You Never Forget Your Many Deaths

[Drifter Man]

4 hours ago, Vhalkyrie said:

If you use the large piece, you should have plenty of time to run away, so you don't have to shoot it if you don't want to.  I generally shoot the wolves if they are in an area where I will be passing through frequently.

Good plan about Pleasant Valley.  Well, you'll need firewood supplies to last a very long time - my blizzard in today's game was 10 hours before a short eye of the storm, then it started up again.   Also, the PV map is one of the coldest maps in the game.  If you are not in a cave or an enclosed shelter at night during a blizzard without a bearskin roll - you are in trouble.  This is one of the ways I almost died (see my story entry Day 45: The Blizzard and The Bear).

It probably is a good idea to make a temporary camp somewhere you can hunt and sustain yourself for a few days, so very good plan.  I'm very interested in reading about it!

Also, a tip about bear hunting.  The fire-freeze method works on bears as well as wolves.  It's the safest way to kill bears.  Oddly enough, I recommend using a bow instead of a rifle because an arrow hit bleeds faster (and a bear will most likely survive the first shot).  I generally take first shot with a rifle.  If that doesn't instant kill it (usually doesn't), then I hit it with an arrow and find a safe place to wait for it to bleed out.  I know you conserve your arrow use differently, so looking forward to hearing what you come up with.

If you don't want to use the fire-freeze method, then you should somehow line up your shot so it can't see you.  If you're in its LOS when you fire, it will probably charge you.  If you aren't in LOS, then there's a chance the bear will run off.  Dangerous though.  Or, shoot it, but have a torch ready to light and get out of Dodge!  Even if the bear appears to run around without charging, I'd still light the torch anyway until you are somewhere 100% safe.

I thought that clearing wolves around frequented roads could be useful, too, but I haven't had the need to do it yet. Since it takes a few days (maybe 5-6) for the wolf to respawn if the carcass is left in place to rot (or at least part of it), the road should be rendered safe this way.

Although I'm not going to Pleasant Valley soon, I'm already planning to get into the bear business. As you guessed, the fire-trap method has little appeal to me, although I don't mind using it on wolves, which at least run away when hit (or nearly missed). At the same time, I'm taking no chances with a bear - it is a deadly beast and there's no logic in getting killed by a bear in order to make a bedroll to protect me from bad weather  The hunter's blind at the Unnamed Pond will be my choice.

[Vhalkyrie]

Day 165: Timberwolf

Note: This post will be OOC from the perspective of me, the player.

My stay at the Farmhouse was shorter than normal.  Like a kid on Christmas, I was too eager to get to Timberwolf Mountain.  If you read my earlier entries, you'll know that this current game is my most successful, and the culmination of earlier mishaps.

With the exception of my first 2 games (in which I was just stumbling around attempting to learn the mechanics), each of my Sandbox games have been started with a personal goal or objective I wanted to test.  I tested:

- How long I could survive with near starvation (condition around 20%).  
Conclusion: Since I'm an explorer with frequent encounters with wildlife, quite hazardous.  For emergency use only.
- How long could I keep a permanent fire running.  
Conclusion: 122 hours (5 days) was my personal best.  Possible, but the hatchet wear is immense and requires a large supply of hatchets.  I did not get to extend my experiment because I died en route to Desolation Point in this game.
- How feasible is it to survive with the magnifying glass in post-match conditions.  
Conclusion: Inconclusive.  The fire cycles depends on sunny days, which is unpredictable.  But since I had plenty of matches to fall back on, I don't really know what the struggles are with this.  This character was also deceased before conclusion.
- How can I kill bears reliably.  While some of my early bear hunts were honestly heart pumping fun, I'm not a thrill hunter, and I just need a way to continue to survive in this game.  I play on Voyager because the weather and resources on Pilgrim are not satisying for me.  However, if I had the choice with custom settings, I would have Pilgrim animal behavior turned on in my game.  I actually found hunting wolves and bears harder on Pilgrim because they ran away.  I don't particularly enjoy the aggression on Voyager, so all I wanted was a way to find how to manage it.  I found a way that I can manage killing wolves and bears with high reliability, so that I can keep playing the game the way I want.

