Snowballs: Hushed River Valley


Drifter Man

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Snowball 56 / Day 40

I didn't want to dance with the bear at night, so we danced in the day.

As I was nearing the road towards Spruce Falls, I felt I heard wolfsteps, and preemptively started a fire. There was no wolf but the bear could be seen in the distance, back to me, walking towards the bridge. I searched a car parked on the roadside while following the bear, then took the detour around the bridge.

As soon as I emerged on the other side, I ended up almost nose to nose with the bear. I turned around and fortunately, the confusing terrain worked in my favor at that moment - the bear lost me, or so it seemed. I waited for a while and decided to use my burning torch to start a fire, warm up and wait for the bear to leave. So I crouched down and started building the fire. Then I heard the bear approaching. As you know, there is no way to interrupt the firestarting process, so I had to listen to the bear coming nearer and nearer, still unaware of my presence. When the fire came to life and finally broke its spell, I calmly turned around - by the loudness of the sounds I knew at that moment what would follow, and accepted my fate. The mauling started about a second later.

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Toque, combat pants gone. Bandage and OMB to stop bleeding and infection. Revive the fire and roar it up to stop further condition loss from freezing. Eat salty crackers to stop condition loss from starvation. Pick up lost items (storm lantern and an OMB bandage). Rosehip tea for warmth.

Wit only 11% condition left, I applied an emergency stim before leaving - I didn't want to end up with blurred vision in a wolf situation. It wasn't the best idea possibly, as I was neither freezing nor starving, and the stim soon made me exhausted. On approach to the cave, I had to deal with the wolf in a narrow passage and could not run due to exhaustion. In the end I reached shelter in 17% condition, along with my new permanent companion: frostbite risk.

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1 hour ago, Drifter Man said:

I waited for a while and decided to use my burning torch to start a fire, warm up and wait for the bear to leave. So I crouched down and started building the fire. Then I heard the bear approaching. As you know, there is no way to interrupt the firestarting process, so I had to listen to the bear coming nearer and nearer, still unaware of my presence. When the fire came to life and finally broke its spell, I calmly turned around - by the loudness of the sounds I knew at that moment what would follow, and accepted my fate. The mauling started about a second later.

There should be an option to stop the fire starting by pressing/holding esc. That bear attack would have been easy to avoid with the fire cancelling.

 

Well good luck recovering it won't be fun. And hopefully you can find another hat.

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7 minutes ago, Mixxut said:

There should be an option to stop the fire starting by pressing/holding esc. That bear attack would have been easy to avoid with the fire cancelling.

 

Well good luck recovering it won't be fun. And hopefully you can find another hat.

But, also.. that bear attack ma also have been easy to avoid if a different decision had been made, besides crouching near a bear and starting a fire. I often wonder if bears are not attracted to fires and firestarting, where wolves are deterred or driven away. A "Smokey The Bear" effect, perhaps? Bear smells smoke in its area, AI is tuned to have the bear investigate? Could also just be coincidence. 

Best luck to Snowball 56. Hoping you can help them pull through this.

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56 minutes ago, Mixxut said:

There should be an option to stop the fire starting by pressing/holding esc. That bear attack would have been easy to avoid with the fire cancelling.

Well good luck recovering it won't be fun. And hopefully you can find another hat.

I agree, but things are the way they are... I'll recover all right, but the hat cannot be replaced. It's the only piece of headgear I found in all of HRV and Forlorn Muskeg.

43 minutes ago, ThePancakeLady said:

But, also.. that bear attack ma also have been easy to avoid if a different decision had been made, besides crouching near a bear and starting a fire. I often wonder if bears are not attracted to fires and firestarting, where wolves are deterred or driven away. A "Smokey The Bear" effect, perhaps? Bear smells smoke in its area, AI is tuned to have the bear investigate? Could also just be coincidence. 

Best luck to Snowball 56. Hoping you can help them pull through this.

Perhaps... I needed the fire to warm up while waiting for the bear to go. When I initiated the sequence, I didn't hear the bear. It may have been attracted to the fire but later I stayed at it for about 1-2 hours and the bear did not come back. So I tend to think it was a coincidence.

I just failed to realize I can't escape from the fire until it's finished... I've never been in a situation before when I would need to do that.

