Dec 18, 2020

The Long Dark - hinterland_community

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

Dec 10, 2020

The Long Dark Hotfixed to v1.90 [70139]

The Long Dark - hinterland_community

We’ve 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.

Dec 7, 2020

HESITANT PROSPECT Update Now Live

The Long Dark - hinterland_community

The Long Dark’s 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. It’s 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 Survivor’s 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

We’ve made some quality of life improvements to the game’s Front End, including the Region Selection menu. You’ll also notice that we’ve updated the game’s 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.

---

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 Backpack

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 Bear’s 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 ###

Nov 3, 2020

The Long Dark Hotfixed to v1.87 [68142]

The Long Dark - hinterland_community

We’ve 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 Player’s character is coughing from toxic smoke
Updated localization.
Map now centers on the Player’s 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.

Oct 29, 2020

ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER Now Live!!!

The Long Dark - hinterland_community

Something is hunting survivors in The Long Dark and it’s not just the game’s 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 you’re 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 we’ve 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 you’ll 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 you’re 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 that’s 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

Oct 15, 2020

Dev Diary – October 2020

The Long Dark - hinterland_community

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 year’s Halloween event, ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER, is different from what we’ve 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 can’t 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, you’ll 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 can’t see the entity, you’ll have to count on what you can HEAR to stay alive. Listen for the entity’s cries, its footsteps, and how the spooky music builds as it approaches your location.

You can run but you cannot hide! Walls won’t 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

We’re 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. We’ll release more details as we get closer to the update, but this piece of concept art might give you some ideas.

EPISODE FOUR

The team’s 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. We’ll 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.

We’re looking forward to seeing what you think about ESCAPE THE DARKWALKER. Get ready, and have fun with it.

- Raphael

Sep 17, 2020

TRUE SURVIVAL COMES TO NINTENDO SWITCH

The Long Dark - hinterland_community

After a long slow-burn development process, we’re 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 you’re sitting at your desk, on your couch, or on the road searching for your next shelter, you’ll have the same innovative exploration-survival experience regardless of what platform you’re 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 you’re 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

Aug 20, 2020

Dev Diary – August 2020

The Long Dark - hinterland_community

Hello community,

Apologies that it’s 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! We’re thrilled about this. So that’s one really positive thing and I try to focus on that. We’re also happy that despite things being pretty upside down, we were still able to release our FEARLESS NAVIGATOR update, as well as run our WINTER’S 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 I’ll be able to get done!”. Looking back at that time, I realize how naive that thought was. We’ve 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 I’m 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 we’re 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, I’d 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 don’t feel good about releasing Episode Four this year. We had originally hoped to have it ready for launch in December, but with everything that’s been going on, it’s just been tough to work very optimally. We’ve 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 it’s 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 we’re making progress every day, but I just don’t feel good about keeping the team locked to a December release because we don’t crunch at Hinterland and the only way to hit December is if we compromise on quality or scope. We don’t want that, and you don’t want that. So we aren’t going to do that.

So we’re not shipping Episode Four this year. I’m 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. We’re still here for you. Just fighting through “the long dark”, in our own way.

I’ll 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.