I found Interloper extremely difficult.

[peteloud]

In the past week I have tried playing at Interloper level.  I have found it extremely difficult, and not enjoyable.  I have managed to survive to around 30 days but only after slipping into the long dark a great many times.  Fortunately I backed up my saves, restored a good save and continued. Yet I have often read postings from people who say it is easy and claim many very long runs in Interloper.  I am a very experienced player at Stalker and Voyager level with thousands of game days and thousands of hours played.  Why is it that I find it so difficult and some others claim they find it so easy?

I am coming to the conclusion that these people who find it easy must have edited the save file to give themselves warm clothing, good tools, skills etc. and used Fandom or other spoiler webpages/forums to tell them what strategy to use and where to go to find essential resources. Although familiar with the maps the only Interloper pre-information that I had was that there are no guns in Interloper.

Has anyone played a straight Interloper game, without the benefits of editing their save file and no pre-information from spoiler webpages/forums to tell them what strategy to follow, where to go to find essential resources and survived past, 50 days?

Edited February 25, 2021 by peteloud

[starlin]

Wow, conspiracy theory much? Interloper success is a combination of luck and extensive knowledge of where things tend to spawn. You wouldn't need to edit a save game to do that..... But it is incredibly obvious why meta gamers would be so efficient at it.

Secondly..... why exactly are we protesting this? Was there some kind of leaderboard scandal going on?

[peteloud]

What is a "meta gamer" ?

 

"Was there some kind of leaderboard scandal going on?"

Not that I have noticed.

[Luca Loquax]

I know what you mean.  I played Interloper until I was able to get my 30 badge and called it a 'win'.

Mad respect to those who can survive on Interloper indefinitely.

[Dr. S.]

3 hours ago, peteloud said:

Has anyone played a straight Interloper game, without the benefits of editing their save file and no pre-information from spoiler webpages/forums to tell them what strategy to follow, where to go to find essential resources and survived past, 50 days?

Yes. I didn't start playing interloper seriously until I had good map knowledge from surviving 300+ days on voyager, but other than that I survive on interloper without external help. Of course it was very hard at first, I died many times after just a few days. But my current run is on day 400 or so, going for the 500 day achievement. (But I have played much recently, playing for EU 4.)

You don't say why you're not progressing and why you find interloper so hard, so I can't say what's going on in your games or why you've come to this conclusion. The main difference to me about interloper compared to voyageur (can't comment on stalker; I've only played about 5 in-game days on stalker) is that you have to accept certain very stringent constraints on your behavior. In particular, you have to keep moving in the early game; you can't really stay in one region for very long; there's just not enough food or loot. I don't stay in my starting region for more than a night or two before moving on. Loot and move to a new region. Keep doing that until you have the materials to forge. Once you have weapons, you can think about settling down a bit.

But if you keep moving, can avoid wolves and manage the cold, you can survive on most interloper starts.

Now whether you find that fun is a completely different thing.

 

[ManicManiac]

Interloper can take a lot of patience, practice, more advanced player strategies, and it's a must to constantly play close attention (even more so than the other difficulties).  However, it's not impossible and does not require cheating to have a successful run. 

Interloper isn't necessarily going to be fun for everyone.  That's why we have 4 standard difficulties... and even the ability to create our own custom made difficulties.  The point here is... if a player does not find it fun, they don't have to play at that difficulty.

The other thing I will point out: having thousands of hours in Voyager and Stalker is great... but Interloper is a whole other level (that's why it's a separate difficulty).  Being good at Stalker is no guarantee that a player would be able to hit the ground running in Interloper.  In interloper the world gets colder, wildlife becomes more scarce, resources in general are more scarce, and the top tier clothing is simply not available (nor are rifles, revolvers,  hunting knives, or axes).  All this drastically changes how a player needs to tackle the challenge of survival on Great Bear Island.

In terms of other players finding it easy... it's mostly because it's what they've gotten used to.  If a player is coming into Interloper expecting it to play like Voyager or Stalker, they will be in for a shock.  There are many folks in the "Strictly 'Loper" crowd... players who (for whatever personal reason) only want to play on Interloper, or use custom settings to make it even harder than Interloper (hence the "Deadman" challenge - which was then adapted by Hinterland into the As the Dead Sleep challenge mode).  So many of those folks who come onto the forums to talk about how easy Interloper is... well that's likely because they've put in the time to get really proficient at playing in those more extreme conditions.

