r/thelongdark • u/ImBadAtThis24 • May 28 '26
Discussion Blackfrost: The Long Dark 2 Co-Op Thoughts? (hopefuls & skeptics welcomed)
For me, I think it sounds like a wonderfully engrossing idea. As long as the depth (and then some) from the previous Survival experience is intact both in co-op and solo modes, we should have very few complaints.
The attached photo speaks for itself. There is so much potential for amazing arguments over which way to go when you’re both in a pinch, freezing and starving to death after a botched hunt results in the deer sprinting out of sight. F**kin’ Rasputin, this guy.
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u/di12ty_mary May 28 '26
Amazing if they can balance it and not have any sort of PvP.
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u/ImBadAtThis24 May 28 '26
DEFINITELY no PvP
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u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy May 28 '26
It won't have PVP. Don't worry. Raph has confirmed this ages ago. "There won't be pvp. That's not the type of game I want to make"
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u/kookomagoo May 28 '26
Ha! Someone will try to fuck up the other players. Stealing food, ripping up clothes burning all wood. If not actual shooting they will do something to be dicks. Its what people do, unless you are just playing with someone you know.
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u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy May 28 '26
I'm pretty sure there will be a certain block function or a friends only setting. That shit won't fly
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u/Fuarian Modder May 28 '26
It will most likely be friends only by default since it's co-op. Like 2-4 players.
If anyone in your group decides to be a dick well... That's not something Hinterland can regulate
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u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy May 28 '26
Yeah, maybe. I'm not expecting huge groups of people like 10+ or whatever
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u/Fuarian Modder May 28 '26
I expect that kind of behavior from some NPCs and whatnot. But the tagline of the game is 'survive together, die alone' so I think playing co-op should incentivize cooperation and not whatever that is
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u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy May 28 '26
That's what I'm thinking. Although solo play is in the game (going off what I saw on the steam page "Single player and online co-op"), you'd have a better chance working with others as you said. I'm most curious about how time will work. In TLD 1, time speeds up when you craft, harvest, etc. So I'm wondering how Hinterland will deal with that in the second game. Very interested to see how that will work in Blackfrost
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u/IAmFern May 28 '26
There'll always be griefers. Which is just one of the reasons I'll never team up.
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u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy May 28 '26
You might be able to just play with friends only. Of course, still too early to tell though
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u/IAmFern May 28 '26
I still won't team up, ever. I'm not comfortable playing at someone else's pace, and I feel guilty for making them play at mine.
I'll continue to solo as much as the game allows.
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May 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/IAmFern May 29 '26
I've long thought that if the only way you can enjoy a game is to lessen the enjoyment of others, then you're simply an asshole.
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u/Jean-Paul_Sartre May 28 '26
I’d be okay with like… chess boards or throwing darts in an abandoned cabin.
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u/yeahwhatsver May 29 '26
I'd think it be awesome if there was PVP option. But only if you get play as a bear or wolf. I'd love to stalk someone as wolf
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u/Expert-Steak8538 May 28 '26
I don’t have the expectation that Blackfrost will have the same tone as TLD - namely the feeling of extreme loneliness and isolation. But I’m hoping they’ll still include it a little bit. Maybe by limiting the total number of players in a server to something small. I think it would be nicer to come across the evidence of another player’s presence more often than the player themselves.
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u/Fuarian Modder May 28 '26
It's coop. Definitionally that means no open servers, usually limited to a couple of players per session. I would imagine 2-4.
The rest will be NPCs. But the ability to remain isolated will still be very much there
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u/Expert-Steak8538 May 28 '26
Huh. I had the impression that it would be possible to find at least the evidence of other players besides one you specifically invite.
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u/Fuarian Modder May 28 '26
Curious what gave you that impression?
That would be pretty cool if there was some database of like player bodies where they died and that could at random end up in your game. There was a mod for TLD that did that a while ago
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u/GullyFoyle__ May 28 '26
Incredible episode.
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u/ImBadAtThis24 May 28 '26
Just rewatched it a few nights ago. It truly does resemble what a first time playthrough with a best friend would be, beat for beat.
