There Is An In-Game Compass.

[Aagje]

One of the most common requests I've seen has been for an in-game compass. Well, there is one... of sorts. I'm not certain the devs meant this to work as it does, so I'm hiding it under some spoiler tags, and for those who prefer to experience the game without, well, maps.

So, when you drop items on the ground, they drop with a distinct orientation. The trick is to figure that orientation out. Here are some of the more common items I often seem to find myself carrying about, and how they look when I drop them on the ground. In each case, the top of the screenshot is North -- both as regards the in-game map, the sun rising/setting, and Whiteberry's maps, if you use those.

Now, there's one glaring exception to this "rule", and that is Pleasant Valley. For whatever reason, Pleasant Valley appears to have been rotated about, so when you drop one of your usual "compass items" (I usually use fresh guts, since I use those for decoys anyway and it's a single keypress, or twigs or arrows if I don't have any left), instead of pointing to the North, they sort of point East by Northeast -- like, pretty much a straight line between Signal Hill and the Barn. Just to make things even more confusing, Whiteberry's maps have that as approximately NNW. So... yeah. There's that.

As usual, I'm sure that many or most of the long-time players have long since figured this out for themselves, but given the recurring popularity of cries for "compass plz!", I figured I'd toss this out there for those who might be interested.

[private duksworth]

o my god I have never realised this thanks so much for the info

[Blinkin]

I've actually never realised this. Amazing!

[Samsonguy920]

There seems to be a lot about Pleasant Valley that makes it more out to be such a misnamed place. It has the highest occurrence of snowfall and blizzards of all the regions, and I've seen reports that it might also have the highest wolf population, as well.

It's like out of all of Great Bear, Pleasant Valley had something really go wrong with it.  That farm might well have been empty a long time before the Geomagnetic Storm.