The Immersive Power of Walking in TLD

[Martial.Lore]

I have thought about walking in TLD a lot. Because I do a lot of it. And because it is slow going. And it takes a long time to get anywhere. But you don't have to stop. You can keep going. Slow and steady. If you run you can cover ground faster and it feels quite liberating but then you have to keep stopping and letting your stamina recharge even though you will eventually and quite quickly run out of ---

We've all been there. So heavy. Too much to carry. And we get to enjoy the same view for ages as we trudge along, eyes and ears peeled for wolves, fingers crossed that a thick fog doesn't roll in, or a blizzard start blowing, because... well, simply put, Pleasant Valley is huge and it takes a long time to get back to the farmhouse from any corner of the map. Or to get anywhere on any of the maps.

In a lot of games, running gets you places. It makes short work of big spaces. But in TLD it doesn't get you anywhere once you are fully loaded up with coal and scrap metal, anxious to get through the dangers of Crumbling Highway to the DP forge undetected. Having to conserve energy and walk, to trudge through the snow drifts, changes your relationship with the map. It's not a space to dodge from A to B. The map becomes a space you are in, for better or for worse.

A wolf pops into view along your intended path and you can't just run past it. You have to stop and consider your best course of action. Decide which longer walk you're going to take while hoping that the extra time won't deplete your stamina so much that you won't make it up the next rope. And the whole time, that view changes so slowly when all you want to do is get all this bear meat home before it gets dark.

I think it is the pace of travel in TLD that nails its sense of immersion despite the stylized art style. You can't ever escape the long journey in TLD. You have to deal with the landscape with every step. The Long Dark is called the "quiet apocalypse" but I think it would be more accurate to call it the "slow apocalypse". Because you can run. Running serves it's purpose. But it's the walking, all the walking, slow and steady, that puts you on Great Bear Island. And keeps you there. Just my opinion.

Edit> typo.

[I'll be the one]

Originally posted by Martial.Lore:

I have thought about walking in TLD a lot. Because I do a lot of it. And because it is slow going. And it takes a long time to get anywhere. But you don't have to stop. You can keep going. Slow and steady. If you run you can cover ground faster and it feels quite liberating but then you have to keep stopping and letting your stamina recharge even though you will eventually and quite quickly run out of ---

We've all been there. So heavy. Too much to carry. And we get to enjoy the same view for ages as we trudge along, eyes and ears peeled for wolves, fingers crossed that a thick fog doesn't roll in, or a blizzard start blowing, because... well, simply put, Pleasant Valley is huge and it takes a long time to get back to the farmhouse any corner of the map. Or to get anywhere on any of the maps.

In a lot of games, running gets you places. It makes short work of big spaces. But in TLD it doesn't get you anywhere once you are fully loaded up with coal and scrap metal, anxious to get through the dangers of Crumbling Highway to the DP forge undetected. Having to conserve energy and walk, to trudge through the snow drifts, changes your relationship with the map. It's not a space to dodge from A to B. The map becomes a space you are in, for better or for worse.

A wolf pops into view along your intended path and you can't just run past it. You have to stop and consider your best course of action. Decide which longer walk you're going to take while hoping that the extra time won't deplete your stamina so much that you won't make it up the next rope. And the whole time, that view changes so slowly when all you want to do is get all this bear meat home before it gets dark.

I think it is the pace of travel in TLD that nails its sense of immersion despite the stylized art style. You can't ever escape the long journey in TLD. You have to deal with the landscape with every step. The Long Dark is called the "quiet apocalypse" but I think it would be more accurate to call it the "slow apocalypse". Because you can run. Running serves it's purpose. But it's the walking, all the walking, slow and steady, that puts you on Great Bear Island. And keeps you there. Just my opinion.

Well said, Some games allow to "Fast Travel" as in Hunter Call of the Wild were the player can teleport from base to base. At times I am frustrated hiking across a region but most agree this is intentional on the Devs part.

[Martial.Lore]

Originally posted by JayXL:

This is a fantastic analysis, and so true. In most games, you can run indefinitely or even quick travel via map warp. TLD is different. The walking is visceral and it gives you time to think, always keeping an eye on possible wolves. It really drives home the solitude and immersion, and of course, always worrying about the weather changing on you keeps you on your toes. I love it. :coffeeTLD:

Thank you. I'm actually about to do the CH walk with a load of coal and some spare scrap metal in my current survival game!

[Bean]

There’s no need at all to bring either coal or metal to DP forge. Twin mines there offer plenty of coal and the whale processing factory has all the metal you’d ever want for cutting up.

[Martial.Lore]

Originally posted by Bean:

There’s no need at all to bring either coal or metal to DP forge. Twin mines there offer plenty of coal and the whale processing factory has all the metal you’d ever want for cutting up.

Yeah, I know.I don't have much scrap metal with me and have little use for it at CH so I'm going to take it anyway. And I'm just carrying the coal I picked up on my way through from PV--I'm on Day 375 or something so I can't remember how much coal I left at DP when I was last there, a long time ago now. I've heard that coal respawns but have never been certain about it.

[mranders]

JayXL - what a perfect emoji to add at the end of your comment in this thread! For me one of the best early game finds is a can of Moose Kicks Coffee. It really takes the edge off when walking miles under the load of the salvage I just KNOW that I'll need when setting up a first base. Upon finding that first day can of Moose Kicks I get the feeling that I'll get there - wherever "there" is.

