LostRealist

Just now, Leeanda said:

Can you imagine if they were all bears😁.  I don't think anyone would ever go near the place

Oh man. But that first one that comes into view when visibility isn't perfect and you know there's a bear around here... yikes.

On 10/26/2023 at 5:53 PM, AdamvR said:

(I'm suspecting a bug of bears forgetting to bleed out more often than never)

I share this suspicion, seems like some bears don't bleed anymore.

But more on the topic: Those gosh darn hay bales around PV...

Anyone? Pair of binoculars? Their effectivity could be adjusted whichever way seems to suit the balancing, their distribution might be very rare, make it unique if you have to, whatever, already going to Ash Canyon for a backpack every time. It's just the one item I have always wished this game had and now that I'm out looking for Ptarmigans, I want them even more.

Anyone?

4 hours ago, LostRealist said:

No moose yet.

Scratch that, please - I'm ingame no five minutes after I said that and found him deep within the birch forest.

I second this.

I also find equipping weapons to be even more ridiculous, I'm not even sure if there is any rhyme or reason to it. When having multiple revolvers in the inventory, the game will often pull the higest condition one - but not always. Usually when there's a wolf fast approaching is when it'll instead pull out the 22%, unloaded one you just looted.

Allowing you to select which particular variant of an item you'd like on the hotkeys is quite needed in my opinion. The whole point of hotkeys is somewhat defeated otherwise.

What a vicious guy. Love how unceremoniously he dropped before he could finish the job by himself.

12 hours ago, artmunki said:

Yeah, I'd agree that the Thompson's Crossing bear and the birch forest bear that patrols near the outbuildings are probably guaranteed too, but their caves are both out of the way enough that I doubt I've even passed them every playthrough, and I rarely spend much time around the Crossing or the outbuildings once I've looted them, so I'm less sure of those. The other three spawn caves are definitely variable tho - always make a point of checking which are active in each game, since those three bears patrol along routes I often use, and it's good to know where I have to be watchful. I suspect only one of those three is active in each playthrough, but that may be dependent on difficulty/settings, or maybe it's just RNG. I have heard of another potential den cave in the region, but I've never seen bones in that cave or a bear anywhere near it, so I'm not at all sure about that one.

The birch forest moose markings are indeed spread over a wide area, and for a long time I thought the moose there always spawned just across the river from the outbuildings (near a fallen tree where there are usually rabbits too). Since then I've also found it in a clearing between some big rocks near the Lonely Homestead ruins, and I've heard it sometimes also likes a spot at the edge of the forest too, tho I've yet to see it there myself. I haven't seen it yet in my current game either, tho the scratches for that area are up (about an in-game year in I think, but I haven't been spending a lot of time in PV). I think it always favours the same spot each playthrough, but I can't say for sure. In my last run it certainly showed up at the spot near Lonely Homestead fairly regularly, often along with the bear, which sometimes patrols through the same clearing - the riverside cave near there had a BIG meatpile! ;D

I am currently in PV in my current run. As this conversation neatly implies already, I find wildlife there to be the most interesting.

I have bear spawns set to "Low" and the three common culprits are all there - and I had a pretty interesting meeting with a bear up at the crash site who totally got the drop on me while I was looting suitcases. Turns out the cargo hold on the bottom of the fuselage is a safe spot to shoot him in the snout from.

That's four bears already - quite a bunch for "Low" in my opinion but the math kinda makes sense: Three "free" bears you always get, +1 for Low setting, +2 on Medium, +3 on High... and then you're really wedged. I had never run into the bear at the crash site before and I do spend a lot of time in this region. The den close to the transition to Winding River appears to be empty - although without a distress pistol and after a gruesome treck to get the technical backpack on day one I find myself not curious enough at the moment to investigate that any closer.

No moose yet. I had the birch forest moose on my last run and it stood in a very neat spot - just at the edge of the forest, almost due north from the outbuildings, within range of the shed and tractor standing around between the hay bales. That was quite convenient, as I imagine getting a decent shot on him inside the forest would be fairly difficult.

What I'm noticing about PV in my current run is that it is absolutely crawling with wolves. My setting is at Medium for them I believe and they are everywhere and the packs are huge. There were six wolves roaming the area around the Outbuildings when I first got there, four wolves directly west of Thompson's Crossing and massive litters of them across the river east from there almost all the way up to the Point of Disagreement. Interestingly, the pack that always, always, always spawned for me in the orchard behind the farmstead is missing completely. Feels like the Wildlife Reset has already begun for me here.

15 hours ago, artmunki said:

PV - 3+? variable (I think there's like six potential bear dens in the region, and I'm pretty sure at least three will be active in each playthrough. Plus I don't think I've ever had a playthrough where the active spawns didn't include the one with the very long patrol route that passes PV farm, so that bear may be guaranteed)

Just now ran into him again as well, I think that bear is indeed a fixed spawn, and the bear that lives in the beach forest and patrols around the outbuildings might also be. Where there definitely is variation is in the two bears that are kinda "stacked on top" of one another if you head uphill south from the farmstead. Those guys seem to be dependant on your game difficulty/spawn rate settings.

