The Story of My First Playthrough

[Ehsan]

I decided to write about the experience of my first play through that made me to fall in love with this game, in details, both because how much I loved it, and because I’m trying to write my first book after years of thinking about it and thought I could use the practice. It will be as long as it will be (I survive a total number of 17 days in my first try and it was a wonderful experience), and I will update it in chapters as I get feedbacks. So here it goes!

Chapter 1) The Logging Camp

I bought the game in a special steam sales in addition to several other survival titles, which I was hooked on since minecraft, and it was just sitting there waiting for its moment. After the searing frustration of losing a Don’t Starve character after 350 days of survival to an overzealous vegetarian underground bunny, you know, the type that appear from nowhere to comment under steak/kebab/grill posts in the social media, I decided to try the Long Dark as it appeared to be a less stressful survival game compared to others that are out there. No cheesy zombie hoard/hound wave/giants that would destroy the labor of the hours that I so lovingly wasted!

I chose voyageur difficulty and spawned in the Mystery Lake, beside the logging camp. I’ve already checked the controls in the options menu, one of the first things that I do when I start a new game. I began foraging the cabins, finding a T-Shirt, food and a can opener. Dismantled some innocent looking crates with my bare hands until I found a hatchet that allowed me to slaughter tables and shelves with impunity. After clearing out the cabins I searched the outside. Picked some berries by the bushes outside a derelict building, which I found were of no use despite having 16 of them! Well, I thought maybe I will cook meatballs with the berries later so I hanged on to them... I lit my first fire in the stove in the ruined building, wasted some stupid amount of matches before doing so. I know 55% chance of success is just there to tease you, it's way lower. Losing 8 or 9 times in a row means either it's false advertising, or my luck sucks big time... and both are not mutually exclusive. Anyway, after FINALLY getting the fire working, I melted and boiled some water (UNSAFE WATER!!! could you be more specific that my ass is toast if I drink it at that state?) and then I felt comfortable enough to go out and explore my surroundings. I kept a watchful eye on my warmth as it was decreasing steadily. Found a corpse, was excited about it thinking I would strip it to the core, maybe a cannibalizing option as it seems to be in pretty good condition and any good survivalist would never say no to good old mystery meat… nope it had nothing to loot, despite wearing gloves, a hat, jeans and a cozy sweater that I would most likely strip him of in any survival scenario, leaving him in undies because it seems that undies are glued to you upon birth according to video games. Little I knew that the magnetic event that had caused the catastrophe in the game had fused clothes and the rest of their belongings to the body of humans, and this theory was later verified as about 95% of the corpses I searched contained nothing. Backpacks seemed to be affected by this phenomenon as well. hmmm...

 

I wondered around collected some twigs and firewood, and heard my character complaining about not being a pack mule or something, I decided to pick a trailer as a base as it seemed to be a pretty good location to be so. I deposited everything extra that I had in plastic containers and went outside for more exploration. I went further into the woods, spotted a wolf, and I did the only normal thing an ordinary person would do in that situation: not getting naked and wrestling with it, but running back to the trailer. I know it was not Valhalla worthy, but discretion is the better part of valor in my opinion. I resumed slaughtering crates, tables and chairs until it went dark. Checked my status and was horrified to find I had lost a good chunk of my hunger and water meters. I thought I had enough for days, but the meager food I had would only sustain me for a day or two at most. I ate few snacks and drank half liter of water (thank you Hinterlands for having the metric system as an alternative, surviving in a ravaged world does not need the additional confusion of converting gallons to meters, or whatever) and went to sleep. I opted to sleep throughout the night as the calories were depleted much less while sleep, a nice touch of reality that I found amusing.

I woke up in the middle of the night, fully rested! Having no other option (I found the option to pass time in my second playthrough), I went outside. It was a windy, cold night and there was an eerie glow around all objects. I took out my lantern, liked the lighting animation so much that I turned it off and on again just to watch it once more, and then went to quickly check the opposite of the way I found the wolf. Saw a firewood branch, tried to resist my kleptomania but couldn’t. When I finished my lamp was dark, I was freezing and a full blown blizzard was raging. Visibility dropped to near zero. I ran back to the general direction of the cabins, listening to my character freezing to death. After running for a good amount of time, I thought that was it. I was stupid and would die now. How many time I had to die in video games because I had to collect every coin, pot and poop? It was a nice experience, definitely I would try again immediately… and then I saw the outline of a cabin. I entered, it was not the one I chose as my base, but it was a cabin nonetheless. The temperature was -1 °C (thank you again for the metric system, I really can’t imagine being cold when it’s 31 degrees above zero, my mind would just refuse to accept it!). The horrible blizzard was raging outside, the sound effect was amazing, I expected the roof of the cabin to go off any moment.

