Tips for new survivors

[UpUpAway95]

7 hours ago, UTC-10 said:

I get apprehensive about boiling a pot dry. Normally it takes me 84 minutes to make two liters of water. I have tried making pots of water in succession while sleeping one hour at a time, but I could see the benefit from that short sleeps was rather limited. I have also been surprised (I don't know why) when a blizzard rolls in and the rate of cooking food/making water can increase up to double normal (42 minutes to make two liters of water).  I have left a pot on a stove with enough burn time to make boiled water and, since it was inside, not worried about it boiling away. 

 

As your cooking level increases, cooking times decrease.  At Level 1, it takes very close to 2 hours to boil water and then it takes, I think, another 15  (correction 40) minutes or so to boil it dry.  In the back end of most caves, which is where I build my main fire, it would be considered indoors as well.  If I have a magnifying lens, I'll also usually have a fire just inside the mouth of the cave that I use the mag lens to start and then take a torch to start my main fire that's near the back.  Boiling pots dry hasn't been a problem for me by just waking up at two-hour intervals.  It also allows me to check how the weather is doing.  I can always cook smaller amounts of water in the larger pot (and it boils faster than in a tin), but if I'm only carrying tins, I don't have the option of boiling the larger amount of water if there's a time when I want a fire burning for 2 hours while I do something else - not just sleeping, reading, mending, chopping wood...  I don't like that the cooking pots are heavy... if they weren't, I'd definitely always carry 2 of them.  However, since they are heavy, I split the difference and carry 1cooking pot and 1 tin.

Edited June 28, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[Crakkerjakked]

Jumping back in to offer up another tip I left off absent mindedly...crafting arrows is a huge deal, in my opinion. It's one of my constants, as I described before. Using arrows, however, is not without its consequences. Each time you fire an arrow, the condition of the arrow will drop. Eventually, the arrow breaks. Fantastically logical outcome. When you harvest that broken arrow, you do get back the arrow head, but only 2 of the 3 feathers used to craft it. One can assume that collecting feathers is something that is pretty necessary to save on gun ammo.

Now, feathers are really common throughout the game, so my trick isn't at all a necessity. Every corpse, be it animal or dead human, will have feathers near by. From my observations, it will be anywhere between 2-4 of them within 2 yards of the corpse. My trick, that I wish to share with newbies, is to collect the feathers BEFORE you skin that dead deer or wolf. Once you're done harvesting, a new set of feathers will lie on the ground, effectively doubling your collection of them. To maximize potential...approach the dead animal, collect the feathers. Then harvest ONLY the hide, and collect the feathers when it's finished, then go back for 1 of the 2 guts, collect the feathers, then the final gut, and then collect the feathers again. This gives you 4 total collection sets of feathers from the same animal. Instead of 2-4, you get 8-16 feathers.

With this method (or madness. Whatever), you can amass a large quantity of feathers incredibly early in your adventure. Because they don't weigh much, and they don't lose condition, you can store hundreds of them right off the bat. Even if you can't quite use them yet, they're still ready when you can.

[CathyElksun]

Sometimes I find loose rope. What is the use of this? Is it like the car bonnets opening and things that they thought they might use in future but never did?

[JujuBear]

Never underestimate the use of Snow Shelters!

It takes only x5 cloth,  x15 sticks (which you can easily pick up around), little time and a bit of calorie consumption to Build. Snow Shelters have an amount of uses that you can take advantage of. One of the most important uses is taking cover from a snow storm. If you find yourself suddenly stuck in a snow storm and unable to find a place to safely light a campfire, the Snow Shelter is a sure way to keep warm. Even when not caught in a  blizzard, the Snow Shelter can provide temporary cover if you find youself needing to rest but there are no nearby houses or caves.

Overtime, the Snow Shelter's condition deteriorates. But this shouldn't be a problem because you can actually restore its condition by selecting the option to Repair it (this requires a few sticks to repair and the amount depends on the shelter's condition). Once inside, you can still engage in activities like read books, sharpen tools, repair clothes and even shoot wildlife from it! But beware, while it protects you from the cold, you are still vulrenable from wildlife attacks, so avoid building one in bear paths for example. It is suggested to light a campfire (if not in the middle of a blizzard) to at least fend off incoming wolves. but generally you will want to build it in a safe spot so you don't have much to worry. One doesn't need a bedroll when using a shelter but using one gives warmth bonus.

