COUGARS! And MAJOR CHANGES to The Long Dark coming.

The latest Dev Diary is out for May 2024, and it outlines some unexpected changes to The Long Dark. The cougar is coming, this much we knew from pre-announcements, but a new difficulty and the removal of permadeath? That was a surprise. Let's look into it!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:54 Cougar
06:33 New Region
09:01 New Tale
10:16 Episode 5
10:57 New Difficulty
16:56 No More Permadeath
21:23 Switch Update
22:18 Concluding Thoughts
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Elentia
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[@RidesandRambling]

Misery Mode?... I've been surviving that for 41 years...

[@ahabkapitany]

I hear you brother

[@illuminati1866]

Damn...

[@jackplisken4738]

New Mode : Kathy Bates locks you up in Misery Mode and you will succumb to Cabin Fever

[@edsiefker1301]

That's not Cougar mode?

[@Ghostsprey]

Debuff: Permanent hobbling; it's cock-a-doody difficult!

[@sethblank3139]

cougar sounds more like super mega cabin fever than an actual animal

[@redpandatrident]

I guess we'll have to wait and see how the cougar actually works but from what the dev log describes, I'm not a big fan. It sounds way too gamey and like an annoyance more than anything else.

[@Edge024]

I agree. I don't see how you should force players to move regions, some players might like the playstyle of camping out in a single region. I guess the cougar is optional.

[@braindead8899]

Well the cougar is optional, so no one loses

[@formbi]

like phantoms in Minecraft

[@stilllookingfortreasure]

​@@braindead8899 Except for the people who've been excited about another animal, that's a big of a loss

[@quemas325]

I had tried to play this game a couple of times in the past, I managed to play up to 70ish days in a voyageur run, but it never clicked entirely for me. Last year I gave it one more chance, this time trying to actually learn how to move from region to region, what to prioritize, how to make the best use out of all the items that I find and so on. Your channel has been extremely helpful for me in learning all these things, I hit 100 days on my main stalker run and got to fully enjoy the game and its mechanics. I don't usually write this type of comments on youtube, but you and your channel definitely deserve some good words. I admire your dedication.

[@AmaraJordanMusic]

Congrats! I’m glad you gave it another chance and it’s more satisfying for you! I’m a super casual player; I play when I’m in pain to distract myself, so I was always on Pilgrim, the mode where predators run away from you. I’ve played for five years. But I’m finally actually playing Voyager, so I’m really proud of myself. 34 days and going strong! 😅 I even played chicken with a bear because I WANT THAT BEARSKIN BEDROLL, dang it!

[@nannakurzhaar]

@@AmaraJordanMusic I thinking the same - I usually only pay pilgrim but I thinking I could risk a bit more since learning so much from this videos :)

[@AmaraJordanMusic]

@@nannakurzhaarIt wasn’t as scary as I expected. Well, I’ve been in areas I know really well, like Mystery Lake and Pleasant Valley. But I got the bear skin bedroll by playing chicken with the bear. I got the wolf skin coat by “walking the dog” back to my base, waiting until it stopped and growled at me in a ready stance, and hit it with my bow. I just moved back to Mystery Lake and am going to start up again to repair the coat. Just, be aware, try not to be overencumbered, and rock on. Next up for me: moose hide satchel. Eeeeek!

[@Devilmaker-ot6ct]

​@@AmaraJordanMusic The moose is a tough one, it doesnt bleed.

[@nannakurzhaar]

@@AmaraJordanMusic good luck 🍀👍

[@SinkyYT]

We've already got a cougar. That old lady in Milton. 😂

[@Slickusso]

Whaaaaaaat

[@alexroselle]

Astrid: what am I, chopped liver?

[@saeedTHEgreat]

lol

[@EcoHuron]

AYO

[@Sgt_Turkigreyvi]

No

[@t.b.cont.]

Finally, hot moms in my area.

[@friedmandesigns]

Stacy's Mom has got it goin' on, yo.

[@isaaco5679]

Careful! They can be quite a handful!

[@John-tx1wk]

I know, it's about time. I keep getting ads for them.

[@WillHarder805]

Lmao good one

[@everythingsalright1121]

Id rather just have furry cougars personally

[@ravenswrath89]

I think the new cheat death mechanic could be used by players that want more of a challenge too. Start a game, purposefully get to that "last life" & then the game will have the added difficulty penalty they're talking about. Thanks for covering the new content update!

[@mattsmith2656]

Fourth Life challenge. I agree.

[@nickns732]

Cougar sounds like regional cabin fever. And you’ll just get attacked when you do something that passes time outside (harvesting, sleeping, starting a fire). Meaning you’ll only be able to counter it in a qte.

[@ObiWanCannabi]

they should do a "Purgatory mode" where even if you die your world doesnt reset, you do.. leaving you to make your way from the start again, but you can find your body and get all your stuff back, it would explain why there are so many corpses around and not a single person living there..

[@pastordaveplays6646]

Very. Cool. Idea! Reminds me a bit of the Time Capsules you can occasionally come across in the original Subnautica, that can contain useful items or tech upgrades you haven't researched yet. For TLD, it would be fairly hard to retrace your steps because things like cattails, rose hips, clothing and ammo loot would be depleted, but worth it to reclaim your bear coat, rifle, etc. Make it like Dark Souls where you get one chance to reclaim your stuff (souls) and if you die again before that then you lose it all permanently. In TLD it even makes sense that "someone else" would beat you to your good gear because of the delay!

