conanjaguar

Interesting. Could you elaborate a bit more?

I died within 15 minutes of spawning in Blackrock once... Haven’t gone back.

Please don’t explode, like this unfortunate cannibal from the Forest: Explosion is just starting...

My first time in months playing TLD, I started in Blackrock, and was almost killed by Timberwolves while trying to find the handle of a trailer door, then died as soon as I stepped inside. Read the full story on my thread “the Tales of King Arthur’s Knights”.

Do you mean at Paradise Meadows? In my current Stalker run, I have not been able go out the door without at least being barked at. Or of you mean the Orca Gas Station’s woodlot, then I have seen wolves there as well. One dead one was laying quite near a grazing moose, actually...

DAY 14: This is it. No more piddling about the bush. Today, either Rufus goes, or Gawain goes. Fight to the death. No quarter asked and none given. Let’s rock! Ok, I think that pep talk should fire Gawain up to success. Now to the task at hand. First, Gawain sharpened his hatchet up to 80ish%. Like a true knight, Gawain donned his birthday armor, hefted they hatchet and went out to brave the cold. However, there was a blizzard that lasted until the afternoon, so Gawain fixed up stuff and made bandages. A funny moment here was when Gawain constantly complained about the weight of wolf steaks while organizing the meat stash (apparently I had six more pieces of meat than I thought). He went out in the afternoon to see snow falling… and two wolves. Apparently Rufus called his cousin Brutus, and they both took a turn attacking Gawain. However, they were fought off without much damage to Gawain’s birthday armor, and after he dropped his rabbits, Gawain set out to track Rufus, who had fled to the right, past the woodsheds. Exhausted and freezing, and wary from spotting a moose around, Gawain eventually found Rufus’ freezing corpse in the wood lot by the Orca Gas Station, as well as a ravaged deer with a single steak’s worth left on it. He collapsed in the bathroom bed and dozed off. DAY 15: All Gawain could think about was food as he watched wolf meat and venison grilling on the fire barrel, which went out in the middle of the process due to brain fog, costing Gawain another match, but getting Fire Starting Level 2. Gawain was determined to get to at least the radio tower, but things changed our plans. Furry things, with lots of teeth. Three wolves in a row jumped Gawain, one jumpscaring me as Gawain turned a corner and my sees strayed to see what my brothers were playing. Gawain was down to 25% health, but his clothes were still in decent condition. He used all the bandages and painkillers he had packed in patching up his wounds, and his day/night cycle was seriously upset as he slept for 12 hours after drinking an herbal tea to heal himself and cheating food poisoning by eating 22% condition dog food and a 69% tin of sardines. RUMINATIONS: Well, that session did not accomplish any of the objectives I set, other than killing Rufus. In tomorrow’s session, Gawain will make it to that blasted radio tower or die trying. From there I can then go and check out the old church, and maybe make it to the ravine crash site and see if the deer carcass is there. I can also break down those crates for reclaimed wood and make another half-dozen snares… if Gawain makes it back to Paradise Meadows alive. By the way, if anyone knows where rifle bullets can spawn in the Mountain Town Region, please say so! Save a life!

Ah, I do imagine that a fistful of lead pellets would ruin or at least degrade the hide and meat. Which is why a shotgun would not be, and is not, a hunting weapon, except for waterfowl, which TLD lacks. However, maybe we could shoot crows with it? In the words of Huey, Louie, and Dewey: ”If ya didn’t shoot it, Unca’ Donald, how come there’s buckshot in the stuffin’?” And see my previous post: I have seen all the necessary components, and our characters can already craft ammunition and all other sorts of fancy things. They even know how to work a forge and make hatchets and knives without burning themselves, so it’s not to much of a stretch to imagine that they can strap together a muzzle-loader. I am not talking about a pump action, semiautomatic, or automatic shotgun, merely a single-barrel break open style shotgun, maybe not even a 12 gauge, or an impromptu thing. Yes, it would give gunpowder more use. In my opinion, if you can survive on ‘loper for long enough to craft gunpowder and bullets, then you have earned something to make life a little easier. Maybe once I get used to Stalker I will see how many minutes I can survive on that difficulty.