My current game's objective is to live on Timberwolf Mountain in Voyager.  I explored the map initially on Pilgrim mode, and I loved it.  While I am not a mountaineer in real life (fear of heights, not particularly a thrill-seeker), I am a casual weekend warrior outdoorsy hiker/backpacker/camper in real life.  So Timberwolf allowed me to experience something I would never actually do in real life, which is climb mountains with rope.

I wanted to live there with a more roughing-it feeling in Voyager.

Note that my goal is in Timberwolf is not to make the Summit run in record time, or necessarily the fastest.  I will eventually make the summit run, but not for a while.  I still have a lot of hatchets, knives, bullets, and matches (although some are turning orange), so I don't want to prematurely break open the containers and start the degradation timer.  I will break open the containers, but in due time.

However, in Pilgrim mode, much of the experience of living there is muted.  The weather is tamed quite a bit.  I had another brief test game in which I started on Timberwolf Mountain in Voyager just to see what the difference was, and I'm not ashamed to admit I couldn't hack it.  Without a full set of animal furs, rifles, bows and everything else I need, I was dead on arrival.  However, I got enough of a sense of the comparison.

After I got back to the Farmhouse, the anticipation was too much to take.  After waiting out blizzards, I immediately moved gear I needed to my transition spot for Timberwolf.  I got really lucky with a bunker spawn that is in the perfect place for me to store supplies for Timberwolf.

And with my essential supplies moved, I was ready to climb!

Rope climbing is a lot more strenuous in Voyager compared to Pilgrim.  In Pilgrim, I could climb to the top with an overfull pack (< 40kg).  In Voyager, I can climb to the top in one movement only if my pack was not overfull (less than 30kg) and if my fatigue was not less than 50%.  Climbing just the first rope to Timberwolf knocked me to 50% tired.  This meant that moving supplies was slow going since I could not make more than one trip per day without coffee.  I didn't want to use any coffee for this, not yet.  So while my pack was not overburdened when I started, by the time I got to the top, I had the little "heavy" symbol.

By the time I finished the walk to the Lodge, I was exhausted.  There was no time at all to search around for logs to chop, so I was hesitant to stay the night there.  It's a bit drafty in there at night.

I took a 2 hour nap, then climbed back down the rope to sleep in the bunker.

It took me 3 trips to transport my meager supplies (a fraction of what I intended to bring).  Only carrying 30kg per trip is time consuming.

I brought:
1 Bearskin Roll - If I don't find enough firewood, then I'll need this to survive the night (warmth bonus 12C).
1 Hammer - Since it only requires 1 fir log to repair, it is a renewable tool for breaking the fishing hut ice.  Don't worry - this is an spare I found in CH.  The other is at the Riken for forging.
5 Fishing Line
2 Hatchets - From my "permafire" experiment, I know I need a ton of hatchets for firewood chopping.  I have 8 more spares stored at the bunker.
1 Whetsone - I have a dozen more in storage.
4 rabbit traps
10 spare bullets - 62 more in storage
5 arrows
5 arrowheads
10 arrow shafts - More shafts and saplings at the Farmhouse.  I didn't take count - maybe about 70-100 shafts total if I shaved down my saplings.

I also have matches and a magnifying lens.

This is pretty much the minimum I figured I would need.  I wanted to start fairly barebones so I would know where I was deficient relatively quickly.  Right now, if I get into trouble, I can just climb down the rope into the bunker and regroup.

Troublespots:

Right off the bat, I didn't bring enough fishing line.  Even though there is a workbench inside the hut, there isn't any scrap metal.  I've already broken 2 fishing line, so I will need to make more at the Farmhouse when I go to resupply.

While I've seen lots of rabbits around, I am unsuccessful at finding the right place to trap them.  I only successfully found one trapping spot, but after catching 4 rabbits, it dried up.  The other areas with bunnies hop around, but don't hang themselves in the trap.  Which means I need to fish more.  I may reload my Pilgrim game so I can find the right rabbit trap spots.

While it seems there is a lot of firewood around the hut, it doesn't seem to be respawning with great frequency.  Maybe I am just unlucky, but I now have fairly barren hills around the hut, which is fairly concerning.  This is just day 5.  I don't have nearly enough firewood that I expected.

