Things I Do that You Don't

[DirtyMadcap]

You know.....self-reflection and all that.  I gotta get this off my chest and see what you all have to say, if anything at all.....mean or sweet....or whatever.

Context:  The longest I've lived is 200 days on Stalker (not man enough for Interloper).  And in that run, I never made it to TWM, HRV, or MT.  You see, i think I play pretty slowly.  Up until this point, my method has been to "clean" a region and leave it with all resources stocked in a base or two.  I also spend time mapping for the achievement......and hunting cairns (and even those awful buffer memories).

My conflict:  Apparently, as time goes by, loot degrades and weather gets worse.  This means, if I want to get those snow pants or exp. jacket, or <insert prized degradable item here>, wherever they may be, I need to get moving and go everywhere ASAP.  The effect this has on me is I feel rushed, in a game that's supposedly about not being in a rush.  Anyway, me and my inner conflict.

Here's some stuff I do that I'm sure would drive most of you crazy:

- I'm currently hanging out in the hunting lodge in BR waiting for a bear skin to cure so I can add 55% life to my beardroll.  By hanging out, I mean I am finding ANYTHING to do in the area while it cures, rather than just carry it with me or leave it.  My brain tells me two things:  Don't carry it, too heavy for the trip out (nevermind the weight of the beardroll itself), and two, don't waste it, because that's disrespectful to the bear.  I just hope the moose doesn't spawn, because I have this half damaged satchel thing.....

- As of 1.69, I avoid wolf contact if at all possible, even though I have 30 rounds with the revolver.  I do alot of crawling....this slows me down (and gets boring admittedly).  In the past, I could stay upright mostly, drop decoy, and haul ass to my destination.

- With the exception of the bear I mentioned above, I pretty much carve, cook, and skin everything.  However, I am now leaving guts behind because of the new wolf AI, which makes them more valuable from rabbits if I can find them in a peaceful place not serving as wolf bait.  Seems rude to kill the animal and move along without using it.  I leave huge piles of meat everywhere, that's a nice calorie source that never goes bad.  And I do like to have skins cured waiting for me in caves and buildings to repair my clothing.  Before 1.69, the wolf coat was my main exterior, along with rabbit hat and deer boots.  NOW, I am wearing the moose cloak for it's protection.  I dread the wait to cure THAT hide for a cloak repair.

- I maintain "well fed" 100% of the time.

- I carry crap as if I never know where I am going to spend my next night.  While this is a sound survival tactic, there are times where it's obvious I don't need to do it and could travel lighter.

- I strafe alot.  Is that slower than walking straight ahead?

- I don't use the radial, except for bedroll and charcoal.

- I rarely build a snow shelter, as cozy as they are.  I am mindful of wasting cloth.  If stuck in a blizzard, I find a wind block and tough it out next to a fire.  Speaking of which, has anyone been attacked by anything while in a snow shelter since EP?

- I extend the life of my fires with sticks, when not necessary, only to melt up more water so I can leave bottles everywhere.  Ask me how often those bottles come in handy. 🙄

- I continue to take risks with a health bar between 50-80%, and go about my business.  This, even though I've learned my lesson multiple times about being at full health.  I've died from wolf attacks I could've survived if I had just slept, drank the tea, or both.

That's enough for now.  Welcome to my head.  Sorry.

[MarrowStone]

A lot of these are me except waiting for stuff to cure and traveling at lower conditions. 

One thing I do is survive off of all manmade resources and spawned carcasses and only hunt when I need to, I have a pilgrim game where I've survived roughtly 200 days so far on just MT, BR, ML, FM, CH, and PV food (asides from a couple of stoned rabbits for some gloves) and I probably can hit 400 without looting any more regions. 

Do you fish by chance? It's something I hardly if ever do. 

[odizzido]

I will fish on occasion these days. I never used to, but it can be something to do while waiting for hides to cure so you can have warmer clothes for travel. 

[wizard03]

Have to agree, waiting for those hides to cure is a pain....Kinda dropped 2 bear skins on the run Im on, and hoping I can still use them when I get back.....If I get back. Pretty sure its been 5 days minimum, 8 days max, and while I could run straight to them and they will probably be ok, but still....its concerning if you just wasted two bears just cause you was bored.

[Grunt]

You're not alone.... 

It is nearly how I treat my survivor... 

Poor girl.... 

Knowing well that it's not a good idea going out at night just you can't sleep anymore.... 

[Dx421]

Quote

- As of 1.69, I avoid wolf contact if at all possible, even though I have 30 rounds with the revolver.  I do alot of crawling....this slows me down (and gets boring admittedly).  In the past, I could stay upright mostly, drop decoy, and haul ass to my destination.

I don't think the wolves are much worse than they were before. But some of the behavior is strange to say the least

Decoys are still a good option IMO. But you have to plan the drop with the new wolf pathing.

Once they take the bait the behavior is the same as it was the last few patchs - Wolf will trot away, typically in the opposite direction from the player. As long as that direction wasn't where you were trying to go it's an effective tactic. 

