Carbon

Lamp oil can be harvested by cooking fish and can then be used as an accelerant to start fires quickly (and guaranteeing ignition), refuel the lantern or to make a torch (which can be crafted without a workbench).

Look, I won't drag this out, but you engaged me initially and wrote quite a bit relating to why my ideas "didn't go far enough". I then wrote to your argument and if I truly derailed it, then it was weak. I am in no way concerned about you personally closing me out; I was only concerned with the argument and you continuing to hold up your end of it in a reasonable manner. I only told you that a lower level might be best after a lot of reasoning why; I am a horribly pedantic person and I rarely say anything without substantiation. I disagree with your assessment that I was obnoxious; you seem quite sensitive to criticism and if you can admit that, then perhaps you could also re-read my posts and see them in a more neutral light. Either way, I never intend to antagonize but I am also not going to coddle. Finally, I do take my own advice. I write carefully and considerately (did I mention what a pedant I was?) and think quite carefully before replying, as I have also done here. I do not talk about posters, but posts and only address words, not people. It is sage advice to allow your ideas to be challenged and criticized without taking it personally; think of it as a kind of peer review. If we put forward an idea and allow it to be looked at from every angle - not only the ones we see or agree with - the idea will either emerge stronger and better for it or weaker and can be dismissed. Anyhow, I don't want to cause you any stress or grief, so accept this olive branch. If you go back over the thread, we have more agreement than not, so let's focus on that. Peace.

Highly reactionary reply Renegade. Toxic? But not wrong. I'm fine with you thinking that. I was very civil in my post and took much time to reply thoughtfully; a waste apparently. I could easily go through your post and argue (in the proper sense of the word) each point, but why bother? You are already name calling, completely closed and defensive, all due to a stranger challenging your ideas. It won't get any better I'm afraid, so as I said, call me what you will but I'm not wrong and it seems you'd best get acquainted with humility. Suffice it to say that your post is essentially backpedaling, innuendo, and some strange bravado. Anyhow, a tip for future reference: don't ever write to "me" or anyone on forums...discuss words, speak to ideas because you know nothing of the person writing them. This helps keep a conversation civilized and avoids the need to babysit fragile egos. Enjoy your great victories in Interloper. And get outside already man...you'll go crazy out there at the lake.

No, it's not. Literally. I think you mean somehow 'contradictory' or 'conflicting'. I've read your posts carefully, as I do with anyone to whom I reply. That's why this... ...seems odd when compared to this... Anyhow. Here you state that hibernation breaks the game but where you seem to diverge from this understanding is with the numbers; the current calculations are below 90%, but this does not mean that a lesser number would not break the game. Its hibernation that breaks the game, the number is just a corollary. So it seems then that the definition of hibernation is in dispute, not the idea of cabin fever in and of itself. Much of the rest of the quoted post talks about reality - which I have argued many times has no place in a discussion regarding the game's reality - and you offer a solution in the form of "constructive activity". I replied to this idea directly to which you then said that it didn't go far enough although in fact, I was essentially paraphrasing you. I said that sleeping and passing time are the only indoor activities that should count towards contracting cabin fever, a.k.a.; constructive activities wouldn't count. I maintain that it does go far enough and that its a reasonable and relatively simple solution. I think we agree here actually. Your other ideas: I have no idea first what this means. It's mind-bending to consider how this might work actually, but I'm sure you'll illuminate my dark ignorance. Travel, hunting, wolf fighting and visiting locations all imply being outside, but its the duration that is important, not what one is doing. One could easily visit some nearby locations, hunt something or fight a wolf daily and quickly. Distance traveled (= time outdoors) makes no sense to be on this list; if you are reaching a distance set by the developers - and one would assume that this distance would correlate to their current requirements for 'outdoor time' - then you would be outside sufficiently long to avoid cabin fever anyway. It wouldn't make sense for the developers to set a distance quota which requires little time to satisfy, if cabin fever is to remain something formidable in the game (that would be truly self-defeating). So, again, I was not and am not arguing for the idea of cabin fever (quite the opposite if you read my earlier posts). I actually don't think it should be implemented at all; if one wishes to hibernate, go ahead. It sounds boring and pointless, but whatever blows your hair back. You paid for it, so whatever. However, your claims indicate that interloper simply isn't for you. You don't complain about the intensity or frequency of blizzards, the outdoor temperatures, the lack of decent clothing in the world all of which directly correlate to your problem with cabin fever. If the weather were warmer, the clothing found better or the blizzards fewer, cabin fever wouldn't be an issue. Thus, by your rationale, all of the things listed above are "self defeating". In fact, these things are the very cause of cabin fever, or at least the factors which motivate you to stay indoors provoking it so wouldn't it thus be more reasonable to have these scaled back a bit? You don't argue for that however; no mention of weather temperature, etc...and why? Perhaps because Interloper is seen as some kind of badge of honor and pride, the 'real survivalists' wouldn't be caught dead playing anything else. Yet, you are in reality taking issue with many aspects exclusive to Interloper, hence my claim that you should play on a lower difficulty. You can rail against cabin fever all you want but the truth is you need to look at the cause of your cabin fever and see that's its systemic and inherent to Interloper. Edit: I see in another post your want sliders to tune the game. Yes, your ideas speak to just that; you want certain aspects of Interloper but not others...à la carte. Well, that says it all really.

