Hatchet Location

[Hesha]

Is there a list of possible hatchets locations in (or around) Mystery Lake? This is my first game with custom settings and I'm beginning to wonder if I made a mistake. I think I have checked pretty much every location on the map and while I have found a hacksaw and a rifle, I have not found a knife or the hatchet. As far as I understand, those don't spawn in containers?

In case I screwed myself out of those tools by choosing the wrong settings... what's the nearest place to find coal for the forge on the Muskeg?

[ajb1978]

7 minutes ago, Hesha said:

what's the nearest place to find coal for the forge on the Muskeg?

Caves in the Muskeg itself.

[UpUpAway95]

Hatchets - Under any of the stoves in the Fishing Huts and at the Deadfall Area or Logging Camp.  In either one of the two Hunter's Blinds in ML, near Max, & in the hut atop the Lookout.

Coal - In addition to caves in the Muskeg, a little coal can be found in the cave leading to Milton.  You can also find some allong the railroad tracks in the Ravine (but that doesn't respawn).  I think, I've also found some coal on some starts in the caves in the ravine as well (but I'm not sure ).  There is also some at the Poacher's Camp and by the other Train Wreck, but this also doesn't respawn.

[Hesha]

6 hours ago, UpUpAway95 said:

Hatchets - Under any of the stoves in the Fishing Huts and at the Deadfall Area or Logging Camp.  In either one of the two Hunter's Blinds in ML, near Max, & in the hut atop the Lookout.

Coal - In addition to caves in the Muskeg, a little coal can be found in the cave leading to Milton.  You can also find some allong the railroad tracks in the Ravine (but that doesn't respawn).  I think, I've also found some coal on some starts in the caves in the ravine as well (but I'm not sure ).  There is also some at the Poacher's Camp and by the other Train Wreck, but this also doesn't respawn.

Thanks! Looks like none of those locations have a hatchet or a knife for that matter. You don't think it could be my settings, though? I have found a hacksaw, 4 or 5 prybars, one rifle, lots of ammo (30ish in ML alone), but strangely enough, even though I found two small arms skill books, I haven't found the revolver nor even a single revolver bullet. I'm beginning to thinkt that revolvers, knives and hatchets don't spawn at all when you set loot to "Low" (the first option in custom games). Especially the lack of revolver ammo makes me wonder.

[UpUpAway95]

1 hour ago, Hesha said:

Thanks! Looks like none of those locations have a hatchet or a knife for that matter. You don't think it could be my settings, though? I have found a hacksaw, 4 or 5 prybars, one rifle, lots of ammo (30ish in ML alone), but strangely enough, even though I found two small arms skill books, I haven't found the revolver nor even a single revolver bullet. I'm beginning to thinkt that revolvers, knives and hatchets don't spawn at all when you set loot to "Low" (the first option in custom games). Especially the lack of revolver ammo makes me wonder.

It' is entirely possible that it's your settings.  There is a way you might get an idea of what you actually set.  Immediately after savng in your current custom world and without exiting the game itself, start another new custom save.  The initial custom settings that show up should be the ones you're using in your current save.  Here's a list of alll the item-related Interloper uses vs. what Stalker uses:

Baseline Resource Availability - Low vs. Medium

Item Decay Rate - Very Hign vs. High

Loose Item Availability - Low vs. Medium

Empty Container Chance Modifire - High vs. Medium

Starting Gear Allocation - Low vs. Medium

Rifle Availability - No vs. Yes

Reduce Container Item Density - High vs. High

You can see that the only setting that remains the same for Stalker vs. Interloper is the last one (so we know that one isn't the issue).  While I'm not eliminating the idea that a combination of all the settings together might made hatchets and knives very, very rare in your world, I'm pretty sure the one that would eliminate them entirely is the Baseline Resource Availability.  If you have set that one to "Low"; I think you won't ever see a pre-made hatchet or knife in your world.

How the revolver is behaving right now is unknown since there currently isn't a separate custom setting for it.  I believe if Rifles are "yes"; then revolvers are also automatically turned on.  Ammo is likely somewhat dependent on the other settings and, of course, RNG.  I'm hoping HL adds a custom Yes/No for revolvers separate from the rifles.

