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A system of cells interlinked
I made a bit of progress in The Long Dark. I've started with the story mode for now, but it seems a bit on rails, so I think I will start a proper survival game sooner rather than later. I will trudge along in the story a bit longer, just to experiment and explore the mechanics a bit more, after which I will jump over to the real game.

A couple of extremely close calls so far, with my condition getting down to just a sliver of red, but I managed to pull out of it both times, so I have yet to die. I am really liking the quiet aspects of the game, and it seems fairly realistic so far.

Any non-spoilery beginner hints are welcome, btw.

I left off here last night:



Good to have some shelter!
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



Yeah, I thought about suggesting story mode just for a bit and then jumping into survival. Then again, I kinda loved learning this stuff all on my own, too. It's frustrating at first but really adds to the immersion.

My hints might be out of date because they've added layer upon layer to the survival system (most of my playing was done when wet clothes weren't a thing, for example). But the stuff I learned the hard way was to treat it as if you really were in threat of your life, in reality, and not in a video game. IE: never just venture off because you're curious without thinking about how much you have, how much daylight is left, how likely it is you can get back to whatever excuse for a base you might have.

Try really, really hard to find an indoor location (hopefully with a stove, otherwise you'll be going back and forth a lot), and plan your excursions from that point carefully. Even so, in some places it won't be possible to explore properly and get back without walking throughout the night, so at that point, try to have enough on you that if you need to spend one night outside by some wreckage, you can (IE: a bedroll, and stuff to keep a fire going all night).

Clothing condition goes down, too, faster in poor weather and a lot faster if you're, er, attacked. Keep an eye on it, and take clothing you don't need (inferior, identical to what you have) and break it down, and use the cloth once you find a sewing kit to repair what you already have.



A system of cells interlinked
Great hints.

One of the close calls I had was when i was forced to walk around at night because I got turned around a got a bit lost. I ended up on the lee side of a boulder huddled next to fire. I had to pop in and out of cover to pick sticks up quite a bit, and the cold/wind chill would get to me really fast. And it was snowing. Visibility was pretty rough, and the only light source I had was a torch, which would just blow out in the wind.

The story mode still has you figuring out most everything on your own, so I have had to rely on my wits quite a bit to get things done. When I start over, I am going to try to get tighter on how I use my time and resources, and I have noticed I get into trouble quickly when I am frivolous with resources.

Also, I have spent quite a bit of time throwing rocks at rabbits, and I am still pretty bad at it.



Heh, yeah, I dunno if the time/reward ratio is high there. I think rocks and rabbits are a last resort. Most meat you'll get will probably be from animal carcasses you find or the ones you have to fend off to defend yourself. Fishing's not a bad option, too, if you're on the right map for it. I even know of one that has fishing huts on the ice, near a great indoor base location, but you can discover that on your own.

And yeah, getting lost is a real thing. It's humbling, without a mini map! That should've been in my original post, too: pay a lot of attention to landmarks. And don't trust yourself. I'd often think "oh, I'll remember it's in this general direction," but that was a coin flip when push came to shove, especially in the dark. The safer things were always things like "hug this mountain line all the way until the train tracks."



A system of cells interlinked
I am hoping to find something to cut wood with soon, and I keep finding downed limbs that would give me a great supply, but so far, I am still scrounging for random pieces of firewood and sticks.

Say, what difficulty do you play on?



Whatever the middle one is. I think a good chunk of my playtime was before they even had difficulty settings, though, and the middle one was the closest to what I was already playing.



A system of cells interlinked
There used to be three difficulties, but I think they have added a super-punishing hard mode at this point, called Interloper. I probably won't play at that level!

The middle one used to be Voyager, which I think I will go with once I go to survival mode, although Stalker looks intriguing...

Updated info about the levels is here.



Thanks. Yeah, Voyager seems the most balanced for new people. I guess if you have a super hard time Pilgrim might help you get used to the world. It also might be more fun for some people to use Pilgrim to familiarize yourself with a landscape before introducing more challenges, but I think Voyager's the way to go. Please update us/me! This is one of those games I just love hearing about, because it produces such dramatic and interesting experiences.

I'm gonna see if I go back and find some of the ones I posted earlier in this thread.



A system of cells interlinked
You know me, I usually lean into the hard modes in games, so it's tempting to ratchet it up right from the start, but I hear the story is kind of easy, and I already almost died twice. Voyager it is! I will post updates as I play.



A system of cells interlinked
Glad I just saw THIS.

I am going right into Survival mode next time I play, as it looks like Wintermute is getting wiped INCLUDING SAVES, so they can deploy the redux. I will hold off on more story stuff until then, and even then, may just end up playing survival instead.



