Vince 49

Members
  • Posts

    145
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Vince 49

  1. @Jimmy, looking at your first post, that's impressive. So you have ten arrows by day two! I assume "Misty Falls Picnic Area" is the same as the one listed as "Mystic River Picnic Area" on the Whitsberry map. Assuming you got 2 arrows at the cave there, possibly as many as 4 at the target near the PV barn, and 1 or 2 at the Mountaineers Hut in TM, where did you get the rest? Since two days isn't enough time to cure birch saplings, I assume some of the arrows are broken? Also, did you find the magnifying glass under the bed in the Mountaineers Hut? Relative to your question about in the inventory, the answer is "yes". If this turns out to be a contest (and that would be fun), screen shots would be used to show that you meet the I got this requirements for success. Items need to be in your inventory so you can show screen shots of your clothes, tools, etc.
  2. OFFICIAL CHANGE TO RULES - Rule 6 was "You must have clothes with a total bonus (warmth + wind) of 38 or greater. They must have a total protection bonus of at least 36. All clothes must have a condition of 70% or greater". Rule 6 is now "You must have clothes with a total bonus (warmth + wind) of 38 36 or greater. They must have a total protection bonus of at least 36 34. All clothes must have a condition of 70% or greater". This is in line with the more modest requirements expressed in the other rules for this challenge.
  3. @Bean, remember the 38 is the sum of the warmth and wind bonuses. It isn't that hard, although if others respond as you did, maybe I could lower it to 36. See the attached image showing the sum of the bonuses at 43.
  4. @piddy3825, I was hoping that some would try and post their results. I used to think that the I've got this point would take most of 100 days. Now I think I can do it in less than 50. There are some very skilled player here, so maybe some could do it even sooner. I think it's fun to try and I would like to see how others do. I'm trying now, but had some bad luck: four all day blizzards in five days! I'll continue and see how it goes. I hope you'll try it. 'Blow my doors off, maybe.
  5. Stalker I've got this challenge When you start a new game, your first priorities are not freezing to death, not being killed by the wildlife, and not starving or dying of thirst. As you progress in the game, you find or craft warmer cloths, so freezing to death becomes less likely. Once you get a rifle or bow and began to gain skill, your odds of being killed by wildlife decrease. You also build up a reservoir of food and water to sustain yourself. These trends continue until you can finally say to yourself "I've got this now". You've got about the best clothes, in terms of warmth and protection, available in the game. You've gained enough skill with your weapon of choice that you sometimes go out looking for wolves to kill, just to improve your skill further--or just because they are so spiteful. And you have all the tools available. At this point you're done with the goals that were essential in the beginning. Now you either quite and start a new game or come up with a new goal--like finding all the cairns (if you find that sort of thing rewarding). So, the challenge is how long does it take to get to the I've got this point? Rules: 1> You must play Standard Stalker mode (you may use up to three feats). 2> You must be at 'Skilled" (level 3) or higher in at least three skills, one of which must be in your weapon of choice (rifle or bow). 3> Your weapon of choice must have a condition of 70% or higher. 4> You must have either 30 or more cartridges or 6 or more arrows. If arrows, they must all have a condition of 70% or higher. 5> You must have at least 7500 units of food available and five liters of water. (For reference: one cat tail stalk is 150 food units). 6> You must have clothes with a total bonus (warmth + wind) of 38 or greater. They must have a total protection bonus of at least 36. All clothes must have a condition of 70% or greater. 7> You must have at least six bandages, six antibiotics, ten painkillers, one emergency stim, and either 0.4 liters of antiseptic or 4 old man's beard dressings. 8> You must have at least 40 matches or a fire striker with a condition of 80% or greater. You must have a magnifying glass. Lastly, you must have fuel for at least eight hours of fire (wood or coal). 9> You must have all "tools" in the game, except the can opener, flare gun, and simple tools which are optional. All the tools must have a condition of 70% or greater. These include: a bedroll (standard or bear skin), flare, hacksaw, hatchet, heavy hammer, knife, prybar, quality tools, sewing kit, storm lantern (with at least 0.7 liters of fuel, in the lantern or available), and a whetstone. Typically, as you near the I've got this point, you will substantially exceed most of these criteria. However, you may still be missing one thing. I recently played a game (with this challenge in mind) where I had clothes with a combined warmth + wind bonus of 42 and a protection of 50%. I had reached level 5 with a bow, etc., etc. etc.. However, I had not found a magnifying glass. As I had already checked all the places I knew often had one, there was no guarantee I would ever find one. So I quit and started a new game. So one facet of this challenge is you must have become completely ready for the world of the Long Dark.
