A few Forlorn Interlopers: Attempting the “Keg Stand”…

[Leeanda]

6 hours ago, conanjaguar said:

Time for some TLD science!

I have 26 matches, and want to use no more than one match every three days. Let’s do some algebra to estimate how long I can realistically expect to survive, and how I should best ration them. Yes, I hate myself now for mixing schoolwork with pleasure, and you’ll probably hate me too, if you read it... unfortunately, the bloody spoiler tags aren’t working right.l.

You have been warned…

***

We have variable M for matches, where M = 23, and variable D for days.

Lets say I strike one match every three days.

M = D/3

D = 3M

D = 3(23) = 69

Wow, if I strike a match every three days, and don’t waste any at all, I could last 69 more days! That’s a very optimistic estimate, because I’m probably going to starve to death or get bored with the run before then… unless I get really good at chasing deer into wolves, of course.

Let’s let D = 2M-6, for striking a match every other day, which is about the pace I’m going through them anyway, and allowing for 6 wasted matches due to high wind or emergency wolf repelling.

D = 2M-6

D = 2(23)-6 = 46 - 6 = 40

A more conservative number, but still too ambitious, and (again) I would probably become bored with the run by then.

If D = 0.5M (because what if the wind blows out my torches every single day)

D = 0.5M

D = 0.5(23) = 11

The most optimistic estimate for matches I can muster is 76 days; the most pessimistic is 13 days. A nice balance is 50 days, or 68 days total. Meme culture demands that I make it 69 days, but I’m resisting for now.

***

Now, what about calories?

31 cattails (150 cal. each) = 4650

3 beef jerky (350 cal. each) = 1050

5 summit soda (250 cal. each) = 1250

3 peaches ( 450 cal. each) = 1350

5 pork&beans (600 cal. each) = 3000

1 dog food (500 cal.) = 500

1 partially consumed food poisoning (618 cal.) = 618

12x deer steaks (440 cal. each) = 5280

Counting teas, I have a stockpile of more than 15000 calories, more likely closer to 17000, but I don’t want to have to live on tea.

Assuming 1000 calories per day (this allows some margin for healing when the snow hits the fan), I can realistically expect to survive for 15 more days if I don’t screw up. If I’m not dead, I’ll probably bag another deer by then (let’s say one deer every 10 days), and if I can harvest half of the deer’s meat (I’m pessimist), then each deer will give me 6 more kg of meat, or about 5000 more calories, enough to last 5 days.

Fame beckons! Glory awaits! I can practically smell victory!

Life is good in the ‘Keg.

Don't forget the bunnies and birch bark at marsh ridge...  .. 

[conanjaguar]

8 hours ago, Leeanda said:

Don't forget the bunnies and birch bark at marsh ridge...  .. 

Bunnies are barely worth the trouble unless I’m already at Marsh Ridge… not much point in going all the way out there just to grab them 🙂.

But birch bark… yes, if I grab about 8 pieces a week, then we can add another 1200 calories or so…

[Leeanda]

Just now, conanjaguar said:

Bunnies are barely worth the trouble unless I’m already at Marsh Ridge… not much point in going all the way out there just to grab them 🙂.

But birch bark… yes, if I grab about 8 pieces a week, then we can add another 1200 calories or so…

I know bunnies don't give much meat but if you're up there anyway you can just go all out on them and get a stockpile..

Not that I'm encouraging you to go on a mass murdering spree😭😁

[Dan_]

Oh no! Not at all! Please remove me from the leaderboard haha!

I barely made it 15 days and my motherboard went kaput, I didn't pickup that save anymore. I still have it, though. I'm trying to locate the thread I created for it. I'll edit the post with my non-impressive run if I find it. 

I hated FM when it came out, so I did stay for 100 days in FM in a regular geared Interloper run to get used to the region. This was way way back, maybe people are mixing that very easy task with a solid Kegman run. Gooner is the absolute GOAT at the Keg Stand, I was reading his original thread in awe back then. 

 

EDIT: There's the thread: 

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Dan_
Added thread

[conanjaguar]

19 minutes ago, Dan_ said:

did stay for 100 days in FM in a regular geared Interloper run to get used to the region. This was way way back, maybe people are mixing that very easy task with a solid Kegman run.

