Do Bears ever stop respawning?

[Blizzard Walker]

I am at Day 1241 on my Voyager run, spending the last 100 days exploring TWM.  During this time I have killed the bear that visitx Crystal Lake 5 times.  The bear would reliably respawn after 16-18 days.  The last bear died outside its cave on Day 1208 and it disappeared within  4 days after I partially harvested the meat.

33 days after killing the last bear that visited Crystal Lake the respawned bear is long overdue.  Simultaneously I have notice in the last 10-14 days that sticks/branches are not respawning in the vicinity of the Mountaineers Hut.

Has anyone seen similar circumstances?  Speculation on the cause would be welcome.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

On easy levels that shouldn’t happen. On interloper though the animals can sparse over time from over hunting.  But they never stop respawning ever. I have 2000 plus days interloper and animals spawn still

[Leeanda]

5 hours ago, Blizzard Walker said:

I am at Day 1241 on my Voyager run, spending the last 100 days exploring TWM.  During this time I have killed the bear that visitx Crystal Lake 5 times.  The bear would reliably respawn after 16-18 days.  The last bear died outside its cave on Day 1208 and it disappeared within  4 days after I partially harvested the meat.

33 days after killing the last bear that visited Crystal Lake the respawned bear is long overdue.  Simultaneously I have notice in the last 10-14 days that sticks/branches are not respawning in the vicinity of the Mountaineers Hut.

Has anyone seen similar circumstances?  Speculation on the cause would be welcome.

Theres a bug with the tree  limbs disappearing. 

[DiscoJonny]

17 hours ago, Blizzard Walker said:

I am at Day 1241 on my Voyager run, spending the last 100 days exploring TWM.  During this time I have killed the bear that visitx Crystal Lake 5 times.  The bear would reliably respawn after 16-18 days.  The last bear died outside its cave on Day 1208 and it disappeared within  4 days after I partially harvested the meat.

33 days after killing the last bear that visited Crystal Lake the respawned bear is long overdue.  Simultaneously I have notice in the last 10-14 days that sticks/branches are not respawning in the vicinity of the Mountaineers Hut.

Has anyone seen similar circumstances?  Speculation on the cause would be welcome.

I once spent 250 days on TWM in stalker mode and something similar like that happened to me.  I just went up the ice river to the area with the arch and killed the bear up there a couple of times and suddenly the one down by the broken wing spawned almost immediately.  You might just want to leave the region, spend a couple of days down in the hatch on the PV side of things and let the algorithm reset it self.  It's a nice little diversion and you really aren't walking that far if you think about it.

[Blizzard Walker]

1 hour ago, DiscoJonny said:

I once spent 250 days on TWM in stalker mode and something similar like that happened to me.  I just went up the ice river to the area with the arch and killed the bear up there a couple of times and suddenly the one down by the broken wing spawned almost immediately.  You might just want to leave the region, spend a couple of days down in the hatch on the PV side of things and let the algorithm reset it self.  It's a nice little diversion and you really aren't walking that far if you think about it.

Excellent advice DiscoJonny.  Presently I am already shifting TWM loot down to the PV Abandoned Prepper Cache in anticipation of transferring valuable items to my main bases at the PV Farmstead and the Coastal Highway Fishing Camp.  Once the shifting is complete I will only return to TWM when I decide to explore Ash Canyon.  In the meantime I have not yet visited portions of Forlorn Muskeg, Coastal Highway and Desolation Point to explore. By the time I get back I imagine the Crystal Lake bear will return.

[piddy3825]

@Blizzard Walker  so you have over 1200 days logged in Voyager mode  but you haven't been to Forlorn Muskeg, Coastal Highway and Desolation Point, nor have you been to Ash Canyon???  That is absolutely incredible?  

My first question is what on earth are you doing in game to wrack up those many days and still have the such a large portion of the island to explore?  
I'm having a difficult time wrapping my brain bone around this revelation of yours and would love to hear more about how you spend time playing in the sandbox!

[hozz1235]

23 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

@Blizzard Walker  so you have over 1200 days logged in Voyager mode  but you haven't been to Forlorn Muskeg, Coastal Highway and Desolation Point, nor have you been to Ash Canyon???  That is absolutely incredible?  

Poor guy is gonna find a lot of ruined loot when he does visit

[Blizzard Walker]

On 11/7/2021 at 5:13 PM, piddy3825 said:

@Blizzard Walker  so you have over 1200 days logged in Voyager mode  but you haven't been to Forlorn Muskeg, Coastal Highway and Desolation Point, nor have you been to Ash Canyon???  That is absolutely incredible?  