[@AnxiousGary]

I like that idea too. You can do that in Project Zomboid and it's really fun.

[@Bashrobe]

I'm intrigued by the "game gets harder" trait of Cheat Death, and how we might be able to use it to make the game harder on purpose for extra challenge. I wonder if it can be combined with Misery mode 😀

[@Zaknafein]

I can totally see players deliberately jumping to their death 3 times at spawn and then play from there, yes, haha.

[@Arnichoutoutou]

Most sane TLD player 😝

[@usernotfound6968]

Maybe cheating death makes the Difficulty up a mode like pilgrim To voyager So like every time you cheat death A element of the next difficulty is Added to the game like the temp goes down

[@saeedTHEgreat]

YES! I am sure you and others will do that! I can see the title of videos/streams being: "surviving 100+ days after the 3rd death cheat on pure outer Misery" :D

[@christopherlambley1223]

@@usernotfound6968 or if you wake up several hours later with severe frostbite. I'm thinking permanent extended crafting times, low harvesting rates and reduced weapon accuracy. I think I'd rather start again with debuffs like that!

[@aseroxd]

I never stay in one place for too long. Guess I'm actually going have to camp out if I want a chance to snuggle with the kitty.

[@Sokol10]

If play more than 200 days move across regions became very boring, no reason for return to regions already looted.

[@saeedTHEgreat]

me too. The cougar mechanic forces some player to move more, and forces some other to camp a bit. :)

[@isaaco5679]

I wonder if it would follow you into the ravine region? If that area will no longer be safe.

[@LalaDepala_00]

I'm the opposite. I love hunkering down in one area. Spent so much of my time in Coastal Highway. I think the cougar going after you if you stay somewhere too long is pretty interesting.

[@keyogen]

It would be cool if the mountain region had mountain goats that you could get wool from.

[@JonathanRossRogers]

The obvious purpose of mountain goats would be to learn how to climb down nearly vertical slopes. Maybe the player would have to spend a certain amount of time observing goats.

[@braindead8899]

It'd be cool if you could milk them

[@friedmandesigns]

Haha -- Good luck getting close enough to a mountain goat to shear one, or finding their cute lil' beds. But a cool idea :)

[@Hunne2303]

Seen vids of them falling hard...

[@underreigns]

Please God let me pass time knitting something useful instead of standing around shuffling my deck of invisible cards

[@johnoosting]

The cheat death option will be handy for situations like dying from the cold because you accidentally hit sleep when you just wanted to pickup your bedroll. There are also occasions where you get stuck in the terrain and get a sprain making it impossible to get out through no fault of your own.

[@knurlgnar24]

Getting stuck in the terrain is one of the reasons I back up my save before every long gaming session. Games have bugs and I'm not going to let that wipe my progress. Freezing while sleeping is an intended mechanic so I can see using the new feature in that case.

[@Sgt_Turkigreyvi]

Or if an animal attacks you gets stuck on something then immediately attacks you again killing you. Happened to me once.

[@yember]

I feel like cheat death should be by default, turned off. this shouldn’t be something that people have to click when they die every single time. It removes some of the preciousness of a run

[@williebrort]

Cougar probably carries even bigger parasite risk. For realism I wish the game had it so even at lvl 5 cooking there would be a very tiny chance of getting parasites. Just very low chance.

[@darkwillow1451]

cooking lvl5 is OP. Ruined meat should stay ruined (granted, meat stored outside should degrade way slower than now). Parasites should not be cleared by lvl 5. same with food poisoning.

[@TimJameson-jg8sl]

You sick bastard 😂

[@nerdolo748]

Cheat death system sounds like a potentially fun addition to me, permadeath with extra steps. I like the idea to add debuffs/afflictions. If they are interesting this may even become basis of challenges I think? I wonder though if they’ll add an option to turn it off entirely for particular save, it’d be a good compromise. I think even if you decide you don’t wanna engage with that system it may be somewhat more difficult to stick to that decision when you’re actually given a choice ;) and some people may wanna engage with the game as it were all those years.

[@jacobbond7441]

Imagine if the cougar pelt allowed you to craft a makeshift holster/quiver. Enabling you to carry the revolver/6 arrows without using any inventory capacity.

[@Thetarget1]

From the onset I really don´t like removing permadeath, but of course I will have to wait and see how it will be implemented. Permadeath is an integral part of the game for me, and it is what forces people to play in a methodical, realistic way, which takes survival seriously. Removing it will make you take bigger risks, and play more arcady. Dying from something stupid is part of a survival situation. In real life, when people die, it is not just from slowly freezing to death or getting mauled by a bear, but from stupid little mistakes like slipping and falling, or misjudging the risk of something. The devs have generally made the game easier and easier for several years, and this seems like a part of it. But as I said: Let us wait and see how it will work. Maybe it will be well balanced with some other updates like the cougar.

[@darkwillow1451]

i have mixed feelings on both major game changers. The cougar is interesting, but there is a fine line between feeling like its a comprehensive new gamespawn mechanic... and the feeling that the cougar is like a cabinfever-darkwalker. I think it all has to do with how predictable it feels, how guaranteed the appearance of the cougar is. I need to know how the 'signs' are implemented to make up my mind. I also need to know how hard it is to actually hunt it. Will it be like a cougar-struggle and then it runs? Will it bleed? will you be able to track it down after injuring it? Will cougar hide be used for crafting? What if it dies on some unreachable hill (because they said it likes high places). As for the modification of the save system.. i prefer the classic. As u said, the permadeath makes you play the game a certain way. Mentally, i need it as motivation. I think it should be a certain distinction between classic type saves and this new system. It should be its own whole class of saves. Like saying "im playing permadeath on interloper" or "im playing cheatdeath on interloper". And the saved stats should be distinct. People of the community would most likely want this distinction very clearly made.

