Not my prouder moment...

[CitrinePeridot]

There are numerous threads wherein people share their prowess at this game. In reading a thread involving "famous last words", I thought it would add some levity to have a thread devoted to sharing our not so proud moments. You know that ones. In looking back it was a "no brainer", but apparently that was not present in your arsenal at the time. LOL Please be willing to not only poke fun at yourself but also to allow others to poke fun with you. Also, please consider that, in responding, some of the more experienced players may be able to add insights/pointers for those who, while they'll share where they died or are stuck, they might be reluctant to concede they still haven't figured out a way past it. Experienced forum members/players, please (if you will be so kind) include how you did or would manage the situation. Let's have fun & remember it's intended to be ALL IN FUN.

So, I shall put my pride to the side for a moment and start this off with sharing mine. On my first run through of Story mode, I did not make it one day. In fact, I wouldn't have made it to sleep even. Here I was with what I thought was a piece of wood in my hand, and I tried everything to no avail except one thing: It did not occur to me that, if I'm staring at something sticking out of my hand, I might wish to begin there first. ROFL Not my proudest moment. If the game had allowed me to scream my agony and defeat to the Aurora, I would have. LOL So, there is my, "Not my proudest moment..." I am available now for my thrashing. *grin*

[omoon66]

Well, I do have a not so proud mixed with proud moment. I'm playing on Stalker, going up a hill in coastal highway, and I hear a bark. I think, "ok, I'll bait and then kill him, no biggie". Then I realize  the PACK of wolves. No bait. So now, it's "bring it on wolves!" I shoot one (with a bow), he runs off. Next one, struggle, I win (not having time for bandage). Next on, he charges and I hit him square in the nose, instant kill (my first instant kill, my proud moment). Next one, charges, struggle, I barely win with 25%. "Dang, they did more than I thought". So I start bandaging, antiseptic-ing, then I'm out of bandages. Crap. "Luckily, there's so old man lichen over there", why did I think that stopped bleeding? By now, I'm at 10%, so I run back to my base (now at 3%), scampering for bandages, I have none. And then I bleed out before I could craft some. 

 

The lesson y'all can learn from this, bring extra bandages, especially on Stalker. Or just run from a pack instead of fighting them. Either way, it's lessons I won't forget!  

[CitrinePeridot]

Thank you for sharing! Wow! You gave them a good run, though. A pack? LOL I'd be pleased just to deal with one. Wonder how many bandages are a good amount to carry. Four?

[omoon66]

1 minute ago, CitrinePeridot said:

Thank you for sharing! Wow! You gave them a good run, though. A pack? LOL I'd be pleased just to deal with one. Wonder how many bandages are a good amount to carry. Four?

Something like that 

[TROY]

I never carry less than 5 on Voyageur and Stalker. Pilgim, you won't need more than 1 or 2 ever, and Interloper, if you need more than 2, you aren't gonna get to use 'em.  I to sat and stared at that metal shard for well over 15 minutes before I angled the camera just right and the icon appeared on it, and I figured out what to do. 

My biggest derp moment?  It was when PV was added to the sandbox.  I was getting quite close to 200 days survived in that run, my best ever.  I gleefully strode off in all my well equipped glory to explore the new region. Lots of bullets!!  After exploring most of it, I decided it was time to mess with a bear.  I found one near the abandoned homestead in the stand of birch trees.  Being a real hunter, I waited for a good broadside view, for a shot at his lungs/heart. I even waited til it seemed like his front leg was forward, so it wouldnt protect his heart. I fired. He charged. I worked the bolt, aimed again and he was on me. I frantically pressed every button I could think of trying to struggle. No struggle allowed. I listened in terror as my clothing shredded, my flesh was rent, helplessing wincing at the roaring in my face and waited to die. But LO! I lived! He let me go short of death! MIRACLES NEVER CEASE!!  I bandaged, disinfected and picked my rifle up off the ground.  He was about 40 meters away and dripping blood with his every step. I started backing away, trying to gauge the distance to make sure i had time to chamber a second round this time, although I was SURE I wouldnt need it. 

