TonyInPleasantValley

I spend a lot of time outside at night, either late or in the early AM before dawn. Find that there are fewer critters out there and there are lots of things to do as others say above, like check my rabbit traps and even read. Like to be out during the aurora as well as the game looks great, and the critters look even more menacing. I do think the game should give us a few more hours back and not push us into sleeping 10-12 hours, cuz who does that IRL? Like hozz, I like to cook and read/craft to double dip when I can.

Hunger: we normally eat three times a day, so I would look at normal calorie consumption and ensure they are taking in that much, and wanting food (hunger, which is not starvation) a few times a day for realism. One thing about TLD I think could be more realistic is food consumption. I often eat 2 kg of meat at a time in TLD to get my meter up, which is 4 pounds, or said another way 16 quarter pounders. I think that is a lot so make it more realistic. Thirst would depend on movement and activity, but 2-3 L per day is average with female characters needing less. Fatigue is another one I am not sure TLD does as realistically as they could. Fatigue is affected by what you are doing, carrying, and type of activity. I think I get tired in TLD faster than I would in real life, especially when I am not doing a lot of stressful activity. Walking tires me in real life, but not to the degree that it does walking from PV to TM. I think climbing is about right, but descending is not anyway near as tiring. If I am reading, it is all mental which is not that tiring to me, but I know my dog gets really tired after mental exercises, so maybe that is different from person to person as well? Dunno. Good luck with your game and let us know when it is available to try out!

Wolf: I have this unjustified fear of sleeping in caves and having a bear come eat me. I gotta believe they go in them as I see them coming out from time to time. Anyone know if my fear is justified and real, or should I just sleep in caves and believe I am safe? hozz: I have personally proven that as almost every time I have slipped into the long, dark night it was due to exactly that: impatience. Last run, I was looking for a rifle and went out in ill condition, during bad weather, to check a cave that I found one in before the rifle redistro. Waves of Timberwolves and a blizzard ended me.

Well not a complete fail, but pretty sad preparation on my part. So first attempt to the summit, I pick a clear day and sail up there with little difficulty, other than dancing with a bear that wouldn't let me go up and having to end a wolf who got too close. Thinking this was the EASIEST run to the summit ever! Then my lack of detail in preparation almost made me sick! I had gone up with a hacksaw, ready to loot every box and get the good stuff...on the 1st box on the plane, the hacksaw broke! I had paid no attention to the condition of the thing and had to leave the mountain, sad and dejected. So next time up, I took TWO hacksaws...this was fail #2. Well not a real fail, but so close it felt like one if you know what I mean. First, I had a run of bad luck with bear and wolves, which you expect going up there, but it left me tired from all the maneuvering so when I got to a climb, I said push on. I think I was 2-3 seconds from losing grip and falling...so scary! Well, that happened twice! So get near the summit and that bear is blocking my way, so I end up spending the night out by the campfire. Wake up the next morning, go to make water, and realize I am ALMOST out of water AND I don't have a can of any type of food, not an empty, nor a pot! I don't think I am going to make it back down with a half kilo of water and I haven't done the summit climb yet! Push on, it is dark, the aurora is gorgeous, and I am almost to the rope climb. You know that right turn between rocks before the climb? I turn that corner to see a psychedelic green bear right in front of me! Now I backed out and then ran and hid, cuz I was dead tired and likely would not have been able to shoot him, and he would have likely killed me in my state. I don't know why, but it never came after me and I never saw it again. Got to the rope, slept, finished the last of my water, cried that I was going to end an 80 day run with some nice clothes and level 4 on almost all my skills, and ascended. NOT ONE CAN or POT in the containers! Popped first one, full of soda...at 4% or lower condition. Popped each of the others and finally on the last one, there were bottles of water! I also found a rifle up there, only my second rifle so far. Could not drag all the loot I wanted down with me, so likely going back one day for the rest. Might be a long while as that last run I was on the edge of death at least 6 or 7 times! Coming down wasn't fun either. Bear after bear, wolf after wolf. Killed and harvested a wolf coming down the creek to Crystal Lake, thinking I was home free, but there is another wolf on the lake and he came and chewed on me. Sigh. Love this game, but think I need a break after that run up the summit, times 2!

