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March Dev Diary

Hello Survivors!

We wanted to update you on a few things as we get close to the launch of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Two: SIGNAL VOID. Below, you will find more details about the new content that will be available as part of the Expansion Pass, along with some helpful information to help you get the most out of your adventures in the Far Territory.

Introducing the First Tale: SIGNAL VOID



The paid content for this part of the Expansion Pass focuses on the addition of our first ‘Tale’. We created Tales to give our Survival Mode players more reasons to explore and more objectives to follow, while weaving in some compelling narrative elements. The result is new gameplay that feels something like one of our “Challenge Modes”. You’ll also encounter interesting new locations as you progress, which are exclusive to the Tale.

Our first Tale, SIGNAL VOID, utilizes our new Transponder gameplay, comprised of a series of Transmitter sites scattered across Great Bear and the new Handheld Shortwave. Once a Transmitter is active, the Handheld Shortwave will be able to pick up mysterious signals in that area, leading to hidden caches, crash sites, and other locations that relate to the Tale. All in all it gives you even more to do during an Aurora, which is a fun time to explore the world – albeit potentially risky!

Transmitter Repair

We’ve also added three new clothing items – a Hockey Jersey, a leather Flight Jacket, and a matching Aviator Hat. You’ll find them scattered around Great Bear, so you will find them as you explore locations and search containers.

In addition, we’ve added a few new surprise items that are exclusive to the use of the Handheld Shortwave, one of which is only revealed at the final step in the Tale.

Free March Update

In Survival Edition, you’ll be happy to hear we have re-enabled the hidden Prepper Bunkers. We have made some significant updates to them, both visually and in the way they spawn into the world. You will now find Prepper Bunkers in nine locations across Lower Great Bear (in appropriately remote spots, of course). However, you won’t know until you begin exploring whether the Prepper Bunker is fully-equipped… or almost entirely empty. There will only be three fully-equipped Prepper Bunkers across a single game, the location in which they spawn will change with every new game. Each full Bunker you find will also have a unique feel, and the loot inside is themed to reflect that.

Beachcombing has had an update as well. We've added new items that may appear, and tied the respawning of those potential items to Blizzards, so with every big storm there's a reason to revisit the coastline.


Fishing Boat - Enhanced Beachcombing

We introduced Oak Trees into the new regions, and you’ll find them all over Great Bear. You can also search for Acorns underneath, which after some prep work can be eaten or ground up and used to make some delicious Acorn coffee.

Finally, we’ve added the ability to craft Fire-Hardened Arrows, so if you happen across a bow early in your playthrough and want to make some Arrows that don't require you to head to the nearest Forge, then you may find these useful. They’re effective for hunting smaller game like Rabbits, and might scare off a Wolf, but they won't actually damage anything big.

Reminder: Save Compatibility

Note: This section is most applicable to players on Xbox and PlayStation. If you previously downloaded the Expansion Pass or the free December update on PC or Mac, you will not lose your save progress with this update, and you will not need to start a new Survival run to access the new content.

As previously mentioned, we made some necessary changes to help future-proof the save system in THE LONG DARK, and to enable you to receive improvements to the game moving forward. As a result, current Survival Mode saves will not work with the game once you download the update for Part One of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. This is true even if you do not purchase the Expansion Pass, however, this change will not impact Feats, Feats progress, Achievements, or WINTERMUTE saves.
Since Part One and Part Two are coming to Xbox and PlayStation on March 30th, you have just over a week to wrap up your Survival saves and prepare for your next big adventure on Great Bear Island!

Store Changes
With this next update, we are also separating Survival Mode and WINTERMUTE on Xbox and PlayStation. If you already own THE LONG DARK, you will not need to re-purchase WINTERMUTE or Survival Edition, and you will still get all five WINTERMUTE Episodes, including Episode Five when it unlocks.

For anyone who doesn’t currently own the game, SURVIVAL EDITION will be available as a standalone purchase in the coming weeks, with the option to buy WINTERMUTE or the TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Expansion Pass as DLC. This offers a number of good options for new players to come in at different price points, while also offering greater flexibility for updating the game.

At launch, TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY will retail on Xbox and PlayStation for $19.99 USD, with a 15% discount for the first week after launch. While we endeavour to keep pricing as consistent as possible, please note that prices are subject to regional store adjustments.

For more information on why we split Survival and Story Mode, please visit this post.

Thank You

That’s it for now, Survivors. We will share the full update list containing details on new paid and free content, along with any game improvements and bug fixes, in the release notes when TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY Part Two launches. We will also share more information on the Expansion Pass launch on Nintendo Switch in the near future. For all other technical issues, please reach out via our Support Portal.

Thank you for reading, and good luck exploring the new content in TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY when it launches on PC, Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation on March 30th!

The Long Dark Updated to v2.07

Hello Community,

We just released our v2.07 Quality of Life Update for THE LONG DARK, including Survival Edition. This update includes some significant bug fixes, along with game and performance improvements.

CL Versions Displayed In-Game: You can confirm that you have the latest update by checking the CL number displayed in the top left corner of your Home Screen in-game.

Steam:
  • Windows - Survival Mode / TALES - 111199
  • Windows - WINTERMUTE - 111213
  • Linux - Survival Mode / TALES - 111199
  • Linux - WINTERMUTE - 111213
  • Mac - Survival Mode / TALES - 111371
  • Mac - WINTERMUTE - 111213

Please visit our Support Portal if you encounter any issues while playing the game. For additional news and information, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).


