No Sleeping Challenge

[Glflegolas]

Hello,

This is a continuation of my old thread, as I deleted it by accident. If you're new here, I'm trying to find out how long I can survive in TLD with no sleep. I started in Timberwolf Mountain as a Voyageur. My strategy was to head for the summit right away, nearly getting hypothermia in the process and only just barely making it with the 2 tins of coffee I got in Echo Ravine. At the summit I got basically all the gear I needed, along with 4 tins of coffee. From there, I went into Pleasant Valley. Didn't find coffee at Misty Falls Cave, but did find some at the farmhouse. Signal Hill often has coffee tins, but this time it had only a cup in the microwave; on the way there I nearly got killed in a wolf struggle. It did however have a revolver which would prove useful later on.

From Signal Hill I went to Thomson's Crossing, where I found 1 more tin of coffee. From there, it was an easy trip through the Cinder Hills Coalmine to the Abandoned Lookout. No coffee there, but the trailer west of there had a tin. The log sort didn't have a tin either, however I got two at Jackrabbit Island. There were also 2 tins in the Coastal Townsite, and one in a trailer north of there.

Right now I'm in Desolation Point. I have survived nearly six days (or is it seven?) with no sleep. Hibernia had a lot of coffee, with two tins in the office and one in the trailer just outside. One place that did not have coffee (to my great chagrin) was Scruffy's Cave. I went so far as to check Scruffy's body for coffee, but no such luck. Not sure what that wolf is on though, as he ripped a bunch of my clothes in a struggle, despite taking two hits from the revolver. Maybe he drank his last cup of Big Moose Kicks; he sure kicked like a moose.

Key notes so far:

• Kitchens are the best place to find coffee, with offices a close second. Trailers have it fairly often too. I haven't found coffee in a cabin or vehicle yet, or on a corpse.
• Coffee works best as a fatigue reducer, not a remover. Consume frequently for best effects.
• Be careful with your condition -- you can't get it back quickly or easily. This is something I will have to be very mindful of in Bleak Inlet.

[Gwynren]

Oh no, I'm sorry you lost your old thread! I've been following this journey with great interest. Congrats on making it a week!

If I start my own, would you prefer if I start my own thread, or shall I post here as well?

[Glflegolas]

Feel free to post here too

[Gwynren]

What a challenge! I decided to try it out on Pilgrim mode, because I usually play with passive wildlife anyway. To make it a touch more challenging, however, I went with a Random starting spawn.

Thus, Astrid woke up on a clear, cold morning in Forlorn Muskeg right by the tunnel that goes to Broken Railroad. With a cup of coffee in her backpack! What an exciting start. I decided to immediately head for the maintenance yard as the nearest shelter with a save point and hopefully some clothes. Found a coffee cup in one of the microwaves! Going well!

Looted the place, rugged up a little and trudged up to the lodge, where I found an entire coffee tin in the kitchen. Spent the evening by the fire getting clothes to a decent condition, cooking up all that coffee, and getting ready for an aurora-lit night time stroll out to more lootable pastures.

Shuddering, walked across Forlorn Muskeg, with a much-needed coffee and sewing studying break by the fire barrel at poacher's camp, before hitting up Mystery Lake at daybreak, where I ransacked every single cabin, fishing hut, and the camp office around the lake with no further coffee yield for Astrid. Ack!

One cup left now, 33 hours survived, fatigue has bottomed out. Planning to trek to the dam next! Should I pop up to the watch tower or nah? Logging camp? I don't like my chances here.

My own notes so far:

• You'd think with pilgrim loot this is a cakewalk, but once you're super fatigued, the character's carrying capacity is very low; I'm finding myself stripping down to bare necessities, and coffee so far has been tantalizingly rare.
• The urge to lie down and have a nap is amazingly strong.
• I harvested a bedroll for cloth and it felt like sacrilege 🤪
• Until I can pile up some more coffee (if this will ever happen, doubtful), I'm sticking to super conservative routes and not making any strenuous climbs or even long walks anywhere.