DISCLAIMER: THIS BEAR ENCOUNTER DID NOT OCCUR IN THE LONG DARK THIS IS A TRUE STORY OF A REAL LIFE ENCOUNTER WITH A BLACK BEAR Ok, enough with the barnstorming. A few years ago, we were on vacation in North Carolina, or Tennessee, don’t remember which. Anyway, we were heading to a waterfall on a winding mountain road. We passed a bear crossing sign, but paid no heed, except to look out the windows. However, the windows were soon a sideshow when A BLACK BEAR MOM AND HER CUB STROLLED ACROSS THE ROAD. We braked just in time to avoid hitting her cub. However, she just gave us a contemptuous sidewise glance and nonchalantly herded her cub the rest of the way across the road. We were so surprised that we didn’t get a chance to take a picture.

I don’t want to see all the revolvers replaced with shotguns. However, I would not mind seeing a break open shotgun in a few locations, like around the farmsteads. These would replace the revolver spawns, and have scarcer ammo. Also, I have seen metal pipes around the map. We have a gunsmithing skill. We have gunpowder. We even have an igniter in the form of a lantern igniter. We can break the stock off a ruined rifle, and make an impromptu shotgun with all these components. It would be undoubtedly a muzzle-loading, flintlock sort of thing, firing scrap metal or forged bullets. Slow reloading, terrible accuracy, 48H to make, high chance of jam, but the damage would be mega up close. Probably would end a wolf struggle instantly.

Wow, the Admin noticed already?! Impressive. Either they have the help of AI or are very dedicated. Anyway, highlights from yesterday’s session: DAY 12: Gawain awoke to the smell of cured rabbit furs... three of them, in fact. He went out the door, enjoying the lovely weather, and strolled to the shed, as Bruno and Rufus were not around. He crafted the hat, then spent the rest of the day crafting four more Snares. He set them, and dashed inside after throwing a rock at Rufus from the porch. DAY 13: Gawain ate a piece of wolf meat for breakfast, then went around back to collect the five pieces of cedar wood, jerrycan, mountaineering rope, and a precious whetstone! Gawain then checked the snares, finding two rabbits! Unfortunately, Rufus was still grieving over the death of his friend, and, smelling the rabbits, came and mauled Gawain... thrice! Will that wolf ever learn his lesson? Although the third mauling was my fault. Gawain complacently paused on the porch to throw a rock at Rufus before entering, and Rufus graciously demonstrated that he had learned to climb stairs! Bleeding from two wounds, Gawain staggered across the threshold, an dran for the cloth stash to make bandages. It was close, with Gawain down to 20% condition by the time bandages were applied. As there was still lots of time in the day, Gawain sharpened the hatchet, so to speak, and wandered around breaking stuff. In the evening, he built a roaring fire in the stove and harvested the rabbits while waiting for some ruined wolf meat to cook up to moldy status. Then he drank a cup of tea and went to bed, and I will ruminate some more. RUMINATIONS: Well, this is not going that bad, but not too great either. With all those Snares, there should be a fairly constant supply of rabbits. Which is good, as the wolf meat supply is almost out. However, something will have to be done about Rufus, or Gawain is not going anywhere, even to the old Schoolhouse’s shed to pick up his stashed hatchet, let alone to Mystery Lake. I think that it might be a good idea to deliberately engage Rufus in a struggle and hunt him down, just to get him out of the way. Then maybe I can loot the church and the radio tower so I can move on to Mystery Lake.