To check how much sticks you have look for the   icon in your inventory and the  icon to check your amount of cloth. The Snow Shelter can be built from the radial menu by selecting  and clicking the shelter. Dismantling it gives you back only x2 cloth and x10 sticks, so use your materials wisely!

[CathyElksun]

On 8/7/2019 at 3:38 PM, rancid0 said:

you mean the climbing ropes?

you tie them off to certain rocks in different regions all around the world to climb up and down to other areas.

unless theres some other ropes I'm blanking on or haven't seen in my years of playing.

There are ropes you can find lying around on the ground attached to nothing. You often find one in the Trapper's Homestead and the base of the fallen tower in Mystery Lake, for example. They weigh 5kg. 

[peteloud]

On 5/3/2019 at 9:56 AM, Doc Feral said:

. . . . , unless you're unlucky enough to get parasites before raising cooking skill to 5.  . . . .

Yesterday I returned to TLD after several weeks of not playing it.  It was a Stalker game at around 450 game days.  I had level 5 cooking skills but still got intestinal parasites when I inadvertently ate some raw meat.

What a hassle it was.  I had hardly any antibiotics or reshi mushrooms. At around 450 games days, I had already picked and used most mushrooms so finding more was big a problem.  This was made worse because I was out at Desolation Point. I was saved by finding a few deep down in the Ravine.

Inadvertently eating raw meat is easily done.  It is too easy to accidentally click on a raw meat icon instead of a cooked meat icon.  I have done it a few times but usually intestinal parasites don't develop after a single treatment antibiotics or reshi soup. It would be better if there was a message saying, "Do you really want to eat this raw meat?", before proceeding.

[ManicManiac]

11 hours ago, peteloud said:

got intestinal parasites when I inadvertently ate some raw meat

Point of interest: The benefit of level 5 cooking applies to foods that game qualifies as cooked (that goes for meats and as far as I've experienced processed/canned foods are also considered "cooked" by the game).  There are plenty who will very likely state that they have been poisoned by this canned food or crackers or candy bars even after they have attained level 5 cooking... but I would wager that they more likely experienced a rare bug (and I'm not talking about bacteria ). 

Edited August 9, 2019 by ManicManiac

[ajb1978]

11 hours ago, peteloud said:

It would be better if there was a message saying, "Do you really want to eat this raw meat?", before proceeding.

??  There is a message. If you try to eat raw meat, it says "Eating this raw item could make you sick.  Continue?"  and then you have two buttons, Confirm, and Back.

[ManicManiac]

12 hours ago, peteloud said:

It would be better if there was a message saying, "Do you really want to eat this raw meat?", before proceeding.

As @ajb1978 mentioned, there already is one... and I for one was more than a little disappointed by the addition of this little bit of hand holding.  The player just needs to pay attention to what they are doing and not require the game to save them from themselves.  Part of what makes this game wonderful is that it will punish us for making bad decisions or not paying attention to what we are doing... however the "are you sure you want to do this?" warning kind of flies in the face of what most of us love about the game.

Edited August 9, 2019 by ManicManiac

[ajb1978]

Just now, ManicManiac said:

and I for one was more than a little disappointed by the addition of this little bit of hand holding. 

I'm 80% in favor of it.  Context is key--the game's interface was getting in the way after the Vigilant Flame update.  When cooking, you open radial, left-click the food, right-click raw meat, left-click to place.  When placing a pot or can, it's left-click to open the menu, left-click to select the item, left-click to place.  The left/right/left vs left/left/left was causing people to accidentally eat raw meat, and that is just absurd.  No one is going to accidentally eat raw meat.  The thought of someone getting ready to cook a steak, then accidentally shoving the whole raw hunk into their mouth, chewing, and swallowing is laughably absurd.  Which why in this specific case, the hand-holding is warranted.

The 20% that's not in favor of it, is that I don't like this specific implementation.  It gets the job done sure, but the dialogue box kind of destroys the immersion.  I personally would have preferred raw meat to not show up in the radial at all.  If you want to eat raw meat, you do it deliberately, from the inventory.  I've never accidentally eaten something out of my inventory.