I worked my way around to an angle, my hunter instinct still telling me I needed to hit him behind his front leg. I stayed at an angle, so he couldnt see me and when I had a good shot, I squeezed off another.  This time the brute opted to flee and I gallantly gave chase! In one of those weird double back moves they do when fleeing he presented me with another good shot, but as I fired the rifle he turned a bit and the bullet smacked him in the arse, giving his retreat new strength and off he went over a snowdrift.

By this time, the falling snow was coming sideways, and I figured the blood trail would vanish quickly so I followed at as fast a pace as I could, trying to keep him in sight. No dice. Night was falling, a blizzard was winding up, and he was moving fast!  By now, we were out in the open fields somewhere between the barn and farmhouse. My brain attempted to alert me that I was only vaguely aware of my location in a new region where I didnt know my way home from any given spot,  and couldnt see more than a few feet in any direction.  What my brain didn't alert me of was that this was no Mystery Lake Blizzard. This friends, was a full blown, big daddy Pleasant Valley Blizzard. It also failed to remind me that I had heard A LOT of ripping and tearing noises during my little romantic encounter earlier, and I hadnt checked my clothing.  

WELL!!!!  No need to worry about THAT! There he was!  Dead in the snow! My FIRST BEAR KILL!!! WOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!  I whipped out my knife clicked those arrows until every last gram of his flesh and hide and guts would be mine, and hit the button to harvest.  

Well, let me tell me you a little something about bears. Even in the old days, they had ALOT more meat than a deer. Not near what they have now, but a bunch. I hadnt even thought to look at how long the harvest would take.  I wasnt paying attention to the screen at all, I was giddily imagining that bear hide handsomely adorning the floor of the camp office....I dont honestly know how long it did take. But I know I was pretty darn low on health when it was done.  Its shocking how fast it drops when an hour is passing every second.

Now the reality of my situation sunk in. I have no idea where shelter is. Its pitch black. Snowing hard, blowing harder. I struck off in the direction I thought the barn to be, believing I was closer to it than anything else.  My health was dropping quickly and my vision was fading as I stumbled down the bank and onto the frozen river.  I found a spot sheltered from the wind and lit a fire between two big rocks. I had enough wood for 5 hours of fire. My only hope was that the blizzard would pass in less than that. It didnt pass. It doubled back. Within minutes of lighting the fire, the wind changed direction and my fire, my hopes, my life, sizzled to a quiet conclusion huddled beside a small pile of cold ashes on a frozen river with a pack full of bear meat. 

[CitrinePeridot]

Oh wow! What a triumph & defeat all rolled into one. I know you must have been steaming over that one. Gosh. I think I would be guilty of the same when it comes to imagining getting to strut around proudly adorned in bear flesh, especially since I also have not killed one. I believe it's fair to say I can relate even if I haven't had that experience yet. Thank you for sharing that. Those darn blizzards. It's like they've got it in for us, ya know? LOL

[TROY]

1 minute ago, CitrinePeridot said:

Oh wow! What a triumph & defeat all rolled into one. I know you must have been steaming over that one. Gosh. I think I would be guilty of the same when it comes to imagining getting to strut around proudly adorned in bear flesh, especially since I also have not killed one. I believe it's fair to say I can relate even if I haven't had that experience yet. Thank you for sharing that. Those darn blizzards. It's like they've got it in for us, ya know? LOL

Yes. Yes they do. One thing to keep in mind: this game has a very steep learning curve, and it makes you pay dearly for every lesson.  While what happened to me may not seem like blatent dumb-assery, it was, because I should have known better than to do at least 3 dumb things that I did.  I've died countless times in what may seem like much dumber ways, like not drinking or eating before bed, not checking a fire to make sure it would last longer than I planned to sleep.  But those; those are part of the learning curve. Those kinds of deaths make you feel dumb, but it's how you learn all the intricate nuances of punishment that the game is capable of. There's no shame in learning, even if it's the hard way.  Those lessons sting because they don't make good stories, they seem like such a harsh judgement for such a small crime, but they must be learned.  My death to bear kill excitement... thats a good story, but it's SO dumb, because I knew better than to not keep track of where i was exactly. I knew blizzards kill. I knew harvesting accelerates time and any ill effects of its passage. I should have known my clothing wasnt protecting me from the weather. I was President of the Supreme Dumbies club that day.  And I was judged for it. And found wanting. 

