Anyone else noticed these "weird mechanics"?


AdamvR

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I'm not sure if any of these are real, or just my perception - curious if anyone also experienced them. have not tested them:
1) shooting an animal, but not tracking it down triggers blizzard
To me it seems it almost always triggers a blizzard, latest by nightfall (kind of like a built-in karma against "vanton destruction of wildlife"...)

2) half-harvested carcasses take longer to respawn
a non-harvested or fully harvested carcass seems to disappear quicker, and triggers respawn, than if at least a small piece is cut out of them. I try to carve out a small piece of meat from wolves (takes a few mins only), even if I do not need it - so I have a bit more peace until they swarm again...

3) walking backwards against the wind/blizzard appears quicker, than forward.
(not recommended near cliffs, but no danger from animals as they de-spawn in blizzard)

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Fascinating! Thank you!

I think I may have noticed the first one!  Second looks interesting! I should observe! Usually skin and gut I take because both can be used for crafting, but meat I stay away from because parasite risk.

Third one hmm, does a bear respawn too? Because that's the one I'm most concerned with, but sounds pretty neat. Next time I get unfortunate enough to be stuck outside during blizzard in known location, I will try!

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The northern lights work similarly to these examples. 

I tried, and it always has been. 

One day I went to the gloomy bay factory to make bullets. -I wonder what the bullet table was doing in a fishing factory- he told me to go to the radio tower, so I clicked on the number console on the door before I left. Then I climbed the rope the way I came out of the factory and went to the tower and I got some of my stuff. After some maintenance of my belongings in the tower, the northern lights appeared at night. 

I said, "Good luck." I don't go out at night, especially when there are northern lights. Then I went on the forum and read that it would take 4 days for a northern light to appear. It's been over four days, but I still haven't had a bright night. 

I said, "If I press the button on the way to the tower and the northern lights appear when I leave the area, if I do the same again, I can catch the northern lights." 

I did what I said and waited for the night in the trailers on the right. - give your back to the factory and those on the left - and The northern lights came up at night.  I felt so smart for a moment. I always have been, but it's different😉 Try this so we can know it's true, but it's a twice-hired idea. 

I don't know why you write bold. There may be a sense disorder in some places. Please excuse me. I need to improve my English. Until then, I'm going to use a program. 

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I thought the aurora is coming up random, with different probability in different regions. 
Also thought that the probability is somewhat increased "on purpose" when you are at certain places where you do need it, to give you a better gaming experience, such as the mine on CH (I only needed to wait one day to get out), or inside the factory on BI (I think i got an aurora almost every night, while being near or inside) - but seeing others' comments I might only have gotten lucky there.

I was not sure I got your reference: which buttons are you mentioning you think you have to press to "guarantee" an aurora in the Bleak Inlet? up the hill with the radio tower where you find the entry code for the first time? (I'm not sure what button is there) or the keypad next to the door of the factory where you enter the code?

[right above where you type this message, there are buttons for formatting, you can change it to bold, italic, or add links, etc. may have pressed it by accident]

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The keypad by the door. I came from the tower because he was going to ask for a Password there, but when I first went, there was no Password in the tower. Then I went down and pressed the keypad at the factory and went back to the tower. I wonder who put the code there. I spent the night there, and here's the bright sky. S

I did it somewhere else, but I don't remember. 

After I got the code, I slept in front of the Tul team for four days and four nights. But nothing happened. So I left the factory and went to the trailers and the bright skies again at night. I ran to the door (luckily I had slaughtered wolves. I'm sorry about those wolves.) And the night after we went in, there were northern lights. And after I did 100-something rounds, I left. Try this in another region. But I have no idea what's going on except for events like this. 

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14 hours ago, AdamvR said:

Also thought that the probability is somewhat increased "on purpose" when you are at certain places where you do need it, to give you a better gaming experience, such as the mine on CH (I only needed to wait one day to get out), or inside the factory on BI (I think i got an aurora almost every night, while being near or inside) - but seeing others' comments I might only have gotten lucky there.

I was thinking the same, since on my Voyager run I had the same experience. Almost every night was an aurora in Bleak Inlet. On my current Stalker run I am trying to get buffer memories and it’s taking forever to get auroras in TWM and PV

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/14/2021 at 9:50 PM, AdamvR said:

I'm not sure if any of these are real, or just my perception - curious if anyone also experienced them. have not tested them:
1) shooting an animal, but not tracking it down triggers blizzard
To me it seems it almost always triggers a blizzard, latest by nightfall (kind of like a built-in karma against "vanton destruction of wildlife"...)

2) half-harvested carcasses take longer to respawn
a non-harvested or fully harvested carcass seems to disappear quicker, and triggers respawn, than if at least a small piece is cut out of them. I try to carve out a small piece of meat from wolves (takes a few mins only), even if I do not need it - so I have a bit more peace until they swarm again...

3) walking backwards against the wind/blizzard appears quicker, than forward.
(not recommended near cliffs, but no danger from animals as they de-spawn in blizzard)

1.  I can't confirm this, but I would hope it's just RNG.
2. Once again, can't confirm this, but I believe it's true.  When I know I'll be in a area for an extended amount of time, I will intentionally leave wolf carcasses un-harvested so as to slow down the respawn of the pest.
3. Even if it were true, probably not something I would do :)

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1. I have killed lots of animals where I had not even touched their carcasses and I can quite reasonably say that blizzards dont react to this. Blizzards have a chance to form under certain weather conditions - cloudy & windy. Since those conditions are up there most of the time, blizzards can form quite often. It seems to be more often when the wind is strong to begin with. You can also note a change in weather when you notice the flock of three crows, flying in a certain direction. That is one of the visual clues to an incoming change in weather, usually for the worse. 

