A Few Dead Men

[BareSkin]

22 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

Rabbit Groove

Pun intented?

21 hours ago, JAFO said:

Well, there is 'Deadman Lite', where a tiny amount of health recovery is possible..

I'm pretty sure I'll sooner or later play a Custom with rest healing  giving as much as regular healing per unstarved hour (thanks @Ruruwawa for science), additional  healing during restit just doesn't make sense, the bed is not a Hospital and the emergency stim giving you health back forever is not realistic either. Being starved all day long and eating 750 calories in front of a bed doesn't make much more sense. I will keep Cabin Fever and think more about Rest as a Resource (since "pass time" exists).

2 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I posted a wish in the wish list thread some time ago, asking for having a minimum at rest recovery rate equal to the condition recovery setting

+1, that's not that easy to code since one curve is linear and the other is exponential. If we had Code where these two "healing" processes where additive during sleep (i.e. regular applies on every "lived" hour), we'd just have to set "resting" to zero. It doesn't make sense either to be able to make a mode where you recover less from the first hours of sleep than if you were awake.

22 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I make it there in time and even try to bag some rabbits but as usual when I'm hungry, I fail

Does it even happen to you not being hungry? New wishlist proposal: during auroras, rabbits and stones get magnetized, any stone thrown roughly towards a rabbit hits.

[Ruruwawa]

6 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I posted a wish in the wish list thread some time ago, asking for having a minimum at rest recovery rate equal to the condition recovery setting.

3 hours ago, BareSkin said:

It doesn't make sense either to be able to make a mode where you recover less from the first hours of sleep than if you were awake.

It's hard to see any gameplay upside to the complexity of the dual recovery rate system.  My preference would be a flat % per hour, waking or sleeping -- provided your health is good and your needs are covered, of course.  1% per day (1/24 of a % per hour) is more extreme than I care for, but that's personal taste.  What I'd love to see is a big simplification and a wider range of custom settings, especially at the low end.

6 hours ago, Hotzn said:

A slow condition recovery would also make tea a much more valuable item. It is debatable how much of a boost tea should eventually give, but it should be enough to make it really valuable. And it should be fairly rare.

So true.  Currently we need to set At-rest Recovery to None because the low end of the scale is still very high.   And that disables tea's Improved Rest buff.  Tea is still useful but less so than any other hot drink.

 

[fauxjargon]

2 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

It's hard to see any gameplay upside to the complexity of the dual recovery rate system.  My preference would be a flat % per hour, waking or sleeping -- provided your health is good and your needs are covered, of course.  1% per day (1/24 of a % per hour) is more extreme than I care for, but that's personal taste.  What I'd love to see is a big simplification and a wider range of custom settings, especially at the low end.

So true.  Currently we need to set At-rest Recovery to None because the low end of the scale is still very high.   And that disables tea's Improved Rest buff.  Tea is still useful but less so than any other hot drink.

 

The dual recovery system presents a challenge because to optimally recover you need to sleep in 10 hour blocks, which means you need to spend a significant part of the day at below 50% fatigue - at which point your carrying capacity starts to drop, which in turn increases the risk of animal attack due to overburden.

[Drifter Man]

8 hours ago, BareSkin said:

Pun intented?

Not intended - unlike your loosing and then losing arrows

[JAFO]

12 hours ago, BareSkin said:

New wishlist proposal: during auroras, rabbits and stones get magnetized, any stone thrown roughly towards a rabbit hits.

Sounds reasonable!

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 4 / Day 12

My first thoughts in the morning should be about food, but fortunately I remember and start the day by turning a few sticks into tinder. Then I peek out of the cave: minus 43°C. Okay.

Instead I thoroughly search the cave, finding a few pieces of coal, some firewood, wool socks, beef jerky and... a can opener! I was hoping for that, thinking about all this canned food in cargo containers. It's definitely the find of the day.

No rabbits are around. It's a strange pattern, repeating from the Rabbit Grove and Jackrabbit Island. Whenever I come to a rabbit place, next morning the rabbits are gone.

Rabbits hate me. And I hate rabbits, I say to myself as I chew the jerky.

In the afternoon I use a brief lull in the winds and transit to the bunker. Normally the bunker is pretty much empty, but this time I find two sodas and a mouldy granola bar, the No. 1 killer in The Long Dark. I risk it - in part because I don't have a choice, in part because I don't have the same bad experience with granola bars as everyone else seems to have.

