On Twitter? Help guide a new survivor through The Long Dark


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Same here. Probably because I try to avoid being out at night! :D 

Pity you can't read by moonlight indoors. I've definitely tried reading/crafting inside on full moon nights only to be stopped because it got too dark. 

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On 4/25/2017 at 0:28 PM, Mel Guille said:

Our survivor finally got their hands on some loot...

The choices included making a fire to get warm, eating or fixing clothing. You were chilled when you woke up.

I would have checked to see if the clothing repairs could have made enough difference to keep you warm and then, if so, made the clothing repairs while there was daylight and waiting for it to warm up outside.

Earlier, I would have taken a brand from the fire and explored the ship thoroughly. I might also have scavenged wood from the crates nearby to keep the fire going if the warmth bonus from the beds upstairs was not sufficient, prior to lighting a fire in the first place. Always look for a way to save matches and wood. Clothing repairs and extra wood to keep the fire going mean you don't wake up freezing and you get your full allotment of rest. If condition were low, you could also consider sleeping late til the better part of the day arrives. Judging from the cold clear weather the previous day and the snow coming in now, it looks like a blizzard could be on the way. This is risk time. Is there a reason to stay longer? Have we pillaged everything? Do we need to forge an axe or knife or, more importantly, arrowheads? Our stay on the Riken needs to be productive. If we don't have a ranged weapon we need to pursue that expeditiously because looted food will soon run out and we will need to hunt. We can get by supplementing with rabbits if we can get guts to makes snares from one of the nearby deer carcasses so we'd look for crows to locate them. If we know where the carcasses are we can head straight for them to get the guts, hides and scraps of edible meat. The snow blowing in means trouble so the crows won't be about and we probably can't start outdoor fires. All these things factor into the decision to stay or go out. Being able to have a fire means we can thaw a carcass, warm ourselves, speed the harvest up, boil water and cook food. It also means protection from the predators.

Next choice, explore the trailers or the main building: it's a toss up; there will be a bit of food and a lantern and cloth in the trailers. We need that lantern for exploring and working at night. There is also a possibility of a rifle in the main building so do that next. Lots of food here and its warm; good place to repair clothing if we didn't do it earlier. Also lots of tools, clothing and wood to find in this location. The priority of course, is a weapon, bullets and arrows. There could be saplings up in the hills so exploration is an important priority. Are we short of matches? We can warm up in the mines during our exploration. Along the way, gather the coal for  use in the forge and for emergency fires. Personally, I reserve coal for the forge unless my character's life is at stake and no other wood can be foraged.

Of course, I have the huge advantage of knowing where to find stuff; I know where the rifle spawns are and the probable locations of tools and supplies having played this scenario many times, as will you, after you die a few times! In fact, you will likely find that certain supplies are less likely to spawn with each successive try at the game. You are welcome. ;) I believe the game is heuristic to add challenge for you. De nada.

When I or other community members watch a video, especially from GELtaz, we will kibitz about strategy and trade ideas. Some folks welcome advice... others resent it. If you play on Interloper, every decision can be critical and every match is precious. It's not if you die, it's when. Every new day is precious.

Most of your strategy should revolve around optimizing the best time of day and the best weather, ensuring you have tools and weapons and hunting or fishing to ensure food. Make the best use of your fires to make and stock pile water. You guys should be debating these choices and not just guessing. Make use of the knowledge of the old hands.

Many times we'll be found hanging about on The Long Dark Community on FB helping newbies with tips and laughing about close calls!

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On 5/23/2017 at 10:20 AM, Mel Guille said:

Our survivor lives. ...For now.
 

 

018StopBleeding.png

While pausing to bandage our wounds, we could have been attacked by a second wolf. The first has left because we probably wounded it mortally but there is more than one wolf here. I'd wait to make it into the Hibernia whaling station before dropping supplies; that will be the base. We should never have been overloaded. We should always crouch and listen for the wolf before venturing far. Wolves prowl this vicinity; move with a purpose. We should already have old man's beard dressing made so we should be using that for bandaging. We can leave the antiseptic at the base. It's heavy and we seldom need more than a couple antiseptic bandages or lacking those, a single bottle of antiseptic. Hopefully now we understand why its important not to be overloaded. Leave food and supplies and spare clothes at the base!