OK...I thought the same thing about the cache in FM but I checked that yesterday and it wasn't there...is the one in PV the only one until they add the random ones back?

Reading the detailed update post on Steam, it stated prepper hatches were removed, but will be back. I looked in a couple of places and did not find them, however I stumbled onto one in PV!! Anyone else find a prepper hatch?

Rifle scarcity is not a bug, see this https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/305620/view/3634998820323849895 which states: Weapons have had a significant rebalance – rifles are much rarer so they are no longer guaranteed in every region. Revolvers are now more common, and Distress Pistols are also found in a few more places than before. I thought it was a bug at first, but others said they had changed it and surely they have. I find lots of pistols/flare guns/bows now, but so far have only found one rifle and have been almost over the complete map. They are also hiding them well so you really have to look for them.

OK, moose and bear are dead. I lost a few articles of clothing in the fight, but think I am coming out ahead, especially if I can craft a moose satchel and gain another 5KG of haul. ML is such a cool place and if you use your brain, is an area you can survive a very lone time.

I have left forgotten airfield and am now back at the hunter's cabin near mystery lake. Killed a wolf, then attacked by a bear, and a moose showed up that I have riddled with holes but I think still lives. What - a - game!

So thinking I am going to leave this Blog and FA and go back to other parts of the silent apocalypse. Just not enough going on here for me to love the area like I do TM, PV, or the like. It is huge, it has interesting features, but not enough to hold me here. And part of this game really is about moving from region to region, smartly, to improve your gear and to play in environments that match your interests. I suspect that when the Wintermute update occurs, this area will be a big important part of the story, and am looking forward to that. Time to get my stuff together and start the long trek back to places I have grown to love spending my time in. FA, I will see you sometime in the future when the story continues. Cheers all!

Spoiler: Insomnia is not caused by the aurora per se, it is caused by the glimmer fog! I got it and the way to get rid of it is go "underground" so into the basement I went and sure enough was able to resolve the issue. Also, to wolf_meat's point during glimmer fog the room is well lit as well so I head there to craft anytime it happens. This last batch was severe and sudden and was very hard to navigate in. Made a few snares to catch bunnies...bad luck when I checked the first time after setting them they were both ruined. Don't think this has ever happened before. Kind of annoying, but whatever. Deerskin boots are done and on my feet...styling!

OK, a little more game play and starting to like this area more. Got the insomnia affliction as predicted as soon as first aurora occurred but was not too bad. Spoiler: take some tea with you if you go there as this helps with insomnia! Cooking issue resolved as the main building is surrounded by walls, which makes a wind free place to cook, so I am now a lot more psyched to play in this area. Game is abundant, as is fuel, so food is getting better though I made a mistake and let my well fed bonus expire and am paying the price for it right now. I did go to the basement and use the aurora fueled lighting to work on my deerskin boots. Killed about 3-4 wolves and a doe to add to my food supplies. Found a baclava and a military coat so those were pleasant items to find. Wind and fog are bad here, but when weather is clear, it is a great place to be.

On Voyageur as well and my biggest gripe was how hard it was to find a single rifle. Others have found 2 or 3, but I spent a few IRL days looking until I found one. Pistols and flare guns are common as are pistol/flare rounds. No issues with clothes, food, and most other items. Books are more prevalent in some regions and non-existent in others. I have plenty of rifle ammo, found a few boxes but most of them were hidden so had to look in every nook and cranny. I've stopped picking up most items at this point and am looking for high value items of clothing...got decent clothes but could still use several upgrades.