  6. @Valuable Hunting Knife, I'm not too happy with this challenge. It sounded good on paper, but in practice it gets boring in a little over a week. I had an unlucky start as I started about midnight so spent the first seven hours or so trying not to freeze to death or get attacked by wolves. The rest of the first day was spent looting the hydro dam and logging camp trailers. 'Didn't find a pry bar so missed a bit at the dam. Also, don't think I ever found a magnifying glass at the dam. 'Arrived in the Ravine region the following midnight. I did bring a couple of maple saplings, but found no birch at the usual places near the dam. 'Found three birch saplings the next morning in the Ravine. Before the Ravine, I had found four arrows, three broken and one whole. Most of the week was making a snow shelter, repairing clothes, making water, harvesting the two deer carcases, and waiting for the saplings to cure. Once the saplings cured, I went to the crafting table in the dam, made a bow, and repaired the arrows. By the time I got back, I had enough food for the night, but now enough for more. So I needed to down a dear with my bow to continue. I did that the following morning. I now had three deer hides and a half dozen guts left (from the deer and a few rabbits). So, as soon as they cured, I could start making crafted clothing. I had found two fire strikers and a box of wooden matches, so I could probably survive a hundred days of more. It just didn't seem like it would be much fun. 'Not a whole lot to do. So I'm working on a different challenge idea that does not depend on the Ravine. I'll describe that in a new post.
  7. @Looper, in the original challenge, you go directly to the Ravine region. So you only have the initial clothing plus maybe one clothes item that may be found in the Ravine. So you will have no cloth for a snow shelter. Since there is also no cloth for repairs, you have to exist with the origin clothes you started the game with, in their original condition, plus maybe one clothes item. So you are always freezing and need a cave and a fire to not fall into the long dark. There no matches, fire strikers, or magnifying glasses in the Ravine, so once you run out of the matches (you started with) and flares--you die.
  8. I plan to do a version of the revised challenge with simple rules: 1> You can explore/loot anywhere you want as long as you are in the Ravine within 24 hours. 2> Once you are in the Ravine, you cannot leave the region, with one exception. 3> The exception is you can use the crafting table in the hydro dam, but do nothing else there. I challenge you to do that! There's one important thing I forgot to mention: this challenge is for Stalker level.
  9. I tried it and lasted 8 days and 4 hours. I would have gone into the long dark in another hour or so. Since AFAIK there is no knife and there is no crafting table, there's no way to craft clothes and those you have are marginal at best. So it becomes a quest for fire wood and conserving matches and flares. Between the cat tails and deer carcasses, there's enough food for more than a week. If you're good with hitting rabbits with stones, there's plenty more. But once you run out of available fire wood and matches, it's pretty much game over. As far as suggestions go, the challenge might be more interesting if you allowed up to 24 hours in ML before going to Ravine. That would open up quite a few possibilities. I do like the idea of a challenge like this and may propose one of my own.
  10. Is there even a remote chance that the time capsule builds will be available on GOG?
  11. @hozz1235, it's on the map, but I had forgotten about it. Thanks for reminding me. I will plan to use it next time. Next time will be soon. One downside of this approach is you can be fully equipped much sooner. I maxed out on clothes (31 warmth bonus and 13 wind bonus) by day 36! It took another 10 days to get every tool and enough arrows. So, by day 46 I was in the same position as after 120 days in a "conventional" game, as discussed in the "What Now?" topic.
  12. @jhickie and @kristaok, so now wolves are harder to kill!? I play Stalker with a bow and killing wolves is challenging enough as it is (on Vigilant Flame). I do use a decoy and stand back far enough so that they will go for the bait (too close, and they will ignore it and attack). I've found that actual skill (from shooting at them many, many times) has helped. I try to hit them in the center of their face. Usually, if I do, they'll drop. If not, they'll run off and bleed out and I have to spend time finding them to get my arrow back. Do either of you know the logic for making it harder? Also, is it that decoys don't work any more or has the sent from it been increased, or what?
