Road to 500 Days - Part 1: Interloper Day 1

Every journey starts on Day 1. Today, we begin a new interloper journey, with a random spawn. The goal is to make it to Day 500 and beyond. Onwards! Adventure awaits!
No chapters in these videos to keep immersions.
Playlist of the run: • Road to 500 Days
Art Director:
Elentia
Zak's Patreon:
/ zaknafein
Patreon supporters:
Flare: Aaron Steele, Chris Rybowski, cjr9aber, Coolio, HandsOn KeyboardandMouse, Matt W, Nimitz, Pam Lange, Princess Jade, Sarah Parker-Shemilt, Navigated Jug
Wood Matches: AJ Ginalick, Christopher Tomsett, D.H. Dunn, Dan Campbell, Doug, Eric, Kristin de Lissovoy, Oliver Chadwick, Sirenusvex-Devlin
Cardboard Matches: BriCreative, Christian Sonnenberg, Ember Schryver, Janne Keller, Kat McKenzie, Michael Delissovoy, Sierra B Hillmeyer, Ted Shepherd
Twitch: / stylezaknafein
I stream rarely (1-2 times a month), so notifications are recommended
Discord: / discord
Feel free to join my discord for updates, help and friendly chat.
Intro Music:
"Road to 500 Days"
Property of Zaknafein
Performed by Alvaro Quisbert
See his channel here: youtube.com/@a...
Artwork by Pixelated Peach
www.pixelatedpeach.com

[@dutch1197]

I bought this game because of you

[@Zaknafein]

I hope you like it!

[@amunics311]

I have 60 hours on the long dark gotta say: 5/5

[@josephiudice8287]

I started playing again because of him...

[@dutch1197]

I really enjoy how challenging it is

[@Fine_and_Andy]

It's really to bad there pulling it off game pass an forcing us to buy it out now that they added a shit load of game breaking crashing bugs an made the game so fucking easy I can play 70 percent of the game auto walking answering my phone's texts. Oh no a wolf "takes few steps to the left, few steps back to the right to get back to the same direction an were off" game used to be brutal. But now I'm harvesting 6 birch barks from one spawn an finding 100 percent deer meats in fridges. They nerffed all the fun stuff like timber wolf mountain. Made all the loot absolutely dorky as hell from what It used to be an then all the other spawns are completely wacko, 30 climbing socks, 3 expedition parkas, 24 wool long johns. Oh like 90 fucking bags of chips I never ate. I kept al the loot at my main base. Just to show how absolutely wack it's become. I have literally not even joking 9 fucking wool ear wraps. I remember when you mite of found one if your lucky. Oh an matches? Well you find so many now in stalker that why use any other light source to get threw caves then the 923 matches I have attained. I mean, my dude. You bought the game at the worst time. The big time got there nasty money grubbing hands on it an the original design has been totally deluded. What a shame. Another amazing game that used to be good. Taken over by scum bags all in it for the money. It's a tremendous shame. They delete all are saves. Give us tons of bugs items people never asked for an ignored the community's ideas an input. Oh an one last thing they do all this right, an then for the first time made a new region pay to play separated content an force you to buy off of gamepass. Like wow. What I giant steaming pile of fucking shit. An no one is talking about these very valid points. Fuck long dark xD

[@SleepyOmel]

Have i ever played this game? No. Will I ever play this game? Probably not. Did i watch this entire video? Hell yeah i did

[@j.s.c.4355]

Happy to be in on the ground floor of this run. Most of your runs, I discovered months or years after you did them. So, it’s an honor to be on this expedition with you, sir!

[@SalladLimeParsnip]

Dang... I found it a little late. I'm 6 months behind now ;)

[@marco_mouse]

9 months here@@SalladLimeParsnip

[@jeremyszpicki491]

I found it after a year

[@evandake4552]

entirely the same i'm around a year and a half behind on this one XD

[@SeigenNerhel]

Me: oh crap, a bear! Zak: oh nice, a bear!

