TonyInPleasantValley

Was there a DLC update today? I have been in the game at least 6 times today and saw nothing...

Finished my BR run, left earlier than I wanted cuz the weather got bad and I was running low on food. Safe and sound in TWM: did not see a single TW on the way back, though I walked through at least 3-4 spawn areas. Whew! Leeanda: yah knew about the gunpowder but it such a precious resource I prolly won't use it for anything but bullets... Really wondering about the way food works in this game. I mean, I ate a whole wolf in one day! Seems like they could dial food back a little? I mean, I am not a huge eater, but a quarter pound of meat usually fills me up. So why does it take 4.8 kilos to fill me up when I am (decidedly) more active in the game? I can see a half kilo being sufficient. Shrug!

Glacia: Thanks again for all the good information! Couple of notes/questions: * I take the Ravine way in because I really hate FM! Don't know why, but it is my least favorite area in the game. Also my main base is TWM, so I have a well worn path through PV to the Carter Dam to Ravine where I have a rock cache full of goods. That said, next time I will go via the cave to see how I like that path. * Bears: anyone know the respawn rate? On TWM, it seems like it can be as quick as 3 in game days for the one that roams the lake.... *Campfire: I never knew you could use oil to start one! I rarely have it on me even though I have 7 or 8 lanterns at my base, lol. I use the shelf and it is full of lanterns and oil. Guess I will start carrying some when I am in TW country! This is a great tip and will save my marine flare stock greatly!!

Thanks to all for the responses. I went back to Blackrock cuz it seems easier to get around the TW, but I plan to go back to BI soon. This game is soooo complex, which makes it so much fun to play. Hozz my objective is to survive. Lol. I mean, I want to be able to make a lot of bullets, make a lot of knives and axes, and generally just live off the land. To do this, the game forces you to enter Timberwolf territory. I am okay with that but need to understand the dynamics. BI seems harder to traverse than BR, so I went to BR to get my guns on and now I am going to BI to see if I can live up to the challenge, and await the DLC that is coming in a few weeks. Cheers all!!

Thanks for the advice. I guess I first need to move all the raw ingredients I brought closer to the cannery so I can make more ammo and rework worn equipment. Not sure I have enough pistol ammo on me to get where I need to be, so might need another trip back to TWM to get more ammo. I don't remember this being as hard as it seems, but think I was only here in story mode which might be vastly different than survival? I think in story mode I made main camp in the washed out trailers so I could stay away from most of the animals, but have a convenient run to the cannery...hmm...decisions, decisions...

I just spent an inordinate amount of time moving stuff from TWM to BI (well Ravine...still need to move from my rock cache to BI). I moved coal, shells, gunpowder, cloth, scrap metal, lead, etc. I made a rut with all that hauling. Hanging out in the Cannery Worker Residence currently trying to get some supplies in place and figure out my next move. First morning, I walk out and a bear roars at me. Great! I shot him and now have meat, so that was a win for me, loss for him, but another will come and another and another. Not sure I want to deal with bear attacks every couple of days. Timberwolves are all over this area too. Also brought a stash of marine flares for them, but may need more. Should I move to the cannery and make that main camp, or stay here and slug things to the cannery over time? Thoughts?

Especially if the mug was those old type, made of tin or whatever with an enamel coating...super stoked to get one someday!

The store closed at the start of the pandemic and has not reopened. I want a coffee mug too! I check periodically, but sadly no change. Link here: https://www.hinterlandstore.com/password

Hurry up Hinterland! I want a coffee cup dammit! lol

So having random spawns of animals would be a completely different game. I know there are areas I can go where I will not be attacked, so making it completely random would mean I cannot go anywhere without the possibility of being attacked. The game is hard as is. I don't play on the harder levels even, and it is hard. There are so many variables, so many way to screw up, that having some amount of knowledge about animal behavior is needed to move about the map. Otherwise, it is TOTAL CHAOS and well, that sounds too much like real life that we are using this game to escape from, lol. I like the current setup...I know if I am going from point a to point b, that I will likely encounter wolves or bears. Moose are a bit of a wild card. Then new mountain lion, well we will see. I like that bunnies are where they spawn as well as deer. I think having some safe areas is a good thing for the game, or else survival becomes too hard...and it is pretty hard as is. My 2 pennies...