[JAFO]

7 hours ago, omoon66 said:

Next on, he charges and I hit him square in the nose, instant kill (my first instant kill, my proud moment).

Well done! Those are rare events indeed. Was this pre or post Wintermute?

 

7 hours ago, omoon66 said:

Or just run from a pack instead of fighting them.

NOT a move I'd recommend, even with a pack.. running triggers their chase "instinct".. and if they get close enough when chasing, they'll attack. WALKING away, they'll follow you, but generally not attack. It's possible to safely walk with a wolf on your tail for hundreds of metres, so long as you don't look back or run. (Yes, doing this is scary as hell!) Along the way, you've a good chance of using the terrain to lose them. If you can walk all the way to a shelter, you've got it made.

[JAFO]

6 hours ago, TROY said:

My biggest derp moment?  It was when PV was added to the sandbox.
<snip>

A well-told tale indeed! I enjoyed that.

[Mroz4k]

11 hours ago, CitrinePeridot said:

I did not make it one day. In fact, I wouldn't have made it to sleep even. Here I was with what I thought was a piece of wood in my hand, and I tried everything to no avail except one thing: It did not occur to me that, if I'm staring at something sticking out of my hand, I might wish to begin there first. ROFL Not my proudest moment.

Like I already said, you are definitedly not the first one, and even I did have a huge problem figuring that out. This was hardly your fault, this was a very poor game mechanic on the Hinterland part. There was a "HUD mention" on almost anything as a part of the "learning curve" - but not on this particular thing - there might have been a mention like "in TLD, during some encounters, you need to fill up a bar by clicking fast - and the sooner you fill that bar, the better condition you will be left in". I personally figured it out around the time I started freezing, but it did take me some solid minutes of frustration to figure it out, I couldnt move, couldnt go to inventory, I thought my game was stuck. This is hardly a moment to feel ashamed for.

 

6 hours ago, TROY said:

I never carry less than 5 on Voyageur and Stalker.

For Voyageur, that is rather excessive. Three is the best amount, if you are careful enough to replenish them each time you are in a base or a location that has them. Unless you are playing macho all the time and fight every wolf you see, of course. RIP your clothes that way, though. For Stalker, I would say thats alright amount.
But really, this is a personal preference for everyone.

6 hours ago, TROY said:

One thing to keep in mind: this game has a very steep learning curve, and it makes you pay dearly for every lesson.

Very true. I am generally very careful person, always checking my surroundings, always being careful how long harvesting takes, always first clearing the area of all the possible hostiles... but all those routines were learned through lessons such as your bear tale.
I think my closest similar case I can think of at the moment is my first few Interloper runs. I knew the weather there keeps getting worse gradually, so I opted to make fire by every deer carcass I could find and harvest it fully (by hands, no less, because no tools, only through fire) - in order to get it curing as soon as possible so I could craft that better clothing before the day 20 marker comes in. 
Little did I know of how brutal the weather in Interloper can be sometimes - I did once get so careless i was left with 12% condition and freezing, just because I was greedy. 
I still play Interloper that way, but I have learned that guts are relatively easier to get, especially from rabbits, so nowadays I will simply take a kilo of meat and a hide per carcass.

Through these painful moments, TLD is bit by bit teaching us to be better people, because especially greediness is always punished very hard. At least that is how I see it.

[Mroz4k]

I suppose I have plenty of stories like that.
But here comes one which started of as shameful story of overconfidence, but I take pride in how I handled it in the end.
Back when bow hunting was still very difficult, I took my Voyageur run and dedicated it solely to practising. Went against wolves, and I always challenged them head-on. Took down first without getting scratched. Got my second one but this one struggled with me for a while, so I bandaged. Got against third one, same like the second one - also bandaged, condition at 60 percent, no biggie. This was at derailment. 

I was not a complete dumbass - I took a peak at Derailment from one of the cliffs and I first counted to wolves in that area, wasnt going to be careless, right? 
Well, not sure where from, but a fourth one showed up. I shot at him, missed, and then we struggled. Now I was left at like 25% condition, bleeding, and very close to exhaustion, three fights with wolves were enough. 
Fearful realization - no bandage. What do I do? I already panicked once today, wasnt going to do it again. So I took a deep breath, both in game and in real life, and immidiatedly climbed the tree next to the train. Okay, now I have a little bit of time to think.

