AdamvR

I’ve read somewhere that if you throw a lit torch on it, you can harvest it while it stays on it, so you do not have to run to catch the right second, like with a stone. By starting a fire next to it, you can easily source the needed torches…, also helps against cold and wolves + you can already cook the first slices … that’s my usual strategy at least:)

transmitters reverting to the original (unrepaired) state is listed on the known issues as a bug. Tales Transponders repair state has been reset Presentation: Some players may have noticed that previously fixed Transponders have reset their repair state after previously having been fixed. Interacting with Transponders will make it appear as if they still require components to repair. Workaround: There are no player actions that need be taken, the TLD team is working to fix this issue and revert player progress to the proper state in an upcoming fix. source: https://hinterlandgames.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/13754630088852-PC

There are (at least?) two areas in GB where stripping naked for a short while is actually my best strategy so far...

...CO2 on the other hand freezes out of the air around -78C. I'm starting to speculate, this "Geomagnetic Storm" might have actually been some geoengineering stunt against climate change gone awry....

I have also been toying with this idea, once suggested above, as it could in theory work with (almost) no option for abuse..., but not having an option to exiting without saving the progress would be extremely dangerous. I hardly ever use the current option to Esc and Quit, but from experience you can get stuck in points in this game, especially in relatively new areas, before those points are all found, reported and ironed out. Not once have I found myself in this situation, and losing my character due to a terrain fault would be an absolute no go for me. And if I can quit both with and without saving, then we are back to the point that @hozz1235 has mentioned: ...so with the above consideration, I concluded that the current system is fine as is. I've learnt over the years, that HL does think and weigh through the various options to find the best solution..., so if a decision might not make sense to me at first, I might be missing a point, and look further. You are not alone with this experience:) I had gone through probably the exact same steps... I was also looking for how the hell do I dig up snow for melting, wondered why the foxes (!) ran away when I approached Mystery Lake, been scared to walk on the lake first, or learnt how not to give up after my first box of matches ran out (as I can find more... - who would have thought?), and quite a few (in retrospect quite embarassing/funny) ways how to fall into the long dark... I'm calling this learning the game mechanics, just like learning the rules of chess or a card game... And with time learnt to see and appreciate the deep thoughts behind the development decisions.

Alcohol makes one sleepy, and to quote a classic: "I'd lay down here, if I thought I'd ever wake up again..." That is I believe what @ManicManiac has been referring to:)

I'm not sure if that is correct: you need 4 acorns for 1 coffee, thus you actually lose a lot of calories (125 in coffee instead of 400 in 4 acorns - or 100 vs 320 if cooking level 1) Not that you are in need of calories, I just thought of sharing my disappointment, when finding this... cooking them one by one (instead of in large portions) might save water and time, but is actually a good way of levelling up the cooking skill - probably interesting in longer runs only.

Maybe just one thought to add, an option that has not been mentioned before I think: Just leaving without saving might make me lose some minutes of "progress", and that loss is definitely a bad feeling, I can attest to that. (Can even be frustrating, as I had to redo the same things multiple times, when the game repeatedly quit on a "Failed to load..." error trying to enter Angler's Den) But it really is not the end of the world, (I just moved elsewhere, until that bug is fixed.)

If my character is safe, I can also rest. I think that is the philosophy behind. If I can prove that I am safe, by being able to sleep one hour without mauled to or frozen to death, I can rest. I have zero problem with this solution. But I understand if you find this frustrating, I feel sorry for you, but do not agree with your solution to the perceived source of frustration. Peace:)

No, I don't think it is irony, and I have not suggested that, and would never do that. I'd walk to safety first.

I do not think it is irony, but carefully designed different experiences for the two different game modes. Wintermute is a story, You are kind of told what to do, and you do it. It is more like a film, that you play the protagonist of, and like a film you can pause (save) and continue at any time. Survival, as the name suggests, is about surviving and making decisions that matter in doing so. And at important moments of this struggle the game saves it for you: when you reach safety, and when you get hurt. I believe that is also why some people prefer the Story, others Survival, and some find both appealing. Like two different games set in the same universe. (and they actually are today: two different games I mean).