I was not getting any warmer, I needed fire and I didn't know beds give a warmth bonus by then. The button for making campfire was 4, so I pushed it. “can’t make campfire indoors”. It was not my intention to make a campfire, a very small fire would do but it seems that fire safety trumps dying from hypothermia in this game. Well, to the outside then. I didn’t bother to light a campfire in the middle of the blizzard, as I thought observing the impossibility of this would be of more priority to a game developer than a character’s inability to jump or scale even the smallest ledge. To the  stove (not a pot bellied one, which is by the way a very cute name, good  for a kitten) I went. I had a fire going, but its temperature was not enough to offset the horrible cold. I needed more firewood and my reserve was in my “base” cabin. Cursing, I went back, found the firewood and hauled them all to the ruined house. I literally fired up the fire and saw my character fatigue bar is halved, probably due to all that running. My hunger bar was also nearly empty. I ate and drank the last of my supplies, used my bedroll to slept beside the fire in the middle of the blizzard, waiting for it to go. I enjoyed every single moment of this. It took about 5 hours for it to go out and I had still an hour and half of fire going. I picked up my bedroll, I was nearly starving, I needed food fast. I decided to continue the path that was interrupted by the blizzard. It was very cold and my temperature was falling fast, I had to be quick about it and return to the fire before it went out. I kept going, checking every place for something to eat when I heard a bark and then growling. I frantically turned and saw a wolf approaching. I could imagine my character peeing in his digital pants. Having heard of using flares as deterrent, I immediately brought one out and lighted it up. I clicked the mouse buttons to see that if the flare can be thrown  at the wolf, right clicking it caused my character to taunt the wolf “you really want this!” or something. As if the hungry wolf needed encouragement… But to my relief it ran away whimpering. I decided to risk it and not to go back, it seemed that as long as I had my flare going the wolf would not attack me. And there was nothing to go back to but a fire. And I could not eat fire at this game, nor any other.

 

I continued on, reaching a place called “log loading station” or something like that. There was a deer corpse on the tracks, with crows circling above it. Nice touch. I clicked on the deer corpse and was thrilled with the option of harvesting its flesh, skin and guts. Naturally I wanted them all, if the option for harvest it to its ancestors was there I would have selected it as well. And it was until “after” I clicked “Harvest” button in my kleptomania frenzy that I thought about the cold and the 2 hours that it would take me to complete the process. With no way to cancel I watched my character dutifully following my command despite of freezing to his balls. After finishing the harvest, I was cold, starving and overburdened. I could go back, but the wolf was probably waiting for me after the words of encouragement I gave it and there was really nothing to go back to now, even the fire was over by then. And most likely I had to return the same way after eating my (actually someone else’s) catch. Therefore I decided to continue on and risk camping out on the way, but first I had to get out of there as that deer most likely did not collapse of a heart attack (If I remember correctly i harvested it by bare hands, so it must have been a fresh kill because it was not frozen). The safest route would be the opposite of the wolf, and there was a frozen river with cliff walls on its both sides in the front, which seemed to be somewhat protected from the elements. I checked my status, I was freezing and was at risk for hyperthermia but I’ve yet to see what it would do to me. Thinking of my anticipated second playthrough, I decided to continue on without lighting a campfire right there. Let’s see what hypothermia and starving would do to me. I refused to eat the meat raw, because in any survival game that is at best a waste of resources if nothing else, and I thought that the game was waiting for me to make one more mistake to haul my ass to the long dark.

 

 

Chapter 2) The Ropy Adventure

 