While some aspects of the combined sound somewhat reflects what I am carrying, I don't have tin cups and cowbells hanging off my bag. I guess the volume doesn't bother me as much as the number of layers and types of sounds present while walking.

So one has to ask, how was the game intended to be played? Apparently the people who made the game believe differently from you; your idea seems to be staying inside most of the time while theirs was to have players get out and keep moving. I'm not arguing for the idea of cabin fever here, but against your claim regarding the intention behind the game. Maybe play on a lower difficulty. I've got 300 RL hours into the game and consider myself to be a decent enough player, but Interloper is just too much for me. Not only would I certainly meet my fate sooner than I might want, but I don't like to play under those harsh conditions. You seem to want your character's duration to be longer than your desired play style or skill allows as well, a perfect argument for playing on an easier difficulty.

Well, when you are out of the wind, you don't have a wind chill value working against you. When sheltered, you only face the ambient temperature (+/-). In Canada - and I assume in any cold-climate country - wind chill and temperature values are reported and considered not only as a combined "feels like" but also as separate values which helps people dress accordingly. Thus, the wind blocked icon tells you that you are protected from the wind and spared it's cold value.

The quick and easy version of this is to store all food items outside except sardines, soda, peaches and pork & beans. Coffee, tea, cat tail stalks and crackers can be stored anywhere; inside or out makes no difference to their decay rate. Leaving meat on the ground outside your door will not draw predators. Cooking an otherwise inedible piece of meat will raise the condition of the meat to edible levels (+50%). If you harvest a deer found in the world and the meat is "rancid", cooking it will bring it up to "gamey", for example. Be careful what you eat! Getting sick from eating low condition food items can be the end of your game. From @Thrasador: ~ Soda cans and all other beverages will never cause food poisoning. ~ Items with a displayed condition of at least 75% will also never cause food poisoning. ~ Beef jerky, pork and beans, condensed milk, salty crackers, energy bars, MREs, pinnacle peaches, and tomato soup are safe until the condition dips below 20%. ~ Suffering from food poisoning will never kill the player but will severely weaken them if left untreated. While in effect, condition will not be restored and will rapidly drop until your condition reaches 15%." Level up your skills as fast as you can by engaging in the activities themselves (starting fires, mending, etc) and by reading books. If you find a book, get the research done as soon as you can. Books are heavy, so it is in your best interest to get it read quickly (do this outside if possible to avoid risk of cabin fever), after which you an use it to start a fire. The benefits of leveling up are found here: http://thelongdark.wikia.com/wiki/Survival_skills

Seeing as this is a thread for new survivors then I think it's safe to say that a flat terrain is best for starting out with stones and rabbits. First, a clear line of sight is important to understand aiming and second, recovering your stone is easier. Tip: Practice throwing stones against a tree or large boulder. Choose a location where you won't keep losing your stones (a boulder face is best), then pick a spot on a boulder or tree and aim for it at different ranges. Generally speaking the rabbits come quite close so short throws will work but if you choose to use stones to distract wolves (Thanks to GELtaz for this great tip!), then you need to learn to throw them farther. Knowing the maximum distance is useful in this latter situation; if you aren't far enough away from the wolves when you throw the stone, they might come and check you out instead of where the stone landed. Start aiming at a point between the thumb and index finger when the stone is cocked (press and hold the right mouse button, as with aiming the gun or bow). The stone will arc, so at short ranges it will go 'straighter' than at distance. Tip: Walk, don't run. If you aren't freezing, it's best to walk around the world as opposed to running. Running will use more calories and make you tired faster. Tip: You will learn the maps faster by taking your time and noting particular features of a map (certain felled, toppled or otherwise unusually-shaped trees, for example). You can open the journal from the backpack and actually type notes to yourself which will help you remember places easier. And don't forget to mark your map if you have some charcoal, which can be obtained by clicking on burned-out fires and choosing "take charcoal". One piece of charcoal per survey.