I think I've read in some of the release notes of the loot "reshuffle" in December, that it was a deliberate choice to make the regions "feel less of the same". Some items are frequent in one, but even completely devoid in another. That is also forcing us out of the regions, and makes the beginning of (every) run different, depending on where you start and whether a key item is present there or not - and how you learn to compensate for its absence until you find it somewhere later. I felt that some regions had a lot of birch saplings, while others barely had a few. Same with the bark. So my guess would be, that if you found it to be much more or much less than before, it might be dependent on the specific region you are in. (This does not include beach combing, which many have mentioned to be a bit overbuffed since the last update, and I'd expect it would be toned down with time)

I feel I agree with @ManicManiac's thoughts above. With some additions: The fact, that Wintermute does have a save option makes it clear, that it was a deliberate choice not to add it to the Survival version. (i.e.: it is already programmed, just not activated) I believe, that it is one element of the whole experience of TLD, which has been designed with extra care. There are many games, where you can save the game before a risky situation and load back if things do not go your way. In TLD this would be hitting escape and quitting (provided that you did not also get injured). I'm happy, that this game does have a different approach to it, and consciously, decidedly so. I try thinking about it, that "voluntary" saving happens when your character is safe, and only then, and happens automatically for you. Either when entering a safehouse, or when the circumstances around you are safe enough that you could spend an hour sleeping or just loitering without interruption. And, when you made a wrong decision, it is also ensured, there is no way back. This is part of what makes every decision to be a serious one in this game, and that experience is part of what makes TLD what it is. I try to appreciate it, and the thoughtfulness behind, even when it makes stuff difficult. (I do understand, that having a "press a button" save option, might feel convenient, and I appreciate the fact that this convencience is not included on purpose.) ... and for answering a phonecall, hitting Esc is pretty straightforward I think, not a workaround, not even specific to TLD. Losing the character due to the pressure this game tends to put us under is pretty frustrating indeed, I totally agree, so I'm also feeling for the OP.

I'm afraid I have some sad news... Not sure which update was responsible, but the option to place a rock cache somewhere on the pier so it could be reached both from below and above is no more... Apparently someone in Hinterland found the time to paint over the entire area(, that would be useful for this) with a mysterious "Too close to another object" error message, when you are trying to place a stone cache. Interestingly, placing other items does not trigger this message. There clearly is no other object in the way, and it appears to me as a conscious decision. I'd just like to express my thoughts and feelings about it. I'm all in when it comes to filling exploits of game mechanics (such as making the animals smarter a while back). But I do not think this is (was) one. It is completely within the game logic (and that of common sense), that when you have to move something heavy up, then, if you can, place it on a higher ground, climb yourself, and then move further with it. I would do that in any situation irl. Also, this option has been building on the very solutions added to the game for ad hoc storage. It has also been quite a chore to build - as BI has a very low number of stones scattered around, I always had to bring them from long, perilous journeys from Forlorn Muskeg or via rope-climb from the Ravine. So having a reward for the work invested to move stuff up a bit more easily felt completely valid and well earnt. This option has been an integral part of this region for me in every run, and one of the contributors to why BI was one of my favorite regions. (despite having died here more than once...) Sure, I can always strip almost naked, and move stuff in multiple runs around, making decisions to only do so with what's most important, but this chore is not fun. Making this option impossible does add nothing to gameplay, gives noone any benefit, serves no purpose. In my opinion. After 1500 hours of complete devotion and love for this game, I feel quite disappointed - and am not writing that lightly. Would be interested in an explanation, slightly hoping, that this was just "some terrible misunderstanding", and it would be reversed, but not sure if I dare to hope... ( @Raphael van Lierop @Admin?) ...and the lamp is mysteriously not "too close to another object"...

spoiler: use [ ] square brackets like this I think the transponder caches' location changes from run to run, as well as their contents. I did not have any on the island, but not far away yes. No rifle for me though in that region.

Strongly waiting for the thermos…

Wanted to get back on this: in my experience, the bonus from skill you do get immediately, when you add the pieces of wood to the fire. The timer goes up more if you have a higher skill, regardless of it is an indoor fire or outdoor fire ( just recently used the ammunition forge inside with recycled wood each adding about 45 minutes due to the 50% bonus from level 5 fire starting. When I begin these pieces of wood add about half an hour with no skill bonus. I do not recall this to have been different for indoor or outdoor fires in the past either, though could be mistaken. The outdoor bonus is different, it is added while the fire is burning (so not immediately but some time after I have added the wood) ie, the timer shows 1 hour, you boil water for 28 minutes and the timer goes down maybe 15 minutes only, not 28. This I never had for indoor fires, but probably because I myself was indoor as well (as per the explanations above). (not sure of which is the moment exactly when the time is added, but probably when you check on it the next time) Some initial tests of mine support the above mechanic, such as standing just outside the door by the barrel on the pier in BI I got the bonus, but not when standing inside. (Also can use the magnifying glass on the barrel, when standing outside). Although I also felt that if I enter even for a sec, the whole fire loses the bonus - would need further experimentation… I did not yet have the chance to plan and execute a detailed comparison study - if and when that happens, I’d post the update here. (Right now I’m facing a little setback as Elizabeth the Fourth has returned to her creator on the 303rd day of her reign - the byte gods rest her courageous soul.)