My first question is what on earth are you doing in game to wrack up those many days and still have the such a large portion of the island to explore?  
I'm having a difficult time wrapping my brain bone around this revelation of yours and would love to hear more about how you spend time playing in the sandbox!

piddy3825, I have spent perhaps 300 total days combined in Forlorn Muskeg, Coastal Highway and Desolation Point.  I am returning to the regions to mop up portions I have not explored. A present goal is to gather remaining resources and loot, especially birch saplings and ammunition, in all the regions I have visited but not exhaustively explored.

As I near Day 1300 I have not yet visited Ash Canyon, Hushed River Valley and Bleak Inlet.  

Slow and methodical is my game style.  I settle into an area, accumulate resources at bases, keep selected areas clear of predators and set modest goals.  In Coastal Highway I sometimes fish for a week to stockpile food/lantern fuel or systematically gather cloth, leather and sticks at main depots.  

My Voyager character is the only one I have ever started.

[Blizzard Walker]

On 11/8/2021 at 5:10 PM, hozz1235 said:

Poor guy is gonna find a lot of ruined loot when he does visit

hozz1235, the only loot that gave me any concern as a consequence of my slow play style was the wool ear wrap.  I have found three, all after Day 1100.  The one I found at Broken Railroad was ruined while the two I found in TWM  were in worn but still repairable condition.  Similarly, snow pants found at the TWM Summit around day 1240 were repairable.  The Cowichan and Fisherman's sweaters found after day 600 were likewise repairable.   

[piddy3825]

@Blizzard Walker Big respect to the dedication in gameplay that a slow methodical approach brings a player in getting well established and really spending some time learning an area intimately.  I hope you're taking every opportunity to get that Faithful Cartographer achievement! 

 While waiting for the release of Episode 4, I thought I would challenge myself by launching a new Stalker game with the objective that I would stay on what ever map I randomly spawned on until I died.  Solely surviving with what was available on that map.  Not leaving for any reason.  As luck would have it,  I randomly spawned onto Desolation Point .   

I gave up at 284 days and abandoned the game. 

But not before I had finally and literally hacked and sawed up every metal shelf, table, pallet, every cardboard box and broke down every crate in the game.  I tried to stay busy by fabricating at the forge and ended up with hundreds of arrow heads and dozens each of improvised axes and knifes. 

So, Hozz1235 raises a interesting question.  Now that your moving into these new areas what is the overall condition on the items you find?  I would assume the food products are all ruined.  Clothing should mostly be salvageable.  Heck given enough cloth you bring an item back from 1% condition to new if you want to.   What kinda condition are the medical supplies in?  I don't think bandages go bad, right?   Anyways keep us posted on what you find when you finally get to Ash Canyon and Bleak Inlet.  HRV is story all it's own.  Finding anything there is a gift regardless of condition!

 

[hozz1235]

9 hours ago, Blizzard Walker said:

hozz1235, the only loot that gave me any concern as a consequence of my slow play style was the wool ear wrap.  I have found three, all after Day 1100.  The one I found at Broken Railroad was ruined while the two I found in TWM  were in worn but still repairable condition.  Similarly, snow pants found at the TWM Summit around day 1240 were repairable.  The Cowichan and Fisherman's sweaters found after day 600 were likewise repairable.   

I'm glad to hear that.  That's one thing that pushes me to quickly sweep areas in new playthroughs - thinking I may miss out on something.

[DiscoJonny]

On 11/7/2021 at 1:22 PM, Blizzard Walker said:

Excellent advice DiscoJonny.  Presently I am already shifting TWM loot down to the PV Abandoned Prepper Cache in anticipation of transferring valuable items to my main bases at the PV Farmstead and the Coastal Highway Fishing Camp.  Once the shifting is complete I will only return to TWM when I decide to explore Ash Canyon.  In the meantime I have not yet visited portions of Forlorn Muskeg, Coastal Highway and Desolation Point to explore. By the time I get back I imagine the Crystal Lake bear will return.

I like the Fishing Camp on CH as temporary base.  The lack of an indoor fireplace makes it less than ideal in my opinion as the weather on the coastal highway is to unpredictable and I hate having a 12 hour fire go out due to windy conditions moments after I get it started and loosing all that fuel wood.  I like the quonset hut for that reason as well as the abundant shelf space the garage affords me on account of all that loot I'm always hauling around!   