[@joshuahwieland8676]

I like to think the signs will be scratch marks on your bases door

[@prestongarvey7014]

That and maybe while you sleep or are inside you can hear it scream outside. That would be horrifying

[@vincents7115]

The noisemakers are really useful for taking out multiple ptarmigans in one go. With a little patience, you can take out 4+ easy enough

[@BelmontWaltz57]

The cougar sounds like a demon bear of sorts for survival mode. A kind of rival to hound you through your survival so you don't get complacent. Cheat death also sounds very interesting. I wonder if it's something where you can pick what happens for roleplaying reasons. Like you cheat death from falling off a cliff but you choose to wake up with destroyed clothes and a couple frostbitten limbs or something. In any case looking forward to it. Can't wait to learn more.

[@Psiclone]

I'm looking forward to seeing scratch marks on trees letting me know the cougar was here.

[@saeedTHEgreat]

I was thinking some cougar poop and scary background noises :) exciting stuff

[@thesporkguy]

Hopefully it’ll actually scratch out the words “cougar was here” in said tree. Us players will be like, “oh shit, I think it’s a sign..”

[@Mooses_gut]

i really don’t like the idea of cheat death..

[@SOBNo1]

It's optional. Select "die"

[@scotttruehart8024]

I sorta also made my own version of stalkerloper by just simply loading stalker settings and then reducing the amount of physical loot in the world but kept the stalker amount of loot in containers. I have found this specific set of settings has a unique challenge in that ammo crafting materials are way, way harder to find than normal. Especially because one of the radio towers requires bringing your own battery with you to it further reducing the amount of ammo you can craft. The reason I find this so interesting is because there are so many damn wolves on stalker that I get tired of just scaring them away with fire since I run into them constantly if I don't kill them. So I typically just shoot them with the revolver which chews threw ammo pretty quickly. That run I also shot a bear with the bow and he ran away so I chased him and shot him again but that time he charged me. I shot him a 3rd time as the mauling animation started and when I got up from the mauling the bear was dead, I didn't have any torn clothing or afflictions, but my health was low like a normal mauling. Which I found odd. I should also mention I was in ML but I chased this bear for so long and was so tunnel visioned I lost track of where I was. So, with the little bit of condition I had left I started a fire and began harvesting and cooking the bear. I did notice the snow was picking up but didn't think anything of it until I heard the sound of howling wind. I began to panic and for some reason decided quartering the bear and loading up my travois was important at the time and that was the moment I realized how lost I was. With my very little health, empty temp bar, and no sense of where I was I stimmed up. Grabbed my travois, and headed in the direction I thought the train tracks were. I walked for what felt like forever until I randomly ran across a steep ass hill. I tried starting a fire behind a tree to warm up because even with the stim I didn't think I was going to make it but even with a fire out of the wind I wasn't warming up so I trudged on. I paralleled the hill until it broke open and I could cross to the other side of it which is when I finally saw the power lines. It was such a relief to see that. So with my health dwindling I made my way towards the Camp Office. By the time I made it safe inside I had 3% health remaining. It was the closest to dying I have ever been in TLD without actually dying.

[@SOBNo1]

I did the same. Stalker with loper loot, no rifle or revolver. Now I'm on loper with length of day X2. I get 1 hour irl extra daylight and because you move at the same speed you walk, and CLIMB, twice as fast.

[@illcareify]

Mate, you and kimiota are one of the reasons that they felt like interloper might not be punishing enough. Living on 500 days off of birch tea while running naked around bears challenge 😅

[@nortonis3565]

Veldig bra video som vanlig zak. Har nylig startet og spille spillet, og prøver og se mye av videoene dine sånn jeg kan lære det litt lettere, takk igjen.

[@pastordaveplays6646]

Permadeath is indeed one of the things that makes TLD such an experience. It's the same with "Death = Delete" Hardcore World of Warcraft: Risk is it's own reward; Pain teaches, but death teaches faster; The only person truly cheated, is the one who cheats That said, I can get behind the "Cheat Death" mechanic because it definitely still has consequences, and can only be used a few times. Is continuing your run worth a permanent loss of 5 kg carrying capacity, or a 40% reduction in maximum Condition, or a permanent reduction to the Sprint meter? (These are all my ideas; I feel they would be serious but not totally crippling, but added on top of each other they would make surviving very much harder!)

[@kevinpratt7766]

(gasp) KITTY! Here kitty kitty kitty. Ah! No! Bad kitty!

[@alexroselle]

Pspspspspsps’nt

[@eliljeho]

Check out US National Parks posts on approaching wildlife. Especially mountain lions. Some are memes…

[@OliverLee789]

I feel like even though Cheat Death is completely optional it still fundamentally changes the way you approach the game because permadeath is now opt-in. In the face of losing hours and hours of progress in a run I find it hard to see many players willingly choosing to stay dead and not choosing to cheat death at least once.

[@pastordaveplays6646]

There will always be some players who will stick with their premadeath on the "first" death. Look at the community that started around Solo-Self-Found, Death = Delete Classic World of Warcraft. You had to manually delete the character in the community made challenge, and many, MANY people did it willingly before Blizzard's version that did it for you. Sure, some people cheated the system because they could, but those that chose death understood the value in that decision. I think TLD players will be largely in that camp too.