  13. @hozz1235, you're right, although it took me a while to realize that. In my latest game, I started early in the day in Deer Clearing. I picked up as many twigs as I could on my way to the climb up to Secluded Shelf. I used the twigs to start a fire once I entered Cave B, as I was risking death from hypothermia. Took a torch from the fire which lasted long enough to find a flare to light the rest of the way to Cave A. I used two logs I found near the exit of Cave A to start a fire and take a brief rest before starting for the summit. (I wouldn't make it to the top of the summit without that rest). I knew from previous games that there was always a hacksaw in the tail section not in a container. (Without it none of this would work). Once I had decent clothes and had opened the tool cargo container, I broke up several wooden crates so I would have enough wood for a fire to last the night without freezing. It was all easy from there.
  14. I've been trying to find ways to increase the challenge of survival when still being fun. (For me, Interloper is not fun). So, I decided to start in the Timberwolf Mountain region on Stalker and not be allowed to leave the region for 25 days. The first few times I tried it, it seemed impossible. I considered giving up, but had one more thing to try. It turns out, with the right approach, it's not only possible to survive, it's possible to thrive! It's no big thing, but if you haven't tried it, you might find it a fun challenge. Good luck with that. 😑
  15. I started a new game yesterday. After a couple of hours, I entered a building (to force a save) and quit for a while. When I restarted TLD, I hit Resume and, surprise, the game I was playing previously opened! After a bit of exploration, I discovered that the new game was stored at the bottom of the stack, rather than the top. I've been playing TLD for at least a couple of years and I've never seen this before. I can continue the game using the Load function, but it remains at the bottom of the list, so Resume (which loads the game at the top of the list) doesn't work for this game. Otherwise, the game is fine, so scrolling to the bottom of the list and loading, rather than Resume, is only a minor annoyance. It's just weird. Has anyone else ever seen this? Update: Being the inquisitive type, I tried some experiments. Although the game in question continued to save at the bottom, would a new game do the same? I tried, and it did not. The new game saved at the top of the list as normal. So, if I went back and loaded the troublesome game and saved it, where would it be? I tried and it now saved at the top as normal. So problem solved. 'Still weird. 😕
  16. @LeeHarveyOslik, you are certainly right about the challenge. It was all I could do to get to 100 days on Interloper. For me, it was depressingly difficult, so just didn't want to battle further. Every once in a while I try Interloper again, only to be reminded that it just isn't fun for me. It seems that everything is against you. Of course, that's the point of Interloper.
  17. @jeffpeng, thank you for your reply. It is true that I haven't done everything. For example, I haven't explored Broken Railroad, as there's nothing else I need. I have all the loot: clothes, tools, and weapons (except the rifle which I don't use). I'm playing an older version so don't have the possibility of a rabbit skin hat. Other than that, as I mention in my OP, the only thing I'm missing is a second Cowichan sweater. In the first image below, you will see that I chose the moose-hide cloak over the bearskin coat. Although I gave up a couple of degrees of warmth, the cloak is lighter, provides better protection, and makes a smaller hit to sprinting. (If I was playing on Interloper, I'd choose the bearskin coat for sure). You can see all the tools and weapons in the second image. (I left the heavy hammer at the forge as it is heavy and I don't need it for anything else).
  18. @ManicManiac and @ajb1978, thank you for your replies. What you propose seems like busy work to me. I can best explain why I say that by an experience I had playing TLD. I was maybe 60 (game) days and 25 to 30 (real life) hours into a game, when climbing up a hill, a wolf came out of no where and attacked me. The struggle went particularly badly, and afterward I was down to about 40% health. Just as I was finishing wrapping my wounds, I heard another wolf bark. This time I had time to equip my bow and drop a decoy. As the wolf came down the hill, I realized that, if I missed, all the hours I had put into getting the tools, weapons, and clothes to survive would be for nought. As the wolf approached the decoy, I let my arrow fly--and the wolf dropped dead on the spot! In the real world, I heaved a great sigh of relieve as the adrenalin drained from my body. That was truly exciting and moments like that are why I love TLD. Mapping every nook and cranny seems pale by comparison.
