questions remaining from not so new survivor

[solide]

After playing TLD for several months now I think I have most of the mechanisms in my head. There are however stil several questions I did not yet find an answer to, even after searching the forum. So I would like to pose them here, in the hopes (and anticipation) that more experienced players will have an answer. 

1) Repairing fails. When I repair something I use up an repair kit / fishing hook, material, and time. Say I want to repair an item of clothing that cost 2 cloth and one hour to repair. When I stat to repair a timer starts. Now I wonder what is te effect if the repair fails. I know I lose the repair kit / fishing hook condition. But do I also lose (part of) the materials? and part of the time needed for the repair?

2) Respawn wood. I read wood is an infinite resource. But I think this is only sticks? Do the larger branches (cedar/fir) also respawn? If not then I will probably want to limit the amount of fit I use for fires because these can be better used to repair the heavy hammer?

3) On a map I draw several resources appear. Think of rosehip, large branches, etc. Am I right to assume the resources you see on the drawn map are the ones not respawning? And if so, does a drawn map change if I harvest (delete) that resource of does the map stay the same regardless? 

4) Wolves. Am I right to assume wolves do not attack bears/moose (and likewise). Do wolves sleep? Eat? Or do they only attack if a rabbid/deer (or me) by accident crosses their path?

5) Wolves. Does a game on a certain level of difficulty always have a fixed number of wolves? Or can I leave a region and re-enter some time later to find a different number of wolves of in a different position?

 6) Wolves (yes I know, I have an unhealthy interest in them). I know they have a range in which they can detect a player. Is this a perfect circle around the wolf (smells)? Or is the range of detection larger in front of the wolf and smaller behind a wolf?

7) Wolves. I seem to notice the areas a wolf spawns/patrols are usually in the center of the map or along paths often used. Is this correct? Is the safest area the edges of the map? Do wolves always stay in the place they spawn in or patrol a fixed route? If so I can possibly better just leave them alone since I know where they are instead of killing them and getting them to respawn later somewhere unknown (usually just behind me)? Are the routes wolves patrol known? Would be cool to ad them to a regions map with some red lines saying "beware". 

(8) Arrows. I know fired arrows can be retrieved. So if I fire an arrow an hit a deer. And the deer runs and bleeds out. And I find the carcass. When I'm lucky I will find my arrow in the deer, or somewhere near. But say I do not find the carcass. The deer still bleeds out. After a certain number of days (anybody knows ho long?) the carcass will disappear. Is my arrow still there to be found? Can I walk pass an area and suddenly find my arrow fired weeks earlier and know this was the spot the animal died?

Thanks in advance for any insight in these mechanics. 

Edited September 3, 2019 by solide

[Serenity]

1.) You lose the materials   And some of the time

2.) Branches respawn too. So does coal

3.) The map doesn't change. If you harvest a resource and redraw the map it's not updated. One more reason the map is useless

4.) Wolves have no places where they actually sleep. But they sometimes despawn and aren't around. They eat deer and bunnies, which is very useful to distract them or hunt. You can drive bunnies or deer into them, but they also hunt them on their own if they get close to each other. For example the wolf in Winding River can usually be found eating a bunny

5.) Wolves have fixed spawn and patrol regions. Numbers can vary slightly. Like 1-2 or 2-3

6.) Smell detection also depends on wind direction

7.) Wolves can appear at the map edges too. The WhiteBerry/StrayWolf maps have wolf regions marked, but not their extent. It's something you learn with time. It can be worthwhile to get rid of a certain wolf if you travel a lot through a certain area.

8.) Yes you can find arrows later on. It's pure luck though as you won't see them from a distance

[UpUpAway95]

Serenity has covered almost everything.  I just wanted to add some detail to item 2.  Sticks and branches respawn.  Cedar and fir do not.  Some coal will respawn in sme locations, that is, in caves.  Coal found loose on the ground outside of caves will not respawn, AFAIK (for example, the coal found alongside the railroad tracks in the Ravine has never respawned for me).

Wolf detection ranges also change depending on difficulty setting.  That is, they will detect you when you are farther away if in Stalker than they will detect you in Voyageur.  If you want to get an idea of the different settings, begin to start a new survival game in Custom and the (using the LB and RB on an Xbox), you can scroll through the various templates for the different standard difficulty modes.  You don't actually have to start a new game since you can just back out of the menu before completing the command.

[ManicManiac]

@solide

8 hours ago, Serenity said:

2.) Branches respawn too. So does coal

As you mention sticks respawn, so do branches (which yield 3 sticks), so do limbs (fir/cedar - which yield varying amounts of material and tinder), so does coal (as mentioned above), also Birch bark (which is still tinder, but more valuable as tea).

8 hours ago, Serenity said:

6.) Smell detection also depends on wind direction

Also yes, whether you are up wind or down wind will impact your "scent" radius.  The "wind" distorts your "scent range" to sort of emulate the effects of wind carrying sent.  When your scent radius overlaps with the wolf's detection radius... then it's got your scent and will start to track your scent.  When you get within the wolf's detection radius, it will begin to stalk you.  When you get within striking distance the wolf will charge to attack... also of note, if you aim in on a stalking animal they will charge immediately. 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by ManicManiac

[UpUpAway95]

1 hour ago, ManicManiac said:

@solide

As you mention sticks respawn, so do branches (which yield 3 sticks), so do limbs (fir/cedar - which yield varying amounts of material and tinder), so does coal (as mentioned above), also Birch bark (which is still tinder, but more valuable as tea).