[@wildernessrick9278]

After watching you get screwed left and right with the rabbits and the stones right as you arrived at Trapper's, I know that crack to the dome on the last rabbit was at least a *little* personal! 🤣🤣🤣

[@CW_274]

I’ve been playing TLD for years… I have well over 1000 hours…. And I just now realised it’s Forlorn musKEG and not musKET…. Why am I like this 😭🤣

[@ButtteredToast]

Hi. Just wanted to say that your videos have helped with my depression so much and I’m looking forward to the series:)

[@Zaknafein]

I am glad the videos have helped - depression is no joke, and I am sorry to hear that you have it. Wishing you all the best!

[@Sleepyjew]

Absolutely the same here. The Long Dark itself is a very therapeutic game for me, and watching Zak play totally lightens my heart and brain stress.

[@123HunterHead]

Matthew posa has a funny channel of camping adventures to help too

[@BroccoliHead7]

ily

[@6METALMULISHA9WOLF]

Stay strong you got this ❤

[@bendrew1831]

1440p capture...... yay, now when zak says "You see that wolf over there" it wont just look like a stone or a bit of fly poo on the screen

[@TrillionDeTurtle]

Zak I cannot start a successful playthrough without having these series running in the background. Thank you

[@sixter4157]

Thank you for your videos. You have helped me to stop being terrified of wolves. I feel more confident moving around.

[@angelvillarreal1738]

Fr, I can just keep walking even though they walk towards me or i just light a torch

[@kviktorian4208]

There’s barely anything better than the start of a new run. Godspeed, Zak!

[@ibegream5854]

i hate blackism

[@ChillyMangoGaming]

Absolutely agree 😄

[@HW-ow9zp]

man i am new to your channel and new to long dark but you are a tremendous content creator. i have thousands of survival game hours and this game is very different and interesting to me, wanted to learn some more and found a video of yours and now im several videos into this 500 days series. really awesome stuff. right from the jump you have great commentary and thought process for almost everything you do and action you take, even the small nuanced things and it's amazing how helpful it is for someone like myself trying to learn :) look forward to watching more of the series. outstanding content, good luck

[@Zaknafein]

Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate it! Hope you enjoy the game :)

[@ergohash2517]

Forlorn Muskeg spawn is my favorite and for a long time was my crutch (i restarted till I got it ), because after spawning there I just sprint towards Camp Office at ML and from there I feel safe and secure. Looking forward to this series.

[@QilleWolf]

My favorite feat is the wind walker feat. The thing in this game that makes me most likely to rage is walking against the wind, so I always choose wind walker (and the mandatory cold fusion lol)

[@Mooglatan]

Correct opinion.

[@ratonthecrack530]

This game is by far my favorite survival game at how it makes me feel. Ive never been more immersed and feeling every mistake and accomplishment i do whilst being the only one to see it is amazing. Youve helped me learn a few new things, so thank you

[@Ultranothing]

Like forgetting to pack your sleeping bag before leaving camp? That's a fun one.

[@pabloc8808]

I plan on religiously watching this run, I'm a TLD noob currently doing Pilgrim to learn about the map before doing Voyageur and Stalker, watched some of your videos before, hopefully one day I'll be able to tackle Interloper. Good luck with the new run!

[@Sleepyjew]

Sounds like you're doing all the ground work in the right order! Don't rush it, and don't get too defeated when ya die. Map knowledge is sooooo so important, so on pilgrim, make sure ya do plenty of traveling! Best luck out there!

[@pabloc8808]

@@Sleepyjew Thank you, and while I know "losing" sucks, I've come to terms with the fact that every survival run has to end in death, so that's a start, and as long as a lesson is learned, it's worth it

[@Sleepyjew]

@@pabloc8808 absolutely. I've got a friend who plays, but they get so upset over untimely deaths that they quit for months at a time over it. Every run though, there's more map knowledge and strategy learned regardless of the outcome.

[@pabloc8808]

@@Varrxion What do you know, that's the mistake I'm currently making lol

[@vodago]

@@pabloc8808 Still going strong?

[@gabrielneves6602]

You are the reason i started interloping, i still die every 3-4 days, tough rn i passed than my revord, and am at day 5, found a hacksaw and going for a hammer, if i dont find in ML i might hit up BR as ive found them there a few timws already. Thx zak for introducing me to interloper, it is really, a new tld experience

[@matthewmeehan7817]

Zaknafein, more like Cracknafein. *Watching intensifies*

[@Vonjinn]

I bought this because of this dude’s vibe. Coffee and Zak.