Hello, brand new here! I recently started playing TLD again after a long time off, and wish to offer for your perusal and ridicule these tales of King Arthur’s Knights. Many died stupidly, but one should reach the Holy Grail (and, heaven helping, 500 days!). THE TALE OF SIR ROBIN: Sir Robin started in Blackrock’s Creek Cave. He was walking around, freezing his fingers off, collecting sticks, and in general just trying to relearn the game. Within 15 minutes, he had just come in sight of a trailer camp when he was suddenly beset by a pack of Timberwolves! Those monsters toyed with Robin by circling him and occasionally darting in to take a bite. After about 75% condition lost to their bites, and coming down with hypothermia, he arrived at the trailer, but couldn’t find the handle to the door! After another bite took Robin down to about 5%, he found the handle and stumbled across the threshold, escaping the beasts. I forgot what key activated the radial bar, so I went into inventory, found the bandages, and was about to apply them when Sir Robin died of blood loss. Some welcome back to the game! THE TALE OF SIR LANCELOT: Sir Lancelot had actually made it to Day 2 when I thought the following equation equaled “full stomach”: (By the way, this was on TWM, just 1 rope left until the cabin) Stalker difficulty+Blizzard coming+Hatchet+some firewood+lone wolf. Nope. I think the wolf would have bled to death after I fought it off, but it sprained both my wrists and an ankle! When the blizzard hit, I tried to start a fire to warm up, but there was nowhere to do it. I bandaged one wrist and tried to make another bandage, but had no cloth. So, Lancelot froze to death while trying to tear up his socks. THE TALE OF SIR BRANDON: No, not that Brandon! Brandon started in Desolation Point and had survived for about 4 days. He was constantly hungry until he found a revolver beside the dead man on the catwalk in Hibernia. Since he had stockpiled about 30 bullets, he went and shot a wolf, intending to feast. Unfortunately, the wolf’s friends were now very angry. They would not let Brandon cook the meat in peace, constantly charging, only to be fended off by an (inaccurate) revolver shot apiece. Except for one. With Brandon now at 20-ish% condition, he tried to make it back to his fire, but another wolf jumped at him. It was a perfect opportunity for a shot, the wolf was in his sights, and then… click. The 26% condition revolver had jammed, and Brandon was eaten. THE TALE OF SIR GALAHAD: After a good start in Mystery Lake, Galahad made his way to Forlorn Muskeg and then to Broken Railroad, despite a few minor incidents such as a wolf eating his pants in Broken Railroad. He returned from Broken Railroad, desperate to make it to the warm Poacher’s Camp fire barrel. Unfortunately, he stumbled across five(!) wolves and a bear (off in the distance), with only one torch and about 60% condition. He was eaten. THE TALE OF SIR GAWAIN: Sir Gawain was also vanilla Stalker, starting in Mountain Town. He was dropped into the frozen wood lot by the Gas Station, in good weather but with daylight limited. He plodded up to the Ranger Station in hopes of finding a rifle, and maybe ski boots. Nada. Not even soda in the fridge. He did find a cleaning kit and some snacks, then slept when the sun went down, and was awakened during cold weather, and during an aurora. Glad I slept for just three hours. After four tries, Gawain built a fire in the oven to make about 3L of water and warm up until the aurora was over, but after that, the fire was running dangerously low. Gawain spent the rest of the night getting 20 or so sticks, and then slept for two hours, after getting a knife from the dead guy at the picnic pavilion. DAY 2: Gawain woke up in somewhat foggy and cold weather. He made his way down to the town, killing a rabbit along the way. As Gawain entered Milton, he was greeted by a pack of wolves, probably intent on the rabbit he carried. With just a single flare, Gawain had to hop in between cars and shacks, and found a 30% rifle with three bullets in the front seat of one of the green cars. As the wolves were still outside, Gawain cleaned his new toy, and, full of confidence, searched the rest of the shacks on the way to Grey Mother’s. The RNG for freezers and ovens was favorable for Gawain, as, by the time he got to Grey Mother’s, he had picked up: 1 rancid rabbit meat (soon cooked to Gamey status), 1 cooked Lake Whitefish, 1 raw gamey Deer Meat (soon cooked), and he harvested his rabbit, leaving the pelt and guts to cure. Upon arrival at Grey Mother’s (with a wolf breathing down his neck), Gawain gave the place a quick once-over. Behind the cloth in the junk room, there was a box of Rifle ammo and some books (I think there was one skill