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 flares by brandishing with hands as 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 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 it's 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.