Hello all!

Today we are releasing v.152 of The Long Dark's Sandbox Alpha. We're excited to announce the addition of a whole new playable area, "COASTAL HIGHWAY", which more than doubles the Sandbox's playable area!

Full changelist below:


* We have confirmed that saves from v.138 are compatible with v.152.

Game tuning around the new region is WIP and will be constantly modified based on further internal testing and feedback from external playtesters (i.e. all of you). Please note that the availability of Supplies, the distribution and density of wildlife, distances between shelters, etc. are constantly being refined. Also, keep in mind that the game is now being tuned around a larger Sandbox experience -- this means that some Regions might be more suitable for certain activities, and Supply distribution is more regionalized.


* New Sandbox region added: "Coastal Highway". To travel to it, follow the railway in Mystery Lake (Dam side).
* Long-term Starvation now affects Fatigue. If you starve for too long, it becomes very difficult to avoid Exhaustion. The Fatigue increase due to Starvation is gradually reduced by not Starving. (Addresses the "Starvation Exploit")
* Removed concept of Calorie Deficit.
* Added "Rate of Change" indicators on all Sub-Conditions. This should help highlight the impact of more serious situations on Hunger, Thirst, Fatigue, and Cold.
* Fatigue now directly affects your Carrying capacity. Rather than a sudden capacity drop based on hitting the Exhausted threshold, we interpolate based on Fatigue level.
* There are now Rabbits in the game.
* You can now craft Snares at the Workbench. If placed in the world wherever you see Rabbits, there is a chance you will capture a Rabbit every 12 hours.
* All wildlife spawns are now more dynamic, and will change over the course of a game. Wolves, Deer, and Rabbits all refresh on different intervals, reflecting their relative mobility and travel/migration patterns.
* Wolves are now sensitive to player Condition. They will hunt you more aggressively if you are weak (ex. Exhausted, low Condition, etc.). This is something we are testing.
* The damage from player strikes in Wolf Struggles is now modified by the best Tool you have in your inventory, in this order: Knife, Hatchet, Prybar. The weapon is automatically selected, and the Struggle costs Tool condition.
* You can now select what type of Fuel Source you are looking for when Foraging Wood (i.e. it is no longer random).
* Added a 100% guaranteed Rifle spawn to Mystery Lake. Its location is randomized.
* Reduced daily Condition decay on all Tools and Clothing items. Reduced per-use Condition decay for all Tools. Tools should now last much longer, and will not decay when you don't use them. Clothing should not decay nearly as quickly as before. (We're still tuning the availability of Clothing items in the world, and this is something we'll continue balancing based on feedback.)
* Reduced the frequency/availability of Tools in the world. Since they now last much longer, they have to be more rare.
* In general, reduced the Condition decay for all Food items. Increased the Calorie value of most Food items. Reduced the Calorie value for most types of Meat.
* Rest can now be interrupted regardless of Bed or location type. Every bed offers and location type offers a different degree of Rest benefit and chance of interruption. Uninterrupted Rest hours offer a bonus over interrupted Rest hours.
* Fatigue is now properly affected by inventory weight. The more you carry around, the more quickly you will become tired. (Note that Calorie Burn already takes inventory weight into account.)
* Reduced the general availability of First Aid items. They are now mainly found in appropriate First Aid containers.
* In general, reduced the availability of Supplies in the world. There was far too much Food and Clothing in random containers.
* Made very cold temperatures much more of a serious consideration.
* New audio for all new locations, container types, etc. Added a lot more variety for container searching audio, to avoid repetition.



* Every interior location now has a maximum inventory of Reclaimed Wood that can be Foraged.
* Wildlife will no longer spawn in a Blizzard.
* The Stag is more sensitive to the player's presence.
* Tinder can now be harvested from Newsprint and Newsprint Rolls.
* Bandages can now be harvested from Cloth.
* Freshened up Supplies in all Mystery Lake locations.
* Footprints (player and wildlife) now last longer, but are affected by wind and weather conditions.
* It is now possible to find single Rifle Rounds in the world.
* Kerosene can now be used as an Accelerant.
* Added a few test Non-Potable water sources to the world.
* Footprints and blood drops are now persistent across Saves.
* General bug fixes and optimization.



* Fixed various issues related to carcasses freezing.
* Various fixes related to player movement.
* Fixed issue with harvesting Lanterns producing unlimited light.
* Fixed issue where cooking a partial stack of raw meat produced an unequal stack of cooked meat.
* Fixed weight capacity of Containers so they can be filled to full capacity now.
* Fixed issue where last Water Purification tablet in the stack would not purify water.
* Fixed issue with locked Safe not using the correct loot table.
* Fixed exploit where players could cause a feeding Wolf to despawn.
* Fixed issue with gear not decaying in Containers.
* Fixed issue where Inventory screen occasionally didn't display all items in player inventory.
* Fixed issue where increase/decrease buttons were still active during Harvesting actions.
* Fixed issue where Toggle to Run would default back to Walk mode when opening the Options screen.
* Fixed issue where Burns would not heal themselves over time.
* Fixed issue where ear ringing wouldn't stop after firing the Rifle in the Forestry Lookout.
* Fixed issue where menu dropdowns might be greyed out when they shouldn't be.
* Fixed issue where sun position and weather would not update correctly during outdoor Harvesting/Rest intervals.
* Fixed bug where Encumbered warning would not always appear in the HUD.
* Fixed crash when player clicked Bedroll icon in survival panel when they did not have a Bedroll in inventory.

###END OF CHANGELIST###

We hope you enjoy the v.152 update, and we look forward to hearing your feedback!

- The Hinterland Team