Sundered Pass broke me

[Sito]

Yep. SP chewed me up and spit me out! From the moment I stepped out of the transition cave from ZoC I was 3 bars down on the cold meter. Scrambling around to try explore while always on the look out for a cave or somewhere to warm up I start losing condition. I'm ok with a bit of condition loss but not too happy about it when I don't know where I am or where the next shelter might be. I'm forced to retreat back to the transition cave to sleep and recover condition before venturing out again. After waking I still have some condition loss but I have to proceed because I need to find a base and some food source. I have to wait until noon before I can stick my head outside with a FL of -18. With the lantern lit it rises to a comfortable -15. Still 3 bars down.

I know my way around a bit now. I could head down the rope to the right or go left and up. I decide left. There is an interesting cave but it has no warmth so I press on while watching my heat meter go to the red and condition loss sets in. I need to find a shelter. I come to the end of this upper zone. To the right there is a rope bridge to somewhere or I can go down a fairly steep slope in to a wide valley below. I decide the slope. Maybe a mistake. I sprain everything and tear some clothes. No way back now. It is too steep to climb. I am committed now. About 1/4 of my condition is gone but I find the road and follow it up. Thank goodness for cabin B! Fire, food, and get some condition back. Not all because my custom settings makes recovery difficult.

With my health mostly good I step out at noon and proceed up the road. I know I will lose condition but I am confident I can recover if I can bag a deer somewhere. I don't bother with bunnies. Cabin C is a life saver! Wood, some food, and a fishing hut. I stoke the stove in the hut enough to get 1 bar up and fish for 6 hrs. Enough to stay a while and recover all my condition. It takes 2 sleeps but I can do more fishing. With a stockpile of cooked fish I can explore upwards as I expect the weather station to be at a high altitude. The road is blocked but there is a rope climb. I have enough energy for it so I give it a go but there is nowhere to proceed at the top. Good thing there is a cave where I can warm up before climbing down and back to the cabin and my fish.

With seemingly nowhere to go up I decide to follow the road down. Back to cabin B and explore around. I find a cave system that takes me to some valley. Exploring it cost me 50% condition. I didn't find any caves or ropes. Wind was brutal but I found my way back to the cave for a sleep and restore. The next day I try one more explore. I start with only 75% condition and end up back at the cave with 50%. Enough of this! After a sleep and restore I head back up the cave. I notice there is a fork in the cave about half way up that seems to head back down. But I am tired of caves and I want out. Getting back to the top of the cave entrance I come to the realization that this area was a one way. There is no way back. I can see the valley below the road that I want to get back to. It splits off to the right. Maybe that is the way to the weather station? But I am stuck here. What if I take that other cave route? I have no choice so I go. The cave pops me out back to the road but I haven't been here before. Thank goodness for cabin A! I am now down to 50% condition and low on food.

After a sleep I need to press on. It is freaking cold but I can't waste half a day for a few more degrees. I got to get out of this place. I need to find that rope that leads up to the cave where I first entered this frozen hell hole. Following the road down in to brutal blowing sideways snow sucking my condition away I press on. The road ends but there is a path to the right. I follow it for what seems like ages while watching my condition drain away. I reason that the devs can't be so heartless as to deny me a cave or some shelter within 50% condition loss.  To my surprise the pathway abruptly ends with the wait mouse icon and the words "Leaving Sundered Pass" Followed by the fade in of "Transfer Pass Region."  

I know where I am! My elation fades with a soft voice muttering "That guy who drank his own pee doesn't seem so crazy after all." I am in bad shape. Cold, thirsty, not much food. Got to get back to the station and recover with some deer meat. There should be two of them down in the valley. Where the heck am I? And why is it still so freaking cold? I'm still losing condition and this winding path is nothing familiar to me and I'm sure I explored everywhere in Transfer Pass. Finally I come to the road that leads to the blocked tunnel. Is this whole pathway new, or was it always here. I'm sure I would have found and explored it. No matter. Too cold to care. On the way down I spot my first deer for tomorrow. After I fix myself up for a few days I will see about heading out to FA to start the tales again so I can do all 3. Not looking forward to SP. I hope I find another expedition parka.

[Leeanda]

Please remember to add spoilers .  I'll add it here for you..

[PilgrimReaper]

What do some people mean with cabin A / B / C...?

[Leeanda]

2 hours ago, PilgrimReaper said:

What do some people mean with cabin A / B / C...?

There is a string of cabins each one  has a letter on the outside ..kind of like ..this is point A. that over there is point b etc..

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

Don't be afraid to fall back to a more sustainable position and recover.  I like to kill the bear near the transition cave in FA and stockpile food, water and skins in his cave.  It's close enough to the transition cave so you can go right back to ZoC or SP.