Overburdened, cold and starving, I walked the river. I could literally sense the misery oozing out of my character. Then I happened upon a cat tail. Naturally I couldn’t stop myself to root out the plant. And when I checked my inventory I discovered that I could eat it! I didn’t know you could eat cat tail! All that chewy delicacy is wasted in my city as decoration, I will definitely remember to try them the next time! Anyway, those little morsels that I found here and there stopped me from starving and I gathered all of them. Things seemed not so bad anymore, If only I could find a shelter before I freeze to death… well I was still waiting for hypothermia to do something to me, beside decreasing that percentage thingy called “condition” that I had no idea what it was. Was it an average of all my conditions? (Seriously, what’s wrong with “health”?  Answer: the same thing that’s wrong with “balancing”, we use “tuning” over here mate!). It seems like that the river would go on forever and I was starting to regret my decision. There was no sign of civilization, but there was cattails to collect so who was to complain? After a while I saw some tree stumps by my right. I thought, someone had to cut them, there should be something over there, no one randomly cuts big trees in the middle of a river! I went over and found a climbing rope. I was saved! It had to led to something, maybe a cache of goods that was hidden from the wildlife on the above ledge. I climbed the rope and barely made it to the top a short while after my stamina run out to find… another rope! Well, it was troublesome but two ropes meant it was twice as good as I thought it would be! So, here we go. Half the way up I notice not only this rope was higher, but I was almost tired out, it was draining my fatigue at an alarming rate! Well, the last time I could still continue on after my stamina finished, maybe I just slow down or something. I even stopped to see if I regained any lost stamina… nope, I was continuing to lose it! I continued on, my character reached the top ledge and his climbed slowed to a crawl and then suddenly he lost the rope and went down screaming!

I thought that was it, second playthrough here I come! But noooo, he was a survivalist after all! He grabbed on to the rope again, before hitting the ground, panting, wishing he was dead and free from my control… Well, I took him down. A wind had started to blow and as my fatigue bar was almost empty, I decided not to risk the cold anymore. Hope does that to us humans. My hope was at top of that cliff, and I refused to give up then. I sat straight in my chair, flexed my fingers and looked for a suitable spot to light a fire away from the wind. Found a hollowed out tree, put there by a level designer for my situation exact,y. Thank you, whoever you are! I lighted up a fire, ate the last of my cattails, made some POTABLE WATER and fed the fire with the firewood that I found there. (What? burning my store of firewood to get rid of the encumbrance as well? What if I needed them… later? In a container? Like forever?) I put out my bedroll and slept until the middle of the night to regain my fatigue. Unfortunately, I was starving and couldn’t make a complete recovery. Well, time to try the rope once again. Here we go… and down I went! I couldn’t do it! I tried once more just to see that if falling was a random thing… nope. I was starving, fatigued and it was very cold. I was tempted to go and jump down the cliff, just to put the poor bastard out of his misery. But as I watched too many Japanese anime recently, “I won’t give up” (akiramenai) was etched into my mind, therefore once again I decided to continue, on the slim chance that I would find shelter and food higher up river. I climbed down the rope and began walking down the winding, cliffy river.

Chapter 3) The Frozen Lake

Finding and eating some cattails, dragging myself onward, suddenly the river ended and a frozen lake expanded before me. I could see a visage of small shack in the middle of the lake surrounded by that eerie glow. Finally a shelter! With renewed hope, I dragged my hypothermic, starving and drained character towards the shack. There was some snacks, drawers, a cute pot bellied stove and an ice fishing hole in there. Yummy! I gobbled down the snacks, and I found a pack of herbal tea in one of the drawers. Started a fire in the stove and used one of my precious firewoods to keep it going. Saw that I could brew herbal tea. I brewed one and I found out the tea contained calories (was it included with a honey pack to contain that much calories?). I drank one and preserved the rest for a certain container that my ideal base would surely have for all the rest of their kind. Checked the ice fishing hole, broke the ice and decided I couldn’t do a thing without a fishing tackle. Where the hell I was supposed to find a fishing tackle? Crafting it required a line and a hook. I had neither. I needed to go out again, find a fishing tackle. Must eat! Stomach grumbling!
I got out as soon as I warmed up a little, took a look around. It seemed that there were other cabins in the distance. Elated, I dragged myself over to one of them. Went inside, found some matches, a snack and a rifle cartridge. Wow! Shiny! I would definitely hold on to that! No fishing tackle though. Time to check the other cabin… dragging myself to the next. A sewing kit, a knit cap called “toque” by the same logic of “condition” and “tuning”, and a book entitled “frozen angler” that would supposedly increase my ice fishing skills, IF I HAD A FISHING TACKLE TO PRACTICE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!