So, what do I do... Dam is rather close, but I havent looted it (my starting location was TWM, I arrived from Coastal and I decided to loot the dam later), so no bandage quarantee, and a Day 180, so probably a Fluffy to deal with as well. Okay, trailer park then... again, unlooted, no quarantee there will be bandage there, and on top of that, probably more wolves in the way. Camp Office then, that was my regional headquarters and I knew there was a bandage in there, but that is rather far from derailment... okay, what else can I do? Condition at 22%, crafting maybe. Check inventory. No cloth, a shame.

Fine. Camp Office it is, then. Check inventory again. Overcumbered, 40 kilos. No coffee. Exhaustion level just passed into red, could still sprint but not for long. Fine, what now? I can never hope to wobble my way all the way to Camp Office in this state. Okay, dropping everything, keeping only a small layer of clothes. Condition at 20%, kept a small amount of food and water and some basic clothes, and a loaded flare gun plus one flare. Took the flare in my hand and started sprinting towards Camp Office. Condition at 18%. 
Took short breaks to check my condition level and the weather effect, was cold but I was going to make it inside before freezing. But condition drops fast when you are bleeding... faster then I thought. Some way mid-way I ran out of energy, after sprinting for most of it. Condition at 15% instantly reduced to 14% because of exhaustion on top of it. Finally got to a rock behind which I knew was the camp office, when I hit the 10% marker, and my screen started to get eerie. I see that house... must... go... on... Finally reached the house at 5%. 

Here is where I saved myself by planning ahead - I had left a bottle of antiseptic and a bandage lying by a door inside, like I always do. Now, trying to pick up a bandage from the ground when your character is in a state of total drunkness from blood loss is a feat in itself... but I did it. condition at 4%. Commence bandaging! Condition loss stopped at 3%. I quickly ate, treated infection and drank to full, and went to sleep, again going up the stairs in that state was an achievement. But this is one of the few stories where I just barely escaped the death.

What started of as a horrible scenario of finding oneself after 3 wolf bites without a single bandage, ended off with a happy ending when I kept my cool and decided to sacrifice a few percents of condition to make a reasonable, level-headed plan how to deal with it.

Maybe I would have made it if I didnt stop and just started wobbling towards the Camp Office from the start, but I cant know. It was pretty close call and I sprinted for a long time, I dont think I would have made it to the Dam overcumbered, blood loss is pretty damn fast in condition dropping. I think I said this story before on Forums, and maybe I changed it a bit from there, honestly dont remember much of what happened before I realized I was without bandage, only that there were 3 wolf struggles and I was learning how to bow hunt wolves (not knowing to use baits first which makes it super easy) until I found myself bleeding with around 20% condition and almost entirely tired.

 

[JAFO]

1 hour ago, Mroz4k said:

But here comes one which started of as shameful story of overconfidence, but I take pride in how I handled it in the end.
<snip>

Excellent story, and I like the bandage/antiseptic by the door precaution..

But why not just sacrifice an item of clothing (socks, for instance) to turn into a bandage? The time involved would surely have resulted in less condition loss than the trip to the Camp Office did.

[Mroz4k]

29 minutes ago, JAFO said:

Excellent story, and I like the bandage/antiseptic by the door precaution..

But why not just sacrifice an item of clothing (socks, for instance) to turn into a bandage? The time involved would surely have resulted in less condition loss than the trip to the Camp Office did.

I did not even think about that one, that is a great point. Could have easily harvested an extra cap or socks, those take like 10 minutes to harvest, and another 10 minutes to craft a bandage. Could have most definitedly did that, but that didnt even struck my mind. 
I bet I had a toque on which was ruined from all the wolf bites anyways. In that version, the toques in my experience got ruined by wolves very easily.

I will keep that in mind next time. In real life i would probably immidiatedly shredded a T-shirt to bandage it, but for some reason in TLD it has never struck my mind to do that.

[JAFO]

11 minutes ago, Mroz4k said:

I bet I had a toque on which was ruined from all the wolf bites anyways. In that version, the toques in my experience got ruined by wolves very easily.

Regardless of difficulty level, the wolves seem to have a real liking for toques.. makes me wonder sometimes why we never seem to need to bandage our heads! 