I don't think there is an issue with the game Joe. Sprains are perhaps too numerous, but they keep things interesting. This post was made after a 4-sprain day and I simply imagined how wrecked Will must be after little food and 8 pain killers. Just for fun more than a commentary about anything serious.

Animals carcasses have a set re-spawn time. This is good news for deer and rabbits, but wolves and bears might not be so welcome. If you kill a wolf or bear, leave some meat (or a gut, but these are a very important thing to get and you can never have too many guts!) on the carcass and it will delay the re-spawn significantly. If you kill a deer however, try to get everything - meat, guts and hide - from the animal in order to allow it a normal re-spawn time. The deer carcasses you come across in the game world don't re-spawn. Big shout out to @SteveP for the incredibly detailed and helpful post above!

I have a feeling that Mel started this thread to be a very simple and very basic guide for novice players and further, I think this was motivated by some people having trouble with even the most basic of game play aspects (like getting water). I'm no authority around here and I am only surmising that if we can keep it super basic and add as many instructional pictures and simplified explanations, the thread will serve its purpose well. That was my take on the rationale for Mel kicking this off. Thanks again for the great tips everyone; my OP is edited.

So just a preference then. Good tip. I'll edit my post to reflect this and Hawks note. Thanks guys!

Cheeky Fluffy looks happy... ...he had a piece of you for dinner. You now have blood loss from a wolf bite. (A small red cross in the bottom right of the regular play screen will show you you are afflicted) First, radial menu (or the "i" key: thanks @Hawk) to the "First Aid" area (sorry for the 2 different screenshots). Choose antiseptic or Old Man's Beard Dressing first...(EDIT: @Quarbani 79 claims that you should do the blood loss first and do the infection later after you find a safer location. This then really depends on where you are and what you can do. But, blood loss first if in dire circumstances after the altercation) (Second edit: @Ruruwawa rightly points out that blood loss has a massive 30% condition penalty per in-game hour, so this should always be treated first. Additionally he adds that the scent from a bleeding wound will bring in wolf buddies and/or the old fighter - if only beaten off with fists or crowbar - back for more. Props to Ruruwawa!) Apply to the infection, not the blood loss! Then back to the radial menu, "First Aid" again but now choose "Bandage". Apply to the blood loss. Success. You live to fight another day!

Sure....sleeping and passing time are the only things that factor into the risk of cabin fever. If one is busy crafting, mending, cooking, reading, etc, then no problem, no risk.

I was joking....chill, player. Look, I fundamentally agreed with you on page 1, so no need to keep telling me how you feel....I get it.

Most of this should be done outside to avoid cabin fever.

I see your point and of course I read your words before replying, but you did say earlier that the only way to accept CF is as a game mechanic. Correct. But then your speak against it in the context of reality. Incorrect. My second reply assumed that you accepted your own words as true (hence my 'wink') and the complaining was done. Using the 'game vs. reality' context makes complaining simple (no game can match reality: games will always be inferior in terms of possibilities, potentials, etc), while 'game vs. do you have a better idea?' makes any complaining dependent upon the complainant having a better method to achieve the same goals (to make a fair apples-to-apples). Although that wasn't my point, perhaps that is something to think about; it's very difficult to suggest practical alternatives to the aspects specifically being criticized. Perhaps then we can better understand the complexities that HL faced when considering how to implement a mechanic that discourages sedentary gameplay. I only made suggestions on where you might go because your post seemed to indicate that you felt relegated to the fishing huts to cure CF. I was trying to help not condescend, and was unaware of the depth of your game experience. You're right in that I don't play Interloper, but Stalker, and my longest game was wiped at 385 days. Interloper is for masochists. I am not sure that the differences between the two would greatly differentiate the effects or demands of CF though, perhaps even less so when comparing 100 days in Interloper and 385 in Stalker. Both are nasty at these respective points.

Thinking of it as anything but a gameplay mechanic wouldn't make sense. There is a cave up high behind the Camp Office which works well in this situation. No predators, lots of sticks but no wildlife, so bring some food. You can either take the rope or walk the ridge to get there. I have never had CF...hard to believe it is an issue actually. Do more outside I suppose: mending, cooking, reading...heck, just walk around. In bad weather, take the Lake Trial to Dave's Quiet Clearing and hang out. No predators, no wind...nice place.

