Snowballs: Hushed River Valley

[Drifter Man]

Interloper can start in the Hushed River Valley! Thank you Hinterland! Let Snowballs roll.

Snowball 48 / Day 1

It is morning, freezing cold, the temperature bar plummets down before my eyes (do I need to say this?). I have a nice view of the new region. Ragged, steep cliffs, many levels to explore. This is going to be interesting.

I need to start taking screenshots, dammit.

Anyway, I don't have the time to admire the beauty. I don't expect to survive longer than a few hours here. There is a brook below me, running in a small gorge, so I drop into it and explore. Not the best idea probably, since I can't get back up. Reaching a few dead ends, I find a few cattails and a birch sapling at a waterfall (I cannot harvest the sapling of course) and then climb back up using a fallen tree - apparently placed in there just for this purpose.

Back on the snow, I run around a little bit, collecting sticks. There is a "signal fire" in the distance, but I have no idea how to get there and if I should try. I find a rope point with a rope attached, leading down into another river gorge. I'm not taking that route yet.

First signs of animal life spotted - a deer that runs away from me. I encircle a rock formation and run into a wolf. It barks me up and gives chase, so I run and let a rabbit sacrifice itself for me.

Frostbite risk on my hands and head is going up, so it is great to find a cave with a dead dude inside. He's got a prybar and matches. Yes! Too convenient maybe? I start a fire and avoid frostbite by a narrow margin.

Time to check out the new cooking mechanic. I put my "recycled can" onto a stone and let snow melt, then boil water. It is fairly streamlined, not much hassle, well done I think. I repeat to make more water while warming up and run outside to harvest a scrub brush for sticks. Then back and more water. And once more, until I am fully warmed up, using the "pass until ready" option.

Hypothermia risk is gone and frostbite is at about 50% or so. It is afternoon now and the clear, windy weather gave way to still winds and heavy snow. I need to go on, so I grab a torch from the fire, collect my can and leave. Outside, more sticks and cattails, until I make a full circle around the rock formation and arrive at the rope point. Pick some mushrooms for the next opportunity to warm up. Then down to the gorge.

I take a right at first but soon see a wolf, which I cannot outmaneuver in the narrow passage. So I turn around and take the other way. I find a few coals and cattails on the way. I pick the coal but ignore the cattails, I have enough for now. I also ignore a frozen deer carcass. Arriving at an arch-shaped formation, I start a fire underneath. I put in enough sticks to get felt temperature above zero, then prepare reishi mushrooms. When I am done, the fire is ready for coal, and I put in two pieces. Then I make reishi soup - 25 minutes in the can - while preparing the next reishi mushrooms as the soup boils.

The wind turns around and blows my fire out, but the embers are hot enough for my soup to finish. I drink it and go on along a steep cliff. On my right, I soon find an ice cave. It is not warm enough inside but I still have some warmth left from the hot drink, so I am not freezing. The "bioluminiscent moss" is not too helpful in lighting the way, so I start another fire and make three torches. Then I explore the cave. It seems to have a complex layout, easy to get lost in and walk in circles. I find a frozen rabbit carcass but leave it untouched for now. One torch is about to go out, so I light another one and continue. A hall, with dramatic lighting from the moss and a rope going upwards - I cannot climb because of a sprained wrist. I go on and then I find it: an abandoned campfire, with matches, bedroll, hacksaw, some firewood and the "Survive the Outdoors" book. Also, dog food and a can of peaches. Well, I'm saved for now. Too convenient, again?

With the help of the last torch, I return to the rope, which I want to climb next morning. I harvest the spent torches and notice I have a problem: I forgot the recycled can at the campfire! It shouldn't be ruined by the fire, which was about to go out, but I need to find it tomorrow before I run out of water. I smash open the peaches and eat them, but the can cannot be reused (makes sense, I smashed it). Then I munch on some cattails, drink water, place a bedroll on the ground and sleep until morning. The bedroll gives me enough warmth to stay above zero throughout the night, although the frostbite risk won't go away.

Snowball 48 / Day 2

72% condition. I survived a full day in the Hushed River Valley. I had no idea I would last this long, but the resources I found on the way were generous. Let's see what the next day brings.

[Pillock]

It's back!

I'm very much looking forward to this, but I must admit I'm not going to read your post until later. (Spoiler avoidance.)