[Pierre Kindred]

tip for ya guys: when walking a long distance listen to calm music and you will get thru it fast

[Martial.Lore]

Originally posted by Tekel1959:

Walking was a major part of my life when I was young, and this post really rang true to me. Thanks.

You're welcome! I'm glad that you enjoyed it! Happy trails on Great Bear Island to you.

[Kill'em ALL]

I understand the rationale behind the movement tempo in TLD, the resource balance, the weight of decision making when pondering whether to sprint or not, the inventory and risk management, the atmosphere that it all brings to the player. I know it's all a concious decision on the dev's part, made in order to produce a certain feeling of pensiveness.

But I honestly no longer enjoy it.

The problem is that once you've explored enough and know your way around the environments are just too repetitive. They do not look distinct, interesting enough to be enjoyed anew once you switch to new region, because for the most part it looks precisely the same as the last one.
Yeah, you can get some breathtaking vistas when the sky's blue and the sun's up but much more often you'll get stuck with limited visibility conditions. And it's a real bore to just follow the trail/river/whatever landmark you are using in order to avoid being lost - very, VERY slowly. Watching fog for 10 minutes is neither tense nor interesting, just boring. As I don't aim for ultra-long survival I really enjoy popping a coffee or energy drink just to get to my destination sooner and get to do something ore interesting than walking.

It's still kinda pleasant to walk in aurora, but that's mostly because it looks not only pretty (the general art style of TLD is very appealing and I enjoy it) but just DIFFERENT.

I know that the devs have their hands rather tied in the variety department - especially as far as the color palette is concerned, what with everything being covered with snow - but whatever is their next game I do hope they will go for something that's not quite as repetititve. The various MMORPGS could be a good reference point in that particular (landscape variety) regard as they make sure to spoil the players with very varied environments, changed on a regular basis.

P.S. I also have to add that I've only developed this "landscape fatigue" after many, many hours in TLD, so it's probably not an issue for majority of players.

[konzacelt]

I agree wholeheartedly, but I still think the PC movement speed in TLD is too fast.

Running should be walking speed, and walking should be crouch speed. I play the whole game at half speed using an old glitch, and x2 daylength in the custom menu. It's hard to describe what a wonderful difference that makes.

Day trips become over-nighters, and over-nighters become extended stays. And there's no chance to run away from any wildlife really, even from a distance. Nor can you catch up to rabbits anymore, which is how it should be really. It's outstanding.

I turn my headphones up to hear the howling winter wind, the lonely crunch of my footsteps, the siren caw of crows in the distance. And take my time enjoying an icy wasteland that is now twice the size it ever was before. Bear Lake feels more like it is supposed to feel, vast and unforgiving.

It makes you feel smaller.

[Martial.Lore]

Originally posted by konzacelt:

I play the whole game at half speed using an old glitch, and x2 daylength in the custom menu. It's hard to describe what a wonderful difference that makes.

I see that option in the custom menu. I shall have to begin a new game one day and give it a try. Right now I'm enjoying a save with 96% of the map discovered too much, returning to places I mapped but never fully explored. Once I reach Day 500 I might take a break from this save and try something new.

[Terminator]

This is literally the reason I bought the game in the first place. I was watching some streamer play it, and I was thinking "You can just walk for 15 minutes across the map without doing anything else". The vast world was just so powerful in getting me into the game.

[konzacelt]

Originally posted by Martial.Lore:

Originally posted by konzacelt:

I play the whole game at half speed using an old glitch, and x2 daylength in the custom menu. It's hard to describe what a wonderful difference that makes.

I see that option in the custom menu. I shall have to begin a new game one day and give it a try. Right now I'm enjoying a save with 96% of the map discovered too much, returning to places I mapped but never fully explored. Once I reach Day 500 I might take a break from this save and try something new.

Keep in mind that unless you artificially lower movement speed, increasing the day-length will let you explore faster. It slows down the day, but doesn't slow down you!

[Martial.Lore]

Originally posted by nextgengranny:

Excellent topic, Martial, thank you for your well thought out post. ^^

Thank you for being so complimentary. It's always nice to meet new people on this forum.

[Pierre Kindred]

sometime i go on walks with my father and its like in the long dark

[konzacelt]

Originally posted by nextgengranny:

@konzacelt, w/ all due respect, no, thank you. ^^ I appreciate your preferences & why you opt for them, but speaking for myself, I couldn't tolerate it; aside from my lack of patience, depressing the W key for extended periods takes a physical toll on me. (Unfortunately, the community proffered workaround doesn't seem to work for me; I end up auto-sprinting, rather than auto-walking. )

Well, I haven't played since the last few updates so I suppose they could have fixed it. It's a bow glitch. If you draw the bow (but don't shoot the arrow), and then un-draw the bow while moving, your movement speed gets cut in half. You might have to be crouching at the same time too...it's been awhile. After that, running, walking, and sneaking speeds are all basically halved. This remains in effect semi-permanently; things like struggles or doing the same thing mentioned above again, will snap you out of the glitch. So you have some degree of control over it.

I would edit in a bow and arrow at the start of my game, both at like 5% condition to make sure it will break if I accidentally fired it. Then I would just discipline myself to not use it for killing anything until I actually found a real bow. Sometimes this meant actually letting myself die without using it. The downside is that you basically have a 0.5kg weight you're permanently lugging around...but that's pretty small really.

At any rate, I appreciate your response though. It took me a RL week to get used to the slower movement, and everyone has their own preferences for sure. It would be nice if there was a slider option for this in the Custom Menu, but that may never happen so I have to improvise. :)