So still need metal, so after licking my wounds on TWM, I grab one of FOUR hacksaws I have (why?) and head to the Dam. Then I think, wait, there is plenty of metal to be had in PV so head to the Farmhouse and raid the basement stash of shelves and such. Great, got plenty and can make it most of the way back in one day trip. Get to the climb up to TWM and realize I am going to fall if I keep going, so down and into the prepper area...where I see 4 or 5 shelves! I am so bad at this game!!

Bark makes really good tinder. I use it all the time in my wood stove...guessing there is a bunch of sap in it as it is easy to light and really gets my fire going. Tinder is also needed, so I split the heck out of a really dry log and with a lighter, can get a fire going in no time. Never tried it with matches though...hmm.

Oh boy this was a winner! I decide to leave my perch on TWM and head to the dam to get a lot of metal. My goal is to get level 5 on all skills and I need a LOT of ice fishing, so need a lot of metal. I work my way over to the dam and discover that I had NOT left a hacksaw there as I thought I had. No big deal, gotta be one around somewhere so I end of at the Trapper's Cabin, see a bear, and think let's kill that beast! I shoot and he charges, so I head inside. Pop out and hear him but don't see him. He suddenly rears up near me, I shoot again, cocky with my level 5 rifle skills, and he mauls me. Twice! I eventually end him, but he takes some hard won clothes from me and my condition is at level 6, damn near dead! Go to Milton, cuz I know I left a saw there, right. Nope. And I get mauled by wolves about 4 different times. One should not drink and TLD, methinks! Back on my perch, clothes restored, lesson learned...perhaps.

Congrats on your successes!

Today's "duh" moment: went hunting, looking for moose. None around but there were wolves so why not? Recently got level 5 on the bow so I am gonna bag a wolf with a bow shot!! I crouch, and move in for the kill. Wolf appears to see me as he starts heading right at me. Perfect! I draw the string and...dumbass me forgot to pack arrows to go bow hunting! I ended up pulling the pistol out and sent him to his grave, but this could have ended much worse for me....sigh.

So what did I do that was dumb today? I decided to go to the Summit again...which I love to do for some reason even though it scares me to make the trek. Dunno why. I wake up in the hut and it is early, predawn, and foggy on the lake. So I get breakfast, and start looking at my gear, and making prep for the climb. I get rid of stuff I don't need and double check I have everything I do need. No forgetting the bed roll today! Head out as the fog is lifting, bypass Mr. bear, up the rope, into the cave, and take the scenic route. Up the next rope, still feeling good. All the way up to the summit, no bears or wolves, weather near perfect except coming out of the cave from Secluded Shelf...straight up blizzard. Tired anyway so take 4 hours to rest. Pop out and it is gorgeous! To the summit and the tail section. Arrange the loot the way I want into one container for the trip down the next day. Put all the clothes and tools I want to take down with me into a container so it would be easy to grab and go. Head to the cave, light a fire, make water, eat and drink, sleep. Did NOT notice that when I put clothes in the container I had taken off some I was wearing!! Walk out the cave, head to the tail section, notice red on the screen. I am freezing cold!! Hustle to the cave, light a fire, warm up. Whew. What a moron...lolz. Easy trip down, kill the bear...back home with loot. Lucky to be alive!

The only reason I went back was for more ammo, and I got enough to last a long time especially now that I hit level 5 on the bow. I chose it over the other location because my main camp is TWM so all I have to do to get there is get past a bear, climb a rope, get past a wolf or two, get through a cave and I am there, greeted by timberwolves of course...You make a good point about BI and the new DLC...will likely head that way once the update hits. Thanks for the idea, saving up supplies for another ammo run (if I make it that long, lol)...

I thought I read somewhere that moose only spawn in one region at a time and once killed spawn in some other random region? Not sure where I read this or if I am delusional. I don't see a lot of moose because I tend to stay in an area a long while and don't move around a lot, which might support the notion that there is only one moose and is in another region. I have killed two in the current run, one near the barn by Trapper's Hut in ML region and one in the woods across from the bear cave near Crystal Lake in TWM. Good luck bagging one cuz that satchel is one of the golden items in the game!

