Glflegolas

Hello folks,

Have any of you found any extra mountaineering ropes in Forsaken Airfield? I have found three rope climbs that don't spawn with any ropes attached, but no ropes lying around anywhere. Is this a bug, or intentional?

Thanks in advance,

I actually did this a couple days ago. I went to a cabin with only matches (no axe or knife) and wanted to start a fire. There were dry, fair-sized logs in the woodshed, but nothing small.

I ended up going outside and getting a big pile of birchbark, then breaking off some small branches from a dead spruce. With a nice base of dry branches, I was able to get the logs burning.

I'd argue that there is a slight advantage to the wolfskin coat over the bearskin coat, even in Interloper: you don't need a bow to get it. There are a handful of dead wolves around Great Bear Island, namely in the Hushed River Valley. There's also a dead wolf in Mountain Town, Bleak Inlet and Ash Canyon. You can also kill a wolf in a struggle (despite the risk), which can't be done with a bear.

Forsaken Airfield is pretty good. It reminds me a bit of Pleasant Valley, with its large open areas and limited shelter, although it's a lot colder.

Still my favourite region is the Hushed River Valley. I like the region's level design, and the "wildness" of the region, along with the abundance of natural resources. It's also very easy to avoid predators if you know where you're going. Besides, the region just looks... amazing!

You could simply throw rocks at the rabbits to stun them

I had a moose attack destroy my bedroll.

Wow, those wolf photos look cool, @Elliera. There used to be wolves in Nova Scotia, unfortunately, they've all been extirpated. I'd have to drive to Labrador to see them.

I left Forsaken Airfield and went on a bit of an exploration spree, stopping in Ash Canyon for the backpack, Blackrock to make some ammo, Timberwolf Mountain for the summit, and Hushed River Valley to... well, chillax! I will return to Forsaken Airfield in the not-too-distant future.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Forsaken Airfield; it's probably my second or third favourite region. Still, I don't think I'll ever enjoy it as much as Hushed River Valley. From an aesthetic POV, that region is just... perfect!

Since TFTFT was released, I couldn't find a firearm cleaning kit in the Forsaken Airfield region at all, making the revolver very unsustainable. So I ended up using the bow for dealing with wolves, even though I'm on Voyageur.

I am playing on PC. The method I use is not to shoot until the wolf is very close. In my experience that usually results in a headshot and instant kill. Overall, I think I manage to hit a charging wolf ~90% of the time. It's also best to try and lead the wolf towards relatively flat ground. If the terrain is rough, wolves can start zigzagging towards you, which makes hitting them quite difficult.

On 6/4/2021 at 10:02 PM, Glflegolas said:

Good day folks,

Are any of you weather weenies like me? Yes? Well, let me give you a quick meteorological lesson...

Since Great Bear Island is set in Northern Canada, it is in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, high-pressure cells (which bring fair weather) rotate clockwise, and low pressure (bringing poor weather) turns counterclockwise. If you face into the wind, the high pressure system will be to your left, and the low to your right. Keeping in mind that weather usually moves from west to east, wind direction can help you make fairly decent forecasts.

From my experience at home, here's some weather you can expect during the winter when winds come from certain directions. Note: wind velocity is very often highest around mid-afternoon,

Northwest:

• If it is snowing, it will generally stop within 6 hours, clear out (aside from a risk of the occasional flurry), and the temperature will fall. Winds will likely remain strong and from this direction for 1-3 days.
• If it is clear: Cold but clear weather is likely to continue for at least another day or so, especially if the wind does not die out by evening.

North:

• Generally means a low-pressure system is on the way out, and conditions will improve in the next 6-12 hours.

Northeast:

• If it's clear: The day ahead will be cool but clear, with generally light winds. Snow and cooler temperatures are likely within 36 hours, however.
• If it's already cloudy: A snowstorm is likely to start very soon.

East:

• If it is clear: Temperatures will likely rise and the day will be sunny, but rain (winds shifting towards the SE) or snow (winds gradually turning towards the NE) will arrive in 24-48 hours.
• If it's cloudy: A steady wind from this direction can mean an extended period of freezing rain.

Southeast:

• If it is clear: Temperatures will likely rise and the day will be sunny, but rain is on the way within 24-48 hours.
• If cirrostratus clouds are visible: Rain or snow, starting within 12-18 hours. Temperatures will likely rise. Winds are likely going to intensify.

South:

• If it is clear: Mild and fair weather for the next 12-24 hours, but a cold front, bringing rain, wind, and much colder temperatures behind it, is on the way.
• If it is raining: A cold front is moving through very soon. Expect heavy showers (possible thunderstorms) and strong, gusty winds. After the front, the wind will shift towards the west and temperatures will fall.

