION

This year's event sees some significant improvements: Daily Challenges Each day brings its own unique horrors to survive through: brutal weather conditions, tuned wildlife behaviors and spawn rates etc. Daily challenges kick in at 11pm PDT every day, starting from October 27th, and each lasts a full 24h. We will update this post accordingly with every new daily challenge.
Players who manage to survive long enough will unlock those unique badges:
TWILIGHT BADGE: Survived for 2 real-time hours for any two days of the event.
MIDNIGHT BADGE: Survived for 2 real-time hours for all four days of the event.

COMING TO CONSOLES

For the first time, were bringing 4DON to our Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players, in addition to Steam. Jump into the conversation around Four Days of Night and use the #4don hashtag on Twitter, or discuss it in our dedicated official community sub-forum.

DEDICATED MODE

This year, you can kick off Four Days of Night right from the Main Menu! No need to opt-in to a separate branch. Keep in mind that save files will be 4DON-specific, and are only useful for this years event.
Good luck, and we hope you enjoy it! Share your stories, images, gifs and livestreams with us by tagging them with #4DON and make sure you follow us on Twitter at @hinterlandgames where well share regular updates. The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-10-23 17:19:17 CET ] [ Original post ]

Trailer + Info tomorrow.

[ 2018-10-22 21:51:20 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, What would a game be without a great community to support it? We think of this every day, and that's why we decided to share the love back, by putting some cool folks who have supported us in the spotlight this time.

SURVIVOR JOURNALS (Audio Logs)

Working with Skybound Games, we selected player-written journals from our official forums - by community members Bleys, Juhlhaus, and mattyboi. Using The Long Dark game audio and screenshots, Skybound hired professional voice actors and produced these polished audio journals. Watch them below! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlKXhp4qWB4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFV6KZKOzaE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp65X03qg_0

THE LIGHT KEEPS US SAFE

Our friends at Big Robot (Sir, You Are Being Hunted; The Signal From Tölva) will soon be releasing their new game on Steam Early Access. It offers a blend of stealth and survival, with an intriguing sci-fi premise that should make fans of The Long Dark feel right at home: "the sky has flickered and gone out, the food is gone and the power can't last much longer". Their teaser trailer and official gameplay video can be found below, as well as the link to their Steam page. We strongly suggest you add it to your wishlist to keep an eye on it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsxS8EntqOM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLzmwFhvbUE Be safe out there, Survivors of the Quiet Apocalypse, - The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-09-19 19:31:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqMdEdqnBag Hello community, We’re excited to share the new launch trailer for The Long Dark’s retail version on Xbox and PS4, available today in North America, and on Friday September 7th in the rest of the world. If you’d like to buy a physical console copy, please check out the list of stores here. As a reminder, Episode Three and the Redux for Episodes One and Two are launching in December, as we outlined in this dev diary.

[ 2018-09-04 16:19:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Community, We’ve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.37 [39488] to address two issues that surfaced after this week’s previous Hotfix.

***If you lost any items after the last hotfix, you may now find them spawned at your feet when you first load into a region or interior.***

You’ll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

CHANGELIST v1.37 [39488]

*[ALL] Fixed an issue that would relocate rifles after exiting a building or area *[ALL] Fixed an issue that caused some containers to be unopenable

[ 2018-08-29 23:03:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We’ve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.36 [39433] to address some issues that surfaced after our VIGILANT FLAME Update. You’ll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

CHANGELIST v1.36 [39433]

HIGHLIGHTED FIXES

*[ALL] Added new pop-up warning to prevent players from accidentally Eating Raw Meat or Fish when selecting them from the Radial menu. *[ALL] Completed a tuning pass on several Cooking variables. Cooking times are balanced more closely (though not identically) to values prior to the Vigilant Flame Update, while still accounting for the benefits of real-time Cooking and multiple Cooking surfaces. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing players to get stuck in the bowl object on the second floor of the Camp Office.

GAMEPLAY

*[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed Buffer Memories missing the Examine option. *[WINTERMUTE] Added new Cooking Meat tutorial to increase clarity around uses for Raw and Cooked Meat in the game. *[WINTERMUTE] Removal of Metal Shard at the opening of Episode One now happens automatically. *[ALL] Fixed some instances of wildlife not using optimal paths when moving through the world. *[ALL] Fixed not being able to stand up from Crouching when in a tunnel or cave. *[ALL] Fixed issue where injured Bears reset their status when players enter an interior or Pass Time. *[ALL] Fixed not being able to Pass Time when Cooking ruined meat. *[ALL] Fixed Hatchet becoming instantly ruined when breaking down a table with a camp stove on top of it. *[ALL] Top slot for Drinks in the Radial Menu is no longer reserved for Water only. *[ALL] Player’s last Cooking Pot will no longer drop during a Struggle. *[ALL] Fixed inaccurate Crafting times when there are fewer than 2 hours remaining to finish Crafting an item. *[ALL] Fixed Melting Snow not progressing to Boiling if a player leaves the region. *[ALL] Fixed Unsafe Water not continuing to Boil if Stove is relit. *[ALL] Fixed improperly focused camera when Harvesting a Moose. *[ALL] Fixed quantity of Water displayed in Radial Menu and Backpack not matching. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing players to be unable to cancel Fishing in certain scenarios. *[ALL] Fixed Notes in Inspection Mode missing the ability to scroll. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing the Zoom option to be missing from the Map when using the Steam Controller. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing inconsistency around which actions players can perform when inside a Snow Shelter. *[ALL] Fixed being unable to place water inside Caves. *[ALL] Adjusted space around placed items so players can arrange them closer together.

ART

*[ALL] Numerous Environment Fixes. *[ALL] Numerous fixes to locations where players can become stuck in the game world. *[ALL] Fixed missing texture on the Fishing Line gear item. *[SURVIVAL MODE] Fixed graphical corruption in Hushed River Valley Ice Cave.

AUDIO

*[ALL] Fixed audio not correctly fading in and out on load screens. *[ALL] Fixed missing sound effects when a player suffers an ankle Sprain. *[ALL] Fixed issue where shooting certain trees with Arrows would cause Moose sound effects to play. *[ALL] Fixed issue causing wildlife audio to play when exiting a building. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2018-08-27 17:00:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community! The moment you’ve all been waiting for: EPISODE THREE IS COMING!!! After a long period of you waiting for news about the next installment in the story of The Long Dark, I’m excited to share the news that Episode Three will release December 2018, along with the “Redux” editions of Episodes One and Two, unveiling a whole new experience of WINTERMUTE, The Long Dark’s story mode. We’ll be teasing out more Episode Three details in the months ahead, but as a reminder: in Episode Three, you’ll play as Dr. Astrid Greenwood, and the story picks up in the aftermath of the events of Milton, as experienced from Mackenzie’s point of view in Episode One. You’ll meet new survivors, explore a new region, and find out more about the events prior to, and after, the First Flare event that engulfed Great Bear Island -- and perhaps the rest of the world -- into “the long dark”. EPISODES ONE & TWO “REDUX” Along with Episode Three, we’ll be releasing the “Redux” editions of Episodes One and Two, which we’ve spent the last year reworking in order to set up a stronger foundation for Episode Three and the remaining parts of the five-episode WINTERMUTE story mode. I talked a bit about the reasoning behind the Redux work in our February Dev Diary. Some of the work that’s gone into the Redux episodes includes:

• More open and flexible mission structure, reducing the forced linearity of the story missions; this includes restructuring the side missions and making more of the content optional
• Whole new playable intro sequence for Episode One* All NPC dialogue is now fully voiced and animated using an entirely new animation system
• All dialogue and narrative scenes are now presented in first-person, using an overhauled dialogue UI
• New major story elements in both Episodes, including a new NPC
• Although the high-level episode story arcs remain as before, almost every story beat, dialogue moment, and mission element has been improved, with about 80% of the dialogue rewritten to accommodate
• Removed the Trust system as it contributed to the “fetch questy” feeling of the first two episodes (we plan to repurpose this system for elsewhere in the game)
• Completely overhauled Bear Hunt mission and added new gameplay (Episode Two)
• Improved tutorial presentation
• Improved story UI elements
• ...and many other fixes and improvements.

The improvements made in the Redux versions are pretty extensive, and most of them were made based on community feedback, so we hope you’ll go back and replay them before continuing on to Episode Three. Please note that because so much has changed, in-progress playthroughs of Episode One or Two will be wiped when the Redux versions are released in December. Players who have already completed the original versions of Episodes One and Two and who wish to just continue directly to Episode Three will not be affected by the save wipe. So, if you are in the midst of a WINTERMUTE playthrough and don’t want to lose your progress, you have until December to complete it. So, to recap: Episode Three, along with the “Redux” versions of Episodes One and Two, will all be releasing together in December! RETAIL PRE-ORDER!!! In other news, we’re extremely proud to share an update on our collaboration with Skybound Games! If you recall, we partnered with Skybound Games up to bring The Long Dark to retailers, and we’re excited to announce some details of the retail boxed editions for Xbox and PS4. Those retail editions will be released in stores worldwide, on September 4th (in North, Central, and South America) and September 7th (in Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia).
Each retail copy of the game includes a downloadable soundtrack, and a printed Field Journal that includes a map of Great Bear and plenty of room to keep a running survival diary during your playthroughs! Jump on over to the Skybound Games pre-order site for more details about pre-order incentives available in your territory, and make sure you spread the word amongst your fellow fans of The Long Dark, or anyone you think might be interested in testing their mettle in the Quiet Apocalypse. Between now and December, most of our efforts and communication will be around Episode Three, but even though we may not say much about Survival Mode, we’re not abandoning it -- far from it. We just need to hunker down and focus on Episode Three, to ensure it comes out as strong as it can. That said, we are planning to release a hotfix to Vigilant Flame later this month, to clean up some issues with the updated Cooking system. Thanks for reading, and as always, to stay abreast of the ongoing updates at Hinterland, please sign up for our newsletter, follow us on social media, and join our excellent community at the Hinterland Forums. - Raphael

[ 2018-07-31 17:02:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Is there something that you've been wanting to ask about The Long Dark? The game's Creative Director Raphael van Lierop has been answering fan questions on our official forums. Fans of the game can ask questions, and for each Dispatch a handful of those are selected and answered. You don't need to be a member of our official forums to read the answers - though if you do sign up you can ask your own questions! Be sure to read past Dispatches to see if your question has already been addressed! The next dispatch is going out on Friday, so get your questions posted on our official forums now to be considered. Stay informed on the Milton Mailbag and The Long Dark by our newsletter.

[ 2018-07-17 18:49:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We’ve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.35 [38054] to address some issues that surfaced in our recent update, VIGILANT FLAME. You’ll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

Hotfix to v1.35 [38054] -- Release Notes

*[All] Fixed issue with untextured objects appearing in Hushed River Valley. *[All] Fixed issue with invisible collision at the Mystery Lake Forestry Lookout that was preventing players from ascending and descending the stairs. *[All] Fixed issue with Cooking audio being too quiet. *[All] Fixed potential crash when entering a location where Water was left Boiling. ###End of Changelist###

[ 2018-06-26 19:10:50 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We’ve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.34 [37910] to address some issues that surfaced in our recent update, VIGILANT FLAME. You’ll find the complete changelist for the hotfix below.

Hotfix to v1.34 [37910] -- Release Notes

*[All] Updated "Use" verbs to better reflect player activity in the game. Verbs should now more accurately reflect intended use. *[All] Pass Time Until Ready when Melting snow now stops when snow is melted. Boiling to Purify melted snow is now a separate Cooking action, as before. *[All] Cooking times for partial-unit food items now scale correctly. I.e. 0.5 Kg of meat now takes half the full-unit time cost. *[All] Wildlife will no longer attack players during accelerated time, unless they were already detected prior to beginning an activity. This addresses an issue where players were being ambushed by predators during accelerated time actions. *[All] Fixed Mac keyboard icons for Placement actions appearing on PC. *[All] Fixed players being able to use a Recycled Can/Cooking Pot to cook when the item was at 0% Condition. *[All] Fixed Quick Placement when using the Steam Controller. *[All] Fixed exploit where players were able to restore burned food by placing it back onto an active cooking surface. *[All] Fixed Mac trackpad secondary click not being active for Placement. *[All] Fixed issue causing previously-killed animal corpses to reappear after updating the game. *[All] Fixed issue causing active monitor to change when switching screen resolution. *[All] Fixed players losing Placement functionality when interrupting Placement from the Pack. *[All] Fixed camera bob persisting after lighting the Storm Lantern while walking. *[All] Fixed issue causing players to exit the Fishing UI immediately after catching a fish, instead of being able to continue. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue causing arrows to become invisible after firing them. *[Survival Mode] Many minor environment fixes to Hushed River Valley. *[Survival Mode] Fixed numerous Hushed River Valley locations where players could become stuck in the terrain. *[Survival Mode] Fixed Scrolling in Journal Notes. *[Survival Mode] Fixed players becoming stuck in-between rocks near the bridge closest to Draft Dodger's Cabin in Pleasant Valley. *[Wintermute] Fixed rare issue where players were permanently afflicted with Cabin Fever in some very old Wintermute saves. *[Wintermute] Fixed getting stuck when crouching inside Jeremiah's Cabin during Wintermute Episode Two. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where players were unable to place items inside Jeremiah's Cabin during Wintermute Episode Two. ###End of Changelist###

[ 2018-06-20 19:03:47 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We’ve just updated The Long Dark to v1.33, adding an entirely new wilderness Region, brand-new gameplay features including an overhauled Cooking system, as well as numerous bug fixes in an update we’re calling VIGILANT FLAME. For all the details, please check out this update video. Full Release Notes are available below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJ2mkJSFGs&feature=youtu.be New Hushed River Valley Region
Hushed River Valley is a multi-leveled Region that connects to Mountain Town, extending some of the same difficult terrain you see around the town of Milton. The new Region is full of waterfalls, rivers and streams, and lots of cliff areas, but includes no man-made shelters. It’s a highly challenging wilderness area, but keep an eye out for natural shelters, supply caches, and perhaps a mysterious Signal Fire to guide your way. New Manual Cooking System
We’ve overhauled the cooking system so that it doesn’t occur in a simple menu interface anymore. You place cookable items in the new Recycled Can or Cooking Pot items, or on hot surfaces — namely, stones near burning campfires or on the surface of lit cook stoves — and wait for them to cook. Each food item requires a different amount of time to cook. If you remove the item too soon, it’ll be undercooked, and eating it could result in food poisoning. If you wait too long, you could overcook the item to the point where it becomes an inedible burned lump, thus wasting the valuable food and fuel resources you spent on it. You will also prepare water in a similar way. It means managing multiple timelines when cooking, but it should also free you up to take on other tasks simultaneously. Buffer Memories
We’ve added new narrative collectibles to Survival Mode, in the form of “buffer memories”. These are the last documents stored in a computer’s memory before all the technology around Great Bear and beyond, was suddenly rendered inert by the mysterious aurora. Now, when the aurora appears at night, you might see some computer terminals display snippets of notes, emails, reports — information that provides more background on the world of The Long Dark. We’ve implemented a first series of Buffer Memories in VIGILANT FLAME, across a series of specific locations. Remember, each location may have more than one memory to offer. You can track discovered memories in the Collections section of your Survival Journal. Radial Menu Quick Placement
As a result of our Manual Cooking work, you can now place items directly from the Radial. This means that you no longer necessarily have to go into your Pack to drop items for later placement. Radial Placement will be useful for quickly arranging various items, and is something we plan to use for more gameplay*oriented placement in the future. For now, the primary benefit is placing items from your Food radial directly on campfires or stoves, for cooking, or placing Pots and Recycled Cans on cooking surfaces so that you can cook food or melt snow for water. General Fixes
In addition to these four main features, we’ve made dozens of bug fixes, made performance improvements across the game, and added several minutes of new ambient music to Survival Mode. ***

Changelist v1.33 [37608]

General Fixes * [All] Fixed Crows spawning below ground. * [All] Fixed Intro Movie not respecting Master Volume settings. * [All] Updated localization. * [All] Fixed duplicated resolutions appearing in Options. * [All] Fixed FOV being limited to 100. * [UI] Fixed inventory actions becoming broken when switching between Keyboard/Mouse and Controller. * [UI] Improved responsiveness of Resolution Selector in Options. * [UI] Fixed Main Menu flashing briefly before intro video when running the game on Mac or in DX9 mode. * [UI] Fixed missing Title when viewing Map Screen in Mountain Town. * [UI] Updated Region Description formatting to be more consistent. * [UI] Updated UI art to include Climbing Socks. * [UI] Fixed Feat progress bars to better represent progress. * [UI] Updated Main Menu Custom Mode text to be easier to read. * [UI] Fixed Fish appearing with missing or bright colours when taken from a fridge and inspected. * [UI] Fixed Earmuffs appearing on Paper Doll when equipping other Accessories. * [UI] Moved "Sort" icon in the Inventory screen. * [UI] Updated Clothing UI tooltips for all platforms. * [Linux] Fixed light shaft rendering incorrectly. * [Linux] Fixed audio not playing for some players. * [Wintermute] Fixed checkpoint screenshot showing image from previous save. Gameplay * [All] Fixed momentary freeze when opening Inventory for the first time. * [All] Fixed Light Source menu being unavailable when Flashlight is the only light source. * [All] Scaled size of Fish to work with new cooking system. * [All] Consolidated UI actions around a single verb - "Use". * [All] Updated controller actions to support new Quick Placement feature. * [All] Fixed Aurora not always appearing correctly when player is Passing Time/Resting at specific intervals. * [All] Updated cooking surfaces around the world for new Cooking System. * [All] Updated Campfire placement * [All] Fixed UI not always updating after performing an action such as Purifying water. * [All] Fixed Clothing Screen stats not always updating after changing clothing. * [All] Fixed Living Off the Land achievement progress being reset when drinking tea crafted from Reishi Mushrooms or Rosehips. * [All] Fixed items falling through certain rugs. * [All] Fixed missing audio when crafting Tinder from Sticks. * [All] Updated instant kill regions on cliff faces to be more forgiving in some locations. * [All] Fixed incorrect text appearing when interacting with an active Fire during windy conditions. * [All] Updated Disclaimer screen not respecting game language when set to Dutch. * [All] Player can no longer eat ruined food from the Inspection screen. * [All] Fixed Weak Ice warning persisting if player loads game while standing on Weak Ice. * [All] Fixed Bear becoming stuck in animation when not in player’s view. * [All] Fixed player being able to become stuck when attacked while Crafting. * [All] Fixed Campfire rewarding extra Charcoal. * [All] Fixed extra arrow being generated after Harvesting a corpse then saving and reloading. * [All] Realigned Wolf positioning when it feeds off a Moose carcass. * [All] Adjusted the speed of Rifle shot sound effect when firing indoors. * [All] Fixed unintentional movement when player is using the Radial Menu with a Controller. * [All] Fixed misaligned blood decal after harvesting corpse. * [All] Disabled Radial Menu while holding a stunned Rabbit. * [All] Lantern now shows Gallons when Imperial Units are selected. Was showing Ounces previously. * [Survival Mode] Fixed Locations Discovered in the Stats screen to account for Regions with variable number of interiors due to ruined structures. * [Survival Mode] General fixes for a wide variety of minor locations to make them easier to Survey. * [Survival Mode] Fixed rare scenario where WINTERMUTE map could appear in your Survival Mode map list. * [Survival Mode] Fixed Moose getting stuck in running animation when it dies while running. * [Survival Mode] Fixed not being able to Survey Wolf Carcasses that spawn into the game. * [Survival Mode] Fixed arrow trails remaining after firing an Arrow in certain scenarios. * [Survival Mode] Removed Stone Church from Faithful Cartographer requirements, as it was causing an issue with legacy game saves. * [Survival Mode] Fixed Moose entering hold position when player is holding a light source. * [Survival Mode] Fixed wildlife resetting location after player transitions to a new Region/interior. * [Survival Mode] Fixed player becoming stuck when saving and loading while on stairs. * [Survival Mode] Fixed non-interactable brush near Lonely Lighthouse. * [Survival Mode] Improved Moose pathfinding when under trees. * [Wintermute] Fixed player being unable to save if they delete all their Story saves, while playing Wintermute. * [Wintermute] Fixed several locations where Bear could become stuck during Jeremiah's Folly mission. * [Wintermute] Fixed missing textures on Cache boxes. * [Wintermute] Fixed controller input registering during Episode One ending, resulting in UI popup. * [Wintermute] Autosave option now only appears when playing Wintermute. * [Wintermute] Fixed issue where Player could not enter Hank's Hatch during the Episode Two side mission if they unlocked the hatch, but were missing the letter. * [Wintermute] Fixed deer carcass disappearing at the opening of Episode One if Player interacts with, saves, then reloads game. * [ Wintermute] Fixed Cabin Fever icon appearing in Story Mode, even though the player can not get Cabin Fever in Story Mode. * [Custom Mode] Adjusted how Wildlife Flee chance is applied. * [Custom Mode] Adjusted loot tables. Art/Environment * [All] Fixed missing texture from the Burnt Flare when viewed in Inspection mode. * [All] Fixed Smoke "glowing" at night or in fog. * [Art] Updated Gun Rack scaling to better match Rifle size. * [Enviro] Tweaked many item placements. * [Enviro] Fixed numerous locations where objects clip into the environment. * [Enviro] Polish pass on all Regions. * [Enviro] Fixed floating snow banks. * [Enviro] Fixed instances of bushes clipping into trees. * [Enviro] Fixed Climbing Rope texture not appearing correctly. * [Enviro] Fixed stretched texture on fallen tree trunk. * [Enviro] Fixed numerous locations where players could become stuck. * [Enviro] Updated various tree groups that were missing collision. * [Enviro] Fixed some Ropes being difficult to interact with from the bottom. * [Enviro] Fixed floating Rosehip bushes in Timberwolf Mountain. * [Enviro] Fixed trees and bushes populating the same location in Desolation Point. * [Enviro] Fixed Flag clipping into Lake Cabins. * [Enviro] Removed extra exterior window on certain cabins. * [Survival Mode] Fixed Moose scratch texture on trees appearing stretched. * [Wintermute] Fixed Aurora during Episode One introduction sequence flickering at certain angles. ### END OF CHANGELIST ### To keep up to date on the latest news, be sure to sign up to our official mailing list! www.thelongdark.com/newsletter

