How a tiny mistake killed me on Interloper

[Semmel]

This is the story how a small mistake killed me on interloper. First, I love the game for that. Mistakes must be punished, thats why I play. But this is by far the smallest mistake I ever made that lead to my characters demise. I play on the last update, Viligant Flame (great update btw!) Jump to the (*) if you want to skip the story.

I started on Desolation Point. Ugh. May least favourable location to start. I started here two times already, in both cases I didnt made it out. So I considered for a second to re-role but decided against it. Lets try. It was afternoon. The temperature was mild, in my current clothes only -5. Luxury! First thing, I went to the light house because it was nearby. I climbed the side of the hill, I started on the ice. Wolves far enough away to not be a thread.

I got the stim and no clothes. Some small stuff maybe, dont remember. Next I went to the Ryken. It was empty too. Maybe a granola bar, but nothing noteworthy. Next to the whale station. By the time I arrived it was evening. I found a can of drinks, one granola bar and the flare. A pair of work boots in the safe and .. the hacksaw! Now we are in business! Now I can get meat from frozen dear. Thats big. But I didnt find any pot for water and I didnt find any matches. So here was the plan. Stay the night in the whale station, get some firewood, sleep and go to the exit cave. Use the flare to make a fire or find some matches. I have little hope.

The next day, thirst became my biggest enemy. No cans, no pots. Before Viligant Flame, that wasnt a problem but here.. I might die of thirst for the first time in all of my ~20 Interloper runs. I searched everything, no hats, no gloves. Condition 50% and declining due to thirst and freezing when outside. I found underpants. Which is one of the best things to find because you cant make them. No jacket though. I got to the old church. Nothing noteworthy there either. No wolfs in my way.. I thought I would encounter one on the bridge but I didnt. I lucked out I guess. I got to the cave just as the wind turned up. Made a fire at the entrance with the flare. Added the firewood and slowly panicked as it dawned on me that I dont have any way to create water. I got lots of torches and went through the cave. At the exit, I made an other fire. Just enough to warm up fully. I got even more torches and left the cave with 30 minutes on the fire.

My torch was sniffed out immediately by the howling blizzard. (beep). No water, my water bar dry and my health at declining 30%. I put some more wood on the fire and went out to get some mushrooms. After more time and regular checks, the storm declined and I was able to walk out with a burning torch. I was at 20%. I went along the mountain edge to the cave and then to the basement. 2 Canada hats!!!! Ok, thats brilliant but I cant stay here, I must find water or die. I went on along the mountain edge and took the meat from the dead dear. I made a fire and cooked it immediately.

So I moved on. Just before I left, the wolf found me, but I was able to sneak out keeping him at walking distance. 15% health. I moved on, nothing in the car. Ok, bear island. It has a toilet. Toilet water here I come! I pray for no wolf in the destroyed vilage and no bear. I know I will hit below 10% health on the way. So I decided to use the stim when that happens.

I got to the village and my vision turned hazy. Stim time. I started to run, no time for firewood or checking for wolfs. I either make it to the house on bear island or I dont. I run on the ice. The bear was facing me, coming down the slope. So I run around on the left side to get up from behind. The stim wears off. I get slow. All my stats are red now. Freezing. Tired. Thirsty. Hungry. Just above 10% health. I got into the house, went upstairs, vision turned fuzzy again, drank the toilet water. Ate my steak. Went to bed. 10h of sleep. I woke up with about 40% health. I made it. I lucked out. By the thinnest margin, for the first time I got out of Desolation Point. I never loved this game that much before. I am very happy that I tried.

Ok, next tasks. Find matches. Find gloves. Find the hammer. Find metal. Go to the swamp for the forge. I am not going back to Desolation Point. I hate that place.

I hit Rabbit Island, then the Gas station, found matches there. And a second hacksaw. I left it. Plenty of toilet water now. I went to Logsort and got boxed in by a wolf and bad weather. Eventually I got out and made it to the exit for Mystery Lake. I stayed the night here. Got meat from an other dear in the process. I took the guts as tribute to the wolfs. Always have something for the wolfs with you. They sniff you further but you can get away. Its best to have a small peace of cooked meat because it smells less but is just as effective as bait.

I made it to Mystery lake. Cooking meat of 2 more dears. I ditched the pelt and guts in the dam but didnt loot the place. No time for that and I am too heavy. I want to come back to get metal for the forge. I loot it then. I had a small discussion with the wolf at the rails, I left him some meat, we both parted as happy campers. I got the maple saplings near the dam and birch saplings near the rails. Got to the dear at the derailment and walked past. I needed a place to stay and I had enough meat for 2 days.

When I was at the camp office, I was happy. Best place to live early interloper before tools in my opinion. I found a pot and some cans. No more thirst problems. Also.. hello bedroll! But I still didnt find any gloves. I must have gloves, I will never get to the forge without frostbite if I dont have them. So I decided to hunt rabbits. I hope to find some gloves still in the dam or at the village but I dont want to take the chances. Next day will be rabbit hunting day. Since there was daylight left and I had meat to spare, I did some reading on bow hunting. Level 3 is the minimum you need for consistent dear kills. Less for wolfes because you can bait them. You cant bait dear.