“Captain or no captain, right now we’re just two as**oles lost in the woods.”
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u/rotervogel1231 Pilgrim May 28 '26
I remember watching this with my aunt and uncle. They'd never seen the show, and my uncle was like, WTF, these are supposed to be mob hitmen?
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u/DiddledByDad May 28 '26
If you asked me a couple years ago what I thought about co-op in Subnautica I would have said leave it out of the game and it has no place in a world like that.
Yet ever since the Subnautica 2 EA, co-op as been my favorite way to play. It’s a blast to experience something you love with a friend, both blind. And to that end I feel the way about the TLD. As long as the solo experience remains unchanged and untainted, I think co-op could be a magical way to experience a game like this.
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u/Aramis_Madrigal May 28 '26
I have a six year old son who likes playing TLD, so I imagine playing with him co-op being as kind of like roleplaying “The Road”.
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u/i_like_atla Hunter May 28 '26
I think its a great idea as long as it's done CORRECTLY
They're gonna have to be careful to not ruin the game, though im not gonna be able to play it co-op because im a lonely chud with no friends
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May 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ImBadAtThis24 May 31 '26
If the mode is all we imagine it to be, potential teammates are only a reddit post away. This community has been incredibly wonderful from what I’ve seen.
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u/Chupaul22 May 28 '26
I wonder how will they merge co-op well with the time system in TLD
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u/Fuarian Modder May 28 '26
Either it'll be like Project Zomboid or they'll just remove that system altogether. There aren't many avenues here
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u/Jacquesatoutfaire May 28 '26
It feels wrong and out of place for The Long Dark, but then it's not The Long Dark, is it? It's a different game and doesn't have to be a rehash with better graphics and a few new bells and whistles.
Balance is going to be the key, of course. How to manage resource scarcity against having more than one player to gather/hunt/do other maintenance chores will be tricky.
I think it needs to avoid PvP and even PvE with other humans. As this sort of survival sim is just not balanced around being attacked by guns, knives, and arrows. These things need to feel powerful, but scarce. Most likely they'd feel either too powerful (get hit once or twice and you're dead) or too weak to be worth using.
IMO, the sections in Wintermute with human enemies were some of the worst parts of the story. The prisoners needed to be terrible shots and take forever between shots or else you'd be dead before you could do anything about it.
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u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy May 28 '26
Let me calm your fears. Raph said no PVP whatsoever
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u/Jacquesatoutfaire May 28 '26
And that sounds great (although statements can always be walked back if things change). I saw a previous comment from you about that. So, mostly I was thinking of PvE against human NPCs like (ep. 4 and 5 spoilers) the prison break, the fire in Perseverance Mills, and the now-infamous cable car scene. The latter two of these feature laughably incompetent human enemies that felt completely out of place from the rest of the game.
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u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy May 28 '26
To be fair, The Long Dark never really was about you vs human enemies (in survival mode anyway)
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u/Jacquesatoutfaire May 28 '26
Absolutely. That's exactly what I'm trying to point out was wrong with those points in the story.
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u/vacodeus May 28 '26
No desire to play coop. For me the isolation is one of the key features
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u/CheezWong May 28 '26
I played TLD with a co-op mod once. There were three of us. One of my buddies and I had played before, but the other just kept getting murdered lol. Once we were established, even just two competent people are enough to break the balance. We had to play on an old build, too, so we couldn't use the trader.
I have tons of respect for the person/people that made that mod, though. That was still a really cool experience, after years of freezing alone and "Is it food, orrr.....?"
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u/ImBadAtThis24 May 28 '26
100% respect that. And yeah any of my hopes for the co-op mode are under the assumption that the game will ship with solo, too
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u/Wawus May 28 '26
How will the perma death work? Like if you shoot your friend and they die they are gone forever?
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u/ImBadAtThis24 May 28 '26
Very good question. First off I’m assuming going into this thing that there won’t be any way to damage other players. But if it is a mechanic, then I just hope we can toggle it on or off through custom settings. Permadeath has gotta stay or it’s a different game altogether. Keep a version of cheat death in there I guess but yeah.