[ 2018-06-14 17:29:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

[ 2018-06-12 22:21:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, Since the last time I updated you in February, the team’s been working hard on a variety of things. Some have been more “housekeeping” related, like dealing with Unity updates, general performance improvements (as the game continues to get bigger and bigger and our scenes more complex, we have to continuously optimize to make sure performance remains above an acceptable threshold), integrating new tools and features into our development pipeline, and adding new people to our growing development team. This is all part of our commitment to continue building on the foundation of The Long Dark’s Survival Mode, while also working on new features and content for our Episode One and Two “Redux” (which I first discussed here: http://www.thelongdark.com/news/dev-diary-february-2018/) which is solidifying the foundation for Episode Three and onward. Let me cherry-pick a few things to share with you at this point. Keep in mind that each of these entries is at a different stage of development and while some of these things will end up in our next Survival Mode update, some will need further polish and tuning before they are ready. New Region: “River Valley” (placeholder name)
New waterfall effects in action.
New approach to landscape layout and tree density helps keep visual interest while forcing players to keep close eye on the horizon.
River Valley features new rock formations with much steeper verticals.
Ice caves with bioluminescent moss. Our goal with this new region is to create an environment that doesn’t have a single human-made shelter on it -- so, even more rugged and isolated than Timberwolf Mountain with its lonely Mountaineer’s Hut. This new region has also been a test-bed of sorts, for a new approach to how we create our environments, including new rocks and more varied tree density. We’ve also added a new type of cave system, redone our waterfalls, and have focused on having the entire region be more of an “environmental” puzzle for you to solve. We’re also experimenting with varying elevations and a range of climbing (or caving) options to find your way around. New Gameplay: Manual Cooking
Cooking around the campfire.
Different cooking implements offer different benefits. This is something we’ve been discussing for a long time and our most recent prototypes have proven fruitful to the extent that I feel comfortable sharing them with you. We’ve overhauled the cooking system so that it doesn’t occur in a simple menu interface anymore. Now you have to place food items -- either in cooking vessels like pots or cans, or on their own -- on hot cooking surfaces like stovetops or rocks around a campfire. Each type of cooking source -- whether it be a single-burner stove, a campfire, or a large “cooker” like the one you see in the Pleasant Valley farmhouse, has a number of available “cooking slots”. The cooking times have been tuned (still in progress!) to account for the fact they happen in real-time in the game now -- i.e. not during an accelerated progress bar. We’re still working through a variety of user interface issues with this system but we feel it’s pretty promising. This work has also opened up the possibility of placing items in the world directly from the radial menu, which feels natural and is a much quicker way to manipulate things in the world, vs. having to first drop them from your Pack and manipulate them in placement mode. We’re still working on this but the initial tests are promising! New Content: Buffer Memories
The aurora may reveal old mysteries through the words of long-forgotten (or long-frozen?) residents of Great Bear. I discussed these in my last update, and we have the first series of Buffer Memories in the game. These are basically “lore drops” that will live in Survival Mode, but are only available on certain screens and then only when the Aurora is active. Our first pass on these will be focused on adding some background history to the world, presented as the words of Great Bear residents from days, weeks, or years before the events of The Long Dark. Future Buffer Memory “drops” may also link up to gameplay events or supply caches. Active terminals can be interacted with to read the content, which will then be added to your Survival Journal. We plan to expand this with different display types and even devices. Redux: Mission Overhaul We’ve completed our overhaul of the mission structures in our current Episodes One and Two, as part of the “Redux” work. The result is that the mission structure that was almost entirely linear at launch, is now almost entirely open. There are still “critical path” narrative missions that need to be completed before you can move on to the next episode, but many missions can now be completed in any order, and several are completely optional. We’re also adding a new opening to the game, and adding some new “side missions”. New System: Dynamic Conversation Interface
Now that the mission structure has been opened up, we can’t use linear cinematics to present our story anymore. We’ve moved everything into first-person dialogues between Mackenzie and the NPCs, like Grey Mother, and Jeremiah. We’ve also integrated all the Trust unlocks into the main dialogue flow. To support this, we’ve come up with a new dialogue system. Rather than using the standard cardinal points menu for selecting topics, we’re putting all the topics directly into the world. How topics are presented will tell you something about their relative importance to you, and to the NPC survivors. You’ll quickly be able to pick out the topics that link up to mission content, vs. the ones that are more about providing backstory. Topics that depend on you having sufficient Trust with an NPC will hide in the “background”, and as Trust is gained, they will resolve to become clearer to you, so that eventually they will be selectable. This is our way of tying the dialogue in the game more closely to the survivor’s state of mind, and making it feel more like a living, breathing aspect of the story and the characters you meet as you explore. Because of this new system, all dialogue in the game will now be fully voiced. We’re still working on this but we feel it’s a promising direction, and most importantly it supports a lot of flexibility in terms of when and how we unlock access to content, which means the game will be more dynamic for the player. New Gameplay: Bear Spear
This is pretty self-explanatory. The feature is at an early stage so consider this a “tease”. Episode Three Not to sound like a broken record, but I’ll share more specific news about Episode Three when I think the time is right. The time is not yet right. Xbox One X & PS4 Pro Enhancements Lots of people have been asking us about this. We have a first pass on higher quality visual settings for Xbox One X and PS4 Pro. We’re also working on HDR-support for both. 4k support works on Xbox One X but we’re not sure we’ll be able to get it working on PS4 Pro, due to performance. We’re still working on optimizations and we’ll see where we end up! In order to support these enhancements we’ve had to implement an entirely new post-effects pipeline in the game, the side benefit being that we’ll be able to get an improved anti-aliasing and HDR-lighting solution in the game for all our PC players as well! When Will We Get All This Goodness? We’re working on a new update to Survival Mode, with a tentative release planned for late May or early June, depending on how testing and finaling goes. Of the above list, you should expect to see the New Region, Manual Cooking, and Buffer Memories. Anything beyond that will come down to testing, optimization, bug-fixing, and finaling progress. As always, our aim is to launch all major updates simultaneously for Steam, Xbox One, and PS4, with GoG and WeGame following shortly thereafter. So hopefully the next time you hear something official from me regarding progress, it’ll be to tell you that the new Survival Mode update is ready! Stay warm out there. - Raphael To keep up to date on the latest news, be sure to sign up to our official mailing list!

[ 2018-04-27 21:07:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We’ve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.30 (35412), which includes the following fix for a rare crash:

Version 1.30 (35412) Release Notes

* [Gameplay] - Fixed rare crash that could occur when lighting a torch from a fire. ###END OF CHANGELIST###

[ 2018-04-17 22:03:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We’ve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.29 (35212), which includes the following fixes:

Version 1.29 (35212) Release Notes

*Numerous Environment fixes *General optimizations to improve performance *Fixed several rare crashes Gameplay & User Interface *[Both] Update to allow Player to save their Journal from the Skills screen *[Both] Players are now prevented from deleting in-use saves *[Wintermute] Unlocked Chapters data now stored in backup location in case of data loss General *[Custom] Fixed issue that allowed progress towards feats disabled in Custom Mode *[Both] Fixed issue with Flare shells being re-usable in certain scenarios *[Both] Fixed issue where animals would disappear under certain conditions ###END OF CHANGELIST###

[ 2018-04-10 00:56:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We’ve just hotfixed The Long Dark to v1.27 [34908]. This includes the Unity game engine update that we discussed in our most-recent Dev Diary, as well as numerous other fixes you will see detailed below. NOTE: The Unity upgrade included in this hotfix has changed the location of the Debug Log for Windows users: Debug Log Location in Windows (new!): ⦁ In Windows, open File Explorer ⦁ At the top of the window, switch to the View tab ⦁ Go to the Show/Hide section and check the Hidden Items box ⦁ On the left side, Scroll down to This PC and click on the C drive ⦁ Navigate to the following folder: C:UsersUSERNAMEAppDataLocalLowHinterlandTheLongDark (Note that your Windows username will be the name 3rd folder you click through) ⦁ Inside TheLongDark folder you will find a file named output_log.txt . This is your game debug log.

The Long Dark v1.27 [34908] Changelist

*Numerous Art optimizations to improve performance *Numerous Environment optimizations *General optimizations *Update to Rewired Controller API for improved compatibility using gamepad/controllers on PC/Mac * Fixed several rare crashes * Disabled crash reporting for Modded games (to reduce the amount of non-relevant crash report data)

Art

*[Both] Moose sign scratches now appear with the correct color and texture across all Regions. *[Both] Fixed issue where player could become trapped when walking while crouched behind chair in Milton Credit Union office. *[Both] Added Charging Station sign to the Orca Gas Station in Milton. *[Both] Starfield no longer visible through light snow in Milton. *[Both] Fixed issue causing a snowy hillside to appear inside a Broken Railroad Region Cave. *[Both] Fixed scaling issue with toilets in Carter Dam. *[Both] Blood Decals now appear correctly when Harvesting or Quartering. *[Both] Fixed issue with some Rose Hip bushes appearing to float above the ground in Mountain Town Region. *[Both] Fixed issue causing footsteps to sometimes look distorted in the snow. *[Both] Fixed a gap in the terrain in Mountain Town Region, near the entrance to Mystery Lake. *[Both] Fixed issue with inconsistent appearance of arms during Wolf Struggles. *[Both] Fixed issue with terrain near the Collapsed Tunnel in Mountain Town Region that was impeding player movement. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where Ambient Occlusion improvements weren't visible on a bridge in Desolation Point. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue with incorrect snowy terrain appearing in a Forlorn Muskeg Cave. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where exiting buildings could result in a black screen. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Tractor near Quonset Garage was incorrectly illuminated. *[Survival Mode] Improved presentation of thumbnail images in the Survival Mode loading menu. *[Survival Mode] Improved road and bridge textures in Desolation Point *[Wintermute] Items in the Hunter's Blind near Alan's Cave in Mystery Lake Region now have the correct texture. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where chimney smoke would incorrectly appear coming from homes in Milton. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where a gap could be seen in Jeremiah's neck during Episode Two cinematics. *[Wintermute] Fixed issues with incorrect Rifle movement in Episode Two cinematics. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with incorrect item texture on Lake Cabin Key #2.

Gameplay & User Interface

*[Both] Added Clothing UI Icons and tooltips when pressing R3 on gamepads. *[Both] Removed reticle when aiming the Survival Bow (as intended) *[Both] First Aid icon no longer disappears from the screen when Cooking or Boiling Water. *[Both] Fixed issue causing awkward First Person arm movements when accessing inventory with Flashlight equipped. *[Both] Fixed issue where Slope information would incorrectly appear when climbing up and down ropes. *[Both] Clothing items no longer display incorrect damage textures at low Condition. *[Both] Improved positioning for various Scrub Brush placements in the environment. *[Both] Fixed issue where double-inputs were occurring with the Steam Controller when accessing inventory. *[Both] Fix for being able to climb up steep objects the player should not be able to climb. *[Both] Fixed issue causing players to get Cabin Fever in Wintermute. Cabin Fever is now disabled in all three Wintermute Experience Modes. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issues keeping Faithful Cartographer achievement from triggering. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Stone Church icon was not displaying correctly after being mapped. *[Survival Mode] Removed fall death triggers on cliff wall above Milton Basin. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue that prevented players from Harvesting certain Tree Limbs in the game. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Moose Hide Satchel was not showing the correct bonus when the game was set to display Imperial Units. *[Survival Mode] Improved ease of mapping the Cinder Hills Coal Mine entrances in Coastal Highway and Pleasant Valley. *[Survival Mode] When selecting a Region in a new Survival Mode game, it will now always default to the last Region the player loaded. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where no on-screen message would appear when approaching transition between Mountain Town and Forlorn Muskeg Regions. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Harvesting UI could sometimes default to “Take All.” *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where the Paradise Meadows Farmhouse could appear unlocked by default. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue causing various tools to spawn incorrectly in Interloper and Custom Experience Modes. *[Survival Mode] Players can no longer continue Crafting after a single Match burns out. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where subtitles remain on-screen after character voice over ends. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where crows would circle locations with no corpses present. *[Wintermute] Fixed various issues blocking progress during the opening survival missions in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where voice over subtitles were missing after sustaining a fall injury. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where Water in inventory was incorrectly counted, preventing Coffee and Tea brewing. *[Wintermute] Grey Mother's Soup no longer remains hot for too long when added to player inventory. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue causing Fatigue to apply incorrectly when Rope Climbing. *[Wintermute] Players can no longer Inspect Jeremiah’s Coat in Episode Two. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where text could flicker during Trust interactions with Jeremiah in Episode Two. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where smoke would not appear from the Trapper’s Cabin chimney, even though a fire is burning inside. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue in Episode Two Lake Gunshots Mission where the mission marker was not resolving correctly upon completion. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where error message "Failed to Restore the Game From a Previous Save” could appear incorrectly in Episode One, causing the player to return to the Main Menu. *[Wintermute] Improved UI feedback when attempting to access empty sections of the Journal. [Wintermute] Players can now transfer stacked items to Grey Mother during a Trust interaction. *[Wintermute] Changed location of First Aid Kit at the beginning of Episode One to make it more noticeable to players. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where Methuselah would appear at the wrong time in Episode Two. *[Wintermute] Added container for player gear in Grey Mother's House and Jeremiah's Cabin. Using these containers will not affect Trust levels with either character. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where mission objectives from previous save games could appear at the beginning of Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where the incorrect UI label was displayed when players attempted to create a new save game. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with Rifle sometimes not responding during Episode Two mission "Jeremiah's Folly." *[Wintermute] Improved first-person camera motion to make it easier to interact with Metal Shard at the beginning of Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where Breaking Down catwalk planks in the Upper Dam could keep players from finishing Episode Two.

Audio

*[Both] Fixed issue with audio that was sometimes causing too much reverb effect when exploring outdoors. *[Both] Firing a Rifle indoors no longer affects pitch and speed of voice over audio. *[Both] Fixed issue where outdoor audio reverb could be heard inside the Hunting Lodge in Broken Railroad Region. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where character voice over reverb could be heard in caves, even when voice-over audio was turned off. *[Survival Mode] Walking on the frozen river outside Milton now produces the correct footstep audio effects. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue causing incorrect audio to play when Crafting Tinder from paper items. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where fall injuries could lead to voice over audio that was out of sync. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where exploration music cues were not playing as intended. *[Wintermute] Improved Fire audio during Grey Mother cinematics in Episode One.

Cinematics

*[Wintermute] Fixed issue with cinematic freezing at the end of Episode One, which prevented the game from continuing. *[Wintermute] Improved Mathis character position during Episode Two cinematic. *[Wintermute] Improved Jeremiah's character position and audio syncing during Episode Two cinematic. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue causing the camera to incorrectly rotate during cinematics. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where audio and visual effects were out of sync when Will trips and falls during the Episode Two cinematic in Broken Railroad. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue causing Will and Jeremiah character models to vanish from the first cinematic when loading Episode Two and skipping the introduction. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where a chair would appear incorrectly during a Grey Mother cinematic.

Lighting

*[Both] Fixed issue where interior lighting could create unintended shadows.

Collision Fixes

*[Both] Fixed issue causing players to get stuck on a fence in Mountain Town Region. *[Both] Fixed collision issues with bridge leading to Paradise Meadows Farm. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where Bears could be stuck on broken ice in Desolation Point. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issues with player/terrain collision when walking around Hibernia Processing and on approach to the Lonely Lighthouse in Desolation point. *[Wintermute] Fixed collision issue that allowed Will to partially walk through Grey Mother's rocking chair.

General Fixes

*[Both] Crows will no longer sometimes fly too low and into the ground as the weather changes. *[Both] Crouching close to Bears no longer lets players move inside the carcass. *[Both] Fixed issue where blood splatter effect could appear too bright against the snow. *[Both] Fixed issue where Region and Location details were incorrectly displayed in the loading menu. *[Both] Fixed issue where Region and Location details were incorrectly displayed in the loading menu. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where Wolves would sometimes be out of position when feeding on carcasses. *[Survival Mode] Added no-spawn areas to the docks at the FIshing Camp in Coastal Highway, to keep Wolves from getting trapped there. *[Survival Mode] Adjusted Soda Can location in Mountain Town Region to make it accessible. *[Survival Mode] Fixed issue where various doors were incorrectly showing a locked icon when Inspected. *[Survival Mode] Improved camera position and framing of Moose carcass during Harvesting. *[Survival Mode] Closed off an unintended exit from the Milton Basin area in Mountain Town Region. *[Survival Mode] Fix for Wolves appearing on the Quonset Garage roof. *[Custom Mode] General Resource Availability setting in the Custom Toolbox now more accurately reflects the corresponding Resource level in each Experience Mode, i.e. if it is set to "Low," no Hunting Knives will spawn, as in Interloper. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where players could walk through the tree at the crouch tutorial location in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with Wolf feeding animation at Paradise Meadows Farm in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where Region information was appearing at incorrect times when transitioning from interior to exterior locations. *[Wintermute] Fixed several issues that could block progression during Grey Mother missions in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Improved camera position when interacting with Astrid's Case at the beginning of Episode One. *[Wintermute] Added a decimal point to Deer Meat amount in player's inventory for Episode Two, adding clarity to the completion of the "Survival School" missions. *[Wintermute] Removed feeding Wolf from Forlorn Muskeg Region that would appear unaffected by the Aurora. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where an error message could appear after progressing to Day 5 in opening Survival Bowl section of Episode One. *[Wintermute] Players can no longer place a Storm Lantern on Grey Mother's head. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where inventory items could be lost after cancelling out of a Trust interaction with Grey Mother. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with icons sometimes not appearing on map in Episode One. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue where player would sometimes be standing on a chair after finishing dialogue with Grey Mother. *[Wintermute] Fixed issue with mouse inputs instantly loading manual save files in the Story save menu. *[Wintermute] Added fade to black transition at the end of Episode Two cinematic in Jeremiah's Cabin, to avoid potential gameplay interruption. ###END OF CHANGELIST###

[ 2018-03-21 00:48:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 2 for our current Test Branch is now live on Windows and Mac, with Linux to follow as soon as it's ready. This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v1.26 34825T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/ (Reminder: You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.) Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-03-15 21:51:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 1 for our February Test Branch is now live on Windows, Mac, and Linux. This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v1.24 34615. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/ (Reminder: You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.) Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-02-25 01:54:04 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, We've just updated the TEST BRANCH.

This is the Test Branch version. Not the FINAL version of the hotfix.

As usual, you need to own the game and be logged into Steam to access the Test Branch sub-forum. All the information you need to opt-in to the Test Branch, as well as detailed Testing Notes, can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/1692662302103386243/

You must log in to Steam and have the game to view the Test Branch sub-forum; if not, you will see an error when you try to view it.

Please respect our community guidelines when participating in Test Branch discussions. ***And be sure to check out our latest Dev Diary, where we detail more of our current and future plans for The Long Dark! http://steamcommunity.com/games/305620/announcements/detail/1663388904536462628 - The Hinterland Team

[ 2018-02-21 18:59:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, The team’s been hard at work on a variety of projects since we released the Rugged Sentinel update in December, and I thought you might like a general development status update.

Episode One and Two “Redux” & Episode Three

The main thing that has been occupying our time is work on Episode Three, but perhaps more importantly, a lot of reworking of Episode One and Two, in anticipation of Episode Three. As you know from some of my previous developer diaries, there were several consistent pieces of negative feedback in user and critic reviews, around the forced linearity of our mission structure (as compared to the openness of Survival Mode), the lack of fully voiced dialogue sequences (outside of cinematics), some glitches in the Bear Hunt mission, and issues with the opening tutorial. In terms of the openness of our mission structure -- it was always our intention that things would open up and become less linear in Episode Three, and beyond, but after considering the feedback about Episodes One and Two, I felt that making the player go through 15-20 hours of fairly linear missions so that they could get to Episode Three’s more open structure, was asking too much of them. So, one of the things we’ve done is go back to the Episode One and Two mission structures and work on opening them up, so that most missions can be done in any order, and some missions -- like Jeremiah’s Survival School -- will become optional. Since our cinematics in Episodes One and Two depend on knowing what order the player is progressing through the game, opening up the mission structure means the cinematics are too restrictive for the player’s experience of the game’s narrative. Therefore, we’ve had to come up with a new way to present those moments to the player -- and that means shifting most of the dialogue content into a first-person dialogue mode. We’ll lose out on some of the cinematic cameras and lighting we used in Episodes One and Two, but this new presentation style will give us enormous flexibility in how we present missions and story content in Episode Three and beyond, so it’s the right thing for the game as a whole. This approach also means we can put all the Trust and secondary dialogue threads into the same presentation style, which will make the overall experience of interacting with characters in the world feel a lot more consistent, as well as giving us a much more flexible system to support our mission goals in Episode Three, and beyond. https://youtu.be/9SjO7tPSlW4 https://youtu.be/r1-0LYRRVeo WIP videos showing experiments with “look ats” which allow NPCs to react to the player’s presence and reposition themselves to face the player during first-person conversations. This is a ton of rework of Episode One and Two, but we believe it’s important that players have a smooth-flowing experience between the episodes, and that it doesn’t feel like Episodes One and Two feel like they are from a different game. It’s also helping us prove out the improved direction for Episode Three content, and solidify our game structure and foundation for Episodes Four and Five as well. We’re also doing some rework on the opening sections of the game -- not just revising the Survival Bowl “tutorial”, but adding some new narrative content to set up the story a bit better, so we hope that with all these improvements, you’ll consider replaying Episodes One and Two before heading in to Episode Three. In terms of Episode Three itself -- this more open mission structure and new approach to dialogue and story presentation allows us to present an experience that’s more familiar to the Survival Mode experience. The structure is still very narrative-driven -- you meet NPCs in the world, they each have their own story, and you can decide whether to engage in that story, or not. You can, generally, approach it in any order, apart from a few places where we have to be a bit more heavy-handed about linearity for the sake of storytelling. In Episode Three you play as Astrid, so you’ll get to experience the post-crash events from her point of view. In terms of size and play time -- it’s too early to comment on the latter, but the size of world you’ll play in is roughly the same size as Episode Two, and a large part of the Episode Three world will be entirely new for the game. I’m sure you’d all like to get an update on when we expect to launch Episode Three. At the moment, I don’t have a date to give you. Hopefully the above gives you a sense of how much work we’re putting in to getting it right. We see our Episode Three launch as an opportunity to “re-launch” our Episodes One and Two as well, so this means it’s going to take some extra time. We’ll keep you posted on progress, while also doing our best to avoid spoilers.

