Morrick

Weather was getting worse. There was a strong, gusty wind as I was making my way to the Forestry Lookout with a sprained ankle, tried and encumbered. But despite its impractical location, I always end up spending some time in a lookout. I love to be able to see outside — the changes in light and weather. 🙂

This is the coolest screenshot I've seen since discovering these forums. Sincere compliments.

I think so, yes. I too was surprised the first time I saw it. Like: "Has it always been here and I was too caught up in the game to notice, or…" That kind of doubt, you know. 🙂

Thank goodness the Quonset is open tonight, I was running out of petrol.

He must have seen your T-shirt that says "BEAR WITH ME HERE".

I agree. The town of Milton is a blessing and a curse. Houses are generally warm and you can recover from the cold, and of course you can find some useful items here and there. But the area between the Post Office and the last house on your left when you're on the main road going towards the Orca gas station can be tricky, as sometimes there's a wolf or two moving among the dilapidated houses, the rubble and the abandoned vehicles. In what has possibly been my only true stroke of luck on Interloper, I was exactly exploring this area and searching the trunk of a car, and when I turned to head back to Grey Mother's house I crossed paths with a wolf coming from behind a house. As I thought "Ok, I'm done", I heard the wolf yelp and run away! At that point, since I didn't want to push my luck, I rushed towards the nearest house and got inside. She would like to see what Carter Hydro Dam has to offer, and maybe exit Mystery Lake briefly to check the Ravine. But still not 100% sure.

Guys, thank you for all the precious advice. Unfortunately, my Attempt-53 survivor was killed at the Rural Crossroads by a wolf she couldn't outrun — that's because of the amount of stuff outside the houses in this area, blocking a direct path to the houses themselves; and yes, I tried entering a car but it was too late. Her condition was less than 30% anyway. On the bright side, the advice about heating food and carrying it with you to warm up along the way was essential for my Attempt-33 survivor, who managed to go from the Trapper's Cabin to Camp Office in one go (and by taking a more convoluted route to avoid wolves). Yep, she's still alive, she found a sewing kit to mend her poor clothing, and she's reached day 10 of survival. This is definitely my best run on Interloper, and I'm playing it as safe as possible…

If you need me, I'll be in my studio...

The mountaineer's hut is watching me!

*slaps forehead* Of course! Also, maybe it's better if I wait for the fog to lift.

Attempt N. 53 (with female character) starts in Pleasant Valley, which I still consider the least harsh to start in when on Interloper. Still, time of day is crack of dawn, weather's clear but windy, the Real Feel is -34°C, and my survivor is in jeans and t-shirt. I spawn in that area that is close to Three Strikes Farmstead, and by the time I reach the Pleasant Valley Farmstead, I'm at 48% Hypothermia risk, 33% Frostbite risk on my right hand, and 25% Frostbite risk on my head. After a thorough search, I'm glad to have found some food (Tomato Soup, Pinnacle Peaches, Granola bar), a can opener, two boxes of matches, two sewing kits, and a hacksaw… but that's it. I'm not complaining, these are all excellent finds, but given my attire I had hoped to find, you know, anything with long sleeves. Instead, the only article of clothing I found is a wool toque (at least in new condition). It's going to be fun travelling to other buildings in search of clothes dressed this way: But that's what challenges are for, right? Bring it on, TLD!

I agree. And yet, I still think that the game retains a certain degree of unpredictability that can mess things up a bit. I don't really share @MueckE's mathematical certainty that you can always reach the safety of shelter and fire without losing too much condition, for example. Even if you know where to go as soon as you realise where you've spawned, particularly bad weather plus time of day can deliver much lower temperatures, making you get to a 'Freezing' status much sooner. Devising tactics to avoid hostile wildlife — especially in low visibility conditions — makes you lose time outside and this, in turn, makes you lose more condition. Then maybe you reach a place when you know you'll find matches, but you get there too late in the day and once inside you can't see a thing. This happened to me in Broken Railroad in one of my attempts: I entered the Maintenance Shed and it was pitch dark. I tried to move around by memory, see if I could trigger the white dot that appears when some object enters the character's 'focus', but I had developed hypothermia, time was passing, the Maintenance Shed was not warm enough, I was losing condition, and waiting for daylight was out of the question. Even if I had managed to leave the Shed, I would have never made it to the Hunting Lodge, as my condition was too low. Other times your needs dictate your next move, and this can make you take a detour you might have wanted to avoid or take later. And this, in turn, may put you in dangerous situations, like when I got killed in Desolation Point while looking for the bedroll before trying to leave the region. From what I've seen so far, on Interloper you're constantly making decisions, and knowledge of the game mechanics counts a lot, but sometimes even a smart decision can go wrong because of a change in the weather, or that second wolf that gets you while you're trying to dodge the first one. An experienced Interloper can learn to minimise the risks, but the game is never entirely predictable. (By the way, thanks so much everyone for your contributions — they make this whole thread wonderful and enjoyable!)

What's behind the boarded door inside Milton's Post Office? Your secret office, right? Where you take care of these Mailbags. Cheers, Rick

Yes, it is. In my 50 attempts at Interloper, I'd say I spawned there at least 15 times.

This is possible, and actually happened to me in one previous attempt when I was staying at the Mountaineer's Hut in Timberwolf Mountain. But I've never seen the indoor temperature in the Radio Control Hut drop so severely as to neutralise the warmth bonus of my clothes + the bed's. (Though admittedly I could be remembering incorrectly, or remembering past Pilgrim adventures…). The next time I spawn in Pleasant Valley, I'll see if I can return to the Hut and stay awhile to better record temperature fluctuations. (Which is a nice roleplay idea: I'm a meteorologist that was sent to the Canadian wilderness to study the latest bizarre weather conditions, but my plane crashed… etc.)