Thanks for the info JoE. I'm aware of the actual condition to an extent, but I always make efforts to avoid bringing real life or any ideas about 'reality' into a discussion about the game.

Back to topic, I'm not sure that its being inside too long that would drive the character nuts. I mean, last person alive, doomed, ravenous predators everywhere, corpses littering the land, always starving, freezing, scraping out a meager existence in ever-worsening weather conditions...I think that'll do it, in or outside. But seriously, until a better system to get players moving is introduced, cabin fever remains an effective means to that end. What I frankly don't understand is why there needs to be a mechanic in the game to force players to go out at all. The problem isn't that it's arbitrary (it isn't; it has a clear and reasonable rationale), the problem is that its counter-intuitive within the parameters of the game (not talking RL here). Going out in certain weather conditions is certain suicide for the character and in a survival game, inviting certain death by forcing a particular action...ay, there's the rub; the game is apparently contradicting itself. Beyond that, let players play it their way. Let the character die of boredom. This invites a very dark idea which I won't elaborate on, but an interesting, if not somewhat morbid way for a long indoor stretch to end. Think pain killers and rifles. On the upside (sorry for that dark turn), CF makes my 385 day game even more impressive in that it forces a much more rough and rugged play style. No hibernating here!

Are there still leader boards? If so, then I guess that getting to the top of them in this manner upset the devs, but past this, I can't see any real reason for it. If you are indeed the last person alive, then you're going to lose your mind anyways, inside or out. With a -50c raging storm outside, nobody would go out, especially one who is under-dressed and undernourished, regardless of how long they have been holed up. Heck, we have books to read and charcoal to draw with; we could get busy writing our epic saga. But really, if someone wants to hunker down indoors for days on end, who cares? I'd personally get bored playing that kind of game, but to each their own.

If you find the mag lens, then this is a possibility but typically matches in loper are a premium item and cannot be spent every time you get to the point of freezing; they just won't last more than a day or two. Even the mag lens is a roll of the dice, what with blizzards and overcast days also being prevalent. Having a bedroll and trying to find wind-sheltered areas to sleep for an hour along your route in the daytime is a useful strat.

Day 1: Woke up, sprained my ankle eating crackers. Took pain killers. Went out foraging for sticks. Sprained my wrist walking on flat snow. Took pain killers. Very strong, immediate relief. Nice! Got home, tried to read. Double vision. Went to bed. Day 2: Woke up, ate, had some water, sprained my ankle drinking. Took pain killers. Sprained my wrist drinking. Took pain killers. Went out fishing. Sprained my other ankle fishing. Took pain killers. Lost focus many times. Fell down, sprained my wrist. Took pain killers. Spoke to some trees. Day 3: Woke up. Not sure how I got home. Boots on hands. Too many pain killers yesterday. Sprained my wrist thinking. Took pain killers. Went out hunting. Sprained my ankle harvesting. Took pain killers. Very happy, skipped home, sprained my wrist. Took pain killers. Very, very happy. Sprained something else. Don’t care. Day 4: Woke up. Took pain killers. Went outside, looked at sun. Sprained my wrist looking. Took pain killers. Don’t care about food, only pain killers. Took more in case of a sprain. So very happy in the sun. Counted my pain killers. Named them. They are nice. So few though. Sprained my ankle liking them. Took more. Vomited. Day 5: Woke up. Took pain killers. Stood in the room. Drank. Took more pain killers. Somewhat happy, no pain. Sprained my wrist and ankle taking pain killers. Took pain killers. Feeling uneasy, shaky. More pain killers for nerves. Not helping. Need food. Too tired to cook. Feeling nauseous. Bottle is empty. Day 6: Woke up covered in sweat. No pain killers. Very unhappy. Went out and shot everything with legs. Sprained my ankle. Shot more animals. Really angry at my hat. Shot it. Sprained my wrist. Can’t shoot. Hate this frozen hell. Cold sweats. Wish I had pain killers. Cried a lot. Poor bunnies. I hate me. Day 7: Woke up soaked in sweat. Very depressed. Scratched until I bled, sprained my wrist scratching. Crawled outside, collapsed, sprained everything, twice. Prayed for pain killers. Sprained both wrists and ankles in fervent prayer. Fluffy called out that he had some. Re-sprained my ankle loping to him. He didn’t have any. Sprained my wrist dying.

Blanks written in by time.