Edited February 25, 2021 by ManicManiac

[Pillock]

@peteloud

I'm certainly no great expert at playing Interloper - my longest survival is probably about the same as your 30 day run. And I think that's pretty good. I don't like Interloper and I haven't played it since Custom games became available.

What I will say about it from my fairly limited experience is that it feels much more formulaic than the other modes. I think of it more like a Challenge Mode than a true survival mode: it presents a particular set of problems and solutions that are different from playing on the other survival modes, and with that it is much more restricted and less varied than the other modes as well.

You have to know the maps extremely well, you have to know where the spawn points of important loot are, you have to know how the survival mechanics work very well, and you have to game them, exploit them, min/max as much as possible in order to succeed. There isn't a lot of room for improvisation - you have to just know what you're doing, where you're going, and what's likely to be there when you arrive. Eg. loot item X will be at location a, b or c on this map; if X isn't at a, then item Y or Z will be, and item X will be at location b or c. That kind of thing.

That only comes either from bitter experience (lots of deaths and restarts) or from using out-of-game help like guides, wikis and maps. Or possibly a bit of both.

I don't find that fun, particularly, and it doesn't sound like you do, either. I wouldn't worry about it. I'd recommend experimenting with the Custom game settings so that you can make the game much more challenging than Stalker (more challenging than Interloper in some aspects, if you like), but in a way that suits how you want to play. That's what I do, anyway.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Pillock

[Serenity]

Interloper is only truly difficult at the beginning when you don't have anything. And especially for the first few days. But once you got your tools and bow things get a lot easier. Once you are established and have a routine it's quite enjoyable and not actually a constant struggle for survival. At day 50 you shouldn't really be struggling much. By that time you can have at least one wolf skin coat, plus all the other animal clothing. With that you can even be decently warm in the late afternoon (meaning one or two arrows down).

Sure, Interloper requires a lot of map knowledge and going in  blind is very different. But that's not a bad thing. In all games you eventually figure out the optimal way to do things and then tend to stick to that. But aside from knowing routes and loot locations you don't have to cheese anything. You don't even have to memorize the loot tables completely. I certainly don't and I know others who don't either. Just knowing possible spawns for certain items is fine. If something isn't there you can look elsewhere. Given that the game contains several several hacksaws, hammers, bedrolls, etc. there is no need to go to extreme lengths to obtain them. On lower difficulties you don't have to know where loot is, but you certainly know where to go to get where you want. Eventually you stop exploring too.

[Dr. S.]

21 minutes ago, Pillock said:

[Y]ou have to know where the spawn points of important loot are, ... Eg. loot item X will be at location a, b or c on this map; if X isn't at a, then item Y or Z will be, and item X will be at location b or c. That kind of thing.

I agree with a lot of @Pillock wrote, but this bit is not true at all; it's a myth. You can absolutely survive playing interloper without this kind of specific knowledge about tool spawn points. If you look in the main locations you will inevitably find what you need before too long without hunting in a specific location for a specific item. And you certainly don't need to know the correlations.

Like, I'm sure I've found a heavy hammer on occasion in the Carter Hydro Dam (big surprise), and I think I've found the hacksaw in the basement of the PV Farmhouse, but beyond that I can't remember where else I've found these items; it's just not that big of a deal.

As I've said before in other threads, I think the game would be more interesting if the spawn points were more randomized, on all levels.

[Pillock]

5 minutes ago, Dr. S. said:

I think the game would be more interesting if the spawn points were more randomized, on all levels.

Well, they are a bit more randomized on the other levels, or if you use the custom settings. That's mostly why I prefer it.

I would wager that most, even very experienced, Interloper players, if they started a new game on a new map that they'd never played on before, would die pretty quickly, purely because they don't know where stuff is. The game doesn't give you a chance to live by your wits in Interloper - if you don't know where you are or where you're going, you just die! I prefer to be able to explore an unfamiliar place for the first time, knowing that I have a chance to survive if I make good decisions based on the current needs of my character, even if I have no idea where I am.

