Snowballs: Hushed River Valley

[Drifter Man]

20 hours ago, FunkyFuggerson said:

Im confused, how does this relate to the only HRV? Or are you going to be doing say a supply run to some regions to get a bunch of essentials, (Cloth, matches, arrowheads) And then hole up in HRV only occasionally heading to FM for arrowheads, tools, and crafting? 

Good point, sorry about the confusion. Snowball 54 veered off the snowball script as is pretty much living a normal interloper life. I want to gear up (wolf coat, bearskin bedroll for sure) and return to HRV to try to live there and really become familiar with the map. But it will take time as I don't tend to rush things.

Unfortunately I don't see a way to update the name of this thread, although changing the name would be appropriate.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 54 / Days 113 - 117

Day 113 - the last nice day in CH. I played with the wolf that patrols near Jackrabbit, trying to get a shot away from a campfire while it is charging, before it turns away. But I can't hit a moving target. This will take a long time to learn.

Day 114 - blizzard. In the evening I went to Rabbit Grove and spent the night in the cabin above Bear Creek Campground

Day 115 - blizzard. Eventually I went through the blizzard back to my temporary base at the Fishing Camp.

Day 116 - blizzard. I ran out of water, so I boiled some in the stove at the fishing hut. Inefficient. Tried fishing for 3 hours in late afternoon, get a tiny one (177 cal) for my trouble.

Day 117 - strong wind but at least sunny. A wolf barks me up at Log Sort. I could have started a fire (mag lens would work) or run the few remaining steps to the trailer. Instead I fumbled, jerked my view around, trying to find the direction the threat is coming from. I lost orientation and when I regained it, it was too late. The wolf caught up with me at the doorstep of the trailer, my first wolf struggle in 117 days. I fought back with the hammer but lost condition from nearly 100% to 42%. Interloper wolves are just murderous.

Fortunately there was a cured deer hide and two guts waiting for me in the trailer from about 50 days ago, so I could repair my damaged deerskin boots straight away. Moose is holding at 92%. I warmed up in the bed and returned to Jackrabbit to heal.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 54 / Days 118-119

Day 118 - blizzard. Cabin fever risk. In the evening the blizzard ends, so I sneak out of my Jackrabbit base and drive a deer into a wolf, then shoot the wolf. Wolf runs away but I can recover the broken arrow on the spot. It's late and the weather is bad, so I return to the island.

Day 119 - fog. Harvesting deer while burning fire on the ice all day. The wolf ended up on the shore of Jackrabbit - I take the pelt but leave everything else.

[Ruruwawa]

On 7/14/2018 at 5:19 AM, Drifter Man said:

Day 114 - blizzard. In the evening I went to Rabbit Grove and spent the night in the cabin above Bear Creek Campground

Day 115 - blizzard. Eventually I went through the blizzard back to my temporary base at the Fishing Camp.

Day 116 - blizzard. I ran out of water, so I boiled some in the stove at the fishing hut. Inefficient. Tried fishing for 3 hours in late afternoon, get a tiny one (177 cal) for my trouble.

I recently made a looting trip of CH and this pretty much sums it up.  Bad weather and poor cooking logistics. 

[Dan_]

CH is looking kinda rough, people swear it has better weather than ML but from my experience that was never the case!

@Drifter Man Could you please elaborate where exactly you placed that rock solid fire by the Old Spence crafting table? I'm doing a muskeg only interloper challenge and I'm at 9 days survived, I'm preparing to leave Marsh Ridge and go back to Spence for crafting and it would be cool to know I have a safe small fire. 

[Drifter Man]

20 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

I recently made a looting trip of CH and this pretty much sums it up.  Bad weather and poor cooking logistics. 

Yes, especially the weather is disappointing... I remember CH as a fairly hospitable place, and you don't get to see those blazing blues in a blizzard.

[Drifter Man]

14 hours ago, Dan_ said:

@Drifter Man Could you please elaborate where exactly you placed that rock solid fire by the Old Spence crafting table? I'm doing a muskeg only interloper challenge and I'm at 9 days survived, I'm preparing to leave Marsh Ridge and go back to Spence for crafting and it would be cool to know I have a safe small fire. 

