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The following list contains discontinued features that existed in The Long Dark throughout its early access versions but were removed and/or replaced.

Brand

There was a tool called Brand, it was made of just a stick on fire, taken only from active fires (campfires, etc) and served similar purpose to taking torches out of fireboxes. It was not throwable.

Brandishing

There was a feature where a player could brandish (swinging sideways) their flares and torches to scare away wolves. This feature was removed and replaced by throwing torches instead.

Clock

The clock used to display the exact time of the day. This was later removed and replaced by "Time of Day".

Radial Menu

The Radial Menu underwent a complete overhaul in the Faithful Cartographer update.

Struggle

When the Long Dark entered in Early Access, the struggle underwent several changes throughout its development. Initially, once the wolf pounced on the player, the player had to click the left button of their mouse to build up strength as indicated in a red progress bar and once it was full, they could click the right button of their mouse and repeat the process until the wolf flees from the player. This method proved very difficult to players, often proving fatal.

In Early Access update 0.163 (Released November 2014), the struggle system underwent a complete overhaul and behaves similarly the way it behaves in full release version except that there was no weapon choice to fight the wolf. If the player had a knife on them (backpack), the game would automatically choose this weapon to fight the wolf. Also, gone is the build up strength mechanic and introduced the "Fight" button by just clicking the right button of the mouse until the wolf flees.

Finally, in Early Access update 0.423 (June 2017), it introduced weapon choice to select right before the struggle (the game would be slowed down for few seconds to give you enough time to react).

Survival Skills

The survival skills underwent many changes throughout its early-access period. Initially, players can see their survival skills at a "basic skills" tab in a book before changing to a modern-style book.

Time of day

Time of day underwent a few changes. In the pre-alpha version, players would have a digital clock shown on HUD UI stating the exact time of day. In early-access, that was replaced with an estimated time remaining until day/night. Finally, it was replaced with the current rotating sun and moon icons.

Bolt Cutters

Bolt Cutters icon
A heavy tool designed to cut through metal bolts and chains.
In-game description

The bolt cutters were a tool found exclusively in Episode 2 of the Wintermute. They could be found in the Maintenance Yard in Broken Railroad and were used to open the gate that led to the Hunting Lodge.

The bolt cutters were removed from the game entirely after the Redux update, however they were re-introduced in the ending of Episode 3 as a puzzle tool, and later in Episode 4. They were also introduced in Survival Mode as part of the Buried Echoes Tale.

Trust

Trust menu

An example of the old Trust trading menu.

Trust. A hard thing to come by these days. Many people you meet will be suspicious of you. But most of them have needs they may not be able to fulfill without your help. Helping them will earn you Trust, which will in turn unlock useful Knowledge, Locations, Items, and more. Check the character's Trust entry in your Journal to learn more about them, their needs, and how they can help you.
In game Tutorial message Pre Redux

In the original Wintermute releases of Episodes 1 and 2, Grey Mother and Jeremiah could be given items to build up their trust with Mackenzie. Taking or breaking down items from their homes would lower trust, whereas bringing them items they wished for would increase trust (sticks, cured rabbit pelts, etc). Having a higher trust would grant the player access to additional dialogue options, which would reveal more worldbuilding information or give access to entire side quests (such as finding a Distress Pistol in Episode 1 or Jeremiah giving the coordinates to Jeremiah's Hideout). The system was ultimately removed following the Redux re-releases of both episodes and was replaced with standard dialogue options.

3rd Person Cutscenes

With the original release of Episode 1 and 2, Mackenzie would appear in 3rd person in each cutscene. He would always wear his default clothing, regardless of what was chosen to be worn by the player, and was far more expressive and interactive when meeting with other characters.

Following the Redux updates, all cutscenes were replaced with a first person perspective and were completely redesigned from Makenzie's perspective. All cutscenes in future Episodes still feature first person character interactions to date.

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