So my initial impression, without a lot of game play time yet, of FA is I likely will explore it and leave. Couple of reasons why: Lots of wolves in packs - not a huge deal just is a pain always dealing with them; have not seen bear or moose...yet No indoor fire place (sort of, see below) - means you are at the mercy of weather to cook and make water Windy as heck - means movement is tedious at times Spoiler: found a note that talks about the lights and getting insomnia - suspect whenever the aurora hits I will come down with that affliction...fun! Not a lot of good loot found so far; was hoping for that kind of trek to get something nice...still might...still exploring Basement is a really nice space with a work bench, forge, and a bed, but no light! So initial thoughts on survival strategy in this area is to gradually shift my day to night. This does a few things...lets me avoid insomnia (maybe?) and lets me use the basement to craft (working on deer boots now) and forge items. Can then use the forge to cook as well, but only if I get a string of auroras to give me light in that dark basement.

Since I spent the better part of an IRL day hiking over to FA, figured I would post my experiences here. Might be some spoilers, so don't read if you don't want to know what I find! Let's start with the journey to FA...it was a trek! Started at the Farmhouse in PV early on a cold, clear day. Packed pistol, flare gun, and rifle as well as as much food as I could carry. First, hiked up to Signal Hill to see if I left any goodies there and then to the cave to Carter Dam. Weather remained calm and no wolves, which is unusual. On to FM where I ran into 3 wolves in a pack. Shot, hit one, they ran but two came back and I ended one of them with a pistol round. Too heavy to take meat, had to leave it (hate doing that, but some times you gotta). About 2/3'rd the way over, ran into another wolf but just walked to the right far enough where it didn't smell me. Eerie sounds and high winds whipped up before I hit BR. Ran into two more wolves in BR and shot both. I am on a mission, so I did not do my usual things like using fire or avoiding them. Began to snow a little but never amounted to anything. At the end of the line, entered the first new section. I prepared a lantern with full fuel and it came in handy as there are a number of dark tunnels to navigate as well as some places to loot. Helps to have a crow bar in place, but found 2 laying around so probably could have left that in PV. Ended up sleeping in the tunnel and consumed a fair amount of my food and all my water on the trek. Started to wonder if I should stop, but decided to march on. Finally made it to Transfer Pass, where it was time to look for shelter. No wolves spawned for me in any of the transfer areas. Killed a doe for dinner, cooked it and made water at the RR depot, and slept. Next morning, again crystal clear so I lucked out on weather the entire trip, looked for the pass to FA. This was a little tricky, consumed about a half day, but found it and entered the transition zone...found a salvage yard, chopped wood, and made a fire for dinner and water making. Slept the night and headed out in light flurries, excited to see new country! Following the road, at some point I decided to go off trail and got stuck in a rock and could not reverse course. I was so afraid I was screwed, but eventually was able to keep going down hill to a stream and followed that to the airfield. It is MASSIVE! Headed for the copters, planes, and largest building and started exploring. Then, my IRL dog decided to put her head on my lap to tell me I had played enough with the computer and it was her turn, so that is where I saved and stopped for the day. So far, no animals excepts some rabbits...sure that will change next time I play! Cheers!

Likely a bug that was never found because no one ever thought someone would do this so the game was never tested with multiple fires. One of the best software testers I ever met would always do unordinary things like this and break our systems...most of the bugs went unfixed because they were low priority...

I'm a big fan of TM as well and spend at least 25% of my time there. Also a big fan of Carter Dam cuz lotsa loot, game, fuel, and relatively safe. For whatever reason, I really dislike Forlorn Muskeg...

Just finished the looooooooooooong trek from Pleasant Valley to the new airfield and man was that a hike! The airfield is massive!