[Mroz4k]

3 minutes ago, JAFO said:

Regardless of difficulty level, the wolves seem to have a real liking for toques.. makes me wonder sometimes why we never seem to need to bandage our heads! 

Dont know about you, but in my case its probably because there is not much to be found in my head, blood included

Or maybe its cause if we did that, the bandage would turn red, and the animals would mistake it for a red bandana of Rambo. I wouldnt blame them for running away afterwards. The best animal repellent in the game!

[Stormwolf1O1]

14 hours ago, omoon66 said:

Well, I do have a not so proud mixed with proud moment. I'm playing on Stalker, going up a hill in coastal highway, and I hear a bark. I think, "ok, I'll bait and then kill him, no biggie". Then I realize  the PACK of wolves. No bait. So now, it's "bring it on wolves!" I shoot one (with a bow), he runs off. Next one, struggle, I win (not having time for bandage). Next on, he charges and I hit him square in the nose, instant kill (my first instant kill, my proud moment). Next one, charges, struggle, I barely win with 25%. "Dang, they did more than I thought". So I start bandaging, antiseptic-ing, then I'm out of bandages. Crap. "Luckily, there's so old man lichen over there", why did I think that stopped bleeding? By now, I'm at 10%, so I run back to my base (now at 3%), scampering for bandages, I have none. And then I bleed out before I could craft some. 

 

The lesson y'all can learn from this, bring extra bandages, especially on Stalker. Or just run from a pack instead of fighting them. Either way, it's lessons I won't forget!  

OMB wound dressings used to stop bleeding, as in the older versions they were crafted using 3 OMB and a bandage. But not any more!  

If I were stuck in that situation with the wolf pack, I would have shot the bow at the ground near the wolves to scare them all off at once.

[CitrinePeridot]

Wow! That's crazy, and I also like that you keep the necessary supplies by the door. That is good, plan ahead thinking. I have everything so organized thinking that will save me time, but what could be quicker than just having something that crucial by the door? Thank you for sharing that.  :-)

[MrWolf]

My deaths usually (meaning pretty much always) result from a lack of thinking.  The most recent was this morning's end of a 32 day Interloper life.  Nestled in the farmstead house in PV, I was close to cabin fever.  I built a fire inside the adjacent barn, near the doorway to the shielded back room of the barn.  It was already late at night and I had just harvested a deer after taking it down with my newly crafted bow and arrow.  I decided to spend the rest of the night in that barn to lessen the cabin fever risk.  I should have known the fire wouldn't be safe (it was a mistake to make it right by the entrance to that little back room), but I was a bit cocky and thought it would be fine.  I plopped down on the bedroll for five hours.  After pressing the button to sleep, I heard the wind pick up (surely blowing the fire out), notifications of hypothermia and frostbite afflictions flew up the screen (frostbite because I had taken off my toque and mittens - of course the fire would be warm enough (rolling my eyes)), then the dreaded "You faded into the Long Dark" text.  All within a few seconds.  I was dumb.  Again.

My longest Interloper run so far ended on the 96th day when I boldly decided to explore the Broken Railroad region, having never been there before (hadn't played story mode yet).  My biggest of many mistakes was having my condition too low... I think around 50%, maybe less.  A wolf attack might be survivable, but not two in a row.  I encountered a wolf not long after entering Broken Railroad (close to the landslide area, I think).  I managed to survive that by a thin margin then stumbled right into another wolf and that was that.

My favorite dumb death so far was another fairly long run where I eventually made my way to the bottom of the ravine.  I was climbing the rope out of the ravine and stopped on the ledge to rest.  Ready to continue the climb to the top, I moved close and clicked the rope.  Or so I thought.  The mouse must have moved a bit and I didn't actually click the rope.  I pressed the "forward" key, thinking I'd be climbing, and walked right off the ledge. 

 

[godhelpme89]

Mine was my first try at survival after finishing story mode. On my 30th day I finally found a rifle, step outside the farmhouse in PV and there was the bear. I assumed killing a bear would be different then how it was done in episode 2. I figured I just saved the game so let's see how it works in survival. 

Needless to say the bear mauled me to death. That's when I realized there was permadeath. Oh well, serves me right for save scumming.