Southwest:

• If it is clear: fair weather will continue for the next 12-24 hours, with moderately cold temperatures.
• If it's raining/snowing: expect off-and-on showers/flurries to continue for the next 12 hours or so, followed by clearing.

West:

• Usually means a continuation of fair weather. It will likely be cold, but less so than with a NW wind.

No wind at all:

• If it's evening and there's no clouds: Expect a particularly cold night.

Although these wind/weather trends are generally true, there's always the exception that proves the rule. Case in point: Hurricane Fiona. On Thursday night, the storm was preceded by a normal cold front, where moderate winds blew from the southwest accompanied by moderately heavy rain snowers. As the front passed through Friday morning, the winds diminished and switched to the north, with the rain started to taper to showers. So far, things seemed to be normal, and, without satellite imagery, it would be safe to assume the rain would be over by Friday night, with a cooler, dryer airmass moving in, accompanied by northwesterly winds.

But by Friday afternoon, the winds went back to the northeast, and the rain never fully stopped. Early evening brought blustery winds with moderate rainshowers, and every hour, the winds and rain intensified. Gradually the winds turned northerly, and reached their maximum around midnight, gusting to around 160 km/h, accompanied by heavy bursts of rain. As morning broke, the winds went northwesterly and gradually diminished, as the skies cleared off.

Fiona's winds didn't follow the usual direction because the storm didn't move from west to east. Instead, it moved from south to north, which is quite unusual in the mid-latitudes.

I also wish that the wind direction actually corresponded with the weather. Where I live, snow almost always comes with either an easterly or northeasterly wind. A westerly or northwesterly wind generally means clearing.

My favourite base is Island Cabin. Beautiful view, there's a lot of hunting in the area, fishing huts not far away, and there's a cave not too far away for dealing with Cabin Fever (Brittle Cave).

I am another colourblind player - reds in particular are hard to see against grey or brown. This isn't usually too much of an issue in general, though a colourblind mode from Hinterland would be appreciated.

Tools I have: hammers, bow, arrows, .22 rifle, rifle rounds, axes, pickaxes, hacksaw, crowbar, lots of stones, fishing tackle, flashlight, flaregun, flare shells, marine flares, prybars, can opener, quality tools, lantern, firestriker, hunting knife, strong rope, and bedroll.

Tools I don't have: Umm... none? I think I have every tool in The Long Dark and them some?

Clothing: simple parka, T-shirt, thin wool sweater, trail boots, work boots, sneakers, work gloves, jeans, cargo pants, snow pants, wool socks, wool toque, windbreaker, ski jacket, down vest. No long underwear, it simply doesn't get cold enough where I live.

Food: There's probably enough canned food lying around for about a week. After that you'd have to start collecting mussels, clams, or something like that. I don't have any pop, and very little water, though you could take it out of the well with a bucket.

First Aid: some bandages, antiseptic, sewing kit, and painkillers.

The one disadvantage of kerosene heaters is that they can result in a lot of condensation, as burning any fuel releases water. If your house is very dry, however, that might mean you don't have to run a humidifier.

23 hours ago, Bean said:

If you’re going to start a diesel engine with low or no battery, it’s helpful to put some starting fluid in the air intake.  This has very low vapor point and is much more easily ignited through compression than diesel fuel.  So having that ready to burn first gives the engine a few dozen revolutions to come up to speed, get its fuel pump running, and start burning diesel.  
I know this from personal experiences.  

Sometimes you can ether-lock an engine, especially a small one. A quick sniff can work wonders though!

Here is a Kubota B6200 tractor from the 1980s which I own. This one is powered by diesel fuel, has a mechanical lift pump and a mechanical injection pump. So, if you could get the tractor running somehow, it would definitely stay running.

I have wondered if the tractor could be started without a battery, and my guess is the answer is.... yes? You wouldn't have glow plugs, so that might make starting challenging unless you pre-heated the block and/or the fuel. Once that's done, you could put the tractor in low-range and start it rolling down a hill with the clutch depressed and the compression released, then, once at walking speed, you'd throw it in gear and give the engine compression. I don't know if this would make the engine spin or just lock the wheels, however...I have never experimented for myself.

I have played as both!

This could be a good region for spray-painting arrows on the ground at regular intervals! That way you can navigate from one location to another, especially when the weather's not great.

EDIT: Forsaken Airfield is in many ways the polar opposite of Hushed River Valley. Where the Hushed River Valley consists of deep valleys and high cliffs with narrow walking paths, Forsaken Airfield is largely empty space. It's like a more challenging version of Pleasant Valley in that regard.

