piddy3825

@jeffpeng, thanks for the feedback! you have certainly given me much to consider and I appreciate your insight as well as your suggestions. I'm not upgrading for TLD alone but I would love a 4k/60fps gaming perspective none the less. Taking what you've said to heart, I've spent a little time comparing some tech and your right, I can still get the performance I am looking for without having to spend excessively. I think at this point I will do as suggested and wait for bit and see where pricing goes over the next few months. ...although I am thinking I might wanna splurge on a new monitor now rather than later?

I'd like to think that a new bow would have a better draw as the strings aren't stretched out yet, but I dunno in this scenario. Anyway, I feel your pain when having to track a deer from one side of the map to another. Especially when you have a very limited supply of arrows and your prey is running away at high speed with your precious shaft sticking out of it's rump! Bow hunting becomes a complete game changer when you reach level 5 and can actually crouch and still shoot the bow. Your obviously able to get much closer and that makes it easier to shoot the deer when they are relaxed and standing still as compared to longer range shot on the fly. Being able to crouch and shoot also makes killing a wolf easier as well when they are charging at you. Just keep on reading what skill books you can find and craft as much as you can. Each wildlife hit you make with the bow gets you another point closer to reaching level 5. good luck with your game!

Not sure if this was just a fluke or does crafting a new survival bow and arrows improve distance and accuracy? My character is level 5 in archery as that may have some bearing, no pun intend... So, I've just spent the past couple days indoors crafting new survival bow and 10 arrows. My cabin fever warning light is coming on so I decide I might as well take a little stroll out on the ice and see whats what? I leave the gas station early in the morning and make way towards the docks. It's quite and nothing is on the ice. I start walking towards the fishing shack facing Misanthropes and as I start getting closer to the shack I see the bear come sauntering out of his cave and start making his way across the frozen lake. By this point I've made it to the shack and I'm thinking about just doing a little fishing as I didn't want to have to tangle with a bear out on the middle of the ice with nowhere to run. I stand in front of the doorway watching the bear slowly plod across the ice. hmmm... I pull out my new bow, nock an arrow and aim high up and let the shaft fly. Damn, thing flies right over the top like a missile and I see a spray of snow at the top of the berm where my arrow hits. The bear is oblivious the whole time. Trying again, this time I aim a little lower and fire off another shaft. Again sails over the top of the bear impacting the berm about half way down. Bear still oblivious to this attempt on his life. I draw a third arrow, take aim again and fling another shaft in his direction. Suddenly, the beast whirls about as my arrow appears out of nowhere! He bawls and spins about and runs up the bank towards the cabin and subsequently out of sight. Thinking that I had just scared the brute, I figured I should retrieve my arrows so I run across the ice only to find blood but no arrow. I'm thinking no way I hit this bear?!? I search for my 2nd arrow, it just disappeared. But I did find my first arrow at the top of the berm. I was/am impressed with the distance! How far would you say that was? 500 meters? I found the bears footprints, but no blood spatter in the snow. I was able to follow the bear track in the snow until it ran onto the ice and the tracks all disappeared as did the bear. I ended up going back to the fishing shack and spent a few hours fishing. As I am leaving, what do I see out on the ice? I would like to think that this was a shot for the record books. As I approached the carcass, I was so filled with positively charged energy that I was able to pluck the arrow from the bears body just using my mind...

ha ha, how did you like my little pun? Yes, indeed! exploiting a little glitch in the placement system for sure. It's been called the "curing in place glitch" and you can manipulate hides to dry into place where you set them. the way it works is that you leave a hide to dry on the floor until it gets to 99% cured and then you pick up the hide and hold it up against the wall, or in this case the ceiling fan. As you hold it up it appears red because you cant place it there, so if you just stand there and wait, and you just stand there and wait... and wait... once the curing timer hits 100% the hide turns its normal color and is frozen in place. Here's one I am working on right now but not getting the results I want, but it looks kinda cool imho

In the voice of Katy Perry, "I used autowalk and I liked it!"

Thank you, @peteloud, @Dan_ and @odizzido for your feedback and suggestions. I wasn't necessarily thinking about replacing my monitor as well, but now that it's been brought up, it would make sense to consider putting some thought into upgrading that component as well. I have been seriously looking at the AMD Ryzen 9 chipset as the prices average around $500 USD and that fits my budget nicely. I'm really liking the GEFORCE RTX 270 graphics cards too in roughly the same price range. As my ole granny would say, "nothing that money can't cure," so I think I will start looking closely at some of the tempting offers I've come across online. thanks again for your ideas and feedback!

