“Using” the bed will bring up an analog watch interface you can set to advance time. You’ll get very tired exploring the world, and will sometimes need to rest. Stored items may also serve as caches from which a player can resupply on food, water, ammunition, etc.Ī good place to do some crafting or item repair beyond simple maintenance. You can also store miscellaneous items that you find in the world that you think might be useful but don’t necessarily want to carry around with you wherever you go. This includes excess gear, such as clothing, tools, repair components, weapons and other items food and water fuel first aid equipment etc. Safe houses offer protection from weather and cold, and fireboxes can be used to provide heat, cook food, etc.

Why use a safe house? Shelter from the elements and cooking

1.1 Shelter from the elements and cooking.

You will also be able to set up temporary camps, which can serve as places to take shelter and rest along travel routes or as caches from which you can restock on needed supplies (e.g., previously stored food, water, first aid, spare clothing, etc).

Long-distance travel between locations might require the establishment of more than one safe house. needing to head out into the world to find supplies and complete objectives will drive a lot of self-directed sandbox gameplay. The safe house provides significant gameplay value to the player and sometimes acts as a 'gate' for content progress - in other words, events that advance the story or change the world state may only occur when the player returns to the safe house.Īs such, there will be a constant pull on the player to return to the safe house, and the tension between wanting to remain in the relative safety of the safe house vs. In an open-world experience like The Long Dark, the player needs a place of safety they can return to rest and recover from the hazards faced during exploration, make choices around gear customization, repairing and improving gear, crafting, planning longer excursions to distant locales, etc., as well as interact with key story NPCs.

The long dark save file