[@OliverLee789]

@@pastordaveplays6646 that’s a fair point and perhaps I’m speaking for my own preferences and generalising across the player base a bit too much. I feel like I may be tempted to go for a “middle of the road” approach, opting to cheat death once or twice for the “lower tier” debuffs and choosing to stay dead once those debuffs get too severe, and knowing I have two or three chances at a run kind of saps some of the tension out of that first life. I suppose it all boils down to how it’s implemented and what the penalties are for cheating death before I can come to a solid conclusion on how I feel about it.

[@pastordaveplays6646]

@@OliverLee789 And that's fair. My impression is that the penalties will be fairly steep but one alone shouldn't be insurmountable for skilled players. I worry more for those who may still be learning. Though it may help them to explore more thoroughly, learning what is/isn't a "good" or calculated risk is very important to long term enjoyment of the game.

[@OliverLee789]

@@pastordaveplays6646 I agree. I’m hoping that even if surmountable the debuffs still have a tangible negative effect on your quality of life in the long run. I’d hate for the overall player attitude for experienced players to become “well it doesn’t matter if I make this stupid, risky decision because I have a get out of jail free card if it goes wrong”. I also worry for the implications of when this has been added. As far as I can see, there was no mention of a cheat death feature in the roadmap, and it’s now suddenly been introduced alongside the cougar. Makes me wonder if the team felt deaths due to a cougar attack had the potential to feel unfair and gamey so they’ve had to add another feature to get around it and minimise player frustration. Definitely going to be an interesting update, lots of fundamental changes that we have next to no real info about. June’s going to be an exciting one for sure!

[@OliverLee789]

@@pastordaveplays6646 I agree. I’m hoping even the lower tier debuffs will have a tangible negative effect on your quality of life in the long run. I’d hate for the overall player attitude to become “why does it matter if I make this stupid, risky decision when I have a get out of jail free card if it goes wrong”. I also worry about the implications of when this has been released. As far as I can see, there were no initial plans for a cheat death system in the road map, and it’s now been introduced alongside the cougar. Makes me wonder if the team felt that cougar attacks had the potential to cause unfair, gamey deaths and they had to introduce another system to get around it to minimise player frustration. Definitely going to be the most interesting update we’ve had in a long time. There’s a lot of fundamental changes that we know next to nothing about. June’s going to be an exciting one for sure!

[@Cchar95]

I think it’s great that they’ll add the option to leave the cougar out of your save, since i still go into panic mode from hearing the timberwolves sound, and how long has that been since they’ve been added.. 😅 that being said, can’t wait to watch some other players give misery mode (and the cougar of course) a try. Altogether this sounds like a really great update. Can’t wait for safehouse customization though

[@vidholf]

I really like how the Cheat Death mechanic sounds. It reminds me of the way Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies (by Failbetter) allow you to start a game with a new Captain who inherits some of what your old Captain had when they died. It also fits with the dream-like / nightmare-like quality of TLD, as if you thought you were a goner but pulled through, maybe had a near-death experience.

[@williebrort]

Yeah, my thought was that you'd be passed out because of afflictions, some other survivor found your body and looted some stuff thinking you where a goner/dead, and miraculously you woke up again.

[@PurpleBox89]

@@williebrort "Hope nobody needs this anymore..."

[@shaunsmusicreviews]

I just want the ability to have interloper level rarity for loot, but with the hatchet/knives. Takes me out of it too much to not find the odd axe about the whole island

[@LalaDepala_00]

I don't enjoy interloper because of that aspect. Really? A canadian island with zero axes, knives or guns?

[@Gulogulo7387]

For the cougar i hope for the following. 1. The signs of cougar hunting you varies on the situation you choose to sleep or injured. What i mean is if your sleeping in a trailer youll wake up and hear it walking on the roof, If your in a house claw marks on the doors/wake up and hear scatching, sleeping in car youll see the cougars eyes shining in the darkness, if your in a stick shelter with campfire near you youll wake up in the with tracks surrounding shelter. 2. The loot from it will obviously be meat and pelt but i want to able to make long jons out of the pelt maybe mittens out the paws with better armor then the rabbit mittens but offer less heat.

[@Owen_013]

Ooh what if you could make cougar mittens with claws that would increase your struggle effectiveness against wolves lol

[@Gulogulo7387]

@@Owen_013 I didn't think about, See what doing Owen it's cooking

[@thesporkguy]

Can’t wait to find a crudely made sign outside my base reading “You Lost, Boy??” Me: “Damn, I think the cougar’s here”.

[@verdun16]

I can’t wait to see the new region. Thank you for informing me

[@vampiregoth9]

I like permadeath, it really is the most important aspect of the survival simulator imo. It really changes your behavior and is always the thing you're weighing - is it worth the risk to do _______ (venture out this late, brave this weather, stay another day given your resources, etc). I think the addition of cougar with permadeath REALLY changes things even more - just like IRL if I were to encounter cougar prints or scat or hear them yowling you bet I'm not gonna stick around lol

[@cfredtmbg]

I’m very mixed on the cougar, I think it’ll depend on the mechanics. If after a period of time it starts stalking you and you have a chance to actually hunt/avoid it, I think it sounds fun. If it’s just a version of cabin fever, but replace contracting the affliction with an instant cougar attack, very hard pass from me.

