has a compass been suggested

[Matty]

Is there a way of incorporating a compass to assist with running in circles in a blizzard... maybe add it as a find similar to storm lantern, prybar, hunting knife, can opener etc... if this has been suggested 5 thousand times I apologize in advance as I'm still very new and as a result very stoked with this game

[elloco999]

ehm, yes it has been suggested. But a compass would not work because of the geomagnetic disaster that happened/ is happening in TLD.

[EternityTide]

Best way to navigate is the sun. dawn the sun is to the East, Dusk, sun setting in the west, noon (12:00) the sun is directly south.

often enough the prevailing wind in the game, I have found, is coming from the West

[elloco999]

Sure, but you can't see the sun during a blizzard.

By now I know the lay of the land of the 2 available maps to such an extend that I could even (and have) find my way during a blizzard/ dense fog etc. But when you haven't been playing that long you very likely to get lost when you can't see more than 20 feet.

[EternityTide]

rule of thumb, do not go outside during fog or a blizzard

[Matty]

ahhh that makes sense as the game is based on magnetic breakdown... as I learn the map more and more it's getting a little easier but I hate getting caught in a sudden squall especially when it combines with another catastrophic event like a wolf attack and weakened health... I managed to crawl into a cabin with 2% health... nursed my character back to health, exited the building then got blindsided by a wolf and got killed before I could turn around and duck back inside...

[elloco999]

rule of thumb, do not go outside during fog or a blizzard

True, but blizzards don't start only when you're indoors and they don't give much warning. You've never been caught by surprise with no shelter in your immediate vicinity?

But just to be clear, I think it's a part of the game and that the mechanism is just fine. But I get why people who haven't been playing as long as some of us ask for a compass or other navigational aids.

ahhh that makes sense as the game is based on magnetic breakdown... as I learn the map more and more it's getting a little easier but I hate getting caught in a sudden squall especially when it combines with another catastrophic event like a wolf attack and weakened health... I managed to crawl into a cabin with 2% health... nursed my character back to health, exited the building then got blindsided by a wolf and got killed before I could turn around and duck back inside...

Yeah, getting caught in a blizzard is no picknick

Managing to not die when your health was at 2% is a nice feat. Too bad you got killed anyway...

[EternityTide]

If you get caught in the clearcut region in a blizzard, like I have, you're gonna have a bad time.

[ErickRedfieldh]

Maybe you should have pizza'd when you french fried, then......

[brostoevsky]

Drat, I found this after searching for "compass" since I wanted to post a thread suggesting a compass. I forgot the whole geomagnetic storm aspect of the game would mean compasses don't work... but maybe the compass could work intermittently, when the geomagnetic storm is low/mild, and then spin and behave bizarrely whenever the storm is more intense?

A compass would be really nice and a MASSIVE improvement in helping with orienteering since it's easy to get turned around in the woods and ridgelines. Navigating by the sun is a nice alternative but it can be a bit unreliable due to visibility and depending on time of day.

If you get caught in the clearcut region in a blizzard, like I have, you're gonna have a bad time.

No kidding. I set out one beautiful clear morning on a long trek from the Camp Office down the railroad to the loading area en route to the Forestry Lookout. By the time I was passing Derailment conditions were already whiteout, although with no blizzard or severe wind or cold. I made it all the way to the Logging Camp by following the railroad and logging road with visibility at less than 20ft.

At that point, relatively confident in my ability to follow the edge of the logging road through Clearcut to the entrance of the pathway to the Forestry Lookout, I resolved to press onward and make it to the Forestry Lookout to spend the night there even though dark was already fast approaching. As dusk dwindled and I entered Clearcut, a blizzard raging around me in the twilight, a wolf and I stumbled into one another unexpectedly and I barely managed to fight him off with my hunting knife (he surprised me so close I didn't have the chance to shoot at him) before he ran off injured. I finished him off with my hunting rifle and cooked all 20 pounds of his flesh in the stove that night comfortably warm in the Forestry Lookout.

[TheIncredibleHibby]

Twice in two game days now I got blindsided with a sudden blizzard in the clearcut area when I was trying to rediscover the bunker location (the dang thing spawned in the farthest corner of the map)..luckily I'm used to the area enough and where the wolves tend to roam that I didn't have too much trouble stumbling my way back up the forestry lookout both times without unwanted wolf solicitors.