In Interloper, a good survival decision is based not so much on the current needs of your character, but far more on prior knowledge of the map and it's loot locations. Indeed, you often have to sacrifice the current needs of your character, like warmth and hunger, and deliberately take damage in order to get where you want to go (safe in the knowledge that you can recover all that lost condition with a couple of chocolate bars and a good night's sleep!). You have to explore a new place in the full knowledge that you will die doing so, in order to learn where things are and thereby do better next time. Death by death, you accumulate map knowledge that enables you to plan better for your next life.  That all just feels really unnatural to me!

I think you accept Interloper for what it is - a restricted, chopped down version of the complete game with fixed constraints on your behaviour - or else you leave it well alone!

 

P.S.
Sorry if this sounded like a bit of a rant, but I just can't enjoy playing Interloper mode! The Custom mode was an absolute God-send when it was added to the game, and I wouldn't probably still be playing TLD after all these years, were it not for that. (Still loving playing it, by the way!)

[Dr. S.]

15 minutes ago, Pillock said:

Well, they are a bit more randomized on the other levels, or if you use the custom settings. That's mostly why I prefer it.

I would wager that most, even very experienced, Interloper players, if they started a new game on a new map that they'd never played on before, would die pretty quickly, purely because they don't know where stuff is.

The important map knowledge for interloper is where the shelters are, not what's in the shelters. I absolutely agree that you need to know where the shelters are to survive on interloper. You can't wander for long without a specific destination, it's true.

But that's different than needing to know where tools are. For example, I'm confident I could survive to day 50 on interloper (assuming I survive Day 1, which is the most dangerous) without ever picking up a heavy hammer or hacksaw, just living off of found food, cattails, rabbits, etc. Having a bow, knife, and hatchet make things easier, but they're not requirements for immediate survival.

And while it's true that interloper is limited in many ways, in other ways it encourages the player to explore parts of the game that other levels don't. When I played voyageur, I never ate cattails or made rose hip or reshi tea; they just aren't necessary. But they're vital in early-game interloper. So those limitations pushed me in directions I wouldn't have followed otherwise.

 

[Pillock]

5 minutes ago, Dr. S. said:

The important map knowledge for interloper is where the shelters are, not what's in the shelters. I absolutely agree that you need to know where the shelters are to survive on interloper. You can't wander for long without a specific destination, it's true.

But that's different than needing to know where tools are.

Really? Well, I stand corrected then.

But matches, though? You can't wander (or live!) for long without finding matches, surely. They are in pretty specific places in my experience of Interloper. Is that not right?

[darkscaryforest]

9 hours ago, peteloud said:

In the past week I have tried playing at Interloper level.  I have found it extremely difficult, and not enjoyable.  I have managed to survive to around 30 days but only after slipping into the long dark a great many times.  Fortunately I backed up my saves, restored a good save and continued. Yet I have often read postings from people who say it is easy and claim many very long runs in Interloper.  I am a very experienced player at Stalker and Voyager level with thousands of game days and thousands of hours played.  Why is it that I find it so difficult and some others claim they find it so easy?

I am coming to the conclusion that these people who find it easy must have edited the save file to give themselves warm clothing, good tools, skills etc. and used Fandom or other spoiler webpages/forums to tell them what strategy to use and where to go to find essential resources. Although familiar with the maps the only Interloper pre-information that I had was that there are no guns in Interloper.

Has anyone played a straight Interloper game, without the benefits of editing their save file and no pre-information from spoiler webpages/forums to tell them what strategy to follow, where to go to find essential resources and survived past, 50 days?

I'm willing to bet you learned so much in getting that save to 30 days that if you were to start over you'd do much better. Especially if you mull over questions like
"what proved fruitless in my last run? or what can I make more efficient about my routines?"

I bet it would be difficult, but not as much as you first found it. Rinse and repeat that, and suddenly it's not difficult. The real question is, is it worth it to you to grind out that experience?

Edited February 25, 2021 by darkscaryforest

[Serenity]

4 minutes ago, Pillock said:

But matches, though? You can't wander (or live!) for long without finding matches, surely. They are in pretty specific places in my experience of Interloper. Is that not right?