Now that makes more sense .

And I was just looking at the thread yesterday, trying to find more references to that myth. It’s a very good read and a good run, I don’t think I could last that long without my bedroll .

Edited June 22, 2023 by conanjaguar

[Dan_]

2 hours ago, conanjaguar said:

Now that makes more sense .

And I was just looking at the thread yesterday, trying to find more references to that myth. It’s a very good read and a good run, I don’t think I could last that long without my bedroll .

Oh for sure! That was a much older build of the game, birch bark wasn't a thing, Bleak Inlet connector wasn't there, etc. I survived for 15 days there just using three matches, I figured I would be able to make it to 30 days as a hard but realistic goal, by running deer into wolves and cooking on the spot and using the rabbit traps to accumulate pelts and stuff. 

What you don't see in the thread are the trips to get snares made ( multiple ), I even had to ration the crates from spence so I wouldn't run out of reclaimed for 8 snares, the tower didn't have the crates under it back then. 

One strategy that helped me was using the cave from marsh ridge to the hat creek to dip in if my snow shelter was too cold during the day, so I would sleep during the day on the shelter and afternoon and regain health, then get fuel, food and check snares at night. Dipping into the cave if condition was too low. One problem was that I had to always come back to the shelter every day/day and a half or so, so it wouldn't go down past 75% condition and require cloth for repair. Snare making trips cost cloth because of that, so it was a game of attrition. Drifter man is right in the sense that you just run out of firemaking material and die, and that's that. Gooner was just a madman, can't say I can match what he did there.

[conanjaguar]

@Dan_

Things are much different now, that’s for sure. I’m not sure if the Lambda Bunker is a guaranteed spawn, but if it is… the indoor sleeping location and possible matches it provides are a game changer.

If we can fish out on the ice and collect ptarmigan down for the extra +C, then almost indefinite survival becomes a possibility!

One could wonder… it almost makes this challenge feasible on vanilla ‘Loper again 🤔…

No.

Stay focused.

One thing at a time.

Resist…

 

[Dan_]

I still haven't got time to play the new update or even go deep into the last one, honest, but once I do I'm really tempted to try again. Hopefully there's "fishable" spots in FM, but having a warm bed to sleep near spence's completely changes the dynamics. Maybe 100 days is very feasible with some RNG luck for matches. 

[conanjaguar]

3 hours ago, Dan_ said:

Hopefully there's "fishable" spots in FM

I intend to test that in my next session… and try not to drown .

[Leeanda]

1 minute ago, conanjaguar said:

I intend to test that in my next session… and try not to drown .

As @hozz1235 said.  It's best not to try fishing, it's seriously bugged at the moment.

[conanjaguar]

7 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

As @hozz1235 said.  It's best not to try fishing, it's seriously bugged at the moment.

I thought it was just the tip-ups…

[Leeanda]

1 minute ago, conanjaguar said:

I thought it was just the tip-ups…

Maybe but I don't think ordinary fishing is working either...  I might be wrong though..

[hozz1235]

44 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Maybe but I don't think ordinary fishing is working either...  I might be wrong though..

I fished for 12 hours (in 1 hour increments) at lvl 5 fishing and didn't catch a single fish.  I wish you better luck @conanjaguar 

Edited June 23, 2023 by hozz1235

[Gooner77]

On 5/25/2023 at 1:17 PM, conanjaguar said:

By going out of the waterfall side, making the trek up to the low blind (or vise versa), and then up the rope again? That sounds like a lot of work…

Is there another way that I’m not aware of?

Yes, there is a route just past the foot of the waterfall. Just find some nicely sloped rocks and you can easily goat up to Marsh Ridge. Or if you want to scout it in reverse exit the cave at Marsh Ridge and hug the left wall of rocks outside.

[Gooner77]

On 6/3/2023 at 5:54 PM, conanjaguar said:

 

The other day, reading through other Kegstanders’ tales (for research purposes), I found a few references a cave with a possible hacksaw not too far away from Hat Creek. If it is the cave where a wolf showed one of my knights the nearest exit last summer (has it been that long?), then I think I know what they’re talking about.