Edited May 30, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[Hesha]

1 minute ago, UpUpAway95 said:

It' is entirely possible that it's your settings.  There is a way you might get an idea of what you actually set.  Immediately after savng in your current custom world and without exiting the game itself, start another new custom save.  The initial custom settings that show up should be the ones you're using in your current save.  Here's a list of alll the item-related Interloper uses vs. what Stalker uses:

Baseline Resource Availability - Low vs. Medium

Item Decay Rate - Very Hign vs. High

Loose Item Availability - Low vs. Medium

Empty Container Chance Modifire - High vs. Medium

Starting Gear Allocation - Low vs. Medium

Rifle Availability - No vs. Yes

Reduce Container Item Density - High vs. High

You can see that the only setting that remains the same for Stalker vs. Interloper is the last one (so we know that one isn't the issue).  While I'm not eliminating the idea that a combination of all the settings together might made hatchets and knives very, very rare in your world, I'm pretty sure the one that would eliminate them entirely is the Baseline Resource Availability.  If you have set that one to "Low"; I think you won't ever see a pre-made hatchet or knife in your world.

Thanks! Yes, that item is most certainly set to low, because medium has way too much stuff for my liking. It's a shame, though, that this removes knives and hatchets completely. Since I do get the option to decide independently on whether rifles exist. Should have those options for the other tools as well, I think.

[UpUpAway95]

2 minutes ago, Hesha said:

Thanks! Yes, that item is most certainly set to low, because medium has way too much stuff for my liking. It's a shame, though, that this removes knives and hatchets completely. Since I do get the option to decide independently on whether rifles exist. Should have those options for the other tools as well, I think.

What you might try is putting the baseline to medium and then adjusting everything else to interloper level.  The combination will reduce the items in the world somewhat and ensure that you find a higher percentage of ruined items (which will disappear) as you get farther along.  It won't make things as rare as interloper at the outset, but it will have an impact at least over time.

[Hesha]

Just now, UpUpAway95 said:

What you might try is putting the baseline to medium and then adjusting everything else to interloper level.  The combination will reduce the items in the world somewhat and ensure that you find a higher percentage of ruined items (which will disappear) as you get farther along.  It won't make things as rare as interloper at the outset, but it will have an impact at least over time.

Sounds like a good idea. I'm pretty happy with availability of loot so far, only three packs of matches in all of ML plus some CH. But the revolver is a bit annoying. Knife and Hatchet is almost okay, because I have modded the damage they take from use, so I don't have to forge new stuff every 5 seconds... erm... am I even allowed to say that here?

[UpUpAway95]

1 minute ago, Hesha said:

Sounds like a good idea. I'm pretty happy with availability of loot so far, only three packs of matches in all of ML plus some CH. But the revolver is a bit annoying. Knife and Hatchet is almost okay, because I have modded the damage they take from use, so I don't have to forge new stuff every 5 seconds... erm... am I even allowed to say that here?

Keep in mind that there are other items that simply don't spawn in Interloper - particularly the higher end clothing items.  You've probably also prevented yourself from finding items like the expedition parka, snow pants, or gauntlets.

[Hesha]

2 minutes ago, UpUpAway95 said:

Keep in mind that there are other items that simply don't spawn in Interloper - particularly the higher end clothing items.  You've probably also prevented yourself from finding items like the expedition parka, snow pants, or gauntlets.

Ah! It is a shame that the option "Baseline Resource Availability" is so binary. I wish it would be possible to make items so rare that you have to search 1-2 main maps to get them, but not removed entirely. I think on medium I will usually get 1-3 hatchets and knives per map, right?

I think you're right about clothing, yes. So far I have only found combat boots, work boots and trail boots as well as running shoes. The best jacket I have found is the Ski Jacket, I found two of those, two simple parkas and a machinaw jacket. Doesn't really matter, I guess, since crafted gear is better (imho), except for the boots, I would much rather have insulated boots than deerskin boots.

Phew, I'm really conflicted now. I don't want to quit 20 days into the play, especially since I like what happened so far, but I'm not thrilled about never finding a revolver and having to haul around those crappy makeshift tools... hmmm.

[UpUpAway95]

9 minutes ago, Hesha said:

Ah! It is a shame that the option "Baseline Resource Availability" is so binary. I wish it would be possible to make items so rare that you have to search 1-2 main maps to get them, but not removed entirely. I think on medium I will usually get 1-3 hatchets and knives per map, right?

I think you're right about clothing, yes. So far I have only found combat boots, work boots and trail boots as well as running shoes. The best jacket I have found is the Ski Jacket, I found two of those, two simple parkas and a machinaw jacket. Doesn't really matter, I guess, since crafted gear is better (imho), except for the boots, I would much rather have insulated boots than deerskin boots.

