You Never Forget Your Many Deaths


Vhalkyrie

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11 hours ago, Morgan le Fay said:

I really enjoyed the ash cloud entry, and in general how you've come up with IC explanations for things that you do. I have a similar thought process when I'm playing some of my games (some are just random runs that I'm not that attached to), so it's interesting to see how others have solved these dilemmas.

Also I think it was you who was commenting about the deterioration rate for various things (??). I just noticed it when playing over the weekend. I killed 3 deer and cooked their meat and stored it in a locker at Carter Dam, and then took a 4 or so day journey to the lake and stayed there fishing and investigating the rope climbing spots.

When I got back, almost half of the deer meat was already at 43% and the rest as at no more than about 56%, so I'm wondering if this is intentional or something they're still working through. The fish, for some reason, is still in the upper 90%, and it's been anywhere from 2-3 days since I've caught and cooked that meat, so it seems really weird to me.

Thanks!  I build stories in my head as I play.  I haven't written all of them down because they are time consuming to do so.

I'm confused about the degradation rates myself.  I know what I've been seeing, but there's conflicting info, so I'm not sure what's intentional or not.

I really, really like your screenshot photos, btw!  Your photos are some of my favorites on the Share your screenshot thread.

10 hours ago, Dinhammer said:

Personally, I enjoy the photojournalistic aspect of your posts.  You're going to laugh at this, but the image that initially hooked me was from "Playing with Matches" - the coffee and newspaper on the Mountaineer's porch.  It was something so simple, yet it showed RP depth I wish I had in my game.  The image of all the supplies neatly put away rather contrasts with my method of storage (hit "drop all" and let the chips fall where they may.)  I dunno... your passion for playing just... shows through.  And it's contagious.

Put another way, I go to Drifter's thread for education on how to play.  I come to you for inspiration on *why* to play.

You could be a photojournalist IRL for all I know.  If not, keep it on your short list. :)

I've always been a screenshot tourist in my games.  If you're bored with time to waste, check out my photos from some of my other games I've played.  I'm particularly partial to my Skyrim photos. :) It is modded beyond belief with texture/armor/weapon mods, lighting effects, and post processors - no Photoshop at all. ;) 

http://s1209.photobucket.com/user/Vhalkyrie/library/Skyrim%20-%20Kymaera?sort=3&page=1

I am definitely not a photojournalist IRL - lol!  I work in Software Quality Assurance in aviation-aerospace actually, so playing games, writing stories, and taking screenshots is my creative outlet, I suppose.

Thanks so much for the compliment on the RP aspect. I've been trying to put a finger on why these recent changes are bothering me so much.  Reading other posts around here, many seem to be able to shrug it off.  "What's the big deal?", they say.  You have given me somewhat of an epiphany on why it bothers me.  I feel less like this is a "Sandbox" where I can create my own emergent story and more boxed in.  Cabin Fever is highly unlike to effect me as a game mechanic, but somehow I am rebelling against the idea that the game is telling me that I *could* have a mechanical mental state that is not my own.  When I was living on PV and stuck indoors due to blizzards, I had what you can call "Cabin Fever" without any affliction telling me so.  I have written about how much I hated being locked indoors, and the Farmhouse not being my favorite place to live because of it.

Cabin Fever I wouldn't think much on, just like parasites.  Something out there that is unlikely to effect me. However, the Rest mechanic is the immersion breaker for me.  I don't think they tuned the feature with my particular brand of playing in mind, so it is very unbalanced for me.  The game won't let me sleep more than 6 hours per day under my normal activities.  If I have to add in running to places, or climbing up and down rope not because I'm traveling but just to get tired enough to rest, well...that isn't sitting well with me.  The way I play, I must have a reason for these things. There is cognitive dissonance between my imagination and a game mechanic.  For me v.302 was fantastic, and I'll always cherish those game moments as some of the best in my long gaming history.

I actually have built a story in my head about the recent changes.  Like Morgan le Fay mentioned above, I have an in story explanation for what's happening, but I haven't written it because it's depressing.  Basically it's a combination of insomnia, depression, and insanity.

