what time period is TLD set in?

[Goose]

it appears that everything is pretty old, like the cars and computer monitors, so that makes me wonder what time it's set in.

[fangorn231]

feels very late 90s/early 2000s to me. like cellphones arent in everyone's pockets (not that it would hold relevant loot in TLD) and computers arent in every home. but they are common enough that your local grocer/gas station might have a computer (or even a laptop! A chunky laptop too) for their business.
I almost feel like there should be a VHS rental store somewhere in milton or coastal highway. Its got that feel of the era of tech. but how much the tech is just this being set in the canadian boonies is up for debate.

[IFIYGD]

This question gets asked regularly.
We have older model cars, but there are also EV charging stations. Computers with older-style CRT monitors, but small modern-looking laptops and flat screen TVs. Solar panels on some houses, but rustic wood burning stoves and fireplaces in some- while others have propane tanks for stoves and heating.
The island was abandoned by all but the most hardy at some point after tourism died off and the island's resources like coal from the mines had been stripped almost bare, the hydro dam is falling apart, as are most buildings.
My guess is that we are in the 20-teens or early 2020's but the island has been decaying for decades. But there is no set time frame given in any of the game lore other than a month- September (found in the Climber's Journal Page which is obviously written right after the first big event when planes started falling out of the sky). It gives no year, and we have no idea how long characters in Survival Mode were wandering around scraping by until they became lucid again.
So we don't know the year- we can decide for ourselves based on what is found around us. All we know is the First Flare took place in September, so Story Mode starts in September of some unknown year.

That's my take on it.

[konzacelt]

"it appears that everything is pretty old..."

"...feels very late 90s/early 2000s to me."

Good lord, is 20 years ago pretty old now?!? eff me lol

[Small Ejector]

Originally posted by konzacelt:

"it appears that everything is pretty old..."

"...feels very late 90s/early 2000s to me."

Good lord, is 20 years ago pretty old now?!? eff me lol

You must be ‘old’ old. Good to see I’m not the only one…….

[Goose]

Originally posted by konzacelt:

"it appears that everything is pretty old..."

"...feels very late 90s/early 2000s to me."

Good lord, is 20 years ago pretty old now?!? eff me lol

it's before my time, so you'll have to radio-carbon date everything for me
lmao

[fishedin]

If look closely you'll notice that one of the 'pumps' at Quincy's Quonset is actually an electric car charging station.

EDIT: nevermind, I should have read the previous posts.

[mmille14]

Also, I think the people had the attitude if it still works keep it. New tech/models are just slowly creeping in.

[Rhapsody]

My father-in-law used to live without running water or electricity, but still had a laptop and TV as late as two years ago, and once had a phone line, Commodore, game console, etc. too in the 90s and earlier. I think they got solar panels installed some 5 years ago or something. It's difficult to make any conclusions with folks who live in remote and isolated locations.

[{O|G} Erik the Red]

Originally posted by fishedin:

If look closely you'll notice that one of the 'pumps' at Quincy's Quonset is actually an electric car charging station.

LOL, that's just sad on my part. Granted I haven't played on Coastal Highway in a while so I don't know when this was a thing, but I wouldn't know what an EV charging station would look like. Now we saying that Quonset garage is more developed than the area I live in....

[mmille14]

Originally posted by Rhapsody:

My father-in-law used to live without running water or electricity, but still had a laptop and TV as late as two years ago, and once had a phone line, Commodore, game console, etc. too in the 90s and earlier. I think they got solar panels installed some 5 years ago or something. It's difficult to make any conclusions with folks who live in remote and isolated locations.

Yep, I agree and for me, the mix of old and new contributed to the ambiance.

[Agent_Orange]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

This question gets asked regularly.
We have older model cars, *but there are also EV charging stations*. Computers with older-style CRT monitors, but small modern-looking laptops and flat screen TVs. *Solar panels on some houses*

those were added in some update not too long ago for virtue signaling or some nonsense

[konzacelt]

Originally posted by Small Ejector:

Originally posted by konzacelt:

"it appears that everything is pretty old..."

"...feels very late 90s/early 2000s to me."

Good lord, is 20 years ago pretty old now?!? eff me lol

You must be ‘old’ old. Good to see I’m not the only one…….

I reserve the right to not be officially 'old' if I'm not 50 yet. :]

[konzacelt]

Originally posted by Agent_Orange:

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

This question gets asked regularly.
We have older model cars, *but there are also EV charging stations*. Computers with older-style CRT monitors, but small modern-looking laptops and flat screen TVs. *Solar panels on some houses*

those were added in some update not too long ago for virtue signaling or some nonsense

Lol...I don't even know what that would be called.

Generation Signaling? Or Technology Inclusion? Maybe they thought they had to include a few modern gadgets so young folks could relate? Or couldn't have a modern game setting where someone didn't know what every object was?

To be fair, as many have pointed out, rural areas tend to have a good mis-mash of old and modern tech lying around. I think it more or less fits, although I highly doubt Great Bear would have an EV charge station. The game setting is at least 10 years ago and the island is too remote.

True story: At work awhile back someone found an old floppy disk, and one younger colleague actually said "Oh look...someone 3D-printed the save icon!"

[Goose]

Originally posted by konzacelt:

Originally posted by Agent_Orange:

those were added in some update not too long ago for virtue signaling or some nonsense

Lol...I don't even know what that would be called.

Generation Signaling? Or Technology Inclusion? Maybe they thought they had to include a few modern gadgets so young folks could relate? Or couldn't have a modern game setting where someone didn't know what every object was?

To be fair, as many have pointed out, rural areas tend to have a good mis-mash of old and modern tech lying around. I think it more or less fits, although I highly doubt Great Bear would have an EV charge station. The game setting is at least 10 years ago and the island is too remote.

True story: At work awhile back someone found an old floppy disk, and one younger colleague actually said "Oh look...someone 3D-printed the save icon!"

i'm way younger than a lot of technology (15)
but i did grow up around technology of all kinds, because my father was a hoarder, and collected a lot of tech, so i was used to seeing things like CRTs and floppy disks.
i mean, i have a CRT monitor sitting on my desk, just because i think they way they work is fascinating.
now, i will *ironically* make the save icon joke, because it never gets old.

[Sourwine]

Clearly you've not traveled much beyond big cities, if you've traveled at all. It's not unusual, in the slightest, to go to remote towns and see people driving older cars/trucks, using older computers, etc.