Survival Mode & Technology Update

As some of you may know, we use a foundation of technology -- an “engine” -- called Unity, to make The Long Dark. We’ve just completed a massive overhaul of our core engine technology by incorporating an updated version of Unity, which provides several new features that are critical to our work on Episode Three and beyond. Similarly, we use an audio engine called Wwise, which we’ve also just recently updated to get the latest version. This is what we’d consider “core tech”, and it’s fundamental to the work we do in creating the game, but these major overhauls can be quite disruptive to our development. So, in order to do some testing and insulate you as much as possible from these changes, we’re releasing an updated version of The Long Dark to our test branch in Steam. This new version will be running on the latest version of Unity, and will also be using the latest version of Wwise, and beyond that, it has about 200 bug fixes in it, including (finally!) a proper fix for the Faithful Cartographer achievement (a fix which will carry over to the Main game if you unlock it in the Test Branch). We’re hopeful that some of you will jump into the Test Branch and check out some of these fixes, as well as help us identify any issues you encounter due to the new version of Unity -- for example, any crashes, compatibility issues, or performance issues (unexpected slowness or hitching, for example). Once we’ve managed to get some data from the test branch, and we feel confident the new version is safe, we’ll push it into the Main Branch as a hotfix that everyone can get. Besides that, we’re working on some new content and features for our next Survival Mode update. It’s a bit early to share too much information about that, but one of the things we’re building for it is a new region. This region will use a new workflow and pipeline we’re testing internally, a new approach to region creation that we hope will allow us to create areas with a lot more interesting variety, and to build them much more quickly, so that we can release new regions more frequently in the future. We’re also working on some new kinds of environmental obstacles that we hope to use in future region work. We’ll share some more details about that as the region firms up.
Workflow improvements for region building, allowing us to iterate our terrain design and beautify much more quickly.
“Buffer Memories”: The aurora reveals secrets hidden within the depths of otherwise dead computers, relics of the world before “the long dark”. Could this make it into the next update?

Character Presentation

We’ve been doing some work on improving the presentation of characters in the game -- not just NPCs, but also the player. One of the things we’ve been wanting to get in the game for a while, is a better representation of the clothing items you’ve selected for your character. Our first approach to that has been to add things like mittens and sleeves to the first-person hands. But, we’ve been exploring with taking this even further by creating a full-body simulation. If we can pull this off, it would allow us to reflect not just choices about what you’re wearing on your hands and arms, but what you’re wearing on your entire body. It would also give us a good foundation for improving your sense of presence in the world as a whole -- we could use more of the body to communicate your state in the world, animated interactions as you deal with injuries, moving over obstacles, using legs and kicking in the struggles, etc. It’s a big change and will require a lot of work -- and frankly, we’re not 100% sure we can pull it off -- but we’re working on it and we’ll see how far we can push it. I don’t want you to expect to see this in the game any time soon -- this full-body presence will not be in the next update -- and we don’t currently have an ETA on when we think the work will be complete. We'll share more information about this feature as our experimentation continues. So, that’s an update on some of the work the team’s been doing “behind the scenes”. If you’re interested in participating in the Test Branch, please look for information at www.hinterlandforums.com or in the Test Branch subforums on Steam. Please keep in mind that the Test Branch is for Steam-users only. The Test Branch update should go live within the next 24 hours! You can also follow us on social media, or sign up to our mailing list, to be notified of additional updates. Thanks for reading! See you in the Quiet Apocalypse. - Raphael

[ 2018-02-21 02:36:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

From everyone at Hinterland Studio, Happy Holidays! We wish you and yours a great season of family, friends, and (safe) cheer. We're so grateful for all your support in 2017. It's been a tremendous year for all of us -- the studio, as well as the community that's been there with us along the way. Thank you. We also wanted to share with you what we'll be up to over the next two weeks. Hinterland is on holiday break from Dec. 22 - Jan. 3. You can of course still reach us at our Support account -- support@hinterlandgames.com. Please keep in mind that while our support team *will* follow up with you, it may take up to 48 hours before we respond. In the meantime, here is a list of troubleshooting steps you can check out before we get back to you: *The Long Dark Technical FAQ: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/4/1290691308593730337/ All our best and Happy Holidays, - Hinterland Team

[ 2017-12-22 03:20:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've just updated The Long Dark to version 1.21.

The Long Dark Version 1.21 [33995] Changelist

* [Both] Fixed issue where displaced arm animations could appear for certain harvesting actions. * [Wintermute] Updated Green Survivor description text; Predators are less deadly in this Experience, but will still attack you when unprovoked. (i.e. Green Survivor does not match Pilgrim settings.) * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where items could disappear from the Milton House after breaking down the blanket. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where stored items would be duplicated and could appear in more than one location at once. This affects the following locations: Lake Cabins, Fishing Huts, Jackrabbit House and PV Crossroads House. Please note this fix only applies to games created using Version 1.21 and onward. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue where a map icon may automatically appear for specific locations when they are entered (ex. Stone Church in Desolation Point) rather than through Charcoal Mapping, which would result in them not counting towards the Faithful Cartographer achievement. * [Survival Mode] Fixed issue with the items placed in one location could appear in a different location instead (i.e. we created a teleportation device!). This affects the following locations: Farmhouse, Farmhouse Basement, Dam, Dam Trailers. Note that this fix applies to existing games. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ### - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-12-20 23:54:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just hotfixed The Long Dark to version 1.19, which includes the following fixes:

Version 1.19 [33943] Release Notes

* [Survival] Fixed the Faithful Cartographer achievement. Fixes are retroactive but may require performing one mapping action per region to update the Achievement "checklist". * [Survival] Fixed issue with stored loot being reset in the Pleasant Valley Farmhouse, as well as other (unreported) instances of loot being lost. Previous loot should now be restored. * [Wintermute] Fixed issue where player could end up with second, untreatable "Plane Crash Injuries" due to conflict between manual save and checkpoint. * [Both] Fixed crash on 32-bit Windows XP systems. * [Both] Fixed crash when changing resolution on DirectX 9 systems. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ### Have a great weekend! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-12-15 22:22:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're thrilled to learn that PC Gamer Magazine has nominated The Long Dark as the open world Game of the Year, alongside Assassin's Creed: Origins, Middle Earth: Shadow of War, and West of Loathing. http://www.pcgamer.com/nominees-pc-gamer-goty-2017/ Thanks to the editorial team at PC Gamer, and to all our supporters, for this fantastic honour! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-12-14 19:08:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just released some fixes in follow-up to yesterday's release of RUGGED SENTINEL. Windows and Mac fixes are available immediately. Linux fixes will be released shortly.

Hotfix to ver 1.17 [33486] -- RELEASE NOTES

* Fixed issue where some localized strings were not properly integrated into the game. * Fixed issue where some interiors would be duplicated and have duplicated gear items, when playing using a Custom Experience Mode. * Fixed issue with code-entry for the Custom Experience Mode appearing "all caps". * Fixed issue where Antibiotics were not curing Infections. * Fixed issue where all caught Fish had the same weight. * Fixed issue where some customization options would not persist when modifying a "baseline" Experience Mode using the Custom Experience Toolbox. * Fixed issue where Feats Badges could not be enabled when using a Custom Experience Mode. Progress playing when using a Custom mode will not count towards Feats progression, however, and this is by design. ### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

[ 2017-12-09 05:16:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just updated The Long Dark to version 1.16, introducing our first major update to Survival Mode since we launched WINTERMUTE on August 1st. Please check out this update video. Full Release Notes available below: https://youtu.be/urFhNnMI2ys

RUGGED SENTINEL Release Notes

Version 1.16 [33814] NOTE: We are still investigating some issues with the Faithful Cartographer achievement; we hope to have it fixed soon and will update shortly.

NEW!

* Added the Moose to all Survival Mode regions. * Added the Broken Ribs Affliction. * Added the Moose-Hide Cloak gear item. * Added the Moose-Hide Satchel gear item. * Milton is now playable in Survival Mode, as "Mountain Town", including a full Loot and Wildlife pass. * New Save System for WINTERMUTE. * New Experience Modes for WINTERMUTE: Green Survivor, Capable Survivor, Hardened Survivor * New Custom Experience Toolbox for Survival Mode. * New Worn Clothing Weight Modifier. * Added Aurorified Lighting to all regions; these appear when the Aurora is active at night.

ART

* General texture clean-up. * General art optimizations to improve performance. * Reduced opacity of nighttime breath effect. * Additional beautification around Coastal Highway Quonset * Additional beautification around Pleasant Valley townsite. * [Wintermute] Added missing texture to chair in cinematic. * Fixed floating bones in Forlorn Muskeg Bear Den. * Fixed floating Wood object in Mountain Town. * Fixed the sun position in all regions to ensure it rises in the East and sets in the West. * General clean up on "out of bounds" areas.

GAMEPLAY

* [Survival] Fixed inaccessible loot in Turbine Room of Carter Hydro Dam. * [Survival] Fixed inaccessible loot under bed in the Coastal Highway Quonset. * [Survival] Fixed inaccessible loot in Cave in Mountain Town. * [Survival] General loot tuning for Broken Railroad region. * [Survival] Fixed inactive container item in Hunting Lodge basement. * [Survival] Fixed missing corpses and containers in Broken Railroad region. * [Wintermute] Fixed progression blocker related to Wood Bin and Flashlight in the Hunting Lodge. * [Survival] Milton is now accessible from both Forlorn Muskeg and Mystery Lake regions. * [Wintermute] Fixed missing translated strings for "Lake Gunshots" side mission. * [Wintermute] Current episode progress (% Completed) is now displayed as part of Save Game information. * [Survival] Fixed issue where player could get into a half-buried car on Coastal Highway. * [Survival] UI updates to clarify Encumbered and "buffed" carrying capacity states. * [Survival] Loot updates to Pleasant Valley to reflect additional beautifications. * [Both] Added numbering to Afflictions in the First Aid UI to make it easier to treat when there are multiple instances. * [Both] Fixed some inconsistencies in UIs that presented "cancel" options where that functionality did not exist. * [Wintermute] Added some failsafe logic to ensure the Old Bear doesn't get stuck and prevent completion of the Bear Hunt mission. * [Both] Reduced Deer carcass quartering time to 60 minutes, to improve balance against Bear and Moose quartering times. * [Wintermute] Modified aurora appearance timings after the player completes the Bear Hunt mission in Episode Two. Aurorae should appear more frequently now. * [Both] Controller bumpers can now be used to toggle between Harvesting and Quartering interfaces. * [Both] Fixed issue where lit Lantern would be dropped during a Struggle, and end up back in the player's Backpack without being extinguished, thereby using up all the fuel. Lit Lanterns will now be dropped in a Struggle. * [Wintermute] Fixed issues where items returned from a Trust interaction might not appear correctly in the player's Backpack. * [Both] Fixed issue where player camera would be inside the Bear mesh during carcass harvesting. * [Wintermute] Fixed issue where player would take no damage when standing inside Grey Mother's fire. * [Survival] Fixed an issue where a few tunables in Interloper were defaulting to Stalker settings. Interloper should be more challenging now, as a result. * [Both] Fixed some bugs with the Struggle system which could sometimes result in the player losing control.

AUDIO

* Several UI audio elements fixed. * [Wintermute] Fixed bug where lit Flare audio could carry into cinematics. * Moved triggers for "night is coming" gameplay VO to ensure they happen before it gets dark at dusk. * Modified frequency of exploration music in Timberwolf Mountain region. * General audio fixes for Grey Mother's House (Milton). Post Office (Milton), and the Hunting Lodge (Broken Railroad Region)

GENERAL FIXES

* [Both] General navmesh updates. * [Both] The game will now automatically detect Polish and Italian text based on system language settings. * [Survival] Added more backer info to Cairns. NOTE FOR LINUX USERS: Some Linux users may need to manually install SDL2. This can be done by running 'sudo apt-get install libsdl2-2.0-0' in your terminal ### End of Release Notes ###

[ 2017-12-07 23:44:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

The following is a note from our creative director, Raphael van Lierop. ***** Hello everyone, The team’s hard at work on finalizing the (still un-named) December update and with a bunch of new players joining us thanks to the Steam Autumn Sale, it seems like a good time to preview a few of the treats we have in store.

Mooooose!!

First off, you’re all waiting to hear more information about the Moose. The model, animation, audio, and core behaviour is all finished. We’ve populated the world with Moose -- it’s a pretty rare animal so don’t expect it to be easy to find -- and we’re now just tuning the AI behaviour and some of the Moose’s unique capabilities to make sure it feels balanced.
This guy does not look happy to see you.
Keep your eyes for these scratches on the tree bark; this might indicate Moose are in the area! We’re excited to hear your stories about Moose encounters once we roll it out into Survival Mode. This is the first new animal we’ve been able to add to the game in quite a while, and it shares characteristics of both the Deer and the Bear, so...it makes for a pretty interesting creature. We have a new Affliction and a couple of new craftable Gear Items associated with the Moose, so on the whole this should add some interesting depth to your Survival Mode experience. We have some other fun updates to Survival Mode coming in December, but I’d like to talk about a couple of things we’re doing for Story Mode in the December update.

WINTERMUTE Experience Modes

A common piece of feedback we received after launching WINTERMUTE was that the first two episodes were far too easy for our experienced Survival Mode players. This made the introductory segments feel slow-paced and too “tutorial-y”, and yet these sames parts could be quite punishing for players who didn’t know anything about the game. It was challenging to balance Episode One for brand new players, and also players who had put 1000s of hours into the Sandbox, and we were reluctant to add the notion of “difficulty modes” for the Story experience, because we wanted everyone to share that experience the same way. Also, having multiple “difficulties” would create a ton of additional tuning and bug-fixing overhead for us while we were trying to finalize our first two Episodes, and we were nervous about taking that on in addition to all the other finaling tasks on our plates. However, we really want everyone who plays WINTERMUTE -- new or veteran -- to have a great experience with this narrative mode, and we were sad to hear so many veteran survivors just didn’t enjoy Episode One as much due to the level of challenge, so in December we’ll be rolling out three new Experience Modes, specifically for WINTERMUTE. These loosely map to “difficulty”, and are similar to how we tune our Survival Mode Experiences, but to be clear, these are specifically tuned for WINTERMUTE (i.e. they are different from the Survival Mode experiences of Pilgrim, Voyageur, etc.).
Three new Experiences should provide a good range of choice for WINTERMUTE players, from the Greenest to the most Hardened survivors. This should give both the newest, and most veteran player of The Long Dark, a little more control over the type of experience they have when playing WINTERMUTE. (Please note the new Experience Modes for WINTERMUTE will only work on games started *after* the December update.)

WINTERMUTE Save System

Another issue we encountered, post-launch, were challenges around our implementation of the Save system for WINTERMUTE. Unlike Survival Mode, which is Permadeath (i.e. once you die, we delete your game), WINTERMUTE has a two-slot save system. Saves were triggered using the Bedroll or resting in a Bed (as in Survival Mode), and also by Autosave (as in Survival Mode), but we found that this introduced too many restrictions for players, discouraged experimentation, and also often resulted in players getting “stuck” between two bad saves, sometimes in an irrecoverable situation. This was terrible for some people, and we feel really bad about it. So with the December update, we’re rolling out a completely overhauled Save System for WINTERMUTE. You can now save pretty much anywhere, with between 20-25 save slots (depending on platform) shared between WINTERMUTE, Survival Mode, and Challenges. We also let you reload from an Autosave, or a Checkpoint (these are triggered by mission progress), so between those systems, we feel that players will have LOTS of choices in terms of how often or how rarely they want to save, and will have a much better chance to recover from a bad situation, or create their own “branches” when they want to experiment with different things in a given Episode. For anyone that already has Saves for WINTERMUTE, this revision doesn’t change anything. You’ll find your existing saves in the list, and you should be able to create new saves using the revised system. And to be 100% clear -- WE HAVE NOT CHANGED THE WAY SAVES WORK IN SURVIVAL MODE (or the Challenges). Both are still permadeath experiences. In addition to Milton being playable in Survival Mode in December (mentioned in our October Dev Blog), we have some other cool stuff we haven’t shared yet - we still want you to be surprised! -- but hopefully this outline gives you a bit of a better idea of some of what you can look forward to in the December update.
Thanks for reading! We’re really excited to see how you like the December update, and to all the players who are joining us for the first time -- Welcome to the Quiet Apocalypse! - Raphael

[ 2017-11-22 23:37:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Four Days of Night is back this Halloween!

Join us for some lighthearted fun in The Long Dark's Survival Mode. This is a Steam-only event. The Four Days of Night event starts Friday, October 27th at 11 pm PST, and ends Tuesday, October 31st, at 11 pm PST. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHzlFpzO3GU&feature=youtu.be In Four Days of Night, you'll experience: * Perpetual darkness -- the sun will not rise * Light sources (ex. Lanterns) last twice as long as usual * "Demon" wolves * Strategically located Pumpkin Pies with Warming and Wildlife Deterrent capabilities! * High-calorie value snacks in Candy Bowls * Jack-O-Lanterns that mark the location of rare Loot Participation is completely optional - after the event begins, right click on The Long Dark in your Steam library, go to Properties>Betas and enter the following code to gain access to a special branch of the game: FourDaysofNight Note: The Aurora is disabled during Four Days of Night. We also recommend starting a new Survival Mode game save during the event - progress you make won't carry back over to the regular, main branch of the The Long Dark after Halloween. Good luck, and we hope you enjoy it! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-10-26 19:03:23 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Road Ahead

Hello, all. It’s been a little while since you heard much from me. August was our launch month, and kept us quite busy with post-launch support (patching, mainly). Most of the team took September off to rest up, apart from a contingent who worked on some platform support tasks, and now most of the team is back at work and it’s time to fill you in on our plans for The Long Dark, moving forward. While there were a lot of things to celebrate about our 1.0 launch, one thing it showed us was how 100+ updates to The Long Dark while in Early Access and on Game Preview, didn’t fully prepare us for the challenges of a full 1.0 launch on multiple platforms (including two consoles). Launching a game “for real” involves a lot of extra steps as compared to releasing an update, and while we understood this intellectually, it was only in the last few months of the project that we fully comprehended the scope of the challenge we’d taken on for ourselves. I think that in many ways, we bit off quite a bit more than our small team could handle, and that showed in the first couple of weeks of our launch. As you might recall from my last devblog post, I wasn’t very happy with the state of the game we launched and while we’ve been able to address most of the launch issues, we can’t erase any good-will we lost from the community due to the imperfect launch. This weighs heavily on my mind, as we move forward. In order to avoid this situation in the future, we’re building up an internal platform and publishing team that will focus on all aspects of getting the game into your hands, including testing, localization, certification, and the promotion and marketing of our updates and future content work. While we’re still sorting out the structure and needs of this team, we’ve already made the first steps towards this plan, and I believe that this approach will help ensure our future launches are as smooth as they should be. This is just the “cost” of self-publishing games, when you are an independent studio. In terms of the game itself — although our plans for Episodes One and Two were always that they be introductory to both gameplay and worldbuilding, our approach to releasing an open-world game in episodic format was always very experimental. Having been able to better gauge response to this approach, we can see that many of you didn’t like the more constrained approach we took with our Story mode, compared to the free-form, self-directed openness of Survival Mode. Development of The Long Dark has always been iterative, and we see no reason why this approach shouldn’t also apply to helping us make better and better episode content. While we’re still committed to our episodic structure — as it lends itself well to certain storytelling conceits (ex. playing two different protagonists) and certain production methodologies (ex. we can continue to build the game and world in incremental steps, which means we can remain a small studio) — I think we need to bring our narrative mode more in line with the core experience of Survival Mode. This means, a new approach to how we present story and characters, more variation in our mission type and structure, and more freedom in how you can overcome the various obstacles we throw in your way. This increased freedom means we have to revisit some of the tools and tech we set up for Episodes One and Two, and we also need to rethink our approach to how we create mission content, and how you experience it. I’d also like to fix some of the areas of criticism in Episodes one and Two, relating to how experienced players found the opening sections of Episode One to be too much of a tutorial, the linearity of missions, the lack of full voice acting in our dialogue sequences, and the over dependence on “fetch” quests. While the fundamental building blocks of The Long Dark’s gameplay do depend on acquiring resources, and those resources take on new meaning in a world where you have to think about people other than yourself, we realize that for some of you, the lack of choice in when and how you approached certain missions detracted from the freedom you expect to find in our game. It’s never good when a game sets certain expectations in one mode, that aren’t fully paid off in another, particularly if players don’t understand this. Although we tried to educate our players around how our Story mode content would differ from Survival mode, it’s impossible to reach everyone, and certainly many players came into the episodes with certain expectations that we just didn’t meet. I’m not yet fully sure how we will do all these things, but my aim for The Long Dark is to ensure that by the time we launch Episode Three, not only is that Episode a much stronger expression of The Long Dark as a narrative survival experience, but that Episodes One and Two have also been substantially improved. All of this is going to take a lot of work, so I don’t want to set the expectation that it will happen quickly. We won’t be launching Episode Three this year. We won’t announce a launch date until it’s ready to go. In the meantime, as we had to put Survival Mode aside while we finished Episode work for launch, we now want to get back to it. We’re working on a big Survival Mode update to launch some time in December. This update will add a few things we know you’re waiting for — for example, Milton as a Survival Mode region, the Moose — as well as a few things you may not be expecting. We’ll share more about the December update as we get closer to launching it. It’ll be a pretty substantial update to Survival mode. I’d also like to try to find a way to balance our resources so that we can get you more frequent Survival Mode updates in the future — it’ll likely mean smaller updates that come more regularly. With Hallowe’en around the corner, there have been a lot of questions about if we’ll reprise last year’s “4 Days of Night” event. We’re worried about 4DON interfering with other work we’re doing in the game right now, so we *are* going to run the 4 Days of Night event again, but it’ll be in a separate branch of the game. This way, we can roll it out without it derailing our December update. Unfortunately, there’s no way for us to run multiple branches of the game on Xbox or PS4, so this will be a Steam-only event. But we think “live” events could be a fun way to create some shared experiences for you, so we’ll be investigating ways we can support more of these types of community events — across all our platforms — in the future. I’ll also do my best to publish a devblog update more frequently moving forward, to keep you in the loop about what the team’s working on. Thanks for your ongoing support! – Raphael

[ 2017-10-23 22:05:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Long Dark hotfixed to v1.15 (32681)

***NOTE: We're aware of a new issue with Mouse UI inputs when performing some menu actions, such as Harvesting or Cooking/Boiling Water/Adding Fuel. You can still navigate the menus using WASD and Enter, or with a Controller. And Mouse inputs can still be used to change between Fuel/Food/Water, for example. *** Thanks for your patience as we work to resolve this issue.

* Fixed issue with not being able to ascend rope in Broken Railroad region * Fixed collision issue in Dam that could cause player to fall out of the world. * Fixed issuse with gamepad and Start Fire UI ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-09-17 06:07:37 CET ] [ Original post ]

Steam Patch 9 Updates The Long Dark to v1.14 (32663))

WARNING: There may be story spoilers in these notes.