[ManicManiac]

@ajb1978, I totally understand where it came from... but for me, I've never accidently eaten raw meat (in the game or real life ).  I've always felt this game was all about careful and deliberate action, so I've always tried to be careful when I do things.  The times I do mess up what I'm doing, I don't want the game to rescue me... I want to face the consequences of my actions/inattentiveness, and learn to be better or more careful.

To me, it's like all those folks who want the game to wake them up if they did something that would cause them to die in their sleep.  In my opinion the answer is for the player to pay attention and not for the game to bail us out.

Edited August 10, 2019 by ManicManiac

[ajb1978]

1 hour ago, ManicManiac said:

@ajb1978, I totally understand where it came from... but for me, I've never accidently eaten raw meat.  I've always felt this game was all about careful and deliberate action, so I've always tried to be careful when I do things.  The times I do mess up what I'm doing, I don't want the game to rescue me... I want to face the consequences of my actions/inattentiveness, and learn to be better or more careful.

To me, it's like all those folks who want the game to wake them up if they did something that would cause them to die in their sleep.  In my opinion the answer is for the player to pay attention and not for the game to bail us out.

I hear ya, but raw meat is in a class of its own.  Falling asleep and freezing to death...that happens.  Stumbling into a campfire, that happens too.  Falling, twisting your ankle, yup.  Bumping the trigger and shooting a gun by accident, yeah, that happens.  Same with releasing an arrow by mistake. Eating a candy bar of questionable quality and getting sick, sure.  Even accidentally drinking unboiled water--it's not like it would look any different.  All of these things have an element of "Yeah, I can see how that would happen if you're careless..."  But raw meat vs cooked, there is absolutely no way you can make that mistake, even if you're a total klutz. Maaaaybe you make the mistake of biting raw meat in the dark if you're careless, but you would immediately know from the texture and taste, and wouldn't continue to eat.

[ManicManiac]

27 minutes ago, ajb1978 said:

I hear ya, but raw meat is in a class of its own.

Fair enough.  

I absolutely see what you mean.  While I thoughtfully nod and say, "yeah, that's true..."  I'm still just not a fan of the "bail out" mechanic.

When I was getting used the radial menu, I did once accidently eat an MRE that I had intended to place... but after that I wasn't upset about it, I just realized I needed to be careful when I was trying to do things with the new radial until I got used to it.  I suppose I could have taken to the forums and stated how a person who wanted to put something on a table would not eat it by accident, but I didn't.  I took it as a lesson that I just needed careful about what I was doing.

Since I don't have any issues with accidently eating raw meat, I acknowledge that the mechanic doesn't really apply to me.  I tend not to mention it until I see posts about wanting to have more "safety nets" added to the game to save a player from their mistakes.  This is when I start discussing about how for a game that was fundamentally build on not holding the players hand to start implementing this kind of hand holding; I feel undermines the rest of the experience that the team has built. 

I only talk about it because I know this could easily be a slippery slope.  You start with a safety net about "accidentally" eating raw meat... then if we're are not careful, we end up with confirmation dialogue for more and more things.  I would just hate for that to happen, when the simpler solution (which aligns much better with the spirit of the game) would be for the players to pay more attention.

 

[Addendum]
I realize I've gotten a little off topic, so to dovetail this back to the original theme:

My best tip for new survivors is, this game is all about careful and deliberate action.  Always pay attention to what you are doing and in how you are using the mechanics.  Mistakes in this brutal and unforgiving world can (and should) be deadly.   

Edited August 10, 2019 by ManicManiac

[ajb1978]

9 minutes ago, ManicManiac said:

I'm still just not a fan of the "bail out" mechanic.

I'm normally not either, but again, raw meat is a unique case!

I'm cooking bacon on the Foreman right now.  I guarantee you the chance of me accidentally eating a piece of raw bacon is 0% lol

[ManicManiac]

12 minutes ago, ajb1978 said:

I'm normally not either, but again, raw meat is a unique case!

I'm cooking bacon on the Foreman right now.  I guarantee you the chance of me accidentally eating a piece of raw bacon is 0% lol

And I 100% agree with you on that.  Just like when I am going to put a bag of beef jerky on the table, there would be a 0% chance of me accidentally putting it my mouth  

My point is not so much about the particulars of that confirmation interrupt, and more so about my dislike for confirmation interrupts in the game at all.  As I mentioned before, my concern is the potential slippery slope that this precedent has opened the way for. 