I feel that the magic has evaporated somewhat, which was why I mentioned wanting to take a break from the game and see what develops in future hotfixes.

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Day 288: Loneliness in the Darkness

Since the Ash Cloud, something has changed.

I can no longer sleep through the night.  I wake into the darkness and stare at black space until the sun rises.

I'm afraid that my sanity is slipping away.  I grow increasingly anxious and paranoid.  Is my food rotten, or is it safe to eat?  I can't tell anymore.  I imagined a week ago that my food was everlasting, and to my horror I found everything rotten in the past few days.  Did I imagine it?  Have I really been eating food that was spoiled for weeks and didn't realize it?

Is it toxic fumes from the ash cloud?  Did I come out of the bunker too soon?  What is happening to my mind?

And now that I spend most night awake, I stare into the dark spaces in my mind.  I am alone.  I have not seen a single person alive in 288 days.  There is no one but me.  Everyone I loved is gone and dead.  Everyone whom I've wronged, I will never be able to make amends.  I will never again have someone warm to sleep next to.  No one will comfort me and tell me everything is going to be alright.

Because everything is not alright.  Homo sapien: extinct.  I am the last, soon to be a skeletal relic to be excavated by the next advanced civilization.  Perhaps my skull will be in a museum, and someone will win a prize for theories on proving I was the last of my kind on Earth.

I made a trip to Desolation Point to craft hatchets.  I am now back in the Coastal Highway abandoned lookout.  In the beginning I used to look at day to day survival.  Now I see empty shells everywhere.  The bodies I have found with bottles of painkillers next to them...yeah, I get it.  I hear their final thoughts that sound eerily like my voice.

288 days and no sign of spring.  Winter everlasting.

I can return home to Timberwolf and live out my final days.  My will is sapping, fading.

I would lay down and sleep to empty my mind of such thoughts, but I cannot sleep.  And even when I do, the loneliness in the darkness awaits me.

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13 hours ago, Vhalkyrie said:

Thanks!  I build stories in my head as I play.  I haven't written all of them down because they are time consuming to do so.

I'm confused about the degradation rates myself.  I know what I've been seeing, but there's conflicting info, so I'm not sure what's intentional or not.

I really, really like your screenshot photos, btw!  Your photos are some of my favorites on the Share your screenshot thread.

 

Thanks re: the screenshots. I haven't been doing those for very long, since I've only recently gotten comfortable stopping to take "photos," since I'm usually in "Oh crap, I'm about to be eaten" mode. :geek:

I do the same thing with stories in my head, and have taken a few notes but haven't yet taken the plunge and written any out. I may do that soon. The character in my current game is a horror fandom blogger who was on her way to a conference when the plane crashed, so initially she's like, "Cool! This is like every post-apocalyptic horror movie *ever*" but then soon realizes this really really sucks and she has no idea what she's doing and spends a not insignificant amount of time hunched down in the hollow trees having panic attacks while looking for her dinner, LOL!

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Just now, Morgan le Fay said:

Thanks re: the screenshots. I haven't been doing those for very long, since I've only recently gotten comfortable stopping to take "photos," since I'm usually in "Oh crap, I'm about to be eaten" mode. :geek:

I do the same thing with stories in my head, and have taken a few notes but haven't yet taken the plunge and written any out. I may do that soon. The character in my current game is a horror fandom blogger who was on her way to a conference when the plane crashed, so initially she's like, "Cool! This is like every post-apocalyptic horror movie *ever*" but then soon realizes this really really sucks and she has no idea what she's doing and spends a not insignificant amount of time hunched down in the hollow trees having panic attacks while looking for her dinner, LOL!

Sounds like a great story!  I would like to read that.  :normal:

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How I Met Your Mother, err, Fluffy

There's one near-death story I just realized I never told.  It's about the first time I went to the Hydro Dam.

I learned the importance of a bedroll because I didn't take one to the Dam with me.  I figured there would be a bed inside.