Let’s hope TFTFT hasn’t taken that away, it could really come in handy. I’m doing fairly well without it so far, but I only have enough lamp fuel for about 2 trips through my cave. It is going to give out pretty soon, and I’m going to have to move to Spence’s (or another warm, outdoors cave?)

FM always had a guaranteed hacksaw under the previous RLT (rare loot tables). Locations were the cave north of Poachers, at Spence's workbench, high blind or bunkhouses. 

[conanjaguar]

1 hour ago, Gooner77 said:

Locations were the cave north of Poachers, at Spence's workbench, high blind or bunkhouses. 

Cave north of Poachers? Never heard of that one…

[conanjaguar]

Progress suspended until I can get the game to actually start up after updating …

[conanjaguar]

Keg 8 / Day 22

I awake in the middle of the night. It’s too dark too see anything. Another day in paradise… or whatever this is

Ugh. I pass a few hours in bed and crafting Reishi teas, which bumps me up to 30 effective doses. If I were a normal interloper, I could shoot a bear and gorge myself on it’s meat without worrying about parasites, but I’m not a normal interloper. That thought sticks with me as I poke my head out the hatch again.

The weather has cleared up a bit, so I shuttle a bunch of sticks and coal over to Spence’s… after all, it’s not doing me any good just sitting in that container, and if for some reason I need to take shelter in Spence’s, I’ll be able to survive a night without freezing to death.

After this task is done, I gather up some sticks and get back to harvesting the deer carcass. I only grab about 3 more kg of meat before it rots away completely. In hindsight, I should have gone for the hide (for boots), but I can’t eat boots…

I lug the meat back up to the Lambda Bunker, pausing to harvest the preplaced doe carcass, and head back to Spence’s to nap until morning; all this bloody (literally) work has made me tired, and I want to check around the BR exit for the memento cache at some point

Morning comes, and brings with it more nasty weather. I have little else to do but light single-stick fires to grind to firestarting level 3 and pass time in bed. Whatever am I going to do with those 40 cattail heads?

To avoid condition loss from hunger, I’m forced to drink an herbal tea just for the calories, and to recover a bit more condition. Why didn’t I bring any food with me?

The high winds keep up until night, adding an aurora to my list of things to worry about. The wolves go absolutely nuts, they seem to be… afraid of something. Worrying.

Keg 8 / Day 23

A lovely aurora sunrise from my favorite view in the game. Morning brings with it… more nasty weather. I literally have nothing to do, so as much as it pains me, I pass time in bed and harvest dead torches while boiling water on the furnace.

The skies clear and the winds calm around noon. I take a torch from the embers of the forge and sally forth. The wolves are still acting completely bonkers.

One, no, two of them run up in the general direction of the Lambda Bunker. I make it past the first with little trouble at all… however, the second one jumpscares me as I round a corner. Fortunately, the wind is merciful, and my torch lasts just long enough to scare off the wolf.

It runs off past the Bunker, and I have no choice but to follow it. I jump inside just as it reaggros.

The winds persist all day, and I have plenty of time to do… nothing. Argh. I munch on cattails while finishing A Sewing Primer,  then vent my boredom-induced rage on my jeans (at 0.3 C they’re not worth keeping) and slap them onto my Ski Jacket, which, for some strange reason, the great snowballers of the past prioritized for repairs… I can do little else but follow their wisdom.

At the end of the day, I still have about half of my fatigue… and after hesitating for a bit, I induce food poisoning with 0% maple syrup, drink a Reishi tea, and sleep for 10 hours.
 

[conanjaguar]

Keg 8 / Day 24

My fuel stocks are severely depleted from that last misadventure, i need to make today worthwhile.

I poke my head out the hatch. It’s windy AGAIN, and to boot, there is a wolf only feet away from me. Life is a cruel joke. I Mutter mild expletives, duck back into the bunker, and for the next five hours, I savor the exquisite joy of having absolutely NOTHING to do. I vent my rage on tough, chewy, tasteless cattails while reading a book on How to Make Tough, Chewy, Tasteless Things Taste Good. Ironic, isn’t it? At least I get Cooking Level 3.