 

Frustrated I walked towards the first cabin, at least it had a fire going still. Midway I saw visages of several cabins by the lake’s shore. There has to be a fishing tackle in them! If the previous occupants were afraid to leave fishing tackles in the cabins for the fear of their rival tampering with them, you know, to ruin their chances for the ill-fated great ice fishing contest, they had to keep a crapload of them in those cabins, right? Or at least some fishing rods, hooks and lines, anything that would allow us smart humans to catch stupid fishes . There was three cabins, I searched them all and found a decent amount of snacks and drinks, some cloths, matches, lamp fuel… but no fishing tackle! It was alright, I was not that angry anymore, I had enough food to keep me going for another day and I was really tired and cold. So I chose a cabin, took a bite, checked my temperature. Thanks to the “toque”, mine was 1 degree CELSIUS above zero degree CELSIUS. I could sleep safely until morning. And I did, waking up due to thirst to the most horrible sound that one could hear in my situation. A blizzard was raging outside! Oh how I loved this game in a masosadistic way!

 

Chapter 4) The Camp Office Days
 

I decided to break the furniture to pass time until morning, waiting for the blizzard to die out (again, i didn't know the option to pass time was right there). As soon as the sound died out, I walked out. It was cold but not windy. I had to continue my journey to find another shelter or a fishing tackle, so I took off. Going a little ahead I saw a big lumbering figure in the distance. It was a bear! Shouldn't a bear hibernate in these conditions? I know they are not true hibernators, but still... . Anyway, I returned and continued the exact opposite way, passing the cabins and into the woods. I was running out of warmth and I was overburdened, sluggishly walking. There was a path ahead, surrounded by two cliffs. I took that path, listening to my character complaining about freezing. Well, after two close brushes with death, I was not going to give up. It seemed like to go on forever, turning and winding and freezing. Suddenly I was in the open and to my right was a building. Not a fishing hut, a trailer, a small cabin, but a good two storey building! I was saved, once again! I entered the camp office, looted the place to its bare bones, found some lines and a hook on the workbench, which gave a good idea of how to make fishing tackles. I made one with the materials I had, dumped my loot in various containers (each one for a special category of them, this game seriously needs a way to label containers), repaired my clothes, ate and drank the last of my supplies and went out to fish. My first try at fishing gave me two fishes, and on the second, the line broke! But now I had a nice base, an idea of how to survive for a long time and the line braking did not upset me. Ok, maybe a little! Next days, I made another fishing tackle with the extra line I had, which served me well for days, giving me a good supply of fishes. I quickly build a routine, fishing in the noon when the weather was warm, cooking the meat by night, exploring by the morning. One of these days I was attacked by a wolf, which I defended myself using my trusty hatchet. Later I found the poor thing's corpse and harvested it. Its delicious delicious meat was my undoing. Thinking that I could add wolf steak to my daily routine, I began to actively seek out wolves the next day. I found some wondering around the frozen lake and instead of doing the usual sane thing of avoiding them, I began to see them as walking steaks. Deciding to go Valhalla on the their furry asses, I ran to the nearest one, tackled with it and it ran away whimpering. Take that stupid wolf, you go in my stomach now. Not being patient enough to wait for it to bleed out, i followed up, thinking i could finish it off with a last blow or something. It was whimpering near a tree, I go near it to see if there is an option to put it out of its misery. The bastard jumped me again! Horrified, I stammered to know it off. It died right away this time. Served me right for being impatient. I bandaged my wounds, my condition was dangerously low and there were wolves around. I decided not to harvest my newest kill right away and return to the cabin to regain my lost condit... o what the hell, to regenerate my health. As I was going back, hugging the walls like they were my lover's embrace, a wolf spotted me and barked. I forget about being stealthy and began to run toward the cabin. The furry demon chased me down and attacked me near the cabin. This time the struggle ended with me fading into the long dark after 17 days of survival. 

This was my first playthrough, It was a wonderfully unique experience and as an avid gamer, this is truly saying something. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you all for the feedback and your comments.

[Drifter Man]

Nice read! Congratulations to your first playthrough.

[Karzee]

A great read, thank you for posting that.

[Hotzn]

Great read. Those were my favourites:

On 31.12.2016 at 10:27 PM, Ehsan said:

How many time I had to die in video games because I had to collect every coin, pot and poop?

And it was until “after” I clicked “Harvest” button in my kleptomania frenzy that I thought about the cold and the 2 hours that it would take me to complete the process. With no way to cancel I watched my character dutifully following my command despite of freezing to his balls.

Well, it was troublesome but two ropes meant it was twice as good as I thought it would be!

But as I watched too many Japanese anime recently, “I won’t give up” (akiramenai) was etched into my mind, therefore once again I decided to continue, on the slim chance that I would find shelter and food higher up river.

Just a tip: To my knowledge you can interrupt the harvesting process by pressing "Esc".

[cekivi]

Welcome to the forums @Ehsan