First, I had to meet Fluffy.  I happened to walk in with a lit torch, which as we know, in v.302 stopped wolves in their tracks.  However, I wasn't expecting her.  I opened the door, I was inside the Dam, and I didn't even have a second to look around when Fluffy came around the corner and barked/growled at me.  I yelped IRL, and nearly knocked my mouse off my desk when I jumped and flailed.

Fortunately, because I walked inside with the torch, I was able to dispatch her without issue.  At that time, I didn't know she was a 'special', and Fluffy gave me a deep fear of entering unknown buildings for a very long time.  I imagined my character busting open doors inside of buildings like a 70s TVs cop show, torch in hand, for weeks after that.

imgres.jpg.3cc005f4d4b5751f549457dae25bb

Anyway, I proceed with looting the Dam, got to the bottom and noted with horror there wasn't a bed.  It was now nighttime, and I had the little sleepy eyeball icon.  Ut oh.

Now what?  I searched my inventory and found I had 5 coffee.  I had never used coffee at that point, but now seemed like a good time.  I went outside, lit a fire, and brewed a cup of coffee.  I could only brew one because I didn't have any other firewood.

I drank it, and walked towards the nearest trailer, which was not very near.  And wouldn't you know it, a snow with wind started.  It wasn't a blizzard, at least, but the blowing wind happened to be against me.

I got to the trailer, exhausted, and freezing cold.  I avoided hypothermia, but probably just barely.

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Hopeless Rescue Challenge: Complete!

20160503150401_1.thumb.jpg.52866e3f9b180

Not a record time, but I did it with no stims.  Not exactly by choice - I didn't find any in my game.

The rest will be in the spoiler tag, in case you haven't done it yet and don't want any hints.

 

Spoiler

 

1) One hardfast (not so simple) rule: Always below 30kg pack weight.  You don't need as much as you think.
2) I picked up a hunting knife, but not a hatchet.  I used sticks for firewood.
3) I took no weapons.  I abandoned bullets and a rifle.
4) I went through the Ravine instead of the Dam because I didn't want to tangle with Fluffy, but it is a longer route.  However, I proved it can be completed this way.
5) I only slept until my fatigue was over 50%, which was usually about 4 hours.  I did more napping rather than a full night's sleep.  Low pack weight meant I could travel farther with less sleep.
6) I traveled day or night.  At night I used the torch.  I saved lantern fuel for the mines and caves.
7) When in the transition mine between Coastal Highway and Pleasant Valley, I picked up 15 pieces of coal.  This is why I didn't bring a hatchet.  I was going to use coal for heat on Timberwolf, which meant I didn't have to spend time chopping wood.  I only used 5 pieces, so I could probably travel with 10 next time.
8) Hot food came in very handy here.  I brought cans of soup and peaches.  Eating them heated up allowed me to travel farther in the cold (a big problem with only basic clothing).
9) I saved all coffee I found until I got to Timberwolf.  I drank nothing but coffee between climbing to the summit and heading back to DP.  No sleep except when I had to stay inside a cave during a blizzard.  I had 5 packs of coffee when I climbed, then came down the mountain with 15 packs from the containers.
10) At the summit, I swapped out all food for crackers.  Lightweight and 600 calories per box.
11) I got into one wolf fight in Pleasant Valley.  I was travelling at night, and got caught by 2 wolves.  One of them completely ignored my flare, and I had to fight.  Tore up my clothing, which cost me a little exposure going forward, but I was almost done with the Challenge.
12) Once through Coastal Highway, I drank all remaining coffee and sprinted the rest of the way to the Lighthouse.

Mostly I found that I don't need nearly as much food as I thought.  I can probably drop more pack weight next time by anticipating snacking my way through the houses.

 

I'm sure I could shave a day or two off, especially if I had found some stims, but overall I'm pretty happy with it as I finished with a comfortable margin.  By the time I got through CH, I knew I was going to make it and metaphorically skipped the rest of the way.  It was quite fun running through and making snap decisions on what to keep and what to drop.