* Improved screen flow leading to Episode Two once Episode One credits are complete or skipped. * Episode Two: Fixed issue preventing Jeremiah's Flare Trust mission from triggering correctly. * Episode Two: Fixed issue that could prevent Old Bear from progressing to next waypoint in Bear Hunt mission. * Episode Two: Fix for Lake Cabin key using the incorrect key asset. * Episode Two & Survival Mode: Added Rope Climb to River area in Broken Railroad region. * Survival Mode: Tuned Aurora frequency values to make it more rare. * Survival Mode: Fixed duplicated gear items in Trailer. * Added scrolling for Journal text that won't fit entirely on screen. * Fixed issue with gamepad controls when viewing Journal Notes. * Fixed issue with Back button returning to Main Menu instead of previous screen when viewing Journal Notes from the Main Menu. * Fixed issue with Cairn and Note collectibles not saving to Journal after death. * Fixed issue where Flashlight pick-up "hot spot" was awkwardly large. * Fixed issue where Backer text appeared as "N/A" instead of the correct English text in translated versions; this text is meant to be left untranslated in all languages. * Fixed issue with duplicate Bears spawning in the Challenge: Hunted, Part Two * Fixed issue with duplicate Jeremiah Knives spawning in Episode Two. * Fixed issue with being able to get past the collapsed bridge in the Broken Railroad region. ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-09-13 22:59:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello all, We've just released the soundtrack for Survival Mode, and Episodes One and Two, as DLC for The Long Dark. [quote]Original score for The Long Dark. Music for The Long Dark - Volume One, features 100 minutes of music composed by Cris Velasco (Mass Effect, God of War, Overwatch, Resident Evil 7, etc.) and Sascha Dikiciyan (Borderlands, Quake III, Mass Effect). Volume One includes the entire soundtrack for WINTERMUTE Episode One: "Do Not Go Gentle", and Episode Two: "Luminance Fugue", as well as all the ambient exploration music from Survival Mode. Total Volume One Run Time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)[/quote] You can check it out here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/690180/Music_for_The_Long_Dark__Volume_One/ We hope you enjoy it! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-08-28 21:04:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Steam Patch 8 Updates The Long Dark to v1.12 (32503)

WARNING: There may be story spoilers in these notes.

* Fixed issue preventing "Lake Gunshots" mission from completing correctly. * General cinematics polish. * Clarified Survival School "Harvestable Plants" mission requires adding plants to crate outside Jeremiah's cabin. * Fixed issues with Distress Pistol animation. * General memory optimizations. * Fixed issue where storage container in Lodge appeared to be interactive when it was not. * Fixed issue where duplicate Trust option appeared for Grey Mother. * Fixed issue where Torch Blueprint would not unlock correctly when starting a fresh Episode Two game. * Fixed issue where players could return to Milton after completing Episode One. ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-08-24 00:09:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

We're thrilled to announce we've just released Trading Cards for The Long Dark. For more information about Trading Cards and how they work, go here: https://steamcommunity.com/tradingcards Have fun! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-08-23 23:19:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

Steam Updates The Long Dark to v1.10 (32415)

WARNING: There may be story spoilers in these notes.

Linux Specific

* Fixed issue with post-FX not rendering correctly on Linux when using Medium or higher display settings. * Fixed issue with movie files not playing correctly on Linux.

General

* Fixed issue with Jeremiah's Flare Cache not spawning correctly. This fixes a blocker in getting the Supply Caches achievement. * Fixed several small typos in various Trust dialogues. * Memory optimizations. * Fixed issue where Survival music could occasionally be heard in a story episode. * Fixed issue where Jeremiah would be inanimate after completing the Bear Hunt mission. * Fixed issue where the Snow Shelter would not unlock properly after completing the relevant Trust unlock. * Fixed issue where Methuselah cinematic might not play in Renewed Hope mission. * Fixed issue where Rifle could end up in a broken state when reloading during a door transition. * Fixed issue in Survival Mode where the female survivor voice sometimes plays when playing as the male survivor. * Fixed issue with a series of multiple exertion sounds being played after a Bear struggle. ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-08-16 19:47:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

STEAM PATCH 6 For The Long Dark -- Updates the game to Version 1.08 (32384)

WARNING: There may be Story spoilers in these notes. * Memory and performance optimizations. * Fixed issue where Methuselah may not trigger correctly in certain circumstances in Episode Two. * Fixed issue with "Hank's Hatch" side mission in Episode Two. * General fixes to various cinematics. * Fixed issue with players teleporting when exiting the Lone Lake Cabin in Episode Two. * Fixed issue where players could get stuck in Grey Mother's Fuel mission in Episode One. * Fixed issue with text jittering on some screens. * Retuned Food and Fuel requirements of respective Grey Mother missions in Episode One. * Fixed camera crashing during Climb and Harvesting animations when FOV is over 90 degrees. * Fixed a variety of annoying collision bugs throughout. * Fixed issue where the Flashlight's "high intensity" setting was ineffective against Aurora Wolves. * Fixed endlessly feeding Wolf in Milton. * Fixed issue where players could sometimes get stuck in a dialogue sequence. * Fixed issue with overlapping text in the Give Items portion of the Trust interface. ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-08-12 00:02:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

STEAM PATCH 5 For The Long Dark -- Updates the game to Version 1.07 (32337)

Patch 5 is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Full changelist below.

WARNING: There may be Story spoilers in these notes.

* Fixed issue with Rope Fall section of Episode One, where players could get stuck due to a scripting bug. * Improved cover flow UI for Episode Selection to make it more obvious that there are two available episodes. * Fixed issue with Aurora probability in Survival Mode. Auroras should now appear more reliably. * Difficulty tuning of Wolves in Episode One. Struggle should be more survivable for new players. * Fixed some camera popping in Episode One cinematics. * Fixed scripting error in "Fix My Rifle?" that could create mission logic issues. * Fixed issue in Bear Hunt mission where the Ear would not spawn under certain circumstances. * Fixed issue with Mackenzie clipping through the chair in some Episode One cinematics. * Fixed issue with missing Milton Knowledge strings. * Fixed issue with not being able to pick up the Bear Hide in Survival School. * Fixed issue where the note with the Code would not appear in "Hank's Hatch" side mission. ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-08-10 00:23:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Patch 4 for The Long Dark -- This patch updates the game version to version 1.05 (32319)

WARNING: There may be Story spoilers in these notes.

* Fixed blocking issue where the Aurora would not appear in Episode Two, between completing the Bear Hunt mission and awaiting the aurora's return to get through the Dam. This fix is compatible with current in-progress games so you should not have to restart to benefit from it. ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-08-05 01:36:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Patch 3 for The Long Dark -- This patch updates the game version to version 1.03 (32306)

This patch is currently for Windows only. Mac and Linux are on the way.

WARNING: There may be Story spoilers in these notes.

Changelist below: * Tuned Antiseptic so that one dose is sufficient to treat Infection Risk. * Added missing audio for picking up Astrid's Hardcase on Day 4. * Added additional checkpointing in Ep1 and Ep2. * Cinematics polish. * Additional optimizations for performance and memory use. We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team ### END OF PATCH NOTES ###

[ 2017-08-04 07:45:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

PATCH 2 For The Long Dark -- Updates the game to Version 1.02 (32286)

Patch 2 is currently live for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

WARNING: There may be Story spoilers in these notes.

* Fixed save/restore issue that could result in missing loot in scenes when reloading from a checkpoint. This bug was preventing some quests from being completable after reload. * Fixed the Bear struggle. * Fixed issue that could cause player to spawn on top of a campfire in "Survival of the Fittest". It should now be impossible to place a fire and then spawn on it the following day. * Memory optimizations to reduce chance lower memory systems will exhaust memory and crash * Added some more tools in Milton. * Fixed issue with Wolf AI not fleeing correctly when the player throws a lit Flare, Torch, or Stone at it. * Fixed issues that preventing the WINTERMUTE soundtrack from playing correctly; you should now hear more music as you explore the world. * Modified Fire objective on Day 3 of "Survival of the Fittest" to track how long fire has been burning, vs how long it will burn. * Fixed issue where unlocked Crafting Blueprints could carry over to a New game. * Fixed issue with Condition tutorial triggering after every death. It will now only trigger once. * Add some missing subtitles. * Fixed issue with Map Marker not clearing after retrieving Distress Pistol in "Light Up the Night" * Fixed issue with “Echoes of Astrid” objective marker appearing during Grey Mother mission set * Fixed floating campfire in Milton * Fixed issue where looping Wolf "feeding" sounds remained even when the Wolf AI was absent. * Fixed issue where feeding Wolves could face the player while still playing feeding animation. * Fixed issue where Wolves would sometimes not go into their Hold Ground AI state when approached with a Flare or Torch. * Fixed issue with map icon showing up for some Stone spawn regions. * Fixed issue where player could get stuck on geometry in Milton. ### END OF PATCH NOTES ### We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-08-04 03:13:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

STEAM PATCH 1 FOR THE LONG DARK -- Updates to Version 1.01 (32223)

Please note that only the Windows version is currently available. Mac and Linux are on the way.

THERE MAY BE STORY SPOILERS IN THE CHANGELIST BELOW.

Changeslist: * Added missing translations for Trust dialogue * Fixed startup issues for some systems using DirectX 9 * Fixed issue with some books disappearing when dropped * Improvements to checkpointing to help avoid getting into a low-Condition death spiral * Buffed the Condition-restoration boost when player reloads after Death * Added a Bedroll to the Cave in Chapter One. This can be used to Save your Game * Removed requirement to drink Rosehip Tea in Survival Bowl; it is now an optional objective * Fixed issue with Rifle Cleaning Kit disappearing after reloading a save * Fixed issue with environment geo near the Climbing Park section in Milton * Fixed various cases where audio could cut out * Fixed flickering in cutscenes that could occur when using OpenGL (Mac and Linux) * Fixed locked controls when throwing a stone and picking up a rabbit at the same time * Fixed floating necklace when speaking with Grey Mother * General cinematics polish * Fixed scrollbar issue when transferring items to NPCs * Fixed place object shader so objects tint correctly over decals * Fixed issue with radios playing music when aurora isn’t present We're continuing to fix additional issues as quickly as we can. Thank you for your patience. - The Hinterland Team ### END OF PATCH NOTES ###

[ 2017-08-03 01:11:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Thanks to all of you for supporting us throughout the years. We wouldn't have made it here without you. Please enjoy Episode One and Episode Two of WINTERMUTE. Throughout the day, we'll be monitoring the forums and bug reports, and will get fixes out as quickly as we can. Please keep in mind that WINTERMUTE *is not* Survival Mode, so some things may be different from how you're used to them. Please be patient and give the game a chance. Thank you, The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-08-01 17:35:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

The Long Dark is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off!*

The Long Dark is a thoughtful, exploration-survival experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness in the aftermath of a geomagnetic disaster. There are no zombies -- only you, the cold, and all the threats Mother Nature can muster. Welcome to the Quiet Apocalypse.

*Offer ends August 8 at 10AM Pacific Time

[ 2017-08-01 14:57:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today, we announced that a feature film adaptation of The Long Dark is in development with the producer of the Resident Evil films. The script will be written by Raphael van Lierop, writer and director of the game. To help visualize what such an adaptation might look like (nothing like Resident Evil!), we've created a short film called ELEGY. Directed by Jared Pelletier, with a performance by Oscar-winning actor, Christopher Plummer. We hope you enjoy it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZNbUITN-mA

Remember that The Long Dark launches worldwide on Steam on Tuesday, August 1st, at 8AM PST.

[ 2017-07-31 17:10:54 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello fans, We're thrilled to be able to share the launch trailer for The Long Dark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syoDWIt9yZY We can't wait to hear what you think about the game on August 1st, and we hope you find it was worth the long wait.

The Long Dark launches Worldwide on Steam on Tuesday, August 1st at 8AM Pacific Time.

Thank you for your support over the years. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-07-28 20:23:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Due to a series of highly unusual environmental disturbances predicted for the MYSTERY LAKE REGION, all survivors in the area are STRONGLY ADVISED to evacuate themselves and their belongings from the following locations in advance of August 1st: - Mystery Lake Camp Office interior - All Lake Cabin interiors - All Hydroelectric Dam interiors AND surrounding exterior areas. Remaining in any of these areas during these mysterious disturbances may have unpredictable negative results and could result in the loss of supplies, save games, or even lives. Stay safe out there! - Hinterland Team

[ 2017-07-27 05:10:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just released a Hotfix to FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER, bringing the game to v.426 and addressing a variety of issues, outlined below.

CHANGELIST

CRASH MITIGATION

* Fixed rare crash when bullet raycast hit an object * Fixed rare crash when clicking rapidly when throwing a Torch or Flare * Fixed rare crash when examining inventory items

CHANGES

* Add Bandage to starting player items in Hunted * Updated icons for Old Man's Beard items (harvestable item and crafted Treatment) * Added translations for all remaining non-localized strings from 424 launch

BUGS

* Fixed issue with not being able to dismiss save failure popup using gamepad * Fixed issue with saved Journals not showing written notes, skills or collectibles. * Fixed issue with resolutions passed from command line not being used. This fixes issue with game not running multiscreen for some players. * Fixed issue with not being able to rebind key when mouse hovered over input field * Fixed issue with some UI actions not being possible when using a Steam Controller * Fixed issue with all Experience Mode icons being highlighted on death screen stats * Fixed issue with First Aid UI not updating if affliction list changes while screen is active * Fixed issue with Hypothermia and Frostbite Risk percentages not showing up on icons * Fixed issue where female survivor slot could be used when male survivor slot was highlighted * Fixed issue with Hunger/Thirst arrows sometimes pointing wrong direction * Fixed issue with mouse pointer flickering on screen when opening a can in Fire UI * Fixed issue with TOD indicator not showing up in Status UI * Fixed issue with TOD indicator shifting turing Harvesting * Fixed issue with background blur disappearing in Harvest UI when aborting a harvest * Fixed issue with camera switching when pushing LS on gamepad when in Quartering UI * Fixed issue with non-functional Harvest option showing up when on Quartering UI * Fixed issue with hand sometimes not syncing correctly with lantern in first person * Fixed issue with some trees having incorrect lighting (most noticeable at night) * Fixed issue with gamepad navigation on Clothing UI * Fixed issue with Quit button on death screen having dark text * Fixed issue with encumbered icon overlapping full screen UI * Fixed issue with scroll audio playing unnecessarily on Clothing and Crafting UI * Fixed issue with Lantern sometimes not equipping after leaving a UI screen * Use LT/RT instead of LB/RB for top level navigation in Fire UI ### END OF CHANGELIST ### Thank you for reading. If you find additional bugs while playing, please report them in our Public Bug Database at: https://hinterlandgames.atlassian.net/projects/TLDP/ - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-06-15 00:34:25 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We're excited to share with you our last update to The Long Dark's Sandbox in Early Access. We're calling this update: FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMKXQTAHI_c

CHANGES

* User Interface Overhaul. All screens, buttons, HUD elements, etc. have been updated to better match the game's aesthetic, along with some usability changes in anticipation of our August 1st launch of WINTERMUTE. * Accessible Interactions. We've added a new option in the Control settings, for players who suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and similar conditions. This makes all click/press+hold interactions a single click/press. * Save System Overhaul. We've recreated our save system from scratch to future-proof the game. As a result, all previous Sandbox saves are now invalid. Saves from FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER will not be wiped at our 1.0 launch. * Charcoal Mapping. Collect Charcoal from burned out fires. Use it to Survey your local area, updating your local region map with information about what you can see from your current position. The new Navigation section of the Radial and Main Nav provides access to the Map. * Carcass Quartering System. In addition to the previous harvesting mechanic, you can now "Quarter" a carcass into bags of harvestable meat, allowing you to transport them to a better location for further harvesting. * Scent System & HUD Element. Blood (your own, or from carcasses) makes you more attractive to predators. The Strength of the attraction is indicated by the new HUD element. * Visual Updates. We've updated the lighting, fog colour, and fog distance, providing much longer vista views in the game which makes it easier to navigate by visible landmarks. We've also been updating interior lighting. We'll be continuing this work right up to our August 1st launch. * First-Person Presence. The following tools have been updated with first-person hands: Rifle, Bow, Distress Pistol, Stim, and all Light Sources. * Thrown Flares & Torches. We've removed Brandishing and brought back the old Throwing mechanic. You can throw lit Torches and Flares at Wolves to scare them off. * Stone Throwing. You can now pick up and throw Stones in the world. Hitting a Rabbit with a Stone will stun it, providing an early-game option for hunting. Then you have to decide whether to kill or release it. Thrown Stones might even scare off a wolf, if you're very lucky. * Struggle Weapon Choice. When you get into a Wolf struggle, you now have the option to select between available tools based on the outcome you're looking for: Scare off the wolf, Defend yourself from damage, or go for the Kill. * First Aid Treatment. You can now treat Afflictions by using First Aid items directly from the Radial. The game no longer pre-selects the correct Treatment for you. Also, Old Man's Beard Dressings no longer require Bandages to Craft but only treat Infection Risk (and not Blood Loss). * Optimizations. We've updated Unity a few times and worked on several optimizations to improve performance. * Enhanced Graphics Options (Win/Mac/Linux Only). We've added a variety of Display and Quality settings so that you can customize your preferences to balance between beauty and performance. * PS4 Controller Support. As we're bringing The Long Dark to PS4 on August 1st, you can now play the game with a PS4 controller. * Crafting from Journal. You can now preview Crafting Blueprints in the Journal. All craftables that can be made without the use of a Workbench or Forge can now be crafted directly from the Journal. [NOTE: The current Journal is WIP and will be updated for our full August 1st launch.]

CRASH MITIGATION AND BUG FIXES

* Too numerous to list.

KNOWN ISSUES (Will be Hotfixed ASAP)

* Issue with Hunted, Part 1. We need to add a Bandage to the starting location. * New Time of Day indicator should appear in both the Quick Stats and Radial UIs. * Some localization strings did not make it into the build in time; we have the translations and they will be submitted in the next hotfix. * Investigating issues with the game not loading on some Linux distributions.

REPORTING BUGS

Please report all bugs directly in our Public Bug Database: https://hinterlandgames.atlassian.net/projects/TLDP/

THANK YOU, COMMUNITY

FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER will be the last time we update the Sandbox in Early Access. Thank you for all your support of our game and studio over the years. We're very excited to share with you, our full launch of The Long Dark 1.0 on August 1st, 2017. You have been a wonderful community and we look forward to continuing to build The Long Dark into the future. We hope you enjoy what we have created for you in WINTERMUTE, coming August 1st. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-06-07 21:43:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, As mentioned in this post, we will be wiping all Sandbox saves when we update the game to FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER.

The update should be arriving within the next 24 hours.

After the update, you will no longer be able to use your current Sandbox save games. All Badge and Feats -- unlocked and in progress -- as well as Saved Journals, will be preserved. Thank you. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-06-07 04:41:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 9 for the "Faithful Cartographer" Test Branch is now live on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

This will likely be our last Hotfix before releasing the full FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER update.

This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v.423T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the SPOILER-FILLED Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/1290691937732030109/ (You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.) As always, keep in mind that some people don't want to know the contents of the update until it goes live in the Main Branch, so please do not discuss details of the Test Branch here in the comments, or in the public forums. Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-06-06 21:29:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

As mentioned several times over the past few weeks, we will be wiping all save games with our next update, Faithful Cartographer. This is due to having to rebuild our Save Architecture to stabilize it for the future. All profile data will be preserved, however -- this means that all Badges, Feats, and Journals will still be saved. This is the first save wipe we've done in nearly 3 years on Early Access so we hope you will bear with us on this! This is an important step in preparing the game for our August 1st launch, and should help ensure greater stability for save games in the future. We are still finalizing Faithful Cartographer, but we anticipate launching it in the first half of next week. So, you still have a few days before the wipe happens! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-06-04 01:35:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 8 for the "Faithful Cartographer" Test Branch is now live on Windows, Mac, and Linux. This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v.421T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the SPOILER-FILLED Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/1290691937719897387/ (You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.)

As always, keep in mind that some people don't want to know the contents of the update until it goes live in the Main Branch, so please do not discuss details of the Test Branch here in the comments, or in the public forums.

Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-06-03 18:00:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 7 for the "Faithful Cartographer" Test Branch is now live on Windows, Mac, and Linux. This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v.420T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the SPOILER-FILLED Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/1290691937715921302/ (You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.)

As always, keep in mind that some people don't want to know the contents of the update until it goes live in the Main Branch, so please do not discuss details of the Test Branch here in the comments, or in the public forums.

Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-06-02 17:49:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 6 for the "Faithful Cartographer" Test Branch is now live on Windows, Mac, and Linux. This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v.419T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the SPOILER-FILLED Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/1290691937709206518/ (You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.)

As always, keep in mind that some people don't want to know the contents of the update until it goes live in the Main Branch, so please do not discuss details of the Test Branch here in the comments, or in the public forums.

Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-06-01 00:34:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

UPDATE: Fixed linke below. Hotfix 5 for the "Faithful Cartographer" Test Branch is now live on Windows and Mac. Linux is incoming. This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v.417T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the SPOILER-FILLED Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/1290691308593744210/ (You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.)

As always, keep in mind that some people don't want to know the contents of the update until it goes live in the Main Branch, so please do not discuss details of the Test Branch here in the comments, or in the public forums.

Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-05-30 21:31:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 4 for the "Faithful Cartographer" Test Branch is now live on Windows, Mac, and Linux This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v.416T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the SPOILER-FILLED Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/1290691308578432079/ (You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.)

As always, keep in mind that some people don't want to know the contents of the update until it goes live in the Main Branch, so please do not discuss details of the Test Branch here in the comments, or in the public forums.

Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-05-27 00:14:36 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 3 for the "Faithful Cartographer" Test Branch is now live on Windows & Mac. Linux will follow shortly. This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v.415T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the SPOILER-FILLED Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/ (You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.)

As always, keep in mind that some people don't want to know the contents of the update until it goes live in the Main Branch, so please do not discuss details of the Test Branch here in the comments, or in the public forums.

Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-05-25 19:25:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 2 for the "Faithful Cartographer" Test Branch is now live on Windows, Mac, & Linux. This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v.414T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the SPOILER-FILLED Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/ (You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.)

As always, keep in mind that some people don't want to know the contents of the update until it goes live in the Main Branch, so please do not discuss details of the Test Branch here in the comments, or in the public forums.

Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-05-24 04:35:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hotfix 1 for the "Silent Cartographer" Test Branch is now live on Windows and Mac. Linux will follow shortly. This brings the Test Branch version of the game to v.413T. For a full list of fixes, please refer to the SPOILER-FILLED Test Branch forums found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/ (You need to be logged in to Steam and own the game to access the Test Branch discussion forums.)

As always, keep in mind that some people don't want to know the contents of the update until it goes live in the Main Branch, so please do not discuss details of the Test Branch here in the comments, or in the public forums.

Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-05-23 00:55:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

*****

UPDATE: Steam is having connection issues currently so this may affect your ability to access the test branch.

Hello everyone, We've just updated the TEST BRANCH. Keep in mind this is full of SPOILERS.

This is the Test Branch version. Not the FINAL version of the update.