Another strange bug popped up yesterday and repeated today...I was on Crystal Lake carving up a bear. There were three massive fir/cedar limbs on the path back to the cabin where I was dumping the meat/fur/guts that were annoyingly in the direct path from bear to cabin. So I had to walk around them cuz wanted to finish the bear before nightfall. Finished up with the bear, started cooking, and decided to go clean that hill up, plus I was getting low(ish) on firewood so made sense to cook bear and chop wood at the same time. Walked out and saw the picture below. What the heck? Anyhow, cooked up bear went to sleep, and walked outside and the limbs were back!! Put on some water and bear, walked out to gather the wood and poof! Gone again! Not sure if the bear despawn caused this or cooking caused it, but something is making that wood come and go.

Prepping for BR is indeed wise. I almost always get "greeted" coming out of the cave by timberwolves, which are easy to handle because they cannot get to you, but then again I get that same greeting on exit most of the time. Found it better to approach via the climb and keep along the rocks than come from the other directions on exit. They still spawn most of the time but too late to do much damage to me. I only go there when I have lots of marine flares, noise makers, and bullets/arrows. Also having the right clothes helps a lot. The ammo bench is something I *have* to visit periodically, so I got to get this region down to a science!

I one shot killed a bear in PV once, walked up to it, and ...could ... not ... interact with it! So annoying. I have killed some who bled out in their caves, so I now look there when I cannot find them. Just killed one last week on TWM in a blizzard on a trek back from CV at night...looked EVERYWHERE and never found him. He must of buried himself. I have seen wolves do this more than a few times as well.

You could use fatwood, or pine resin, as an ignition source. I think a lot of IRL survivalist depend on this. I watched a few Youtube videos of people collecting it. Basically get it from dead pine trees, as the sap flows after the tree dies and collects in the trunk or where branches meet the trunk. I think this is the best way to do it without a ton of kindling. In my wood stove, I just take a log, hit it with the hatchet, and split it over and over and over until I have easy to light kindling...

Wow! I was just logging in here to post that is EXACTLY what I just did. Wasn't a forgot either...you know when you open a container, the first item highlighted is usually the bedroll right? So I was on TWM, prepping to go to Ash Canyon, and I heard that noise when you move something from your inventory to the storage right? I thought, that was weird, I don't see anything missing. Guess what, it was my bedroll. So not realizing it, I make my way out. BEAUTIFUL day on TWM, I make it over to the cave in no time, over to AC, and head up to the top heading to the mine, expecting to stay in that cave before descending. I am dead tired after the trek, no way to make it down the rope and I am at 45 kilos so way overloaded for the descent. Panic sets in when I reach the cave and I discover I have no roll!! So I decide to scoot over to Miner's Folly, but get lost and cannot remember the route because I am in a panic. Doh! I just accepted I am going to die. I am so tired, turned red on energy, and am trudging back to the mine. I suddenly remembered a Youtube video where a dude slid down to the mine, and thought this is my ONLY possible chance. I slide down, so tired I can barely move, make it into the mine, make it to the bed, and pass out...but I am ALIVE! That was the best feeling in the world (of this game anyway). I ended up making it to Miner's Folly, kill the bear for food, got all the goodies, and headed back to the relative safety of Crystal. How I survived my stupidity this time is beyond me!

Well I went back a week or so ago and made the mine run to get the code to the workshop and the noise maker blueprint. Survived, I dunno, 5 or 6 timberwolf attacks, a bear, and saw a moose chillin' so I just let him be. Ended up bringing most of my loot back and got my gunsmithing to 5, so gots lots and lots of ammo now. Really can't wait for the next update later this month as I am have gotten to level 5 in all skills except ice fishing and mending. Which is strange because I used to get those two to 5 sooner than most other skills. I have never been level 5 in archery before, mainly cuz I sucked at the skill so did not put in the time and I don't play in the higher two levels yet, but I see that coming to an end as I am getting a little bored finally at the current level. I killed so many rabbits this run...feels bad actually. Do you ever feel bad killing an animal in this game? It is weird cuz I know it is a game, but sometimes it doesn't feel right. OK enough rambling...

Why didn't I think of that! Lol...simple solutions are the best ones! Thanks again Leeanda! BTW building the rock cache was super simple! One trip around Crystal Lake and I had 58 stones...woot!