Depends on the map. ML is the only really problematic one for matches. Elsewhere if you search the major locations you'll usually find some eventually.

Matches on Interloper aren't even as rare as it sometimes said. There is still plenty. You can even be somewhat wasteful with them. It's just not the ridiculous amount you have even on Stalker.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Serenity

[Dr. S.]

1 hour ago, Pillock said:

But matches, though? You can't wander (or live!) for long without finding matches, surely. They are in pretty specific places in my experience of Interloper. Is that not right?

That's true, matches are my second priority on a new interloper run, after getting to a location where I can warm up. (But note that you can get by for a few days if you find a flare, even if you don't find matches right away. And some caves can be navigated in the dark, in daytime at least.) And it's also true that some matches are in specific locations in interloper. I think that's unfortunate and the locations should be more randomized.

But those locations are mostly pretty logical (and I would expect them to be, even if they were more random), and are places you're going to visit anyway. One is the mountaineer's hut in TWM. Let's say that Hinterland switched things up in the next release and made the match locations in interloper more random. And suppose I start a run in TWM and go to the hut and there are no matches. Then what? Well, I'd probably leave TWM and head to the abandoned prepper's cache, then to the PV farmhouse, stopping at skeeter's or burnt ridge cave, as well as draft dodgers on the way. Unless I started at night, I can probably hit all those in the first day, even accounting for killing time while warming up. So that's five or six locations searched on the first day. If I don't find matches at any of those locations, I can search the outbuildings and Thompson's crossing the next day, etc. If there are matches at any of the main locations in PV, I can probably find them. As @Serenity says, they're not that uncommon.

Oh, and I should add you don't even need matches immediately if you can get to a region that has toilets.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Dr. S.

[Pillock]

43 minutes ago, Dr. S. said:

suppose I start a run in TWM and go to the hut and there are no matches. Then what? Well, I'd probably leave TWM and head to the abandoned prepper's cache, then to the PV farmhouse, stopping at skeeter's or burnt ridge cave, as well as draft dodgers on the way. Unless I started at night, I can probably hit all those in the first day, even accounting for killing time while warming up. So that's five or six locations searched on the first day. If I don't find matches at any of those locations, I can search the outbuildings and Thompson's crossing the next day, etc. If there are matches at any of the main locations in PV, I can probably find them.

Yes - because you know where they are. That's my point, really.

If you start on TWM you will go to the hut for matches, because you know where the hut is relative to anywhere that you spawn, and you know that there are matches there. If you didn't have countless hours of experience playing Interloper on TWM, you wouldn't know that there are always matches there, and if you didn't know the map all that well you might not even be able to find the hut in the first place.

I know that is the case to an extent in all the pre-set Experience Modes, but it is extremely the case in Interloper! In other modes, the loot locations are not as fixed (but there is more loot overall). There are always matches in the PV farmhouse basement on Interloper, but not always on other modes (but there's a shedload of other stuff there that isn't going to be there in Interloper, granted!).

My main gripes with Interloper are that it feels formulaic and restrictive compared to the other modes, it forces you to experiment by dying until you know where to go (and not to go) for particular items, it compels you into doing counter-intuitive things like deliberate starvation and freezing, and it removes several items and aspects from the gameplay altogether. To me it doesn't feel like a survival experience, it feels like a videogame with artificial rules.

My original point was to reassure the OP that he doesn't need to play Interloper if he's wants a new challenge after mastering the other Experience Modes. The pre-set modes are great for exchanging stories and strategies with other players, because they give you a common reference point. But that's the only advantage to them once you're familiar with the game, because the Custom settings allow players to set the game up however they like (more or less), and the OP should probably do that instead of punishing himself on a mode that he isn't enjoying, and possibly isn't ever going to enjoy.

[Dr. S.]

1 hour ago, Pillock said:

Yes - because you know where they are. That's my point, really. 

No. I don’t go to the hut because there are matches there; I would go there first even if there were no matches. I go there because (in order of importance)

1.  It has a bed where I can warm up and rest if necessary. 
 

2. It’s on the way to more civilized regions. 
 

3. The lake is a good place to collect cattails and possibly rabbits.

4. I know I’ll probably find something useful there; what it is specifically is not so important. 
 

[mfuegemann]

For me my (short) Interloper tries helped me a lot to be more aware in Stalker. Just things like the use of torches and flares to start fires or eating cattails and even the handling of malnutrition and recovering during sleep have been helpful on lower difficulties too.