When I poke my head out again in the late afternoon, all’s clear. Or not, there’s a thick fog, but at least the wind and wolves have let up a bit!

I decide to head down to the Bunkhouses. No wolves means no torches, which means no matches need be expended today! I gather about 50 sticks, a few Reishi mushrooms, and thoroughly check the Bunkhouses themselves. No hacksaw, but I do find a copy of a book about how to make ammo for guns that don’t exist and a Polaroid before I notice that the cold, thirst, and hunger, have dropped me down to about 30% condition.

On the slope back up to the Bunked, I sprain my wrist. Freezing lovely. Fortunately, there are no wolves around to capitalize on the opportunity, so I eat venison, use one of my bandages on my wrist, pass time for a bit, and then sleep for 10 hours.

Keg 8 / Day 25

Light fog from the start, hurray! I grab my traveling gear (torches, tea, bedroll, cattails) and set out for the BR exit. I prepare tea in the radio tower cave, pull some torches and take the cliff path. It leads somewhere, right?

Choose your path

Walk it well

Break out from this living hell

Right. After a bit of a walk and a short goat, I arrive at the BR train crash.  There is a bunch of cedar, some cattails, and some scrap metal, and some cute tiny branches, but no hacksaw. Sigh. I light a fire and survey the area. I’m close to the supply cache, it’s on the way back to Spence’s, apparently.

The search begins…It has to be this tree!One of these trees maybe?

Six hours later, I have discovered that I can goat up the way I goated down, but no cache. I honestly have no clue where to find it, I need help…

It’s a bit of a windy sunset and I’m exhausted, so I start back for the Bunker. After a long, slow walk, I make it back with about 20% condition. The gods are sad that I’m still alive.

I light a fire in a little nook that seems like it should be windproof, put on herbal tea, and duck inside while it warms.

When it’s ready, I chug it, gorge on venison, and sleep for 10 hours.

[conanjaguar]

Keg 8 / Days 26-27

ARGH.

Absolutely NOTHING happened, I was confined to the Bunker except for a water-boiling, tea-cooking extravaganza and taking a big condition hit to break a large crate by the bunkhouses in a blizzard. I also crafted a bunch of fishing hooks and two snares.

One other thing to note… I ate 0% dog food and didn’t get food poisoning. Does Cooking Level 3 play a role in that?

I am soooo going to get Cabin Fever . I plan to make an expedition to Marsh Ridge as soon as the weather is nice.

Edited June 30, 2023 by conanjaguar

[Lumi]

I HATE this region. Definitely reflective of my inexperience with it (and impatience - I totally could have made it across the ice if I just sprinted a bit faster!) but nonetheless huge props to ya for even attempting it on a difficulty I'm too scared to start a run on ^^ 

[conanjaguar]

@Lumi

The key to not falling through the ice is to not touch the ice at all .

Think of it like that section in Half Life 2, where the Antlions come out if you so much as tough the sand. We don’t have a Gravity Gun to move odd junk around, but there are usually ways to get just about anywhere if you follow the islands of snow…

FM is actually my favorite region now, spend a little time there on a lower difficulty (or Wintermute Ep. 2) and you’ll soon be doing island hopping that would make WWII Marines envious .

[conanjaguar]

Keg 8 / Day 26

I wasn’t expecting to get in a session yesterday, but you take what you can get .

More wind this morning. I munch cattails and pass time staring at the darkness, as well as breaking a scrub bush because I’m tired of staring at the darkness before staring at the darkness some more.

In the afternoon the winds finally let up, but it’s still snowing rather thickly. I pass time for an hour and poke my head back out. Windchill -6C. That’s as good as it’s going to get, we’re going.

I take everything that I’ll need… except for my snares, as I realize much later.

I head up to the radio tower, trying and failing to sneak past the wolves. I strike a match that was going to have to be struck, wave him off with a torch, and duck inside the cave to make tea before continuing.

FLT has risen to -5C when I reach the BR exit. An interesting looking rock catches my eye, could this be the cache? I goat down there and find that it is! Excitedly, I open it…

Dog food and accelerant, really? What about the deerskin trousers?! Gone, Sherlock. Stolen.