Honestly, this is game-breaking, but a nice way to engage with the mechanics differently! Normally, I wouldn't bother going out at night, but what else is there to dooo...

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by Gwynren

[piddy3825]

@Glflegolas,
I'm curious if you checked for the prepper's caches in ML or PV?
Chances are good that you would find the food bunker if you did considering it seems to spawn the most in my opinion.
There's usally almost always coffee in the bunkers, right?   

btw, are you drinking birch bark tea for the theraputic effect?  Don't you get some health back with birch bark tea?  I rarely use it myself so I don't know if 
it's use would be all that beneficial or not.   Now that the new region is available and turns out it has bunker as well, from what you have learned thus far, would you considering starting over?

 

[Glflegolas]

I actually don't plan on starting over -- I have enough coffee reserves on me to last at least another couple days, which is plenty to get me from Coastal Highway to Blackrock Mountain. I'm not 100% sure where all the bunkers in Pleasant Valley are, but I can certainly take a quick look around on the way to Blackrock. I also don't mind traveling at night through Coastal Highway, I know that region very well.

Yes, I do use birch bark tea, when it's necessary. But I'm fairly careful and it usually isn't needed.

[Glflegolas]

@GwynrenMaybe you should have played Will instead. I've heard that women need more sleep than men... or so The Infographics Show says.

So far, I have had more luck with trailers than cabins when it comes to finding coffee, so definitely do check the logging camp. Coastal Highway had lots of coffee for me, but I also remember finding at least a couple tins in the Carter Hydro Dam in prior playthroughs. Other spots you may want to consider are Mountain Town (you will need a stim in your case to make it there); both the houses in town as well as the Orca and Paradise Meadows Farm are good places to look.

[Glflegolas]

Update: I have made it to Blackrock - specifically the abandoned substation, where I found a tin of coffee and two emergency stims. However, it was a long walk from Long Curve to get here... and I had to brave timberwolves along the way. I really hope there's lots more coffee around. The main cellhouse ought to be a good place to search, no?

[piddy3825]

31 minutes ago, Glflegolas said:

Update: I have made it to Blackrock - specifically the abandoned substation, where I found a tin of coffee and two emergency stims. However, it was a long walk from Long Curve to get here... and I had to brave timberwolves along the way. I really hope there's lots more coffee around. The main cellhouse ought to be a good place to search, no?

considering where you now find yourself, it seems maybe you outta hoof it to the power station and take the steam tunnels up to the prison.  i figured the warden was a coffee drinker, but when I checked his office I found a cup of herbal tea in the microwave...
i did find some coffee later, but now can't remember if it was in the guard shack by the gate or up in the guard tower, could have been in the breakroom though too.

[Gwynren]

You guys. I searched Carter Dam top to bottom and found a single tin of coffee. No coffee at the logging camp nor the workers' cabins, none at the murder cabin, none at Trapper's. Astrid has been alive and awake for 53 hours but it is now snowing heavily, she's at Trappers, and so far the entire Mystery Lake map has yielded a measly single tin of coffee. On Pilgrim. Fatigue is, yep, bottomed out.

On a related note, how do stims work? Not that I have any of those either!

[piddy3825]

8 hours ago, Gwynren said:

You guys. I searched Carter Dam top to bottom and found a single tin of coffee. No coffee at the logging camp nor the workers' cabins, none at the murder cabin, none at Trapper's. Astrid has been alive and awake for 53 hours but it is now snowing heavily, she's at Trappers, and so far the entire Mystery Lake map has yielded a measly single tin of coffee. On Pilgrim. Fatigue is, yep, bottomed out.

On a related note, how do stims work? Not that I have any of those either!

look for the prepper's cache, there is always a tin of coffee in the bunker in ML

[Glflegolas]

@GwynrenMaybe you need to go to Coastal Highway -- there's usually lots of coffee in the houses there (I found 6 tins on that map in Voyageur). From my experience, Mystery Lake is not a map known for copious quantities of caffeinated beverages.