And to be honest, intimate map knowledge is helping on Stalker and Voyager too.

[peteloud]

The importance of map knowledge has been mentioned a few times.  I am very familiar with the maps.  I completed the Faithful Cartographer challenge twice. First a couple of years ago and again after BI was added.  I usually make a point of completing all the charcoal maps in the games so that I have no, or negligible, black patches on the maps.  So lack of map knowledge should not be my problem.  I have have completed more than 4,000 game days at Stalker or Voyager level so I don't lack experience. 

It seems to me that in order to survive in Interloper you need experience in reading spoiler websites telling you where to find warm clothes and equipment, and/or editing your save file. It is an exercise in cheating, not survival.

 

[Serenity]

2 hours ago, peteloud said:

It seems to me that in order to survive in Interloper you need experience in reading spoiler websites telling you where to find warm clothes and equipment, and/or editing your save file. It is an exercise in cheating, not survival

Just stop it already. Repeating this nonsense doesn't make it any more true

Clothing spawns aren't even guaranteed. The only items that are on something like loot tables are combat pants and ear wraps. And you can do without them. The rest you just find with regular looting.

The same way you will eventually find tools even if you don't know their exact locations. As already explained most heavy hammers or hacksaws are in places you'd check out anyways. Getting them a bit earlier maybe doesn't actually help your immediate survival. They just speed up getting to crafting things. Until then you can survive on found food and cat tails. Getting a bedroll sooner certainly helps, but there too it's not needed right away.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Serenity

[hozz1235]

I'm in the same boat with @peteloud in that I loper is not enjoyable to me.  Yes, I have played it, but it doesn't suit my playstyle and what aspects of the game I get enjoyment from.  I think one reason you may find it difficult, is because of this.  You have grown used to a certain playstyle and you would have to alter that dramatically to be successful at surviving loper.  I don't particularly think it requires more skill, just much more patience, which I don't tend to have much of in the game.

[Ahatch]

The toughest part of interloper after surviving that first 30 days is just getting around the maps due to the cold weather. Once you have your bow and arrows and you get some decent cloths made the weather is still just a huge factor. You have to kind of plan out your movements on the map to avoid too much condition loss. So things like exploring which you do a fair bit  more in Voyageur since it's a bit for forgiving. So for example I'm on a 250 days into an interloper run on good ol Pleasant Valley. I started my run here way back when on Three Strikes Farmstead but couldn't loot saplings back then. Now I want to go back there and loot it and I'm staying in the barn near the farm house I have to cross the open field and pass the outbuilding over the bridge. I may have to deal with wolves in the orchard or near that deer carcus in the hay shed just to get there. So I need decent weather and maybe drink a hot tea but there's a chance a blizzard is going to roll in at any time and I'll be way out there with not much warm shelters near by. So I have to make sure I'm carrying a bunch of sticks and maybe a piece of coal in case I have to hold up in a place out of the wind. If I want to map the region then I'm going to take additional damage. Whether I like it not making it back there I might come back with a couple saplings but 20% condition as well. If you play a safe game of interloper once you have all your supplies you need it's really no different than Voyageur just you have no guns and it's cold. 

[Pillock]

On 2/26/2021 at 3:20 AM, peteloud said:

I usually make a point of completing all the charcoal maps in the games so that I have no, or negligible, black patches on the maps.  So lack of map knowledge should not be my problem.  I have have completed more than 4,000 game days at Stalker or Voyager level so I don't lack experience. 

It seems to me that in order to survive in Interloper you need experience in reading spoiler websites telling you where to find warm clothes and equipment, and/or editing your save file. It is an exercise in cheating, not survival.

You don't have to read spoiler websites or edit your save in order to do well at Interloper. You have to play differently.

You have to run around the main locations where loot will spawn, taking freezing and hunger damage while you do it, and then regain as much as you can with long sleeps. Push the survival mechanics to the limits in order to be as efficient as possible, and keep moving until you have good enough gear to relax and settle down a bit. Apparently that takes upwards of 30 days - maybe more like 50.

