Deep Forest Wood Gathering: Much Harder?

DrMembrane

By DrMembrane
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DrMembrane Pathfinder

DrMembrane

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Dear Community and Devs,

I've found gathering wood in the update to be much harder, as sticks are pretty useless for keeping a fire going long enough to melt snow and boil water, and logs are much scarcer. I guess what I want to know is, was this increase in difficulty purposeful or am I not playing it right? If the former, that's fine, I just want to know to adjust my expectations. Other community members, have you found it to be this way?

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Golden Prepper

Golden

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as sticks are pretty useless for keeping a fire going long enough to melt snow and boil water

:idea: hold that thought, it just so happens I have a video on this topic in the render batch as I type...

You have me interested!

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Spottdrossel Pathfinder

Spottdrossel

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I believe it takes more time to collect wood now.

I'm not sure it takes more calories, since picking up sticks has no calorie penalty like foraging did in the past.

Sticks appeared to be rather pointless at first, but gathering 30 of those is not as difficult as I thought.

Collecting enough to boil 5 liters of water is only a matter of 1-2 hours.

It's just another time sink, but IMO a nice one.

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selfless Pathfinder

selfless

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Dear Community and Devs,

I've found gathering wood in the update to be much harder, ....

Yes, it's harder. You used to be able to gather 5 fir logs in an hour from your porch. Now you can gather maybe 3 cedar logs in that same time, but only if you are out in the trees and actively looking in a place you haven't scavenged recently. Fir limbs are now rare finds. Logs in general are not available without a hatchet, used to be harvestable by hand (just took longer). (Side Note: Really?!? There's no naturally occurring instance of a burnable size log? It must be only giant limbs or small sticks...)

Still, it remains possible to find more wood in a day than it is possible to burn. Happy harvesting.

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MagnumJoe Wolfbait

MagnumJoe

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I really like the new system, but there are not enough trees to harvest logs. If I go into a forest that is relatively away from civilization there are branches and downed trees everywhere. Even when i go backpacking on popular tails, there are always enough downed trees and large branches with 100 yards of camp to harvest wood keep a fire going most of the night.

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selfless Pathfinder

selfless

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I really like the new system, but there are not enough trees to harvest logs. If I go into a forest that is relatively away from civilization there are branches and downed trees everywhere. Even when i go backpacking on popular tails, there are always enough downed trees and large branches with 100 yards of camp to harvest wood keep a fire going most of the night.

Assume all that wood now lies under the snow, where we dare not tread ('cuz, you know, magnetic fallout or something.) All that is available is what is falling off the trees with the current storms. Which is more than plenty, you just have to walk a bit to get it all.

Strangely, though, the trees that seem to have been recently knocked over have no wood available around them. You'd think they would be a gold mine at first, just no wood would respawn after it was taken...

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harobed1156 Pathfinder

harobed1156

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Still, it remains possible to find more wood in a day than it is possible to burn. Happy harvesting.

True, but only if that's all you do, and provided that you have good enough clothing not to freeze. I found that in the early game, you can't collect enough wood to harvest a little venison, cook it, and boil water all in the same day, because you'll freeze if you stay outdoors that long. And if it's true that fir logs are rare, that's ridiculous.

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octavian Pathfinder

octavian

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Branches seem a bit unbalanced, however. Nobody will use them after sometimes, they are useless.

Perhaps, the point of my video was missed. After one day of NOT gathering wood in particular, minding my own business and just clicking in places while spending 10 minutes to recover stamina in other places, I end up with enough sticks for a 12-hour, 80C fire. Useless? :?

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McGuffin Pathfinder

McGuffin

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Perhaps, the point of my video was missed. After one day of NOT gathering wood in particular, minding my own business and just clicking in places while spending 10 minutes to recover stamina in other places, I end up with enough sticks for a 12-hour, 80C fire. Useless? :?

I am not talking about stick, but Branches, the one you need to break in 2 parts: it takes almost the same time to harvest than to burn. It doesnt worth either time and calorie cost

Sticks are really good, specially since they can be instantly gathered.

