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The Long Dark ventures to Steam Early Access
Hinterland Studio launched its first-person exploration game The Long Dark on Steam Early Access this week, making the in-development survival simulator available for PC and Mac users for $20. Set in the pacific northwest, the game forces players to scavenge for resources and survive the threat of starvation, wolves and more. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston joined the developer earlier this month. Rolston adds to a well-credited crew at Hinterland, which includes Far Cry 3 Narrative Director Raphael van Lierop. The Long Dark's journey took off with its success on Kickstarter in October 2013, at which point the developer earned $248,899. Those that want a taste of the game should revisit Joystiq Streams' archive from July, in which Hinterland took us through the dark woods for an hour. [Image: Hinterland Studio]
Elder Scrolls designer ventures into The Long Dark
Ken Rolston, lead designer of Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind and ES4: Oblivion, has partnered with Hinterland Games for The Long Dark, the studio's first-person, apocalyptic survival simulator. Rolston's high-profile credentials add to Hinterland's portfolio of experience, which includes Far Cry 3 Narrative Director Raphael van Lierop, lead writer for the PS3 God of War trilogy, Marianne Krawczyk, and Sascha Dikiciyan, who scored Mass Effect 3 and Borderlands 2. Regarding whether Rolston will remain with Turbine, the team he joined one year ago as its director of design, Turbine has shared a statement with our friends at Massively: "We don't normally comment on personnel issues, and we definitely can't comment on work Ken is doing for other studios, but I can confirm that he continues to consult for us." Fans won't have to wait much longer to test their aptitude at surviving the frozen wilderness – The Long Dark's Sandbox mode will welcome Early Access patrons into the cold on September 22, though beta members began reducing themselves to snowy corpses a few weeks ago. [Image: Hinterland Games]
Old Snake David Hayter prepares for The Long Dark
David Hayter will lend his voice to Hinterland's upcoming survival sim, The Long Dark. Hayter, worked as writer on films such as X-Men, X2, The Scorpion King and Watchmen, had a 15-year run playing Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series. The addition of David Hayter to the voice cast follows last week's announcement that another recognizable voice, Jennifer Hale, has also signed on for The Long Dark. Hale's character, as with Hayter's, has yet to be revealed. The Long Dark, which has less than 48 hours left to go on its Kickstarter run, exceeded its funding goal of $200,000 CAD yesterday. In the game, players assume the role of bush pilot William Mackenzie, whose plane mysteriously malfunctions following a supernatural event. While stranded in the wilderness, Mackenzie must battle the elements and predators of his newfound icy forest environment.
The Long Dark hits goal three days before fundraising lights go out
Hinterland's survival sim The Long Dark has reached the $200,000 fundraising light at the end of the metaphorical Kickstarter tunnel, with three days left in its campaign. The game is expected to ship for PC, Mac and Linux in October 2014, and will feature native support for the Oculus Rift. "When things were looking a little grim for the campaign and we had people reaching out to us to say... 'You should quit, 'cause I've seen enough of these to know you're not going to make it.', we said -- no," an update on the game's Kickstarter page reads. While the base goal has been met, there are still several strech goals which could potentially be reached: at $225,000 funding, a downloadable graphic novel will be added to all reward tiers, and at $250,000 funding, the game will feature an extended soundtrack.
Jennifer Hale to play 'pivotal role' in The Long Dark
Noted video game voice actress Jennifer Hale has signed on to lend her pipes to The Long Dark, Hinterland's survival sim currently chasing funding through Kickstarter. Hinterland hasn't announced exactly who Hale will play in The Long Dark, but promises it's a "pivotal role." Hale, one of the more well-known voice actresses in video games and animation today, has contributed her voice to over 130 video games. She has voiced characters in Mass Effect, Diablo 3, Metal Gear Solid, BioShock Infinite and many more. The Long Dark is four days away from concluding its Kickstarter pledge drive and has raised $180,000 CAD so far. The game, which tasks players with surviving in a cold and harsh wilderness after a bush pilot's plane malfunctions and crashes, will launch on PC, Mac and Linux.