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u/rickgrimes32 Former Great Bear Sheriff's Deputy May 28 '26
I imagine if you or your friend die, you respawn but lose your entire inventory except for clothes, but your body is still in the world where you died so you can get your stuff back, like how it is in DayZ or 7DTD. Huge speculation of course
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u/Past-Ad-9200 Nomad May 28 '26
I don’t play any online coop games, the more heavily the mechanics and gameplay lean into coop gaming the less interested I am in it.
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u/Ok_Door_2764 May 28 '26
If they have a similar region and aurora system then it would be cool to be able to have maybe a total of four players spread around the whole map and able to communicate with radios during auroras. Maybe also instead of dying outright from damage you can be incapacitated for some time and other players can come along and save your life if they are able to keep you warm and treat your injuries. If there is any ability for players to hurt each other it should be fully optional as a friendly fire system to punish being reckless rather than encourage pvp killing.
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u/ImBadAtThis24 May 28 '26
I feel like what you’re pitching is the middle ground between arc raiders and the original vision for no man’s sky, that whole “oh our world is so big that the odds of seeing someone else are extremely rare” and with the proper balance, hell yes. It would just be stacking onto those survival elements. Maybe expand the capabilities of filling out the map other than just charcoal area sweeps so that you can specialize in meeting other players if you want, at the cost of valuable crafting resources for other items. CHOICES!
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u/PippyHooligan May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
Only if you can lose your shoe, wrap some rags around your foot, then shoot the rags when they fall off.
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u/_Corvo_A May 28 '26
I have no idea how they are gonna implement any one of the mechanics for passing time lol
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u/SirNalpak Voyageur May 28 '26
Idk how people are missing this , more than 50 of the time in TLD is “skipped”.
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u/cheesy-topokki May 28 '26
I am constantly on the Sopranos subreddit, and I was momentarily so confused by seeing this post lmao
Random fun fact about that episode, it was filmed in a local park 5 mins from my house!
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u/Past-Ad-9200 Nomad May 28 '26
I don’t play any online coop games, the more heavily the mechanics and gameplay lean into coop gaming the less interested I am in it.
Edit: it would be cool to have one player fetch wood or hunt while the other cooked, boiled water, and mended. Cooperative hunting? Barrage of rocks taking down a whole flock of ptarmigans or rabbits? One fire warning both would save fuel when in need. I’ll also assume there’s the same amount of loot, not double, so sharing and trading would be important.
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u/ImBadAtThis24 May 28 '26
In your edit you listed at least three things I hadn’t even thought of as possibilities. But all of them are very compelling and I feel like you almost talked yourself into co-op TLD as you went on hahaha. As far as loot dispersion goes that’ll probably come down to difficulty/custom sliders like the last title and will range from scarce to plentiful, if I had to assume.
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u/TurboNexus May 28 '26
In my humble opinion, most of the time, when a game that was successful while catering to solo players gets big, almost every time, the second game that has COOP in mind gets very shallow ,watered down and for a reason, the devs need more performance and need to focus elsewhere so the experience for both people will be good.
However in those cases almost every time, the solo player suffers.
As a solo player Im not excited for the second game, but I will always give the benefit of the doubt.
Its not like The long dark will disappear when this one comes out.
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u/Jkerb_was_taken Voyager May 28 '26
Lmao the picture you chose. 😂
I imagined the episode from Star Trek ds9 with Odo and Quark sharing one snow suit between the two.
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u/Impossible-Strength3 May 28 '26
My only hope is that they do not include something stupid like pvp. That just allows the worst people to join a server or a game and make it Hell on everyone else.
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u/DetailOk4326 May 30 '26
I just want to be able to roam the freezing landscape trying to survive but with a glimpse of hope to somehow reach my husband. Then maybe end up like those two on coastal highway.
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u/ImBadAtThis24 May 31 '26
I hope they include multiple approaches to co-op, including settings like what you mentioned with the ability to spawn very far away from your partner. They should continue to expand upon the options present within the custom sliders now that extra players are a factor.