2. I am willing to bet this might be the case. It would make sense since untouched carcasses are usually the ones that are "lost" or unwanted for some reason. Im not sure it influences the respawn rate, but the carcass is probably gonna dissapear faster. What I can say with reasonable assurance is that in TLD, the first few hours of carcass in game causes the most degradation, then it slows down at lower conditions. Some people also believe it depends on what items are left on the animal - that a carcass with no meat lasts longer. I admit this might be the case.

3. Its actually slower but not by a lot. The reason it will appear as faster is because there is no slowdown to moving backwards against the wind. There is one when going face-front. But the slowdown is less impactful then going backwards. Put two items in some distance from each other, and measure it in time. You should see that walking face-first is a bit faster but not by a lot. Keep in mind fatique and number of gear also influences speed. Also, considering walking backwards means you arent mindful of surroundings, I wouldnt reccomend it either. 

On the topic of aurorae - while the effect is random, some regions have increased likelihood of certain weather effects. This is common to see in Bleak Inlet and in Pleasant valley - BI has increased aurora chance, PV has increased blizzard chance since the E3 came out in Story mode and the region got overhauled. Other then that, Mystery lake tends to have higher chance for pleasant weather, Forlorn Muskeg tends to get more often foggy. Dont think its triggered by finding the note or clicking the button pad. I seem to often get the aurora in the first two night since coming to Bleak Inlet but Im sure thats cause of region RNG. Also aurora is not whole-night event so there is a possibility for one to form even for just hour or two here and there. Usually it lasts few hours though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks all for your comments and sharing your (even different) experience!
These help rethink some long held beliefs:)

Inspired by the comments I did some tests in the meantime:

1) shooting triggers a blizzard: I've been spending a lot of time in BI lately, and there it does not seem to be the case. I'm not yet sure whether other weather elements overwrite this (i.e. BI is often sunny, to ensure the high probability of Aurora), or simply it was a misconception (as @Mroz4k suggests). I am already sure, that it is not a definite trigger, but not sure if it does not impact the probability. I have some testing in mind, but it would need more time - might come back on this later.

2) Animal carcass disappearing speed based on harvesting. I tested it:

  • the carcass that you fully harvest disappears in a few hours at most in game time.
  • the non-harvested or half-harvested carcasses seem to take the ~same time to disappear. Based on timberwolves shot within seconds and few meters from each other, one partially harvested, the other untouched, both disappeared around day 4 or 5 after shooting them down. (I was only checking on them once a day, not standing by) It might still be the case for carcasses I do not even look up, but that seems untestable to me...

3) walking backwards against wind. I still believe it can be slightly faster, than head-on, and I think Mroz4k's explanation might likely be correct.
I would add, that going forward in zigzag is also faster than head on into the wind, so might not need to go backwards, just for the sake.
I'd disagree though, that it is per definition a "less mindful approach about the surroundings": the very way how I found it is based on how I often move around in areas with lots of potential danger sources (e.g. FM): a quick 90 degrees turn with the mouse and at the same time switching to walk sideways, then the same, and walking backwards, etc. This way you can keep moving and looking around at the same time. Especially useful, when a growling sound is following you, and you'd like to check it (them?) out, without stopping. (for sure, only walking backwards, without turning every once in a while is not the safest bet;-))

4) after spending quite some time in BI, I would also agree, that aurora has nothing to do with the button being pressed, but in general (much) more likely in this region. both when you are on the pier, but also when you are on the shelf with the radio tower. I got it every ~2 days on average (not actually counted, just a feel after a couple weeks there)

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Item 1:  Not harvesting triggers blizzard... Blizzard frequency is a setting that is adjustable in the custom menu and that setting changes depending on the standard difficulty mode you're playing.  Therefore, I would expect that this doesn't hold true in all difficulty levels, although at higher difficulties it may seem that way.

Item 2:  This does not hold true for the prop "ravaged" deer.  These carcasses will stay forever unless the player opens the UI to view how much meat  is one them.  This, however, does hold true for deer and rabbits killed by wolves during the game (where the player has scared the wolf off its kill).  If left unharvested, they will despawn within a few short hours.  However, if a bit of meat is taken by the player, the animal will despawn at a rate closer to that of animals shot by the player.  Otherwise, animals shot by the player, AFAIK, despawn at a fairly consistent rate... allowing about 4 days for them to be found and harvested... but I've never gone looking for anials I've killed and partially harvested after 4 days, so I don't know really if partially harvesting slows down that process or not.by wolves.

Item 3:  I don't walk backwards in TLD (faster or not).  I wouldn't walk to back into a moose or bear.  During blizzards, I generally head towards places where I will be most sheltered from the direction of the wind.  This may mean altering my intended destination.

Item 4:  As with blizzards, aurora frequency is an adjustable setting in the custom menu and is different in different standard difficulty modes.

Edited by UpUpAway95
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