[@a-racecar-driver9668]

Rewatching this whilst waiting for a new episode to drop. Can’t believe you found 3 hacksaws in your first few days haha. I didn’t find my fist hacksaw till day 80 on my current run 😂

[@gabrielneves6602]

Holy, did u check the dam tough? I mean, is rare to NOT find one there.

[@ranha9933]

Zak: “this will attract wolves but that s fine”. Me: “a wolf! Runnnnn” :) oh man i feel like a noob! I just started and there is so much to learn. But it s so cool and relaxing in a way. I did not know i could scare off a wolf w a rock lol

[@Estrallio]

you are the number 1 Long Dark player for me. Your tips are great! Also pretty good start on this run

[@Bobywan75]

You're so lucky :D, not even a minute and already a hacksaw + matches !

[@LalaDepala_00]

I'm starting this journey now with you. I hadn't played The Long Dark for quite a while. I'm currently on my second try and survived a month now (voyager). Really proud of myself, because the first try (and my efforts years ago) went horribly wrong. I think playing a lot of Green Hell definitely trained me to become better.

[@Wabbajank]

I just died at 390 days and had collected everything and had it stored all between trappers-hydro-pleasant valley on voyager. I was off by mending two more pieces of clothing from getting the achievement for level 5 for all skills. I feel sick 😫 but I’m addicted and will start up yet again another run after I’m done mourning. Love/hate relationship with this game.

[@Zaknafein]

Oof that hurts! But you will get there again! New adventure :)

[@ManMeetsGamez]

Almost 200 hours in and the wolf thing is news to me. I feel pretty new after that display. Awesome content man.

[@RetroRogue.]

Been a huge fan of this game since 2015. It's my favorite survival game. I just like to live in the game for as long as possible. It's just got so much depth with things to do/places to go. I sometimes login just to collect wood, cook all my meat in one setting and dry storage it outside and heat a ton of water. Even at beginning I conserve EVERYTHING. I only used two matches for a week or two I just collected a massive wood pile and boiled so much water lol. I emailed them asking to port it to the Switch in 2017, didn't actually think it would happen but now that it's on my Switch I can lay in bed and play with ease! Love this game and check out another one of my favorites Subnautica.

[@legokyky4547]

A great start to a great series

[@Abdullah_the_slave_of_Allah]

Never played nor heard of this game yet I throughly enjoyed this video and plan to continue watching the series. There is something comforting about witnessing your familiarity with landmarks that look random to me.

[@xanderjanzen2869]

Is a cool game 🐺

[@johnme7049]

This is absolutely one of the best survival games out there. There is a HUGE player base both on KZbin and Twitch. The best part for me personally is that the devs CARE about the game. It is still expanding and still gets regular updates. I have been playing it since 2015, (not constant but still :), and it just does not get old. The art is great and the music, this is the only game that I play with the music turned on, and still find myself pausing to just listen. It is just beautiful both audibly and visually. Hang out with Zac a bit and he will explain lots of the game mechanics. Best of luck to you and I hope you come to enjoy this wonderful game.

[@Sleepyjew]

Soooo so stoked for this new series man! Thanks for your commitment to the game and the community. Your videos have helped me a lot in game and irl.

[@BjørjaBear]

Love the Spanish guitar. If you die, please show us, because that is how it goes for a lot of us!

[@Zaknafein]

I will show it all from beginning to end :) Glad you like the music. It is a ronroco, and the tune is made for this series specifically by a Bolivian musician.

[@xhugeeugex8444]

Never seen TLD videos with this many views in such a short amount of time. Your doing wonders for the community, keep it up. :)

[@alexfeatherstone3247]

Who agrees that the Rabbit at the start should be called "Barry the Bulky Bunny"

[@Zaknafein]

I will likely just end up calling him Bulky :)

[@alexfeatherstone3247]

@@Zaknafein Aw thanks. Made my day Zak

[@ThaBukkakeCatapult]

Thank you man for all the videos. I've been binge watching your vids and I've learned a ton. So thank you my good ser. I'm gonna keep posting stupid comments, just for the algorithm, 'cause you deserve all them views. Thanks mate and Cheers from Finland.

