Screenshot Pilgrim

@peteloud Yes, I found it very odd there were no ropes. Of course, I could have just missed it, but I thought I looked everywhere. I’ve noticed other odd things as well, like I found only one gun cleaning kit (in HRV, which I used up right away) then none in MT or FM or BR. MT was also very light on sewing kits, but laden with flares. All the more reason to keep moving I guess.

After searching around the radio tower outside the caves leading back to Marsh Ridge, I decided to go to Broken Railroad to rope climb down the ravine under the Broken Bridge. This is a place broken ribs guy never visited. I dodged a wolf hungry for rabbit and used up some revolver ammo on those near the Maintenance Shed. I spent a couple days inside, smashing up all the crates. No syrups, but found an ear wrap and some wool underwear. I'm happy for the few extra degrees of warmth. I made a guess that the climb down to the ravine would need a rope, so I went up to the Hunting Lodge, expecting to find one. No luck with that, but... I had intended to avoid looting places already searched by broken ribs guy as a kind of personal challenge, but with the days running out, I unashamedly chugged it down. I'm still going to visit those regions yet explored before going on a full Great Bear kitchen cabinets raid. If I can survive Bleak Inlet and the wolves there, I'll head for the Summit as the last leg of my challenge within a challenge. Although, as it happened, I found not a single rope in the Railroad region, so I suppose if there's time, I'll have to come back. It's a wearying thought I must admit.

Had cooked meat for food, so had to be careful across the Basin. I tried to keep eating to lessen weight and odor. At the Hermits Cabin, I got the sense of bad weather coming on, so stayed put to see... Sure enough, another blizzard. Storm frequency in Winter's Embrace is definitely a factor for movement planning. Even the rabbits seem agitated. It's just my imagination I'm guessing. Fully rested before dawn with a nice big moon to guide me out.

Out at first light to get some venison from the marshy area up the road from the north trailer in Mountain Town. Dropped one deer with a rifle shot and wounded another. While harvesting the dead one, I got jumped by a wolf. Fought him off, then while cooking outside of the trailer, another wolf kept approaching. Ducked in the trailer once, used a revolver round, then decided to let him come and take a bit more damage, knowing I would be crafting and resting for the next few days. Found the other deer, and both dead wolves eventually. On the last one, the meat was in the single digits for condition, but I took a chance and luckily no food poisoning. Now, I've got my new animal clothes and have staged at the farm house on my last night before heading out. Less than a week to go.

I see something I can steal. And why not have a scrap with dog breath there? 😀 After all, no parasites in Winter's Embrace wolf meat.

Well, ManicManiac and piddy3825 didn't say anything about it being condescending. I quoted both of them in the post you just quoted. Sure, the last part was an attempt at humor to indicate what I said before about not personally being in the deep about game mechanics. Sorry for any confusion there. Also, edits are often because I forgot to include something. In this case, I forgot to put @manni.manni at the beginning. As far as my little green number goes, I post screenshots in the fan art section pretty regularly, and some of the better ones will get greens and blues. So even though it's not just because I'm such a swell guy (another joke there), I haven't been contacted by Admin about bad behavior. If I was contacted about it, I would care about that. The "I don't really care." in my last post was referring to condescension directed towards me. I hope to have cleared up anything that would cause animosity.

@manni.manni So am I supposed to have felt someone replied condescendingly or do you feel that way? 🤷🏼‍♂️😄 I’m afraid I don’t see it. On a forum with so many possibilities for ages, backgrounds, play styles, reasons for playing, etc, etc...there’s bound to be some of that I guess, but I honestly don’t really care.

Into Hushed River Valley on day 13. Back out to Mountain Town on day 28. I didn't search quite everywhere, but made extensive use of the ice caves and was able to gather a lot of loot (including revolver, hatchet & moose satchel). Alas, no syrups. Hauled out a stack of pelts and gut, so will be sewing a wolf jacket, rabbit mitts, and deerskin pants in the north trailer. I'll need to hunt some more meat to get through a few days of crafting, then down to the Basin and out to the Muskeg. Hushed River Valley sure is an abundant place. It was fun to get back there. Mostly, the weather was bad, but there were a few clear days when I was able to cover more ground.

