The Long Dark (PC)

McSasquatch

What's this? A first person survival game with nary a zombie in sight??

In The Long Dark, you play a pilot who crashes in the northern wilderness during an electromagnetic event that renders all electronics useless. The aim of the game is simply to survive - find food and shelter, explore, ward off wild animals and other survivors.

The game is still over a year away, but here's the first actual gameplay video with commentary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65qslR8hJ60

Must admit, I really like the visual style they're going with. At the same time though, I worry that the surroundings will appear fairly samey after a while. Anyway, it's one I'm keeping an eye on - Hinterland was founded by a group of seasoned big studio veterans, and with TLD they hope to please those of us who like "atmospheric, exploration-focused games like Fallout 3 or STALKER". Nice!

Kiith

Looks pretty good. Is it just survival, or is there some sort of construction mechanic to it (i.e. build a fort)?

Also, I love the sound of the snow crunching under his boots.

McSasquatch

I'm not sure if construction of forts will be possible, I guess mainly because there's a story element which requires you to explore (there is a storyless sandbox survival mode too though). The game will have crafting and the construction of temporary shelters, as well as establishing more permanent "safe houses" but I reckon these will be cabins you find at predetermined locations.

I should have included a few links in the OP. They'll give more info than I can;


The Long Dark website.
Hinterland Games website.
Kickstarter Page (funding already acheived, though still adding stretch goals).

Bill Tarling

There's also a lot of info on the Hinterland Forum (the developers are excellent at keeping everyone updated, and there's great interaction with the backers and others)

There's also an Interview/Article thread which contains links to a lot of direct one-on-one Q&A's about TLD [The Long Dark]. There's a lot of insight and details, covering a huge range of gameplay aspects, how/why TLD is different than the usual mass game approach to gaming, how/why major the Triple-AAA united for such an unusual project, etc. etc. etc.

You'll quickly see why there's such gaming buzz about TLD (and the developers are so community oriented that we backers feel like we're part of the Hinterlander family now)...

The backers physical goods (a lot of great stuff including signed artwork, posters, and TLD t-shirts to name just a few items) are already being prepared for shipping so most backers should receive them before Xmas if you get in on time -- and they're really close to reaching their 3rd stretch goal for even more game bonuses.

Alpha game version release for backers is tentatively slated for spring 2014, and the backers Beta release is slated for summer 2014 -- definitely consider one of the alpha/beta backing tiers to get your hands on the game long before its public release.

For real gaming techies, TLD will also be supporting Oculus Rift game play.

McSasquatch

New in-game screenshots over on Eurogamer... they're going to be my desktop wallpaper for a while.

Bill Tarling

The Long Dark has set up a new forum (replacing the previous board and link):
www.hinterlandforums.com

Yeti Beast

Hands-on over at PC Gamer.

Burning Eclipse

I'm a backer for this game, and am very excited for it to drop onto Steam Early access (Sandbox, as opposed to narrative) next Monday - September 22nd! Art style is fantastic and the lack of zombies makes a nice difference.

Burning Eclipse

Anybody pick this up yesterday? I played for about an hour, and I'm still not dead. Enjoyed it a lot so far, we'll see how I feel at the 10 hour mark, that should be a good indication of longevity for the sandbox mode.

Not sure how others are faring out, but I can never seem to have enough calories!

I really want to play this but the sound of walking on snow is just one of those things that makes me shudder.

richymcdermott

i feel there is too many of these sort of games at the moment and being abit clustered, between games like the long dark and the forest , rust to be enough to be different enough.

Mal-Adjusted

richymcdermott wrote: »

i feel there is too many of these sort of games at the moment and being abit clustered, between games like the long dark and the forest , rust to be enough to be different enough.

I just stumbled on this now and the very first thing i thought of was "the forest", though obviously they look very different. one is more of a horror game than the other appears to be. I might end up getting one or both of them (once they come out of early access. I got stung last week with that)

Grumpypants

Got this today and very impressed. This is still early access so all you really do is wander in the sandbox for as long as you can.

First game lasted around 16 hours (not real time) then got eaten by a wolf. Second time I lasted 3 days before the wolf got me.

Really like that is makes sense in a survival world, always hungry, cold and thirsty. You need a tool to harvest meat from dead animals, you need a fire to melt and boil snow to drink or cook the meat.

Haven't really started to drill into the crafting side of things yet but that seems like it is the key to surviving rather than just wandering.

Grumpypants

Died of starvation.
Died from loss of blood.
Died from wolf attack.
Died from hypothermia.
Died from food poisoning after eating raw meat.

Longest I lasted was 3 days.

Started harvesting unwanted items to break them down into cloth, leather or metal to then use to repair your clothing so you can stay warmer for longer and last a bit longer.

Started harvesting from dead animals once i got a hunting knife, meat once cooked gives you 1000 calories, but not cooking it gives you food poisoning.

Need to start approaching it differently, until now I was just wandering looking to explore but it is too much of a wilderness to be able to make it too far. You need to set up supply drops on your trial and never be too far from your base with a fire to cook some grub and get warm and a bed.