Storage is absolutely nonexistent.  There's one hatch with 40kg and a workbench drawer with 5kg.  45kg total for storage.  Actually, I kind of like this.  Supports my idea of minimalist living.  However, it's a good thing my Pleasant Valley bunker spawned where it did because I can always use that for storage.  Just means I might have to travel periodically to resupply.  So nevermind - I kind of like this.  The hatch I'm using to store fish and rabbit, and my clothes when sleeping (don't think about it too much - I'm trying not to!).  Matches are in the workbench drawer.  Non degrading items like hatchets and knives are out in the open on the shelves.

What's Going Well:

Absolutely no run-ins with the wildlife.  There's a wolf and a bear on the Lake, but they don't come anywhere near the hut.  Which means I can conserve my weapon use and live off fish and rabbits, which is exactly what I want for right now.

I love making a fire at night!  During my 'permafire' experiment, I loved the constant burn.  I described it as 'luxurious'.  While 24/7 fire is infeasible for Timberwolf (just too much hatchet use/fuel waste), it is absolutely necessary at night.  Due to that blasted hole in the ceiling, the interior is only +10C warmer than outside.  During my first night at the hut, I only slept in 1 hour increments so I could keep an eye on the temperatures.  I didn't take any analytic type data, I only roughly eyeballed it for now.  At the coldest part of the day (just before dawn), the interior of the hut was -17C, so it was -27C outside.  It was a clear night with no wind or weather.  This means during a blizzard, it would be a shocking -27C inside as blizzards drop the temperatures by another -10C.

The -17C temperature at the coldest part of the night with no blizzard means I could sleep with no fire if I had a pair of "sleeping clothes" while I stored my hunting clothes in the hatch.  However, that is risky because a blizzard will turn me into a popsicle.  The bed is pretty measily at only 5C warmth bonus.  Not sure I will risk it, or if I did, I might only sleep in 2 hour bursts.  With a full set of 100% crafted clothes and long underwear, the best I have been able to do with clothing alone is 24C protection.  With the bed's small warmth bonus, I could have potentially 29C protection, which gets me over the blizzard threshold.  I could sleep in my full set of clothes and long underwear if I'm willing to trade a little clothing wear over hatchet use.

The bearskin roll is a fallback in case I can't find enough firewood.  With 12C warmth bonus and wearing clothes, I should have no trouble sleeping through a blizzard.

Since moving to Timberwolf, I have altered my sleeping routine.  At the Farmhouse, I typically sleep 10 hours - just as it turns dark, and just after it turns light.  The house is so dark and spread out, I don't want to burn up lantern fuel or torches to get to bed.  However, at Timberwolf, since it has the small layout similar to Trapper's, it's very easy to pop out of bed while it's still dark, reach into the hatch for fish/rabbit, then cook it.  So before bed, I start a 10 hour fire, sleep for 8 hours, then wake up with 2 hours left until dawn.  In those two hours, I cook or boil water.  I'm really happy with it because I feel like I'm very productive and efficient.  By the time I've finished my morning "breakfast", the sun is up and I can begin my day.  Love it.  Theorically, this means I only need to find 10 hours of firewood a day, however, as noted above, my firewood respawn is minimal.  I'm hoping that this is just a fluke in my game...

And let's talk about the weather.  Compared to Pleasant Valley, this is a freaking vacation home in my book.  While I have had 10 hour+ blizzards in PV, the weather in Timberwolf is fast changing, but short.  I roughly estimate that the weather in PV has a chance to change every 4 hours.  Comparatively, Timberwolf seems to change hourly.  This means blizzards can blow in suddenly, but hiding under an outcropping for an hour, and it will probably clear.  I'm ok with this!

That leads me to my favorite part about 'vacationing' in Timberwolf.  This is the closest thing I've experienced in game to my real life backpacky/campy adventures.  I absolutely love the views, the fishing, observing the wildlife (from a safe distance), and the necessity of fire at night.

I just need to work out a few additional details and I'll be just fine living here.  At the very least, it will be my vacation home in the mountains.

[Ohbal]

2 hours ago, Vhalkyrie said:

While I've seen lots of rabbits around, I am unsuccessful at finding the right place to trap them.  I only successfully found one trapping spot, but after catching 4 rabbits, it dried up.  The other areas with bunnies hop around, but don't hang themselves in the trap.  Which means I need to fish more.  I may reload my Pilgrim game so I can find the right rabbit trap spots.

While it seems there is a lot of firewood around the hut, it doesn't seem to be respawning with great frequency.  Maybe I am just unlucky, but I now have fairly barren hills around the hut, which is fairly concerning.  This is just day 5.  I don't have nearly enough firewood that I expected.