As for TWM, it has become my one of my favorite long term base camps.   A thought just popped into my head, since Ash Canyon is only accessible via TWM, wouldn't it make more sense to explore it now?  Considering all the loot you have, I bet that technical backpack giving you an additional 5 kilos of carry capacity should come in pretty handy as you move all your possessions to their respective base camps?  eh? 

[Blizzard Walker]

On 11/10/2021 at 1:34 AM, piddy3825 said:

So, Hozz1235 raises a interesting question.  Now that your moving into these new areas what is the overall condition on the items you find?  I would assume the food products are all ruined.  Clothing should mostly be salvageable.  Heck given enough cloth you bring an item back from 1% condition to new if you want to.   What kinda condition are the medical supplies in?  I don't think bandages go bad, right?   Anyways keep us posted on what you find when you finally get to Ash Canyon and Bleak Inlet.  HRV is story all it's own.  Finding anything there is a gift regardless of condition!

piddy3825, I doubt if anyone else plays as slowly as I do.  That has some value as I can report what I have encountered when looting areas hundreds of days later than most other players. 

I can report that there is a certain randomness in decay.  The cargo containers at TWM illustrated this to me.  One container might have clothing that is all ruined while another will have clothing is ragged-worn-decent condition.  The former I convert to cloth while the latter I will either fix or convert to cloth.  At the Summit I found a Balaclava, Snow Pants, multiple Toques, Wool Underwear and various other items in fixable condition.  Another container had multiple Fisherman's Sweaters and Expedition Parkas in ruined condition.  Apart from the Summit, other TWM cargo containers yielded two wool ear wraps in salvageable condition.  I ended up finding what I wanted at TWM - snow pants and wool ear wraps.  I have had the high end sweaters and an Expedition Parka since day 500 - I have an extra Fisherman's Sweater.

Food found after Day 1200 is similarly random in quality.  Some but not all is ruined.   have found MRE's at 6% condition while others were 50%+ condition.  Entire cargo containers contained cans of food in ruined conditions while other containers held cans where none were ruined.  It hardly matters since I cannot remember a time I was not at Cooking Skill 5. I just stack them at the Mountaineer's Hut as a reserve.

Medical supplies after Day 1200 have included ruined, low condition and middle of the road condition supplies.  Bandages, Antiseptic and Stims seem indestructible regardless of age. Coffee and Tea can be found ruined but also in middle of the road condition.  

The bottom line is that decay is not uniform.  If it was everything I found after 1200 that does decay would be ruined.

[piddy3825]

@Blizzard Walker

Thanks for sharing your observations with us.   I think the you've coined a new phrase, "the randomness in decay."  The TLD universe does in deed operate in a fashion
where the conventional wisdom about how things work just fly out the window.  Items that we would expect to last for decades last only for a few uses.  Items that would normally be preserved for thousands of years by the bitter cold climate don't last long at all.   again, appreciate your feedback!  happy gaming!

[past caring]

On 11/10/2021 at 6:25 PM, DiscoJonny said:

I like the Fishing Camp on CH as temporary base.  The lack of an indoor fireplace makes it less than ideal in my opinion as the weather on the coastal highway is to unpredictable and I hate having a 12 hour fire go out due to windy conditions moments after I get it started and loosing all that fuel wood.  

I suppose it doesn't get around the problem of the wind direction shifting, but I've taken to building a fire on each of the four sides of the cabin - at least one will be on the leeward side if the wind picks up.

[piddy3825]

5 hours ago, past caring said:

I suppose it doesn't get around the problem of the wind direction shifting, but I've taken to building a fire on each of the four sides of the cabin - at least one will be on the leeward side if the wind picks up.

for what it's worth, I did find a little spot behind the outdoor workbench nestled up against the huge snow pile where you can build a fire that is almost always out of the wind.  If you jiggle with placement you can put two fires side by side and still get that wind sheltered benefit.  Helps a lot when you got lots of fish to fry or whatever.

[twyn1]

I actually play very slowly (and almost exclusively on Pilgrim). Not big on hunting (only to get food/furs when need be, & I use wolf kills whenever possible)  or being hunted by wolves constantly.  I do snare rabbits and fish more frequently.  The first moose I killed I was all proud of myself, but then I kinda felt bad because a lot of the meat went to waste when I moved on. The satchel is great, tho.