@Vince 49 I'll repeat myself too. You don't need em.* If a player wants them anyway, even just as a badge of achievement, then they can pay their dues in one of the preset difficulties. You can get them all in one long game I think.** Feats are allowed to be used in custom games once you have them, so - thanks for that AND custom settings, Hinterland. *Except Fire Master - It's worth however many hours you have to spend in whatever difficulty you have to use to get it. ** The downside (maybe) is, if a player isn't willing to have a go in at least one long trip through the Dark, then...🤷‍♂️

It looks like some kind of sinister meeting. I know they’re plotting against me... 😄

😄 Good question, but now that he's in Hushed River Valley, better to forget about the past and focus on the present. 🐺 At least I remember the layout pretty well.* It's a while since I've been up here. * Famous last words

Broken ribs guy's cousin must have made his mistakes earlier in life. He spawned right next to the prisoner bus south of Milton. After scouring the region, kit is decent, but could be better. Blue underwear, wool mittens, a pea coat and a mackinaw, insulated boots, snow pants + combat pants, two fisherman sweaters, 2 climbing socks, rifle w about 10 rounds, knife, hacksaw, prybar. No hatchet or revolver yet. Searched everywhere (except Basin) but only 2 syrups. Had one pretty bad wolf scuffle, but otherwise avoided them. Put two rounds into the Spruce Bridge bear, took a car nap, then scouted the plane crash. Got the pelt curing in the north trailer. Decided to make a trek into Hushed River Valley next. Would like to have waited until better equipped, but determined not to revisit locations looted by broken ribs guy (at least not until it becomes necessary). That leaves the Valley, the Muskeg, Bleak Inlet, down the ravine in Broken Railroad, plus the Summit & Deer Clearing cargo at Timberwolf Mt.

Ah, I see. Thanks for sharing that knowledge. When I was a teenager (long ago), I learned the basics of rifles from family members who hunted (we all grew up and live in Wisconsin), and had opportunities to practice shooting, but never the benefit of higher levels of marksmanship training.

That's interesting. Instead of a hold breath mechanic, a player would have to use audio clues to fire during a pause, and breathing could become more rhythmic with higher skill levels...if it were decided to implement such a thing at all. Wait, is this already a game mechanic? -- You know what, I don't want to know. 😄

Good badge work, @ManicManiac. I've enjoyed reading along, hooked by your excellent thread title. 🙂 By the way, broken ribs guy is toast. A series of mistakes starting with overreaching zeal to move on, forgetfulness (pills for bad food not taken right away), and thinking a warm cave would stay that way for long enough without a fire. It was bad morning for him. I kind of knew this survivor was going to buy it eventually. He should have had a "Mistakes Can Kill You" patch sewed on the forearm of his pea coat. I'll put it on his grave stone and start up a new guy where he left off, searching the regions he would have gone to next. Maybe try for the badge without revisiting any location he went to. 😉

@manni.manni Your suggestions for improvement are well thought out. I also like the rifle a great deal even though it's not the best option sometimes (or ever, depending on who you ask). Once, in a custom settings game with low resources (including low outside containers chance), and no revolvers, I found only 2 rifles and about 75 rounds. I looked almost everywhere. I had enough cleaning kits to keep it in shape, but it was before Bleak Inlet arrived, so no ammo crafting. The rifle became a precious and rarely used asset. Mainly just for bear and moose (once for a deer when starvation was pretty bad). With these I took long distance shots and definitely missed a few. When I wounded a bear, I waited for it to die rather than finish it off with more rounds. Scouting around for the carcass later, often in fog or heavy snow, was fun in itself. I felt like my guy was familiar enough to use a rifle to survive, but by no means an expert. Even if I had reached level 5 (I didn't), I would have been out of ammo or close to it. Also, I remember it being cold enough that even with good clothes, warmth was almost always diminishing, and so shooting was affected. In this scenario, I think the rifle fit the game well. I'm not a player who delves too deep into game mechanic details etc. My instincts are to let it be and try to adapt the best I can, however, I have often wished I could rest the rifle on a fallen log to steady it. This would be a change that would make sense and add the fun of finding good hunting spots where it could be utilized. I also play a bit of 'The Hunter-Call of the Wild' which has the hold breath mechanic. It's definitely a nice feature, so I'd be glad to have it for The Long Dark as well.

It took 3 weeks, but all my broken ribs healed, and I was finally able to leave the Timberwolf Mt. region. I took a few chances before I was healed: Found another hacksaw next to the corpse by the Wing, and visited both Engines to open the containers and crates there. No syrups at either location, but found some useful items nonetheless. I had one close call with a bear but got away even though my injuries made running very limited. I decided not to go for the Summit after my ribs healed, but to leave it for later if necessary. I'll likely return to a more reckless style going forward (like the one that got me stomped by a moose 😄). What the hell...I've got plenty of ammo. Truth be told, I enjoyed being laid up in the Mountaineer's Hut for a stretch. The Long Dark is what you make of it. At least until it kills you.

My Winter's Embrace exile on Crystal Lake continues. 1st broken rib healed by day 57. Weeks to go... Still, there's been some on ice shenanigans for entertainment:

😄 I thought I was being so sneaky.