Keeping your eyes on the wolf and backing away from them still works. Running doesn't seem effective anymore unless you plan to jump off a cliff

[manolitode]

I wish I had your patience and made use of all available resources sounds like you'll be setting up an awesome endgame base with that much stuff. Not sure if you're looking for advice to leave stalker for interloper but it seems that you could get to know your maps better before moving on. Maximizing water output whenever there's a fire is the way to go (but not necessary on stalker), though leaving water and meat "everywhere" suggests that you aren't familiar with the easy/intermediate maps yet. I'd recommend leaving stuff where you know you'll return and explore all maps so that you can move on to endgame if you want to. As for radial, it's essential for setting up a quick fire if there's a wolf tailing you when you're in bad shape. If you're gonna take risks like going into hostile wildlife territory with limited health, please bring the flare gun. 

[JAFO]

On 12/30/2019 at 1:12 AM, manolitodeespana said:

As for radial, it's essential for setting up a quick fire if there's a wolf tailing you when you're in bad shape.

Not so. Just press the '4' key on your keyboard, and the fire lighting system pops up. (the one below the function keys, not the one on the numeric pad)

The 1, 2 & 3 keys also have uses.. I'll let you figure them out for yourself.

Edited December 31, 2019 by JAFO

[manolitode]

1 hour ago, JAFO said:

Not so. Just press the '4' key on your keyboard, and the fire lighting system pops up. (the one below the function keys, not the one on the numeric pad)

The 1, 2 & 3 keys also have uses.. I'll let you figure them out for yourself.

Sure thing, if you play on PC, though essential when you're on PS.

[JAFO]

19 minutes ago, manolitodeespana said:

Sure thing, if you play on PC, though essential when you're on PS.

Fair point.. though you could always connect a keyboard and mouse to your PS. <evil grin>

[monsieur_cronky]

1 hour ago, manolitodeespana said:

Sure thing, if you play on PC, though essential when you're on PS.

@manolitodeespana You can instantly bring up the fire interface by pressing left on the d-pad of a controller - at least that's what I do, using a PS4 controller, playing on PC. I'd be surprised if it wasn't the same controls on consoles. Do you know about this? 

The other arrows on the D-pad are useful shortcuts too - probably the same as what @JAFO said the 1-4 keys so on a keyboard.

[manolitode]

1 hour ago, monsieur_cronky said:

@manolitodeespana You can instantly bring up the fire interface by pressing left on the d-pad of a controller - at least that's what I do, using a PS4 controller, playing on PC. I'd be surprised if it wasn't the same controls on consoles. Do you know about this? 

The other arrows on the D-pad are useful shortcuts too - probably the same as what @JAFO said the 1-4 keys so on a keyboard.

I just tried it and you're right! Can't believe I didn't do that for 2 years  when I do use the d-pad for decoy. Could've saved me a longrun when wolves were still discouraged by fire.. oh well I love to learn.

Edited December 31, 2019 by manolitodeespana

[UpUpAway95]

I've played several different saves on the lower difficulties to beyond 300 days.  I'm not good at interloper where my average survival is still under a week. 

I'm not absolutely convinced that everything starts to degrade right away.  On one 500-day file (Pilgrim), I found 98% fisherman's sweaters (about 3 of them) on the summit of Timberwolf Mountain.  In that file, TWM was the last location I went to since my character's plan was to suicide by jumping off TWM on day 500.  On my most recent save (custom, low decay rate), the fisherman's sweater I found on the summit on Day 15 was at 22%.

Frankly, I think it's all just RNG... perhaps with the odds of ruined items being generated increasing as the days progress, but still with a chance of spawning in items in good condition.

Edited December 31, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[Daymo]

“Frankly, I think it's all just RNG”

I’m not sure about this. There is definitely some RNG involved but, different difficulties seem to equate to time since the disaster: pilgrim - days; interloper - months. The loot in a region seems to be generated when you first enter that region also. Start in TWM and immediately leave, then return on day 200 and you will find wrecked gear. Start in another area and visit TMW for the first time on day 200 and gear will be in better condition.

On the other hand, I could be talking nonsense, it’s a difficult thing to test. 😁

Edited December 31, 2019 by Daymo

[UpUpAway95]

17 minutes ago, Daymo said:

“Frankly, I think it's all just RNG”

I’m not sure about this. There is definitely some RNG involved but, different difficulties seem to equate to time since the disaster: pilgrim - days; interloper - months. The loot in a region seems to be generated when you first enter that region also. Start in TWM and immediately leave, then return on day 200 and you will find wrecked gear. Start in another area and visit TMW for the first time on day 200 and gear will be in better condition.

On the other hand, I could be talking nonsense, it’s a difficult thing to test. 😁

Except - I have found wrecked clothing on the first day I entered a new zone around day 50 on Pilgrim.  I have also tested it by looting houses once, noting the gear and condition and then exiting without generating a save and doing it a second time.  Generally, I get the same gear (that is, say, if the dresser yielded a thin sweater the first time, it will usually (not always) generate a thin sweater the second time)... but the condition is usually different... sometimes better and sometimes worse.  From what I've seen, it is random... or at the very least, mostly random.