After a brief sleep, waiting out a blizzard, I drop all the stuff I'm not going to need in TWM, like prybar, sewing kit, books etc, climb the rope and continue towards Mountaineer's Hut. I'm forced to start a fire when I'm nearing the Landing Gear. Before I cook reishi tea, wind first increases strength, then turns around and kills the fire. I'm nowhere near warmed up, I didn't have the chance to throw in coal. I wait for the tea to finish on embers, which gives me a bit of warmth, and run to MH. No matter what I do, I know I'll lose condition - the evil wind blows from MH with perfect geometric accuracy. I arrive in 58% condition, losing 4% on the way, hungry and exhausted.

The hut has solid amount of food - two cans of dog food, one or two sodas, a tin of sardines. Also a mag lens - I hope this means there's a hacksaw in the plane because the one I brought with me isn't in great condition - 72% - to safely open all the containers. I quickly count, one, two, three... it's 9 container compartments I want to open in any case, that's 45%. No margin for error, under 25% the hacksaw can break, leaving the container inaccessible forever.

I also get a second ski jacket, thank you.

There are no wolves on the lake, great chance to pick some cattails. But I'm freezing and tired. I have to use this chance, so I sleep for one hour, drop everything I can and run across the lake. I get 8 cattails before my temperature and fatigue bars run out.

The wolves return next morning.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Drifter Man

[BareSkin]

3 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

Rabbits hate me. And I hate rabbits, I say to myself as I chew the jerky.

I did release one of them, once. Maybe make some offering to the TLD gods?

3 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

The wolves return next morning.

Now he's finished all the rabbits, he's come for you.

[Drifter Man]

11 hours ago, BareSkin said:

I did release one of them, once. Maybe make some offering to the TLD gods?

Now he's finished all the rabbits, he's come for you.

I haven't seen a rabbit since I left Jackrabbit Island. If I get my hands on one, there will be no mercy. I WANT RABBITS TO DIE.

In this case the wolf territory and rabbit territory are fairly well separated, although I remember one Snowball dying on this assumption. That was in the old days when wolves automatically attacked when you got anywhere close to their meal. One morning I just went to collect some sticks around Landing Gear and the next thing was woof wraaaugh aargh.

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 4 / Day 13

Killer winds blow all day. There's no way I can go to the Summit in this weather. Instead I stay around MH, collecting sticks and cattails and returning to the hut to warm up. I use the time to repair my bedroll. I also kill, cook and eat two rabbits I find hopping on the shores of Crystal Lake. I harvest one gut as well - there's some chance it will cure before I'm on my way out of TWM. If I'm ever on my way out of TWM.

In the fishing hut I find a piece of reclaimed wood and old leather gloves at 18%, no better than the near-ruined mitts I already have. I'm not lucky with clothing on this run. I wonder what's there up in the plane: a hammer, or a hacksaw?

I have to get going tomorrow because there's nothing else to eat around here.

Edited October 14, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 4 / Day 14

Killer winds blow all morning and most of the afternoon. I pass time reading a book and sleeping, in order to stay rested and ready to go. In mid-afternoon the winds stop. It's snowing and it looks like calm before storm, a blizzard could begin at any moment, and it's still felt -13°C when out of the wind - I won't get very far like this.

Both wolves are on the far side of the lake. I hug the rocks as I leave MH, to stay out of wind. Just as I pass the ice floe near the rabbit run that kept me busy yesterday, a third wolf jumps me - literally, I had the flare gun ready but had no time to point it anywhere - and that's the end of Deadman 4.

I had a bad feeling about this run, with all the bad rng I kept getting on everything - starting position, weather, rabbits - so I don't regret this much.

Edited October 14, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 5

Started in Broken Railroad. Turned around and headed into FM at felt -17°C. Decided to push for Poacher's Camp in hope of being able to start a fire with a flare. Railway blocked by wolves. Tried to evade and walk away. Wolf pursues and kills Deadman 5.

Deadman 6

Started in an unfamiliar place in PV. Found way to the Farmstead at night, in strong winds, in 88% condition. Took at least an hour to find bed. Found some clothing, matches in the basement, but very little food. Strong winds in the morning, felt -29°C. Headed out to Signal Hill because that was the direction in which the winds blew. Barely avoided a bear at the Farmstead. Near the rope up to Singal Hill (freezing of course), another bear. I had no idea a bear can be here. Sprinted into favorite cave at the rope. Turned out it's the bear's cave. Started a fire and hoped the bear doesn't come home for now.