Just left TWM in my playthrough after more than 70 days. According to the stats is the area I've spent more time on, yet it feels like it was yesterday when I arrived. Its a great map to explore, and the constant weather change makes it for interesting adventures

I believe there is a problem in TWM with spawns if you don't load new areas, which you can do either by going into PV or entering a cave. If you don't do this, sticks won't respawn, and possibly the rabbits as well. 

The last 10 days I spent in TWM before going back into re-exploring all areas all I did was eat my meat storage so it didn't spoil. All I did was eat, drink and sleep... and occasionally went outside to look for sticks. I was puzzled, as I was going through multiple blizzards, but no new sticks! I tested exiting the game and reloading and every stick zone was filled again. Tested this twice... probably the "in world" setup for the mountaneer cabin is messing the respawn mechanics in this zone. I don't know about rabbits as I don't hunt them unless I need to repait the gloves, but its probably the same thing.  

Quote

Storage is absolutely nonexistent.  There's one hatch with 40kg and a workbench drawer with 5kg.  45kg total for storage.  Actually, I kind of like this.  Supports my idea of minimalist living.  However, it's a good thing my Pleasant Valley bunker spawned where it did because I can always use that for storage.  

Don't forget about the two drawers + mid box in the fishing hut ;-)

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The -17C temperature at the coldest part of the night with no blizzard means I could sleep with no fire if I had a pair of "sleeping clothes" while I stored my hunting clothes in the hatch.  However, that is risky because a blizzard will turn me into a popsicle.  The bed is pretty measily at only 5C warmth bonus.  Not sure I will risk it, or if I did, I might only sleep in 2 hour bursts.  With a full set of 100% crafted clothes and long underwear, the best I have been able to do with clothing alone is 24C protection.  With the bed's small warmth bonus, I could have potentially 29C protection, which gets me over the blizzard threshold.  I could sleep in my full set of clothes and long underwear if I'm willing to trade a little clothing wear over hatchet use.

Using the best possible clothes, you could have troubles in the hut only if they are not in good conditions. I had a terrifying moment one morning when I woke up in hypotermia. I couldn't believe it, I always sleep with all clothes in, don't want to risk everything for a couple of pelts and fishing line... but they were around the 60% condition and it was enough to get me in troubles. The bear bedroll is a safety net

 

[Vhalkyrie]

17 minutes ago, Ohbal said:

The last 10 days I spent in TWM before going back into re-exploring all areas all I did was eat my meat storage so it didn't spoil. All I did was eat, drink and sleep... and occasionally went outside to look for sticks. I was puzzled, as I was going through multiple blizzards, but no new sticks! I tested exiting the game and reloading and every stick zone was filled again. Tested this twice... probably the "in world" setup for the mountaneer cabin is messing the respawn mechanics in this zone. I don't know about rabbits as I don't hunt them unless I need to repait the gloves, but its probably the same thing. 

I suspected this - thanks for confirming that!  I hope they fix this soon.  I also found that quiting the game and reloading also works.  Annoying, but I'll deal with it.

17 minutes ago, Ohbal said:

Don't forget about the two drawers + mid box in the fishing hut ;-)

True!

Thanks for the tips!

[hauteecolerider]

I took the bear bedroll with me to TM on my Pilgrim play through, and it was absolutely worth it. I was able to live there over 30 days without having to go back to PV for supplies. 

It took me about two weeks of exploring and stocking supplies to work my way to the summit. I wanted to explore, get to know the area, and didn't care about reaching the summit until the lower slopes were explored. I was glad I did, because the summit was the first place I ran into trouble. I slept in a cave up there because I was too tired to feel safe repelling back down, and a storm had blown up. When I woke up, I was freezing (not quite hypothermic, but close!). I barely made it back to my upper way station to warm up before I started regaining condition. I lost a whole day there recovering from that, so I used it to make water and coffee. After that, it took another week to get all the supplies down the mountain back to the hut. I didn't take the bear bedroll with me to the summit, and I wonder if that would have made a difference. The manmade bedrolls (I had two) were repaired to 100% before I went up, so that's probably why I did survive!

Because I'm not really going for longevity in this play through, I stuck the canned goods, MRE's and coffee/tea on the shelves, the lantern fuels, accelerants, first aid supplies and smaller tools (basically whetstones and rifle cleaning kits) on the work bench. The larger tools and extra rifles went into the fishing hut. I left one of the hammers there.