Edited August 10, 2019 by ManicManiac

[ajb1978]

Just now, ManicManiac said:

and more so about my dislike for confirmation interrupts in the game at all.  As I mentioned before, my concern is the potential slippery slope. 

On that we are in agreement!  My whole thesis on the subject is that because the UI "tricks" users into eating raw meat, it's incumbent on the UI to address the issue.  I don't like the pop up window.  I would have preferred raw meat to simply not populate as an edible choice in the radial UI.  Bam, no interrupt, accidental raw meat gorging: solved.

But I mean whatevs.  It works.  And the EXTREME paranoia around raw meat did serve to enforce extreme vigilance around meat.  So I actually trained myself to stop eating raw meat well before the confirmation screen was added.  But the frustration of going to place raw meat on a campfire, and AH CRAP I'M EATING IT, QUICK ESC CANCEL!  Whew...no food poisoning....well crap I should have just finished the piece then, huh?  Lol I'm glad it was ultimately addressed, even if it wasn't in the fashion I'd have preferred.

[ManicManiac]

@ajb1978 This was a good sidebar.  I do really appreciate your take on it. 

[ajb1978]

1 minute ago, ManicManiac said:

@ajb1978 This was a good sidebar.  I do really appreciate your take on it. 

Likewise.  Proof that it's possible to disagree on the Internet, and have a rational discussion that doesn't devolve into yo momma jokes.

And on that note, yo momma so stupid it takes her 2 hours to watch 60 minutes.

[peteloud]

On 8/9/2019 at 10:43 PM, ajb1978 said:

??  There is a message. If you try to eat raw meat, it says "Eating this raw item could make you sick.  Continue?"  and then you have two buttons, Confirm, and Back.

For a second time in 2-3 days I accidentally ate some raw meat, (with level 5 cooking).  It was ruined rabbit this time.  It all happened so quickly I can't be certain exactly what happened, but I'm fairly sure that I did not get a "Eating this raw item could make you sick.  Continue?".   I shall deliberately do it again to check.

. . . . . Nope!  I did not get that message.  I found a piece of ruined uncooked rabbit and ate it. After clicking on the piece of rabbit I got this 

but automatically clicked on the "EAT" button,  then went into the Food Poisoning state.

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by peteloud

[ManicManiac]

@peteloud
The warning occurs when you "eat" raw meat from the radial menu.

Edited August 11, 2019 by ManicManiac

[past caring]

It may seem obvious but......

If you find yourself stranded somewhere (as I am at present - stranded in Milton basin for 120 hours with broken ribs after getting moose stomped) with reduced condition and find yourself faced with the problem of keeping warm - note the position of fir and cedar limbs on your outward foraging run, but only chop and transport it on your return journey. Saves you lugging a load of wood around unnecessarily - duh!!

[ManicManiac]

@past caring
I also find that most times... if you can gather up 80-96 sticks you can keep a fire burning and keep warm through any cold night (assuming it stays sheltered from the wind - I find shallow caves and hollowed out trees are great for this kind of thing).  Though in the Basin, that run down house is pretty ideal too.  In that spot you can get some good nutrition from rabbits if you have a couple of snares with you.

I only mention picking up sticks because you can gather them relatively quickly and can do it without wearing down your hatchet.  Since you can breakdown branches (not limbs) into sticks by hand and of course you can pick up sticks just laying around on the ground; you can generally gather up enough wood for the night fairly quickly on the spot this way.  Limbs can take a along time to harvest compared to the burn time you get (fir and cedar limbs generally yield 2 or 3 pieces per limb unless you find one of the rare larger ones - but then that harvest takes even longer).  I can gather more than I need in sticks in a single afternoon most days.

Edited October 1, 2019 by ManicManiac

[Lankyone]

Assume nowhere is safe.

[dmp717200]

Brevity is the soul of wit.

[Glflegolas]

Be careful of noclip glitches -- when you're inside a shelter that doesn't have a loading animation, don't stand too close to the walls. I once led a bear onto Crystal Lake, and decided to hunt him by taking a shot from the doorway of the Mountaineer's Hut and quickly closing said door. I did manage to get the door closed, but still got mauled through the closed door.

(the bear did show up, dead, on the ice of Crystal Lake the next morning)