Great game though.


edit:

Lasted 4 days 17 hours this time, every time i die i learn something new which is good. Makes starting over not feel pointless like it does in Day Z. This time it was to look out for circling birds as there is usually a corpse human or deer close by that you can get some grub off.

It really doesn't reward wandering like other games where things are hidden and you stubble across them. This game rewards thinking things out and punishes you hard for being foolish.

Dave_The_Sheep

Grumpypants wrote: »

It really doesn't reward wandering like other games where things are hidden and you stubble across them. This game rewards thinking things out and punishes you hard for being foolish.

You can say that again.

Got it in the sales yesterday, died a handful of times before starting near enough to a logging camp. Looted the sheds nearby, set up a nice fire, boiled some water ... but I've no food. Went to find some nearby, stalked and killed by wolves. Bastards.

I was hoping the sandbox map would be randomised, but apparently it's not - you can get the map online - though I'm trying to avoid that. That's a pity.

Grumpypants

The map stays the same but the items randomize and it is so easy to get lost in a blizzard. The pain of setting off, walking for 15 mins to raluze you just done a big circle back to your foodless but !

New area has opened up with more houses but way more wolves too.

GottaGetGatt

Started playing this last night on the X1 and loving it.Went ahead and bought the game today.I somehow managed to get into Pleasant valley by entering caves after i left the Hydro Dam even though that Area isnt unlocked.Have i glitched the game? ha

MiskyBoyy

You can edit the title to say (PC/XB1) now too

Already have it on steam but will probably buy it on XB1 too. Great game!

MiskyBoyy

sweetie

MiskyBoyy wrote: »

You can edit the title to say (PC/XB1) now too

Already have it on steam but will probably buy it on XB1 too. Great game!

€9.50 from our soviet friends

MiskyBoyy

sweetie wrote: »

€9.50 from our soviet friends

Bought it just after posting that lol

Baron McBoomBoom

i love survival games but this one feels a bit too.... real. Its more a simulator than anything else. I found most of the time I was exploring I just either bored senseless or being horribly killed. In the end I decided to give up for a few months and check it agian once theres a few more updates

Vision of Disorder

I'm really enjoying this. The mood and tone of it is beautiful and even in sandbox I'm more than happy with what I've paid for. It's a lonely sort of experience though, I'll give it that!

Mickeroo

Looks like the game has just left Early Access and the story mode is coming out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syoDWIt9yZY

Internet Friend

Have been playing survival a bit, tempted to jump in to the game now but might wait for all 5 episodes. Looks interesting.

Canis Lupus

I bought into it on a whim. It wasn't as interesting as I wanted it to be Story mode might change my opinion though.

Glebee

I was really enjoying this game although it was turning into a bit of a walking simulator mid way through second chapter and then l I got to the section in the where I had to kill the bear. Im ready to quit, cant take any more walking around the map to find him..
*Scratch that I killed the SOB.

sock.rocker*

Just had a go at this for the first time.. Lasted 15 days on my first go and honestly feel like that's a good place to leave the game.

Anyone here play it a lot? I find the walking speed to be quite annoying whereas I didn't think that with Firewatch.

Joshua J

Episode one and two have gotten the Redux treatment with episode 3 on the way. If you're a fan of survival/crafting games this is a must imo.

Kirby

Wasn't a fan of the story tbh. It's written poorly and has annoying gameplay.

The sandbox is much more fun.

Glebee

I liked the story mode better although never realy gave the sandbox a try.

The part with the bear in episode 2 though nearly finished me with The Long Dark

Grumpypants

I would have loved the sandbox gameplay with an end game. Something simple like find a map, a radio, get power to it, and get to a point so you can get in touch with a rescue team who will show up at x point in 7 days and then survive until they get there.

Glebee

New episode released last week for The Long Dark. Went back to give it a try and find that my games does not seem to be saved on Steam. Cannot face replaying the first two episodes again..:(:(

Joshua J

Glebee wrote: »

New episode released last week for The Long Dark. Went back to give it a try and find that my games does not seem to be saved on Steam. Cannot face replaying the first two episodes again..:(:(

You're not missing much tbh. Thought it was poor.

I got this for free on the Epic Store, and loaded it up a few months back on. It really is an outstanding game. The story mode is fine, but the sandbox mode is an incredibly rich and immersive experience. Went straight into interloper mode, and have now managed to survive for 45 days on the latest run through. It's very slow paced, and can be punishingly difficult. It has some annoying quirks, but I really haven't played a game like it. Every action has consequences. There's a deep feeling of reward in deciding to move to a new area, finding a new place to base yourself from, and crafting enough to survive for even a few days longer. And not a zombie or monster in sight.

I know this has become quite the cult classic, and am hoping the developers create a sequel. I'm a very casual gamer (Geforce Now on the Nvidia Shield) and this is the sort of game that really appeals to me.

Zero-Cool

I have a month of psnow, must try this.