Travois

[UTC-10]

Crafted a travois.  It cost 3% condition off my hunting knife.  It took 3 hours.  

It has a capacity of 75 kg.  This is in addition to your pack but the extra burden does slow you down and maybe cost more fatigue.  

When deployed it will deploy directly behind you with the handles on the left and right.  When equipped you can move forward or backwards but cannot turn in place nor strafe.  You can turn slowly as you move forward or backwards.  Might keep that in mind if loading the travois in a location with limited room to maneuver within. 

You cannot run with the travois.  

The command to release the travois defaults to "H" which appears briefly when you grab it then disappears.  I had a few moments trying to put down the travois so I could load it.  I got the "H" to show up I think by going into inventory or something.  There is currently (I haven't experimented) no other way to drop the travois. 

You cannot interact with anything, i.e. pick up a stick, unless you put the travois down.  

The travois takes condition damage as it is used.  Whether the weight carried affects that I do not know.  I do know that in a walk with 35 kg of meat and 75 sticks from the Camp Office to Trapper's it lost about 9 or 10% of its condition.  I forgot to see what it takes to repair it.  I did look at harvesting it and you get back three maple saplings. 

In this case I was following mostly the path I normally would except I went down slope into the bowl below Trapper's as I didn't think it would cross the rocks and steep transverse slope.  

I play Pilgrim.  For me, it seemed to have some decent value for moving stuff from place to  place.  At 1 kg it was not really weighty.  

[GothSkunk]

I've thus far used a Travois to go from Pleasant Valley to Mystery Lake, via the Winding River route. So through the cave and the Dam.

Upon arriving at the Mystery Lake Cabin Camp Office, the Travois has decayed to 76% condition. In order to repair it, it requires cured deer hide and cured gut. It is yet unclear if a more damaged travois would also require cured maple saplings as part of the repair.

I had to leave the travois fully loaded at the Pleasant Valley side of the cave to Wandering River, because I forgot to refuel my lantern. I went back to the Pleasant Valley homestead, refueled my lantern, but it was late in the evening and I had to spend the night. I returned the next morning to where I had left the travois. It took no additional damage from being left overnight.

I play a custom mode that combines elements of Stalker and Interloper difficulties.

I commend Hinterland on integrating the travois into the game. It is a complex tool, and the ways in which it interacts with the environment make sense, both in what it can do, and what it can't do. Yet just imagining dragging that thing behind me, I'm shocked that there wasn't a "sore arms" affliction added to the game along with scurvy.

Edited December 6, 2023 by GothSkunk

[GothSkunk]

Update:

 

Brought the Travois with me all the way to Transfer Pass, from Mystery Lake. Getting through the tunnel to Forlorn Muskeg, had to unload and collapse the Travois to squeeze between the train cars and get through. On the other end, I redeployed the Travois and started trekking to Broken Railroad. Got caught halfway there between a pack of patrolling wolves behind me, and a bear in front of me. Had to veer wide right to avoid the bear.

Was surprised at how well I could traverse through Broken Railroad with the Travois. I thought for sure I would have to break it down before crossing the tree bridge, but nope, it was good. Though I had to collapse it by the derailed train cars again in order to squeeze through. Spent the night at the Maintenance Yard. I'm 99% certain the travois took 1% condition damage overnight in the yard.

The trek over the Far Range Branch Line was long and tedious, with me needing to drop the travois in order to traverse through the tunnel with a lantern, (My trip was delayed an additional day by a blizzard that blew through the zone and ate up an entire afternoon) and again through the Platelayer's Shortcut. Each time I was forced to backtrack once to pick up "the rest of my gear" and the empty travois, in order to get it safely through to the other side. . This is a process that must be repeated every time one travels through a path involving a tight squeeze or a required crouch. Although it's tedious, it is nonetheless necessary.

I'm presently at the Vacant Depot and taking shelter there. The travois' condition has reduced to 25% by this point. The cost to repair it is still one cured deer hide and one cured cut, which I have now learned, provides a maximum 70% condition repair. I have with me one such hide and gut, but will likely stay a while and cure another hide and gut, before moving on to the new region.

 

Lantern fuel is suddenly quite valuable.

Edited December 7, 2023 by GothSkunk

[UTC-10]

With this update I noticed that lamp oil from fish has been reverted to what it was a while ago - a % of fish weight with the % dependent on the fish type - instead of the fixed amounts for each fish type.  You will get way more lamp oil out of the bigger fish now rather than only extended cooking time.  

I just did some fishing and got about 4x the lamp oil I had been expecting.  What a nice surprise.  

[artmunki]

Okay, I know this isn't explicitly about the travois, but I can't help think it's probably connected, for obvious reasons.

Anyway, is anyone else noticing a bunch of new maple saplings since the update? I wasn't actually expecting it to drop yet, but as luck would have it I'd left my game the day before in the cave in Transfer Pass so I was able to head straight in. Before I even got there tho I spotted two separate maple saplings in TP, where I'd never found any saplings before. Of course all the saplings I saw in the Zone were new to me, but I had to come back out at the end of last night's play to make some repairs (blundered into a contaminated area in really thick glimmer fog, plus spent some time in the mine before I finally found the new boots), and now I'm trying to find the transfer from the airfield, and I've spotted some new saplings there too. Is this happening elsewhere on the island?

[hozz1235]

7 minutes ago, artmunki said:

Is this happening elsewhere on the island?

I've only been in ZoC since update, but I have noticed a larger quantity of maple saplings than normally experienced.  No doubt to account for their need in fabricating the travois.