[Glflegolas]

Alright, made it to the prison. No tins of coffee in the infirmary or the guard towers, and no more luck in the steam tunnels. I did find a tin in the power plant, so things are still looking alright on the coffee front... I have sufficient supply to last about another 1.5 days or so.

[piddy3825]

@Glflegolas outstanding journey so far!  How many days survived without sleep thus far?  
I found the prepper's cache and it was the food cache, so coffee was there!  
lmk if you wanna know location, I got it cleared on my map so I can provide you with a screenshot if you want the assistance.

[Glflegolas]

22 minutes ago, piddy3825 said:

@Glflegolas outstanding journey so far!  How many days survived without sleep thus far?  
I found the prepper's cache and it was the food cache, so coffee was there!  
lmk if you wanna know location, I got it cleared on my map so I can provide you with a screenshot if you want the assistance.

I have survived just shy of eight days with no sleep so far. I think I should be able to make it to 14 days - I have an energy drink along with a few stims for emergencies. If you tell me where the food cache in Pleasant Valley is, then I'll take a quick look there. I also believe there is a cache in Blackrock (at least in Story Mode)?

I plan to travel Blackrock -> Timberwolf Mountain -> Pleasant Valley -> Coastal Highway -> The Ravine -> Bleak Inlet -> Forlorn Muskeg -> Broken Railroad -> Forlorn Muskeg -> Mystery Lake -> Mountain Town -> Hushed River Valley. I'm not sure how easy this is going to be, given that I won't be coming to a coffee-rich region anytime soon.

What I am becoming more and more certain about is that it is completely possible to survive and have a relatively normal life on Great Bear, at least for a couple weeks, by consuming loads of caffeine and not sleeping. Seriously, who knew that Big Moose Kicks was so potent?

[piddy3825]

1 hour ago, Glflegolas said:

 If you tell me where the food cache in Pleasant Valley is, then I'll take a quick look there. I also believe there is a cache in Blackrock (at least in Story Mode)?

well, it's almost impossible for me to tell you where the prepper cache is in PV as it is randomly spawning in one of 8 possible locations.  However, from what I understand, the bunker in Blackrock appears to be static so I do believe it's location should be the same for everyone.  So check out the west side of the map that 
little square is the between the two caves, the car and trailer is the prepper's cache

I don't a screenshot of PV's map in my pics folder, but if you go on Google images, you can find a couple of decent maps that have the bunker areas 
marked.  It's an awful lot of territory to cover so I'm not sure if it's worth the effort but that is up to you to decide.  On a side note, doesn't the static bunker at the transition zone between PV and TWM have some coffee in it usually?

 

[Glflegolas]

I have survived 8 days and 22 hours so far with no sleep. I went back to the Old Substation to try and find the bunker, but to no luck.

I searched around the prison earlier that day and found two more tins of coffee. They were in the offices. I also picked up the vest armour for extra protection, as lost condition due to struggles is not easy to recover when you can't sleep.

I am going to head for the trailer at Foreman's Clearcut, as well as Lineman's Retreat, Bricklayer's Retreat, and Cutty's Cave. In story mode the bunker spawns somewhere north of Foreman's Retreat so I guess I'll check there too.

Is there coffee in the mine? I don't know...

[Glflegolas]

Hate to say this but I did something stupid. I somehow managed to glitch through a fence and got caught in terrain at the eastern end of the broken Mule Bridge, sprained an ankle, and could not get myself freed. Thus ends my run with no sleep, after surviving about 9 and a half days...

When you consider that I only explored maybe 65% of the world and that my route probably wasn't the most efficient, I am nearly 100% certain that it is totally possible to survive two entire weeks in this game with no sleeping, at least in Voyageur difficulty. I never once used a stim or energy drink, I had something like 6 stims and 4 energy drinks, and 4 cups of coffee in my inventory.