book among them). And, almost best of all, in the upstairs bedroom, he found a Cowichan Sweater. Oh yeah. Since the Quiet Apocalypse shrinks all men into dwarfs, this should fit. Gawain then ate some grub and settled down for the night, and I settled down to think about what we should to do next. RUMINATIONS: Hm. Gawain is in a pretty good situation. The highlight of the day was finding TWO hatchets in Grey Mother’s woodshed 🎄🤯🪓. I think I will loot the rest of Milton, then go to the Paradise Meadows farmstead. However, I will probably have to clean the rifle up to at least 50% before taking my chances with the wolves. Then we should be able to start on making a coat, and there is usually a maple sapling behind the farm, and sometimes a heavy hammer in the shed (garage?). Also looking forward to bagging my first bear. 🐻🩸🔫. DAY 3: Gawain looted the rest of Grey Mother’s house and headed over to the bank. The RNG there was really crappy. Just a couple of sodas, a cup each of tea and coffee, and some cash. He took his time picking the lock on the safe in the vault (no dead burglar or crowbar), and was rewarded by cash and a single rifle bullet. From there, Gawain left town for Paradise Meadows, making a small backup stash of stuff at the shed by the Old Schoolhouse. Getting to the house was… problematic. Gawain stumbled across Betty and Bob (what I named the twin farm wolves, Bruno and Rufus hadn’t come yet), with almost no stamina, and freezing. He got on the opposite side of the fence from them, and lined up his shot. Bob had noticed Gawain, and immediately entered attack mode. There was just enough stamina left in the aim bar to swing the rifle around and pull the trigger just as Bob crested the snowdrift. Probably due either to the choppiness of the game or my renowned inaccuracy in just about every non-FPS, I missed, and the wolf jumped atop Gawain. Surprisingly, he was relatively unhurt. Apparently the wolf had not bitten him, and it ran off, bleeding. Gawain stooped, and saw his bullet hole in the snowdrift, just ½” (real life scale) below where the wolf’s head crested it. After searching the shed and tractor, it was determined that the key had not spawned in either of those places. Fortunately, it was in the blue truck and Gawain was able to enter the house. He made a beeline for the bedroom, too tired to search, and slept an hour to warm up and refresh the sleepy eye. By now it was almost dark, so Gawain finished up his search of the house and went to bed, finding some canned food, but little else of value except for two more rifle bullets. DAY 4: A piece of wolf meat for breakfast, and then Gawain set out for Paradise Meadows. Upon arrival, it was still early, so Gawain and I decided to go kill a wolf. Continuing our poor aim, the second wolf I had shot was unharmed, and engaged Gawain in melee. Like a true knight, Gawain fought off the wolf with one of his hatchets, and then tracked it down, finding it a few hours later by Grey Mother’s House. Despite some difficulties (slipping on a snowdrift and spraining everything!) Gawain built a fire and harvested the wolf, taking the remains inside Grey Mother’s house to cook all five pieces of meat and drop the pelt and guts. That annoying little adventure with the wolf had taken almost all day, and our now well fed Gawain slept soundly in Grey Mother’s guest bedroom. DAY 5: Gawain woke up early. However, there was fog, so he fixed up his Cowichan sweater to “New” status. Much of that day was occupied in a wolf hunting excursion and in organizing the loot. Of note is the wolf hunt, undertaken late that afternoon, and not even intentional! Gawain had gone out to the shed to retrieve the hacksaw, when a wolf barked at him. He ran into a corner of the shed with his rifle and waited for the wolf to come. When it entered, Gawain was ready, as was I. I had cunningly changed the aim key so that aiming would not shift my aim a centimeter to the right and result in a miss, and had lowered almost all the settings to reduce choppiness. Metagaming, I know, but I was determined to bag this wolf. Just as the wolf came through the door, he was shot. He was cut up and his meat stashed, and then I got a hankering for a rabbit. Oh, what a hankering! Gawain saw two rabbits in the yard, when a wolf attacked. Only not him, but one of the rabbits. Gawain winged him (aim was terrible), and the wolf ran to attack another rabbit. The second shot did not miss, and the wolf fell dead. Two wolves and two rabbits in one day! DAY 6: Most of today was spent cooking all that meat from yesterday, as well as bagging yet another wolf. I don’t remember quite how, but Gawain ended up spending the night at Grey Mother’s. Day 7: Well, here is where Cowichan went bye bye, as well as most