I don't like playing like that, and I've never made it that far. But give it a try - you might find it rewarding in the end. But if you don't enjoy it or you don't have the patience to die over and over again while you get used to it, then don't play it. I don't. There are plenty of other options for making the game challenging without the constraints that Interloper puts on you.

[tulkawen]

🤣 I found some of the  OP statements hilarious. 🤣

Interloper players enjoy this mode precisely because they have very limited resources and they must craft vital resources, not be given them. Giving yourself whole bunch of stuff at the start would be the opposite of what you wanted.

I can share my personal preferences why I like Loper or something similar to it - btw the BEST game mode is CUSTOM.

I've noticed that I enjoy mobility and get bored very quickly once I have all the stuff and can afford to hole up in one of the 'base' locations and stay there safely. Loper prompts you to keep moving to keep living.

 Starting with nothing, gives me a lot of early goals that keep me busy at least for a month. Starting - must find a fire source/water quick, must find a bedroll, must find clever ways to cover long distances while I don't have the bedroll. Must find hacksaw, prybar, hammer. Must gear up via clothes before going to one of the tool crafting places. Then start working on bows and crafting your clothes out of animals. On voyager, I find jackets better than what I can craft within the first few days, on Loper the crafted stuff is more valuable because stuff you find is not as warm or good as what you can find on any map. This is another reason I like Loper. I find a piece of metal and I'm like WHOOO! 1/3 of a knife!! On voyager it's like meh whatever. It's more exciting to find stuff on Loper.

I remember running a thread that described my starting voyager and the Loper experiences. Some of the seasoned players died laughing when I described my first Loper experience and indignation when I've discovered that I have no matches or a bedroll  and cannot sleep on the floor. 😂

When I moved from Voyager to Loper, I've noticed:

a) TEAS are your BEST travel friends. Use beds to warm up faster before you can venture out again and explore. Use the back of the caves to warm up freely while doing tasks like reading IF you have good enough clothes or sleep in the bedroll at the back of the cave to take the edge off hypothermia.

b) I had to pay a lot more attention to the travelling weather and to logistics. Not just go from x to y. It's bloody cold, so, you will likely need to find a spot in between and warm up before continuing the trek - and you still need to improvise. Something you think hmm... this is far, but I'll carry a torch and hide in a cave located in between, warm up and continue. Except hurr durr... POOF your torch goes out when the wind suddenly picks up and you have to run around some random rock you were passing by to start a warming fire on the wind shield side, but maybe you're lucky and it's a bright day so free magnifying lens fire or well the wind is brutal and doesn't want to let you start a fire so you suck it up and keeping running to that cave where you can start that fire. 

c) A whole bunch of tricks to avoid wasting your matches - most known one using your torch for fire. If you start a fire, you must do your best to preserve it. Cold is your main enemy. Finding mag lens and using opportunities to light free fires with it is very important. Grouping tasks that require you to start a fire. Like cooking your caught rabbits, boiling water and making yourself two teas right before heading out to travel. Or if you've reached an x spot far from 'safe' locations. You can start a fire in a 'safe' corner with coal, warm up quickly - set water to boil or meat to cook and travel away from the fire to explore or pick up something, then return to the still burning fire to warm up

d) I couldn't afford to camp too long early game. You must hit all big loot locations asap and keep moving to other regions until you are able to craft good clothes, tools, and obtain a flare gun for defense or a bow. Then you can return to the regions and search remote map corners for saplings and possible minor loot later in game or if you're getting desperate for matches you will be prompted to visit wolfed locations for potential matches or a flare.

e) Loper forces hard decisions. Shredding the clothes you are currently wearing to make emergency bandages or a shelter. I had one Loper run where I stayed in the Ash Canyon only - whelp I found zero metal in the region and I needed fishing to live. What would you like to scrap for metal to make the hooks - your only lantern or your only pot? XD

f) ROCKS are valuable! Distract wolves and catch rabbits. STICKS are valuable! You will catch your death in the cold chopping wood! Pick up your sticks to make fires with!

g) It's beyond helpful to be a first class sniper and take out the bunnies fast with rocks, in addition to a big food bonus you might get guts fast too and hives for hat/gloves. (Though you don't have to - I'm the worst shot, but I do get by. You only have a couple of shots on randomly encountered rabbits before you freeze to death, so, until I get lucky with one of the shots, I eat cattails and deer and tend to get deer guts to cure to set up rabbit traps and get them that way for the clothes).