I made it just to the right of me when facing the workbench. I couldn't fit it under the workbench, so I built it next to the right inner leg of the table.

However, I don't think it matters. I could stand next to one of the big openings in the wall with wind blowing in my face and still get the wind shield icon. So I believe the whole area of the building is declared windproof.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 54 / Day 127

The past days were filled with a constant struggle against the weather in CH. I moved my base to Misanthrope's and tested the bait tactic against the local wolf. I noticed that the wolf can sense my 0.02 kg bait at a distance that far exceeds its normal ability to see me. And although the system worked - the wolf walked away slowly after getting the bait - I wasn't able to hit it with an arrow. One thing of interest: the wolf kind of lost ability to flee after it got the bait. When it approached me and my fire later, it did not flee - it just turned around and walked away. Even more curiously, it started to react in the same way to the bear.

In another experiment, I drove a poor rabbit all the way from the tiny island at Misanthrope's to Waterfront Cottages, to use it as bait to catch the wolf there. It didn't work - the wolf ignored it, I couldn't get it close enough - but one funny thing happened. At one point, the rabbit just decided it had enough and started ignoring me. It turned around, direction Misanthrope's, and hopped at it's usual pace just inches away from me. It just no longer cared and was like, "to hell with it, I'm going home".

Of the Coastal Wolfsite, only the Quonset Station and one building stand, the rest is burnt down (exception: I haven't actually checked on the houses directly at the shore). All of Waterfront Cottages are burnt down. I found a storm lantern, simple tools and painkillers at Quonset. The water was indeed free as advertised: from the toilet. There was a box of matches in the Abandoned Lookout. A bunch of birch saplings. And that's about it.

I did kill a bear, but I take no pride in that kill. I ran into it while leaving the Coastal Wolfsite. It walked at me, I could still back off, but then I would have to return another day or find another route to explore the slopes above. In addition, there could be wolves behind me and getting sandwiched was the last thing I wanted. I shot the bear with the flare pistol in the face. I will return later to the trailer for the hide, and will have to sneak into the Wolfsite again anyway, because I left my ear wrap there by mistake (I dropped in on the floor to dry and failed to pick it up when leaving).

Since there also was a part of PV I hadn't explored, I extended my search through the Cinder Hills Mine. At the Rural Crossroads I finally lucked out with the thin wool sweater, and there were matches in a car glove box. The barn also offered good stuff, including quality tools and a book on archery. Then I visited the Farmstead to pick up a jerry can with over 2 liters of kerosene - I left it there a few months ago, it was too heavy to carry. Got lost on the way back - I always get lost in PV - but made my way to the Cave System in 30% condition.

Now the plan is to go back to the Dam, recover, and then again on to Coastal Highway. There still is the wolfy road from Train Unloading to Log Sort I haven't visited, and I need to pick up my stuff on Jackrabbit and Misanthrope's.

Should I push on to DP? I'll decide later.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 54 / Day 131

I didn't waste much time on return. On the same afternoon I killed a deer in the Ravine (one had respawned since I left for CH) and after two nights of safe sleep in my favorite cave in the Ravine I was back to full condition. I got another wolf pelt from the poor wolf on the Winding River - I declared that wolf my main source of pelts since it's easy to hunt on the river under the Dam.

The main advantage of getting back to the Dam from PV, as opposed to returning to CH, is logistics. I have a hacksaw from PV and there's a hammer in CH at the Fishing Camp. I can leave these two heavy items here and travel without them to CH, saving lots of space especially for the return journey. I'm also leaving my old bow in the Ravine and I plan to leave my new one in CH - again, placing key items in safe spots around the island saves capacity. The downside is that if I get attacked by a wolf on the way, before I get the hammer from CH, I'll be pretty much defenseless.

In addition, I'm bringing a bunch of arrow shafts to CH. Arrow shafts require a knife to make, but arrows can be assembled by hand. When I need new arrows in CH at some point in the future, I'll have shafts ready without having to go somewhere and fetch the knife.

