A Few Dead Men

[romerabr]

Go for the bear on CH, near the Bear Camp. One shot with the flare gun, and he's dead, lots of meat. 

[Ruruwawa]

2 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

But I don't know if I can do it, the deer can sense me long before I can see it and runs away. Frankly, I probably couldn't do it even with a bow. It's hard enough with the usual Interloper wildlife detection range.

This was my conclusion after playing around with the Wildlife Detection Range = Far used in deadman.  Deer are almost a dot on the horizon before they are outside of "run away!" range.  The hunting bow is so weak you'd need one of those aim-high-into-the-sky trick shots for a hit.

[cullam]

I second the "go for the bear" idea. It is also by a rabbit spot. And after a few days in the ravine, you should be resiliant to CF for a bit! 

[Hotzn]

Might you not chase the deer into a dead end - for example the transition to ML - and then hit it with a flare when it tries to run past you?

Other than that, maybe you should go for the next bear.

[Drifter Man]

I'm less concerned with extending the life of this particular deadman than I'm perplexed by the apparent ineffectiveness of snares. The experience of other survivors indicates that snares are the solution to the deadman equation, and there is no place with greater concentration of rabbits than the Ravine. What am I doing wrong?

I'll try to grab some cattails at the Dam today, if the weather allows this. Felt -30°C is routine now. I'll take on the deer if I get the opportunity, but I generally don't get to see it until it's running. No, I can't hit a running target, with anything, from any angle, ever

Edited October 2, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 46

In the morning I collect one caught rabbit at Cave #2, sleep for a little more and once I'm out of calories, I harvest all rabbit carcasses in the cave, until I'm left with a pile of guts and pelts. This takes me until late afternoon. Then I run direction ML to collect some cattails at the Dam. I happen to corner the deer into the ML exit - incidentally - and try sneaking closer to it, ignoring the fact I'm taking freezing damage. I get close enough for a shot from the bow if I had one and if I was behind, not in front of, the deer - but then the deer notices me and runs away. I fire a flare shell when it's passing me. Of course I miss.

The weather is too bad and it's too late now, so I just warm up in the trailer, collect 12 coals I left there several weeks ago on my way to Forlorn Muskeg and return to Cave #2, taking more freezing damage. I find two rabbits caught at the cave. Did my plan work? I start a fire, harvest them completely and at least go to bed on half-full stomach.

Deadman 3 / Day 47

No more rabbits found in the morning. In the afternoon I try ML again, stopping at Cave #1 of course - the guts are not cured yet. After a brief warming break at the trailer, I deal with the wolf at the Dam with defensive/warming fire, for a gain of whopping six cattails. I return to the cave at night. The snares are empty. 41% condition.

Breath cloud ruined this shot but deadmen don't have time to arrange pictures

[BareSkin]

My experience about snares:

-good place is where you can hunt rabbit that naturally spawn. I remember the is only one place in the Ravine I've seen rabbits spawn, in front of a cave, near the rope point maybe, after a bridge on the right hand when going towards ML? I'd place all my snares here.

-any other place is not working (like, surroundings of Camp Office, tried everywhere I could see grass)

-the rabbit can't spawn before 24h since you placed it

-my rabbits always spawned after I slept, even 1h.

 

That was nice trying to shoot the deer, imagine it hit Good luck!

Edited October 2, 2018 by BareSkin

[fauxjargon]

Why not corner the deer somewhere and shoot it on the run?  Atheenon did that on a Deadman run in the Ravine and it worked fine.

[Drifter Man]

36 minutes ago, BareSkin said:

good place is where you can hunt rabbit that naturally spawn. I remember the is only one place in the Ravine I've seen rabbits spawn, in front of a cave, near the rope point maybe, after a bridge on the right hand when going towards ML? I'd place all my snares here.

Yep I know the rabbit spawns in the Ravine, I got some rabbits from all three in this run. But they just don't reappear.

15 minutes ago, fauxjargon said:

Why not corner the deer somewhere and shoot it on the run?  Atheenon did that on a Deadman run in the Ravine and it worked fine.

Because I can't hit a damn thing, that's why  I'm not Atheenon or Geltaz or anyone who can hit a rabbit from 150 meters in an inverted somersault.

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 48

Snares are empty. Made it to the Dam, crafted five more with the cured gut I have. I found out I can use tools - it probably makes it faster, but no indication of time is given.

I returned. Snares are empty. I placed five more. Been starving all day. 18% condition

Deadman 3 / Day 49

One rabbit is caught during the night. I cook it and eat it. During the day I drink all my reishi and rosehip tea. I regularly check snares, but none trigger.

Deadman 3 / Day 50

I make it to 49 days survived. I want to die with style, so I climb on the edge of the train bridge and jump.

I botch it and die on the rocks. I wanted to make it to the basin...

[Doc Gonzo]

A fantastic, glorious ending @Drifter Man .... great read!