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Snowball 56 / Day 41

I made it back to Marsh Ridge. One rabbit and one deer paid with their lives for my breakout - I didn't have time to spare with my condition dropping rapidly, so I drove them in front of me as I ran, and fed them to wolves. I'm alive but still in a sorry state, with no chance of this substantially improving, ever. At Marsh Ridge I'm in 17% condition, frostbite risk now constantly with me, 26 matches left, temperature bonus from clothes almost non-existent. My only pants are my thermal underwear at 9%, so I'll be dealing with assbite soon as well. Rabbitskin mitts are at 34% after the interference from the bear. I try to fix them but two repairs fail, leaving me with no cured rabbit skins left. I can't afford to repair my deerskin boots as I only have three deer hides - just enough to make pants.

On the bright side, my place is safe, I have enough cattails and quite a bit of cloth as well. Also a ton of coal, which I'm going to need at the crafting table.

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Snowball 56 / Day 42

I may be in bad shape but I need to get things done! Dressed according to the latest Canadian fashion, I jump out of my bedroll and into the world outside of the cave.

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I quickly notice that running around in such clothes on Interloper day 42 is really tough. I have to burn fire in order to do anything because my temperature bar runs out basically the moment I step out of the cave. I start one in the partially sheltered alcove, collect sticks, catch one rabbit and kill the deer on Marsh Ridge. I work long into the night but harvest every single bit - because I'm going to need every single bit.

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Snowball 56 / Day 43

Rest, recovery.

Snowball 56 / Day 44

The plan for today is to drive a deer into a wolf in Milton Basin, to get another wolf pelt and a deer hide curing while I'm off to the Spences. In the basin I spot the carcass of the deer I used as bait three days ago - I left the map while the wolf was festing on it. Strangely, I hear the sounds of a wolf gorging on its prize, very loud, but the wolf is nowhere to be seen. Is there an invisible wolf at the carcass? I carefully come closer and start a fire so that I don't get jumped by this ghost. The sounds grow louder, definitely coming from the carcass. In the end I move the fire really close. The wolf is not here, only the sounds are. All meat is gone from the carcass but the hide and guts are still intact. I get to work.

When I'm done and there is nothing left to harvest, a thick fog has fallen and the wolf sounds are still heard. I take the hide and guts and make a dash to my cave to drop them off. When I return, my fire is still burning and the carcass is gone. So are the sounds.

I bag a rabbit later on and process it completely. Score for day 44: one deer hide, one rabbit pelt, three guts, 1.5 kg rabbit meat.

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Snowball 56 / Day 45

On the way to Spences, with enough material for deerskin pants and a wolf coat, but only 23 coals - not enough for some 52 hours of crafting that will be required, plus sleep. Hypothermia risk appears before I reach the bottom of the rope from Marsh Ridge; frostbite risk shows up before I cross the railroad. The Homestead appears unguarded but I light a torch before approaching it - I'm going to start a fire anyway, so why not. A hateful bark soon vindicates my caution. I calmly walk on until I reach the shelter, the wolf does not pursue.

I revive the fire but I don't have enough fuel to overcome the air temperature! I have to wait, freezing, until I can add a coal. I get to work straight away. When I go to sleep, the deerskin pants are half done.

Snowball 56 / Day 46

My only pants - thermal underwear - wear out while I'm working on the deerskin ones, so my timing couldn't be better. Two of my fishing tackles wear out and the last one is down to 40% when I'm finished. I have a spare line; I should make some fishing hooks so that I don't end up without sewing tools.

I only get the wolfskin coat done by about one third when I have just enough fuel left to sleep and return next afternoon, so I put everything into a locker and rest until the afternoon of the following day.

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On 8/11/2018 at 8:06 AM, Drifter Man said:

My only pants are my thermal underwear at 9%, so I'll be dealing with assbite soon as well.

You (and your underwear) have my sincere condolences. ;) Regarding the lack of hats, I know this is largely due to your challenge's region restriction.  But constant frostbite risk is a really awful, far worse than 20 days of parasites imo.  At least parasites have an end date.

Headbite sucks on Interloper.  I rolled a sandbox with exceptionally bad hat rng, and then managed to lose every one of the hats to predator struggles.  One particularly greedy bear ate my last two hats and then washed 'em down with my bedroll.  Eventually I found a 1% ballcap washed up on the CH shore, hallelujah!  It was a gigantic improvement in my enjoyment of that sandbox.

No idea when beach combing rates changed but -- alas -- almost nothing washes up in Interloper these days.

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7 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

You (and your underwear) have my sincere condolences. ;)

Yes, I remembered you immediately when I realized that I was going to be pantless :D Fortunately, I'm replacing them with deerskin pants right away. The hat sucks though. It's probably the only piece of critical equipment you can conceivably run out of.

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On 10.8.2018 at 11:37 AM, Drifter Man said:

I leave him standing, starving but not passing time, until the afternoon: condition stays at 43%. Technically it's the same thing as passing time but you don't lose condition - it must be an oversight by the devs.