My own first attempt lasted most of a day and a bit of a night. Stupidly I thought I could play this new region using my normal custom settings, which entails starting with nothing but the clothes on my back (like Interloper, then?)... oh, and a tin can, apparently! I found a flare on a dead guy, so was able to light a fire and play about with the new water-making system (love it lots!), and warm up. But with no matches and no bedroll, I knew I wouldn't be able stay where I was or light another fire, so I collected as many torches as I could (about 10) and used them in a chain, lighting each in turn from the smoldering embers of the previous one so that my flame wouldn't die while I found somewhere to sleep. Found a cave, found a bedroll, set about collecting firewood and cattails. When I had enough to last the night (I hoped), I set out my bedroll and... let my torch go out. There I was, getting cold, getting tired, with a massive pile of sticks and logs and cattail tinder, but no way to light it. And a blizzard was just starting to blow up outside the cave. To cut a short story even shorter, I failed to find another ignition source in the freezing darkness and horizontal snow.

[Drifter Man]

2 hours ago, Pillock said:

let my torch go out

Don't let your torch go out, don't forget cans when you leave the campfire, and remember that "use" now means "eat". Also with raw meat.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 48 / Day 2

My plan was to climb up the rope and continue to explore the cave, but priorities now dictated to retrieve the can from the abandoned campfire. With the help of the glowing moss, I managed to backtrack to the exit from the cave without the need for another fire.

While outside, I quickly retrieved the forgotten can and continued to explore the cliff I was on. On one side, I was stopped by a scrub brush that could only be cleared with a hatchet. On the other side, the Hushed River gorge I had come from. I decided to use my hacksaw to cut some meat from the deer carcass I located the day before and then return to the cave. On my way back I got frostbite to my hands.

Back in the cave, I returned to the campfire I made the day before and started another fire. I wanted to place the venison steak on the stone to cook it, so I mechanically opened the inventory menu and clicked "use". I ate the steak and immediately contracted food poisoning. Excellent.

Fortunately, I still had prepared reishi mushrooms and enough water, so I started cooking my medicine.

I still wasn't tired enough to go to sleep, so I put the can back to make some water and went deeper into the cave to pick up the rabbit carcass. I put the two pieces of rabbit meat on the stones, this time without eating them, and put enough wood on the fire for it to last until the rabbit is done. Then ate some cattails, drink water and sleep. The food poisoning healed by the morning, but I'm now down to 36% condition.

[Hotzn]

More snowball stories, excellent. And now with screenshots, even better. I found it immersive that your avatar greedily gobbled up the raw meat instead of having the discipline to cook it first. Someome was just... hungry. It is a little as if he/she had a little spark of an own personality, independent of the guiding hand and supreme command of @Drifter Man. Looking forward to reading more of the troubles and tribulations of Snowball 48 plus educated comments from the TLD scientist community (@Pillocketc.)...

[romerabr]

Good luck to snowball!!! 

[Drifter Man]

20 hours ago, Hotzn said:

Looking forward to reading more of the troubles and tribulations of Snowball 48 plus educated comments from the TLD scientist community (@Pillocketc.)...

Although TLD scholars wishing to avoid spoilers might prefer to stay clear for now, I also look forward to the insights of the community.

12 hours ago, romerabr said:

Good luck to snowball!!! 

On behalf of Snowball 48's independent personality, thanks!

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 48 / Day 3

A boring day. Or night? I don't know. I spent it in the cave, nurturing my condition back up. I ate all my food and spent nearly all my firewood. I explored the cave, up the rope and to the other end. I peeked out at night and nearly got killed when my torch got blown out by the wind, a wolf approached and I felt my way back into the cave in near-complete darkness.

In the morning of Day 4, I am at 61%. Time to leave shelter and face the uncertain future. Quite certain, actually, I'm afraid.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 48 / Day 4

Outside of the cave, three options. To the front, a valley patrolled by a wolf (the one that attacked be last night, probably). So no. To the right, a path leading upwards - probably back to the Hushed River. I don't want to go back. To the left, a rope leading down. I take the rope.

There is a ledge on the way down with a big rock that serves as a good windbreaker. I am freezing soon after I reach the bottom of the rope. There is a river on my left, possibly with cattails, but I can see a bear there. So I take the right, collecting sticks, rosehips and cattails on the way when I see them. I drive a deer in front of me to check for wolves, but fortunately don't find any. What I do find is a snow shelter - at 68% - with an abandoned campfire. Found: cooking pot, a cooked venison steak, another hacksaw (an extremely popular tool on the Great Bear, apparently), a pair of combat boots in bad shape. Some more food and firewood.