I hear you about the difficulty trapping rabbits. It seemed to me that they were more skittish about the snares than were the ones in PV or CH (the only other place where I trapped them). Can't speak to the respawn rate, though. Not sure if what I saw in Pilgrim is true of Voyager as well.

[Drifter Man]

A big move  Good luck out there!

[Vhalkyrie]

So I have a major problem.

I have only been able to find one area where I can trap rabbits on Timberwolf, which is the area between the hut and the dropoff to Pleasant Valley.

I see other places around the lake where rabbits are hopping, but I cannot find where to place my traps in order to catch them.  I loaded my Pilgrim game, and I'm having the same issue there.  Rabbits in the area, but can't trap them.  I'm perplexed why.  I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, or if it's bugged.

Any ideas?  Do any of you have successful trapping spots?  This is putting a big dent in my plans.  I wanted to live on Timberwolf with 90% rabbit/fish.  I'm hesitant to load my Voyager game until I can find trapping spots.

[Drifter Man]

My idea would be to use many snares (twenty, thirty) and to spread them over potential areas to see where they can be trapped... but that's what you have just done, probably.

[Vhalkyrie]

2 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

My idea would be to use many snares (twenty, thirty) and to spread them over potential areas to see where they can be trapped... but that's what you have just done, probably.

Yeah I did (with 10 though).  I only have that one spot that works.  Not sure what's up.

Edit: Success!  While I did probe the areas, after thinking about it, I went back and tried a larger scatter pattern around the areas where I saw the bunnies hopping.  So that gives me 3 bunny runs around the hut to trap.  Yay!

[Wasteland Watcher]

On 3/31/2016 at 9:40 PM, Vhalkyrie said:

I've definitely considered moving back to Trapper's (I just love the layout and the coziness), but I like the Mountaineer's house in Timberwolf, too.  It's like Trapper's, but on the Lake with fishing, deer, and a rabbit run very nearby.  I've only been on TW for extended time in tourist mode, so we'll see if I can manage the cold temps at night in Voyager.  But yeah - my parking spot will be either Mountaineer's, or Trapper's if I can't manage it.

Very good plan
Now that you're familiar with the lay of the land and how the mechanics work, what will you do next?

[Vhalkyrie]

1 minute ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

Very good plan
Now that you're familiar with the lay of the land and how the mechanics work, time to start up a Voyageur sandbox!

LOL - I am on day 175 in Voyager.   Day 10 in Timberwolf now!

[Wasteland Watcher]

Just now, Vhalkyrie said:

LOL - I am on day 175 in Voyager.  

That was a Typo! Sorry lol

[Vhalkyrie]

Just now, Wasteland Watcher said:

That was a Typo! Sorry lol

All good - I was referring to a past game in Pilgrim.  Sorry that wasn't clear!

[Vhalkyrie]

Day 175: The Accidental Survivor

175 days survived.  Some days, I wonder how.

Like today.

I came to Timberwolf Mountain with minimalist supplies about 10 days ago.  Things have been going well.  I completed moving 10 hatchets, 5 knives, and a few miscellaneous odds and ends from the bunker I'm using as my supply depot.

For the first 5 days, I kept a firing burning at night because I was so scared of freezing to death in my sleep.  Then I tried sleeping in my clothes with no fire, but in 4 hour intervals.  Not very restful sleep.  I found that with my animal furs and the bed, I am well protected, even during a blizzard in the coldest part of the night, so now I sleep 6 hours, wake up just before dawn to check on the temperature, then go back to sleep for another 2 hours.  If there's a blizzard blowing, then I can throw in some logs for safety.

All in all, it's not bad and not nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be.  I've even grown quite fond of the hole in my ceiling that makes a personal planetarium at night.

I've been fishing and trapping rabbits for subsistence.  I am eating quite well, and haven't had a hungry day yet.  I needed to set 6 traps at 2 different rabbit runs in order to establish a food cache, but now I only keep 3 snares at one run.  There's a quite nice one behind the hut that never has any wolves to compete with my catch.  I snare 1 or 2 rabbits a day, and round out the remainder of calories with fish.  I found that I didn't bring enough fishing line with me, but after wearing down a few hatchets and knives, I have more than enough scrap metal to make new line.  Minimalism at its finest.  I shouldn't have to return to the Farmhouse for at least a month, and hopefully longer.  I'm wanting to see how far I can stretch this out.