I heave a sigh of exasperation as I check the weather. Crows fly overhead just as the sky clears up, coincidence? I have about 50% fatigue left, is it enough to make it to Hat Creek? I can see the frozen river not to far away, and the weather seems to be holding… I briefly weigh cost-benefit and decide to go for it.

There is one patch on thin ice that I touch for two seconds, but safely sprint across to the other side. That was way  too close. I also manage gather a bunch of cattails before reaching the cave.

I quickly check for coal… six pieces, about the expected yield, and find a cured deer hide that I don’t recall leaving behind. The real treasure, however, is up there on Marsh Ridge. I’ll get it tomorrow, but for now, I cook a can of beans, drink 90% of an herbal tea, munch a cattail, and hit the sack.

[conanjaguar]

Keg 8 / Day 27

Wake up and poke my head outside of the cave. Weather is a -12C fog, not much risk, so I’ll take it

I stroll around Marsh Ridge, gathering a bunch of birch bark and some sticks. I also find a few Reishi mushrooms that I missed, so I gather them; extra calories are always appreciated.

Crows attract my attention, a ravaged deer carcass that I missed last time. I boil water and prepare tea while it thaws out, then harvest the hide, guts, and 2.5 kg of meat from the carcass. That has to be the most meat I have ever taken from a preplaced deer carcass…

When I’m done with that, I quickly bop the three nearby rabbitsNow you see itNow you don’t
and cook their meat. The rabbits are also pretty meaty, weighing in at a hefty 1.3 kg each.

I’m also noticing the burn time bonus from Firestarting Level 3! If a blizzard hits, maybe I’ll just grind single-stick fires all day.

I take a quick screenshot of my wealth and head back to the cave, bring the stuff up from the main chamber (mostly to conserve lantern fuel for constant trips back and forth), and harvest dead torches and bunny hides, getting Carcass Harvesting Level 3.My condition is down to about 25% again, so I drink birch bark teas, eat a steak, and hit the sack.

6 kg of meat, 30 sticks, and 8 teas is pretty impressive for a short days work… and no cabin fever yet… interesting.

Tomorrow, we shall hunt deer. Hides are primary targets, then meat, and guts. I need a pair of deerskin boots sooner rather than later, and maybe another rabbit hat… The Hotzn Way will prevail!

Keg 8 / Science

Here are my theories about the best ways to hunt deer without weapons.

• Chasing the deer directly is for beginners, and rarely, if ever, works.
• Throwing rocks to scare the deer is slightly better, giving you a longer “reach”, but is still very dependent on the whims of the fates as to which way they run.
• Getting the wolf to follow you is by far the best way to do it. The prescribed procedure is:

1. Alert a wolf and get it to stalk you.
2. Keeping your distance from the wolf, get a deer between it and you. The wolf will automatically target the deer.
3. Watch nature take it’s course.
4. Remember the Deadman’s Code: It ain’t smelly if it’s in your belly!

[conanjaguar]

Keg 8 / Day 28

Nasty weather in the morning, stare at the darkness for a few hours. When I poke my head out again, it’s a -9C FLT light snow with -5 windchill. Good enough for my purposes.

I head out to Marsh Ridge (making sure I have fuel, torches, and bedroll), and go down the rope. I see deer, now I just need to find a wolf.

A few minutes (and Reishi mushrooms) later, I find a wolf. I light a torch in case things go awry and lead the wolf to the herd of deer. Using the third method I mention in my last post, I get the herd between the wolf and myself and let nature take it’s course. He gets a doe, so I let him feast. I want to get the stag; he should have the most meat.

The gods hear my prayer, another wolf comes out of nowhere and takes the stag down on the (fortunately) safe ice. I wave him off with a rock and begin the harvest, getting around 8 kg of meat and the precious hide. While I’m doing that, I note that my recycled can that I’m boiling water in is bugged… I can’t interact with it, except to move it around.

I finish with about 1/3 left on my fatigue meter. The weather promises an aurora, so I hike back up to the waterfall via the long way, and from there to the Marsh Ridge side, grabbing some more coal along the way.