I think its about time that I consider building a new PC. My current system is a little more than 6 years old and I've maxed out what I could. I love the graphics of this game so I have everything set to ultra, which of course has taxed this older tech to the point that I am getting only about 30fps when playing and the load times are starting to get longer and longer and that's on a good day! Curious as to what most folks are running these days? I'm probably going to be sticking with an AMD chipset as they are cheaper? I am on a budget so although I would love to drop a big wad of cash on a new build, I am gonna have to keep my ambitions a little constrained. would like to hear your recommendations on parts and suppliers. Been a long time since I've purchased computer parts thru mail, I'm currently overwhelmed by all the potential sources and would really appreciate any suggestions regarding reputable dealers with reasonable return policies.

naw, no markings... artistic license? yup yup yup, that was all me. would have been cool though if they had been right? might change up the flavor of the game, but then again if you had a malicious map designer they might intentionally lead you into danger! ..."no, that's not thin ice up ahead. perfectly safe"... lol

I guess in that case, you're right. why bother going? You dont have any guns, so why go thru all the trouble to get to the cannery to make bullets when you got nothing to shoot them out of, right? There is a forge in the workshop cannery so you could craft tools and arrowheads but you can already do that without having to travel to Bleak Inlet. Other than a big change in scenery there is no better loot to be had and the constant patrolling of the T Wolf pack there coupled with the burdensome manadatory rope climb each time you wish to enter the workshop just make it less desireable as a home base in my opinion. The outlying areas, however, do have some utility and charm providing good sources of firewood for fuel and deer and rabbit for sustainable hunting. The T Wolf packs continue to roam the countrysides but spaced out a little further apart which does make dealing with a bit easier.

Figured I would do a new run and as luck would have it, randomly spawned into Mystery Lake right outside of Camp Office. Took advantage of being able to quickly find shelter and supplies, so I let myself in and get situated. Found the usual assortment of useable gear but no weapons so I figure I better get moving and see what's what. I decide to make a looping run down to the fishing shacks, hit the cottages and back to the safety of Camp Office. As I am heading to the fishing shack I see a couple of markings spray painted on a tree up on the bank. I check my handy paint marker explanation guide that I just picked up and interpreted the markings to indicate there were tools up that way? Curious, I decided to head up that incline and see what I could find. After skirting around some rocks, I found a cairn. But as luck would have it, I spied another marker ahead and so I followed. At one point I thought I was on a goose chase but then ever so faintly I could see another marking on a tree. you could barely make it out, but there it was right in the middle of a bunch of trees. ( almost dead center in the pic) Continuing upwards I see it ahead! Again the tools symbol. So close, could this be The infamous and rare Tools Prepper Cache! I warily approach the hatch... I break out my lantern and fire it up before entering the dark tomb. My excitement at making this marvelous find makes me giddy with anticipation. Climbing down the narrow ladder work, I'm impressed with the condition of this lair. As I reach the bottom of the ladder, I step back and take a good look into the space. Near as I can make it out looks like an L shaped room and the hatch drops in right on top. Immediately to the right of the ladder is a metal utility shelf holding two jerry cans of fuel, a crowbar, box of rifle bullets, lantern, two containers of stump remover along with a revolver and two boxes of bullets. Score! Against the opposite wall stood three storage lockers. Two of the three were locked. Adjacent stood a short utility shelf where I found two hatchets and two whetstones,another crowbar and a good set of tools. Yay!!! I search the open locker and it's empty. I pop the first locked locker and it's empty too. Bingo on the third locker! A ragged fisherman's sweater, an shot of energy drink and a sewing kit. great items! Moving into the main part of the chamber, file cabinet and desk on the left and big cardboard box on the right side of the wall. On the desk sits a lantern, some bird feathers, a rolled up copy of the local fish wrapper and another hatchet and whetstone. Checking the file cabinet, all is empty but one. crappy fleece mittens... Desk drawers were mostly empty except for two cans of my favorite grape flavored soda. Yum, love that stuff!! Stepping into the base of the L, the space unfolds to another storage locker with metal utility shelving holding food and medical supplies. Fair amount of calories to be had, between 6 cans of soda pop, an MRE along with a couple of cans of peaches, some dog food, pork n beans and a can of tomato soup. Knife, can opener and antibiotics as well as the stim pen and the bandages were extremely useful. Checking the storage locker yields a brand new pair of combat boots. Time to curb stomp some pesky wolves! Bed looks dry and inviting. Looks like the last inhabitant left me some reading materials as well. Hope it's a good mystery novel this time and not an algebra math book. Bed is warm + 5 C and looks nice and inviting. But there's still more to be found and obtained! On the floor is box with some newspaper and some paint. another box litters the floor. A few more utility shelves flank the bunkers now lifeless air duct. Tool sets are now abundant, two more sets of tools, one being of the high quality type. There's also a firearm cleaning kit, a couple of road flares, along with another book and two Zap power bars. The final shelf in the room is holding a couple of cans of accelerant along with a few items of food stuffs. Beef Jerky, MRE, Zap power bar and crunchbar. I decide to check the grate... Score, another knife hidden away in the ducting. I decide to breakdown the crate and the cardboard just in case anything is inside or underneath. Nothing in the crate or under the boxes. I dropped the reclaimed wood from the crate and the tinder plugs back into their respective positions. Did find a pack of matches that i overlooked initially. As always you'll find the Nuclear Fallout Shelter sticker promptly hanging in each of these prepper's caches. Well the geomagnetic event most certainly could have been an atmospheric nuclear burst causing a huge electro magnetic pulse, aka EMP, which subsequently knocked out most all electronic devices, but we'll probably never know... So the builders of this cache could have been correct all along. Maybe it was nuclear??? In summary, the tools in this cache were almost all practically new and didn't need much sharpening if any. The clothing was all worn except for those awesome combat boots. The only thing missing in this tool bunker was a hacksaw and the heavy hammer. Not surprised about the hacksaw, though. Seem to me that I almost never find a hacksaw when I spawn into Mystery Lake. You'd think you would find a hack saw in the dam but I usually have to trek to Forelorn Muskeg to the Poacher's Camp if I want to find the nearest hacksaw. Most surprising thing was finding a revolver, cleaning kit and multiple boxes of bullets. Appreciate you for coming along on this little outing and exploring the tools bunker with me. If you took the time to read all the way to the end, please leave a comment or hit the like button. Thanks for reading!