I try to chop wood every day, but I don't need to do so with gusto since I'm not keeping a fire burning all night anymore.  It keeps me busy, though.  I keep a stash of firewood near my rabbit run and in the fishing hut.  I'm also keeping the bearskin roll in the fishing hut.  Blizzards usually blow in and out quickly compared to Pleasant Valley, but doesn't hurt to be prepared.

I've had absolutely no close encounters with unwanted wildlife.  I scared off one wolf and stole its deer, but that was it.  No stress walking through a war zone, no torn clothes.  I wandered out East where I noticed cargo containers, but there was a wolf and bear in the area.  I didn't want to tangle with them just yet, so I left them alone.  I'd come back at another time.

And that leads me up to today.  

I decided that I would go back out East to kill the wolf and bear, and search those containers.  I woke up, skinned a rabbit, then came back to the lodge to cook it.  After starting the fire, I felt hot, so I put my clothes in the hatch.  After the rabbits were cooked, I grabbed a couple more pieces of meat for the road, matches, hatchet and knife and walked out of the lodge. 

I got about 100 meters when I realized that I forgot my bearskin sleeping bag.  I figured I might have to take shelter in one of the nearby caves, so I went back to the fishing hut to get it.  Confident that I now had everything I needed, I set out on my travels again.

I got to the edge of the lake and up the side hill when I started freezing.

Perhaps I was so excited by the thought of the hunt I forgot to put my clothes back on.

Even though I was the only living human around for thousands of miles, I blushed as I ran streaking across the lake.  Fortunately, the wolf wandering the North bank was neither interested nor offended by my lack of modesty, and did not come to admonish me.

Although very cold, I should avoid hypothermia.  I put my clothes back on and crawled into bed.  I guess I won't be going anywhere after all.

So no one is more amazed at still being alive 175 days after the crash than me. 

[hauteecolerider]

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Perhaps I was so excited by the thought of the hunt I forgot to put my clothes back on.

[Vhalkyrie]

Note: This post will be OOC from the perspective of me, the player.

I went back to loot the cargo containers (properly clothed), and climbed up one ledge to get more.  I'm utterly disappointed that I only got 1 firestriker and 5 can openers - screw you RNG!  I broke down the extra can openers for scrap metal - they'll be used for catching fish.  There was a box of canned goods up on the ledge - I just left them there.  When I go back, I'll use that for food.  No sense in wasting fatigue/energy carrying them back to the hut.

Mostly I was looking for the box of extra coats and clothes.  Out of all the materials that I brought, I didn't anticipate that scrap cloth would be what I am most in need of.  I didn't bring much, so I don't have much to repair my scarf, hat and wool underwear.  I shredded the basic gloves and insulated vests, but kept a mariner's coat and a spare tocque.

I've been busy making a home for myself in Timberwolf.  Although the container storage is minimalist, the open shelves give a deceptively decent amount of storage space for non-degradable items.  I organized my hatchets, knives, hacksaws, lantern fuel, and bullets neatly on the shelves.  Animal hides are curing on and under the spare bed (glad I won't be having guests over soon!).

The temperature during a blizzard is quite cold, but it is manageable.  I've only been sleeping in my animal furs (I put my cloth clothing in the hatch), and I'm doing alright.  Breaking dawn happens in my game at 15 hours, so this is a little before that.  The temperature was -24C during a blizzard.  My rabbit mittens, deer pants, deer boots, and wolf jacket gives me 22C protection in its current condition around 80%.  With the bed warmth of +5C, I haven't had any issues with being cold while sleeping.  The wear on my clothes is a little more, but I should be able to keep on top of it.

All in all, things are going quite well on the mountain.  I always seem to have something to do, whether it's fishing, collecting sticks/logs, or reorganizing shelves.  I haven't had long periods of idle moments where I'm doing nothing, like at the PV Farmhouse.  I think the Farmhouse is probably ideal for hibernators because there's nothing else to do during the long blizzards other than sleep, but for me it's not a good fit.  I am glad that I set it up as a supply depot for Timberwolf, which was my plan from the beginning.  PV is connected directly to all maps except Desolation Point, so it seemed to lend itself well to my needs for it as a supply base for eventual habitation in Timberwolf.  I want to live in Timberwolf for as long as possible.