Then there's the bear east of Thompson's Crossing who is my third bet on the fixed spawns in PV.

Interesting what you say about the moose though, with it having several exact spots around its spawn there. I only ever met the birch forest moose there once, so I can't confirm, but the way the marking are spread in that forest would surely suggest it.

And since this is turning into the "Wildlife advice" thread, I have another quick one: Ptarmigans do appear in a custom run that was started before installing the DLC, right?

On 10/23/2023 at 8:28 PM, artmunki said:

I'd love to see more wandering behaviour for the moose. Like, it might not change anything for DP or maybe CH, but in the bigger multi-location regions the moose could sorta pop up in any of the possible locations during your playthrough, so it isn't always the same spot that gets all that meat. Couple that with those dynamically-generated scratches, maybe showing up a day or two before the moose itself actually arrives so you'd have the chance of spotting scratches as you pass through, and you could hang about to wait for it to show face. And then the moose hangs about there for a few days or whatever, and once it leaves the area the scratches would fade over the course of a week or something, so you'd have to learn to distinguish between fresh and faded markers - another nice wee bit of fieldcraft for the game. Throw in a few more possible spawn sites  around the island (but still only a single moose per region ... except for the breeding ground ;p), and going on a moose hunt becomes a lot more engaging even in the long game.

Yes, please. I would love it so much if the hunting mechanics were more involved like that, at least for the big fat trophy game. If it took you much more than a passing glance at an area to know whether it spawned or not because it's either standing around there or it isn't. And then even knowing that it did spawn not being enough to find it super easily, because it can cover half a map. I'd love it.

On a related note, I believe what you state about their markings to be generally correct. My theory is that it works the same way as bears afterall - at the start of a game, the game decides on a number of spawns depending on your settings, that will actually be active and have the chance of spawnin a moose, and these locations will recieve the markings and are the only places that can spawn them during that run. Much in the same way that a bear cave that is not active at the start of a game will never be active. The active spawns are marked with the rubbings and if the game ever decides to spawn a moose in that region, it will be there.

So yeah, basically what you said.

I believe bears are a little less random than moose though. It seems at the same settings, you always get more or less the same bears, with some of them always being absolutely guaranteed and very little variation. I can't say that appears to be the case with moose spawns - which ones get activated at the start seems to be much more random.

12 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Unless the cougar is the one who's tracking us😁

Such a cute little pussycat? 😻 Nawwww....

1 minute ago, Leeanda said:

It's going to be interesting seeing what the refresh does,and how the cougar will be too..

Oh yeah, I'm really looking forward to both of them. If I could make a wish, I'd love for most animals to roam a little further. Tracking is a lot of fun in my opinion.

2 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

It is odd how they vary so much between players, .   I think the bears,or some of them,like that one in twm are set spawns..same as the pv farm and birch forest bear.. I've never had a run without them in over 4 years.

I agree about the bears, I believe so, too. I think there's a "base line" of bears that spawn on every spawn rate setting, then some more that spawn on the next higher setting and so on.

The moose apparently seem to differ a little, although I did always believe specific spawns have higher chances of spawning them than others.

On 10/20/2023 at 11:46 PM, Leeanda said:

Aside from bleak my most common moose spawns are twm behind the hut

That's so crazy, I've spent many, many days at the mountaineer's hut, it's by far my favourite safehouse in the game and I've never had that moose. There's another location on the other side of crystal lake by the wing that has rubs and all, but I've never met one there either. Only the bear over there, that guy spawns 100% of the time for me.

12 hours ago, PilgrimReaper said:

You don't find the moose. The moose finds you.

 

I have never ever seen a moose in BR. 

I've mostly "been found" in Milton Basin, TWM, the near the hunting lodge in BI.

Interesting. The Milton Basin is a common spot for me as well, but can't recall ever meeting one at TWM.

Pensive Pond in PV has worked multiple times for me, as has the one by the hunting lodge in BR.

4 hours ago, James Hickok said:

After that i had to spend a week there to regenerate my health to be able to travel again so i setup a base there and recovered, hunting, repairing, cooking etc. It seems really realistic that way for me.

That is my take as well. I actually play with no regeneration while awake and only low regeneration while asleep. My base settings are somewhere around Stalker difficulty-wise, but the very low regeneration makes your decisions so consequential. Death is not only possible by singular, major events like a fall, a blizzard or a bear, but can be the result of many small decisions that add up because I can't just sleep them off in a day. And I agree, NOGOA is  step too far in my opinion as well, because as I play now I can at least do something to improve my health rather than just keep staring into the ever-approaching abyss the whole run.

4 hours ago, James Hickok said:

The moose will never create new markings.

And this is basically my question. I know that that's the mechanic they were introduced with, but with the wiki stating the moose may "randomly generate markings" when passing by a suitable tree I'd just like to know if I'm being trolled there or not.

Just now, Leeanda said:

Last time I played non passive with bears on was the first and only time I died from a mauling.... that was 4 years ago...  I play pilgrim custom as a rule..

