Dead-ish man (Rifle, revolver, tea, a few little things)

[fauxjargon]

8snk-/x8M-Dw++-wSSm-SGIG is the code.

It makes the following changes from "vanilla" Deadman:

• Starting time of day is dawn and the weather is clear.  This makes for a slightly easier start.
• Survivor Monologue is on.  I've played an embarrassing amount of Long Dark, and I'm used to Will Mackenzie's soothing voice.
• Rifles and Revolvers are available.
• Birch Bark tea crafting is available.
• "Item decay rate" is medium.  The game already rewards a quick pace, we don't need to punish a slow pace by making that Mackinaw at HRV rot to nothing by day 40.

 

Dead-ish Man 1 - Day 1.

Dawn breaks cold and sharp on the sea ice.  I lose a quarter of my heat bar just rounding the corner to get the lighthouse and crows in the shot.

The Riken yields a ratty wool scarf and some coal.  I don't bother going upstairs as it is still too dark too see anything without fire.

An abandoned whale processing plant never looked so inviting.  I try and recover some warmth sleeping in the trailers, but it is all but gone by the time I make the inside of the plant.  Fortunately, there are some matches sitting on a shelf by the window.  A book and two of the coals gets the fire barrel in the basement blazing.  Hibernia processing yields some jeans, a PRYBAR , a soda, a storm lantern, 12 more matches and some gun books.  I make some water, take a nap in a bed and leave.  A wolf runs me into a trailer.

Success! [borat.png]  Pork and Beans plus Pinnacle Peaches.

When I carefully leave I hear a bear and scared wolves.  I make a run for it, and all seems well - I squeeze through the pickup truck and go up the wooden ramp - possibly my least favorite part of Great Bear Island other than the wolf caves - and barely escape a wolf by jumping into a car.  The wolf leaves soon enough, and I make my way to the mine in the fog, with wolves howling on both sides.  At least two wolves are on my tail as I make the mine.  Rich in coal and poor in everything else, I navigate the mine and go to the stone church in preparation for the dangerous trip to the lighthouse.

\

I smash open some peaches and hack up some reishi mushrooms.  On the fire they go to keep me warm as I trek to the lighthouse.

I make it there without incident.  This unfortunate soul provides me with another wool scarf. 

Do you feel lucky, punk?  I sure do, I've got a gun and wolves don't.  I find some firewood, a flare, a can of tuna and some chips, a stim and revolver ammo.

[fauxjargon]

I gather some loot, and sleep a while.  Tea, water, sleep.  The snow clears and a clear, cold night beckons.  It might be cold, but at least I'll see the wolves coming.

A defensive fire turns out to be needed - the highway is crawling.  I make more tea, then resolve to take the longer road behind the church.  Sometimes there is a wolf, but this time there wasn't.

When I left the relative warmth of the lighthouse and its bed without bedroll or materials for a snow shelter, I committed myself - Coastal Highway or die trying.  Especially without a hacksaw, delicious venison will have to wait.

I make it to the mine without incident just as my warmth meter runs out.  The mines yield coal, some gloves and a second prybar.  When I get to the end though - that horrible green glow greets me.  Getting through the next zone with the wolves turned up to 11 will be quite a challenge, even with a revolver.

I break down torches, do everything else I can think of, but time waits for no man, especially not a dead-ish one.  As dawn promises an end to the aurora, I make my way to the cave and warm up.  Eventually dawn breaks and ends that horrible celestial music.  I leave my cave and just barely make  it into the basement of a nearby house with a wolf on my tail.  The basement is a disappointment except for the lack of wolves.

Another warming-fire.  More pork and beans spilled on the snow to sate my need for warm food as I smash open the can on a rock.  I risk a moldy granola bar and beef jerky while I wait for my beans to cook.  Morning comes and I leave crumbling highway without much incident.  I find a new friend in a car.

It is really frigging cold out and I start a warming fire on my way to the island house.

I make it to Misanthrope's Homestead slightly chilled, moderately shaken by a bear who followed me part of the way.

I regroup, loot, get some cloth, some precious toilet water and move on.  

It is c-o-l-d.

I warm up halfway between homesteads at the fishing hut.  I have huge amounts of fuel and it is not like a dead-ish man cares for matches, right?  Warmed up, I make it to the next island house, completely exhausted - but I can't sleep yet, I have nothing to eat.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

Deadman?? Those settings sound like stalker at hardest. 

[fauxjargon]

The changes I described are the changes from the settings from the code 8MHI-/z8M-Dw++-wSWm-bEIG.  Wolves are much more dangerous than on Stalker, fatigue and thirst rates are much higher, loot is much poorer and there is no condition recovery except from stims and birch bark tea.  And birch bark will be rarer than on Interloper.  So it is really not comparable to Stalker.

