Food durability and duration?

[Striker]

Hoping someone could answer two questions I have about food in this game since I am new.

• I notice each food has a percentage level, what does this percentage pertain to?
• Does food go bad? I panic when I have lots of food and I start to eat when I don't need to eat because I think it might spoil. Can we stock pile food, animal protein or do we need to be to keep eating so it doesn't go to waste?

Thanks

[SEAplane]

Yes and yes.

Food will decay at different rates based on what it is, if it needs to be cooked, and how it's stored. (Water being the exception)

Suggest you experiment and apply real world approach and you'll find it's close.  Part of the fun is seeing what works for storage.

 

I believe the food sickness/poisoning code 'could' apply in direct relation to the percent, however this has been tweeted and I assume it will until release.  Last I knew below 50% it really becomes a factor.  Keep in mind 20% rated meat has more risk vs say 20% crackers.

[rune]

Yes, food starts decaying from the moment you pick it up. (With the exception of meat on carcasses, that starts decaying when the animal dies.)

The decay rates that I am aware of for meat:

• Cooked, in container: 2% every 24 hours 
• Cooked, in inventory: 4% every 24 hours
• Raw, in inventory: 16% every 24 hours
• Raw, in container: 8% every 24 hours

Cooking a piece of meat will give it 50% condition, so a piece at 50%, when cooked, would return to 100%.

The risk of getting sick from eating decayed meat becomes a legitimate concern around 60%, and for packaged food, around 20%.

[SteveP]

Bear meat seems to get iffy around 70-80% but it's generally ok to eat it as long as you have some antibiotics in case of food poisoning. Old meat makes good bait if you can get the bear on it, he'll keep the wolves away. You'll have to keep watch because if you are inside, I don't think the animals move around. I don't know. I've tried leaving cooked meat out and there was a bear around but it didn't seem to go for it. I guess that's one way to keep your camp wolf free. Bait the bear. I think they have smell working now for bears; it certainly works as a distraction bait so I would think it would act as a hunting lure.

Does anyone know if fresh meat is the most attractive or old smelly meat?
http://thelongdark.wikia.com/wiki/Baiting#What_smells.3F

So from this, it seems the range is about 12 meters for meat or fish. I suppose you could leave a trail of tidbits to draw the bear into a killing zone.

[Striker]

Hmm, see I've been stock piling the stuff for when I need it. Wonder if it would be a better approach to grab the food that is furthest away from your location first and leave the stuff that is close by for later because if it starts to go bad the moment you pick it up and you know it's close by it might not be worth picking up.

[SteveP]

5 hours ago, Striker said:

Hmm, see I've been stock piling the stuff for when I need it. Wonder if it would be a better approach to grab the food that is furthest away from your location first and leave the stuff that is close by for later because if it starts to go bad the moment you pick it up and you know it's close by it might not be worth picking up.

On Voyageur level, I don't have excess food to stockpile. Usually the first while is a mad scramble to find a weapon, hatchet and hunting knife and food supplies can be very short. On ML there's not so much food however on CH there are a lot more houses to loot and more cupboards to search. It would be interesting to track the loot and tool spawns to see if they decrease each game as your skill as a doomed survivor gradually increases. Laborious. There's probably an easier way to determine how loot spawns work or change over time.

[Striker]

Speaking of weapons, lets talk about hunting food for a sec without getting to far off topic. I've been able to find the gun and ammo but I can't for the life of me figure out where to get arrow heads, caves maybe?

[Vhalkyrie]

2 hours ago, Striker said:

Speaking of weapons, lets talk about hunting food for a sec without getting to far off topic. I've been able to find the gun and ammo but I can't for the life of me figure out where to get arrow heads, caves maybe?

You can make arrowheads eventually, but it's a very long journey.  I currently have 11 arrows just through the Mystery Lake and Pleasant Valley maps.  I generally found most of mine at hunting blinds and the Hydro Dam.  If you're in Mystery Lake, I almost always find my first one at the hunting blind at the Unnamed Pond.  Either inside the blind, on a deer nearby, or if I'm very lucky - both!

[elloco999]

You can get arrowheads from broken arrows (a few spawn on each map) and sometimes as loot (pretty rare). You can reuse the arrowhead once your arrow breaks, so you only need a few arrowheads if you're careful with your arrows.

You can also go to Desolation Point, where there is a forge you can use to make new arrowheads. But if you're in Mystery Lake and a beginning player, trekking to DP is probably not the best idea.