Huh. Interesting find.

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It certainly never gets boring with a Snowball. Well... that bear attack happened almost exactly like the one old Hotzn suffered in one of the last runs that made it into a "survival" story on these forums. I made a mental note at the time never again to make a fire in bear territory without good lines of sight in all directions. And then that almost-pantlessness... brilliant. Stay adamant, Snowball 56!

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9 minutes ago, Hotzn said:

Stay adamant, Snowball 56!

Thanks! The truth is, Snowballs: HRV is kind of exhausted now and I'm getting into a new project, squarely in the field of TLD science, which takes up a great deal of my adamance. Still very much in early stages, but I'll report soon! :) Hence the lack of update today... Snowball 56 is still at Old Spences, about to make a frostbite-or-wolf dash to Marsh Ridge in his shiny new pants.

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Snowball 56 / Day 47

A safe and uneventful trip back to Marsh Ridge. Although it was snowing heavily, there was little to no wind and the visibility was sufficient to see wolves from a distance. I took the shortest path across the marsh and noticed that the Bunkhouses/Homestead pair of wolves patrolled on the Bunkhouses side of things but farther out on the ice - I haven't seem them there before. I should watch out next time I make an approach from that direction.

I returned at 50% condition and 50% frostbite risk, and finally succeeded in repairing the rabbitskin mitts - from 33% to 63%. The second pelt and a deer skin would cure by tomorrow, so I'm going to have more repairs to do. And I find five new coals respawned in the cave.

Snowball 56 / Day 48

The material finishes curing and I attempt the repairs but they both fail, so my mitts and boots remain in poor condition. I should do some more hunting in the Milton Basin to get more food and material, but it's too windy - hypothermia and frostbite would hit hard, and fires might not me sustainable. Instead I just collect some sticks around Marsh Ridge (only get 10) and finish "Stay on Target" to get to archery skill level 2.

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Snowball 56, put to rest.

Snowballs: HRV are coming to an end. Snowball 56 may have some 20 days to live, locked into the Marsh Ridge area, any more travelling or exploration are now very difficult because of poor clothing and frostbite risk. Not much fun. I'd like to thank all my readers for their unrelenting support. I'd also like to than to the Interloper Monthly Magazine (a.k.a. InterMoose Magazine) for their coverage of my project. The final thanks go to All Pants of Canada Co. Ltd. for several pairs of combat pants they provided free of charge for field testing purposes. I regret that I cannot return the last sample. If needed, it can be recovered at the following address:

Mr. Bear

1 Spruce Falls Road

Milton BC V5H 2X0

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3 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

Snowball 56, put to rest.

Snowballs: HRV are coming to an end. Snowball 56 may have some 20 days to live, locked into the Marsh Ridge area, any more travelling or exploration are now very difficult because of poor clothing and frostbite risk. Not much fun. I'd like to thank all my readers for their unrelenting support. I'd also like to than to the Interloper Monthly Magazine (a.k.a. InterMoose Magazine) for their coverage of my project. The final thanks go to All Pants of Canada Co. Ltd. for several pairs of combat pants they provided free of charge for field testing purposes. I regret that I cannot return the last sample. If needed, it can be recovered at the following address:

Mr. Bear

1 Spruce Falls Road

Milton BC V5H 2X0

Damn, so the end of the snowballs? Now what? NOW WHAT? WHAT WILL I HAVE TO READ? OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!! But in all seriousness thats to bad, snowballs were a fun read, I suppose its on to your next wild experiments eh?

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7 hours ago, Mixxut said:

This was an amazing adventure! I'm sad that it's over:/

Towards new adventures we shall go! Or you shall. I wouldn't even survive a week in these kinda challenges;)

 

7 hours ago, FunkyFuggerson said:

Damn, so the end of the snowballs? Now what? NOW WHAT? WHAT WILL I HAVE TO READ? OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!! But in all seriousness thats to bad, snowballs were a fun read, I suppose its on to your next wild experiments eh?

Thanks again - unfortunately HRV and FM, even when combined, don't offer the kind of balance that I hoped for - in particular firemaking - so the Snowball concept is harder to apply than in TWM. But I had fun exploring both regions and I'm especially happy about having found Marsh Ridge. It's a really good spot on Interloper.

My next experiment is no so wild. I'm looking into ways to survive in normal Interloper in the long run even though I'm not quick and precise enough to shoot a charging wolf in the face. I'm building a method around wolf patrol zones, migration patterns and route planning :)

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