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 ]
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- The Long Dark: Tales from the Far Territory
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What is The Long Dark?
The Long Dark is a thoughtful, exploration-survival experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness. There are no zombies -- only you, the cold, and everything Mother Nature can throw at you.Current Game Features
The Early Access version of The Long Dark features the game’s non-narrative Survival Sandbox mode. The game will leave Early Access one we launch Episode One of our Story Mode. All Season One episodes are included in the cost of Early Access.- No hand holding! The game challenges players to think for themselves by providing the information but never the answers. You have to earn the right to survive.
- Permadeath! See how long you can survive, check your standing on the global Leaderboards, then head back in and push yourself to survive longer.
- Monitor your Calorie count, Hunger and Thirst, Fatigue, and Body Temperature. Maintain your overall Condition if you want to survive. Let yourself weaken and any small threat may lead to your death.
- Over 30 square kms of wilderness to explore (and with more regions coming!). Mystery Lake, Coastal Highway, Desolation Point, Pleasant Valley, and more, all interconnected and each with dozens of explorable locations.
- Dynamic weather, wildlife, and time of day, all with an impact on how you choose to survive.
- Over 100 gear items including clothing, tools like hatchets and rifles, first aid equipment, foodstuffs, light sources like lanterns and flares, and firestarting equipment.
- Hunt Deer, Snare Rabbits, and watch for Crows as they can signify the presence of animal, or human, corpses that can be vital sources of Supplies. Wolves are territorial and will defend their territory, or stalk you if they catch your scent. If you let them get too close, you may find yourself in a desperate struggle to survive. Be on the lookout for Black Bears, as they roam the landscape in search of food.
- Harvest Wood for fuel, maintain your Gear and Clothing, and keep your Knife, Hatchet, and Rifle in top shape as they will save your life!
- Harvest Medicinal plants like Old Man's Beard Lichen, Rose Hips, Reishi Mushrooms.
- Deep First Aid system featuring many afflictions including: Sprains, Blood Loss, Infection Risk, Infection, Food Poisoning, Dysentery, and more.
- Craft Snares, First Aid items, Repair your Clothing and Tools, and Harvest raw materials from the environment, as you do your best to become self-sufficient.
- ...and much more!
Ongoing Development
With an average of 3-4 updates per month, The Long Dark is in a state of constant improvement. We have released over 75 updates since bringing the game to Early Access. Updates typically include new gameplay, tuning, new areas, items, and visual improvements. We are constantly improving the game based on our iterative development process, with input from the community.
Please note that the Early Access price provides immediate access to the Sandbox Mode, and includes the cost of Season One episodes of the Story Mode, the first of which will be available at the game's full launch.
The Hinterland Team
The Long Dark is brought to you by Hinterland Studio, an independent game developer comprised of industry veterans with significant credits on many renowned series including Far Cry, Red Faction, Saints Row, God of War, Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Company of Heroes, and many others. The Long Dark is the team's first attempt to create a unique and thought-provoking independent game that pushes the boundaries of the medium.
We appreciate your support of our efforts!
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