ETA:  Of course, all these tests I've run regarding loot locations and condition are on lower difficulties since I don't survive long enough at the higher difficulties to complete such tests.

Edited December 31, 2019 by UpUpAway95

[Dan_]

Loot condition is random and recalculated from the game clock, meaning it doesn't matter if you first entered a region at day 200, the loot will degrade to day 200 according to game difficulty. Game difficulty affect decay rate greatly(Stalker has the base decay rate, items degrade 80% as fast on Voyageur, 25% as fast in Pilgrim and 200% as fast in Loper), so if you take too much time to explore other regions, is nearly guaranteed you won't find much food in containers since it'll have rotten away and vanished, you'll find loose food items though.

In regards to the OP, I do a lot of these myself, there's nothing wrong in playing the game the way you want to play. If anything, it makes the experience a lot more personal and enjoyable when you can roleplay a bit and impose your own limitations or rules to the game. My pet peeve is to use a fire to it's fullest, I always leave perfectly aligned bottles of water...everywhere. I'll also always take advantage of a maglens fire opportunity, even if I only boil a few liters of water. A free fire is a free fire, or so they say!

[UpUpAway95]

2 minutes ago, Dan_ said:

Loot condition is random and recalculated from the game clock, meaning it doesn't matter if you first entered a region at day 200, the loot will degrade to day 200 according to game difficulty. Game difficulty affect decay rate greatly(Stalker has the base decay rate, items degrade 80% as fast on Voyageur, 25% as fast in Pilgrim and 200% as fast in Loper), so if you take too much time to explore other regions, is nearly guaranteed you won't find much food in containers since it'll have rotten away and vanished, you'll find loose food items though.

In regards to the OP, I do a lot of these myself, there's nothing wrong in playing the game the way you want to play. If anything, it makes the experience a lot more personal and enjoyable when you can roleplay a bit and impose your own limitations or rules to the game. My pet peeve is to use a fire to it's fullest, I always leave perfectly aligned bottles of water...everywhere. I'll also always take advantage of a maglens fire opportunity, even if I only boil a few liters of water. A free fire is a free fire, or so they say!

Then, how is it possible for me to have found 98% condition fisherman's sweaters on the summit of TWM when I first entered the zone around day 400 of a 500-day run and summitted, as I recall, somewhere around day 450 of that run?  Even in Pilgrim mode and if the sweaters spawned in at 100%, they should have decayed by more than 2% if the game clock was calculating that decay at 25% of the stalker rate to day 400 of the run. 

How is it possible, also, late in the run to loot the same house twice (by doing a bit of a save scum as a test) and get ragged condition the first time and new condition the second time?

I've been running these sorts of tests since I began playing the game... many, many Pilgrim starts and custom Pilgrim-like starts.  The results I'm seeing are just not consistent... indicative of some sort of randomizing factor.  I don't have the means or the wherewithal to data mine the code.  I don't know if it's intended or a bug.  These are just the results I'm seeing after many, many repeated tests.

[Dan_]

42 minutes ago, UpUpAway95 said:

Then, how is it possible for me to have found 98% condition fisherman's sweaters on the summit of TWM when I first entered the zone around day 400 of a 500-day run and summitted, as I recall, somewhere around day 450 of that run? 

Interesting, may I ask when exactly were these tests done?

Loot decay has been changed since, it really used to be that decay was started when you first entered a zone, not the case since pretty much 2 years ago. My 550 day interloper has found no food in containers at Bleak Inlet, anedoctal, but falls more in line with the curent state of the game I'd say. Granted, I did not loot the region entirely, yet. 

Edited December 31, 2019 by Dan_

[UpUpAway95]

14 minutes ago, Dan_ said:

Interesting, may I ask when exactly were these tests done?

Loot decay has been changed since, it really used to be that decay was started when you first entered a zone, not the case since pretty much 2 years ago. My 550 day interloper has found no food in containers at Bleak Inlet, anedoctal, but falls more in line with the curent state of the game I'd say. Granted, I did not loot the region entirely, yet. 

I started doing "loot tests" in earnest when the revolver was introduced since I and another poster noticed that the revolver was not spawning at the same frequency as the rifle (which Raph said, at the time, should be the case).  I did multiple starts in different regions and fully cleared those regions making notes of the loot.  I've continued noting such things for every start since then... and I always restart whenever there is an update or a hotfix.  (I'm retired and somewhat housebound these days... so I play a lot  and have accumulated a lot of hours in this game... mostly at easier difficulties levels though since I am not a skilled player when it comes to wolves and other predators.)  I've also always ended my saves at 500 days... just not interested in trying to go beyond that mark.

[Dan_]

Hum, then your data might be more accurate than mine, I'll concede. The only difference is that loper has custom loot tables that take out many first necessity tools and place them in static spawn locations, that might suggest there are different mechanics involved than the other game modes. My experience with this is mostly empirical, though I'll admit I barely played any other difficulty other than loper since I've started playing ( TWM update, late 2015 ). 

I have another well lived character that still has to loot BI, I might just document the stuff that he finds and see if it differs from a fresh new spawned character.