  19. I'm at 125 days in a Stalker game with nothing left to do. I haven't been to Hush River Valley, but what for? I have every tool and every weapon, except the rifle which I don't use. I'm almost maxed out on clothes (Warmth Bonus 31, Wind bonus 11, Protection 50). The only thing I'm missing is a second Cowichan sweater and I'm not sure there is more than one available in any given game. I'm maxed with a bow and 3 or better on other skills, except the rifle. I've killed 3 moose, two bears, more than 100 wolves plus many deer and rabbits. My point is, as much as I love the game, once you have everything, much of the allure is gone. When you start a new game with a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap, finding that first wool took is a big deal. So is finding you first knife, but now there's nothing left to find so what's the point? I'm sure I'm not the only one who has run into this. So what do you do? Do you just start a new game or what? Also, do you have any ideas of how the game could evolve so there would be useful life beyond 120 days or so?
  20. A while back, I got to 100 days on Interloper and told myself that I would never play interloper again. Since then Stalker, even without a rifle, has become less of a challenge so I broke my promise to myself and started playing Interloper again. Yesterday (in game) I was within sight of a good game, but not sure I could bridge the gap. I barely got back from the forge in FM with my life. I had the components for a bow and arrows, but it would be five or six days before they cured. I used up the last of my cat tails not dying on my way back from the forge. I got a couple of rabbits with stones, but had to use a match to cook the meat. I was down to 18 matches, so using this solution for another five days was not a good option. So, I had a crazy idea. Since it was a clear day and I had a magnifying glass, I made a really big fire. After warming up next to the fire, I went after a deer with my flare gun. The first time I hit a deer, it ran away in a panic. I could see it's glow against the nearby trees. Unfortunately, it ran a long ways off and I never found it. Being none too bright and waay over confident, I tried again. Amazingly, I got a critical hit and the deer dropped in its tracks! It took two trips, each trip I cut out half of the meat, took it to the really big fire, and cooked the meat while warming up. Afterward I got the hide and guts. Unfortunately, the wind blew out the fire before I could make enough water. I've got enough for a day and a half, so if tomorrow is calm and sunny, I might be able to make more water without using another match. A critical hit on a deer with a flare gun--how lucky was that!
  21. I've been playing with the female character. Every once in a while, she says something like "Can you eat treats?". Since that doesn't seem to make sense in context, could it actually be something like "Can you eat trees?"? If you have heard it, what do you think she is saying?
  22. I'll keep this short as there has already been a lot said on this subject already. First, as has been pointed out by others, if your mode of playing represents a very small part of the total population, it stands to reason that that mode will get much less attention in updates. Second, there have been updates to Custom Mode, although many are subtle. For example, in the Rugged Sentinel (1.37) version, playing Stalker level, there was always a storm lantern and a broken arrow next to the dead guy just when you entered the lower part of the Carter Hydro Dam. I like to play Stalker without the rifle, so tried Custom mode, starting with Stalker but removing the rifle. When I did, I noticed that the broken arrow next to the dead guy was absent. If my memory is correct, the storm lantern was also gone, along with the hunting knife near the bottom of the stairs to the second dynamo. When I got an ultrabook, I updated to Vigilant Flame (1.47). The broken arrow, storm lantern, and knife we back where they were in standard Stalker mode. These, and many others, aren't in you face changes, but useful just the same.
  23. I received a response from Hinterland today related to my request for support on how to update without loosing badges and saved games. They said: "Updating The Long Dark to Steadfast Ranger (v 1.48) will not effect your badges or save files...". Although several have posted on this thread that they thought this was the case, it's good to see it officially confirmed by the publishers.
  24. Hi Hawk, As I mentioned in my OP, I did contact GOG support. They could not help me unless I wanted to use Galaxy, which I do not. Thank you for the other information.
  25. Hi Hawk, Yes, I am aware of that. The issue, as I said in my OP is, if I do a full install, do I loose my badges? That's what I'm trying to find out. Hopefully, someone from Hinterland will answer in the next day or so. For the patches, I definitely don't. Unfortunately, as you can see, GOG has no patch for 1.37 forward.