Deadman 7

Initially it looks okay - Forlorn Muskeg, afternoon, light fog. I head for Spence's. After a brief break in the coal cave southwest of Spence's - warm enough, I pass time making tinder - I set out again. The fog has turned into thick fog by now. Of course, I run into a wolf and have to retreat to the cave. I'm running out of daylight, so I goat down the cliff, but I can't get across the ice to Spence's from there. In addition, I sprain an ankle. I wander through the fog, freezing, eventually I reach the tracks and follow them through the night to Poacher's.

I scan the pitch-black interior of the train car and find the flare. In 43% condition, freezing and dehydrated, I narrowly avoid hypothermia.

The fog lifts and TLD-gods give me a windy aurora instead. I wait until the winds end but I know wolves are around, I can hear them howl. But I have to go.

I hobble towards ML, two aurora wolves in pursuit, one aurora bear in front. They let me go surprisingly far.

End of story.

Edited October 14, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 8

Will's plane, morning, strong winds, about minus million degrees. I'm freezing almost immediately. I manage to run past the wolf at the Crashed Plane and even snatch the stim. I make it through the cave, which is lit enough during daylight to pass through. Bear blocks the other entrance. I try to sneak past it but it turns around at a bad time. I get shredded.

Deadman 9

Somewhere in PV, pre-dawn, about minus 40. I run down a slope towards what I think are Three Strikes - it turns out to be the Clearcut, I'm in ML. I get to the cabin at the Unnamed Pond with a few % of freezing damage and sleep until noon. Blizzard. I need water, so I run through the blizzard to Trapper's. On the way I find a flare in the hunting blind. Start a fire at Trapper's, make some water, but I only have very little fuel, so it's not enough. The safe has a mackinaw inside.

The blizzard ends at dusk and I get the brilliant idea (well, the alternatives weren't much better) to go to Mountain Town for the matches that are always between the ropes. I get lost in the cave in the dark. Wait until the next day, starving. The cave is pitch-black dark even during daylight. No point wasting time looking at the black screen - I quit and delete the save.

[BareSkin]

6 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I had a bad feeling about this run

I think this wolf killed many many players, its randomness is deadly.

I must say thank you for reporting all the experiences, as short as they might be.

[Doc Feral]

6 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

The cave is pitch-black dark even during daylight. No point wasting time looking at the black screen - I quit and delete the save.

The closest thing to feeling your way in the dark is to pick something large such as a pelt or a bedroll and "placing" it while moving. The green (or red) mass will show you the shape of the place you're in and the occasional object, not exactly echolocation but better than nothing. And it's not worth calling it an exploit.

[Drifter Man]

8 hours ago, BareSkin said:

I think this wolf killed many many players, its randomness is deadly.

I must say thank you for reporting all the experiences, as short as they might be.

It's called deadman for a reason. The first few hours are critical. I learned to appreciate how lucky I was with Deadman 3.

The wolf killed me a few time before, too. It's a deadly wolf - it's deadly by not being there most of the time.

[Drifter Man]

3 hours ago, Doc Feral said:

The closest thing to feeling your way in the dark is to pick something large such as a pelt or a bedroll and "placing" it while moving. The green (or red) mass will show you the shape of the place you're in and the occasional object, not exactly echolocation but better than nothing. And it's not worth calling it an exploit.

I use this from time to time but with limited success - I've never managed to get through a cave with this trick.

This time I had almost nothing, I tried the trick with a book but after a while I mis-clicked and lost it far away in the darkness.

[Ruruwawa]

5 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I use this from time to time but with limited success - I've never managed to get through a cave with this trick.

This time I had almost nothing, I tried the trick with a book but after a while I mis-clicked and lost it far away in the darkness.

The recycled can and cookpot, like the bedroll, can be accessed for placing from the radial menu.  So if you mis-click, it just goes back into your inventory.  But if I have a bedroll and it's daytime, I prefer to sleep for an hour.  Usually that triggers the night-vision buff and I can find my way far more easily.

