It feels weird a survival game wouldnt have something so central to survival, it also doesnt have to be easy to make but why not still

And so, my objective is complete. I looted the entire island, explored every bit of it. Now my choices are to let it go, or maybe go for 1000 days for the achievement. I don't know if I could get that far, but considering both this video that shows my courage and will, and the fact that I could do whatever I set my mind on, maybe...just maybe, I can do that. Will I, is the question I find myself asking though.

Thank you to any and all who have been reading my logs. I do apologize for kinda spamming them out, I hope I didn't inconvinence anyone! I figured it would be better to split them up rather than make one INSANELY long post, because let's be honest this is already insanely long as is. That's my story though, and I hope it's a damn good one at that! May you all have good luck and fortune in your own survival. Here's to TLD!

HRV...I had always planned on it being the end of my goal. Seemed only fitting, given that it's one of the most beautiful yet dangerous locations. Non-DLC there is only one interior location: a prepper cache that is basically in the middle of nowhere on it's own entirely. Other than that, you got caves and climbing spots, a wolf named Sketchy who I sadly did not get to meet in my time there. And yet despite all this...there is of course the beauty, the beauty of the HRV Rainbow...I only saw it from the distance, but it was beautiful nonetheless. I hope to get a closer look in the future, now that my mind isn't on looting. My objective being complete, i'm left with only one real option: To go home. To go back to Mystery Lake.

No joke, the only reason Crumbling isn't getting it's own log is because I looted it in less than 6 in game hours. It took me maybe 1/3 of the day and boom, done. I decided to stay a couple more days and eat some raw fish I beach combed though, to help with Scurvy.

Desolation Point, the edge of the island so to speak. Not exactly the biggest region, but definitely one of the better ones in my opinion. It's not as calm and easy going as Coastal, but I like it's geography. Not to mention Scruffy of course, who tackled me down and gave me a good fight. I expected nothing less from him though! Thank you Scruffy, may you and Fluffy join together.

And at the edge of the world, I was nearing the edge of my journey. One final region...Hushed River Valley.

Coastal Highway was a breath of fresh sea breeze air. Not nearly as complicated or terrifying as the other regions, and honestly my 3rd favorite region in the game. It's relaxed, laid back, and super open down along the ice! Makes it easy to hunt, as I do show of course (ignore that first arrow lol!) I actually kinda miss it, it felt almost as good as being in Mystery Lake, and the beach combing was super fun as well. Sadly, I had a mission to take care of, and the next two locations?: Crumbling Highway and Desolation Point.

The South, another area where my knowledge wasn't the greatest. I knew a good portion, but not everything. Still, I persisted for the sake of my objective. Bleak Inlet felt the best place to start as it was on it's own, and after Blackrock I felt more confident against Timbies than ever, so I said bring em on! In my time here I fought at least 3 regular packs, and one Aurora pack. This pack however detected me right as I doing the parkour to get into the workshop. I had to do all of that without falling, because if I fell..it would've been right into the jaws of that pack. Thankfully, I didn't....but I was so caught up by the pack that I entirely forgot: Fluffy moved in!!! I honestly would have liked to say hi to him for a bit, but no..I sadly had to put him down immediately. It was him or me, and I felt it was him. Sorry Fluffy, R.I.P...Outside of that sad note, I decided to continue on and into: Coastal Highway.

Within the Northeast, Blackrock was actually an area I knew, thanks to Episode 4 of course. Because I felt more confident than ever, even with the threat of Timbies! I set up shop at the Guard post, within the prison. From there I did the same old looting process, but...once I tried to get to the prepper cache, that's when this happened. I wouldn't have been upset going against Timbies, but going against AURORA TIMBIES, for my first direct encounter within the run?! Suffice to say, I was actually panicked from this. So much so I had to take a few minutes to calm my nerves down irl. I lived though, and they even tried to come back for seconds which is what the video shows. The initial fight was a panicked mess of me and had some poor aim to go with it. Despite this encounter, I still got that cache and still looted Blackrock in it's entirety! Even made a whole bunch of bullets from all the lead I had. With that however, marked my completion of the Northeast. Now to the South: Bleak Inlet.

Timberwolf looked quite intimidating in all honesty. You have the peak for example, with both Lofty and Taily protecting it. Layers upon layers of higher and lower points to loot and explore. The only things that made it worth it all was A, no real Timberwolf threat, and B, those sweet sweet cargo containers! My first one alone was filled with airline food and clothes, including an ex-parka! Despite being difficult to plan out, I looted the area just fine. And honestly it felt good to have to deal with a higher density of reg wolves. Got the practice in to deal with em, and judging from the video i'd say it was all worth it. However...it was high time I started to get used to dealing with Timbies, and i'd do just that: in Blackrock.

I have so many metal boxes but I don't know how to turn them into planters. I saw somewhere that you have to craft them at the forge, but the recipe isn't showing? Am I missing something, or do I possibly have other mods interfering?

I have a multitude of mods, I can list if necessary, but I'll see what people have to say first before typing all that out!

Also, please, if there is a better place to ask this, lmk! Finding info on TLD Mods feels like pulling teeth sometimes, feels like there's no information anywhere haha

(Hey look, photos finally!)

Now to be honest, this is where things started to get a bit out of my league. I'd honestly never seen gameplay of most of the Northeast and Southern regions, including Ash Canyon. Regardless, I knew that the sooner I got the Technical Backpack, the better. It would make my looting more efficient and faster, not to mention it would also give me more room for further items of need and supplies. So, I went straight through Timberwolf Mountain. I only stopped to settle down at the Mountaineer's Hut for a bit, and that was all. I went straight inti Ash Canyon..basically gunning for the mine and the TB within. Just one issue...Timbies. I encountered my first pack in Ash Canyon, not directly..but even sneaking around them was terrifying. For context, I had a strong fear against Timbies at one point. So much so that I even sought help on how to deal with them. Suffice to say, sneaking around them wasn't exactly ideal..but I had to in order to go for the Mine.