Maybe next time I try Stalker? I think a better route might be to start in Mountain Town as there are masses of houses and trailers there to loot for coffee.

[piddy3825]

@Glflegolas, oh that is too bad!  
I was rooting for you to go beyond 14 days and it seems you would have if not for the glitch that trapped you.  Seems to me BlackRock does have a few issues with the terrain in a few spots.  I fell through the world there myself while doing a little goating as I was seeking the prepper's cache in BR, but instead of dying I was respawned just outside of the prison by the entrance door.    

If you decide to do it again, it might be interesting to go in Pilgrim mode in order to maximize the loot table and establish the longest run possbile.  That would indeed set a baseline for others to try to beat.  Not having to deal with hostile wildlife wouldn't necessarily make it any easier, but at least you could avoid the subsequent injury damage that you'd otherwise sustain.  either way, well done!  I've enjoyed reading your about your exploits!

[RandomPlayer]

Oh, that sucks!

So what route would you suggest for a someone to take who might be interested in trying out this self imposed challenge?  
have you decided to try again?  if so, I'd be interested in route planning.  Do you search the entire map or just major points of interest where you might find coffee?
Did you go to HRV for any reason, I probably would avoid it completely.  Since you didn't sleep at all, did you even bother to craft weapons or clothing?  Or did you just live off the land and move on the fly?    I'd be interested in hearing a little more about how you "played" the game, resource utilitzation, resting without sleeping, dealing with blizzards, wound and injury management.  whew... seems like a lot of effort just to find coffee!

[Glflegolas]

6 hours ago, RandomPlayer said:

Oh, that sucks!

So what route would you suggest for a someone to take who might be interested in trying out this self imposed challenge?  
have you decided to try again?  if so, I'd be interested in route planning.  Do you search the entire map or just major points of interest where you might find coffee?
Did you go to HRV for any reason, I probably would avoid it completely.  Since you didn't sleep at all, did you even bother to craft weapons or clothing?  Or did you just live off the land and move on the fly?    I'd be interested in hearing a little more about how you "played" the game, resource utilitzation, resting without sleeping, dealing with blizzards, wound and injury management.  whew... seems like a lot of effort just to find coffee!

The route I took was Timberwolf Mountain -> Pleasant Valley -> Coastal Highway -> Desolation Point ->  Coastal Highway -> Pleasant Valley -> Blackrock

I did not search the entire map. I only searched areas where there was likely to be coffee once I had good gear. Kitchens are best, but I have found coffee in trailers too.

Doing this challenge is in some ways very similar to Escape the Darkwalker. You want to keep moving as much as possible, always on the hunt for coffee. If you have a storm lantern and lots of fuel and the weather's good, travel by night. You will find plenty of food and clothing, so crafting and hunting is completely unnecessary.

I tended to wait out blizzards whenever possible. However, on a familiar map, I would follow the roads from POI to POI, regardless of the weather. Injuries are something I tried to avoid if at all possible, since getting condition back is very slow in this challenge.

I might consider recording my progress as a YouTube series next time.

[piddy3825]

1 hour ago, Glflegolas said:

I might consider recording my progress as a YouTube series next time.

that actually sounds like a great idea.  there's a fair amount of content already on YouTube but a lot of it is pretty boring to watch especially when there is no clear purpose other than just watching somebody play.  But  a series like this dedicated to a  single goal would be pretty entertaining to watch.  I say go for it!   
Looking forward to watching the first installment of the No Sleep Challenge!

[Glflegolas]

Here we go:

 

[ChillPlayer]

Not to discourage you but I just stumbled over this video from a guy who went 312 days without sleep - on interloper!

 

[Morrick]

This challenge is interesting. I think I'll create a new Custom game based on Voyageur settings and I'll add 'Endless night' to give it just the right touch of irony. 😉