  I have found the same "randomness in decay" On one of my longest play-throughs, I didn't get to TWM until probably 150 days or so. After being there for a few "weeks", I went on up into Ash Canyon where I "retired" at Foreman's Retreat. Much of what I found, food and clothing-wise was between "ruined" and 50% -- but I did find a few cans that were over that % and I believe I found a revolver that was in really good shape towards the end of that run.

I recently tried a few of the easiest challenges; with mixed to disastrous results (2 memories away from finishing when I got blindsided by a couple of wolves that I swear came out of nowhere!) - I really didn't enjoy the feeling of being "pushed" to get from one area to another and constantly trying to find food or a place to make a fire for some water. There's no way I will ever try "The Hunted" or "Darkwalker"  - way too intense!!

Sometimes I feel like a wuss, not playing on the harder levels, but I really just enjoy a slow-paced, relaxing exploration ... and I love finding little out of the way corners that are oftentimes incredibly beautiful!

[Leeanda]

16 minutes ago, twyn1 said:

I actually play very slowly (and almost exclusively on Pilgrim). Not big on hunting (only to get food/furs when need be, & I use wolf kills whenever possible)  or being hunted by wolves constantly.  I do snare rabbits and fish more frequently.  The first moose I killed I was all proud of myself, but then I kinda felt bad because a lot of the meat went to waste when I moved on. The satchel is great, tho.

  I have found the same "randomness in decay" On one of my longest play-throughs, I didn't get to TWM until probably 150 days or so. After being there for a few "weeks", I went on up into Ash Canyon where I "retired" at Foreman's Retreat. Much of what I found, food and clothing-wise was between "ruined" and 50% -- but I did find a few cans that were over that % and I believe I found a revolver that was in really good shape towards the end of that run.

I recently tried a few of the easiest challenges; with mixed to disastrous results (2 memories away from finishing when I got blindsided by a couple of wolves that I swear came out of nowhere!) - I really didn't enjoy the feeling of being "pushed" to get from one area to another and constantly trying to find food or a place to make a fire for some water. There's no way I will ever try "The Hunted" or "Darkwalker"  - way too intense!!

Sometimes I feel like a wuss, not playing on the harder levels, but I really just enjoy a slow-paced, relaxing exploration ... and I love finding little out of the way corners that are oftentimes incredibly beautiful!

You are no wuss! Not everyone wants non stop action adventure! If they did they'd be playing war games!

Kudos to you😁

[Leeanda]

12 minutes ago, piddy3825 said:

in the most arrogant, condescending, over inflated self aggrandizing egotistical tone I can muster...

"...if you aren't playing Interloper, you're just camping..."

😁😁😁

 

Lmfao 

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

[twyn1]

Thanks and LOL!! And trust me .... this is as close to camping as I'd get in real life these days ... used to love it, even with tents and no "facilities" ... but my idea of roughing it now means a hotel room without a garden tub or whirlpool 😆

[Blizzard Walker]

On 11/10/2021 at 1:25 PM, DiscoJonny said:

A thought just popped into my head, since Ash Canyon is only accessible via TWM, wouldn't it make more sense to explore it now?  Considering all the loot you have, I bet that technical backpack giving you an additional 5 kilos of carry capacity should come in pretty handy as you move all your possessions to their respective base camps?  eh? 

DiscoJonny, I agree it would make more sense to explore Ash Canyon now but I retreated in game back with TWM loot to the PV Farmhouse.  However, the route back to TWM via Draft Dodgers Cabin, Skeeters Ridge basement and Abandoned Prepper Cache were left well stock with food, firewood, tools, metal, hides, cloth and leather.  Mountaineer's Hut in TWM has all of the above plus an extra wolf coast and deerskin boots. It means I can come back to TWM with a bear coat, moose cloak and insulated boots and immediately have choices in terms of what I wear.  Before I push on to Ash Canyon I will assemble resources a the Deer Clearing cave like hides, food, water and firewood.  I like the idea of a safe point to retreat to. 

As I noted above I will revisit in regions I have mostly explored to (1) concentrate resources at key points like PV Farmhouse, CH Fishing Camp and ML Camp Office/Trappers Cabin, (2) strip resources from locations I don't intend to visit again like PV Three Strikes Farm, PV Signal Hill or CH Quonset Hut/surrounds and (3) craft extra clothing like wolf coats, bear coats and deer boots that I can leave in place at key bases.

I may spend hundreds of days following the goals above and by visiting nooks and crannies of regions I have only incompletely explored like Forlorn Muskeg and Desolation Point. In particular I want to assemble every possible arrow shaft and piece of cloth/leather/metal I can before moving to unexplored regions.