Next day. At the top above the camp office near the rope, I found only one. I got everything from the dear. Stupid weather made me freeze but I am on an uphill health now. No reason to complain. So I got meat and one rabbit. I left it at the camp and went on to hunt rabbits uphill from  lake town, you can access this area by getting up hill from the rails, heading towards the swamp. Follow the hill tops across the top of the cave that is a starting point and on the hills beyond, there are rabbits and no wolfs. I got 2 more rabbits. I headed back. The wolf from the rails sniffed me from miles away and I gave him some meat I took with me for just that occasion. I always pay your wolf taxes! 3 rabbit pelts. That is enough. 2 for the gloves and 1 for repairs. (*). Well, what I didnt realize and most of you do realize... You need 4 pelts to craft the gloves. This is the mistake that will lead to my death 5 or so days later.

The pelts take 3 days to cure. So here is the plan. First day hit the lake houses and fishing huts. Second day go to the dam, sleep there. Third day head back and in the evening, craft the gloves. Next day go to hunters cabin and after that go to the swamp if I find the hammer in the process. If I dont find it, go to the swamp anyway and try luck out at the forge or go to find the hammer in the broken rail road beyond. If that fails too, I am kind of screwed because I will run out of dear and I dont want to eat the cattails just yet.

So I went through the lake village. Had a little dance with the wolfs and the bear. The bear boxed me in at one of the huts. It turned foggy outside. Thats bad. Fog is good if you know where to go and how to avoid wildlife. But on the open ice.. and I dont remember the exact orientation of the hut (I got chased by the bear, remember?) No way I am am going out, so I am stuck. I got a wind breaker now, and a second pair of jeans. No gloves, naturally. Enough food and water though. The bear realized that I am beyond his reach in the hut and went away. Stupid fog! Eventually it cleared and I made my way back. Dance with Wolfs again. Past midnight, and again down to 50% health, I made it back to the camp office.

The next day I went out to get metal from the dam. But the weather wasnt great, too windy but no snow and no blizzard. I decided to get to the lookout on my way. Better have a close by stop in case the weather does turn blizzardy. Found the sledge hammer in the lookout! Never expected that to be honest. Good that the weather was bad because I dont tent to check it out before I have better clothes usually. A man needs some luck, so I was happy. Now all I need is gloves and metal. And I am on my way to get the metal. And when I come back my pelts are ready to glove up. Or so I thought.

I got to the dam. Nothing special, I harvested 35 metal. Plenty. The hacksaw looses 5%, no matter how much metal I saw with it. Whether its just 1 metal from a lamp or 10 metal from a large shelf. Good to know. Found some tools, repaired my hacksaw. I hate bad condition tools. So with pockets full of metal and another flare, some extra hat and more toilet water, I got back the next day to the camp office. My pelts were ready. And as I tried to craft my gloves... I noticed something was wrong. (beep). (beep, beep beep). Only 3 pelts. I need 4. 2 for each glove. Not 2 for both. Ok, sometimes there is an extra pelt at the hunters cabin.

I gathered all my stuff, the metal, some water the food and stuff and went to the hunters cabin. Got there without a problem but no pelt there. And no gloves. Great. I immediately went out again to hunt the rabbits in the back yard. Its getting dark by now. I couldnt hit one. No luck, no skill, too tired and slowly freezing. I went inside, below 50% health again. I thought I was beyond that by now and crafted a snare. Set it up and went to bed. Next day, no rabbit in the snare. I hit one with a stone first try. Sigh, why not last night? Half a day wasted again. And the snare took one of my guts. I didnt bring extra. But I have the guts from the dear I took yesterday in front of the hunters cabin. I have 3 days to kill, so I went out again, going to the small hut beyond the lake. No gloves there either. Naturally. On the way back, I got the dear at the lake and the dear at the small clearing with the fallen tree. Plenty of dear pelts and guts now. When I come back from the forge I will be able to make boots and legs. Not that I would need it but I can do it. When I came back to the hunters cabin, the pelt was curing nicely but the gut was slower. I still have cured guts in the camp office so I went back. Including all my metal and stuff. Man that shit is heavy!

I got lost in the process. Not the first time either at this place. I didnt want to follow the rails, there is usually a wolf and I am too heavy and tired to be fast. So I decided to go through the woods but I lost my way. Must have turned the wrong way somewhere, I ended up near the lake. After the detour, I arrived at the camp office without incident but cold again. Stupid metal. I blame it on the pockets full of metal and the crazy magnetic field that made me turn in a slow circle or something.