Yeah, as hooked on this game as I was, I didn't even finish the first couple of episodes of story mode. I understand they fixed a lot of the things people hated about it, but I'm unlikely to go back and finish it anytime soon. Survival is where it's at. I'm not sure they really "got" what people loved about that mode and figured out how to weave it into a narrative.



A system of cells interlinked
The narrative seems cool so far, but yea, they just sort of push you along in a certain direction to hit all the story beats.

By the way, any recommendations on which map to start on in the survival mode?



A system of cells interlinked
Mystery Lake, for sure. I can't even imagine trying to get a foothold, especially new to the game, in some of those other ones.
Great! Timberwolf Mountain it is.

I kid, I kid...



there's a frog in my snake oil
Lord knows Star Citizen may never become a fun game by design. Or indeed a functioning one. But its bugs truly are the most cinematic in town.



No R*, your donkey balls just don't cut it

Full reveal here...
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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
This is the thing. I don't know how much actual fun I'm having, but I'm playing the game for hours at a time.


Sometimes riding an arabian horse through elevation and geography changes is all you need.


I don't see this game being any different than other GTA/RDR game. It gets sticky for me on doing side missions vs. progressing the story. Do a lot of the side missions and you often become overpowered. Push through the story and there is little value in doing side missions. I also imagine the money mechanic is as pointless as it usually is.



It's weird how good the game looks, but I still don't get that "Uncharted" shine bright like a diamond feel. That's kinda good here. It seems to lend itself to having a natural feel.


Man. That horse mechanic tho.



The People's Republic of Clogher
The best looking game of all time, anyway, is Mortal Kombat.

I mean, they're real!
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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan



A system of cells interlinked
Started a proper game of The Long Dark last night, probably too late in the evening for my own good, as now I am dragging ass a bit today. I think I lucked out a bit, as I managed to find a hatchet in the first five minutes or so, and then a small shack about 5 minutes after that. I am a little short of food at the moment, but managed to kill a few rabbits to tide me over until I can range out a bit farther and hopefully find some animal carcasses.

I am already liking this mode a lot more. There are no narrow ravines I have to follow along to hit story beats, which made me feel sort of funneled along in the other mode. It's more like "OK, it looks like there might be something over that way", or, "I hear crows over this way, so off I go."

Next up, I will head out to secure some food (I hope).



One more bump for Fallout 76, which goes live at midnight tonight in most places. I doubt I'll stay up to play it then, but I'll probably play it a lot tomorrow and possibly Thursday.

I've got a SpyParty friend who already played a handful of hours with me during the BETA, but there's plenty of room for others if anyone wants to get in on a crew. I'll still be playing solo plenty I'm sure, since the team stuff feels very different and I wouldn't wanna do it all the time, but I'd love to try to make something happen once or twice a week, maybe on Saturdays or Sundays, because of time zones, if anyone's thinking of playing!



A system of cells interlinked
And things were going so well...

I had secured a small shelter, and had eaten and rested so that all my meters were pretty full, but my food supplies were getting pretty low. There were rabbits nearby, but I hate rabbits, and they don't yield much, so don't really seem worth the calories/time spent. I rested until morning and then decided to head out over a nearby rise to see what I could find.

Not much over the first ridge, so I continued on. Over the next ridge, I noticed what looked like stacks of logs spread out over various intervals, and I saw crows circling in the distance. Food! It was starting to snow, but it was pretty light and there wasn't much wind, so I decided to get over to the food fast, harvest it, and then get back to my shelter in case the storm worsened.

Mice and men, my friends, mice and men. As I approach the carcass, I notice a wolf feeding. Drat. I need that food. Just as I notice the wolf, he notices me, and he begins growling. Hmm, I am pretty sure he is more interested in eating then chasing me around, so I I can probably...AHHHHHHH! Another wolf! I fumble for my hatchet and try to fend him off quickly, I manage to hit it and it runs off, but I am pretty beat up. Oh no...the wind is picking up and the snow is getting heavier. I still haven't retrieved any food...what do I do? I decide I don't hate rabbits after all, and I turn around to head back. I limp towards the direction I think my shelter is in...

10 minutes later: I'm lost. I was sure my shelter was this way, but visibility is low, and all the trees look the same. The snow is whipping by now, and I am COLD. I've got a frostbite warning and hypothermia risk. I stop and pull out my little map...the area I had surveyed is now over to the left. ****! I turn left and hurry along as fast as I can go. Please..please...please...man, I can't see very far ahead. Open then map again. I think I am closer...no...heading the wrong way somehow. I spin around and head another direction. That's when I hear growling again. Oh man...

DEAD. Gobbled by a second wolf. I lasted about 4 days total.

I've started up again, and have managed too find a trapper's homestead, but I don't have the hatchet, or even a knife yet. At least I have a stove, and I see a carcass nearby. I quit out and went to bed after that, so we shall see what happens next!