Phew, I'm really conflicted now. I don't want to quit 20 days into the play, especially since I like what happened so far, but I'm not thrilled about never finding a revolver and having to haul around those crappy makeshift tools... hmmm.

I think you should still find a revolver, since you have found a rifle.  Right now, I think the revolver settings aren't meshing quite right.  I'm still having extreme difficulty getting random revolver spawns in both Mountain Town and Mystery Lake despite Raph's assurances that the revolver should spawn as frequently as the rifle (and I'm doing my tests on Pilgrim).  Spawns of ammo have varied considerably, from really, really a lot to as low as about 1/2 of the rifle ammo.  Raph did say there were 3 guaranteed revolver spawns in the map, so you might want to check those locations before giving up on your save.

Edited May 30, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[Hesha]

I'm on CH now anyways, so I'll check the petrol station, that's the only place I have found it before. I am not that optimistic, however, because I used to find waaaaay more revolver ammo than rifle ammo, but I haven't found a single bullet so far, yet I have over 30 rounds for the rifle.

[UpUpAway95]

1 minute ago, Hesha said:

I'm on CH now anyways, so I'll check the petrol station, that's the only place I have found it before. I am not that optimistic, however, because I used to find waaaaay more revolver ammo than rifle ammo, but I haven't found a single bullet so far, yet I have over 30 rounds for the rifle.

That would mean that the revolver is only connected to the Baseline setting and not the rifle one at all.  Hmmm... ideas for continued testing emerging.  Thanks.

[Hesha]

Just now, UpUpAway95 said:

That would mean that the revolver is only connected to the Baseline setting and not the rifle one at all.  Hmmm... ideas for continued testing emerging.  Thanks.

Yes. It would probably be worthwile to produce some kind of guide on the custom game options, because as of now, it is absolutely not clear what those settings do exactly. For instance, the option we are talking about should mention, that some items will be removed from the game entirely (analog to Interloper). But there is probably more room for explanation...

[hozz1235]

Agreed.  As much as I like custom settings, their usage is vague and can be confusing/counter-intuitive.  I wish HL would put a little more documentation together on them.

[stratvox]

One thing that is interesting is to set the baseline resource to medium, high, or very high, but also to max out the empty container chance and set container item density to low. The overall effect is that phat lute is available, but the overall amount of resources is actually quite low.

For example, during experimentation, I set baseline to very high, maximum empty container, container item density to low, and loose item availability to very high. Despite their being lots of stuff lying about, the likelihood of there being anything in any given container was only about one in twenty, and usually only one, with a max of about three. Overall effect was to really cut back on how much stuff there was, but I could find things like the snow pants and expedition parka.

[Hesha]

6 hours ago, stratvox said:

One thing that is interesting is to set the baseline resource to medium, high, or very high, but also to max out the empty container chance and set container item density to low. The overall effect is that phat lute is available, but the overall amount of resources is actually quite low.

For example, during experimentation, I set baseline to very high, maximum empty container, container item density to low, and loose item availability to very high. Despite their being lots of stuff lying about, the likelihood of there being anything in any given container was only about one in twenty, and usually only one, with a max of about three. Overall effect was to really cut back on how much stuff there was, but I could find things like the snow pants and expedition parka.

That sounds really interesting. I guess the most restricted option would then be to set BRA to Medium, which is the lowest setting that still enables all gear (can somebody confirm this?) and then crank all other restrictions to 11. Will try this!

[StrayCat]

I confirm, I just found snow pants and expedition parka on medium, signal hill.

[Serenity]

The hatchet is overrated. At most you need it for wolf fighting, but otherwise it's very easy to live without. A knife is pretty important however

[Hesha]

2 minutes ago, Serenity said:

The hatchet is overrated. At most you need it for wolf fighting, but otherwise it's very easy to live without. A knife is pretty important however

Mhmm. I would tend to disagree. I played without both Hatchet and Knife for a good while now and I missed the hatchet more than the knife. You can't work on big limbs or any of the furniture with a hacksaw. What requires a knife? Crafting clothes, maybe?

[Serenity]

Limbs are hardly necessary when there are sticks and coal. The only thing you truly need fir for is repairing the heavy hammer.

Much of the furniture can be busted down with the heavy hammer. It takes longer, but the hammer is easier to repair.

The knife is indeed needed for crafting. It's also useful for harvesting carcasses, though the hacksaw and hands are a good alternative for most parts.

The only thing where the hatchet is truly needed for is cutting down the shrubs in Hushed River Valley. They block the path in some key locations. It's the only time I carry it with me. Otherwise it stays on a table somewhere until I need it