[@TheOriginalKilamanjaro]

My One Stop Shop for all my TLD info

[@ShianVideos]

That was a really good start, only thing you weren't incredibly lucky with was clothing. But there's still 497 days to find something warm to wear!

[@Viper-eq7by]

you are amazing at this game, i have almost a thousand hours in game and i still learn stuff from you almost every video. keep up the great vids.

[@ryleemcbride142]

i love these videos so much please never stop making them!!

[@tonictechz]

yay! so glad that you're documenting your main run and sharing it with us. we appreciate it so much!

[@Freeeez3]

amazing content, i just came back to rewatch from the start so i can harvest more knowledge, to help me survive my current loper run (day 8, PV spawn, been through most of PV, dam, camp office and all the fishing huts, trappers, milton, and now saved in the cave into HRV - there for the hammer, but i'm still missing prybar and hacksaw as well.) initially i was just going to rewatch HRV because i still really struggle with that particular region (never actually made it out alive afaik) and i wanted to see how you tackled it, but then i noticed i can't remember anything from the first episode at all so i'm just going to rewatch all of it. since the series is very enjoyable to watch, but at the same time incredibly educational. well done indeed and very much apreciated, thank you.

[@Freeeez3]

update: day 18, still alive and eating cattails, for the most part. had the northern signal fire, getting down was pretty nasty, and unfortunately i had to bonk sketchy with my new hammer shortly after. but luckily that one seems to be quite a smart dog, turned tail instantly, noone was hurt and i left HRV with a hammer, crowbar, hacksaw, as well as bunch of matches and some new clothing. the jacket from the signal was 70%+ by the way, seems to be random, and the cache where you found combat pants was in a different spot and "only" had jeans and food. went to the forge in FM, the weather was terrible all the way and i was stupid enough to carry a bunch of guts and steaks, had to use like 4 matches and got lost at least twice, but eventually i got forging done. sadly didnt have nearly enough scrap, thought i could find more at the forge (there was like almost nothing to break down, gotta remember that), so back to trappers with only 6 arrowheads. grabbed some more saplings and an unfortunate deer to cure at trappers, fixed my gear, crafted rabbit stuff and went to broken railroad for more arrowheads. gonna be a long way home, fingers crossed.

[@JoshWhiteDesign]

Started my "long haul" loper run about 2 weeks ago. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out! On day 78 right now and STILL no mag lens tragically. That's my quest at the moment so we'll see how it goes :)

[@vodago]

Still doing well with it man?

[@miklevladykin3422]

good luck

[@jpwhataboutit]

Cat Tail stalks are the unsung hero of TLD. Great series! Finally able to binge watch it today!! ❤

[@scp-yr4kv]

The first of many.

[@videonmode8649]

Love your channel and series. Interloper is so hard for me because I always get bad spawns with no way to start a fire, lol

[@ayochill9716]

Can’t wait to binge this! Just found your channel today, love this game and you seem like the master!

[@Zaknafein]

Thank you! Hope you enjoy the series and have a great survival run yourself :)

[@drewbert83]

You've inspired me to put my stalker run on the shelf, and give interloper another try.

[@saulgoodmangaming312]

Damn, it’s nice that people still play this game. It’s so underrated. Subscribed

[@fedediblasi]

Yey! New main run hype!

[@doomcaster9652]

cattails are actually very good food items, if you do the math they have just a little less cal/weight ratio compared to the mre

[@KamleshMallick]

Can you survive on just Cat tails and never hunt?

[@boltaurelius376]

​@@KamleshMallickCat tails never respawn but animals do.

[@KamleshMallick]

@@boltaurelius376 Damn. That is disappointing. I also heard Acorns never respawn. I wonder why they did that. I guess they did not want players to keep eating cattails or acorns and survive.

[@boltaurelius376]

@@KamleshMallick I doubt its a "realism" choice on account of the winter affecting the flora as the animals would run out food too (and the coal respawning would make no sense) It probably has to do with reducing the players options later in the game. That being said, I would love to see the animal spawn rate as the % of current population of a region, so if you kill every rabbit in a region then you have to wait a very long time for them to come back.

[@yatin1370]

you can aim at a wolf with stone while torch is burning and it runs away? whaat? man you are a genius!

[@isaaco5679]

I've always wondered what would happen if you shot a moose with the bow from a snow shelter at fairly close range.