I am freezing and need water, so I sit down and start a fire. I eat the piece of venison I found and use my new cooking pot to melt snow and boil water, while I am warming up inside the shelter. Wind soon picks up and wants to blow out my little fire, so I have to babysit it and feed stick by stick to get the water done. Then I drink hot rosehip tea and am on my way again.

I see a wolf patrolling on one side, so I take another route and soon end up above a river gorge. I realize I've seen it before - it's the Hushed River. I see the deer carcass I got food poisoning from. I thought I was below it, but I am above it! The cave didn't go up so steeply, I think. How could I have ended up above the river again? Anyway, it's kind of bad news-good news. Bad news, I was going in circles. Good news, I'm close to the other end of the ice cave I came from and have a safe shelter for tonight.

I walk down a fallen three back onto the Hushed River and return to my cave. I have enough food for two days, maybe three, but only 11 matches now. Condition in the morning: 59%.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 48 / Day 5

I decide for an easy program for today, limited exploration upstream the Hushed River. I find a cave close to the rope I used to come down here, with another box of matches and some firewood. Good, I start a fire here and warm up while making water. Around the cave entrance, I collect cattails and rosehips. I now have plenty of food. I take a look further upstream but a wolf blocks the way, same as four days ago. A blizzard breaks out and I return to my fire.

The blizzard passes quickly and I go upstream once more. This time the wolf is gone and I reach the waterfall at the next bend - "Reclusive Falls". I am freezing fast, so I pick up a few cattails and hurry back to the cave. The fire is already out, so I catch my breath in the back of the cave that has higher air temperature and keeps me from losing condition for a while. Then it's back to the ice cave, my home.

Snowball 48 / Day 6

I wake up. 67% condition... hmm, I lost too much yesterday. I'm thinking of staying in the cave for a full day to get my condition back.

Then I hear a wolf howl. Loud and clear.

In the cave. A cave with a loading screen. It couldn't have come from the outside.

THERE IS A WOLF WITH ME IN THE CAVE.

I immediately shoot out. At least I had the presence of mind to grab my bedroll. I run up river and take the tree up - but I fall off and sprain an ankle. I climb it up again, return to the snow shelter I discovered earlier and make fire to cook some rosehip tea. As usual, strong winds blow the fire out, so I keep the fire alive with one stick at a time. At last I cure my sprained ankle and continue onward.

There's a wolf in my way but it seems to be moving away, so I come closer and drop into a shallow gorge. Collecting some cattails, I hear a wolf bark and run at me, very close. That's the end, I think, and run as well, when suddenly I hear the wolf yelp and run away. Wolf fear saved me this time.

After walking and freezing for a while, I find a nice depression that could protect a fire, so I build one and warm up. I am precariously low on firewood, need to run around for a bit to collect a few more stick to get above zero. I cook a tomato soup and add a coal when the fire is ready. Then I explore around some more. I find another valley with cattails. Also a bear, I've seen that one before.

In the end I choose a path that goes up along the rocks, above the valley, and end up under a long rope. I recognize it straight away - it's the one leading up to the other end of the ice cave. With the wolf. At first I walk away and think about what to do - I am constantly going in circles and the ice cave is the only place I know where I can sleep. At 40% condition I don't have a choice, although I may be too tired to make it to the top. I must climb up and sleep in the ice cave, wolf or no wolf.

I climb to the ledge, pause and catch my breath. 29% condition and dropping.

I almost make it, then slip, then drop.

Somehow I survive the precipitous fall and stand up. But this time it's the end.

Snowball 48 survived for 5 days in the Hushed River Valley.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 49 was sent off to explore in various directions, without regard for survival. Climbed up a rope and several cliffs, reached a new location (Monolith Lake) and eventually died of hypothermia at the Pensive Vista. He did not feel very pensive at that moment.

Snowball 50 survived for 2 days. He explored another ice cave, which turned out to be the same as the first one - apparently it has three (or more?) exits. Again, he found a bedroll and hacksaw inside, and a good ski jacket as well. On the second day he went to the Hushed River and collected cattails, rosehips, venison from the carcass, and also visited the snow shelter above the river, for a similar loot like Snowball 48 (a second hacksaw, cooking pot, a cooked venison steak, work boots). His outlook was fine but he died that evening while finishing the last pages of "Survive the outdoors" - the cave wolf attacked during the reading. There was no option to select a weapon (prybar was available) and no "melee bar", just a black screen. I suspect something is not working as intended here.