[Mroz4k]

20 minutes ago, CitrinePeridot said:

Wow! That's crazy, and I also like that you keep the necessary supplies by the door. That is good, plan ahead thinking. I have everything so organized thinking that will save me time, but what could be quicker than just having something that crucial by the door? Thank you for sharing that.  :-)

I found out that preparation is one of the most key elements in TLD if one wants to avoid unfortunate accidents like growing too cocky and venturing out without essentials.
I tend to always leave a set of bandaging materials by the door to be ready for such unfortunate encounter, and I also tend to keep a set of basic supplies one usually carries along. This is because indoors, I often drop all my venturing supplies and keeping a set close to door makes sure I pick up everything I will need. There are things I never throw out entirely - for example matches. But things like Flares can be rather heavy to carry around in a home, so I often throw them out if I am spending more time indoors. 
I usually keep set aside, on the right of the dorr: fully fueled lantern (but this is an item I dont usually go out with, in fact it lies there so I can pick it up when I come home at night and can reach a bed) a flare, a fishing tackle, knife & hatchet (in pristine condition) a bow and three arrows (I always collect all bullets, but I havent fired a single bullet out of a rifle in a year of playing TLD), extra set of socks & gloves (I only take those if I know I will be spending a lot of time outdoors, possibly even sleeping outdoors, to have something to change into if my current ones become frozen) , sometimes a bedroll if I have multiples, lantern fuel or an accelerant (always carry at least one of those, for emergency fires), two or three bandages and infection treating equipment, two cedar logs, several liters of water (I usually take 2l when venturing out) and a loaded flare gun (if I have both of them, but this is something I never end up using, still I always carry the signal pistol with me everywhere)

Until recently, I would also carry baits with me which I store outside, separated from the food - but when venturing out, I would take the cooked meal outside, as well as the baits. Also started to carry around a torch or two, to save up on matches - not that I really need to since its Voyageur, but I am trying to be as conservative on my resources as I can be, even if there is an overabundance of them. 
I bet you know what I am talking about there, @CitrinePeridot - if you played that old version of TLD and ever tried to survive as long as possible, you kind of have to be very conservative of the resources. That particular experience comes from those old versions where suplies were very limited.

[omoon66]

13 hours ago, JAFO said:

Well done! Those are rare events indeed. Was this pre or post Wintermute?

 

NOT a move I'd recommend, even with a pack.. running triggers their chase "instinct".. and if they get close enough when chasing, they'll attack. WALKING away, they'll follow you, but generally not attack. It's possible to safely walk with a wolf on your tail for hundreds of metres, so long as you don't look back or run. (Yes, doing this is scary as hell!) Along the way, you've a good chance of using the terrain to lose them. If you can walk all the way to a shelter, you've got it made.

Well, yeah, just exaggerating. I already knew that too, from another hard lesson (involving near death).

[omoon66]

7 hours ago, Stormwolf1O1 said:

OMB wound dressings used to stop bleeding, as in the older versions they were crafted using 3 OMB and a bandage. But not any more!  

If I were stuck in that situation with the wolf pack, I would have shot the bow at the ground near the wolves to scare them all off at once.

Again, I wasn't really thinking. 99% of TLD deaths are because of not thinking.

[omoon66]

7 hours ago, Stormwolf1O1 said:

OMB wound dressings used to stop bleeding, as in the older versions they were crafted using 3 OMB and a bandage. But not any more!  

If I were stuck in that situation with the wolf pack, I would have shot the bow at the ground near the wolves to scare them all off at once.

That's why I thought that. I forgot they removed that feature. Well, if it was v0.1something, then I would've been fine

[Stormwolf1O1]

15 minutes ago, omoon66 said:

Again, I wasn't really thinking. 99% of TLD deaths are because of not thinking.

I know that fact too well! Lol

[omoon66]

14 hours ago, JAFO said:

Well done! Those are rare events indeed. Was this pre or post Wintermute?

This was post, I think. It was that sandbox I really started with the bow (surviving only 18 measly days). On my current run, (50 days) I'm 1. Carrying bait always, 2. Hitting almost every wolf directly in the face. My archery skill is at 4 now, and I've went through my 2nd bow, and countless arrows. I've basically left my rifle (my former best friend), because it's waaay too heavy, and the bow does just fine (and arrows are pretty renewable).