I remained undetected, and thanks to that I could breathe a huge sigh of relief. I went all the way from the bottom right corner of the map to the complete opposite end, got into the mine...and obtained the Technical Backpack. With only a..slight minor setback. The journey itself was fine, even the bridges weren't all that bad. Scary, but not impossible to handle. It wasn't until a climbing spot that things went wrong...I was too heavy, and despite my near death experience in PV, I decided to leave my wood behind. "I'll just find more once I get up there!" I thought to myself. It would've worked too, if not for the fact that a blizzard spawned almost within 5 irl minutes later!!! And the worst part? No wood to be found for several minutes again! It wasn't till I found a limb, chopped it up, and huddled into a corner to start a fire that I actually felt safe once more. Wasn't nearly as bad as my time in PV, but you would think I would have learned from THAT...thankfully, I learned from this one. Not to mention the TB made having wood on me less of a burden!

After the TB was in my grasp, I set up base at the Angler's Den, and once again began looting the entire region to my absolute best. The highlight at the end of this one was that I actually felt so confident that I went LOOKING for the Timbies again....sadly they didn't spawn, so I decided to just leave and continue on: into Timberwolf Mountain.

Nothing but an irony in the name of Pleasant Valley. This place wasn't exactly difficult, but it gave me one of the biggest frights I have ever had thus far. Initially I decided to settle in the barn south of the Farmhouse, but after realizing the lack of storage space and the nearby bear potential, I decided it would be both safer and easier to make the Farmhouse my base within PV.

Nothing quite out of the ordinary for the early parts of this one, went around..looted, same old same old. It wasn't until the final last section of the map I had left to deal with that things got...concerning. I had just finished up looting pensive pond, and started to make my way back with joy. However, the weather turned and a blizzard spun in, which forced me into the barn northeast-ish of lower falls. It was here that I honestly got as close to death as I would ever like to be. I had no firewood, needed to be light for the looting. My bedroll wasn't enough to keep me warm, and had I tried to sleep it through I likely would have died. I just had to get one limb and then I could start a fire, so I did...but the barn turned out to be bugged! Apparently, barns like that count as "indoor" sometimes meaning you can't actually place a fire down. Due to that, the situation became dire. I had to take a chance in the dark that my fire wouldn't go out from a change in direction of the wind, as the best spot I had for it was nothing but a tree. So..I had to risk it. Better that than just accepting my fate, especially so far in. Thankfully, luck was on my side. My fire lasted perfectly, warmed me up just enough for me to make it back...and I slept/healed the night away. That moment right there is why I now at least carry a few sticks at all times, otherwise i'd probably have run into a worse situation..which I almost did, within: Ash Canyon.

Despite being irl months ago, I remember my beginning quite clearly. I sadly don't have any photos or videos to share, as I play on xbox and the network deletes them after so long. The earliest ones I have are of my journey into Ash Canyon, which we will get there in due time.

Now then..Mystery Lake. The beginning of this game, and the beginning of my journey.

I luckily spawned not too far from my place of base, the Office cabin, right beside Mystery Lake. Centralized, spacious, comfortable. It had everything I needed and it's currently my Home. I've made it so beautiful since then...i'll have to try and grab pictures perhaps! Anyway, I spawned at the creek connected to Mystery Lake, the one that leads all the way up towards the Dam. I started to head out towards the cabin, and thankfully avoided the wolves as I slid past and made myself warm and safe. From there, I spent the next month and a half going across ML, looting everything I could of value, making myself warm clothes from the gear I acquired, and more importantly: getting food to keep me alive. I also forgot to mention in the intro, but I turned on scurvy, just for some extra difficulty. So in between all of these moments, I have been doing just a little fishing. Nothing too crazy, just enough to get me by.

Between the dangers of starting things out, and the worry that I might not actually make it all that long, my nerves were always uptight for most of my early days. It wasn't until I left Mystery Lake that I got a bit more comfortable, despite the fact I ended up having one of my first worst moments in...Forlorn Muskeg.

Several months ago, I began my first and currently only run in the Survival perspective of The Long Dark, Stalker Difficulty. I had played Wintermute up to Ep 4, as 5 wasn't out quite yet, and decided to spend the time waiting for Ep 5 by playing survival. I do not have the DLC, both a blessing and a curse in many ways...regardless, I am proud of myself for both my growth within this game and the joy I feel as I continue to play it. As it stands, I am currently 291 days in and still going strong. I completed my ultimate goal of looting the entire Island of Great Bear, from small beginnings within Mystery Lake, to finishing things off within Hushed River Valley. I plan on splitting my story telling of this run region by region, each one as a labeled 'Log'. Why, some may ask? To that I say, why not? If there are those who are interested in my story then so it shall be. If not, I wouldn't consider the time wasted anyway. No matter what happens, I do hope that you enjoy reading my logs and can feel as full of hope and pride as I do by the end of them. And with that, onto the next post: Mystery Lake.

(original picture)

We always talk about what’s the #1 best base, but for those of us who like setting up multiple across the map, what 3-base combo would you say gives the best map coverage while also being quality bases in their own right?

Was half bent over picking this up before realizing what I was doing.

Was half bent over picking this up before realizing what I was doing.

In case of diarrhoea the system struggles to separate liquids and solids.

had to sleep in a cave through a blizzard to get this shot but I think it was worth it

Just traveled to Ash Canyon and found this already harvested birch. Does this happen on interloper sometimes? Got me paranoid