[@derkatzenfuerst6077]

I think it's very important that they add the option to permanently switch off the cheat death system at the start of a run. Personally, I think it's a great addition, but it will change how invested players are in their run if they know death is not permanent. The cougar sounds amazing, my only fear is that it could feel very unrealistic if it just spawns nearby, like in the Old Bear challenge. And as I understood it, the cougar's den can be anywhere in the world. So you might have to walk from Ash Canyon to Forsaken Airfield and search everything in between if you can't find it. Or will the den spawn with the cougar in the region you are currently living in?

[@hektortechtips7658]

Always fun to see you pop up in my KZbin feed!

[@highdesertdrew1844]

All of this sounds fun, I like the no permadeath option. I have been killed in a few very reasonable ways (wolves, bears) but it always feels like I am getting cheated when I die from a non-obvious fall, or from electrocution as an aurora starts up. I am excited to see what new items can be made from the cougar pelt. Perhaps a cougar cowl? I would like the ability to make pants out of wolf or bear pelts.

[@marinary1326]

I like how they seem to be really integrating the Cheat Death concept (really radical for a game that has always had permadeath even on easier difficulties) into the game with some kind of punishing tradeoff mechanic with choice, which is pretty much in the spirit of TLD isn't it? You can live, but you may end up wishing you hadn't if the cost is severe. I wonder if the penalties will be milder on lower difficulties, and what the penalties may be. Also wonder if the options for penalties will have anything to do with how you died. And yeah, as other people have said, I can see the penalties gained from cheating death being used as a sort of Interloper+ difficulty mode, especially interesting if there's a lot of options for what penalties you end up with- go into a new game, die as quickly as possible three times and roll each time for another debuff, then have to work with what you end up with.

[@impaugjuldivmax]

you can't jump nor to make a big step on this gaming engine but now they introduce the fastest animal in the wild west

[@AmaraJordanMusic]

When I was little, I was menaced by a cougar. We were at this resort in the mountains and on a kind of far out cabin into the mountains and woods. I told my mom, “Ooh Mommy look, big kitty! I wanna play with the BIG KITTY!” She was doing something, didn’t TURN AROUND, and said, “That’s nice sweetie, but we don’t know this kitty.” “Big kitty wants pets!!!” I was so happy because the kitty was coming TOWARD US. It was stalking my 4yo self. Mom turned around. It was less than 20 meters away. “Oh my God! That’s a BIG KITTY, you’re right sweetie. We’re just gonna go inside….” I cried for hours when the big kitty went away; Mom was on the phone with animal control. They’d gotten calls before, but it was hard to catch the dang thing. It had grown extremely careful. I think that caution is the only thing that kept it from attacking when mom turned around and was shocked for a second. So, I’m looking forward to the mild PTSD from THE BIG KITTY. 🥳

[@isaaco5679]

We don't have them here in eastern Iowa much, but I have seen what they are capable of and wow are they insane animals! Can't blame you for wanting to pet the big kitty!

[@martinlatvian5538]

I often save my survival games to a special folder, so I have an option to play them from any day I want to change decidions and as well to learn from mistakes and simply explore the game more than it originaly allows You to. I'm playing on and off since 2017, but I have not been everywhere and Hinterland keeps adding new regions. Mostly I challange myself and start a new game after I die, but I have one game save where I never die. I just dont want to say goodbye to all my camps and bases and progress I've made in years.

[@ephianlublurbl5583]

so, how many days youlived in there?

[@Monsterslayer992]

As much as I understand the purpose of permadeath to make the game as realistic as possible, adding chances to continue is for players who play on console which they don’t have the same ability to back up their save. I’m glad that they are adding this mechanic to the game however I wish that it was just an option kind of like the cougar . Also they could have just made permadeath for higher difficulties like stalker or interloper or in this case interloper and misery. the research about having permadeath and players appreciating the game conflicts with reality, essentially many people asking to solve this permadeath issue on Reddit. Hence that’s why the devs are implementing this mechanic. Most people want this permadeath issue solved is because: 1) not every player has a pc and can’t back up their saves 2) story mode has a save mechanism which means that they can implement a save mechanism on both easy and hard but they don’t want to implement it in survival which has easy and hard difficulties. So it’s very inconsistent. I don’t mind permadeath it just depends on how it is implemented. For example state of decay 2 (a completely different survival game, a zombie survival game)has permadeath but you start with 3 people in your community and if you die you pick another member of the community. Meaning that the character is permanently dead. If you have no one else then it’s game over. Players suffer from the consequences of the permadeath if the character was valuable ( like a character being able to create ammo as his ability) it is enough for the player to think more carefully and they have another chance to correct that mistake without the save being completely removed. I know this is a different game but think about how this game implements permadeath compared to this game the long dark. I hope this makes sense. Great video.

[@sisbonetta]

The beauty of this game is it appeals to so many different types of players. This permadeath option will bring more to the game.😊 thanks for what u do Zak. Love ur work

[@sep.s]

6:11 I will be personally disappointed if they don't allow us the option to craft a kitty ears headband from the cougar 😂

[@cool3996]

In any game with permadeath, people that want to, will try to get around it. Whether it's by literally turning it off, or backing up a save in the event they die. I think the Cheating Death mechanic is fine and is much more interesting than just backing up a save. You get three chances to cheat the game's permadeath with a consequence. And if you don't like it, you can just ignore it and choose to not cheat death. I'll probably choose not to cheat death but it's still pretty cool.