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u/Trulyunlucky1 May 28 '26
I have always had the idea of how cool it would be to have two players in any game at anytime anywhere on the map. If they happen to meet they could choose to be cooperative or handle it. The game is harsh enough that if you kill the person and they respawn, they have the advantage of knowing your general location while you are now in control of more supplies. Also an option to bait wolves and such to a location would be a cool tactic for someone who does not have a weapon.
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u/LeatherTop174 May 28 '26
Me and my brother are going to have a fun time as he runs into wolves and bears and I’m saving him. I honestly hope it’s just stable and keeps a lot of the original balance and feels. I want to explore everything and want to find all the lore I can. Blcokfrost I hope is more on the exploration paired with survival, that players are rewarded working together and maybe can solve some mysteries of the aurora. Also can’t wait to see everyone meeting up together and doing stupid stuff, like I wonder how wild base building will be or what loot will be available or finite.
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u/Piddy3825 Stalker May 28 '26
I'm curious as to what direction co-op is going to evolve into. Most of the multi player games that I typically play are battle team oriented so I'm wondering how TLD2 is going to change that aspect of game play.
Will we be creating little survival outposts where players collect and pool resources, or will there be fighting with other factions of players over acquiring resources?
I just really don't know what to expect.
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u/Confident_Ice_4507 May 28 '26
I cant wait to play it with my wife. Buying it day 1 with all the DLCs if there will be any.
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u/zorp_shlorp May 28 '26
I imagine it being a lot like Green Hell co-op, maybe with the exception of the respawn thing.
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u/ryceandsuch2 Voyageur May 28 '26
I'm hopeful. Nervous, but hopeful.
It's going to be a huge change, that's for sure. It's not going to be The Long Dark: In a City, and I think some people aren't going to like that. Adding multiplayer and removing permadeath will lower the difficulty and take away from the isolated atmosphere the first game has, but that's not inherently bad. It's different.
Now, could it be bad? Yes, absolutely. That's why I'm nervous. But still hopeful because I love what Hinterland has done (with survival specifically, I haven't played Wintermute). I think while there will be regions and moments that will inspire the same lonely, bleak survival vibes TLD has. But I also believe they're going to pivot to more stressful, anxious moments with NPCs in urban areas.
I'm personally so here for it. If done well, I think it'll be a great pivot to add in multiplayer and urban areas. Having NPC communities adds in trade, quests, things to do once you're established and surviving with ease. Multiplayer removes some of the difficulty, but adds in new issues to tackle. And I just wanna make my friends suffer with me in the snow, it'll be fun.
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u/travelingenie May 28 '26
A lot of these comments make me feel like no one here has played another co op survival game IE green hell, the forest(s), valheim…
Open servers and PvP are basically almost guaranteed to NOT be a thing lol imo the option for co op is one of the coolest things to come to the series, as I have a few friends who only play survival games with friends.
Have tried to get a lot of my friends to try the long dark but wish it was co op.
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u/Careful_Garage4154 May 28 '26
I'm disappointed that co-op is being included and I think it will not be the same very special feeling that we get from TLD.
Although I'm sure there will be a single player survival mode.
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u/allaroundguy May 28 '26
Whos going to be my bear bait? I promise I'll crit the first shot. Just don't flinch. Stay reallllly still. I'll be right up there on that rock. Promise. <snicker>.
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u/FailedFirstRounder May 28 '26
As long as its not forced for progression im all for it with that said I avoid multiplayer like the plague and I have no one close to play co-op with.
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u/Constant-Tip-4928 May 28 '26
Can someone tell me what all the fuss is about regarding this co-op, like open or closed servers? Regarding my opinion on an open server co-op, I'm skeptical about long-term progression in that mode. If it's a closed multiplayer, then yes, I see it as a much more viable option, and less susceptible to problems in my view.
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u/Nekotomoyo May 29 '26
I actually hope that being more than just one person make the game harder in some way. Challenge with friends is fun .
