TLD Interviews, Articles, Reviews

TLD Interviews, Articles, & Reviews

I've compiled a short list (and links) of various interviews and articles about TLD. Though far from extensive (so far), I've tried to include only articles which are directly Q&A with Raph or contain more than just the basic promo press releases. Feel free to add others as you come across them.

Don't forget you can still back TLD through the intothelongdark

Videogame BANG! (Oct 25 2013)

Audio interview with Raph about TLD - if you want to jump straight to the TLD interview, its starts at 1:31:43 in the audio clip

Shogun Gamer (Oct 15 2013)

Inside The Journey Of The Long Dark [Developer Interview]

Detailed interview with Raph about the devlopment of TLD, and the process which makes TLD different for usual games.

The Verge (Oct 10 2013)

With 'The Long Dark,' a real outdoorsman is helping build a better survival game

Details about some basic survival training sessions the Hinterland team underwent in order to get a feel for developing TLD

Worlds Factory (Oct 4 2013)

The Long Dark Interview - Ready To Face The North?

One on one interview with Raph includes discussions about the story location (including naming places within the game), wildlife, encountering survivors, and survival skill progressions)

Stick Skills (Oct 1 2013)

‘The Long Dark’ creative director on combat vs. exploration

Raph discusses the choices of combat vs. exploration as the primary focus of the game

Stick Skills (Sept 30 2013)

‘The Long Dark’ creative director talks story structure and the future of the IP

Raph clearing up misunderstandings about what TLD "is and isn't", and episode plans

PCGames (Sept 27 2013)

Talking through The Long Dark with Hinterland founder Raphael van Lierop

3 page interview with Raph discussing his early experiences, what led to Hinterlands being formed, aspects attracting the team towards the TLD survival sim, survival challenges, and the project management.

Eye For Games (Sept 24 2013)

In Development - The Long Dark

Early interview with Raph about the Hinterland Studios, core team, development processes, and KS campaign.

Canada.com (Sept 12 2013)

Vancouver Island-based Hinterland Studio announces its first game, The Long Dark

Background info on Hinterland Studios, building the core team, and the TLD premise

KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN RESULTS

Kicktraq

Kickstarter graphs and tracking of TLD's progress throughout the successful KS campaign

Joystiq Crowdfund Bookie (Oct 21 2013)

Details of how TLD placed compared to other KS projects for the campaign period. TLD earned the most money and had the most backers for the covered period.

Great post Bill, but I don't know that it is three separate post good.

Great post Bill, but I don't know that it is three separate post good.

Sorry about all the dupes -- when posting, it somehow ended up in the spam filter. Pablo released it, but the system started posting it multiple times

lol, Sounds frustrating. It's still a great post.

The Finnish game magazine Pelaaja mentions TLD in its November issue (page 14). There's a regular bit called "The good, the bad and the ugly" and TLD is in the good section, under title "Sounds." It's just one small paragraph about how you can hear Hayter next in TLD and mentioning some of the other voice actors as well.

Principled U Podcast - (PUPodcast #133)

Great long interview (over 35 minutes) with Raphael, originally recorded just before the end of the KS campaign. It covers a lot of the concepts, behind the scenes details, a multitude of approaches and challenges, and even a big appreciation and shout-out for all the backers.

Note: The main interview begins at approximately the 3 minute mark...

As a side note, TLD was also selected as the 9th most anticipated game for 2014 by Gameranx

It's really just a small paragraph, but I'll gladly send you mine. With translations of course!

Can we get a scan for the vault, or even better, a hard copy??

I could scan it, but @JetroKoro already promised to send his.

I just realized that the title of the paragraph really is "Voices" in English. The Finnish word "äänet" covers both sounds and voices.

Very nice article from a TLD backer, helping to spread the word about The Long Dark...

http://www.naotakemymoney.com/hinterlan ... long-dark/

Another good article about the TLD premiss [i'm trying to post them as I find them so Raph and the Team can focus on the game progress]...

Paper Droids - (Nov 3 2013)

"While most open-world adventure games go for a more realistic look, The Long Dark holds its own in a mature graphic novel-like style, which lends to the harsh feel of the rough surroundings."

VGW Video Game Writers - (Nov 12 2013)

"Van Lierop said the team had a huge debt of gratitude to their 6,500 backers, saying it was also an inspiration to the team to see such as positive initial response to their ideas and goals for taking survival simulation in a new direction."