[@tomkemp7442]

I wouldn't know anything about alt f4 during a wolf attack. No sir. Have definitely never done that 😬

[@TheWinterjen]

Can't wait to see you take on the new challenges 🥰

[@dewaldswanepoel2577]

Just started watching your road to 500 days the other day and im already on episode 8 and its been great so far

[@CityBelowtheSea]

I dunno I’m kinda iffy on both the Cougar and especially the cheat death. I agree with others takes on Cougars. Feels too predetermined and predictable. I think they should make it a chance that perhaps the cougar shows up and increases over time if it doesn’t. So you’re not ALWAYS penalized on camping. It’s a chance. Risk/reward mitigation. Otherwise it continues my opinion that TLD has gotten too “gamified” over time and less and less of an immersive survival sim. Cabin Fever, Scurvy and now the Cougar and cheat death seem to be all met with, at best, mixed responses and maybe they should reevaluate their design direction lately. Of the 3 I hate scurvy the most. It’s just annoying to deal with. It’s not a fun mechanic to mitigate. The cheat death I straight up dislike and it goes against the spirit of the game. Had they introduced this earlier on in the games development then maybe but not this far into the games life. The more I think about this the more I dislike it tbh.

[@simon4321]

I also love the way the cougar will be introduced. However, the "cheat death" option really breaks immersion for me. Even if I dont have to use it, it still bothers me to be in the game. Just like a lore-breaking weapon (like a laser-gun) actually: Of course I dont have to use it but it still bothers me to be in this "universe".

[@Devilmaker-ot6ct]

Cant wait for the moment, when I will be camping in the bear cave in desolation point, knowing, that the moment I step outside, the cougar is going after me :)

[@TheAxuXD]

One time I just fell through the ground and that was frustrating at the time. It was suppose to be solid and I just fell right through to my dead. So times like that I would maybe want ta cheat dead, but at the same time I don't want a penalty for it . Cougar and misery mode sound kind of nice concept, but I'm clad they are optional.

[@TheDough19]

Awsome content in my opinion.That cougar mechanic feels very refreshing and a new way in gaming to add an animal. Love this adition very mutch. Sure could be annoying to movw depending on time it takes for the cougar to arrive at your region. Hopefully they will add some nice crafting with cougar hide. Like a weapon/equipment belt. So we can have shortcuts to handle stressful situation and just a really nice addition if it will happen. Otherwise maybe a cougar backpack. The cheat death feels like it something to use when you make stupid misstake in a save. And im struggling on interloper. Soo a harder difficulty will be nice to se how other players play that mode. Keep up the good work with all the videos. Peace from Sweden

[@darkfireslide]

regarding permadeath, so long as it's optional I guess it's fine, but as a fan of this game I would think cheating death in survival mode at least would be a downgrade in terms of immersion and enjoyment

[@vincedige2727]

Making a custom game to get a difficulty between interloper and stalker works just fine, but so far I know u won't get "points" towards badges.. I'd really would like a difficulty that's in-between.. Also Zak,,, Would love to see some vids to learn the regions better.. Maybe see how long u can survive in one region only?!? Love ur tld content 😊keep it up❤

[@Zaknafein]

Regional guides are coming after the wildlife refresh. Surviving in one region only, though, will come. The cougar affects it.

[@girasole9729]

i think i would prefer it if they make the cheat death mechanic a toggleable thing when the player starts a new run. i agree that permadeath make the player appreciate the game more, but as a player who is wayyyyy too afraid to die and lose all my prograss, the cheat death mechanic would make me feel more comfortable to ventrue out more. EDIT: i know it's optional, but i think going into a run knowing that if you died you can just respown(ik there are penalties and you can only do it three times, but still) just change how the game feels.

[@emiirubii]

It is an optional thing! When you die you can chose to end the run or cheat death and keep the run going with certain afflictions as consequence of cheating death.

[@recarsion]

​@@emiirubii But just the fact that it's even there fundamentally changes the game forever. Maybe up to Stalker I'm okay with it but it definitely shouldn't be a thing on Interloper and Misery imo.

[@joaoqueneher4981]

​@@recarsionJust dont choose cheat death them

[@girasole9729]

@@joaoqueneher4981 i know it's optional but it still changes how the game feels fundamentally

[@jensjensen7504]

Zak, please record your blind play-though on misery mode! i want to see you "suffer" for once :D I welcome misery, once you mastered the game (interloper) its just a matter of seeing the days tick up, and restart once you get too bored. I used to have a 200d restart limit, now i pushed it to 500d, but man is it boring once you looted 99% of the world :P

[@dingding7289]

a mode made to outright kill you thats impossible to live in long term sounds fun rather then getting the best loot and then kinda surviving by stockpilling because its kind survivable it gets colder but not indefinetly, having a mode that is outright MADE to kill you no matter how good you are the best you can do is survive a day longer you wont be dying to a lapse in judgment or an accident or bad timing you will die becasue it will be impossible to survive just based on numbers alone.

[@K3V0382]

i really want a cougar head-dress now, gonna spend a while learning all about the new animal

[@dylanivey9752]

100% I think the game should stay permadeath! I agree with you that it adds a certain weight to the game that you appreciate and can look back on. Making that change I feel would devalue the experience.