As usual, you need to own the game and be logged into Steam to access the Test Branch sub-forum. All the information you need to opt-in to the Test Branch, as well as detailed Testing Notes, can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/

You must log in to Steam and have the game to view the Test Branch sub-forum; if not, you will see an error when you try to view it.

Please respect our community guidelines when participating in Test Branch discussions. UPDATE: Windows, Mac, and Linux versions are all live. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-05-19 22:06:42 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We are in the final few days of preparing the next update, FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER, for the Test Branch.

We are aiming to have the Test Branch updated by the end of this week.

As always, the Test Branch is an opt-in Steam branch that is full of spoilers. If you prefer to preserve the next update as a fresh experience, we recommend you wait for the full update release. Our current estimates on FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER are that it will be ready by the end of May, but this depends on how the testing and finalization process goes.

This "end of May" window should be considered a tentative, aspirational deadline.

We will provide ongoing progress reports and communicate final dates when we get closer.

Also, just a reminder, that with FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER, all current saves will be wiped. Profile data will be preserved, however, so all progress towards Feats, and all saved Journals, will continue to work.

Remember that the Test Branch is insulated from the Live Game so you will not be affected by the save wipe until the full update is released later this month. SPOILERS: For more information about some of the features and content being added in FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER, refer to this recent dev diary post. Thank you for your time. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-05-16 00:19:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, As promised prior to last week's "Midweek Madness" sale, the price for The Long Dark has now increased to $34.99 USD, or the equivalent regional pricing based on Valve's recommendations (which are in turn based on the relative buying power of your local currency).

This price change has no impact on current Early Access players who purchased the game at the previous Early Access price. You will still get the promised content on our August 1st launch, as well as the remaining episodes of Season One: WINTERMUTE as they release, for no extra charge.

The previous $19.99 "Early Access Price" reflected the early Alpha state of the game when we launched it in September 2014. Since then, the game has received around 100 updates and a large amount of new content. We feel this higher price point reflects the true value of the experience, both now, and for the first full season of WINTERMUTE, our story mode, the first two parts of which will launch on August 1st. Please note that this will be the new price at our August 1st launch, barring any potential launch discounts. For more information about The Long Dark, our launch plans, including pricing and included content, please visit www.thelongdark.com, or check out our FAQ. Thank you for your ongoing support of our efforts. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-05-05 20:37:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

***NOTE: This post contains Story Mode spoilers.***

***NOTE: This post contains Story Mode spoilers.***

Dear Community, It’s been some months since you heard from me. Last time, I shared an update with you that shed some light on the challenges of working through Story Mode development through 2016. This time, I’m happy to share some definitive news, not only about Story Mode, but about our next Sandbox update as well. Today, I’m here to tell you that THE LONG DARK will be leaving Early Access/Game Preview on August 1st, 2017. On that day, we’ll be releasing the first two episodes of WINTERMUTE, our five-episode “story mode” for THE LONG DARK. Here’s a teaser of what’s to come in WINTERMUTE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3n3nBaKPw The first two episodes of WINTERMUTE are about bush pilot Will Mackenzie and Dr. Astrid Greenwood, and what happens when they get separated after a mysterious geomagnetic event causes them to crash deep in the Northern Canadian wilderness. In Episode One: “Do Not Go Gentle”, Mackenzie tries to survive the savage wilderness long enough to find shelter, hoping for the comforts civilization might bring. He quickly learns the world around him is not what he expected. In Episode Two: “Luminance Fugue”, Mackenzie begins to understand the true nature of the disaster he finds himself in, all the while searching for signs of Astrid. He also begins to learn the answer to the question, “how far will you go to survive?”, as he navigates relationships with the other survivors he meets along the way. Total gameplay for the two episodes ranges due to the open-world nature of the game, but we’re finding 6-10 hours for the two episodes seems pretty consistent. Episodes Three to Five will be released over the remainder of 2017, and into 2018. I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally be able to give you a definitive launch date for the game. So that we can continue to share more information about gameplay and content in the months leading up to launch, we’ve created a new site for the game: www.thelongdark.com Another thing that’s really amazing for our studio and team is that we’re going to be launching the 1.0 of THE LONG DARK on three platforms: Steam (Windows/Mac/Linux), Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. As there is no “early access” type program on PlayStation, we haven’t yet been able to bring the experience to that audience, and expanding the community around THE LONG DARK to include PlayStation players is a huge step for us. It’s going to mean more players, and more resources to pour back into the game, and expand it in new and interesting ways, perhaps even beyond our current plans. As many of you know, THE LONG DARK has always been a passion project for us, and the first Season of the game -- Winter -- was always meant to be only the first part of the experience. By expanding our audience, this gives us a better chance of being able to continue investing resources into the world of THE LONG DARK, while also retaining ownership of the Intellectual Property, and the independence of Hinterland as a studio. Unlike many “indies” in this space, Hinterland is 100% independent and self-funded. This independence is core to our development philosophy and our team culture, and it’s a big part of why we’ve been able to take creative risks so far. I know that the PS4 announcement might not seem important if you’re already playing THE LONG DARK on Steam or Xbox One, but I hope you can see how for us, it’s a really monumental step in expanding the reach of this world’s fiction and gameplay foundation we’re building, so that we can continue to build THE LONG DARK into the experience we dream for it to be. That brings me to the recent countdown we launched at www.thelongdark.com. I know that in some corners of our community, this countdown timer was not a popular thing. Some people felt that it was insulting to be given a “timer for a timer”. I can see this and I’m sorry that it created frustration for some of you. This was certainly not our intention. It’s hard to remember, sometimes, that our whole approach to Story Mode development -- and the reason why we’ve said so little about it to date -- is about building anticipation. It’s also easy to forget that most of our community is waiting to come back to the game -- waiting to wake up and feel excited about it again. And the PlayStation community hasn’t had a chance to feel a sense of excitement or ownership for THE LONG DARK yet. As a small studio handling all our own marketing, we need to use the tools we have to get people excited about the game, and often these people are not the ones who are scouring our social media posts every day. It’s the fence-sitters, the journalists, the people who have yet to discover this game. This is why we’ve not said much about development over the past months, and why we’re taking the next three months to run a campaign as we lead up to full launch. This is about doing everything we can to get the word out, and building buzz takes time. Most Early Access games don't get to have a second launch, and we're doing everything we can to overcome this. We hope we'll have your support in this, as it's critical to our ongoing success. Let’s talk about what the next three months look like for us, so that you understand more about what this time means leading up to the launch. We have to finish final art content, polish, and playtest to ensure the first two episodes are as compelling as they can be. That’s the rest of this month. Then we fix all the bugs we find in the first two episodes -- that’s going to happen over the rest of May and most of June. We have to work on some performance improvements (optimizations) and get all the new content translated and integrated into the game. That will mostly happen in June. And then July, we go through an intensive Certification process on Xbox and PlayStation, to ensure everything is ready to go for August 1st. Phew. Lots still to do! Besides that, I promised one more Sandbox update before Story Mode launches. Later this month, we’ll open the Test Branch with an update to the game called FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER. Here’s a loose list of what you can expect in that update:

Complete Save System overhaul

As you can imagine, maintaining backwards compatibility for saves over the past 3+ years has made our save system a bit of a tangled mess over time. We think this may be part of why there’s been some instability, on Xbox One in particular, with lost saves and some corruption at times. This new system should improve stability, and also prepare us to handle the new Save requirements of the WINTERMUTE episodes. Keep in mind that all your current profile data will continue to work -- this means existing progress towards Feats, or Survival Journals you’ve saved, will still be valid post-update.

Completely New UI

We’ve done a complete aesthetic overhaul of our UI & HUD, and added a lot of new functionality -- too much to list here. Every screen has been completely rebuilt. In some cases, as with the Radial for example, we’ve streamlined the usability (for example, you can now eat or drink directly from the Radial). We’ve improved the Pack, Clothing, and Status screens, and updated the HUD with a bunch of improvements. Really, there are 100s of improvements nested in this overhaul. The FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER update will have about 80% of this process complete, with the rest being done in time for our full launch.

Cartography Gameplay

Mapping has never really been part of the “sandbox” experience of THE LONG DARK, but as we’ve seen a growing interest in the use of external maps from the community, we thought we’d add some entirely “opt-in” cartography gameplay. You’ll have to use charcoal from campfires to update your own map of the world, which you survey bit by bit, and this map’s value will depend on how well you keep it updated. The goal with this system is to provide a useful tool for players who’d like to map their world, without making the game any easier, and without penalizing players who prefer to continue playing as they do currently, sans maps!

Throwing Stones

You’ll now be able to throw Stones at wildlife. They make a good tool of “last resort” against Wolves -- you might get lucky enough to scare one off -- and you can hunt Rabbits with them. Stun a rabbit, then see if you have the heart to finish it off. This tool provides a good “early game” tool for defense and acquiring food, and is something we plan to build on in the future.

Throwing Flares & Torches

Some of you may remember the game before we added Brandishing. That mechanic has never quite achieved its intention, so we’ve pulled it out and put Throwing of Flares and Torches back in. This gives you a useful, re-usable tool for scaring off wildlife.

Carcass Quartering

A long-standing community request has been the ability to harvest animal carcasses from the shelter/safety/comfort of...anywhere that isn’t outside. We’ve added a system where you can Quarter carcasses and move “chunks” of them around. But keep in mind that -- like everything in THE LONG DARK -- there is a risk/reward scenario to be considered. Quartering carcasses is less efficient, and also makes you much more interesting to prowling wildlife, both at the Quartering Site, and when you are carrying heavy portions of carcass around with you.

Struggle Weapon Selection

You can now select the tool/weapon you want to use in the moments before you engage in a Wolf Struggle. We think this works to address some long-standing complaints about the Struggle system, and we’ll continue refining this in the future.

Improved First-Person Presence

You’ll see we’ve added first-person presence to the Rifle, Bow, Distress Pistol, and improved the presentation of the Light Sources like the Flare, Torch, etc. As always, we plan to continue improving this as the game continues to evolve.

Tons of New Art

In addition to the UI overhaul, you’ll notice that a lot of the game world looks better. We’ve been slowly updating all the old item labels and signs, to create a more cohesive world.

New Graphics Settings

We’ve added more variety in the display and quality options so that you can find a better balance of performance and beauty, based on your specific system. (Note, this is for PC/Mac/Linux players only.)

Tons of Bug Fixes and Optimization

Holy cow we’ve fixed a lot of bugs over the past few months. TONS. “But what about ____?” We know there’s a lot of stuff on the Roadmap that didn’t end up in this update. No Cougar or Moose. No improved Cooking. Some of those features have been prototyped and will most likely end up in the game at some point. Others, we just haven’t got to yet. Keep in mind that our Roadmap has always been aspirational -- we reinforce that to help manage expectations. We see the Roadmap as a shared “wishlist” of what we’d like to add to the game over time, to help you understand our vision for the experience. But it’s not a restaurant menu, or a promise. We hope you’re excited about the things you’re getting very soon, and we’re just as excited as you are (maybe even more so!) to continue improving the game with new features, content, and of course, refining the features and content that are already in the game. We know that this is a lot of info to take in -- and we know you probably have questions. We’ve created an FAQ section on the new site, to hopefully answer some of the questions you may have. Aside from that, we’re here and ready to answer you, and now that the release date is published and the PlayStation 4 announcement is in the wild, we can focus on the next few months of finalizing the FAITHFUL CARTOGRAPHER update, finishing Episodes One and Two, and getting this game into your hands! I hope you’re as excited to be at this point in the journey as we are. Launch isn’t far away now. WINTERMUTE is around the corner. See you in the quiet apocalypse. - Raphael

[ 2017-05-04 17:00:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Save 50% on The Long Dark during this week's Midweek Madness*!

The Long Dark is a thoughtful, exploration-survival experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness. Monitor your Condition, search for life-saving supplies, and master survival skills like fire-building, maintaining your gear, hunting, fishing, and landmark-based navigation. There are no zombies -- only you, the cold, and everything Mother Nature can throw at you.

*Offer ends Friday at 10AM Pacific Time

[ 2017-04-25 17:00:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello everyone, In collaboration with Valve, The Long Dark will be available for 50% off its current $19.99 Early Access price during this week's Steam "Midweek Madness" sale, which starts tomorrow (April 25th). This is to acknowledge all the community support you've given us over the years, and to offer one last chance to purchase the game at the Early Access price point. Thanks for your support, and we can't wait to share what's coming next! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-04-24 20:57:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

www.thelongdark.com ***** There will be one more Sandbox update before Story Mode launches. More details about that update will be available soon. The team continues to be hard at work, creating the best experience we can for you. We appreciate your patience while we do so. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2017-04-11 22:34:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've just hotfixed The Long Dark to v.393 to address the following bug: * Fixed issue where Arrows would disappear upon save or scene transition. ###END OF CHANGELIST###

[ 2017-01-12 18:46:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've just hotfixed The Long Dark to v.392 -- changelist below.

The Long Dark Sandbox v.392 Changelist:

* Fixed crash that could occur when getting Frostbite * Fixed uncommon crash related to leaving footprints * Reduced glare cast from first person Flare and Torch * Fixed issue with predators interrupting player sleep in invalid locations * Fixed issue with too many Wolves spawning in Pleasant Valley * Fixed issue with harvested Saplings sometimes providing Cured Branches * Fixed issue with items falling through ice after a Struggle * Fixed issue with wildlife sometimes not being able to pathfind to valid locations * Fixed issue with screen sometimes not smoothly fading in when starting a new game * Fixed issue with extra cancel button prompt sometimes showing up on Inventory UI (gamepad only) * Fixed issues with getting stuck in Forlorn Muskeg and Jackrabbit Island * Fixed issue with getting stuck when exiting the bed in the Quonset * Fixed issue with Forlorn Muskeg Safe not working properly in Interloper * Fixed issue with a container being destroyed in Forlorn Muskeg when breaking down a metal shelf * Fixed issue with being able to use Forge before it's hot enough * Fixed issue with First Aid Kits floating after breaking down furniture * Fixed issue with Research button not being localized * Fixed background blur when cancelling the delete of a save slot * Fixed missing damage state art for some clothing items * Assign non-zero weight bonus for fish at Ice Fishing Skill Level 4 * Assign non-zero reduction in fishing time at Ice Fishing Skill Level 2 * Fixed collision issues in some caves that could prevent picking up items * Fixed issue with drawn Survival Bow movement speed retained after Wolf or Bear struggle * Fixed issue with Arrows not animating properly in certain cases * Fixed corpse loot issue on Timberwolf Mountain * Fixed issue with Snares not being visible at moderate distance * Updated copyright notice on main menu ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2017-01-11 18:05:58 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just hotfixed The Long Dark Sandbox to v.388, to fix a few bugs introduced (or discovered) after the release of our "Resolute Outfitter" update.

Changelist:

* Fixed delay after eating/drinking in inventory * Fixed collision on shed in Forlorn Muskeg region * Fixed minor clipping issues with objects in Forlorn Muskeg region * Fixed area where player could exit the map in Forlorn Muskeg region * Fixed bear getting stuck inside rail car in Forlorn Muskeg region * Fixed broken stats for old save games ###END OF CHANGELIST###

A Note on Stats in v.386

We noticed that we accidentally included a bug with the stats, which shifted all of your stats down a field, so they appear in the wrong place. This hotfix should address the bug for all NEW games you start afterwards. However, it will not fix the issue for any games you started between v.386 and this version, v.388. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you!

A Note on Holiday Hours

The team has worked hard this year and will be taking a break between now and January, to rest up for the big push in 2017. As a result, Community support will be available, but at a reduced intensity over the next two weeks. Please keep this in mind when asking for support, either in the forums, or by email. If you find bugs and would like to log them, please do so in our public bug database. We will check them ASAP: https://hinterlandgames.atlassian.net/projects/TLDP/ If you prefer to send us an email, please do so at: support(at)hinterlandgames(dot)com, or post issues in the Technical Issues section of the forum, located here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/4/ As mentioned, please allow extra time -- up to 48 hours -- for us to respond. In general, the best support for the community tends to be the community itself, so feel free to ask for help if you are stuck, need game help or advice, are having technical issues, or just want to share your story. Our community is fantastic and we all look out for each other. Please remember to be kind to each other, mind our Community Guidelines, and enjoy a safe and happy holiday season. 2017 is going to be a very big year for The Long Dark. Thank you for being on this journey with us. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-12-21 04:51:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Community, It’s time to talk about Story Mode again. Since this is the last community update I’ll be posting in 2016, this is also a good time to reflect on the last year of development on The Long Dark. The two stories are connected. 2016 has been a challenging year for me, and for Hinterland. We opened the year with the plan of launching Story Mode this past Spring, but I just didn’t feel good about where things were at, given the compromises I felt we were making to do that. I wanted to push further, do more, with the game, knowing that after all this time of you waiting for Story Mode, it would have to be something truly groundbreaking to really live up to your expectations. And to live up to our expectations. It’s been a constant balancing act between keeping our Sandbox players engaged and happy with updates, and also having the majority of the team working away on Story mode. Since it’s difficult to share Story progress without spoiling it, people sometimes feel as though we’re not working on it, which is frustrating for them, and for us. We deal with this by trying to stay focused on our launch and remember Miyamoto’s adage: “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.” We appreciate all of you who continue to support us patiently. https://youtu.be/uizRfzcFaxo Caption: A sample of the 2D style we’re using for cinematic moments. One of the areas we’ve tackled this year is character realization. Prior to our Spring delay, our plan was to present all our characters in 2D motion-graphics sequences. We’re still using that presentation style for specific parts of our narrative, but I really wanted to push more of the storytelling directly into the gameplay space and I wasn’t happy with the idea that all our storytelling and character interaction would happen through 2D cinematic scenes. Despite the fact that our cinematic style is beautiful, I felt that we were somehow selling ourselves -- and the game...and our community -- short, by not trying to get more of this interaction into the gameplay space itself. This has been an aspiration of mine ever since I started working in games -- inspired by Half Life and Half Life 2, and their progeny -- an aspiration that has remained unfulfilled in all the games I’ve shipped to date. I guess I’m stubborn that way. I don’t know that we’ll get to Half Life quality interactive narrative in the first iteration, but getting more of our characters living and breathing in the world is still our target, and we’ve spent a lot of this year working on achieving that goal. But taking on 3D characters ended up being a much bigger undertaking than we expected. The whole 3D character pipeline was entirely new for this team, game, and engine -- we hadn’t made any of these characters, really, apart from a test (which you saw in our April Story Mode update -- the man near the fire; his name is Methuselah and we’ll have more to say about him in the future) and wildlife, which have very different requirements. It took us several months to work through the kinks in our content pipeline, get the tech working well, and in the end the initial results were not satisfactory. We’re continuing to iterate on what we have, and still struggling a bit with the tech and the content, but we’re getting closer. In the end, we’ll present our storytelling content through a combination of 2D motion-graphics scenes, and some in-game 3D moments, choosing the presentation style that best supports the creative goals of each particular moment. It’ll just have taken much longer than expected, to get there. On the good side, the possibility of having limited 3D character content in the world does open up some useful creative doors to other systems that would be hard to pull off without 3D NPCs, including better ways to reflect how your survival decisions as a player may affect other people you encounter, which is one of the key ways we want Story Mode to build on what Sandbox already offers. In Sandbox, you focus exclusively on how your choices affect your own survival -- a very ego-centric experience. In Story, we want you to think beyond yourself, and consider how your choices affect others. https://youtu.be/AGsiY2DpTr8 Caption: In Story Mode, you’ll finally get to see how the Aurora affects the world around you, introducing new hazards...and new possibilities. With the Sandbox update we just released -- Resolute Outfitter -- we’ve added the last major core gameplay system that remains before we launch Story Mode. We have two or three additional major systems we’re working on that we’ll be launching *with* Story Mode -- and these are pretty significant in how they change the way the game feels -- it’s likely that both these systems will also find their way into Sandbox, but we’re still working out those details. That’s been a theme this year -- the gameplay relationship between Sandbox and Story mode. My original premise for The Long Dark was that Sandbox would be the proving ground for systems, and Story would add the narrative layer. In general, this is how most open-world games function. That said, most open world games build their narrative layer in conjunction with their systems layer and due to our splitting the two “modes” apart, largely for the purposes of keeping spoilers out of Sandbox mode -- the Sandbox game has, to some degree, evolved to take on its own life as its own experience. It needs its own things to be successful -- it has its own “heartbeat”, as it were. And a hungry community needs to be fed! Thus, Sandbox continues to grow, in some ways, beyond the gameplay needs of Story mode... That’s not to say that Story Mode isn’t built on a foundation of Sandbox mechanics, but I think I over-estimated the extent to which Story Mode could be layered on top of Sandbox, without changes to systems or tuning. Some systems that work really well in Sandbox actually work against the player goals in Story, and vice versa. So, this year we’ve been working through that process -- pulling Sandbox mechanics into the Story game and refining them, streamlining them, tuning them differently, to support the more narrative-driven experience you get in Story. And likewise, there are some mechanics that are built for Story mode and will exist there first and most “purely”, and could get adapted for Sandbox afterwards. https://youtu.be/dC8WMkY_I48 Caption: In Story Mode, we’re introducing new regions designed to help present the backdrop of The Long Dark’s quiet apocalypse. With the pressures of wanting to make significant progress on Story Mode without abandoning our players who mostly care about Sandbox, I grew the team to about 25 developers this year, with -- at various points -- most of them working on Story Mode content and systems, and either small “maintenance” teams working on Sandbox updates, or -- depending on the complexity of the update -- occasionally pulling a large portion of the team into helping finalize or test Sandbox mechanics (as we just did for our latest update). I’d say this has been the biggest challenge for our team, and for myself personally. I’ve led large game teams before -- up to 150 developers -- but in trying to stay lean on management overhead and also having a lot of the team being distributed (i.e. not everyone works in the same physical studio space), at some point we hit a size where things just became a lot more complex to manage and to move forward. We’re working through it and have taken steps to improve certain aspects -- including opening up a second physical studio space to house about ⅓ of our development team who were all living in the same city but working apart -- but to some degree these are challenges you solve while on the run, laying track while the train is running, and it’d be dishonest to pretend they don’t have an impact on development progress. So that’s a lot of words but what you want to know is -- where do things stand with Story Mode? Well as always, in the interest of withholding spoilers, I’ll keep things high level. We have about 6 hours of playable Story Mode gameplay, currently split into two episodes, and these are the episodes we will launch with. The first part serves as a prologue and sets the tone of the story and explains something about the world you find yourself in. The second part continues the story of Will Mackenzie, and what he encounters and learns about the quiet apocalypse of The Long Dark. Astrid’s story, unfortunately, will not be playable at launch, but her Episode will come soon after. We are still planning to release five episodes in Season One, all of which our Early Access/Kickstarter/Game Preview players will get automatically as they are unlocked, for the price they have already paid. We have some cinematic content, we have some in-game character moments, all the voice recording for Mackenzie and Astrid is done, as it is for most of the supporting characters (but not all). We’ve created two whole regions that are new to Story Mode (not counting the new Sandbox region we’ve just released, Forlorn Muskeg), one of them is finished and being polished, and the other is getting a bit of an overhaul for story reasons, but it’s close to being complete, and is pretty unique for our game. We’re about to start scoring the game -- Cris Velasco, who I was fortunate enough to work with on Space Marine, will be composing the score for Story mode, to complement the beautiful work done by Sascha Dikiciyan in the Sandbox score. We’ll be starting that after the holidays. I have some more design work to complete on the remaining systems I mentioned earlier, and then we can finish those as well. Video: https://youtu.be/yTBs6UZnYHA Caption: Unfortunately, this guy didn’t quite make it in for 2016. As you can tell, he’s not very happy about it. As I’ve said before, I won’t provide dates until they are close enough that we are 100% guaranteed to hit them, but I feel really good about where Story mode is at the end of 2016, and we’ll have lots of exciting stuff to share -- including new announcements -- some time after the holidays. As with the last community update, I’ve teased a few of the things we’ve been working on for our Story Mode launch throughout this post. Enjoy, and thanks for reading. In the meantime, please make sure you check out our latest update, Resolute Outfitter, which introduces a whole new Region, as well as an extensive overhaul of the Clothing system, a Frostbite affliction, and tons of other fixes and gameplay modifications. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHK7nfv9dRM Caption: Update video for "Resolute Outfitter". On behalf of the entire team at Hinterland, I wish you and your loved ones a great holiday season. 2017 is going to be a huge year for Hinterland, and The Long Dark. We’re glad that you’re here with us. - Raphael

[ 2016-12-19 18:12:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

We’ve just updated The Long Dark’s Sandbox mode to v.386, “Resolute Outfitter”. This is the last Sandbox update of 2016, and the biggest of the year. Details below. Video: https://youtu.be/OHK7nfv9dRM ***

NEW REGION: FORLORN MUSKEG

We’ve added a new region to the game -- Forlorn Muskeg. It’s a vast frozen landscape of dead trees and ice. There’s very little shelter, so this region is definitely not for the faint of heart. Hardy explorers will be rewarded with access to a second Forge.