Not that I'm planning on staying in CH. After CH I'll probably stitch together a wolf coat and then start looking for a second bear hide.

[Hotzn]

Just out of interest - which one of the two caves in the (presumably upper) Ravine is your favourite - the one nearer ML (with the deer in front) or the one near the dead-end rails with the railcar loaded with wood (and the rabbits) in front?

[Drifter Man]

The one nearer to ML, because it is closer to the deer and to the trailer/Dam where I keep some of my stuff.

However, the other one has respawning coal, so it is worth visiting from time to time 

[JAFO]

On 7/3/2018 at 9:05 PM, Drifter Man said:

You might be able start a campfire under the hood of a car (whose trick is that?) and sleep inside.

That sounds like my trick... (but surely there are others who've done it too?)

Good to see the Snowballs back in action, Drifter Man!

[JAFO]

On 7/7/2018 at 8:40 PM, Drifter Man said:

I was again attacked - jumped this time - by the local wolf. It seems to have an ability to see from a long distance and just goes straight for me. Although I carried a small piece of cooked moose meat for decoy as per @Ruruwawa's advice

That decoy meat is why the wolf picked up on you from such a long distance.. used to be it took 6 pieces of cooked meat to light up a stink bar.. since the last update, it takes just 3, meaning the meat is effectively twice as smelly as it used to be. Even 1 piece (size doesn't matter) of cooked meat drastically increases the detection range of wolves, especially at stalker and interloper levels. You're better off taking the time to become good with the bow, and not carrying decoys at all. And don't forget you can use stones to distract wolves, maneuvering them to where you want them to go. It's a very effective tactic, but heavily under-utilised by most players.

[FunkyFuggerson]

Hey since you seem pretty good at killing things in this game, could you help me with killing a bear? Ive got my sights on it but I don't want to mess up and die. Im on interloper BTW

[Drifter Man]

17 hours ago, JAFO said:

That decoy meat is why the wolf picked up on you from such a long distance.. used to be it took 6 pieces of cooked meat to light up a stink bar.. since the last update, it takes just 3, meaning the meat is effectively twice as smelly as it used to be. Even 1 piece (size doesn't matter) of cooked meat drastically increases the detection range of wolves, especially at stalker and interloper levels. You're better off taking the time to become good with the bow, and not carrying decoys at all. And don't forget you can use stones to distract wolves, maneuvering them to where you want them to go. It's a very effective tactic, but heavily under-utilised by most players.

I think so. The wolf was right around the corner of a rock formation when I entered the Milton Basin from FM. It must have smelled the decoy, it jumped right at me. After that I confirmed by experimenting that they can really smell the decoy, even a small one, from a long distance. I think the decoy tactic may be useful if you actually want to engage wolves but not when you want to avoid them.

[Drifter Man]

17 hours ago, FunkyFuggerson said:

Hey since you seem pretty good at killing things in this game, could you help me with killing a bear? Ive got my sights on it but I don't want to mess up and die. Im on interloper BTW

I'm new to the bear business too but this thread seems worth reading: 

Personally, I may try the wooden jetty structures at CH Fishing Camp. I don't think animals can path onto those structures and a bear sometimes walks by. I wouldn't trust fishing huts and hunting blinds, and I wouldn't want to escape to a loading screen area as this will 'heal' the bear.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 54 / Day 134

Back in Coastal Highway, I recovered the items I left at the Coastal Wolfsite and nearby (the wool ear wrap, bear hide - not yet cured) and also searched one remaining unburnt house. Found nothing but salty crackers, and the search of the road from Train Unloading to Log Sort only yielded two pieces of cloth. The somewhat isolated cabin above the road, however, has a bunch of birch saplings, reishi mushrooms and rosehip bushes around. There's also a rabbit run and a deer nearby. I'll return some day, maybe.

I tried a bit of fishing, with unexpected success. It was THIS big!  The seventh achievement earned in this run. I didn't pay attention to the weight when I caught the salmon, but it took 51 minutes to cook and yielded over 1800 calories (cooking level 4). At the same time, I was looking out for the bear in case it turns up at the Fishing Camp, but it didn't.