[@arupian666]

I just hope the new region is a "normal" region... no Mystical Fog, no Zombie Wolves, just an interesting fun region to explore. I hate the idea of removing Permadeath. It's been a core mechanic for 10 years. Now, decisions you make don't matter. Yeah, I know, I know "you don't have to use it"... that's not the point. From the launch of the DLC, I think Hinterland (under the leadership of Katie, it has to be said) have steered this game so far away from what made it an amazing game. Used to be THE "hardcore" survival game. Now it's just a chilly "adventure game". Of course streamers and content creators are going to think everything's amazing. They make money from the game. Most "old timers" that I talk to, feel the same as I do. My runs end at BR. I don't do tales. That's not a survival mechanic, that's Story mode.

[@Fronkenstien]

I think that the phrase somewhere in the world and you'll have to go looking for it and find it and that cougars won't bother you for a long time is wording sufficient to say that it's not in the region that you're currently in necessarily but it's in one place in the world map and if you want to find it then you can and it probably won't change so that means that once You destroy it you'll probably be able to Go back to it and destroy it again and the mechanic will continue to serve a function as every so often you'll have to make a trip to the cougar den and blow it up which is pretty awesome.

[@jabbott6748]

As someone that lives in The Rocky Mountains I can say for sure that the higher you go the colder it gets. Of everything in this update I'm most hype for Misery in combination with Cheat Death. I can't wait to see how bad it gets after both are kicked in for a while. I wanna be gimping around as a scarred old survivor missing an arm with a permanent limp and blind in one eye. I have no idea if any of these are gonna be in the game but I can hope.

[@williebrort]

Maybe a mod can create some of this if the game doesn't fulfill your wishes.

[@jabbott6748]

@@williebrort I don't doubt that mods could get me there. However I'm almost 50 and don't have any idea how to mod TLD. If the game doesn't support mods, like TLD doesn't, then I don't know how to mod them.

[@Hunne2303]

Simple copy and paste mostly.

[@andrewr2784]

I've never backed up a save. I've once quit a game when I was doomed (sprained wrist / ankle standing on the side of a hill in Bleak Inlet surrounded by Timberwolves) but conscience got the better of me and I perished that player - at about 118 days. I won't use 'cheat death', no matter how handy it may have been when I died at Day 408 in 'loper.

[@nevar108]

Perma death is kinda cool. Depending how it is implimented it could be kinda fun. Think "The Revenant" after being malled by the bear. Should be dead, but somehow lived... but bares the scars and afflictions from that incident for the rest of the movie. Maybe you loose the ability of an arm. (no more rifles of bow usage, slower harvesting, etc). Maybe you wake up with a "bum" leg resulting in slower walking (maybe no running).

[@TheKaityStar2]

I'm so ready for this update! I can't wait! While I'm glad that the cougar is is coming in part 5, I'm happy it's gonna be optional. I may want to play a game with it on to see what happens but it probably won't match my play style.

[@awfuljupiter8434]

I really like the mechanics of the cougar. I had a similar idea for a Wendigo. If you cannibalize a corpse, you have to keep moving to avoid it.

[@AmaraJordanMusic]

I’ve never felt more personally attacked than when I found out the cougar attacks region specific players. It’s literally waking up and choosing violence.

[@acada6594]

For me the cougar is more like deathwalker. Just limited to the outside (hope it cannot enter buildings) and you can fight it. Anyway I am on my way to Black Rock where I left my bulletproof vest. Lets see who is tough and who is tougher.

[@rezo7110]

Idk how I feel about the perma death change

[@techsurvivalschool]

The cougar mechanics don't make a lot of sense especially since there's so much deer. Deer is a staple for them. In Long Dark reality, it should be an attack if you are getting close to the den or main hunting ground of the cougar. I have a feeling they're going to adjust the cougar mechanics over the next several updates after they release it.

[@Thetarget1]

Animal behaviour in the game generally doesn´t make sense. It's just a game after all. In game the explanation is that the aurora has messed with their minds.

[@Willow1w]

Ash Canyon is my favorite region because of high difficulty and multiple routes. It was very exciting to explore and hunker down there. In contrast to Timberwolf which is very linear and revolves around one landmark.

[@averyflatt2616]

I wonder what the cougar would be like on pilgrim. Will they be completely disabled, give you the option to enable them and have them be hostile, or have them spawn but still fear the player?

[@DrShanksALot]

Love your content. Are you going to do Buried Echoes soon since the next tale is coming out soon?

[@Zaknafein]

Yes, going to ZOC, though not exactly for that reason. Stay tuned on Sunday for an update :)

[@kirksteven4316]

The Six new Misery Afflictions ? 🤔😁 Shoes become untied: your shoes become untied, and your fingers are too cold to tie them causing you to move slower or lose a shoe while walking Blurred Vision: This is caused by forgetting your glasses at Milton School house Knocked Kneed: This caused by carrying too much stuff and your poor knees just can't take it anymore Trench foot: Caused by wearing un-mended socks or no socks because you need a bandage Steroid-Induced Osteoporosis: The over use of STIMs to live longer then you should have.

[@martinh.4544]

Well, on the one hand, perma-death makes it more interesting, on the other hand, I'd appreciate some sandbox mode to test game mechanics (how to distract bear, how to repel timberwolves, etc.) because I don't have enough time for gaming to sacrifice a whole survival game where I've already collected some equipment and tools just to test how close I can get to a bear before it eats me etc.. On the other hand, As the dead sleep should be more challenging - i.e. some debuff which takes 5% of HP per day, so player has 20 days limit, which is getting shorter with every hypothermia, starvation, wolf-struggle, etc. That debuff could be named "Runny nose" and be worse on a male character 😀

[@akeny1]

As a Pilgrim exclusive only player I am wondering how the cougar will effect the game play, like I have to make custom runs to get the scurvy afflictions

[@MedicineMan55]

One thought -- Misery mode may change the game quite a bit if you can activate the extra conditions and escalating difficulty in custom game modes. I could see Voyager with Misery mechanics being an interesting sandbox mode.