NEW CLOTHING ART

All the Clothing items have been re-built from scratch to better reflect the game’s art style. You may see some familiar items updated, as well as many new items.

NEW CLOTHING ITEMS

There are over 65 items now, which nearly doubles the amount of Clothing items in the game. We’ve also included a new Craftable Clothing item: Bearskin Coat.

CLOTHING TUNING

Every Clothing item in the game has had a tuning pass, though we expect to change some things based on further playtesting feedback. This tuning pass includes re-balancing the Weights and Warmth values of pre-existing Clothing items, to reflect the fact that you can now find and use a lot more Clothing than before.

CLOTHING LAYERING SYSTEM

You can now layer Clothing items using a slot-based system. Some areas of the body -- example, the Torso -- have multiple slots, which allows you to layer more than one thing. For example, you can wear two items on your head, whether that means two Toques, or Two Scarves, a Scarf + Toque, etc.

CLOTHING UI & “PAPER DOLL”

There is a whole new Clothing UI, which communicates what your Survivor is currently wearing in the various slots. You can now easily see when a slot is empty, and remedy that. You can also see when a slot has multiple options available, for example when you pick up a new Clothing item. Cycling through the valid items in a slot will allow you to see a comparison between the currently equipped item in that slot, and the other valid items in your Backpack that would work in that slot. Paper Doll layering should display the correct items on the outside layers, giving you a quick visual frame of reference as to what your Survivor is wearing. Damage states are visualized on the Clothing Items and on the Paper Doll items, providing a quick visual frame of reference for whether items need to be repaired or not. You can access the new Clothing UI from the Radial menu, from the Backpack interface, or using the C hotkey.

WETNESS, FREEZING, & DRYING

In certain weather types, your exterior Clothing layer now accumulates Wetness. As items become Wet, they lose some of their Warmth value, and become heavier. Once an item is 100% Wet, it begins to slowly Freeze. Frozen items lose more of their Warmth value, and become heavier. An item’s Warmth value when Wet depends on the Material type. Ex. Wool retains more Warmth when wet, than Cotton. Wet and Frozen items can be dried when worn or placed near a Fire, or when worn in interior locations with above freezing temperatures. Each Clothing item has a different rate at which it dries, depending on the Material type. Dry Clothing protects your body from accelerated Hypothermia risk, and Frostbite.

CLOTHING ITEM STATS

Every Clothing Item now has a series of Stats which are displayed when you select that item in the Clothing interface. Gear selection and maintenance will require a balance between these various factors. Stats include: * Warmth: How much Warmth this item affords. The Warmth of all *worn* Clothing items is totalled and used to modify the Air Temperature. The Feels Like temperature (accessible from the Tab key) is the result of [Air Temp] - [Clothing Warmth]. Ex. If the Air Temp is -20C, and you are wearing Clothing that offers a combined total +10C Warmth, the “Feels Like” temperature is -10C. We then use this -10C “Feels Like” to calculate how quickly your Cold Bar depletes. Keep in mind that some types of materials (ex. Wool) still offer Warmth when they are wet; others do not (ex. Cotton). * Windproofness: How much Windchill protection the Clothing item provides. This value reduces the effect of Windchill in reducing your “Feels Like” temperature. * Waterproofness: How water repellent this item is, which modifies how quickly it becomes Wet. * Weight: How much an individual Clothing item weighs. Remember, any Clothing items worn or carried in your inventory all count against your total Inventory Capacity. Wet and Frozen items will weigh more than those same items when they are dry. * Condition: A % range that reflects the current physical Condition of an item, between 100% (New) and 0% (Ruined). Item Warmth, Warmth When Wet, and Waterproofness scales with Condition, ex. an item’s capacity to provide Warmth is compromised as it becomes more worn out. * Mobility: Bulkier or more restrictive clothing items may impact how quickly you can move through the world. This is expressed as a % decrease of your Sprint stamina. For example, if you wear a combination of bulky clothing items that reduce your Sprint by 10%, you’ll notice that reflected in the size of available Sprint resource in the HUD meter. Note that this only affects Sprinting and not Climbing. * Protection: How much this item protects from Physical damage to your Survivor, including Wildlife attacks, Falls, Burns, etc. The higher your total Protection %, the less damage you will take from these events. Deeper Stats and differentiation through tuning means that you can now create Clothing combinations that support different playing styles or daily goals. For example, if you intend to make a fast supply run to a nearby location, it makes sense to wear light waterproof clothing to optimize your Inventory capacity for supplies you may find. If you’re heading into unknown territory and scouting an area you think might have hostile wildlife, you may opt for heavier items that offer more physical protection, at the expense of some mobility and carrying capacity.

REVISED LOOT TABLES

We’ve revised all the Loot Tables, to better distribute Clothing around the world. We’ve also hand-placed more items and balanced the availability of the rarer Clothing items. You should find the search more rewarding. You should not find too many repeat items per container, although it may occasionally happen. You should generally find Clothing items where you would expect to find them. Keep in mind that Loot availability is modified by your Experience Mode.

FROSTBITE AFFLICTION

Now that players can visualize what their Survivor is wearing in each location, we have the means to properly communicate Frostbite Risk. Through exposure (i.e. when an area of the body is not protected by Clothing), or due to clothing items becoming Frozen, an area of the body will begin to accumulate Frostbite Risk (expressed as a %). One this risk becomes 100%, your Survivor will receive a Frostbite Affliction in that area. Frostbite does permanent, irreparable 10% damage to your Survivor’s Condition (note: this tuning may change over time). You can track Frostbite afflictions in the First Aid screen (accessible from the Radial menu). It is possible to accumulate multiple Frostbite Afflictions -- one per major area of the body. Once you have a Frostbite affliction, your maximum Condition will never recover beyond that point. The speed at which your Frostbite Risk increases depends on the Air Temp, and the area on your body. For example, Frostbite Risk increases more quickly in the extremities -- hands and feet -- than on the Torso. Keep in mind that in addition to Frostbite, you still have to monitor Hypothermia risk, which works as it did previously. We intend to build on this system in the future, by adding modifiers to Skills requiring dexterity (ex. Crafting, or Archery, etc.) when you have Frostbite damage to the Hands, for example.

IMPACT TO PRE-EXISTING CLOTHING

One outcome of this update is that some Clothing items that exist in your current Inventory may change, post-update. This includes, to varying degrees, item names, descriptions, but also statistics. We apologize in advance if this results in you losing the benefit of a favourite Clothing item. We hope that on the whole, you’ll appreciate all the new benefits offered by the enhanced system.

GAMEPLAY CHANGES: STAMINA

We’ve modified the Stamina tuning to reflect changes in the clothing system, notably the inclusion of Mobility. You’ll find that you can now sprint for shorter bursts but the Stamina recovery is much quicker. Also, the Fatigue cost of Sprinting has been reduced, so over the course of a day you’ll be able to Sprint more before you get Exhausted. This is modified by the Mobility penalties of wearing bulky clothing items, which reduce your Stamina -- as indicated by the right side of the Stamina bar being blocked out with a section of red. This indicates how much Stamina you are “losing” due to Clothing choices. ##

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX v.386 CHANGELIST

* [NEW!] Addition of new region: Forlorn Muskeg * [NEW!] Addition of new enhanced Clothing system and assets; refer to the detailed design notes on this new system as it changes core gameplay significantly! * [NEW!] Affliction: Frostbite * [Crash] Fixed intro video crash on Windows XP * [Crash] Fix for rare crash when placing footprints * [Gameplay] Retuned Sprint Stamina recovery and Fatigue cost * [Gameplay] Retuned cool downs on Heated drinks; they will now stay warm much longer * [Gameplay] Retuned Hypothermia recovery times * [Gameplay] Retuned Hypothermia Risk times; it now takes longer to develop Hypothermia * [Gameplay] Hypothermia recovery times now modified by Experience Mode * [Gameplay] Added ability to relight a burned out Campfire * [Gameplay] Made Scrub Brush harvestable for fuel * [UI] Added new Clothing “Paper Doll” interface * [UI] Decoy moved to the Camp Craft submenu on the radial * [UI] Fix for buttons overlapping when progress bar is active on inventory UI * [UI] Accelerant now stacks (no longer degrades) * [Bug] Fixed bug that caused Fluffy to fall through the floor of the Dam * [Bug] Fixed bug that prevented Challenge retries from working properly * [Bug] Fixed bug that caused audio to be muffled after started a game after a drowning death * [Bug] Fixed bug that caused wind audio to cut out in interiors * [Bug] Fixed issue where it was possible to equip partially crafted clothing items * [Bug] Fixed bug with showing "Repair" instead of "Read" for books when using gamepad * [Bug] Fix issues with Distress Pistol not animating and playing audio * [Bug] Fixed snow shelter rendering glitches ###END OF CHANGELIST###

[ 2016-12-19 18:01:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've just updated The Long Dark Test Branch to v.377T.

The focus of this Test Build cycle is on the ENHANCED CLOTHING SYSTEM.

Please note that the December Update will include other content, but that the changes to gameplay due to the revised Clothing system are so significant, we need the testing to be focused solely on the Clothing System for now.

Details on the contents of this build are available in the [SPOILER FILLED] test branch forums.

***If you don't want to be exposed to spoilers about the next Sandbox update, please DO NOT go to the Test Branch forums.***

>>>

Everyone else, instructions on how to access the Test Branch can be found here IN THE TEST BRANCH SUBFORUM: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/351659808478003064/

>>> We're trying a few new things about how we gather Bugs and Playtest Feedback in the Test Branch, so please make sure you read the stickied thead called "***READ THIS FIRST***". Thanks in advance for your help to firm up the next update! More news on the full release to MAIN BRANCH will be coming in the next few days, based on what we see from TEST BRANCH progress. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-12-02 00:38:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We'll be deploying a new build to the Test Branch later this week. This Test Build will include major changes to the Clothing System that we're planning to roll out in a December Sandbox Update before the holidays. We'll share more details soon, but in the mean time, keep the following in mind: * The Test Branch is optional; you do not have to participate. * All tuning is placeholder; don't freak out if you see something you don't like. We'll continue refining the values leading up to the full December Update release. * The Test Branch contains spoilers for the full Update. If you don't want to know what's coming in the full December Update, stay out of the Test Branch discussion. * Please avoid posting Test Build spoilers in the main discussions. * Current in-progress save games can be carried over to the Test Branch, but not the other way. This is to protect your progress from being polluted or influenced in some way by bugs or tuning issues in the Test Branch builds. We'll update here and in the official community once the Test Branch is live.

We'll post detailed instructions on how to participate in to the Test Branch -- including how to download the build and how to post bugs/feedback -- when it is live later this week. Please don't ask for instructions in this thread or discussion.

Note that the December update will include more than the Clothing System updates, but since the changes are substantial we'd like the current Test Cycle to focus on this system. The changes to the Clothing System are very extensive and introduce multiple new layers of survival gameplay. We're excited to get this system into your hands in the full December Update. In the mean time, your contribution to the Test Branch playtest will help us ensure the December Update is as bug-free as possible.

We'll have another update on Story Mode progress to share, later in December.

Thanks in advance! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-11-29 22:30:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello fans! Steam is running an Awards contest during the Autumn sale, where you can nominate your favourite game in various categories, and get a Steam Badge for your efforts. [NOTE: This is not a badge we're giving out -- it's a badge STEAM is giving out.] If you think we've done a good job with The Long Dark, we'd love a nomination! You can do so on the game's Store page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/305620/ Want to learn more about the Steam Awards? Go here: http://store.steampowered.com/SteamAwardNominations/ Thanks for your support! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-11-25 20:39:33 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, We've hotfixed The Long Dark to v.375 to wrap up the 4 Days of Night Event and fix a pair of related issues that had surfaced. We'd also like to hear your feedback on 4 Days of Night. Please take our community survey and let us know what you think: http://svy.mk/2eW7P8S - The Hinterland Team

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX HOTFIXED to v.375 CHANGELIST

*Fixed issue with Cabin Fever and Intestinal Parasite Afflictions needing to be cured multiple times if contracted during the 4 Days of Night Event *Fixed issue where Glowing Red Eyes persisted in wolves past the end of the 4 Days of Night Event. *4 Days of Night Event disabled ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2016-11-03 01:25:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello, We've hotfixed The Long Dark to v.373, to remove Parasites and Cabin Fever afflictions for the duration of the "4 Days of Night" event. Apologies for any inconvenience these afflictions may have caused, due to eternal darkness and not being able to recover properly. Please note that this fix will also apply to Parasites and Cabin Fever afflictions in current in-progress games. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-10-29 23:09:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

Event runs from Friday October 28th @ 10AM PDT, to Tuesday November 1st @ 10AM PDT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1qK07YkK4k More details here: http://steamcommunity.com/games/305620/announcements/detail/527312139203739057

[ 2016-10-28 17:00:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

This Halloween, we're trying something a little different in The Long Dark -- an in-game event we're calling, Four Days of Night. https://youtu.be/a1qK07YkK4k This is a bit of an experiment to see how the community feels about in-game events that are built around a specific theme. Since it's Halloween, we're having a bit of light-hearted fun. In Four Days of Night, you'll experience: * Perpetual darkness -- the sun will not rise * Light sources (ex. Lanterns) last twice as long as usual * Demon wolves * Strategically located Pumpkin Pies with Warming and Wildlife Deterrent capabilities! * High-calorie value snacks in Candy Bowls * Jack-O-Lanterns that mark the location of rare Loot

NOTE: These gameplay changes will apply to all in-progress Sandbox and Challenge games. If you are concerned about losing progress, we recommend you start new Sandbox sessions if you want to participate in Four Days of Night.

The Four Days of Night event starts Friday, October 28th, at 10AM PDT, and ends Tuesday, November 1st, at 10AM PDT. Good luck, and we hope you enjoy it! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-10-26 18:24:35 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just hotfixed The Long Dark to v.365 to fix some bugs in the recent update, Vigilant Trespass.

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX HOTFIXED to v.365 CHANGELIST

* Fixed issue with Flare Brandish not playing audio or warding off wildlife when player stamina low * Fixed issue with unlit light sources being unequipped when picking up items with double click * Fixed camera issues when entering tilted vehicles * Fixed crashes due to quitting game during fade outs of scene transitions or exiting vehicles * Fixed crash that could occur when renaming a Journal * Fixed issue with being able type text in a Journal if you died while editing * Fixed issue with toilets disappearing when loading old saves * Fixed glitch with lit Matches animation when inspecting an item or container * Fixed issue with Storm Lantern playing ignite audio when running out of fuel * Fixed issue with movement speed if Struggle is triggered when player is crouching * Optimized audio in Desolation Point to prevent potential sound hitches * General fixes to Environment art and collision ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2016-09-27 19:39:30 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear community, Two years ago -- on September 22nd, 2014 -- we brought The Long Dark to Steam Early Access. It was a newer platform back then. Survival games weren’t truly a “genre” unto themselves yet. We were still hitting our stride as an independent developer, about 18 months into development and only 11 months after we wrapped up our successful Kickstarter. We had released an early version of the game to some of our Kickstarter backers, and we were thrilled to have some feedback. The notion of community-informed development was still pretty new to us back then, with the team mostly coming from traditional “triple-A” development backgrounds. We were used to working on games for years without being able to talk about them, pushing them out the door when they were as ready as we could make them, and crossing our fingers in hope that people would like them. The idea of releasing an early, unfinished, unpolished version of the game was both tremendously exciting, and scary as hell. What if people hated it? We knew The Long Dark didn’t really fit into the traditional mold -- which was precisely the reason we had embarked on creating it. But really, apart from 6966 Kickstarter Backers who trusted our vision enough to give us their money, we had no idea if anyone would like what we had made. Launching on Steam, in Early Access, was a turning point for us. On our first day, The Long Dark appeared in the #4 slot on Steam’s Top Sellers list. In the first month, we sold over 40,000 copies. We thought that was pretty good. By the end of January, 2015, we had sold over 250,000 copies. Today, across Steam and Xbox One, more than 950,000 people have contributed to the development of The Long Dark. We know we’ve missed promised Story Mode dates. We’ve not always been able to get updates out as frequently as we would have liked. Not everything we’ve added to the game has been universally loved (*cough* intestinal parasites *cough). We’ve produced nearly 300 builds and over 75 public updates. Our team has grown from about 8 developers in September 2014, to nearly 25 today. We have a studio on Vancouver Island and are about to open a Hinterland Outpost in Vancouver. Tens of millions of play hours have been logged. Millions of people have watched the game played on YouTube and Twitch. The Long Dark has been analyzed critically by academics, has been incorporated into philosophy and literature curriculum as a case study of “vulnerability”, it’s helped people suffering from anxiety issues find some peace, while also managing to challenge veteran outdoorspeople and survivalists. Seeing one game be so many things to so many people is one of the most rewarding things in the world. It’s even attracted the attention of some notable Canadian icons, like Margaret Atwood! (One of my personal high points on this project, so far!)
I’ve been fortunate to see this game grow from the kernel of an idea. What started as a deeply personal journey about striking out to the proverbial “hinterlands” of the games industry, has evolved into an artistic survival experience that has touched many people’s lives. It’s also provided the team at Hinterland with meaningful work and a way to provide for our respective families and dependents. For you, it is $20 and (hopefully) dozens of hours of escapism. For us, it is a calling, a livelihood. For me, it has become integral to the very fabric of my being. Thank you for the faith you have put in us. Every day we strive to live up to it. We hope you have enjoyed the last two years of The Long Dark. Here’s to many more years! (But not too many more without Story Mode.) You are the best of us. - Raphael
################################

ANNIVERSARY BUILD

To celebrate this anniversary with us, we’re giving all of you the exact version of The Long Dark we launched on Steam Early Access on September 22nd, 2014. For one week only, you can access it on Steam, by the following: * Right-click The Long Dark in your Steam library * Select Properties * Click the Betas tab * Enter the code: h1nterland2014 * Select the build from the dropdown: build_sept22_2014 Steam should automatically update to this old 2014 build. To revert back to the current build, simply Opt Out of Betas from the Betas tab, and Steam should update back to the current Main Branch build. REMEMBER! Gameplay has changed substantially since 2014, so things may not work the way you are used to. Please help each other out! Also, please note that you will not find current saves in the old build. We’ll leave this build live for about a week, and then will shut it down. So enjoy it! We’ve also put together a little video to commemorate this anniversary. We hope you like it! https://youtu.be/ZrGo0VafL_s

[ 2016-09-23 20:39:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

We’ve just updated The Long Dark to v.364,“Vigilant Trespass”. This update introduces several new features and changes to content, outlined below. A full changelist can be found at the end of this message. Here’s a video that discusses some of the changes introduced in “Vigilant Trespass”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTx2Fv1dJoU&list=PLzp35YPWKwnmy-cBp8fSCbdyb6NZeiiCp&index=1

New Experience Mode: Interloper

We’ve added a new Experience Mode: Interloper. Interloper is a highly challenging mode that focuses on self-sufficiency in survival. It is the most “extreme” of the Experience Modes for the following reasons: * The world becomes more hostile to you as you play. Global temperature drops, wildlife and fuel resources become more scarce, and Blizzards become more frequent. * There are no Rifles in the world. * Apart from the Hacksaw and Hammer, which spawn rarely in the world, you need to create all your own improvised tools (ex. Hatchets, Knives, etc.). * The best Clothing and Food items do not spawn. * Wolves are more rare, but also more deadly. * Wildlife becomes more rare over time.

New Challenge Mode: Hunted, Part Two

We’ve added the follow-up challenge to Hunted. In Hunted, Part Two, you must track the Old Bear from the Trapper’s Cabin, to its Den. Keep an eye out for tracks and blood drops. The weather may not cooperate!

Improved World “Decay” Systems

We’ve made some changes to how various systems work to ensure that, over time, the Sandbox becomes gradually more challenging over time. This is to combat the sense that the game becomes too easy once players have made it past a certain threshold in their survival skill and with improvised gear and tools. The new Experience Mode, Interloper, shows the most extreme version of this updated “Decay”, but we’ve applied it to all pre-existing Experience Modes as well. In general, we tune about a dozen variables differently as the game progresses over time, including (amongst other things): wildlife spawn behaviour, weather patterns, global temperature, and the availability of fuel resource spawns. The rate at which this “decay” occurs depends on the Experience Mode, with Pilgrim and Interloper being on opposite ends of the spectrum. Our intent is that these changes ensure the level of challenge in the game remains engaging over long-term Sandbox games, but consistent with the level that players would expect for that particular Experience Mode.