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Bill Tarling Pathfinder

Bill Tarling

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Branches, the one you need to break in 2 parts: it takes almost the same time to harvest than to burn. It doesnt worth either time and calorie cost

You get two sticks (so double the time value back) - PLUS you get the heat (and water/food cooking source). Alternative is to say I won't waste time, I'll freeze and go without supplies instead...

break them down while in good health and collect later if needed.

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McGuffin Pathfinder

McGuffin

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Branches, the one you need to break in 2 parts: it takes almost the same time to harvest than to burn. It doesnt worth either time and calorie cost

You get two sticks (so double the time value back) - PLUS you get the heat (and water/food cooking source). Alternative is to say I won't waste time, I'll freeze and go without supplies instead...

break them down while in good health and collect later if needed.

you dont get my point:

There are sticks everywhere, and they are insta-loot.

Why bother with branches that require 10 mn to get 2 sticks? (specially where those 2 sticks will burn in 14 mn)

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SteveP Pathfinder

SteveP

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Although I like the reality of gathering wood, it seems to be a little difficult to locate enough large fuel to sustain through a storm or overnight. Being trapped by a storm was a really difficult situation however if you holed up in a sheltered spot, you could make it by foraging Fir logs. Now, surviving overnight is nigh impossible unless you have gathered a stock pile of wood.

I like the indoor mechanics very much. Now it is possible to get cloth in addition to reclaimed wood.

Expanding the harvesting mechanic to other items is a good idea in general.

I really think we need a better way to get a stock pile of wood in order to survive a blizzard outdoors. You really cannot go far in a blizzard.

Ice fishing now would require much more advance planning and preparation. You would need to bring more wood than the weight of fish you plan to catch! Ouch! It really puts the player at the mercy of the time lords of probability since a storm can easily isolate one in a fishing hut rapidly exhausting fuel supplies.

While the change is nice and many people requested it, I think it is going to alter the game play considerably and I don't like elements that I have no way of preparing or controlling the outcome.

Perhaps the game could have caches of stacked cord wood around so that you can easily pick up enough to survive a night without endless foraging especially in poor conditions.

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Sparky16 Prepper

Sparky16

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Playing in pilgrim mode (because I like to explore more than I do fighting off wildlife) I find sticks are everywhere, but the 10min branch thing is a little silly, and not really worth it for what you get other than wasting time. Finding and getting logs for either fires or repair is a pain in the keester too especially since my axe is in bad need of repair. While I love the idea, others have brought up the troubles and woes this system brings so I won't be a broken record there.

It would be nice just to go up to a fallen tree and hack at it to get what you need though.

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elloco999 Pathfinder

elloco999

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I love the new foraging mechanic but it may be a bit too hard. Hard to tell as we probably need some time to adapt to these changes. Early in a new run before you have some good clothes, it's very hard to gather enough wood to cook the meat from a kill.

I don't bother with the branches anymore. It is way more time effective to only pick up sticks. 10 min to break a branch in 2 sticks? I can do that in 10 sec!

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nicko Pathfinder

nicko

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I love the new foraging mechanic but it may be a bit too hard. Hard to tell as we probably need some time to adapt to these changes. Early in a new run before you have some good clothes, it's very hard to gather enough wood to cook the meat from a kill.

I don't bother with the branches anymore. It is way more time effective to only pick up sticks. 10 min to break a branch in 2 sticks? I can do that in 10 sec!

Start a new run in v256 - easy if you played before. do the basics of survival. water,shelter/food.

you can easily harvest any wood you need just need to find it/ look for big logs if you want cedar/fir logs

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Boston123 Pathfinder

Boston123

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Why can't we break branches with our feet/hands, or wedge them between two trees/ a doorframe/ etc etc etc to break them, instead of having to use a hatchet? That doesn't make much sense.

You would use a hatchet/axe/saw to process wood from a tree or log, not some piddly little branch I could break with 60 seconds of moderate effort.

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McGuffin Pathfinder

McGuffin

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Why can't we break branches with our feet/hands, or wedge them between two trees/ a doorframe/ etc etc etc to break them, instead of having to use a hatchet? That doesn't make much sense.

You would use a hatchet/axe/saw to process wood from a tree or log, not some piddly little branch I could break with 60 seconds of moderate effort.

small branches can be broken by hand (well, it takes 10mn, which is Imho far too long))

bigger ones needs hatchet

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