[Ruruwawa]

21 hours ago, JAFO said:

That decoy meat is why the wolf picked up on you from such a long distance.. used to be it took 6 pieces of cooked meat to light up a stink bar.. since the last update, it takes just 3, meaning the meat is effectively twice as smelly as it used to be. Even 1 piece (size doesn't matter) of cooked meat drastically increases the detection range of wolves, especially at stalker and interloper levels. You're better off taking the time to become good with the bow, and not carrying decoys at all. And don't forget you can use stones to distract wolves, maneuvering them to where you want them to go. It's a very effective tactic, but heavily under-utilised by most players.

Agreed, I never reported back on my testing because I didn't want to derail @Drifter Man's story with details he wasn't currently discussing.  But I can confirm that it takes fewer cooked meat to light up the stink bars in the current build vs. @Timber Wolf's tests last autumn.  (Confirmed in pilgrim, voy, and interloper... never got around to stalker.)  Also the decoy "size doesn't matter" part.  Well, not for smelliness -- only for carry weight.

Personally I prefer carrying a decoy.  I get more attention from wolves but decoy + arrow has been very reliable for me.  Easy food source (too easy, IMO).  Plus I can clear the wolves out of the area for a few days for less bothersome travel, wood collection and moose/bear hunting.

Stone throwing is a great tactic.  As a devotee of the "just shoot em" school of wolf management I rarely use stones on them once I have a bow and arrows.  But stones are awesome to maneuver bears close enough to shoot from a safe spot. 

[cullam]

You finally got to see those glorious blue skies! 

[JAFO]

10 minutes ago, Ruruwawa said:

(Confirmed in pilgrim, voy, and interloper... never got around to stalker.)

I can confirm it's the same in stalker..

[Drifter Man]

43 minutes ago, Ruruwawa said:

Agreed, I never reported back on my testing because I didn't want to derail @Drifter Man's story with details he wasn't currently discussing.  But I can confirm that it takes fewer cooked meat to light up the stink bars in the current build vs. @Timber Wolf's tests last autumn.  (Confirmed in pilgrim, voy, and interloper... never got around to stalker.)  Also the decoy "size doesn't matter" part.  Well, not for smelliness -- only for carry weight.

Personally I prefer carrying a decoy.  I get more attention from wolves but decoy + arrow has been very reliable for me.  Easy food source (too easy, IMO).  Plus I can clear the wolves out of the area for a few days for less bothersome travel, wood collection and moose/bear hunting.

Stone throwing is a great tactic.  As a devotee of the "just shoot em" school of wolf management I rarely use stones on them once I have a bow and arrows.  But stones are awesome to maneuver bears close enough to shoot from a safe spot. 

Contributions to TLD knowledge are always welcome in this thread, whether related to the story or not. Thanks for checking. It makes perfect sense to use decoys when reducing wolf populations in an area, if you are good with the bow (I'm only good at wasting bow condition).

About stones, I haven't been able to use them effectively yet, although I tried. The main problem is weight - they are rather heavy, so they are one of the first things to go when I need to manage the load I carry. And of course, there are none lying around just when I need them. I did use stones with success to herd deer into wolves though.

Bears react to stones just like wolves? Great to know. How about moose?

[Drifter Man]

42 minutes ago, cullam said:

You finally got to see those glorious blue skies! 

And I loved it! CH weather has been a little better in the past few days.  Only one daytime blizzard in 4 days, I used it as cover to get into Coastal Wolfsite.

[JAFO]

8 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

Bears react to stones just like wolves? Great to know.

I saw that and was surprised too.. would be good to hear it confirmed.

[MrWolf]

42 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

Bears react to stones just like wolves? Great to know. How about moose?

 

33 minutes ago, JAFO said:

I saw that and was surprised too.. would be good to hear it confirmed.

Bears and wolves both move toward stone throws to investigate.  Moose react like deer and run away from a thrown stone.

[JAFO]

3 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Bears and wolves both move toward stone throws to investigate.  Moose react like deer and run away from a thrown stone.

Thanks for the confirmation! Good to know.