I do like the thrill of the big game being able to hurt you bad, because I find that hunting them is too easy as it is, but I harbour massive respect for them for sure. I play very Custom rules with the least amount of condition regeneration possible short of none at all, so it can take very long to recover from a chomping. Haven't been trampled yet though 🤞

10 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

When you're ready to move on. You've given up all hope that the region has anything new to offer, you've decided that today is the day. You've gathered all your gear for the road, fixed everything up to 100%, are ready to head out into the great unknown....aaaaaaaaaaand there's a moose.

Exactly. Just recently: "Oh well, nothing much left to do here in Pleasant Valley, nothing interesting around, let's spend three days preparing and then head out the door haul all my stuff up to the Mountaineer's Hut, punch on through to Ash Canyon for a quick backpack and then see where we'll take it after that since Pleasant Valley is com-... is that a moose!?"

4 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

I have already....   scared the wotsits out of me lol..

I don't doubt it. I guess that's one way to get back the feeling of running into your first bear in TLD...

2 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Good idea..and in rease the radius of the rubbings.

 

There's definitely a bug, the 24hiur grace period doesn't always work either.

I had a loper custom run with wolves maxed out and no bears.. I saw three wolves over three-four maps and on the fourth map a bear suddenly turned up right next to me.. 

Now that's some Oof right there. I'd probably report that one about the bear, since that one is quite clear.

50 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

It might all be moot soon anyway..if the new refresh comes, we don't know what it will affect..   

I can't see that image either. But  to be honest I've got used to no rubbings and just look for moose when I'm in the areas..  the only place I can guarantee to see one is in bleak inlet so if I'm desperate I always head there.   

I've never had rubbings in coastal and had the moose several times,on this run I didn't see it until day 500+ so they're a law unto themselves.

I am having issues with animals since the update though,wolves not spawning when they should and bears spawning when they're off in the settings. Moose could be affected too.

Well, since they don't really wander I tend to see the moose before I see the rubbings anyway. That's why it would be great if they were more mobile - combined with "true" rubbings that actually indicate active spawns this would make for some amazing search and hunt expeditions I'm sure.

Indeed I also had a hunch that the wildlife spawns were a bit odd as of late. The wolf density seems to be lower than I would have expected for my settings, while a "Low" spawn setting for bears still leaves very, very few caves unoccupied. In fact I'd say moose are still the closest to what I would have expected with one encounter in 30 days on "Medium".

14 hours ago, Leeanda said:

I believe that if there are rubbings in a set place then the moose will spawn there, but as with all moose they'll turn up when it suits them..

This is what I have been going by as well all this time and even though I took quite a break from the game for a while, I certainly remember seeing the rubbings on the same trees every time, whether the moose had spawned or not. My current run appears to differ though and the wiki even includes this peculiar screenshot (that I can't seem to be able to embed as an image): https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/intothelongdark/images/4/47/Moose-mark.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20200127074440

Showing the same tree once with and once without the rubbings. This has my hopes up. I guess now I'll be the one doing some verifying.

Bumping this thread because for one I'd be interested what came of this

On 2/27/2023 at 6:12 PM, hozz1235 said:

Good to know.  I'll be doing some verification the next time I play.

And also plan to sidetrack it with this:

On 2/27/2023 at 2:28 PM, past caring said:

I always assumed this is not like moose rubbings

Is this still actually the case? I know the scratch marks used to only indicate possible locations, not active locations, but the fandom wiki says this:

"While wandering within close proximity of a suitable tree, a moose may randomly generate an antler rub on its stump."

Indicating that the rubbings are now dynamically generated by proximity of a moose, meaning they do indeed show active spawns now. Around Day 30 in a Custom run where Moose spawns are set to Medium I am seemingly able to confirm this - spent some time at Quonset with no moose around (thankfully all of the bears though, so I wasn't all alone with the dogs) and there were no rubbings on any of the trees.

Moved on to PV where I ran into a Moose on the edge of the birch forest near the outbuildings where rubbings were indeed present. Some exploring revealed no second moose at Pensive Pond - and also no rubbings. Can anyone confirm this? I would very much love if this mechanic was a thing now. All we'd need then is for them to actually wander around a bit more, since they're usually right next to their rubbings anyway...

Just now, hozz1235 said:

You can repair the lantern.

I am aware of this. But then, I already have my lantern. And I don't want to pick that busted one up because they're heavy and I don't need one. Because I have one. It's just a shame about the fuel.

On 9/29/2023 at 2:58 AM, Serenity said:

What I'd love is to be able to drain storm lanterns. I think they used to work at some point.

So there is a chance I'm not crazy, that is nice to know. I also feel like that used to be a thing at some point and I'd really like to have it. Finding a 20% condition lantern with 0.93L of fuel in it that go by the wayside is a little sad sometimes.

Apart from the technical limitations, forest fires in the depth of winters aren't really a thing in Canada though, are they? That would surprise me, quite honestly. And that is with millions of people traversing these forests by various means including combustion engines, smoking cigarettes there, lighting open fires etc. In TLD, with the absence of thunderstorms, the only source of a forest fire could be you, and what do you do in the game that could cause one in several feet of snow? Burn down a building, sure, faulty wires charged by an aurora could do that, but that growing into a massive blaze... it just seems like a very long shot anyway.