I went and read/re-read all the Hinterland press releases and guess I missed some, because the answer to my original question(s) were all there, lol. So, I spent some time visiting all the Mystery Lake buildings, or at least most of them, got my clothes up to snuff and headed over to Pleasant Valley. First stop was Signal Hill to get supplies and rest, however I still had some stamina and day light, so I pushed down to the Barn and Farmhouse. Cleaned out the meager offerings of the Barn and being really tired headed for the good ol' Farmhouse. As I am walking there, I see a bear in the distance off to the left in the orchard. So got to the front porch and watched and waited. Soon the bear peaked a snow drift. Being tired, I could hold the rifle for no more than a 4 or 5 count and was not going to be accurate but took a shot anyway and hit the bear! Immediately dived inside, did a scan for initial loot, and upstairs for bed. Next morning, I opened the front door, weary that the bear was around as has happened to me before. No sound other than a distant wolf. Phew. So, I pop to the top of the nearest snow drift and there is a dead bear near the car!! I don't think I have 1 shot a bear more than one other time in a hundred encounters! Not sure if it was just pure luck (as opposed to my bad luck finding a rifle) or if Vaugh's is a better rifle. Only time will tell but will report back my findings IF the game doesn't kill me first, 😄. Anyhow, need to go back and listen to the episode that say which region connects to the new airfield and try to find my way over there. Excited to see the new area, explore it, and learn it like the back of my hand as I have most of the other regions. Oh, also I picked up some Ski Boots in the ML region. Left them there as at 4 kilos the juice isn't worth the squeeze, but they are nice looking boots.

I am certain this is correct @UTC-10 as I have played this game a long time and never had trouble finding rifles. FINALLY found one today, Vaughn's Rifle variant, which was a big relief. Feel like I can now finally get going on a decently long survival campaign. I slogged through several large areas that are usually rife with rifles and found one tucked away in an unusual place. So, I think they not only reduced the probability of finding one by reducing the number on the map, but they also may have tucked them in places you really have to explore under ever stone, so to speak, to find. Noticing a lot of changes as others have mentioned. Even things like the internal layout of buildings are different than they were. Finding food and clothing, at least at this level I am playing, are relatively easy compared to before. Have noticed that eating sub-standard food does make you sick more often, especially meat. That is what killed me one time because I didn't believe it would happen again and again and kept eating bear meat that was 53% and getting sick, got worn down, then came the wave after wave of Timberwolves and a blizzard, and Bob's your uncle, slow death that I could not avoid. I knew better but kept going looking for a rifle! Timberwolves ate my supply of pistol and flare ammo, so having that third weapon is a big deal, at least in the somewhat chaotic way I play. I also like to kill bear and moose in this game, so a rifle is a must have along with clothes with cold and armor protection characteristics. Oh, one other thing I saw that was funny...I saw a wolf, so immediately started a fire cuz it seems a lot easier to scare them than before. The wolf came near me, froze, growling. So, I needed water and boiled two cans up while I had the fire. Picked up a torch and tossed it at the wolf, it didn't move. Walked up to it and it was frozen in time. So funny! Cheers all!

Been playing since the launch, more or less, taking time off now and again. Just started back up about a month ago with the new update that I was happy to pay for. That said, the game seems a bit out of whack for me. My first run at things, I decided to take it easy and do whatever the second easiest level is called (the owl). Anyhow, I spent 30 hours on the game and was doing well. Clothes were impressive so I could move around a lot, even in a storm, and survived a couple of bear attacks and was able to repair everything. Only issue is, I CANNOT find a rifle! I have started 3 other games after doing dumb things that I know not to do, and have been in a lot of the major areas frantically searching for a rifle SOMEWHERE. Have found 3 or more pistols, multiple flare guns, but not the first rifle. Food has been plentiful but wolves and beer seem to be spawning more often and in multiples. Seems like they put in more food and clothing items, which allows you to move around more and explore, just to be killed by animals because of low powered pistols, low ammo, and no long rifles (and likely because I am taking chances to try and find one)! Have not found one yet! I started each game on random spawns, as I want to find my way over to the new airfield, but want to be challenged in doing so. Current game spawned me in Broken Railroad...checked the hunter's lodge and maintenance sheds thoroughly...no rifle, pistol, or flare! Made my way through Forlorn Muskeg into Mystery Lake...checked all the cabins, camp office, and fishing huts. Found 2 pistols, no rifle. Earlier run, I went through all of Pleasant Valley, Timberwolf, and part of Blackrock...no rifles! Anyone else experiencing a severe lack of rifles in the game or is it just me? Still love the game, but I think the balance is a bit off from where it was...cheers!