The Long Dark Desolation Point Update Released

Published: September 17, 2015 10:58 PM /

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the long dark desolation point

The Long Dark has received another significant update, bringing with it a whole new sandbox to explore and updates to weather, UI, the addition of metal forging, and more. This follows another significant update to the game back in July, which was the first major shakeup to gameplay, aside from small changes here and there in a long time. It seems as though development is speeding up some.

The new area to explore is called "Desolation Point" and is described as: "a stretch of coastal highway pockmarked with the abandoned remnants of a formerly thriving whaling industry. You can find Desolation Point by going to the end of the Coastal Highway, passing through the Commuter’s Lament, and continuing onward."

The addition of Desolation Point is just one part of this update, which includes other big changes as well. The most significant is the addition of Metal Forging. Currently, there is only one forge in the game, which works as a sort of hybrid Stove and Crafting table. It will take coal to use as fuel, which was added and can be found around the sandbox world in mines, and will be needed to raise the forge to sufficient temperature for whatever you may be doing. Players can now use a hammer and other raw materials, like scrap metal, to craft improvised tools.

Weather has received a bit of a overhaul to allow for longer and smoother transitions between weather and to allow players to read/predict the weather, as well as an updated Wind sound system that will change based on altitude, location, temperature, and time of day. Bad weather, like blizzards, will be hinted at more so players can prepare for it. The biggest change is that the weather now occurs in patterns, so players can now gradually learn to predict the weather that may be coming. However, each weather type has varying patterns, and patterns will change from region to region.

There is no more text on the HUD, which has all been replaced with icons. The panel where players would access things like First Aid and their backpack has been replaced with a new Status screen.

Players can now move and place items in the world as well. Before, players only had the option to drop things on the floor and return to them later or just stuff them in a drawer/cupboard/etc. Now players can arrange items however they see fit to organize them in The Long Dark.

Also, finally, players can have up to five sandbox save slots, which was limited to just the one before. Do note that there is still only one save slot per game, however.

The final thing worth mentioning is that The Long Dark has received a fairly significant graphic upgrade with this update as well. A lot of assets have been re-textured to help give The Long Dark a more cohesive aesthetic, and lighting and sky color have been improved for all times of day.

For more specific details, like which bugs were fixed or other small changes/additions, check out the changelog here. Take a look at the video Hinterland Games released along with this The Long Dark update as well, which will show off some more of the little details that are going into The Long Dark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzAJG3WOL2c

What do you think about these changes to The Long Dark? What sort of changes are you still hoping for?

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


Andrew Otton
| Editor in Chief

Andrew is the Editor in Chief at TechRaptor. Conned into a love of gaming by Nintendo at a young age, Andrew has been chasing the dragon spawned by Super… More about Andrew