My goal for this character is not necessarily longevity (though I will try!), so I'm not necessarily maximizing resource conservation.  I'm not being wasteful, mind you.  I came here with minimalist gear, and that by default requires a modicum of restraint.  Anything I'm deficient I either have to conserve or go out and find more (like the cloth).  I'm a long, long way from running out of bullets, arrows and matches (even after the ones that are going orange).  I saw in the road map that bow-drill firemaking is in the works, so that makes the match issue less dire.  

I intend for this to be a play-n-park character.  Once I have explored the rest of Timberwolf, I may continue to play for a while.  I may not.  When Hinterlands releases new content, this character will be ready for it.  That's what I want this character for.  My objective for this game is to play and have fun.

In the meantime, my personal goal is to play for 365 days.  I'd like to hit that one year mark.  I wonder where I will be, and what I will be doing then?

Right now, I'm just enjoying the view from my fabulous mountain home.

[Drifter Man]

I thought I have a good sense of order, but I can't compare to you  Stay safe, and please keep your clothes on! I made the same mistake once, too, and only realized it after returning to the Dam. Fortunately, the weather was nice.

By the way: the hat (toque) is the biggest cloth-eater. Do you keep it for the role-playing value? I admit I wouldn't walk outside without a cap of some sort in this weather in real life, either.

[Vhalkyrie]

30 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

By the way: the hat (toque) is the biggest cloth-eater. Do you keep it for the role-playing value? I admit I wouldn't walk outside without a cap of some sort in this weather in real life, either.

For sure.  I would never go skiing or snowshoeing without a hat!  Does the wool hat degrade slower?  I thought it was less warm, but if it degrades slower, that might make it more compelling.  I hope I haven't shredded them all...

I find that a full compliment of animal furs, hat, scarf, and long underwear are necessary for the cold morning temps.  Though maybe I could offset that with fire when skinning my animals.  Hmm.  Thanks for giving me something to think about, as usual!

[Drifter Man]

I didn't collect degradation data of the wool hat, only of the items I wore at the time (all furs + cotton underwear, heavy wool sweater, scarf, wool socks and toque). But I doubt very much that the wool hat will degrade so much slower to offset its lower temperature bonus. If you are trying to save cloth, the cap is, unfortunately, the first piece of clothing that should go.

During the test I wore all clothes at all times (including sleep) and recorded the following degradation rates per 100 days:

• Basic wool scarf: 64.4%
• Cotton long underwear: 113.5%
• Deerskin boots: 14.4%
• Deerskin pants: 26.9%
• Heavy wool sweater: 33.7%
• Rabbitskin mittens: 27.9%
• Toque: 167.3%
• Wolfskin coat: 7.7%
• Wool socks: 90.4%

I used an optimization script to get the optimum clothing balance for a given consumption of cloth. Toque, wool socks and cotton underwear had to go (most importantly toque). The scarf and the sweater are keepers and it pays off to keep the sweater above 75%. The furs should be repaired most often (at 90% or above) to keep temperature bonuses stable. But what is the optimum for you in particular depends on your situation.

Later I measured degradation of about 75%/100 days for wool long underwear but I can't be sure that the conditions were the same - I think I sometimes put it into the locker when I was indoors for a longer period of time. This seemed too much for me so I keep it in a locker and repair it when it drops too low but I'm not wearing it at this time. I may use it later (keep a pair in a fishing hut and put it on during blizzards, perhaps).

[Vhalkyrie]

Noooo...not the hat!! 

Thanks for the info.  I'll have to keep the little poof ball tucked away for those occasions when I really need it.

[Vhalkyrie]

Day 200: Mountain Girl

According to my journal notes, it's been 200 days since the world I knew changed forever.  I crash landed in Mystery Lake, disoriented and confused.  Those first few days were hard as I struggled to find tools to defend myself, make fire, and make warmer clothes than my jeans and running shoes.  In the earliest days, I contemplated suicide.  But no, I hung on and lived day by day.  Nothing was as difficult as when I fought for every inch of my life on Day 45 when I got caught in a blizzard at night and mauled by a bear.  I still remember it whenever the sun sets and the wind blows.  I can scarcely believe I once considered ending it all, and when the bear almost took my life from me, all I wanted to do was live.

