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Cabin Fever is an Affliction in The Long Dark. This Affliction only appears when playing on the Voyageur, Stalker, Interloper, Misery, or enabled on Custom experiences in Survival Mode, or Hardened Survivor in Wintermute.

Starting a Survival Mode game with the Settled Mind Feat selected will automatically prevent Cabin Fever Risk, and Cabin Fever, from ever developing.

Overview[]

You've been indoors so long you feel like the walls are closing in. You will be unable to sleep indoors for 24 hours.
In-game description

Cabin Fever prevents survivors from Sleeping, Passing Time or Researching indoors for 24 hours. The affliction first appears as "Cabin Fever Risk" if a survivor has spent more than 18.83 hours per day (averaged over the last 6 days) indoors[1]. The risk increases by staying indoors until reaching 100% when it is replaced by the affliction Cabin Fever. 

Cabin Fever Risk can be reduced by spending time outside, whereas full-blown Cabin Fever will expire after 24 hours spent outside.

A grace period for Cabin Fever was introduced in version 0.326 during the first 50 days in Voyageur and 25 days in Stalker; there is no risk of cabin fever in Pilgrim, and no grace period in Interloper.

[2] A reliable way to determine exterior locations is to attempt to create a Campfire, if the error message "CANNOT START CAMPFIRE INDOORS" appears then the location is indoors.

  • Note 2: Some locations are considered outdoors despite allowing the curing of guts, hides and saplings at them: these include the rear sections of some caves and the outer rooms of the Maintenance Yard and the outside of the Cannery Workshop. These locations do not accumulate Cabin Fever Risk.

Treatment[]

Cabin Fever and the risk of it can be dealt with in a number of ways, even on Interloper (see below for Interloper specific tips).

Here are a few examples:

  • Gather firewood and spend time inside a Fishing Hut (in Mystery Lake, Coastal Highway, Timberwolf Mountain or Bleak Inlet). This method works on all difficulties and can provide food, water and lantern fuel, but requires fuel to stay warm on most days as well as Fishing Tackle (and a tool to break ice).
  • Spend time in the rear of a Warm Cave. These give an air temperature bonus near their rear section, and with good clothing a survivor stay warm 24/7 without a fire (except during colder hours/blizzards on Interloper). Spending one day out of every six inside of a cave this way will eliminate Cabin Fever risk. Note: this does not apply to large transition caves that have their own loading screens, as these locations are considered "indoors" and will increase cabin fever.
  • Spent time inside a Car or a Snow Shelter. Both allow sleeping 'outdoors' without a bedroll (through the "Campcraft" section of the Radial Menu). Snow Shelters give a +15°C temperature boost, but should be made away from areas predators frequent and require maintenance. Cars give a +5°C temperature boost and are accessible early in the game. Spending 6 hours a day in cars sleeping, repairing, or simply passing time is enough to stave off Cabin Fever forever.

Some Cooking Recipes reduce Cabin Fever if consumed, but require many ingredients to make.

Item Name
Breyerhouse Pie icon Breyerhouse Pie
Coastal Fishcakes icon Coastal Fishcakes
Dockworker's Pie icon Dockworker's Pie
Prepper's Pie icon Prepper's Pie
Stalker's Pie icon Stalker's Pie

Interloper/Misery[]

On Interloper or Misery Experience, Cabin Fever Risk can develop immediately since there is no grace period.

Cars are useful for warding off Cabin Fever, but must be used during the warmest hours (4-5 hours before sunset, and 2-3 hours after). One can pass time using the bedroll giving a +3 degree boost for a total of +8 degrees without sleeping. Even with no fur clothing at all it is possible to pass time 3-4 hours in a car at the end of a day in the first 30-40 days before the world temperature begins to rapidly drop. 

During late game Interloper, crafted fur clothing are required due to the colder world temperatures, making the rears of Warm Caves more effective without risking Hypothermia. However if a blizzard occurs inside an outdoors cave, it is possible to freeze full even in high-quality fur clothing and dual bearskin coats, so sleeping/passing time for shorter times is safer, as well as stockpiling hot fuel (sticks, coal) to create a fire if necessary.

Cabin Fever Emergencies[]

In exceptional cases it is possible to get trapped in an indoor area while afflicted with cabin fever, such as in a safe indoor space with a blizzard outside, or becoming trapped in the Cinder Hills Coal Mine middle layer when an aurora ends.

Provided that Condition and Needs are not too low initially, this may not be much of a threat in itself, as even complete exhaustion (0% Fatigue) causes very low Condition loss (1% per hour, compared to 20% per hour from Freezing). Even spending a day outside completely exhausted will only cause ~24% Condition loss, which can be easily recovered afterwards with a single night's rest even on Interloper.

The main problem of Cabin Fever when trapped indoors can lie purely in gameplay: As the character simply needs to wait for the blizzard to subside, or another Aurora to appear, or whatever is necessary to roam freely again, but all the usual ways of accelerating the passage of time are forbidden. You could just leave the game open, and do something else IRL, but this will usually not be a practical option.

Harvesting however is also an effective way to make time pass quickly, and is still allowed. In order to not destroy the whole inventory, a player will start to break down any piece of equipment, and then cancel the process before it completes. This can be repeated indefinitely on one single item, ideally passing about 1 hour at a time.

Trivia[]

  • Cabin Fever was first introduced in the Tireless Menace update.
  • When suffering from Cabin Fever Risk, working on an item at a Work Bench/Ammunition Work Bench or reading a Research Book WILL increase the Affliction Risk meter, despite the fact that the survivor is keeping their mind occupied at the time.
  • Cabin Fever is not a diagnosable disorder; however, it can be considered as a syndrome characterized by the overlapping of psychological symptoms that can have real impacts on a person’s behavior and well-being. It’s most often characterized by combinations of boredom, anxiety, irritability, and restlessness. To be restricted indoors and significantly restricted in your choices and activities has been found stressful even for those people used to cold weather.[3]

Game History[]

  • HOTFIX 25 May 2016 (Update):
    • Added to game.
  • HOTFIX 24 June 2024 (Update):
    • Added Celestial Navigator to the game, which can eliminate Cabin Fever Risk.

References[]

  1. Forum post mentioning tests performed to find exact hour count to trigger CF https://hinterlandforums.com/forums/topic/13627-snowballs-in-hell/page/15/
  2. 2.0 2.1 Hinterland Forums. HOTFIX! The Long Dark Sandbox v.326. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  3. The Atlantic. [1]. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
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