of Gawain’s other clothes. After waking up, Gawain went to loot the Gas Station. I was still getting used to the RNG of Stalker, but the lack of supplies was a disappointment. The most I found was 2 Storm Lanterns and a bit of canned food. It was the trip back that was trouble. Gawain must have been jumped by four wolves on the way, and since I didn’t want to waste precious bullets, so he fought them off with his hatchet. There was harm done to both the wolves’ furs, and Gawain’s attire. He looked ridiculous in a sweater, no gloves, ripped pants, and a fleece cowl. And, to add to the fun, Gawain got hungry almost to Paradise Meadows. So… radial bar up, eat the 70% condition sardines… “Oh, what a crappy way to die. I just wanna die!” Really? Someone shut down that factory. So, Gawain wandered around the riverbed to pick Reishi Mushrooms and then made tea up at the hill cabin. He then said his prayers (very fervently) and went to bed. To my surprise, he woke up again. DAY 8: Gawain went down to Paradise Meadows, and found a dead wolf on the way, and built a fire to harvest it. Somehow, he stepped outside the circle of heat to get at the guts, and rapidly froze himself down to 30% condition. As if that was not enough, Gawain got hungry while harvesting (losing Well Fed), and ate a chocolate bar… and got his second dose of food poisoning. Argh! Lucky Gawain had picked four Reishi Mushrooms, as he had not found any antibiotics, so he made a second tea, chugged it, and was heading back to the house… when another wolf jumped him. In an interesting state of affairs, Gawain brought the rifle around and pulled the trigger apparently as soon as the wolf engaged him in a struggle. The wolf fell dead, but Gawain was knocked on the ground, and yelled as if the wolf had actually engaged him in a struggle. He then got back up, uninjured, and made a “dash” for the house, just as the sleepy eye hit 0%. Gawain staggered for the house, losing condition by the minute, until he finally collapsed on the bed and slept for 10 hours. Fortunately, he woke up again! RUMINATIONS: Well, dang. That was a rough session. It must have been six wolves in two game-days! I hope those wolf pelts cure soon; running around in a thin sweater isn’t exactly good for the digestion. With only two rifle bullets left, if I’m going to do any Bear hunting, it will have to be soon. I think I will make my way down to the old church and see what I find, then maybe move on to Mystery Lake if I can’t find anything else here. DAY 9: Weeeellll… those ruminations will have to ruminate some more. Gawain crafted a snare in his shed, and then placed it near the fence where we had seen rabbits before. The remainder of the day was preoccupied with cooking that massive haul of wolf meat (over 12 pieces!) and in finishing the Frontier skill book. DAY 10: Gawain woke up bright and early, then set out to investigate what the crows were circling over down at the river. Or so he thought. Bruno and Rufus were in a foul mood today, and each took a turn mauling Gawain (who shot them once and missed). Gawain patched himself up and spent most of the rest of the day inside doing chores. He did find a rabbit in the snare. Just one more and we can make gloves, or even a hat! Anyway, it was past bedtime after chores were completed, so Gawain drank a cup of tea and went to bed. DAY 11: Gawain woke up feeling much better. His superhuman healing abilities had not failed him. After rolling out of bed, a shocked Gawain noticed a rifle bullet laying on the floor. Hallelujah! Click-clack. Now we’re butch. Gawain went outside on the porch and threw a piece of moldy meat out to Rufus. Rufus was coming to check it out, I had a good bead, when, BUMP! My brother bumped my elbow and caused the bullet to ricochet off the fence. Almost cursing, Gawain enjoyed the nice weather until Rufus came to visit again. But, Bruno came instead. He was in the act of trying to climb over the railing when a .303 slug caught him right between the eyes. With a pathetic howl and spurt of blood, Bruno fell dead. Rejoicing, Gawain quartered Bruno, but Rufus was coming back! Gawain snatched up the meat, then went inside and cooked it. With all that meat came Cooking and Carcass Harvesting Level 2. RUMINATIONS: Actually, Gawain still has his Cowichan! With easily a week’s supply of wolf meat and water, he can hole up for a bit if necessary, but not long enough if he catches intestinal parasites. However, he used his last bullet on Bruno. With a Survival Bow in the works, we just need arrowheads and feathers, and that is a long way away. Having 20 revolver cartridges and no revolver is aggravating, to say the least. We will have to go on a mushroom hunt at some point, because there are still no antibiotics.