[@knerdknight9109]

I just found this series, and subbed before i even heard a noise. The name alone deserves it.

[@HixImxRian]

Never played the game, but loving the content. Thank you!

[@paullowe8437]

Zalnafein is 100% my favorite character in ra salvatores written work

[@bytepeta-4304]

Cheer from Korea, i hope it goes well!

[@Swede_4_DJT]

Greetings from Sweden! Thank you so much for introducing me to this game. Thanks to you im now a proud owner of this game and the expansions. You, Sir, just got yourself a new subscriber and a thumps up 🎉

[@dertreffer]

definitly a interesting series am going to start today watching it :3

[@erikolson8667]

This man is an elite tld player. learned so much from just this one video. subbed!

[@Lehrgak59]

I have started a stalker Run because I wanted to explore the new region and I wanted to complete the all skill to max of my previous run, that I've lost. I wish you the best of luck.

[@sad_hedgehog]

despite knowing about the game from the very start of its release (through youtube playthrougs), i just recently got it. today i started trying my hand at the voyager survival run 😊 on the third save, i got a lucky spawn right under the bridge to the dam and i am happy to report i am still alive! you gave me enough confidence to try survival and i just now got why people love dying in this game so much! never really played a survival game with permadeath, it recontextualizes a LOT of how you look at the game!! thank you) gonna watch your runs while autowalking :D

[@sethhouston362]

I genuinely appreciate your content, I found you about a year and a half ago, I was a preorder guy with the long dark way back in 2015-2016. Every time I see your videos it reminds me of the magical adventures you make yourself in this game. Only thing that could make it better would be a co op for up to 2 players and you both start in different areas of the maps and you can meet up incidentally

[@sethhouston362]

Also I know your an expert but if you didn’t know before you open a trunk or a door or harvest somthing, stop moving for just a second and your hunger won’t go down twice as fast

[@Zaknafein]

Thank you for your kind comment :) Yes, I did know that: its in one of my tip videos. But it has so little impact that I dont usually adhere to it, except on NOGOA :)

[@whitehorn799]

In memory of the father of the most famous Drow of all, Drizzt Do'Urden. Long may he live, and good pool in the wake of his passing! Cool video, but coolest of all is the name of your channel!

[@SimBexBlue]

Yass! I'm so here for this! Dude I die on interloper WITH the feats! 🤣INVISIBLE MATCHES!! haha! Good job you hovered. Imagine missing that in loper because the game is mean.

[@SimBexBlue]

It was Lilly. I love wintermute I'm playing it on my second channel.

[@pcer9973]

Iv had the game for a while. Iv played it on and off. I find it extremely enjoyable to play and love watching you game. Thank you. I subbed.

[@Sydneyfromsaturn]

I rarely find playthroughs of tld tht i enjoy on youtube but im loving this so far! ❤

[@Zaknafein]

Thank you! Glad you like it :) I narrate when I can

[@notaboutit3565]

Wow, this is crazy to see. I bought this game in early access back in 2014/15 and played it for maybe…10 hours and never touched it again. Just forgot about it. I’m gonna have to check this out again!

[@Thevideofish85]

I’m really looking forward to watching your stalker series when that starts coming out. While it’s massively entertaining to watch one of the best players play the hardest difficulty there’s something great about watching you play what I personally play. Love your content my friend

[@SurvivalistWithChrist]

Been hunkering down in the trappers cabin! I got the spelunkers lantern and barbs rifle on a run and am nervous to loose them lol

[@casediedwell5094]

A YT CC I watch a lot did a playthru of TLD over the last few weeks and I just had to install and play again... But I gotta say; I've learned more in the first 30 min of this video than I did in his whole (8ep @35 min each, with light editing) series. I'm just playing Survival on 'normal' while I learn the ropes, but I know from past games that watching a Pro play on Hecken Stupid Hard difficulty is ALWAYS the way to learn a lot!

[@rhiannn3416]

Thanks so much for this series! I just started playing TLD and watched a lot of your guides. This playthrough is really helpful for seeing you're whole thought process of how to prioritise resources, where to go, etc! I am doing it on pilgrim mode though BC I wanna have a peaceful run but I'm also too chicken and dont want to stress myself out right off the bat 😂

[@nataliugryumova4884]

Nice video. Started my first interloper run last day and found last patch made impossible to cut meat from bodies without cut tool. These hacksaws are incredibly valuable now.