Thanks for your responses @stratvox and @Serenity! Definitely an intriguing explanation! If there is a safeguard, not to let my food burn, it’s likely not applied to boiling water away: the first time I noticed this was when I left 2L of water to cook on the stove of Mindful Cabin (FA) with just enough wood to boil it and then go out. When I came back quite a bit later, the water was gone, and the fire still on (!). I cannot wait to do some experimentation around this…

So, having that cleared up, have you noticed such inconsistency around these fireplaces?

The increased burn times from higher skill is not what I’m referring to. Outside or outer side of caves give outdoor bonuses to fire time whether or not I’m sitting next to it or walking away. Outdoor bonus= you add 1 hour of wood but you get some extra minutes (I think dependent on the temperature how much) indoor fires never have this bonus, 1 hour wood is 1 hour fire. if you leave something on an outdoor fire, you always have to calculate in the (unpredictable) bonus time, not to make it burn. what I’m saying is, that these locations appear to act as an indoor fire, when standing next to it, and an outdoor fire when walking away. And I believe they were consistently outdoor fires before.

We still can continue those, only the new content won’t be there (at least on steam). I still have a lady waiting to celebrate her 500’s day there + actually loaded up one of the time capsules after finding a ‘new’ stash in the whale processing plant, to see if I missed it before or was indeed new (turned out it was not new, at all:)) I’m still into exploring all the new stuff, just spent 100 consecutive days in FA, and still haven’t been to Blackrock. I do take a couple months ‘breaks’ every here and then, mostly as I have busier periods irl, and cannot always afford to binge play… but always great to come back, always looking forward to it. (I just entered BI and was at the door with aurora when I realized I forgot that I need to come from the other direction first… completely forgot about that) So every rekindling always brings something new and new-again feelings 😉

If I'm cooking something on these stoves, then the firetime goes down exactly as much wood is added (as if it is an indoor fire), but if I walk away from the same fire and come back, I get an "outdoor bonus". I think this is a bug, and reported it to Hinterland, but wanted to ask around if anyone else has also encountered it (or not) - so maybe we can gather more information. (Or maybe it is intentional and has changed on purpose...?) At first I found it in the Mindful Cabin's (FA) stove, so thought it might be related to that (relatively) new location, but then ran into it in other areas as well, which are (were?) considered to be outdoor locations, namely the open section of the yard in Broken Railroad (there is no stove, but I usually make campfires there), and also the stove in the pier quite consistently and replicably (to me) here are my replication trials from the pier in BI, and a video of the same. case 1) standing next to the fire, boiling 2 cans of water (should be 28 minutes), speeding up cooking time: 2:22 ==> 1:54 - 28 minutes firetime decrease, seems exact amount of time, no outdoor bonus case 2) going to the next room to tear up some boxes: 1:54 ==> 1:22 - 32 minutes firetime decrease, seems exact amount of time (28 cooking + 4 boiled away), no outdoor bonus case 3) walking a bit further, to the end of the pier, spending a little time there (mapping) 1:20 ==> 1:02 - 18 (!) minutes, firetime decrease, while the water boiled (28 minutes) + slightly boiled away (4 minutes). clearly there was a 14 minute outdoor bonus FireTime discrepancy.mp4

Whoever said that FA is just huge, but nothing special should take a second look imho... The "no clothing is warm enough" temperatures are just one of the new challenges (it also contains some of the most breath-taking views I think), I believe I've faced milder blizzards in other regions, than what a sunny day here can bring... What were your coldest temps endured? (that you took a screenshot/video of) sunny: -40/-23 C blizzard: -41/-29 C (Stalker, around day 240) beginning my morning stroll... TLD_Coldest in sunshine.mp4 a little later, after I'm back at the hut with a full blown hypothermia and my health down to 25%, I've also got to show what a blizzard looks like... TLD_Coldest in blizzard.mp4

Maybe I could not explain well enough, I was only referring to the snow shelter in that location to seem unbreakable to me. I harvested it 3-4 times, and it was still there. After a reload, and one more harvest it was gone, and the sound also disappeared, so it indeed might be connected to it. It's weird to me though, cannot guess what would HL want to represent with such a horrid noise around snow shelters...

I've tried breaking the snow shelter down (it is ruined already), but it seems permanent...