First-Person Presence & Updated Locomotion

We’ve updated all our in-game Light Sources with first-person animations. This includes: Flare, Lantern, Torch, Brand, Matches. Lantern placement has also been modified to work better with first-person hands. Both Male and Female hands are represented. For now, we are not visualizing custom player clothing or gloves/mittens on the hands. Please note that there may still be glitches with this system, as well as unanticipated effects to some of the in-game interactions. We’ve updated our Locomotion animations to work better with the First-Person hands. You will see equipped light sources in hand when walking, though hidden while sprinting. We’ve also modified the way Sprinting works -- you can no longer sprint backwards, nor sprint-strafe in perfectly lateral directions (though it is still possible to sprint forward and on an angle).

Updated Rest & Passing Time Interface

Our last pass on the Rest and Passing Time interface was confusing for players, so we’ve updated both these interfaces. Now, to Pass Time, you use the Radial > Campcraft menu to select the “Pass Time” option (the icon is a Deck of Cards). You will now get real-time feedback on how Passing Time is affecting your Status, and you can interrupt Passing Time at any time. Please keep in mind that the previous Warmth bonus during Pass Time was an artifact from the use of the Rest menu, and was not an intended bonus. You can now Pass Time anywhere (i.e. you do not need a Bed or Bedroll). Rest works as it always has -- you can Rest from the Bedroll or any Bed. Both interfaces have been updated to clarify your current Status, to help you make a better decision about how long you want to Rest or Pass Time.

Wolf Decoy Exploit Fix

We’ve fixed the Wolf Decoy exploit. Decoys will now cause Wolves to “retreat” for a period of time, but they will no longer stand there making an easy target. Only Meat (includes Fish and Guts) may now be used for Decoys, and the “Drop Decoy” action will automatically select the “smelliest” (i.e. lowest Condition) meat in your Backpack.

Beachcombing

We’ve updated the Coastlines to have open water. You’ll find that useful things occasionally wash up, but keep an ear out for signs of weak ice. If you fall in the water, it’s instant Hypothermia and your clothes will all be Wet!

New Skills: Archery & Mending

We’ve added two new skills: Archery, and Mending. Keep in mind that we’re still iterating on the Skills system, so our plan is to continue tuning and expanding this system over time.

Feat Slots

Based on feedback from the community, we’ve modified how we handle Feats. Now each Experience Mode supports a number of active Feats -- 5 for Pilgrim, 4 for Voyageur, etc. During the Sandbox setup, you’ll need to activate any Feats you’ve unlocked so far, and those Feats will be active for that particular Sandbox game. If you prefer not to use Feats, simply do not activate any of them. Also, please keep in mind that you can’t enable Feats you’ve unlocked in your current game.

A Few More Tweaks

We’ve rebalanced Snow Shelters to be a little less effective. Linux users can now Alt-Tab without audio becoming corrupted. We’ve added a warning to help avoid burning partly-researched Books. Cleaning your Rifle no longer improves the Rifle Firearm skill. Cooking Fish now produces a small amount of usable Lamp Oil. We’ve also fixed several bugs; the full changelist will be published once we migrate the Test Branch to the Main Release.

New Languages

Apart from any new text added in this Test Branch (which hasn’t been translated yet), you should find the Sandbox has now been translated into: Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Finnish, and Dutch.

Middleware Updates

In this Test Build, we’ve updated Unity and also Wwise (our audio engine). We don’t think this will impact anyone, but it’s possible that these updates may have affected stability. You may notice this particularly around graphics, and audio. Please make sure you report any bugs around unusual graphics glitches, audio issues.

NOTE ON TEST BUILD SAVES

As noted during the Test Build process, we are not carrying progress from the Test Build back into the Main Branch. This is to prevent any bugs or issues captured in your Saves, from being introduced back into your Main Branch games.

***Please note that current in-progress games from the Main Branch should continue working as expected with Vigilant Trespass.***

Also, please make sure your drivers are updated! *****

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX UPDATE v.364, “VIGILANT TRESPASS” -- FULL CHANGELIST

NEW FEATURES

* Added new Experience Mode: Interloper * Added new Challenge: Hunted, Part 2 * Added full First-Person Presence for Light Sources: Flare, Torch, Brand, Lantern, Matches * Added Beachcombing Gameplay * Added Archery Skill * Added Mending Skill * Iteration on “World Decay” systems across all Experience Modes, focused particularly on: global temperature, weather patterns, wildlife presence, blizzard frequency, and fuel resources * Iteration on Feats system; players now activate a limited number of unlocked Feats per Sandbox game

CRASHES FIXED

* Fixed rare crash when firing Arrows * Fixed rare crash issue in Fire UI * Fixed rare crash in Badges UI * Fixed rare audio crashes * Fixed crash issues that could occur in the Snow Shelter UI * Fixed rare crash related to Cabin Fever * Fixed rare crash when accessing the Log screen * Fixed rare crash when cancelling Firestarting * Fixed rare crash when being stalked by a Wolf * Fixed “Many Campfires” Out of Memory crash * Fixed crash that could occur when trying to force burn an unread research book * Fixed rare crash that could occur when firing the Survival Bow * Fixed crash that could occur when entering a Struggle and holding a lit Flare/Torch/Brand

GAMEPLAY TUNING

* Cooking Fish now produces a small amount of Lamp Oil (varies based on Fish type and weight) * Tuned Snow Shelter dismantling resources * Hacksaws can now be used to harvest Saplings and Tree Limbs * Updated the Bed and Bedroll interfaces to support Passing Time as well as Rest * Enabled Users to view status overlay when Rope Climbing - but not the radial menu * Tuned Hacksaw per-use decay rate * Fixed Decoy exploit; Wolves will no longer make an easy target!

FIXES

* Fixed issue where brandishing the Flare did not increase Fatigue * Fixed issue where player could drop Decoys when in a Snow Shelter or vehicle * Fixed issues with drag-and-drop behaviour in Containers * Fixed issue with Inventory sort icon colliders overlapping * Fixed issue with audio when dragging scrollbar * Fixed alpha issue on car windows that caused trees/foliage to not sort correctly * Fixed floating objects after breaking down furniture in Farmhouse * Fixed issue with player crashing through top of Snow Shelter after picking up items * Fixed issue with debug screenshot behaviour * Fixed issue with Brands providing a Heat Bonus when placed near a fire * Fixed issue where players could become stuck on a black screen when retrying a Challenge * Fixed being unable to light Torches from a fire * Fixed issue where players could add Coal to a fire at an invalid (too low) temperature * Fixed audio dropping out after a player Alt+Tabs away from the game * Fixed issue with falling snow passing through walls in Forestry Lookouts * Fixed issue that caused wildlife to sometimes become stuck on chunks of ice * Fixed issue with Wildlife trying to pathfind into deep water * Fixed Flare effects showing through doors * Fixed issue that caused corpses to disappear when only partially in view * Fixed issue where players could place Camp Fires deep in mines * Fixed issue with looping Flare ignition audio * Fixed floating plates appearing after breaking down certain tables in Coastal Highway * Fixed inaccurate Calorie cost preview for Passing Time * Fixed Harvesting UI displaying incorrect requirements when harvesting with bare hands with the Master Harvesting Skill * Fixed issue with stackable items merging with invalid stacks, when dropped from inventory * Fixed issue with inaccessible backpack in Timber Wolf Mountain * Fixed issue with Torches not being lit by other lit (dropped) Torches and Flares * Fixed issue that prevented the Journal stats from populating when viewed from the Main Menu * Fixed issue that caused the camera to rotate and pan unexpectedly * Fixed issue that could cause incorrect camera FOV at the start of game * Fixed missing cabins in Coastal Highway * Fixed duplicate rope near Mystery Lake Western Access * Fixed issue with the Extinguish/Brandish prompts disappearing too quickly * Fixed issue that caused the Torch effects to become offset after a scene load * Fixed issue that allowed players to fire the Survival Bow after dropping their last Arrow * Fixed issue caused by picking up an Arrow and nocking it, while holding the Survival Bow * Fixed issue that allowed all Bunkers to spawn in Mystery Lake in certain scenarios * Fixed issue that allowed low detail trees to appear on the Main Menu when running Low or Medium quality

MISC.

* Memory optimizations * Fixed various environment art and world collision issues ### END OF CHANGELIST ### Thank you for playing, and we hope you enjoy Vigilant Trespass! The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-09-22 21:49:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've just updated The Long Dark Test Branch to v.358T.

Details on the contents of this build are available in the [SPOILER FILLED] test branch forums.

***If you don't want to be exposed to spoilers about the next Sandbox update, please DO NOT go to the Test Branch forums.***

>>>

Everyone else, instructions on how to access the Test Branch can be found here IN THE TEST BRANCH SUBFORUM: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/351659808478003064/

>>> We're trying a few new things about how we gather Bugs and Playtest Feedback in the Test Branch, so please make sure you read the stickied thead called "***READ THIS FIRST***". Thanks in advance for your help to firm up the next update! More news on the full release to MAIN BRANCH will be coming in the next few days, based on what we see from TEST BRANCH progress. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-09-10 18:01:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dear Community, The team’s been working hard on a ton of Story Mode features and content and here’s an update on some of what we've been up to since the last Story Mode update. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to really talk about Story Mode without at hinting at spoilers, so consider this a warning that there are light story mode spoilers below:

### THERE ARE LIGHT STORY MODE SPOILERS BELOW ###

New Regions

We’ve added two new regions for Episode One. One is nearly finished, and the other is being updated based on some story and mission changes, and will then be getting an art beautification pass. There are several new structures across both the new regions. Part of the new world we’ve added in Episode One is meant to help set the tone for what the world was like before “the event”. We also feel it’s important that Story Mode freshens up the existing Sandbox world for you, so in addition to adding new regions, we’re also updating the rest of the existing world. Many of the exterior updates -- like more detailed rocks, better grass, trees, etc. -- will be gradually released in Sandbox updates. Most of the interiors -- places like the Carter Dam, the Camp Office, Pleasant Valley Farm, etc. -- have been updated with much more detailed interiors. Those interiors will be released when we launch Story Mode, so even the fans who are a lot more focused on Sandbox will be get something new to enjoy.

Episode One Playtesting

Episode One is fully playable from start to finish and we’re now doing in-house playtesting to work on pacing, flow, and polish. It’s been really interesting to see how the core survival gameplay we’ve proven in Sandbox works within a structure of open-world narrative-driven exploration. We’ve had to do a lot of tuning of various elements to find the right balance between survival and exploration. In general though, it feels really great to explore the game world while motivated by clear narrative goals -- it makes for a nice contrast to the more open-ended Sandbox gameplay you’ve become used to. One thing that’s emerged from our playtesting is that our current Episode One is much bigger than we expected. Most of our in-house playtests have it at about 5-6 hours of playtime, which is roughly twice as long as we had originally planned each episode being. This play length is determined by what narrative beats we’re hitting with Episode One, and how we’re pacing those out with our world size and gameplay “heartbeat”. We’re trying to figure out how this impacts our plans for Season One content.
We’ve also been working on all the Episode One narrative sequences. Some of these are 2D motion-graphics cinematics, in the same style as the Story Mode teaser we released last December. Some of these are interactive sequences with full 3D characters in the world. These 3D character sequences are a huge amount of work for us because they require building all the character assets, animating those characters to dialogue, building sets for them, etc. These are the kinds of sequences that aren’t normally built by small independent developers, as they are very time consuming and resource intensive. We’ve probably been quite over-ambitious in delivering these but we feel strongly about the importance of seeing these important story characters living and breathing in the game world as opposed to being limited to non-interactive cinematics.

New Clothing

We’ve recreated all the clothing assets in the game, to better match our updated character designs. We’ve also added several new clothing items. These items will replace all the equippable clothing gear items in the game, and also be the same clothing worn by characters you meet in the world. We’re also doing some work to improve the Clothing system, by adding some new gameplay features, and a better interface. Our goal is to be able to represent the clothing your character is wearing on a kind of “paper doll” interface, so you get a stronger sense of character “customization” that way. We’d like to support this with additional character customization features (for Sandbox) in the future, as suggested in our Sandbox Roadmap, but a lot of that work is aspirational at the moment. For now, we’re really happy to be able to update the clothing assets, to help the whole world feel more coherent. It’s probable that these updated clothing assets will end up being released in a Sandbox update, rather than us waiting for Story Mode to release them.

First-Person Presence

The team’s been hard at work on improving the sense of first-person presence in the game. These updates aren’t technically related to Story Mode as we’ve decided to release them incrementally as part of Sandbox updates, but this is a pretty huge area of work for us as it’s meant creating a whole new animation system. Adding hands and a stronger first-person presence to the game is a huge undertaking and something we held off on for a long time out of fear of the scope of work, as The Long Dark has a large number of potential interactions compared to a lot of other games, but in the end I believe that including them strengthens the sense of your physical vulnerability in the game world and will create a more immediate feeling of connectedness to the environment, which in turn feeds into the range of emotions the game can inspire.

Aurora

We haven’t said much about the Aurora since we’re trying not to spoil it -- but here are a few images to give you an idea of some of the things you might see in the game because of it.

Sandbox Updates

We know that while a lot of you are anxious about Story Mode news, many of you are actually a lot more interested in Sandbox progress. We’re doing our best to balance the need to get Story Mode launched, with your desire for regular Sandbox updates. Currently, about ⅔ of the team is focused on Story Mode-specific content -- so, mission scripting, environment art, characters, animation, audio, etc. -- and the other ⅓ is working on Sandbox updates. Because most of our content team is focused on Story Mode, our more recent Sandbox updates have been be focused on gameplay mechanics and UI. This will likely continue to be the case until we launch Story Mode. We know that a lot of you would like us to expand Sandbox with more regions -- but unfortunately every region we build for Sandbox is one we can’t build for Story, and we don’t want to release the new Story Mode regions until we launch it, so they are new when you play them! We understand that for the people who are really waiting on Story mode, that our time spent on Sandbox updates isn’t really meaningful to you, and vice versa for the people who care more about Sandbox. We’ve been slowly adding people to the team to try to increase our development bandwidth, but hiring is a painstaking process for a small studio, as everyone you add to the team has a much greater impact to the project and the overall team dynamic. And, we’re pretty picky about who we add to the team. We’re trying to be wise about how we do this so that we don’t break things that are working well for us, and when it comes to hiring, wise usually equals slow.

Launch Date

We’ve announced launch dates in the past, in the hope that providing these dates would give you something concrete to look forward to. Unfortunately, all they did was create disappointment when we decided to delay beyond these dates. Last time we talked about dates I said I wouldn’t provide a new date until I was 100% sure we would hit it. To that end, I’m not going to say anything further about when we’ll ship Story Mode, except to re-iterate that the team is working very hard on it, our goal is to launch content that lives up to your expectations and lets us capitalize on the full potential of our work, and most of all, to create something that will redefine the “survival” genre as the first strongly narrative-driven exploration-survival experience. And as Hinterland’s first title, and as part of an ongoing episodic/Seasonal release plan, it’s critical that we get our launch of The Long Dark right, as it sets the bar for our studio’s future. Not only will it help determine whether we can achieve our full ambitions for The Long Dark in the future -- it will also help determine what other experiences we may (or may not) be able to make in the future. As always, we appreciate your support. We do not take it for granted. Sincerely, Raphael Twitter: @raphlife

[ 2016-08-25 19:18:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've just updated our Roadmap for The Long Dark Sandbox to version 1.2, which includes an aspirational feature/content list for our next Sandbox Update. Check it out: http://hinterlandgames.com/the-long-dark/roadmap/ Please remember that this is an aspirational list, meant to give you an idea of some of the things we are working on, and some of the things we hope to work on. It's possible that some of the things on the list may not end up in the game. Also, please note that over 2/3 of the development team is working exclusively on Story Mode content and features, which has an impact on Sandbox update scope and frequency. Thank you for your understanding! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-08-16 23:17:44 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Just to let you know that the team will be off work on Monday, August 2nd, due to a stat holiday. Also, we have some open positions at Hinterland, working on (obviously) The Long Dark. If you, or someone you know, meets these qualifications and is interested in contributing to the ongoing development of the game, please get in touch! http://hinterlandgames.com/career-opportunities/ ... Before you jump on us in the comments -- 1) Yes, we are working on another Sandbox update, for August 2) Yes, we are also working hard on finishing the features and content we're launching with Story Mode 3) No, we are not providing a revised launch date yet Thanks and enjoy the weekend! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-07-29 22:02:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just hotfixed The Long Dark to v.349 to fix some bugs in the recent update, Penitent Scholar.

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX HOTFIXED to v349 CHANGELIST

* Fixed crash when cancelling actions like Sharpening and Cleaning, followed by completing a different action. * Fixed issue with Fluffy spawning in the Dam 100% of the time * Fixed issue with Wolf audio sometimes playing in 2D * Fixed issue with incorrect buttons sometimes showing up on the Research UI screen * Fixed overlapping messages when trying to refuel a full Lantern * Fixed entering Dam at incorrect position/orientation * Fixed spot in Whaling Warehouse where player could get stuck * Fixed issue with vehicle colours changing after scene transitions * Fixed floating backpack after harvesting chair in Trapper’s Cabin ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

CANADA DAY HOLIDAY

Tomorrow (July 1st) in Canada Day. As such, the development and community teams will be on holiday. Therefore, community and technical support responses may be delayed by 48 hours.

[ 2016-06-30 22:10:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just hotfixed The Long Dark Sandbox to v.348 to address a few issues.

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX ALPHA HOTFIXED TO v.348 CHANGELIST

* Fixed problem with Efficient Machine progress not updating * Ensure F8 Screenshot debug info cannot stay on screen permanently * Prevent unintentional scrolling in Journal when accessed from Radial Menu * Fixed badly-scaled Salty Cracker boxes. ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2016-06-24 20:14:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just hotfixed The Long Dark Sandbox to v.347, to address a few bugs since last night's release of PENITENT SCHOLAR.

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX ALPHA HOTFIXED TO v.347 CHANGELIST

* Fixed crash that could occur on the Journal or Melt Snow UI when using a gamepad. * Fixed bug that prevented the player from leaving a ruined Snow Shelter. * Fixed issue with Wolves sometimes not attacking when player is crouched. * Updated Fire Starting UI to make it more clear that Tinder is optional when Firestarting Skill is Level 3 or higher. * Fixed bug that caused radios to float if supporting structure below them was broken down. * Clarified objective text for Whiteout Challenge. * Linux stability improvements (Required intro movies to be disabled). ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2016-06-23 22:05:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just updated The Long Dark Sandbox Alpha to v.346, which we're calling "Penitent Scholar". A video that discusses the update's major features and additions can be found here: https://youtu.be/86W0Rafd1Fs Full Changelist below:

THE LONG DARK -- SANDBOX ALPHA UPDATED TO v.346 -- "PENITENT SCHOLAR"

NEW LANGUAGES

* New Languages selectable from Display Options: French, Swedish, Korean, Chinese (Trad + Simplified), Japanese, Turkish, Norwegian

GAMEPLAY

* A Snow Shelter can now be crafted and deployed from the Radial Menu. This Shelter protects from wind and cold, but leaves you vulnerable to wildlife. * First-pass Survival Skills system has been added to the game, with the first test skills implemented. See the Skills section of the Journal for more information. The first Skills are: Firestarting, Cooking, Carcass Harvesting, Ice Fishing, Rifle Firearm * First-pass Feats system has been added to the game, with the first test Feats implemented. See the Feats section of the Badges menu interface for more information. The first Feats are: Book Smarts, Cold Fusion, Efficient Machine, Fire Master, Free Runner, Snow Walker * You can now find Research Books in the world. Spending time Researching these books will improve specific Skills. * Nomad Challenge added. Survive for 3 days each in 15 different locations around the world. * Whiteout Challenge added. Stockpile supplies and survive for 30 days as a monster blizzard bears down on you. * First-pass Almanac feature added (to support Whiteout gameplay). * It is not longer possible to Craft complex items (requiring a Workbench) in the dark. You can still Craft simple things from the Radial Menu in the dark. You also cannot Repair items in the dark. * Brandishing now costs Stamina and not Fatigue. * When breaking down items, the raw materials produced now go directly into your Backpack (vs. being placed on the ground to then be picked up). This will result in fewer bugs relating to harvesting items being stuck behind geo. * Fixed issues with Wolves sometimes walking in place. * Warmth from Bedrolls is now taken into account when Resting in Vehicles. (Note: You also get a Warmth bonus from Bedrolls when Resting in the Snow Shelter.) * You can now see descriptions for active buffs in the First Aid screen.

UI

* New Fonts added to the game. * Brightness correction now occurs before the Main Menu. Subsequent Brightness changes can be made from the Display settings, accessible from the Main Menu. * Reduced the number of stacking Damage event icons during Wolf struggles. (Note that the number of Damage events is still the same.) * Added new Skill section to Journal * Added new Almanac section to Journal * Added new Objectives section to the Journal * Added new Snow Shelter Build/Use/Dismantle UI * Added Badge art for all Challenges * Added Badge art for new Feats * The Badge interface can now be accessed from both the Main Menu and the Pause Menu * Added notifications for Skill Improvement, Skill level unlock, and Feat unlocks

AUDIO

* Added audio kickers for Skill improvement, Skill level unlock, and Feat unlocks

GENERAL

* Player is warped to a safe location if we detect player has fallen through world * Screenshot keys no longer force UI to chance from Gamepad to Mouse/Keyboard * Significantly reduced color banding in low light conditions * [For Streamers] We've added support for being able to access a second monitor without Alt-Tabbing. (Note that this will become a toggle in a future hotfix.) ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

A Note on Leaderboards

As we've deepened the options for player experience in the game, and provided more ways to share your progress with other players, we feel that Leaderboards don't represent a meaningful measurement of game progress, and therefore we are removing them effective immediately. We look forward to continuing to improve our in-game tools for sharing progress and player accomplishments.

A Note on the Test Branch Process

As many of you know, we experimented with a new Test Branch process for this update, where we provided an opt-in, pre-release test build of the game for the purposes of helping us find bugs, crashes, and balance issues. As a first test, the Test Branch was an overwhelming success! Our plan with the Test Branch is to shut it down it between Updates. Stay tuned for more information about when the Test Branch will be re-opened, and some refinements we'll be making to the overall process. We thank all of you who participated and helped make the Test Branch a big success! ###

[ 2016-06-23 00:43:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Starting with the June Sandbox Update, we are implementing a new TEST BRANCH for The Long Dark. This reflects the fact that we have a huge diversity of players on a variety of hardware configurations, and as a small studio we just can’t test them all! The idea here is to provide an early version of the next update, about a week or so before we’d like to launch it officially in the Release branch (i.e. where you are currently getting it), so that we get some extra time to find bugs, crashes, and any other issues before it goes lives for the rest of our community.