USER INTERFACE

  • UI - Fixed an issue that caused the game to crash with the error message “failure to apply graphics settings” when a previously available display was no longer valid.
WINTERMUTE

** Please note that this section contains spoilers for WINTERMUTE. **

  • Episode Four - Lost Power Workers: Fixed an issue that caused the game to hang if the player entered the Trailer in Blackrock when looking for the second Lost Power Worker.
WINDOWS 10

  • General - Fixed a hang when launching the game on Windows 10. Please note that some players will still experience a hang when launching the game using Windows 7, however, we continue to work toward a resolution.
MAC

  • General - Fixed an issue on OS 10.14 that would prevent players from being able to launch the game.
  • General - Fixed an issue preventing players from accessing WINTERMUTE and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY DLC on OS 10.14 and older.



### END OF RELEASE NOTES ###

TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY -- Part Two: Signal Void Teaser

Get ready, Survivors! TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Two: Signal Void is coming to Steam on March 30th. The latest update features fantastic new content and gameplay for anyone who owns the Expansion Pass, including a new Tale, new Bunkers, new Clothing items, and more. (To learn more about what is included in Part Two, please visit our latest Dev Diary.)

If you don’t own TALES, or if you want to gift the game to a friend, now is a great time to start exploring the Far Territory. The Steam Spring Sale is on now, offering great discounts on THE LONG DARK, including:


A new adventure is waiting. Take a sneak peek at the Teaser below:


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The Long Dark Updated to 2.06 on Mac

Survivors, we have released the v2.06 update (Survival Edition/TALES 108190, WINTERMUTE 108187) and TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is now available on Mac! Thank you for your support, and we hope you enjoy exploring the wild reaches of the Far Territory.

Along with this update, we have also released the following Mac bug fixes and improvements to address issues in THE LONG DARK:


GENERAL FIXES / IMPROVEMENTS

  • Added Mac M1 and Apple Silicon support.
  • The game now defaults to using the Apple Metal rendering system.
  • Fixed numerous graphical errors, particularly on legacy systems (OSX 10.14 or earlier) running OpenGL.
  • Ensured continued support of OpenGL for users on OSX 10.14, or earlier. To run the game using OpenGL, please follow the instructions below.
To instruct Steam to run the game using OpenGL, please follow these steps:
  • In Steam, go to your Library
  • Right Click on the game title
  • Select Properties
  • Click Set Launch Options...
  • Paste the following line into the provided text box
  • -force-glcore
  • Click OK, then Close.


We are also continuing to investigate several location-specific graphical issues. For other technical issues while playing the game, please contact us via the Support Portal.

Thank you, Survivors! For additional news and information about The Long Dark and Hinterland, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter (Game | Studio).

Dev Update - February 2023

Hello Survivors,

We have a few updates about the development progress around TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, the paid Expansion Pass for Survival Mode, which we launched on Steam (Windows-only) on December 5th.


TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part One: Mac Version

We’re happy to announce that we were able to fix the issues that prevented the Mac build of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY from working. The Test Team is finalizing the build and it is due for release on Wednesday, February 15th on Steam and the Epic Game Store. This will bring the Mac version to parity with Windows.


TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part One: Xbox and PlayStation Versions

The team is working hard on finalizing and testing these versions. We’ve encountered a few hiccups with the respective store setups, but we have found some workarounds. The current target date for Xbox and PlayStation releases of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY is Wednesday, March 15th. This will bring Steam, Epic Game store, Xbox, and PlayStation versions to parity. Please keep in mind, Xbox and PlayStation will need to approve these new versions, which may affect the release date. We will provide confirmation closer to launch.

We’ll have more news on the Nintendo Switch version in the coming weeks.


SAVE SYSTEM OVERHAUL WITH TALES, PART ONE

As a reminder, as part of splitting the game between Story and Survival Modes, we have made some necessary changes to help future-proof the save system in THE LONG DARK, and to enable you to receive improvements to the game moving forward.

As a result, unfortunately current Survival Mode saves will not work with the game once you download the Update for Part One of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY. This is true even if you do not purchase the Expansion Pass.

This change will not impact Feats, Feats progress, Achievements, or WINTERMUTE saves.


TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, Part Two: Launch Date & Features

We are currently targeting a launch for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, PART TWO on Thursday, March 30th. This will be for the Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Epic Games Store versions. The work on Part Two is nearly complete, and will be entering the Testing phase soon. Please keep in mind that the release date may be impacted by development realities.


Prepper Bunker Overhaul - Available in Part Two of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY


The feature and content set for Part Two will include:

(For those who own TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY)

  • Tale: “Signal Void” (estimated 5+ hours of play time to complete)
  • Handheld Shortwave Radio
  • Transponder Cache Gameplay
  • New Bunkers
  • Three new Clothing items


(For anyone that owns THE LONG DARK or SURVIVAL EDITION)

  • Fire-Hardened Arrows
  • Enhanced Prepper Bunkers
  • Enhanced Beachcombing
  • Acorns & Oak Trees


Note: In this post, Fire-Hardened Arrows were mistakenly listed under the Paid update for TALES, however, we have adjusted the lists to accurately reflect the content listed on the Expansion Pass Roadmap.

We’ll share more details about each of the features going into Part Two as we get closer to release. If you’d like to review our plans for TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY, please review the Roadmap. If you’d like to see what is included in Part One, check out the launch video here.


Windows - Upcoming Hotfix

We continue to work toward resolving a number of issues on Windows, including:

  • A couple of issues causing an infinite loading screen or failure to progress past the disclaimer screen after launching the game.
  • An issue in the Episode Four mission, "Lost Power Workers" that caused the game to hang when entering the trailer.


We appreciate your ongoing patience and support as we work to resolve these concerns, and we will share a date for the Hotfix in the near future as soon as more news is available. For all other technical issues, please reach out via our Support Portal.


Thank you, Survivors, and keep your eyes open for next week’s release of TALES FROM THE FAR TERRITORY on Mac!


- The Hinterland Team