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Now about those corpses we passed... hopefully we picked up all the feathers before the next storm blows them all away. It might be a good idea to bury those guys so the wolves don't eat them. Who needs more wolf puppies? It's also good karma. Show respect for the dead and the next time we meet another survivor, he might take a benevolent view toward us. Each of these strangers we meet has the potential to trade with or learn from. Some of them will die but together we are stronger; after all, one fire can heat two people and somehow shared food goes further. These old timers might even know where a food cache or other caches can be found. We always treat them with respect and offer to share food. This is Canada; we like to help one another in desperate times. The wolves might even eat those deer carcasses that we've been saving to attract crows and the vital feathers to make arrows. We can always leave a few scraps for the birds while the hides and guts are valuable for traps, fishing line, warm clothes and wolf bait. In some games it's easy to tackle the wolves and the hides make warm clothing that dissuades future wolf attacks. On other levels, the wolf attacks are severe and not to be risked without fire and weapons. It's always best to have a nice fire, especially if its not windy and cold so you can harvest in comfort, make water and cook in the safety afforded by the fire. Those guts can be attractive so bringing them back while holding a brand can prevent visits from unwelcome guests. Trading one gut for a good shot at a wolf is smart; we'll get more guts to replace it along with precious meat. Cook the meat and store it; with enough cooking skill, we can safely consume that predator meat. Sooner or later, we may need that preserved meat. Guts mean the opportunity to forage easy and safe food like fish and rabbits. We'll need both to prevent rabbit sickness from lack of fat in our diet. Each rabbit we snare brings another gut and furs for spare mitts. Each fish we catch gives us precious oil for torches or for starting fires. Each torch is as good as accelerant for starting a new fire and torches can mean life or death when confronted by a bear or wolf. We can move away safely. We want a good supply of torches so the cloth available in the trailers is precious. Maybe consider taking lantern fuel out to make a torch; the lantern lights without a match but it can't start a fire for you... yet. ;)

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8 hours ago, cekivi said:

Pity you can't read by moonlight indoors. I've definitely tried reading/crafting inside on full moon nights only to be stopped because it got too dark. 

Maybe you could if there was a big hole in the roof.... hmmm. ;)

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3 hours ago, Mel Guille said:

Perhaps you've also got thoughts for where our survivor should go next...

Well, the basic survival stuff has been sorted for a while how about some more adventure?  

  1. Leave the whaling by the driveway (crawl through the truck, hear another wolf -- what to do? a) go back to the trailer, b) hide in the car, c) try to sneak past, d) fight the wolf
  2. You notice a locked gate up the hill, and go to investigate.  As you start to climb the hill you hear a wolf yelp in fright and turn around to see it streaking down the road.  What to do? a) follow the wolf to see where it goes b) go through the gate c) investigate what scared the wolf
  3. As you walk toward the direction the wolf came from, you hear a very odd noise in the distance.  It sounds a bit like snuffling plus angry crows.  Not until you crest the hill do you see the bear.  It's huge!  What to do?  a) Run like hell!  b) throw food at the bear to distract it c) Shoot it!
  4. [bear attack!]
  5. [blizzard while at 10% condition]
  6. [try to find the bear, meat bonanza]

You get the picture, more really meaningful decisions. :)  A trek through the mine would be fun too.  

But eventually you'll need to move out of DP.  Crumbling Highway should be exciting too :P 

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1 hour ago, Jolan said:

I'm rather fond of the mysterious cave near the waterfall, with the scary bones! 

Oftentimes it's got an inhabitant gnawing at those bones as well...

I wouldn't go in there without some means of protecting myself, just saying...

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14 hours ago, TWM said:

wouldn't go in there without some means of protecting myself, just saying...

Its actually possible to sneak in to the point where the right-hand branch starts, sneak up there, grab any goodies that might be there and sneak out.  

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18 hours ago, TWM said:

Oftentimes it's got an inhabitant gnawing at those bones as well...

I wouldn't go in there without some means of protecting myself, just saying...

That'd actually be really good for the twitter adventure. How many people following and voting know of Fluffy's cousin? 

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1 hour ago, cekivi said:

That'd actually be really good for the twitter adventure. How many people following and voting know of Fluffy's cousin? 

Has it been given a name yet? Scruffy? Gruffy?

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You trudge out to the road and turn south. Deep drifts of windblown snow are slowly engulfing the pavement. No tracks, no signs of traffic.

A cold feeling is creeping over you, only partly due to the icy wind. You think about the two corpses, and the dead radios you've found.

This marks the end of our twitter poll-guided adventure in The Long Dark. Thank you to everyone who took part!
 


Things are getting a little busy on our side, so with the save wipe coming we thought it would be a good time to wrap it up. It's been a fun experiment though -- one we might try again sometime in the future. :)

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47 minutes ago, Mel Guille said:

Things are getting a little busy on our side, so with the save wipe coming we thought it would be a good time to wrap it up. It's been a fun experiment though -- one we might try again sometime in the future. :)

I definitely think you should continue! The "Choose Your Own Adventure" style was a lot of fun follow :) 

My suggestions for a sequel would be:

  • Try to encourage more discussion on the forums with regards to choice outcomes or possible options
  • Try to get twitter voters to visit the official forums. It could be a direct link to the main page or a sub forum can be created
  • Have more diverse choices. A lot of the options kept the follower in one place so there wasn't much going on most of the time
  • Have failure as an option. If there was heightened risk it will make the choices more dramatic. 
  • With failure as an option (and hopefully lots of participation) then the adventure becomes a teaching tool for the game (i.e. don't run around encumbered).
  • With forum integration include a "charcoal map" of where the adventurer is and their progress. This should encourage movement/exploration and give more life to the character.

I'm sure there's lots of other ideas for how to make "Guide a Survivor 2.0" that much better but those were my thoughts :D 

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