The tales of The Knights of the Round Table. All on vanilla Stalker difficulty. Coming very soon!

I personally think that is an excellent idea. A good mod would be more “character customization” of looks, voice, attitude, etc. Hudson from Aliens (without meds after being mauled): ”Game over man, game over!”

I had an idea for a region: “Great Moose River” built around a large river (after all, Mystery Lake connects to the ocean eventually). Running water and several waterfalls should make this one of the prettier regions. However, there would be craggy terrain and lots of climbing ropes. As a “region special” there would be a geomagnetic survey station (fits the lore) where one could find a (still unopened) box of any of the following: Any of the sodas, tomato soup, condensed milk, pork&beans, and sardines. There would also be some MREs and possibly a rifle laying around. Maybe a flashlight that has batteries in it or a lantern. Dead guys sitting at their computers...

Well, the meat doesn’t really “ferment.” Actually the opposite! But yes, I can see a drying rack as a campcraft option (5 birch saplings, green preferably). You would have to thinly slice, then hang the meat over a low fire on the drying rack for a day, (or about a week without) and then it would be jerky-ish. Spices couldn’t hurt, either!

Probably when Will says: ”I’ve never been so hungry in my life.” and when he says: ”I’ve never been so cold in my life.” Whenever he was through the same ordeal yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. And the day before that. And... never mind, you get it.

Catphrase? (Smiles wisely, knowingly, tolerantly, etc, etc,) And yeah, if I were to picture someone who went by “Bearimpaler” in the real world, I would imagine him to be a big, cranky, tough, rough old man with a big bushy beard, wild eyes, and veterans of a thousand hikes in the wilderness... with a bear struggle on each one! Guess he lives life on ‘Loper. And the spear. Don’t forget the spear! And by the way, I did kill the Old Bear. He ate Willis pants and left him hiking to Carter Hydro in his thermal undies.

Done. You may have to zoom in a bit to see the result.

I was literally just looking for that rifle the other day! How about “Disappearing Depression and Death Causing Rifle”?

Welcome back Wonderland Wanderer! If history has taught us anything, it is not what country that we are unfortunate enough to be stuck in, but our morals, that make us who we are. What is occurring these days in indeed depressing, but It is also morbidly interesting in that it is repeating cycles formed before by history. During the Russian Civil War (1918-1922), the budding Soviet armies took approximately similar paths to the ones they take now. But enough of the gloomy stuff. From what I understand, you have logged quite a bit of time into TLD. Perhaps instead of the 1-4 hatchets, Hinterland should give us ranks, from “Rookie” to “Force of Nature”, based upon how many hours have been logged. That would require linking our accounts to a steam (etc. etc,) account to prove our seniority (or lack thereof.)

I think what Bearimpaler (love the butch username) was trying to say is that: ”The technical backpack apparently has all the bells and whistles hahaha.” He also has been watching Catchphrase since the Gecko (an episode of the show or the Geico gecko?). I think this is supposed to be funny. Bearimpaler, if you are reading this, I do not mean to tease or put you down, and from your other posts, I see a good conversationalist and... not sure, but not bad. However, sometimes a shining personality needs a bit help in showing. From one juvenile of our species to another, a little grammar wouldn’t hurt. Cheers!

Yeah. It is annoying.

I have not reached the point where TLD is escape from reality yet. However, it is very immersive, and all my siblings enjoy walking through the snow and shooting wolves, and laughing at our deaths. In that case... maybe it is an escape from reality. We live in South Carolina. 85 degree days are the coolest you can hope for as soon as spring comes. I much prefer to look at snow than dandelions...

I have tried Darkwalker one or two times. However, I am such a scaredy-cat that I will make a beeline for the nearest green fire and just sleep there until it eats me. Yeah. Pathetic.