[dfw11411]

I certainly identify with Sito. I play Stalker (620+ day run) and usually die within 3 days on Interloper. Entering SP in Stalker felt as if I'd suddenly changed to Interloper. I entered same as Sito and made it just past the ice cave when I encountered Timberwolves. With a blizzard hitting and no idea where to seek shelter, I returned to my main base at the Camp Office in ML for a refit. I changed my gear to better deal with SP and headed back. I'm having better luck on my second attempt.

It's been a long time since I had to worry about warmth. I have no idea how anyone could spawn in SP with Interloper or Misery settings and last more than a few hours.

[ChillPlayer]

That's why I always do a Pilgrim run first when a new map has been released before throwing my long-term Stalker into the unknown. What became abundandly clear to me: entering from TP is almost certainly getting me into troubles with several packs of Timberwolves, accessing it from ZoC/AF is comparably a walk in the park. Only 2 wolves

Spoiler

(plus Fluffy's sister)

are in your way towards safety at the Weather station, providing you with a good vantage point to plan a route towards the avalanche. And you can explore the bottom of the map also by going the other way relatively safely, just stay away from the roads or bring lots of bullets.

As for the weather, I don't think it's too difficult for any survivor that has passed the 50-100 day mark (playing right now with my 200 day-ish Stalker). There are at least 6 cabins scattered around the map, at least one open cave and 4 loading screen cave entrances that I've found plus some cars. As with every map, you can get to safety before freezing practically from every point, if you know the map.

But the Timberwolves are overkill and completely unnecessary, it's what makes me to never want to come back to this place. BI and BRM at least have the forge and mil and one can ommit the TWs, I don't see why I should ever come back to SP once I'm done with the Tales. Even on a new run it will probably be the very last map to visit, when I feel like going full Rambo mode.

Which is a bummer because I really like the overall map layout and the caves are top-notch, the best in the whole game. The TWs make it hard to enjoy though 😕

 

[turtle777]

Yes, SP makes we manna turn of all Timberwolves in custom game. They are so annoying.

-t

[Leeanda]

Spoiler

You can get the moose on the lake with the fishing hut on if there's an issue with fishing .

 

[El Carlos]

It is amazing how developers broke their standards in others regions here. I already 3x broke my legs and hands just by passing one-way jump. Never hapened to me before in others regions. 

Meteo-station is also designed to make player insane, as from cabins there is one-way only, no other food than stupid birds and even rabbits are located behind step that I cannot pass, alhough I hear their jumps from station hangar. 

Gosh! I reached here my day 500. with custom interloper and never before suffer like in this region. 

[ThePancakeLady]

21 minutes ago, El Carlos said:

t is amazing how developers broke their standards in others regions here. I already 3x broke my legs and hands just by passing one-way jump. Never hapened to me before in others regions. 

I don't feel like HL broke any of their standards- each new region in TFTFT has been progressively more challenging, even in modes below Interloper. It feels like it's supposed to be more challenging as you go, especially if you are doing the Tales- in the same way each Wintermute episode has been more challenging than the one before it.

I honestly feel like what is happening is player expectations have been upset. We each thought of what we would be getting with each new TFTFT Part, and each came up with our own expectations for what it was going to be, or  wanted it to be or "it had to be".  And when it wasn't "that", some players adjusted and took things for how they were, while others hang on more stubbornly to "how I wanted it to be" or "how I decided it had to be", with a wide variety along the spectrum, both in TFTFT and Wintermute.

FA still kicks my butt, and I am a seasoned player with thousands of hours in Stalker, ZoC still kicks my butt too. SP kicks my butt a lot harder. And all 3 of them will continue to do so until I learn the maps completely, where resources and shelters are, where relatively "safe" goat paths are, and where the toothy critters hang out. (Very thankful they reduced the number of Timberwolves, especially in Stalker...). Each time I die in one of the new regions, I am learning what preparation I didn't do before going there, what I needed to have with me or have stashed in mini-bases before going further in. I've been going in on disposable runs, not taking a long-time survivor in until I understand the region well enough to survive it.

Intentionally spawning into FA in Stalker after not long after it first released  and I had unlocked it on my World Map, without getting prepared in Lower Great Bear, was one heckuva learning experience for me, lol. It didn't end well for my survivor. 😑But I learned from it, for sure.

[Veskaida]

5 hours ago, ThePancakeLady said:

I don't feel like HL broke any of their standards

I agree, of anything I'd argue the maps have been increasing in quality, size and complexity over the years. Particularly from Bleak Inlet and onwards I feel I feel Hinterlands has made some really excellent content.

5 hours ago, ThePancakeLady said:

each new region in TFTFT has been progressively more challenging, even in modes below Interloper.