Every morning I wake up, and I can't believe I'm still alive.  In the early days, I couldn't dream that I would still be here.  I was hesitant to make plans for the future because I didn't know how far I would make it.  Every slip and mistake could have been my last.  At what point did things change?  I still make mistakes (and plenty of them), but at what point did I become able to weather through them rather than grasp at life with desperation?  I shall have to ponder that more.

Living on Timberwolf is the most comfortable I've felt since I left the Trapper's Cabin 6 months ago.  The weather is fast changing, but I like that.  I've never seen an all day blizzard like in Pleasant Valley.  On the flip side, sunny weather also doesn't stick around all day either.  I am more in harmony with the short and furious bursts rather than the long and steady howls, though.

A few days ago I took a short climb up one of the ledges on the mountain.  I had to sneak past a bear to reach the rope.  Once I got to the top, I retrieved the rope and reattached it at a safer location with less wildlife.  I found a couple of cargo containers with more clothes and packaged food along the way.  I'm enjoying eating my saltines with fish - a little bit of variety for a change.  I am also thankful for the canned peaches to give me some vitamin C.

On the way back, the weather was clear and I had the perfect view of the Timberwolf Summit.

I am eager to climb it, but I have more to do first.

One of the things I've been considering is how to manage my pack weight when climbing the ropes.  It's dangerous and foolish to climb with an overstuffed pack.  So I'm thinking about setting up a base camp and start moving supplies.

I found another rifle on poor frozen soul on one of the bends.  I keep my own rifle in good repair, so I have been wondering what to do with all these extras.  Mostly I just lock them away in storage.  They are so rare, it seems a shame.  I don't need them.

Or do I?

It occurred to me that I could place rifles in certain staging depots.  Carrying the bullets is trivial weight.  If I could place rifles in key places, all I would have to do is transport the bullets, load the rifle, and I'm off.  Then when I go back, unload the rifle to retrieve the bullets, then reload them at my next point.

It would work like this for my Timberwolf Summit climb, for example.  I would carry two rifles to my ascent point at Timberwolf mountain, and 10 bullets.  At the rope base, I drop one rifle.  I climb the rope and place the second rifle at the top.  Now when I climb between areas, all I need to do is carry the bullets, then lock 'n load.  That saves me 4 kilos of pack space!

I could do the same for when I travel from Timberwolf to Pleasant Valley.

I will need to make a trip to Pleasant Valley soon in order to retrieve 2 more spare rifles in order for this to work.  I am also going to move all my items from the Farmhouse to the bunker I found as it's a more convenient storage locker.  I estimate this will take me about a week to complete, depending on the weather.  I don't imagine that I will ever live in the Farmhouse again.

I'm not a Farm Girl; I'm a Mountain Girl.

[Drifter Man]

Congratulations to 200! And thanks for the pictures, I see the legendary Timberwolf Mountain for the first time. Perhaps I'll get there one day myself.

Rifles, flares, hatchets, water... there are many items that you can store in key places forever and pick them up when needed!

[Vhalkyrie]

3 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

Congratulations to 200! And thanks for the pictures, I see the legendary Timberwolf Mountain for the first time. Perhaps I'll get there one day myself.

Rifles, flares, hatchets, water... there are many items that you can store in key places forever and pick them up when needed!

Great point about the flare and hatchets!  Pack weight is soooo important when climbing those ropes.  I need to get these things in place before I push for the peak!

And thank you! =D 

[hauteecolerider]

Yup, staging places are important for the summit run here. I thought about how I wanted to do this, and found two caves that worked well for this. Actually, I used four caves, but rotated between them - the first cave for all the supplies I would need for the next week or so, then moved those supplies up to the second cave. Once I had them all moved, then I moved them from 2 to 3. Three was just below the last rope to the summit. Then when I cleared the wreck, I used the cave on the summit to stage all the stuff I wanted to take back down, moved them to 3 in stages. Once I had all of them down to 3, I started moving them from 3 to 2, and so on. 

It was a system that worked very well for me, and I didn't have to worry about overloading.

In fact, I didn't have to worry about moving food and wood from cave to cave, as I had food to eat from the summit. My loads got lighter and lighter with each stage down . . . 

[TheRealNFK]

I just want to say I'm really enjoying this thread and appreciate all the effort you've made to document your adventures. This is good stuff!