Edited May 31, 2021 by fauxjargon

[fauxjargon]

The house yields nothing.  I stow some food and some gun books I might want later, and catch an hour of sleep.  I check the weather and see that it is quite warm, so I risk the crossing on an hour's sleep.  I eat my stash of food - I wanted to save it, but well, tomorrow I might be dead.  Down the hatch goes a box of crackers, a bottle of maple syrup and some ketchup chips.

I would have made it.. barely, if it wasn't for that meddling wolf!  My decision to set  out ASAP from the island house turns out to be correct - a blizzard rolls in just as I collapse into bed into the first fisherman's hut.  I have an uneventful sleep.

[fauxjargon]

I don't have a lot of options as I set out into the below-30 morning.

I eventually find shelter, richer in cattails but poorer in health.  I do find precious ketchup chips AND beef jerky in the house though.

[fauxjargon]

I leave Coastal Highway with a bit over 50% condition.  I'm hauling a lot of gear including a rope for the ravine.

It is a beautiful day.  I find my first birch barks!  Precious birch barks!

I am just minding my business, making teas and eating some mystery venison I found, when a blizzard rolls in !  I hastily lighten my gear enough to shimmy down the climbing rope into the ravine.  I lose some condition sprinting to the far cave, where I hastily make a fire and sleep.

[fauxjargon]

 

I sleep for hours, and mid-morning, finally leave the ravine again.  I have to make a fire at the bottom of the rope to stay warm.  The wind lets up for a while as I explore the upper ravine.  I explore the dam, finding not a whole lot of use other than a cooking pot, a hammer and some ammo.  I stash both guns and my ammo at the dam for now, the flare gun will protect me and is lighter. I run out of fatigue at the far end, so I use a stim to sprint back to the trailers outside and spend the night there. 

I warm up by the river.  Cattails are scarce.

I make the lookout cave without much incident.  It isn't much of a lookout with the fog, but there is a firestriker and some interesting books up here.  I make some tea and make my way down to the camp office.  A wolf is guarding the cattail fields on the lakeshore, and I only get one.

[Dalos]

nice start. having to use a stim so early bites hard though.

[fauxjargon]

5 hours ago, Dalos said:

nice start. having to use a stim so early bites hard though.

You betcha.  I am not used to this crazy fatigue level, it feels like  half of Interloper fatigue limits.  I also couldn't find the stim in the ravine?  Am I going nuts?  In any case I don't worry about this stuff so much, as you get better gear and your need to travel diminishes, the odds that you need a stim drop.

[fauxjargon]

The camp office yields nothing surprising except a bedroll and a few hours of sleep.  That sure would have helped in Carter Hydro
I lose a few % condition due to a misestimation of travel time and some wolves.  The wind starts to pick up as I search the cabin.  Sardines, dog food, a hacksaw, a storm lantern and some ammo aren't a bad haul.  Also some extra pot.  I like pot on deadman, as you can get some sleep and boil water really efficiently if you have pot.  I spend the night, enjoying two rabbits with fava beans and a nice summit soda while I recharge.   
 

[fauxjargon]

I depart that afternoon, after a casual repast of bunny and cattails.  It is snowing, but only a little.

A wolf reminds me that it is cold out and that I should consider a fire or warming up in its belly.  I choose the fire.  I warm up, but the weather seems to be changing for the worst.  I decide to catch an hour of sleep by the fire, if it gets worse, I retreat, if not, I advance.  It appears to get better after an hour of sleep, so I press on.  As I leave the safety and warmth of my fire, the wind picks up and my torch goes out.  Low on food and fuel, I press onwards - we're getting to at least the Poacher's camp or we're gonna die trying.

 

I reach the broken boxcars a lot colder and only a few cattails and sticks richer.  Inside - a bounty!  A thin wool sweater, a book about revolvers and some coal.  The weather is one step below a blizzard - I am afraid to leave.

Wolves stalk me as I warm up by the fire.  Thankfully, the feared blizzard never comes and instead we get a warm evening fog.  Perfect weather for wolves and for survivors.
The closest thing I'm going to find to a Wendy's is a dead deer and three cattails.  Om nom nom.  A wolf follows me to Spence's.

After a few hours of fireless sleep, it is time to get to work.

Edited June 6, 2021 by fauxjargon

[fauxjargon]

I leave the hammer and some extra clothes at the forge.  Too heavy.  It is a nice afternoon and I set out across the swamp to my next destination:  Milton.  I manage to warm up and cook 1.6 kg of meat at the bottom of the climb up Hat Creek.  I find a rare cave deer and get another 1.6 kg of meat.

I spend the first part of the next day gathering mushrooms and birch bark on the ridge.  I clutch my flare gun nervously - the rusty revolver I found in the cave is better than nothing, but won't stop a moose even on a good day.  I lose a little condition.  Oh well.  I found 8 birch barks!  I return to the cave and sleep a bit.  I will need my strength.

I lose a little more condition on the way to the broken hut, where I warm up and cook my other deer meat.  I spend the afternoon gathering more cattails, mushrooms and rose hips and a few more birch barks before heading to the rope.