[artmunki]

4 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

I've only been in ZoC since update, but I have noticed a larger quantity of maple saplings than normally experienced.  No doubt to account for their need in fabricating the travois.

Aye, that's why I reckon it's probably connected. And I'm now curious to see if the already pretty generous beachcombing sapling haul has been boosted too, but that'll have to wait. If I'd been on the coast when the update dropped, I'd have built a travois right away! 

[Leeanda]

17 minutes ago, artmunki said:

Okay, I know this isn't explicitly about the travois, but I can't help think it's probably connected, for obvious reasons.

Anyway, is anyone else noticing a bunch of new maple saplings since the update? I wasn't actually expecting it to drop yet, but as luck would have it I'd left my game the day before in the cave in Transfer Pass so I was able to head straight in. Before I even got there tho I spotted two separate maple saplings in TP, where I'd never found any saplings before. Of course all the saplings I saw in the Zone were new to me, but I had to come back out at the end of last night's play to make some repairs (blundered into a contaminated area in really thick glimmer fog, plus spent some time in the mine before I finally found the new boots), and now I'm trying to find the transfer from the airfield, and I've spotted some new saplings there too. Is this happening elsewhere on the island?

Yes I have noticed some..  I just found three together where I know I've been before.. 

[artmunki]

1 minute ago, Leeanda said:

Yes I have noticed some..  I just found three together where I know I've been before.. 

Good to know. I initially thought they might just have decided to add a couple to TP, until I saw some in FA too. Finding all the new ones is gonna keep me busy for a bit now - bonus! 

[Leeanda]

Just now, artmunki said:

Good to know. I initially thought they might just have decided to add a couple to TP, until I saw some in FA too. Finding all the new ones is gonna keep me busy for a bit now - bonus! 

I found mine in PV... quite a surprise considering I've been on this run over 600 days and scoured that map repeatedly for cairns 😁

[artmunki]

Yeah, my current run-time is in the same ballpark, so I know exactly where the few remaining unharvested saplings are. The wee stand I just spotted in FA definitely wasn't there before.

[Leeanda]

7 minutes ago, artmunki said:

Yeah, my current run-time is in the same ballpark, so I know exactly where the few remaining unharvested saplings are. The wee stand I just spotted in FA definitely wasn't there before.

I only planned on making one travois anyway,which I've done so plenty of maple for new bows instead now.😊 

Unless they decide to let us put wolf carcasses on them one day.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Leeanda

[hozz1235]

5 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

I only planned on making one travois anyway,which I've done so plenty of maple for new bows instead now.😊 

Unless they decide to let us put wolf carcasses on them one day.

I haven't built a travois yet, but I imagine they would make a great storage container to be left in certain places (perhaps somewhat replacing rock caches?).  Wonder what their decay rate is if left outside/inside.

[Leeanda]

6 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

I haven't built a travois yet, but I imagine they would make a great storage container to be left in certain places (perhaps somewhat replacing rock caches?).  Wonder what their decay rate is if left outside/inside.

If I remember in the morning and I'm passing through mystery lake I'll give it a try.. 

I'm in the hunt for a flask at the moment in PV.

[Dan_]

I've only used it in short trips, mostly ferrying bear and moose harvests back to bases. I just killed a Moose at the far corner of Marsh Ridge and used the travois to carry all 50kg of bounty from that corner to the cave, just the satisfaction of not doing multiple round trips and crawling while overencumbered is enough value for me to carry the travois everywhere. I honestly love it, might have to try and do a longer trip for further evaluation, I'm arriving at the ZoC soon, hopefully it will prove useful to move loot out of the large mine into other more pleasant environment. 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Dan_

[UTC-10]

Changing direction with the travois seems limited to a (guess) 20 degree left to 20 degree right so call it (new math) a 45 degree arc centered on your initial direction.   This can be a kind of problem if in close maneuvering space  so keep that in mind.  

I  have bases all over the place where I keep deer hide and guts.  If I were going to go close to the max repair of the travois (reported that 70% is max repair) or out into the unknown I would make sure to keep an extra deer hide and gut at my forward operating base just to be able to repair it.  

I find I like the travois for its intended purpose.  It works pretty well.  

[Leeanda]

On 12/7/2023 at 6:28 PM, hozz1235 said:

I haven't built a travois yet, but I imagine they would make a great storage container to be left in certain places (perhaps somewhat replacing rock caches?).  Wonder what their decay rate is if left outside/inside.

Tried it for two days...

I put 54%  bear meat in and 39% rancid meat 

When I got back the 54% had gone down to 50%  and the rancid meat from 39% to 30%. ,so almost double ..  the travois itself stayed at 99%. 

[UTC-10]

With regular tools, repairing the travois takes 1 hour with a knife, 1.5 hours with a hatchet, and 2 hours if you don't have any tools.  Found that the improvised knife takes 78 minutes (1 hour 18 minutes) about 30% longer than using a knife.  Don't know if tool kits modify that.  No work bench needed. 

Travois cannot be deployed indoors (at least inside the Quonset Garage) and not inside the No. 3 coal mine and the Cinder Hills mine.  

 

[Dan_]

Just took mine to the Far Range. Barring the narrow passages when passing rail cars and the occasional cave, I could use it pretty well and honestly I can't replicate the difficulty of turning the thing many people are reporting. The best technique is to use the mouse + strafe keys to turn it and you can get decent radius on a 90º turn. It does get absolutely wrecked everytime you use it. I used mine from the Camp Office all the way to Idle Camp with occasional Moose check stops, the thing is less than 50% condition now. Fair price to pay for such a useful tool.

My only complaint is that it could be just a tiny smidge little less wide to fit through some of the minor gaps.