>>> IF YOU DO NOT OPT-IN TO THE TEST BRANCH, YOU WILL NOT GET IT. I.e. You will not get the Test Branch build "by accident". This should help keep spoilers to a minimum.

>>> The Test Branch will go live FRIDAY, JUNE 17th, at 1PM PST.

>>> The June Update will be migrated from the Test Branch to the Release Branch as soon as it is ready. We anticipate this will happen mid next week, but this is a HOPE and not a PROMISE.

Some details. READ THESE CAREFULLY: * The Test Branch is for STEAM ONLY. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. * The Test Branch is full of SPOILERS. If you don’t want to see what’s in the next update, stay out of the Test Branch and all its discussions. * The Test Branch is a tool for us to find issues with Work In Progress features. We’re primarily looking for feedback on bugs, crashes, and any major balancing issues. * When reporting on bugs or issues, please use the appropriate TEST BRANCH sub-forums on Steam and in our Official Community. DO NOT DISCUSS TEST BRANCH FEATURES outside the Test Branch sub-forums. Those posts will be moved or deleted. * When reporting on bugs or issues, please use the suggested templates. This will help the development team filter the feedback, eliminate duplicates, and in general ensure we can act on the feedback in a more timely fashion. Our hope is that this new Test Branch process will allow us to ensure we can continue to put out stable Sandbox updates well into the future. We’re very hopeful that the people who choose to opt-in to this Test Branch will approach this as a way to help ensure the updates are as smooth and stable as possible, and not use the Test Branch discussion as a forum to lobby for or against certain features or content. As always, The Long Dark is a community-informed, not community-driven, project. We look forward to enlisting your help in identifying whatever issues we’ve missed in our own internal testing! For more details, please check out the TEST BRANCH discussion forums [SPOILERS!] Please note this discussion is locked to anyone who doesn't own The Long Dark in their Steam library: http://steamcommunity.com/app/305620/discussions/8/ Thank you! The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-06-16 21:59:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just updated the Sandbox Roadmap document with some information about what we're working on for the June Sandbox Update.
Check it out ***HERE***! DATE: We'll provide more information about update timing as we get closer to finishing work on it. For now all we know is we're targeting a June release. REMINDER: The Roadmap is an aspirational document, so it's possible that not everything on the June Update list will make it in. But, as always, we'll do our best! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-06-03 18:26:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community, We've just hotfixed The Long Dark Sandbox to v.338. In addition to several general bug and crash fixes, we've also made some changes to the in-game lighting.

Lighting Updates

In Tireless Menace, we added colour grading to improve the treatment of colours and light in the game for various times of day. Unfortunately, this had the unexpected side effect of making the game darker for some players, depending on their hardware. In this Hotfix, we've updated all the building interiors to be more navigable during the day. We've also added an additional layer of Time of Day lighting, to better reflect the way you'd expect light to change over the course of the day. Prior to this, our interiors had two light settings -- dark (from night), and light (from dawn to dusk). Now, we gradually ramp up the daylight from dawn, to peak brightness around Noon, and then start to fade down to full darkness by dusk again. You can get a better idea of how these lighting changes look in-game in this short video.

Gameplay Tweaks

Fatigue Tuning: We also re-tuned Fatigue so it is consistent across all Experience Modes. Previously, since you would be less tired at the end of a Pilgrim day, this would mean you weren't usually fully Exhausted at the end of your "active" day and therefore couldn't Rest all the way through the night. Now, if you play with a good reasonably average activity level, you should be Exhausted by the end of a full day of exploration and activity, and be able to Rest all the way through the night. This should be true for Pilgrim, Voyageur, and Stalker. Parasites: We've decided to limit the Intestinal Parasites Affliction to Stalker mode only. Parasites definitely make the game more challenging by introducing food scarcity built around risks to the use of available Wolf and Bear meat, which is more in line with the play style preferred by our Stalker players. Cabin Fever: We've added a Cabin Fever Risk warning, to provide plenty of warning before you get Cabin Fever. This provides you with the opportunity to change your behaviour to avoid getting it. Depending on what we observe from our playtesters, if this is effective, we may re-introduce Cabin Fever as a potential risk earlier in the game (whereas currently the risk doesn't become a real concern until you have survived for 50 days in Voyageur (25 days in Stalker; Cabin Fever doesn't exist in Pilgrim). More detail on the changes below:

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX HOTFIXED to v.338 CHANGELIST

* [CRASH] Fixed Mac-specific crash when exiting interiors in Coastal Highway. * [CRASH] Fixed rare crash on Windows at startup. * [SAVING] Fixed issue with game not saving on some Unicode Windows systems. * [SAVING] Fixed problem with starting the game in an interior in Pleasant Valley and not saving the state of that interior. * [GAMEPLAY] Improved the Warmth benefit gained by Sprinting. * [GAMEPLAY] Added Cabin Fever Risk. * [GAMEPLAY] Intestinal Parasites now only occur in Stalker. * [GAMEPLAY] Reduced chance of fishing line breaking upon successfully catching a Fish. * [GAMEPLAY] Tuned Fatigue so players are likely to be able to Rest through an entire night after a full day of activity. * [ART] Improved lighting for all interiors, including a new system for Time of Day lighting. * [MISC.] Added a Brightness slider to Display Options. * [BUG] Fixed issue with AI sometimes teleporting while pathfinding. * [BUG] Fixed issue with bears not respawning. * [BUG] Fixed issue where antibiotics button could reappear when already taken dose for parasites that day. * [BUG] Fixed issue with screen inverting when inspecting the Magnifying Glass. * [BUG] Fixed issue with JackRabbit Island not being discoverable. ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2016-05-25 18:33:39 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We're working on another hotfix for The Long Dark's Sandbox, to address some outstanding issues, and also to introduce some tuning fixes. ETA on the hotfix is next Wednesday (May 25th) for Steam. A few notable highlights include: * Re-lit all interior scenes to compensate to the colour grading improvements released with Tireless Menace, which had the unfortunate side-effect of darkening the game for many players. We've made some other general improvements to Time of Day lighting as well. * Tuning changes to Rest, Fatigue, and some tweaks to Cabin Fever and Intestinal Parasites, and some other general gameplay fixes/tuning changes. * Fixes to a few outstanding crashes. The full changelist will be published with the Hotfix. Also, please note that Monday, May 23rd is a holiday in Canada, so the team will be taking the day off! Please keep this in mind for any support requests of feedback you send us, as responses will be delayed. Thank you! - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-05-20 22:17:40 CET ] [ Original post ]

Today's Deal: Save 50% on The Long Dark!*

Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!

*Offer ends Tuesday at 10AM Pacific Time

[ 2016-05-15 17:00:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, We've just hotfixed The Long Dark Sandbox to v.332 to address some bugs discovered recently.

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX HOTFIX to v.332 CHANGELIST

* Fix for autosaves not working on some systems. * Fixed issue with gear not decaying while in a specific container. * Fixed issue with some gear sometimes getting smaller when removed from a container. * Fixed issue that could cause large numbers of crows and crow feathers to spawn in specific locations. * Fixed issue where Intestinal Parasites were affecting fatigue incorrectly. * Fixed issue with Bears running too slowly. * Fixed crash when unloading the Distress Pistol. * Fixed Steam Controller issue that could accidentally trigger actions. * Fixed issue with first person items remaining offscreen when Inventory exited with Tab. * Fixed UI localized text overlap issues on HUD and journal. * Added missing localization for “no afflictions” on radial. * Fixed issue with AI sometimes spawning or despawning in view. * Burned Brands can no longer be added to inventory by pressing Equip during inspection. * Fixed problem with Save Journal option not appearing again after initial use * Fixed problem with saving icon not showing up when saving a journal * Fixed issue with equipped items not showing up in Examine UI ###END OF CHANGELIST###

[ 2016-04-29 20:57:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community, Just another quick hotfix to address a few issues we discovered last night, including one bad Cabin Fever bug that would have affected players who started in v.325.

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX HOTFIXED to v.327

* Fixed issue where Cabin Fever couldn't be treated if it was triggered during a v.325 savegame. * Fixed crash when trying to light the Torch from a fire. * Fixed issue when healing Afflictions that require two pills when holding a bottle with only one pill remaining. ###END OF CHANGELIST### Please share all your feedback, comments, and questions in the Discussion boards! Thank you. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-04-23 20:42:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

We've just hotfixed The Long Dark Sandbox to v.326, to address a few bugs and to make some tuning changes to mechanics we added in "Tireless Menace".

Intestinal Parasites

We've rebalanced Intestinal Parasites. Parasite Risk: Raw Wolf and Raw Bear meat behaves the same as before. For Cooked Wolf and Cooked Bear, you will gain Parasites Risk per piece you eat, per day. The risk will stack, and is expressed as a % in your First Aid screen. Every 24 hours, we will check against this Risk. If you don't contract Parasites within that 24-hour period, we reset this Risk to 0%. Parasites: Full-blown Parasites can now be treated with 5 Doses of Antibiotics or Reishi (Voyageur) or 10 Doses (Stalker). There is still no chance of contracting Parasites in Pilgrim. Reishi Tea: You can now brew a cup of Reishi Tea using 2 Reishi Mushrooms (reduced from 3).

Cabin Fever

We've also re-balanced Cabin Fever: * To get Cabin Fever, you now have to spend the majority of 6 days indoors. * If you develop Cabin Fever, you will now be prevented from Resting *indoors* for 24 hours. * We've added a "grace period" of 50 Days in Voyageur (25 Days in Stalker), during which you will not develop Cabin Fever. This is to "simulate" the idea that Cabin Fever only becomes an issue if you have been isolated for a long time. * There is no risk of Cabin Fever in Pilgrim. ***** We may make further changes to these systems as we continue experimenting with them and reviewing community playtest feedback. The full changelist for v.326 is below:

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX HOTFIX to v.326

* Intestinal Parasites tuning (see above for details) * Cabin Fever tuning (see above for details) * Removed affliction indicator when player only has at-risk afflictions; this indicator still appears for "full" afflictions. * Reishi Tea requirement reduced from 3 Reishi Mushrooms to 2 * Fixed issue with multiple wolves spawning in Desolation Point cave * Fixed issue that could allow rifles to spawn outside Trapper’s Cabin in the Hunted Challenge * Fixed issue with shutters disappearing on some Lake Cabins * Reduced Bedroll per-use Condition decay * Changed R3 to Click RS in Controls options ###END OF CHANGELIST###

[ 2016-04-22 22:14:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello Community! We just released a hotfix to The Long Dark Sandbox, to address a few issues we encountered from the big update, "Tireless Menace", released earlier today.

THE LONG DARK SANDBOX HOTFIXED TO v.325 CHANGELIST

* Fixed issue where some containers could be inactive when containing hides. * Fixed issue with not being able to rebind the Forward key. * Fixed issue with not being able to Rest while having the Sprain affliction. * Removed the "Sleep Until Rested" button as it was causing some bugs. This functionality can be accomplished with the current "Rest" and "Pass Time" buttons. * Fixed issue with "Risk"-type afflictions preventing gradual Condition recovery. * Sort items in inventory using the basic gear name (not the Condition descriptor). * Fixed issue with player not being able to walk up steps to the deck of the Abandoned Harris Home. * Fixed issue with blood effects not playing when wildlife shot with rifle or arrows. * Fixed issue with controller disconnect screen appearing behind Challenge Mode game over UI. * Fixed issue with reticule dot visible when holding the Distress Pistol. ###END OF CHANGELIST###

[ 2016-04-21 04:33:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello community! We've just updated The Long Dark Sandbox to v.321, which we're calling "Tireless Menace". You can check out the update video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNMJ86U4oiA&index=4&list=PLzp35YPWKwnm24FmrHtVrugJLD3IcHP-A Some highlights from the new update:

New! Radial Menu & Streamlined Status

To support our goals of deep immersion and informed decision-making, we have completely overhauled our user interface. The new Radial Menu replaces the previous Actions Panel and puts all the player’s major gameplay actions within one or two clicks or button-presses. The Radial has also made it possible to add a subset of basic craftables made directly from the menu, rather than requiring the use of a Workbench to make simple items like Torches, Bandages, Tinder Plugs, etc. The new Streamlined Status screen lets you quickly check on your Condition, Calories, and other important survival information without needing to refer to a separate screen that pulls you out of the game world. Overall we think this improves the player experience by keeping the gameplay flow uninterrupted.

New! Challenge Modes

We’ve added Challenge Modes to the Sandbox. These challenges add objective-based gameplay to the core Sandbox experience. To start with, we’re launching “Hunted, Part One”, where you have to escape a murderous bear stalking you from Pleasant Valley to Mystery Lake, with only the Distress Pistol for protection. And “Hopeless Rescue”, where you have to get from the Trapper’s Cabin, to the top of Timberwolf Mountain, and then over to fire a signal flare from the Lighthouse in Desolation Point, within seven days! We’re excited to see how you find these experiences.

Rest System Overhaul

We’ve turned Rest into a true resource. You can now only Rest when you are tired, or have an affliction that requires it. We’ve added a “Pass Time” mechanic to the Rest interface, which allows you to advance the clock, without gaining the calorie-reducing and healing benefits of Rest. And finally, we’ve added a Cabin Fever affliction, to keep things interesting for our Hibernators. We feel that these changes will go a long way towards keeping the game more interesting for long-term players, add another layer of strategic decision-making and resource management around where and when you Rest, and increase the challenge for those who’ve embraced long-term hibernation techniques.

Decay System Overhaul

Previously, items in the world would only start to decay once the player entered the region they existed in. This made tuning unnecessarily complicated and led to some undesirable player behaviours. As of this update, all items in the world now begin to decay as soon as a Sandbox is started. To balance this, all item decay rates have been re-balanced on a much longer time-scale -- 1000+ days, as compared to the previous tuning which was on more of a 100+ day timescale. We’ve also added some decay modifiers to account for interior/exterior storage, and more realistic decay for fish and meat items (both raw and cooked). We feel that this overhaul keeps item decay at reasonable levels while supporting both nomadic (explorers) and sedentary (hunkering down) play styles.

First-Person Presence for Wolf Struggle

We’ve added first-person hands and held weapons to Wolf struggle, to hopefully clarify for players that they are actually using the best tool in their inventory during the struggle (which has always been the case, but never been well visualized before). We hope that this will help players understand what is happening during the Wolf struggle, and also serves as a proof of concept for further work we’d like to do to improve the sense of first-person presence in the game. Those are just some highlights from Tireless Menace. See the full changelist below!

THE LONG DARK™ -- SANDBOX UPDATED TO v.321, “TIRELESS MENACE” -- FULL CHANGELIST

Gameplay, Tuning & User Interface

* New! Radial Menu and streamlined Status Screens. * New! Sandbox Challenge Modes: “Hunted, Part One”, and “Hopeless Rescue”. * New! Emergency Stim gear item. Emergency stims added into various locations (also made available in older saves) and also available in some containers. * New! Brands can now be taken from a burning fire (replacing Torches taken from fires; Torches are still craftable). * New! There is now a chance of getting Cabin Fever from spending too many continuous hours inside. * New! There is now a chance of contracting Intestinal Parasites from eating too much meat from carnivores (i.e. Wolves and Bears). * New! Added a Curiosity state to Wolf AI. There is now a chance that Wolves will hang back and follow the player from a distance, before deciding to either leave, or stalk the player. * Refreshed wildlife spawning in all major regions (except bears). * Overhauled item degradation behaviour and retuned all decay rates for 1000+ day timescale. Gear decay now begins at game start for all items in the world. All Clothing items decay based on a daily rate modified for interior/exterior storage, and player use. All food decay is based on storage (interior vs. exterior) and, for fish and meat, whether an item is raw or cooked. All tools continue to decay based on use only. * Removed decay from Matches. * Added various rope climbs and climbing anchor points across all regions (including access to a couple of previously inaccessible areas). * Added rope gear spawns into a few locations (also made available in older saves). * Journals can now be saved on the death screen. Saved journals can be viewed from the main menu. A maximum of 10 journals can be saved at any given time. * Updated the gear naming system to reflect item condition (applies to Food and Clothing items, currently). * Complete overhaul to Rest system. Player cannot Rest if there is no fatigue. Added a Passing Time mechanic to allow advancement of time. * Added slow Condition gain while awake and healthy (i.e. no Afflictions, and not Starving, Exhausted, Dehydrated, or Freezing). * Added Hypothermia Risk affliction, as an early warning system to help avoid “surprise” Hypothermia. * Added more stats tracking including: Intestinal Parasites, Cabin Fever. * Differentiated all light sources more clearly, by tuning burn times, Brandishing effectiveness, and item “cost”. This applies to Torches, Flares, Brands, and Lanterns. * Flares are now Brandished and not thrown. * AI will now ignore dropped Torches and Flares. * Harvesting Branches now produces 3 Sticks (increased from 2). * Harvesting Sticks now produces 2 Tinder Plugs (increased from 1). * Hatchets now modify Branch harvesting time correctly. * Brandishing now only works if an item is lit. * Items that decay to 0% Condition will now be marked Ruined, but persist in the world. * Increased the Wind speed required to blow out existing fires, as well as which prevents fires from being started. This should reduce instances of strong fires being blown out suddenly due to wind changes. * Delay condition-loss from Bear struggle until the struggle animation is complete. (This does not apply to Wolf struggles.) * Combined Stats with Journal. Made accessible from Main Menu and Deathscreen as well as in game. * Simple Crafting now accessible directly from Radial Menu (see above for more details). * Updated art for Feed Fire screen. * In the Options screen, Key Bindings will now display a mouseover effect. * Show sheltered icon when in caves and other large enclosed spaces outdoors.

Art, Animation, FX

* New! Added experimental First-Person presence for Wolf Struggles with Knife, Hatchet, and Prybar. * New! First pass on colour grading. * New! Added rim lighting effect for night-time lighting. It should be more possible to see the “edges” of snow banks and things on clear, moonlit nights, enhancing night-time navigation. * Improved the Bear model and texture. * Improved the Bear animations. * Improved the Wolf animations. * Updated the visual effects for Torches, Flares, Lanterns, and Brands, so that flames begin to “sputter” when you are running low on burn time. * Added new Footprints system, which improves the footprint visuals as well as respects weather conditions; footprints will persist for a longer period of time, unless filled in by snow or high winds. (Future improvements to this system will be focused on enhanced Tracking gameplay.) * Improved draw distance for falling snow. * Updated the “light shafts” window effect to improve performance. * Increased the visibility of blood drops, to aid with tracking wounded animals. * Added blood splatter effect when player is injured by blood loss event (ex. during wolf struggle), when wildlife is hit, and when a carcass is harvested. Also, when hit, the first blood drops from a bleeding animal will be larger, to help the player determine the direction of the animal’s movement.

Misc.

* New! The game now supports Steam Cloud Saves for Windows, Mac and Linux. This means that you can continue to play your saved games across multiple systems (provided you are using the same Steam account). * New! More graceful handling of corrupt or incompatible save games. Saves will be shown as corrupt or incompatible in the UI, allowing players to remove them and avoiding system crashes due to corrupted save files. * New! All game sessions are now saved upon start, not at first Rest or interior/exterior transition. This should result in fewer “mysterious” save losses when players abandon games before they have been auto-saved. * Improved Steam Controller support. All in-game actions can now be rebound using the steam controller configuration screen. * Particle optimization now active for Windows. This should result in better performance of heavy snow and blizzard conditions for some players. * Mac and Linux rendering now uses OpenGL 4.1, which should result in some performance improvements for players on those platforms. * Added error handling for updating to default key-bindings due to the addition of new controls (ex. the new radial menu is bound to the Space Bar by default). Note that this error will only be seen if a newly added binding was already in use. * The save icon now appears when saving the player profile. * Added save file compression which results in smaller save files and faster cloud-save uploads.

Audio

* New! Added master volume slider. * Added more general ambient and exploration music, and fixed some issues that were preventing ambient music from playing in certain circumstances. * Fixed issues that were preventing desired gameplay speech from playing. As a result, you should hear more gameplay-relevant voice feedback from the survivor personae. * Overhauled struggle audio for both Wolves (to account for new first-person presence) and for the Bear struggle (to make it more impressive). * Footstep audio now differentiates between shoes, boots, and bare feet.

Bug Fixes

* We now display an error message if user tries to use a stove to start a fire but are missing all of the required items. * Fixed issue where you could get stuck in an infinite cooking loop when using gamepad/controller. * Fixed issue where you could get stuck in an infinite crafting loop. * Fixed issue where you could quit the game in the middle of a save, which would result in corrupted save files. * Fixed issue where worn-out tools could be used one extra time. * Fixed Distress Pistol using wrong ammo icon on inventory screen. * Fixed issue where the First Aid screen would not update if an affliction healed itself while the screen was open. * Fixed a bug causing the player to holster the held item while cancelling item placement. * Fixed issue where blood trails were only being left when wildlife was fleeing. * Bears are now spawned facing outwards from Dens. This helps fix some pathing issues when the bear attempts to leave the Den. * Fix issue with items being left behind when transitioning scenes with item placement in progress * Fixed issue with corpses getting re-oriented after loading a save. * Fixed issue where players could add fuel to fires that had already blown out (the fire FX didn’t reflect this state). * Fixed issue with camera sometimes crashing into geometry when placing a campfire. * Fixed issue with being able to place snares too close to geometry, causing the snared rabbit to be inaccessible * Fixed issue with Bear playing sleep animations after leaving the sleep AI state. ### END OF CHANGELIST ###

[ 2016-04-20 18:05:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

Just a quick note to let you know that the next update to The Long Dark's Sandbox should be landing next week. We're just finalizing some bugs, and integrating some non-English translations. This update adds some new gameplay tools, overhauls some core Sandbox systems, and introduces a whole new way to experience the Sandbox, along with a host of other fixes and improvements! We're really excited to get this into your hands some time the second half of next week (if all goes well with our finaling phase). In the mean time...a little teaser for you.

[ 2016-04-15 19:35:56 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello all, It's Spring 2016, and you've been patiently waiting for news on Story Mode. We've put together an extensive post providing a progress update, as well as a video showing some of the content and features we'll be releasing with launch, and a link to a development roadmap for Sandbox Mode. You can check out the Story Mode Progress Update here. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-04-04 16:42:14 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello all, We're busy at work on Story Mode and we hope to share an update on that progress soon! In the mean time, check out this PC Gamer article that goes behind the scenes and tells you a bit about our founding, our studio, the team, and our goals for The Long Dark! There are a lot more photos of the studio and images from the game in the February print issue, which is on sale right now! We'll have more to share on development progress soon, so stay tuned. - The Hinterland Team

[ 2016-02-19 20:23:19 CET ] [ Original post ]