Definitely. Particularly on Interloper the temperature differences between TFT and the rest of GBI are very noticible, especially FA and SP. In my opinion SP is by far the hardest region in the game: bitterly cold at all hours, hostile wildife, harsh weather, few shelters. Previously I would have said that FA is the hardest with it's low temperatures and large open plains (easy to get lost in during a blizzard/fog).

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

For my part, I really like the new region.  It's beautiful, and it has a balance of difficult and comfortable areas if you need to take a break now and then.   Apparently HL reduced the admittedly very high population density of timber wolves in a recent patch.

The new cave areas are great and really look something like a cave rather than a tunnel system.  Of course they're still way more spacious and navigable than real caves, but there have to be concessions made for game play.

[Hazelnut]

El Carlos may be referring to the one way jump that is actually a long enough fall to do damage and rip clothes. I was surprised to as it's obviously an official route to take, albeit one way. It was a surprise for sure, and does change the standard I had in my head for what HL do with maps. I don't think this was a bad thing at all, just unexpected. Depends how "breaking standards" was intended in that post. As a bad thing, or just unexpected.

PersonallyI think Sundered Pass is a wonderful map and I've enjoyed the (very hard) challenge immensely. (tho with some frustration at the never-ending army of Timbies at times)

[exeexe]

I think when you have a topic called "Sundered Pass broke me" and there is a wall of text then you know there will be spoilers.

[turtle777]

On 7/6/2024 at 1:59 AM, Veskaida said:

SP is by far the hardest region in the game: [...] few shelters.

I don't think the shelters are that few.

There are least 7 man-made indoor locations, plus caves and cave system.

-t

[Sherri]

I'm playing tales on Voyager and Sundered Pass is definitely a new challenge level. I'm really loving having to use strategies like warm teas, holding a torch while walking, using that insulation you craft from ptarmigan feathers, travelling later in the day, etc, to eek out a few degrees more warmth. It just feels right that the final chapter of the Tale is an extra degree of difficulty. And the wolves! Aaak. Feels pretty awesome IMHO to have to really REALLY earn this final chapter of the story. 😁

 

On 7/5/2024 at 7:43 PM, El Carlos said:

It is amazing how developers broke their standards in others regions here. I already 3x broke my legs and hands just by passing one-way jump. Never hapened to me before in others regions. 

Granted I don't know Unity specifically but in programming you wouldn't re-implement mechanics like sprains over and over on each map. It's likely coded/configured once and works the same on all maps. Sounds like you just had a string of bad luck and maybe some overeager mountain-goat-ing down ridges that were steeper than expected. Happened to me a couple times too.

 

Edited July 15 by Sherri

[Pyroxene]

Is SP the hardest region in Pilgrim?

[Leeanda]

17 minutes ago, Pyroxene said:

Is SP the hardest region in Pilgrim?

I think it is.. the weather is a lot colder,there are less resources and loot generally too.. 

[Glflegolas]

I won't lie, this isn't an easy region to survive in -- I was playing Stalker. The cold is something that I can usually handle quite alright, but the timberwolves! Definitely needed all the marine flares I could get my hands on.

All in all I would say this is a very cool region that was well thought out. I have a hard time deciding which of the new regions in TALES is the best; it's either this one or Forsaken Airfield. It's also got the most details, probably because it's the newest region in the game. The devs seriously keep outdoing themselves

[javijungle]

I agrree with @Glflegolas 

Personally I'm loving it although I'm still a bit lost in Sundered Pass, a bit labyrinthine but I find it a good challenge that the developers have effectively created, intrinsic caves with several exits, cut paths that force you to take shortcuts and detours.

The timberwolves are not such a serious threat if you know how to deal with them with torchs, although having wood in some areas of the map also becomes a challenge, and the weather will force you to use your precious marine flares. 

Spoiler

At the moment what stands out is the extent of some snowy and avalanche-ravaged areas and that bear hanging around the last shelter as if he was going to break down the door.

 

Edited July 26 by javijungle

[Pyroxene]

Honestly, I've been playing since 2019 and I still think HRV weather is OP

[The Feng Hunter]

Easily one of my top 3 favourite regions. Thinking of finally setting down roots in my 900 day Custom 4x game and making the Weather Station my base. The challenge alone would be worth it.

[turtle777]

On 8/1/2024 at 6:11 AM, Pyroxene said:

Honestly, I've been playing since 2019 and I still think HRV weather is OP

Hush River Valley ? Weather there is not that bad.

SP, FA and  PV are the harshest in terms of weather.

-t

 

[The Feng Hunter]

4 hours ago, turtle777 said:

PV are the harshest in terms of weather.

-t

 

Pleasant Valley? Really?

Blackrock is comparable and the map is infinitely more interesting. Plus, Keepers Pass (without the Wolves) regularly gets down to -35°C and has Blizzards.