Anyway, I don't see a way to avoid using the cave in the first days. The wolf is not guaranteed to be there, apparently it spawns at random, so entering the cave is like playing Russian roulette. This part of the map is strangely circular. I went in various directions and always returned to the same area. Across the valley there's a "signal fire", whatever it means, and a rope leading up to a platform under it. This map sure has much more to offer. I just have to find a way out of this maze.

[Hotzn]

Go, Snowball!

[stratvox]

I'm currently exploring HRV with my 362 day Voyageur survivor. He's well tricked out, but even then it's been a rough go. On the plus side, I've finally located a couple of caves (NOT the ice cave!) which can serve as a home base, though he's currently holed up in the cave that leads to Milton as he has a bear hide in there (needed to repair the rapidly decaying bear skin bedroll) and is stuck because of a blizzard that blew up the morning after he fixed up his badly tattered rabbit mittens after a few wolf struggles.

Yes, this place is a maze. I'm considering my next move to be dropping a few items and making the rope climb that's found if one keeps to the right as one leaves the cave that leads to Milton. I'm hoping I'll find a few goodies up there. At the moment I'm resisting the siren call of the ice cave... I want to be sure that I have everything well in hand before I go in there to kill the wolf, and I'm hoping that it turns out that the wolf is a specific personality rather than one that spawns randomly in there.

Right now, the big question is... has anyone found a worktable in HRV?

[Drifter Man]

8 hours ago, stratvox said:

I want to be sure that I have everything well in hand before I go in there to kill the wolf, and I'm hoping that it turns out that the wolf is a specific personality rather than one that spawns randomly in there.

I'm quite it wasn't there the first time I entered - I searched the cave thoroughly, I would have met it.

[Drifter Man]

Snowballs 51 and 52 had short lives, but they made an important discovery: a second ice cave. There's good things inside: food and firewood, of course, also a cooking pot and a pair of combat pants. The rest of the findings was less useful: whetstones, cured guts and pelts, rifle cartridges... the cartridges were found on a corpse in a puddle of blood, and another corpse was nearby. A violent fight, maybe? Another grisly find awaited me a little further back - a ravaged wolf carcass. But neither snowball met a live wolf in there - good sign? If this ice cave turns out to be wolf-free, it could serve as my base during the first days.

Snowball 51 "died" when my laptop suddenly shut down (I forgot to plug it in), and 52 was torn to pieces by a wolf in the first ice cave when he searched for the bedroll.

Another find: It is no longer optimum to sleep for 11 hours as the thirst rate appears to have increased, at least during sleep. 9-10 hours of rest will now give 26-27% condition, a better deal cannot be achieved.

Snowball 53 rolling now. He accomplished a feat worthy of a snowball: he stole the bedroll from under the nose of the cave wolf, made it out of the cave safely, climbed back up onto the high ground above the Hushed River at night on the brink of exhaustion, found the second cave and rested there. Day 2 begins in 90% condition.

[Cr41g]

good reads... I haven't had an opportunity to get on much yet...did get to try the new cooking mechanics on my 170 day run...love it...really looking forward to traversing to HRV

[Hotzn]

I have a good feeling concerning Snowball 53. He will set a new record.

[Drifter Man]

11 hours ago, Cr41g said:

good reads... I haven't had an opportunity to get on much yet...did get to try the new cooking mechanics on my 170 day run...love it...really looking forward to traversing to HRV

There's a lot of fun content in this update, I haven't had so much fun since I discovered the Interloper mode and TWM.

9 hours ago, Hotzn said:

I have a good feeling concerning Snowball 53. He will set a new record.

Thanks! My plan for him is to collect all that can be found in the area and then transition through the second cave into another part of the region. And there - explore or die.

 

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 53 / Day 7

Snowball 53 woke up and rubbed his eyes. This was his first night spent in an outdoor cave next to a fire. Today he will go down the rope from Pensive Vista in hope of breaking free from this circular world.

I came here already on Day 5, having emerged from the mouth of the second ice cave near Monolith Lake. In this playthrough I couldn't find the snow shelter, or maybe it just wasn't there. So no cooking pot and no decent shoes. The loot in the second cave wasn't great, and I left the first cave to the wolf after I snatched the bedroll and matches. I should have rested here at Pensive Vista on Day 5, but instead I chose to return back to the cave for the night. Unfortunately, I lost my way and was glad to return to the first entrance into the same cave, near the Hushed River. I spent another day getting back up.