I guess I am going spelunking!

Excellent point. you can practically cook an entire deer using that stove at the fallen light house. one tinder, one stick and one cedar log is all you need and if you quartered your deer kill those .5 kilo venison steaks would just have enough time left to fully cook before needing to add more fuel.

I just kept chanting... "be like the chameleon"

@Southerner in Snow, brilliant idea! It would be nice to have a different background, especially something that utilized a players own saved pics. Better yet, they could tie it into the thread "share your screenshots" and we could have a new background picture every day!

that is a good bit of loot for a fishing shack, indeed! I would have been happy with just the whetstone, but you found a knife and a skill book as well. Sweet! look, with the gear that was left behind, you even got an old newspaper to wrap your fish up in! Where did you find this treasure trove of good fortune and gain?

not all caves come with sleeping beds though. but I do like a cave for production of mass quantities of meat preservation

lots of good advice here. just know your gonna end up dying sooner or later, so don't let that get in your way of having fun playing the game! Good luck and Godspeed to you!

OUTSTANDING! ok, now tell us the story on how you managed to capture this magnificent screen shot!

comfortable 25+ C inside...

any car anywhere... no need to worry about cabin fever cold temp fires burn slower 8 burners, with options for more if needed nice cozy interior to sleep or rest no sleeping bag needed enjoy the sounds of a crackling fire predators? sure but that just means more meat to eat! fires can be lit with magnifying glass not good in high winds or blizzard conditions! a close second...

that particular area has almost always had an instant death trigger when trying to goat walk down to the bottom. back when the game was in it's infancy, quite a few players on the forums attempted to find a path down and only a handful were successful. (side note, you might wanna look up some of the old threads as there were some great screen shots of what looked like the area under development.) As I recall, they came down the sides on or near the train trestle on the CH side of the tunnel entrance. Those lucky to make it down there of course never made it back up so anyone attempting to do so always did with a "disposable" character cause we knew you would die, either trying or from making it to the bottom and being trapped forever... There were some good screenshots of the area "under development" and the community was rife with speculation as to what the dev teams intentions were with developing that area into a new region.

after a serious amount of jiggling and extensive clicking... finally got these rifles to "prop" up against the bed and look natural. whew...

I miss Fluffy... he was always there to greet me and then try to beat me before he would eat me... i miss that bundle of fur

channeling my inner Ramones.... now i wanna sniff some glue, but this paint will have to do...