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 10 / Day 1

Deadman 10 spawned in FM, close tho the derailed flatbed cars near the tunnel to BR, pre-dawn, strong winds. I thought this would be another short story but I managed to keep him sheltered from the wind about halfway to Spence's. When the wolf approached, I goated down again, but in the right place this time, and I reached Spence's safely a while later. Got matches, hacksaw, some clothing, warmed up, slept for a bit. Then via High Blind and Poacher's Camp to ML, arriving at Trapper's before nightfall, in 78% condition.

If there was one difference compared to the previous runs, it was light fog/still winds for most of the afternoon of Day 1.

Deadman 10 / Day 2

I harvested the first carcass at the barn, then slept in the cabin. Ventured out again in late afternoon to check out the second carcass in the direction of Unnamed Pond. Dealt with a wolf on the way but winds turned out to be much worse. I got the meat out before they killed the fire, but that was all I could do. I didn't want to carry it to the cabin because of that wolf, so I left the steaks "paused" on the stones. I'd like to return to finish it and to get the hide and especially guts. I hope I get the chance.

I feel they've done something to the weather recently, I didn't use to be like this. Basically, what used to be Hushed River Valley is now everywhere. You leave the cabin, you sit down and make fire - wind is here, giving you no chance. It used to be sometimes no wind, sometimes medium force, sometimes strong winds. Now it's maximum-strength winds all the time. I'm not sure I can cope with that in Deadman mode.

With the weather outside intolerable, I spent the day in the cave, collecting coal. I ended up with about 15 pieces in total. Bad news is that I spent the coal at Spence's and also stupidly brought some scrap metal from the Poacher's Camp. In addition, I had to take the dog food from Spence's. So when I return, I'll have to bring all supplies. Let's care about that when the time comes.

Deadman 10 / Day 3

The weather in the morning is still ugly, pre-blizzard, but the winds can be survived until I reach the carcass I started yesterday. I build a new fire, hopefully with better shelter, and manage to cook the meat and get out the guts and the hide. Winds change to max strength in the process but this time my fire is sufficiently protected.

On the way back I spot a rabbit hopping behind the cabin. By the time I warm up in bed, the rabbit is gone again.

The weather in the afternoon is still - ugly.

Edited October 15, 2018 by Drifter Man

[DaveMcD]

16 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I feel they've done something to the weather recently, I didn't use to be like this. Basically, what used to be Hushed River Valley is now everywhere. You leave the cabin, you sit down and make fire - wind is here, giving you no chance. It used to be sometimes no wind, sometimes medium force, sometimes strong winds. Now it's maximum-strength winds all the time. I'm not sure I can cope with that in Deadman mode.

I had terrible weather in my Deadman run too. survived 23 days and had 10 blizzards "survived" Its effectively what killed me. 3 days of mostly blizzard in Timberwolf Mountain locked in a cave staving to death with no sticks within freezing distance. Pleasant Valley and Rabbit Grove (CH) tried their best as well. watching your condition drop while trying to outsleep a blizzard one hour at a time is brutal. I saw some other peoples runs with quite tolerable weather. I also spent most of my run with gear under 10C. Eventually got up to around 11C - 12C depending on repairs but probably only after day 19. No outer shell found at all and no second underwear. 

Keep up the posts, enjoying them immensely.

[Drifter Man]

7 hours ago, DaveMcD said:

I had terrible weather in my Deadman run too. survived 23 days and had 10 blizzards "survived" Its effectively what killed me. 3 days of mostly blizzard in Timberwolf Mountain locked in a cave staving to death with no sticks within freezing distance. Pleasant Valley and Rabbit Grove (CH) tried their best as well. watching your condition drop while trying to outsleep a blizzard one hour at a time is brutal. I saw some other peoples runs with quite tolerable weather. I also spent most of my run with gear under 10C. Eventually got up to around 11C - 12C depending on repairs but probably only after day 19. No outer shell found at all and no second underwear. 

Keep up the posts, enjoying them immensely.

Thanks!

I don't get many blizzards but I get a lot of "normal" wind. I also feel that the weather is extremely unstable now, going from one extreme to another very quickly. Also, I have the feeling that Forlorn Muskeg is a map with fairly good weather now, compared to ML or CH.

As for clothing, I usually get some good pieces in TWM - in Mountaineer's Hut and then in the containers at the Summit. Good luck next time!