I want to sleep in the barn house tonight, which means I will need my strength to get up the ropes.  The weather holds and I can rest by my fire.  Just as I'm rested up, the weather starts to change.  I make some teas and go.

I take a last look out over the basin and make my way to the house.  A rabbit sacrifices itself for me to distract one wolf, and I have to use my flare gun to stop the other one.  I find the key on the corpse in the shed and get into the house safely.  I find peaches and soda, and a second ski jacket.  I get a good night's sleep, then spend the morning making tea ingredients and fixing my clothing until the weather improves.

I explore Milton.  The wolves have the day off it seems.  I have way too much canned food and no tools to open it.  Notable finds include a new pair of jeans, a magnifying lens, a cured maple sapling (!)  and a cup of coffee.  I have to leave fuel, even precious coal, behind to keep my weight down.  A wolf chases me out of town, but I manage to force my way into the gas station well ahead of it.  The late afternoon weather is great.

I find sardines, chips, peaches and jerky in the gas station.  Still no can opener.

[fauxjargon]

A truck has a granola bar AND beef jerky.

I rest at the little building at the top by the rope.  There's a bedroll with 1% more condition than mine, so I swap them.  I am overburdened and exhausted, so I eat a bunch of non-can-opener foods like sardines (only good ones), beef jerky and granola bars.  I eat and drink as much as I can and get my load down to around 35 kg.  I sleep for a while and wake up to an aurora.

I decide to wait it out.  I'm safe here, need the sleep, and one encounter with an aurora wolf can end this run if I don't score a hit with the flare gun.  I make a fire, get fully warmed up and go for it.  The wolf chases me into the cave, then I chase it out with fire.  I take a nap, climb the rope, clear the cave and I'm back home again!
I find two mostly harvested bunnies and some cured birch waiting for me.  If I had been able to leave a second rabbit gut curing, I could make a bow, but that really isn't as important with a rifle waiting for me in Carter Hydro.  I still haven't found a cleaning kit for it yet, and it is not in good condition, but it will probably work.  I leave behind fuel, sketchy canned goods, six of my twelve arrowheads.  I manage to fix my trail boots up to almost 100% on the first try and tear down my remaining leather apparel to get more repair supplies.

My condition is over 100%.

I pack light and leave with 25 kg in my backpack.  I leave the crappy revolver behind, I don't want to count on a sketchy gun for self defense.

I pause to collect and cook some deer meat.  It doesn't work out.  A blizzard rolls in, I go in circles, I hunker down and manage to avoid further damage.

I catch an hour of sleep as the weather changes for the better.

A bear is guarding the deer carcass and the path to the cabin.  I decide to start a fire to stay warm and  maybe catch an hour of sleep - but the bear comes over  to check things out.  I drink my one coffee cold and set out for the forestry lookout instead.  I am exhausted and stop for a nap by a warming fire - I wake up warm next to a dead fire in a blizzard.  Crap.  I don't loose too much health getting up to the tower at least.

The weather is getting worse.
 

[Hotzn]

Nice. Keep it coming.

[Guest jeffpeng]

On 5/30/2021 at 4:11 AM, fauxjargon said:

"Item decay rate" is medium.  The game already rewards a quick pace, we don't need to punish a slow pace by making that Mackinaw at HRV rot to nothing by day 40.

I had that exact idea. Maybe even less than medium. But yeah, I agree.

Also: do you actually play on a 32:9? I thought about buying one of these. Looks like you are losing a lot of vertical FOV instead of gaining horizontal FOV.
 

On 5/30/2021 at 4:11 AM, fauxjargon said:

[borat.png]

🤣🤣🤣

On 5/30/2021 at 4:11 AM, fauxjargon said:

Do you feel lucky, punk?

❤️

On 6/5/2021 at 2:24 AM, fauxjargon said:

I like pot on deadman, as you can get some sleep and boil water really efficiently if you have pot. 

Don't we all like pot? 😁

And man, that's a bit of a cliffhanger there.

I like your style of writing this up. I also think you've found a good balance for a setting that offers a compelling, but winnable scenario. Keep it up.

 

[fauxjargon]

I promise I will come back to this!  Yes, I do actually play on 32:9 on a 32:9 monitor.  Your vertical FOV is less, but it actually feels much more "real" using your mouse to scan vertically than to scan horizontally.  I am trying to find a set of settings that doesn't make TWM an absurd loot piñata but also lets me take my sweet time exploring.  Guns are heavy and ammo is scarce, you can't practice on bunnies like you can with bows.

Stubbing off my last session:  A wolf tackles me before I get my flaregun out, but I whip out my prybar and get him to run away before he does much damage.  The bear and another wolf deny me the delicious cattails, mushrooms and partially tenderized venison at the small pond.  No thanks, I'm going to go lick my wounds in the little cabin.