The Long Dark shows the harshness of night
In Hinterland Studio's first game, The Long Dark, players attempt to survive while stranded in the cold, harsh wilderness. Survival means not only ensuring you have enough calories stored to survive the day's grueling activity schedule, but also defending yourself from lurking predators. Running as opposed to walking will tire you out and deplete those precious calories more quickly. Hunger, fatigue, temperature, health and thirst also affect the survival simulation and bring you closer to death. The Long Dark currently seeking funds through Kickstarter in its early stages of development. The Kickstarter campaign has a little over a week left and is about $80,000 CAD away from meeting its funding goal.
The Long Dark shines light on Kickstarter
The Long Dark is now on Kickstarter, seeking $200,000 CAD from this pre-apocalyptic world. If it ever sees the light, the game will be the debut of Hinterland Studio, which was announced last week and is being lead by Raphael van Lierop, who was director on Relic's Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and narrative director on Far Cry 3. "The Long Dark is a thoughtful, first-person survival simulation that emphasizes quiet exploration in a stark, yet hauntingly beautiful, post-disaster setting. The breathtakingly picturesque Pacific Northwest frames the backdrop for the drama of The Long Dark," notes the game's Kickstarter page, which also mentions an episodic nature to the content. Hinterland isn't just one man, though, it includes vets from Volition Inc., BioWare and Riot. The Long Dark is also being supported by the Canada Media Fund. If all goes according to the plan, The Long Dark is scheduled to descend us into lonely survival in late 2014.
Indie Royale Snow Storm: Resonance, Hinterland, Project Aftermath, robots
The Indie Royale Snow Storm Bundle offers six games for cheap: Resonance, Hinterland, RoboBlitz, StarDrone, Project Aftermath and RobotRiot. Combine them all and you'd get a futuristic, scientific robopocalypse RPG mystery in space, and it's as cheap as $5, if you get in fast.The Snow Storm Bundle comes with the original soundtracks for Hinterland, RoboBlitz, StarDrone and RobotRiot when you pay the minimum, and for $8 or more you get the Planeteri album from Pixeljam. All of the games except for StarDrone and RobotRiot come with Steam PC keys, and none of these games are compatible with Mac. The Pixeljam album, however, comes with an executable for PC and Mac that provides visualizations for any song you hook up to it.
Hinterland available on Steam for $20
Tilted Mill's new title Hinterland is available now on Valve's Steam service for $20. Although we've yet to have any hands-on time with the game, from videos it appears to be a mix of Diablo-style combat and town building. What it really looks like is a mature version of My Life as a King, where players actually get to do the combat parts. Some of us gamers of higher chronology may recall a similar premise in ActRaiser.The self-published Hinterland is a new route that Tilted Mill (SimCity Societies, Caesar IV) is undertaking: making a budget-friendly strategy RPG that delivers fun even when the player only has one or two hours to play. One of the game's designers, Jeff Fiske, agrees with the characterization of Hinterland as "a casual game for core gamers."%Gallery-28257%
Tilted Mill shows off first Hinterland images
Tilted Mill, following up on its re-release of Children of the Nile, recently announced its new title Hinterland, expected later this summer for PC. The game appears to be a Diablo-esque city-builder set in a fantasy world with the tag line: Loot, Level and Build. The game will have small parties of three or four characters in tactical party-based combat. It appears city town building and combat may be of equal importance in Hinterland. Check out the first couple images of the game in the gallery below.Chris Beatrice, president of Tilted Mill, which is self-publishing Hinterland, believes that smaller games will allow the company to focus and be more innovative, less afraid of risk and keep quality high. Considering the quality of the company's larger titles like SimCity Societies and Caesar IV, this "back to basics" mentality may be exactly what the studio needs to produce something not forgotten two weeks after release. We're certainly looking forward to seeing what Tilted Mill creates under the financially tighter, yet innovation liberating, constraints of self-publishing.%Gallery-28257%