Also yes, whether you are up wind or down wind will impact your "scent" radius.  The "wind" distorts your "scent range" to sort of emulate the effects of wind carrying sent.  When your scent radius overlaps with the wolf's detection radius... then it's got your scent and will start to track your scent.  When you get within the wolf's detection radius, it will begin to stalk you.  When you get within striking distance the wolf will charge to attack... also of note, if you aim in on a stalking animal they will charge immediately. 

 

Wait... fir and cedar limbs respawn?  I only take them if I really have to, but I'm very sure that any I've have taken have never come back... even at the 500-day mark.  I'm going to have to check this out more scientifically.

[ManicManiac]

19 minutes ago, UpUpAway95 said:

Wait... fir and cedar limbs respawn?

In my experience yes.  I've even seen many times where I would clear out an area, and return later after a blizzard to find another limb had "fallen."  Naturally, they are much more rare than branches and sticks... but I have seen them reappear in the general vicinity of the one I'd previously harvested.  Even once in an earlier build, I was gathering sticks and (perhaps it was at just the right time) as I turned around to see if I missed anything; a new limb had spawned while my back was turned.    

However, perhaps it's worth noting that I have been playing on Voyager, so difficulty level may very well be a factor.

Edited September 3, 2019 by ManicManiac

[RossBondReturns]

Yes limbs respawn often after blizzards. Really violent windstorms "tear them off trees" et voila!

Easy to test especially around Trappers and Mountaineers Hut.

I play on Stalker.

[UpUpAway95]

9 hours ago, RossBondReturns said:

Yes limbs respawn often after blizzards. Really violent windstorms "tear them off trees" et voila!

Easy to test especially around Trappers and Mountaineers Hut.

I play on Stalker.

Thanks.  I guess I've never taken enough of them or gone back to an area where I noticed it happening.  They take so long to harvest, I usually found I wind up freezing to death while trying to cut them up, so I've pretty much stuck to collecting coal, sticks and branches... along with any indoor reclaimed wood I could gather.

[sierra 117]

On 9/5/2019 at 3:34 PM, UpUpAway95 said:

Thanks.  I guess I've never taken enough of them or gone back to an area where I noticed it happening.  They take so long to harvest, I usually found I wind up freezing to death while trying to cut them up, so I've pretty much stuck to collecting coal, sticks and branches... along with any indoor reclaimed wood I could gather.

If you can find 2x limbs close to each other (Ideally  3x). Build a fire in the centre, will only cost initial 1or2 hr of fire. Then just add 1x piece of wood per harvested limb. You will always get more wood than you've used and can fight /stave off cabin fever , once it twice per week.

Also if close to your base camp, take some food , then use the whole day prepping food , water,and wood for the next few days. While chopping wood.

[Jimmy]

Also, to clarify a few points:

4) Wolves only attack rabbits, deer and the player. Wolves actively flee from a bear or moose when they detect them. The bear never attacks anything other than the player. The moose never attacks anything other than the player.

5) There are typically several static locations where a single wolf will spawn on a map. Additionally, there are an extra few locations where three wolves may spawn together, which changes randomly throughout the game.

6) A wolf's detection radius is a cone, not a circle. This makes it possible to sneak behind a wolf without being noticed. Your own detection area is a circle which is increased by your scent value and pushed away from you based on the wind.

[Deadly Shadow]

im not sure if this is a trick only some learn or its just basic knowledge, but haven't seen it mentioned, the open fence behind the maintenance yard in the broken railroad region (leading to the hunting lodge) there is often a few wolves between the fence and the walk to the frozen pond. ive counted found as many as 1-4 wolves patrolling, i don't think ive ever gotten through without a wolf being there though, so be ready with either the revolver or anything to scare them. also fun fact: if a wolf starts stalking you and you cant outrun/hide from it then its not the worst idea (especially on easier difficulty's) to make a quick fire, it doesn't have to succeed in starting, you just have to act as your starting a fire, it will send the wolf running. id also like to be clear this trick only works on wolves, if you try on a bear or moose they will not care in the slightest and will gladly claw/stomp on you. hope this helps anyone.

[sierra 117]

10 hours ago, Deadly Shadow said:

you try on a bear or moose they will not care in the slightest and will gladly claw/stomp on you. hope this helps anyone.

Unless something has changed recently, I'm pretty sure you can use a fire to scare the moose.

That's how I hunted the one in Milton basin on interloper , it was a few months back. But I was able to shoot it, then when he charged I just ran back toward my campfire to scare him off

[ajb1978]

There's two sizes of cedar and fir limb.  The normal size respawns, the large size does not.  The normal size cedar limb gives 3 firewood and 1 tinder, and a normal fir limb gives 3 firewood.  A large cedar gives 5 cedar and I believe 2 tinder plug, and a large fir gives 4 fir and 1 tinder plug.

Honestly though I almost never chop up limbs for firewood.  I'm a stick and coal guy.