Game Tangents - (Nov 14 2013)

Raphael chatted with Game Tangents about wilderness survival, why The Long Dark isn't an action game, and how Kickstarter is a "strange beast."

and here's a really early TLD project audio interview with Raph

CBC Radio Interview - (Sept 12 2013)

Add Your Comments To Articles

It's great finding new articles and interviews about TLD (it all helps to keep the buzz and excitement growing)... I'm hoping a few other backers will help as well by adding short comments at the end of the articles to increase the buzz and TLD promotion.

1) It helps [having comments and feedback at the end of articles] by showing it's not just a random or generic press relief review. Rather, it shows the reader there are others very interested in the project as well

2) The article writers love seeing that their material is being read and seen. By us posting a few short comments at the end of the article, it acknowledges their work covering the story, and also shows them which stories/games to continue writing about. This will help boost the chance of more articles about TLD being added.

So why is this so important? -- We're getting so close to the next stretch goals (and every $ goes towards making the game even better)... For others who haven't yet discovered the Hinterlander Family and community, just seeing a few additional comments may be all it takes to get them to take a closer look, and join in backing the game.

Whether it's how TLD is growing, the great TLD community, how interactive the H-Team has been, reaching stretch goals, etc. -- if you get a free moment, please add your own article comment/feedback to the pieces.

Share the TLD excitement, and let's make our Hinterlander Family even bigger!

GAMEMOIR - (Oct 16 2013)

6 Reasons The Long Dark Will Be Awesome

"Zombie apocalypses are a dime a dozen, yet here are Hinterland Games coming out with something very fresh, going against the grain to deliver a unique experience."

GamesIndustry International - (Sept 18 2013)

Game development the "humane way"

Interview with Raph and TLD Artist Hokyo Lim

"The Hinterland team still gets together every couple months for three to five days for more direct communication and team-building, but van Lierop said the benefits of having people in the same physical location have been greatly overstated in the industry. The bond that creates success is forged in a short period of time through meaningful interactions, he said, not through endless hours stuck in an office building eating pizza during crunch time."

CGMagazine - (Sept 27 2013)

Tackling The Canadian Wilderness

"You get these pieces of knowledge mostly by talking to other survivors around you, so if you go around and kill everyone, you won’t be able to obtain that information and you’re probably going to die. Knowledge can also improve skills like first-aid and hunting, you have to learn how to dress meat properly so you can eat it, you also have some minor crafting skills, so you have to know about plants and herbs. "

REDDIT - (Oct 8 2013)

[AMA Discussion]

"We thought we'd jump in here and do an AMA to answer questions about the game, our backgrounds, the studio...almost anything. Today in Reddit, we have:

Raphael van Lierop -- founder and creative director (RaphLife).

Alan Lawrance -- technical director (AlanLawrance)

Dave Chan -- audio director (davecedm)

Emily Claire Afan -- community manager (afantastic)

Please, come on in and Ask Us Anything."

Note: at the end of each discussion section, watch for the "load more comments" link to read more extended posts beyond what first displays.

The Penny Arcade Report - (Sept 16 2013)

Humanely raised, grass-fed developers want to create the ultimate game of survival

“Triple-A game development is a very competitive profession. You have to work really hard to break in, and once you're in, you have to pour your heart and soul into what you're doing so that it has the best chance of success,” van Lierop said. “But the nature of the way the industry works often means that this passion is co-opted and even exploited for product and profit. And the projects don't feel personal anymore.”

WordsByNowak - (Nov 12 2014)

Unions aren’t the answer for games industry

Note: although it's not a direct interview (or even specifically about TLD itself), it's nice to see Hinterland being remembered and recognized for its telecommuting approach to the gaming industry.

Thanks so much for all of this, @BillTarling! FYI, I'm working with Pablo on an improved media section to the Hinterland site to show off more of the 500+ articles written about TLD We'll be sure to let you know when that's live!

TwoDashStash - (Nov 20 2014)

Indie Stash Cast: The Long Dark Interview With Hinterland Games

"Todd and Blane sit down with Technical Director, Alan Lawrence of Hinterland Games to talk about the highly anticipated indie game The Long Dark.Alan goes into detail about the story and gameplay mechanics behind this gorgeous game; he also talks about the challenges of being an independent game studio and how his teams Triple-A experience is helping make this game something to look forward to."

We were in the print edition of the latest issue of Game Informer! It's been posted to Hinterland's Facebook page, have a look

Indie Stash

The Long Dark Could Have An Alternate Female Storyline

Short blurb about a wish list alternate storyline with a female protagonist as the player character