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 10 / Day 3 (continued)

Whatever the weather, I'm leaving. Miraculously, the winds seem to calm down to moderate level after another hour of sleep. Leaving behind two deer hides and four guts curing on the floor, I head out into the snow, torch in hand for its temperature bonus, direction Rail Tunnel/Camp Office.

As I near the Rail Tunnel, using rocks on the edge of the map to cover me from wind, I notice a wolf patrolling near the train cars, so I divert around Deadfall Area. No wolves there - I reach Camp Office safely a while later

The Camp Office has only a can of soda to "eat", but it has a can opener and a copy of "Wilderness Kitchen". Both items are equivalent to food, in essence. In addition, there's a bedroll, albeit in 22% condition. That day and the next day, I spent three repair attempts in a failed effort to fix it.

I'm hardly tired and can't sleep, so I'm grateful for a clear night that allows me to read indoors. I finish "Survive the Outdoors" and nearly finish "Wilderness Kitchen" before it gets too dark

Deadman 10 / Day 4

Too cold and too windy around midday. I get a few cattails on the lake but wind and wolves do not allow me to explore deeper towards the fishing huts.

I wait into late afternoon, nearly starved, and take advantage of only moderate winds to reach the cave at Lake Overlook. I start a fire at the deer carcass (1 kg steak) and although winds soon pick up again, I'm able to keep the fire going stick by stick.

Later the winds die down completely and for about an hour or two I enjoy nice weather. I kill a rabbit, visit my friend in the cave ("Stay on Target", a storm lantern, some firewood), collect the rope and return to my fire to cook the rabbit. Winds then return again, so I drink reishi tea and continue towards the Dam. I reach the trailer before my temp bar runs out and also get a few cattails on the way.

Condition holding at 78%, but I'm nearly out of food, as usual. Ravine tomorrow.

Edited October 16, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Doc Gonzo]

Still lovin' these @Drifter Man ... keep them coming, great reads!

[Hotzn]

I like Snowballs/Deadmen surviving, but that quick staccato succession of some Deadmen is a nice change of pace. Let's hope Deadman 10 holds out longer... 

[Doc Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Hotzn said:

I like Snowballs/Deadmen surviving, but that quick staccato succession of some Deadmen is a nice change of pace. Let's hope Deadman 10 holds out longer... 

I agree ... really hoping number 10 gets a good long run ;-)

[Drifter Man]

Thanks for the wishes of long life  The truth is, I'm going to need all the luck on the Great Bear Island to succeed.

Deadman 4 / Day 5

After all my complaints about bad weather, I got a nearly perfect day and made as much use of it as I could.

Having woken up in the trailer, I spent the cold hours of the morning repairing that 22% bedroll - I made two successful repairs. Then I checked the weather outside and found light fog. It was still early and the temperature was felt -15°C but I decided to take what I have. A while later I was in the Ravine, having dropped in the first rabbit zone closest to ML - not for rabbits, too cold for that, but for the corpse. I didn't find anything there and lost 3% condition because of a failed firestarting attempt - I overextended my stay outside before heading into the cave. Once warmed up, I transferred the fire to a deer carcass at the cave and harvested it completely - 1.5 kg meat, hide and two guts. The fog lifted, giving way to a clear, nearly windless day.

I moved on to the train cars: no food, just the usual jerry can and a few bits of scrap metal, plus a rope - but I already have one with me. Next stop was at the second carcass at the rope point. I got the meat out, 1.8 kg, plus one gut, then the weather turned for the worse. While I was deploying the rope, wind reduced the fire to embers and it couldn't be sustained. Only the 0.8 kg piece finished cooking, so I ate it and took the unfinished one with me.

At least the wind blew from the south, so I was again sheltered while climbing down. I reached the bottom nearly exhausted and headed straight for the cave. I slept without fire until around midnight, then used calm weather and started a fire outside at the carcass. Only then I noticed the aurora. For some reason, in the Ravine the aurora never sings. Anyone else noticed this?

Deadman 4 / Day 6

Anyway, I processed the whole carcass - generous 1.8 kg, my stomach is full now - and turned in just before a blizzard set in. Perfect timing: the cold of the blizzard means that I save some fuel. I sleep until fully rested. The blizzard has stopped but the winds are still strong.

Matches are starting to worry me. I've only found two packs in the Forlorn Muskeg, plus a mag lens. One pack is already gone.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Drifter Man