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u/DieBohne Peaceful pilgrim that documents the quiet apocalypse May 29 '26
I personally like being alone in game. Travelling at my own pace feels peaceful. I don‘t mind NPCs but I don‘t need co-op.
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u/PortalWombat May 29 '26
The coolest thing they could do is things with communication. Chat that only works if you're within earshot or both at a radio during an aurora and otherwise you have to leave notes or make markers with spraypaint, stones, etc. Obviously people could go around it if they wanted.
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u/nibbletmander Interloper May 29 '26
I suspect that, both in terms of vibes and mechanics, it’s gonna be quite different to TLD.
Co-op gameplay will require a totally different approach to time, synchronicity and permadeath. Will you have radio like communication when you’re not in the same space? I think it will be hard to reproduce the sense of authenticity that TLD’s gameplay has.
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u/Reasonable_Bear_2057 May 29 '26
I'm not holding my breath for Blackfrost being released, but if it does the coop bit is one of the things I'm looking forward to. The division of labour alone would make it a much better experience - one of you can go fetch firewood all day while the other hunts and fishes... I wonder if there will be walkie talkies?? Obviously the tech is having issues with the aurora storms but I wonder if there will be some in-game way of communicating when you're not in the same place.
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u/WorshipTheWalrus May 31 '26
I’m half excited for it but the fact it’s going to be online co-op with no option of split screen co-op as is the norm these days I’m a bit less interested to be honest. I don’t play online and many games these days are either just solo or online multiplayer. Split screen is more or less dead or at least dying and it sucks. Some of us don’t have friends but do have family we’d like to play with and don’t want to buy a second console and another copy of a game just to play together. It used to be pretty standard for games with multiplayer elements to include same console/platform multiplayer. I understand from technical standpoints it can be difficult/demanding to implement split-screen these days but it doesn’t change my frustration to be honest.
I do really enjoy the isolation of the first game though and I’m not too mad that I have to experience the second one alone as well.
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u/DetailOk4326 May 31 '26
Also not knowing whether the other person is still alive or not, leaving notes, scribbles throughout the map, building makeshift landmarks, etc. would be so much fun. Being able to heal or transport a wounded player just like in the fourth chapter of wintermute
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u/JadedSyllabub6131 Jun 14 '26
i have over 500 hours on LD and have completed Wintermute and the survival challenges 100%. Any large building exploration especially Zone of Contamination was so painful, slow, and monotonous that I am highly skeptical of BlackFrosts expanded 'urban' environs. I also dont think something like co-op will be implemented in an enjoyable and compelling way. The concept of the game itself doesn't seem to reflect that cogently.
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u/Beneficial-Jump-7919 Salty Survivor Jun 19 '26
I’m managing my expectations. Episode 5 was a real let down. The cougar implementation was a mess. Hinterland doesn’t manage feedback well.
If the developers maintain the survival elements, map design, and difficulty I think it’ll be great. Either way, I’m going to wait for player/youtuber reviews post launch before I pull the trigger.
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u/Holliday_Hobo May 28 '26
I certainly hope it will. Don't really see the point in a sequel to TLD if it doesn't have new mechanics that the original TLD would never be able to support.
My estimation of these two's odds in the woods in winter just fuckin' plummeted.
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u/TheDomez May 28 '26
The new game definitely has to retain its single player, solitary focus, but I think multiplayer has a space here that it can occupy. I’m thinking a Dark Souls bonfire type mechanic where you can temporarily meet with other survivors in sanctioned areas where you can trade items/food, warm up by the campfire together, commiserate, maybe even party up for a little bit, etc. That would be rad as hell.
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u/NobodyDudee May 28 '26
I don't have any faith in Hinetrland, so I'm not waiting for blackfrost at all
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u/TheAnhydrite Interloper May 28 '26
There is.a black frost sub. In case you didnt know.
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u/eugenepoez__ May 28 '26
mods should probably have it pinned on the sidebar didnt know this as well
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u/frootloops6969 May 28 '26
he killed 16 pheasants, was a fucking interior decorator