Well, I'm in 70% condition, about half of my matches spent, all clothes in very bad shape (bad rng, my socks will wear out today, and I have neither cloth nor sewing tools to fix anything). I don't know what's down there at the bottom of the rope, but I'd better find some warm place to sleep, because I'm not coming back up.

[Hotzn]

The Long Dark is beckoning... resist it! Fight! Squeeze that last drop of hope for a next dawn out of the dying light! You are Drifter Man, the one whose stories shall be told...

[dead frozen dude]

Not sure how to ask about it so not to spoil anyone reading this thread... there's a cave uphill to the south from Monolith Lake, Pensive Vista some distance further west... I've come across a rather singular piece of loot in there... It was my first quick start in River Valley, on Piligrim (duh), but I suspect this might be true for other gamemodes... any idea if the thing does spawn there on Interloper too?

[Drifter Man]

On 20/06/2018 at 11:03 PM, Hotzn said:

The Long Dark is beckoning... resist it! Fight! Squeeze that last drop of hope for a next dawn out of the dying light! You are Drifter Man, the one whose stories shall be told...

Snowball 53 is an expendable explorer, not a survivor - his stories will not be told, but his discoveries will be remembered by future snowballs

On 21/06/2018 at 4:57 AM, dead frozen dude said:

Not sure how to ask about it so not to spoil anyone reading this thread... there's a cave uphill to the south from Monolith Lake, Pensive Vista some distance further west... I've come across a rather singular piece of loot in there... It was my first quick start in River Valley, on Piligrim (duh), but I suspect this might be true for other gamemodes... any idea if the thing does spawn there on Interloper too?

I don't mind being nudged in some direction - so thanks, I will check the place out. I noticed the way up from Monolith.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 53 / Day 9

So, I climbed down into the valley. I met the Twin Sisters and the Bear and Cub, and searched the pile of trees and rocks at the Landslide. I admired the view from the Moose Overlook and spent two nights next to my fire in the Valley Cave.

It's a nice place but there isn't much to be found here. I got a thin wool sweater and a box of matches, which is great, but considering the difficulty and risk of getting in (and out!) of this valley, it's hardly worth the effort. What confused me most was the fact that there seems to be no other way out than the rope back up to Pensive Vista. It looks like the Ravine Basin, just bigger and without the goodies.

Wondering about what to do next, I left the game on Day 9 morning and launched a few exploratory Snowballs without numbers. And when I was looking at the valley again from the above, and at the rope to the signal fire I wanted to climb from the valley up, I realized...

...that that is the very rope I climbed DOWN from Pensive Vista. The game played me. The signal fire must be somewhere near Monolith.

I'll leave that to another Snowball. Rather than climbing back up and dying during the ascent or shortly afterwards, I will let No. 53 examine the Valley once more to see if he missed anything. There isn't enough fuel left to sustain him for another night, so he will be dead by Day 10.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 53 explored the valley thoroughly, found nothing, and died. Unfortunately, he couldn't finish his search of the area between the Twin Sisters Falls and the Moose Overlook due to wolf interference. So I can't be entirely sure, but it seems to me that there is very little reason for going down to the valley.

Snowball 54 / Day 4

On the first day, Snowball 54 went all the way down the Hushed River from Offset Falls to the top of the Twin Sisters and found out there are 56 cattails in this section of the river. Then he searched the wolf ice cave (wolf was not home) and got his bedroll. On the second day he moved to the second ice cave and searched its surroundings. On the third day he looked for the snow shelter (again, no success) and searched the second cave up to the short rope, where I chose to sleep. I woke up in 88% condition.

I am reasonably well equipped this time. Apart from the initial clothes (jeans, cotton socks, leather shoes, cotton underwear, plaid shirt) I added combat pants, a wool ear wrap and two toques, for a total temperature bonus of +6 C. It means little when exposed to the elements, but at least I am in positive temperatures when in a cave and don't have to start fires all the time. I found other interesting stuff as well (a hacksaw, an arrowhead, two prybars and a whetstone). All except the hacksaw are just dead weight for me right now.

One thing I can say about HRV is that it is the windiest map I've ever seen. If Pleasant Valley is known for long blizzards and Forlorn Muskeg for its fog, Hushed River Valley is characterized by constant wind - the powerful kind that always blows in your face, makes your movement very slow, makes defense against wolves by torches and campfires very difficult, causes you to begin freezing within minutes after you leave shelter, whether you have a warm soup in your stomach or not.

The plan for today: explore the area of Lake Monolith.

[Hotzn]

Never found combat pants so far. How do they compare to the deerskin trousers?