The next morning, the pelt was at 85% cured. I was at serious risk of cabin fever but I was not worried about that, that will get fixed at the forge easily. I fixed all my clothes, they were at 70 to 80 %. Good enough for fixing. After that, the pelt was at 93%. Gahh.. and the day was only half over. I was out of meat and I didnt want to dig into my storable, non smelly food. I need that for the forge. So I decided to get the dear near the hunters lodge. Wolfs at the lake, near the narrow section before the first fishing hut. Not going that way, too risky. So I went through the hill and down the rope. Unfortunately, it was quite late and I wasted most of the day, I will not be able to climb back up. So I went to the hunters loge. A wolf there but it went off to hunt a rabbit. I went for the lodge, found the crow bar and then went to the dead dear and light a fire. I got the meat and cooked it. at least I wanted to. I used the left mouse button instead of the right to select the food from the wheel menu. I got food poison. (beep). Second time too. That menu needs an extra question when you try to eat raw meat. Or I am not using it again. Too dangerous to mess up the clicks. As I tried to get the guts, all hell broke loose. A blizzard out of the blue while I was busy. I went straight for the cave, thank god its nearby. I dont have enough wood for the night. Thats going to be a problem. And my hands were at more than 50% frostbite risk already.

So I went out into the blizzard to get more wood. Warming up in between trips. The frostbite mechanic is terrible. As soon as you go out the frostbite risk jumps back at its last maximum. The warm up intervals were too short for it to recover completely. The food poisoning made me tired like hell, so no running. As I managed fuel, frostbite, sleepiness and blizzard, the weather quieted down. It was past midnight. I was at ~30% health. I managed 6 hours of sleep total but still red tired. And no fuel left. If I stayed, I would freeze. If I moved, I risked frostbite. I decided that frostbite is better than death, so I headed out to get to the camp office. Accepting frostbite, nothing I can do about it now. Funny that the tasks to prevent frostbite got me into this situation in the first place. Maybe a bit of impatience too. frostbite is not as big as a deal as it sounds. I will survive at a max health of 90% just fine. But I feel cheated all the same, all the work with the stupid rabbits, making the 3 vs. 4 pelts mistake, curing the extra one.. heading out because there was nothing to do except playing cards. I was frustrated. But I am sure I would make it. The wolf ate me as I left the cave.

[Mixxut]

that was a well written story! It's amazing how things can go from perfect to horrible in just a couple if minutes in this game It feels so shitty to survive so many tough situations and then getting eaten by a wolf out of nowhere.

Desolation point is a tough place to start. No toilet water, no guarandeed matches, it's a pretty small map and your only option is to go to CH trough that damn island connector... 

And ML is a suprisingly tough place. Around 80% of my interloper end there. Not in TWM's lack of shelter, not in PV's crappy weather, not in CH's wolf festivals, not in FM's tough conditions...

It's the ML... Maybe after surviving the tougher places I just let my guard down in ML because it's an "Easy"map. That's just for me tough.

 

You had a lack of water at the start. Did I miss something but shouldn't you always spawn with a recycled can in your inventory?

 

[Hotzn]

11 hours ago, Mixxut said:

You had a lack of water at the start. Did I miss something but shouldn't you always spawn with a recycled can in your inventory?

I was asking myself that very question (good story btw). When I fired up an existing save after the update, I checked my inventory and was surprised to find a new item there which I had never picked up: the recycled can! So I presumed that maybe that is something we always find in our inventory. But maybe we don't. I have not yet tried with a new run after the update.

Also: Did you check the hideout under the overturned boats in Hibernia? I think you often find canned food there. If so, you might have been able to eat the food and use the can to make water.

[dead frozen dude]

8 hours ago, Hotzn said:

If so, you might have been able to eat the food and use the can to make water

I think I've read somewhere on these here forums that smashing open canned foods doesn't yield empty cans back... Does Interloper have can openers?

[Semmel]

Thanks for the kind words.

wrt. the cans.. I just started a new game to check and I have a used can at the beginning of the game. I didnt check the update notes and I thought I had to find a pot. Must have been my mistake and I made it harder for myself than it needed to be. Ohh well, learning experience.

Also, I dont think mystery lake is harder than other places. Its just that especially in the beginning, I like to stay there because there is plenty of food and shelter. I like coastal highway even more but there is no forge nearby and I eventually end up in ML for the forge. So yeah, I tend to die there a lot too just because I have a bias of being there.

I didnt find a can opener and I stored all my cans unless for the first day or two where I was starving. I hate canned food, it is too low calory per weight and I dont tend to carry them around. I left in the order of 6 cans in the camp office. Without a can opener is also just a waste that I dont want to suffer when I have other options.

[MrWolf]

44 minutes ago, dead frozen dude said:

I think I've read somewhere on these here forums that smashing open canned foods doesn't yield empty cans back... Does Interloper have can openers?

That's right, a smashed-open canned food doesn't give you an empty can afterwards.  There are can openers in Interloper.

[Pillock]

On 7/11/2018 at 4:30 PM, Semmel said:

Stupid metal. I blame it on the pockets full of metal and the crazy magnetic field that made me turn in a slow circle or something.

I hear you!

I've spent literally hundreds of hours on Mystery Lake and I STILL get lost in that Bermuda Triangle between Trapper's Homestead, Unnamed Pond and BrokenhutwithstoveinthatIcan'trememberthenameofplace.

Good story!

 

Edit: Deadfall?