[@friedmandesigns]

Quite stoked for this. Thanks for the excellent brain-food as always, and jubel to you and yours, Mr. Alright! ❤‍🔥 And ( _I know it's a video game_ 😆) -- From someone who owns a scar-of-many-stitches and has listened to them purr while being pet, I'll note *NO* puma (except diseased) would "move into" an area then stalk a hominin regularly trudging thru it. There are far tastier, 'normal' things to catch than human, especially in TLD biomes. And you'd never hear one if it does choose you for dinner. They are the apex stealth assassin.

[@referencetosomething4187]

I think it'd be really neat if the cougar was more likely to hunt you as the other animal populations decline, so it'd feel more like a real animal and make the late game more interesting

[@williebrort]

Hey Zak can you explain how you added the vitamin C and scurvy to your older save?

[@Zaknafein]

You need the Unity Explorer mod and need to search for scurvy, and set it to Enable

[@H2OSakanaIsMyOshi]

Can't wait to make cougar pie

[@recarsion]

I love the idea of Misery Mode, I like the challenge of Interloper and wouldn't go so far as to say it's easy but it can definitely get monotone after the early game buildup. Which is why I've never gotten the 500 day achievement in my ~8 years of playing TLD, I just can't push through the boredom. I don't play much TLD anymore so I've come to appreciate modes where there is a guaranteed end, death or otherwise, it's just a better use of my limited time with the game at this point than starting my 10 millionth Interloper run. My favorite runs to do are As The Dead Sleep and Deadworld, and it sounds like I'll be loving the hell out of Misery.

[@spokenart184]

I think the cheat death option should be disabled for interloper and misery modes. Hopefully, it will be an option in the custom game settings.

[@LauraTeAhoWhite]

I am psyched for Misery Mode. I need more punishment in my games.

[@PR1M0RD14L]

My question would be if I was in mystery lake and the cougar was stalking me and I transfer to furlon muskeg. How long before I can come back? Can I just transfer maps and come right back and it resets the cougar? Or do you have to stay gone for 24 hours or so?

[@Zaknafein]

Its probably a fair long time, I assume

[@FireTLD]

I feel like there is going to be 3 paths for the new region I think one of them is going to be the main path, follow a windy road or something that is mostly dangerous with wildlife The second path would probably be a back route, with basic rosehip climb spots, and balancing on cliffs And the third route is probably going to be the fastest... but the most impacting on yourself, rope climbing

[@cool3996]

The day will come when some masochist figures out how to survive to Day 500 on Misery difficulty with the three debuffs from cheating death. I'm more than confident in that. Just give it some time.

[@Zaknafein]

Oh yes, there will be a handful of individuals who will break the mode, I am sure.

[@ephianlublurbl5583]

@@Zaknafein Will you be one of them? :)

[@caseymccabe5184]

Very, very exciting to me. The gameplay loop of getting a bow and summiting the mountain on Interloper is my favorite survival gaming experience ever, but I tend to get bored after that. This cougar mechanic adds an additional "end game" goal of making the noisemakers, destroying the den, and ultimatly killing the cougar. I hope they put the den spawns in distant zones that don't get a ton of love otherwise!

[@simonacerton3478]

Nothing in here seems fun to me YMMV other than the new region and maybe the tale if I ever manage to finish buried echoes. It doesn't matter though. Its all optional and part of what I paid for. so its all good.

[@Flop-ri8jv]

Anybody notice the different knife in the picture for the new game mode??

[@EcoHuron]

I personally don’t mind the cheat death mechanic, as long as it’s done correctly. I think an example of it being done correctly would be the game taking the way you died into consideration. If you were mauled by a moose and died, you no longer have the ability to run due to crushed ribs. You can climb, but clumsily. Same would apply to something like a fall, permanently unable to run. These of course would be extremely debilitating, hence why you can favour just letting nature take its course. Dying from starvation could permanently apply some kind of affliction. Something like being in a state of increased hunger. Something along these lines. Of course you can cheat death and continue the run, but at what cost? Would you even want to cheat death? Perms death is a very precious and beloved game mechanic.

[@derelictgasstation]

I'll be honest, I'm laughing way to much at "are you ready for cougars"

[@BloodPheonix137]

I’m curious if the cheat death debuffs will be interesting. Another slightly increased difficulty mode would be to immediately die twice on your run and then play with two stacks of the revive debuffs (w/e that is)

[@misplacedpoetry9687]

really do appreciate that the cougar and cheat death are optional, they can be big game changers but only if people want them and i think it's good that its not forced on the people who like the game the way it is

[@WillyShufflebottom]

Im wondering if a player could play misery mode, go out and die on purpose 3 times to stack the cheat death debuffs....

[@saeedTHEgreat]

I wonder if the cougar also shows up in the transition zones? In that case, Ravine is no longer a safe zone. Are they gonna count ravine as part of the ML map, so the days staying in ravine add to those ML days? I think they make it similar to the fog mechanic in darkwalker challenge so that each transition cave or transition zone can be counted toward one of the connected regions. Can the cougar show up inside of a transition cave? hmmm