And that's all from me for a while.  I'm turning in my winter coat for swimwear!  Enjoy your summer! :geek:

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

classic :) 

I need a bedroll and am hunting a bears atm, I found one and took 3 shots to kill it, the third shot it was about 1 foot from ripping my face off. Lucky for me it dropped dead right in front of me. fun carting it all back to base.

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Stupidest dead ever:

I just finished crafting my clothes, go to the cave in Desolation Point. I didn't want scraffy to damage my clothes so I take them off. Kill scraffy with my hands and a knife. Take a 10 hours sleep and died from hypothermia. Of course I forgot to put my clothes on...

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/11/2016 at 8:18 AM, June said:

And just as I was about to write a wish list post about bears being to easy to hunt out of small shelters I got mauled right inside a fishing hut while cooking :shock:

 

20160611141642_1.jpg

Eeek!  You can get mauled inside of huts now?O.o

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On 11/6/2016 at 6:36 PM, Zambudjo said:

Stupidest dead ever:

I just finished crafting my clothes, go to the cave in Desolation Point. I didn't want scraffy to damage my clothes so I take them off. Kill scraffy with my hands and a knife. Take a 10 hours sleep and died from hypothermia. Of course I forgot to put my clothes on...

Ouch! I bet the facepalm could be heard from miles :) 

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23 hours ago, Ohbal said:

Ouch! I bet the facepalm could be heard from miles :) 

Indeed :P

First thing I wanted to do after this death was to ask hinterland to be able to re-name my caracter: Dumbass sounds like a fine name for my caracter :D

Actually I think that in the next release it would be good if the caracter could wake up when his condition is too low. I am sure I am not the only one who died during a nap from the cold or lack of water during his noob days

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On 28.6.2016 at 3:26 PM, Vhalkyrie said:

Eeek!  You can get mauled inside of huts now?O.o

He turned around as usual at the doorstep (still everytime so frightening :shock:), but when I turned my back on him and started cooking, he jumped me. I believe it had to do with the cooking bar, but not sure.

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On 6/30/2016 at 2:30 PM, Drifter Man said:

Apparently so... an angered bear ended up inside a fishing hut with me but suddenly lost its interest. I must have escaped by miracle.

LOL!  You have a knack escaping bugged bears. ;) 

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  • 1 year later...

A New Beginning

Dreary...muddled...fuzzy...

My eyes flutter open, and stung with sharp pain from the daylight.

Where...am...I?

Who...am...I?

I shielded my eyes from the brightness of the sun shining through the windows.  I thumped back against the floor, firm and solid.

I fell unconscious again.

------

I awake again.  It is daylight.  Is it the same day?  Next day?

I raise myself to my knees and look around.

Cabin.  Yes, a cabin.  Memories flood me like a flashback film reel.

Uncle teaching me to ice fish.  Mother showing me to clean and prepare fish for cooking in the fry pan.  Younger brother stealing my share of the chips with the fish fry.  Father...where is he?  My father is gone.  Uncle is my father.  I could see their faces, but couldn't remember their names.

I remember where I am.  Mystery Lake Cabin.

Ahh it has been a long, long time.  Or has it?  I have no sense of time.

I search around the cabin.  I find a can of peaches and a can opener.  I devour it.  I swear I will pay the Ranger for it later.  For now, I am too hungry.

I make my way up the stairs, and stop cold when I see him.  Frozen.  What the hell has happened?  The body and the face...I know him.  The first name that I remember.

Ranger Dale Rogers.  I spent many summers at camp with him, learning to make fires and fletch arrowheads.

He stares straight forward, with a sad forlorn face, with unseeing eyes.  "It wasn't supposed to end this way," he seems to say.  I cover my mouth, tears threatening to stream down my face as I approach him at the top of the stairs.

Upon closer inspection, I see a large gash wound in his side.  An animal bite?

Very strange.

My head still throbs.  I find the beds at the top of the cabin, and I collapse.

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