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
TRUE SURVIVAL COMES TO NINTENDO SWITCH
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
Dev Diary – August 2020
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.
The Long Dark Hotfixed to v1.83 [64569]
We’ve 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 WINTER’S EMBRACE.
A big part of any of these events is player participation and we would love to hear about your experience playing WINTER’S 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 WINTER’S EMBRACE event.
### END OF CHANGELIST ###
The Long Dark Hotfixed to v1.82 [64400]
We’ve 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 you’ve 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 ###
The Long Dark Hotfixed to v1.81 [64098]
We’ve 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 Player’s 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 WINTER’S 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 ###
The Long Dark Hotfixed to v1.80 [63997]
We’ve 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 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 v1.80 (63997) CHANGELIST
GENERAL FIXES
[General] Cabin Fever disabled when playing WINTER’S EMBRACE
[General] Players who are currently suffering from Cabin Fever while playing Winter’s Embrace will automatically recover after loading their WINTER’S EMBRACE save.
### END OF CHANGELIST ###
Will You Survive WINTER’S EMBRACE?
Hello players,
We’re 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, WINTER’S 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) we’re also adding two new Canadian-themed Food items:
Maple Syrup
Ketchup Chips
To celebrate your time in WINTER’S EMBRACE, we’ll 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 WINTER’S EMBRACE is active.
Winter in July: Survive 25 consecutive days across a single WINTER’s EMBRACE save, while the event is active.
Please note that you don’t have to accomplish both these tasks in the same game!
As another nod to Canada Day, we’re 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, we’ve 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 WINTER’S EMBRACE ends, but you won’t be able to get the badges after July 31st at 10am PST, so we hope you’ll 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 WINTER’S EMBRACE item from the Main Menu. If you run into any issues, please contact us at thelongdark.com/support.
We hope you enjoy WINTER’S 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 WINTER’S 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 Valley’s 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 Flashlight’s 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 ###
The Long Dark Hotfixed to V1.78 [62973]
We’ve 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 game’s Main Menu, under Options>Privacy.
Statement from Hinterland in Support of Black Lives Matter
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 isn’t 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.