I personally don't find it a 'scripted' experience when it comes to traveling to specific locations to find items that will help me survive just because the journeys themselves are extremely varied. One run, I had a particularly evasive bedroll. I searched FOUR regions and none of them had it. I ended up going to HRV and tangling with that cave wolf just to obtain it. This was a goal that had me occupied and entertained for a long period of time in a single game. While I was looking for it, I ended up searching whole bunch of other locations and finding other important things needed for my survival. I also found a moose jumping out at me in an area that had no marked trees to indicate his presence. Did I know, it's one of the moose areas? Yup. Did I look both ways before crossing the road? Yup. He ambushed me anyway.

When I start in any other mode, I go to the same places too because that's the sane thing to do since I don't want to die. If you spawn at RR, you either exit to Muskeg or go for the Maintenance yard. You're not going to grab a rope and jump into that big ravine by the bridge as your first action.

I had a successful 220 day voyager run before I moved to make serious attempts on Interloper. At this point, I already had the advanced map knowledge through playing the game so I knew which way to run from many starting points. However - this didn't give me the experience where vitals items, such as a bedroll, appeared in this mode. I've learned that by playing the game. Furthermore, after some updates, the location of these items does change sometimes. So, you do need to re-learn and die... A LOT while doing so.

Ash Canyon just came out. I died a lot on Loper trying to explore it and then went back to voyager mode to explore this region thoroughly with starting survivors. Once I knew the region better, I went back to Loper mode.

Also - when I went back to voyager after playing Loper a lot - I found it puzzling that I don't need to perform certain actions that I would on Loper. So, your personal habit come into play. For example, it felt odd that I was swimming in matches and didn't need to bother with the torches. On voyager, it's actually extra weight and not necessary to drag around.

In terms of loading, I can't say I enjoy re-doing the same stuff in any game. I once got stuck at the Ravine when I was trying to leap from the red wagon to the crossing tree. My survivor slipped off the trunk and got stuck on a lower tree branch - no death but can't go anywhere. I couldn't make her take one step from the branch back to the cliff edge and I seriously didn't feel like voluntarily jumping into ravine to my death. So, there are occasional cases where I might tab out and load the previous saving checkpoint, but I certainly am thoroughly bored by the idea of tabbing out all the time to redo an action that didn't even kill me. I would have loaded on voyager too in that situation so meh.

The overall advice I can give is - it's a game and you should do whatever is fun for you in a game. We are all very lucky that this game allows extremely different play styles. I've completed Deadman challenge and survived 30 days for pride. However, I found that having no health regeneration simply felt depressing, thus, after nailing the challenge, I actually bounced to doing one of the easier challenges just to relax. Never say never, perhaps I'll poke at the Deadman again in the future if such sudden want occur, but I know that most of the time I will not be making the experience that difficult for myself. Majority of my games are the same level difficulty and style, unless I'm experimenting with challenges.

Edited February 27, 2021 by tulkawen

[stirfoo]

Oh it just takes time, that's all. Folks say you don't have to know where things spawn,. That's a load of crap. Early interloper is all about the fire. If you don't know exactly where to find it, you're dead. Watch any player on yootoob, that's the first thing they go after on interloper... fire. And they know exactly where to find it, regardless of where they spawn. You need fire to make torches, lotsa torches. Torches allow you to move fire from A to B, saving your matches, and they keep the wolves away... unless there's an aurora. During all this fire-wrangling you make teas that help you stay warm, find some clothes and eat cat tails and rabbits. You know where the work boots are right? The toque? The combat pants? How about the handy dandy hacksaw? No? Well, keep playing

I've got about 900 hours in the game, most on interloper. I think 160 days is my max run. I just get bored and careless. I'm on day 148 or so on my current run.  I have no aspirations of going 1000 days. At this point I have HRV and BI to visit but the other areas are fully stocked up. I've no doubt boredom and carelessness will take me out this game as well. It's a great game and that's the thing to remember... it's just a game.