Stuck in a cave

[Bolshoy_YX]

Stuck in a cave with an elevator. Got claustrophobic.  I cannot speed up time.  I cannot save the game.  I have to spend real time, not game time.  We need to do something about it.

[ajb1978]

That would be the Cinder Hills Coal Mine, lower portion, after taking the elevator up to the middle portion.  And yep, if the aurora has stopped, you are trapped until the next one.  There is a little bit of food to be found down there, and the recycled cans can be used on the fire barrel to boil water.  But apart from that, you are stuck until the next aurora.

If you have Cabin Fever and can't sleep or pass time, you can sort of force the system to pass time by harvesting your coat or boots and hitting Esc to cancel before the harvest is complete.  Each instance will pass about an hour of time.  It's tedious, but faster than waiting 2 real hours for a day to pass.

It's entirely possible, likely even, that you'll die down there though.  Aurorae happen about once a week on average, so the odds aren't in your favor.  You can go several days without sleep, but not a full week.

[Bolshoy_YX]

Thank you for your advice.  I survived!  The aurora began that very night.

[ajb1978]

5 hours ago, Bolshoy_YX said:

Thank you for your advice.  I survived!  The aurora began that very night.

Now that is a stroke of luck!

[Glflegolas]

You can keep making water in the mine if you can start a fire (there's plenty of coal to sustain it), but food will be an issue. Before exploring the mine, I would suggest bringing a bedroll and a stout stockpile of food, and making sure your cabin fever risk is as low as possible. One way to ensure that is to explore the mine within the first 25 days (50 on Voyageur) of arriving.