Hello everyone,

I have been playing in the new region for about 12 in-game days so far on Voyageur difficulty. I started out in Broken Railroad and got a few essentials before making the trek, and here's what I think so far:

Far Range Branch Line

It's OK -- it is rather empty, but the DLC is called Tales from the Far Territory, so this seems reasonable. My one gripe with the region is that a lot of it is very dark and requires a light source to travel through. A little less tunnel and a little more outdoors would have been ideal, but no biggie. There is an annoying wolf very close to a siding that's hard to get past, which might be a challenge on Interloper.

Transfer Pass

This region is quite small and doesn't have a lot of loot. The train station looks nice inside though, with its Victorian styling. There aren't many resources here, but this region is only meant to be a quick stopover before going farther along. I do wish the siding were extended a little farther past the coal tipple -- it is so short that only one train car could be loaded there at a time, which seems unrealistic.

Forsaken Airfield

Overall region design

The region, as a whole, comes off as very open. This makes it easy to navigate on a clear day, but it is absolutely awful when the visibility is poor. It is super easy to get yourself lost, especially in the area around Shoulder Lake. When there was a blizzard, I nearly froze to death because I couldn't figure out where I was, it was hard to get sticks, and it was hard to find a rock to act as a windbreak to keep the fire from blowing out. There are very few shelters to hide out in, and that includes caves. My favourite area is that around Drift Island, the whole staircase up from the Cove to the Island Cottage is very well done, and on a clear day the view from there is stunning. It's also close to fishing opportunities and rabbits, but I didn't find any deer spawn in the area.

Insomnia

The Insomnia affliction really isn't that big a deal. It can be annoying to wake up, but it only matters if you need to heal your condition quickly. If it instead halved the amount your sleepy-eye fills up per hour of sleep, maybe it would be an affliction that I'd spend more effort trying to avoid.

Animals

I don't know where all the animals are, but it seems to me that they're a bit sparse overall, with most wolves being around the airport and the lake, and deer being just north of the airport. The inclusion of does is a nice touch. I haven't seen a moose yet, but I did see one bear around Drift Island. No idea where his cave is however.

Shelters

I can think of three decent bases in the region: the airport area, Island Cottage, and Mindful Cabin. The airport is central, offers a lot of space and a forge but doesn't feel very homey. Island Cottage is in a beautiful location overlooking Shoulder Lake and is where I'm currently living. Mindful Cabin is nice, but there doesn't seem to be much wildlife around it.

Airplanes

Another vehicle type to enter and loot? Sure, this is great.

Visor notes

Finally it's worth checking under those darn visors! Just got to remember to do it now consistently

Loot

It really doesn't seem to be too difficult to find things in the new region, but then again I'm on Voyageur, where loot is quite plentiful anyways.

Overall

I am very happy with how this turned out, and I am looking forward to seeing updates coming every couple of months adding all the content in the DLC!

One thing I haven't found in Forsaken Airfield is a firearm cleaning kit! My revolver is down to 18% and no luck! I wonder where one might be hiding...? Maybe I can find another handgun, IDK.

Pretty sure it's one of Molly's many calls - remember that Astrid can hear Will on the shortwave later in Episode 3. Episode 2 and 3 run roughly con-currently.

If you want a fox in the game, there's actually a mod that adds this! Just scroll down to the Fox Companion mod and your wish shall be answered.

https://xpazeman.com/tld-mod-list/

You will always find a rifle in a cargo container at the summit of Timberwolf Mountain. There's also always one at the back entrance of the goldmine in Ash Canyon.

According the wiki, the rifle will always spawn in Scruffy's Cave, too.

For the record, you can also try Burned Ridge Cave, Three Strikes Farmstead, Signal Hill, Misty Falls Cave, the car near Long Curve, and the farmhouse in Pleasant Valley.

Good point there @cullam. In normal Survival, it's easy to "play it safe" if you will by leaving your base only when the weather's good, spending the day hunting, exploring, and searching, then heading back home in the evening, maybe doing a few repairs by the fireside, and going to sleep for the night. If you play this way, you'll likely look for shelter if the weather turns and won't go anywhere until it clears up.

The thing with Hopeless Rescue is that to finish it you have to take a few more risks than normal. If RNG is kind to you, that risk might be just travelling at night. If not, you might have to travel through a blizzard.

In my experience, it is usually possible to get from one region of Great Bear Island to any other within 2 in-game days. Getting to a particular location within that region might take more than 2 days -- especially if there's lots of rope climbing needed.