[@bombidil3]

No more matches at Spence's. Damn, FM was my favourite spawn because of the hacksaw as well. I suppose you starting there now at least gives us some advice on how to play a start like that.

[@PinkyThumbs]

Really love your content. It's amazing to have on in the background while I'm working. Now I want to do another run on TLD now. I blame you 😆🤣

[@fernandoullaguari9073]

Nice one. What a great spawn, spawning day time is like finding the road to el dorado. And one more thing. We players love early game because the straggle , rabbits not so much.

[@Cindy-rr9vj]

I’m so excited for this run! Can’t wait to experience it with you. Thank you for committing to 500 days.

[@goodmorningladies2923]

Hey Zak! I asked a long time ago if you had the VODs recorded for that original 500 day run and if so that you should post them on KZbin. Glad to see you actually started doing it! Sorry, I’ve been gone for awhile 😅 Looking forward to watching this run! Got some catching up to do 🤗

[@lobardin]

Excellent episode.

[@Nathanaelelliott]

I found a striker to make fires. First time i saw one but its awesome. Not having to use matches is great or to just save them up.

[@andrewwilliams8432]

Man congrats I've tried so many times 2 make it to 500 days and u make It look easy nice job

[@justindarnell430]

One of my fave games since release, you’re a champ playing at playing

[@David-vy5zk]

Really love the start to this series. Let’s go part2!!! You don’t seem very worried about making it 500 days.

[@Zaknafein]

I have done it before, you can see the highlights in the link below :) But... death can always sneak up so there is always risk! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npyTomh8qa-Cnc0

[@jameswarner21]

I always head to HRV first now cause there's a chance for a hunting knife if not then hammer. Then either forge or head to ash canyon for backpack. But thank you for the content! Keep it up

[@BaconLoafGaming]

This is exactly what I’ve been wanting from you for ages will watch every episode!!!!

[@Shaarapollo]

Great content

[@Zaknafein]

Thank you so much!

[@charlesbrown4483]

I haven’t played TLD in a while but I still love your videos, and the streams are great when I catch them. Always gives me the bug to go and start a new run😁

[@kamberum]

You need your own netflix show, seriously

[@alesmsnegec]

Those matches you find on day 1 at High Blind have been there since the Far Territories at least 7 / 7 times i started in Forlorn Muskeg.

[@Zaknafein]

Yes they are guaranteed afaik, though the invisibility is clearly a bug :)

[@starichu9427]

Here i was thinking id try this on voyager but i wanna unlock some more feats first, and then you go and start out on interloper featless, absolute madman!

[@dulence2433]

I played and am currently playing the long dark but could never do hgiher difficulties, i randomly stumbled onto your channel and i think im going to like it since you seem quite knowledgeable when it comes to the long dark

[@Zaknafein]

Thank you. Hope you enjoy the videos and playing TLD :)

[@Dr_Pepper_King621]

Started playing a year ago. I hope this game becomes successful but remains a niche thing. I like our small little community.

[@dadgamer9097]

Hi mum I was here!

[@sunfis]

i love ur videos :) rn im too scared to do anything but play on pilgrim, despite having the game for a year or two, but im trying to become more comfortable with higher difficulties by watching these play throughs

[@likainensami]

I just your videos and this journey. Looking forward to this adventure!

[@jamielopez8606]

i have loved the long dark for so long, i love your channel, truly a great take on such a lovely game.

[@ThePatente]

Oh! Wow! Damn man! WOW! Honestly I play this game way over from 2014... Not at this level... Got to 780 days on Voyager, got bored... Gonna try this. Thanks my man..:)

[@SSZaris]

Haven't played this game in years. It looks so good now. Great video mate :)

[@gui8g4mer49]

Hey zak, you got me into the long dark again, you are the best tld ytber. Keep on going! :)

[@ballooncoast848]

I never knew about the aiming a stone at the wolf

[@rodemery1291]

Great start! Loving the new Video Length.

[@MaryGatdula]

Excited for this! I'd wish you luck, but I doubt you'll need it. 😉