[Ruruwawa]

RIP Deadman #3.  Great run!

Regarding the low rabbit spawn vs. results from the other thread, I wonder if the Deadman settings are the culprit.  Wildlife Respawn Frequency is set to "low", right?

[BareSkin]

That was very nice reading this topic, thanks for sharing. Still sad this deadman did perish on some scientific assumption that proved wrong tho.

[Drifter Man]

Thanks everyone for your support to the end!

16 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

Regarding the low rabbit spawn vs. results from the other thread, I wonder if the Deadman settings are the culprit.  Wildlife Respawn Frequency is set to "low", right?

Right, I didn't notice that there was a difference vs Interloper until you pointed it out here. That could be the cause.

Although I don't trust the settings the custom game menu presents, wolf spawn chance is shown as "Very High" with Interloper but that gets you much more wolves than if you start an Interloper normally.

I want to look into this rabbit thing again before starting another Deadman. It's fun but I need some lasting solution - something that gets me 2500 calories per day.

[Hotzn]

Good run, @Drifter Man, thanks for the entertainment! Since a Deadman would not die with assets left in his pockets, I presume you fired off all your flare shells?

[Drifter Man]

2 hours ago, Hotzn said:

Good run, @Drifter Man, thanks for the entertainment! Since a Deadman would not die with assets left in his pockets, I presume you fired off all your flare shells?

The entertainment was mostly mine, although I was happy to share bits of it!

I did not fire the remaining 2 shells - you're right I could have tried again, for shooting practice if for no other reason. I wasn't too interested in extending the run though. My plan has failed, everything else would just delay the inevitable.

I actually had a backup idea, going to CH to try fishing again. But by the time I realized I'm really not going to get food from snares, I'd lost too much condition for the trip to be an option.

Anyway, there are two flare guns in the Ravine Basin now, in case you're interested. Getting the second one may require some serious rock climbing.

Edit: Another thing - I was constantly in the Ravine to keep an eye on the snares, but I could have as well been starving in the Dam, crafting a bow.

No, wait, I couldn't. I didn't have any spare guts and once I did, I used them to make even more snares

Edited October 4, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Doc Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Drifter Man said:

The entertainment was mostly mine, although I was happy to share bits of it!

I did not fire the remaining 2 shells - you're right I could have tried again, for shooting practice if for no other reason. I wasn't too interested in extending the run though. My plan has failed, everything else would just delay the inevitable.

I actually had a backup idea, going to CH to try fishing again. But by the time I realized I'm really not going to get food from snares, I'd lost too much condition for the trip to be an option.

Anyway, there are two flare guns in the Ravine Basin now, in case you're interested. Getting the second one may require some serious rock climbing.

Edit: Another thing - I was constantly in the Ravine to keep an eye on the snares, but I could have as well been starving in the Dam, crafting a bow.

No, wait, I couldn't. I didn't have any spare guts and once I did, I used them to make even more snares

So what are you thinking about for your next run?  Any ideas?

[Senauer]

Excellent read as always @Drifter Man, and congrats on an great and entertaining run!

If I recall correctly there is also a rabbit grove at the Ravine Basin, just outside the cave with the moss bed. It is a long rope down (and even longer when going back up), but with the proper preparation it could be worth to give it a shot and place some snares there as well.

Besides, you can also find plenty of fuel and cattails (plus sometimes a deer carcass?), which would make feasible going down there and trying that snaring spot at least for a couple of days. And possibly prep a cache for a potential Cave #3?  

[BareSkin]

Just now, Doc Gonzo said:

So what are you thinking about for your next run?  Any ideas?

After a Deadman? I see only one other option: LEftLoper: Play only with left hand. (next one is BlindLoper)

[Doc Feral]

Vampireloper, you can only go outside at night. You may want to disable cabin fever for that.

[Mixxut]

3 hours ago, Doc Feral said:

Vampireloper, you can only go outside at night. You may want to disable cabin fever for that.

This actually sounds like it would be a fun challenge!

[Drifter Man]

22 hours ago, Doc Gonzo said:

So what are you thinking about for your next run?  Any ideas?

Right now I'm doing rabbit research - wildlife spawn rates are set to Deadman levels but all else is considerably less stressful  I've confirmed that not all rabbit zones are created equal. The Ravine will give you a few rabbits on the first day but then things dry up. In contrast, at Trapper's Homestead the yield is much better, but I've been testing for a short time and can't conclude yet whether Trapper's could support a Deadman permanently.

When I'm done I'll see what to do with this information

21 hours ago, Senauer said:

If I recall correctly there is also a rabbit grove at the Ravine Basin

Yes, there is one - giving one rabbit per 3 days or so... I didn't have a rope, otherwise I would have checked the basin out as well.

Regarding Leftloper, Vampireloper etc... I want the restrictions of the challenge to make some sense

[Cr41g]

from memory and all the time I spent living there in my 500 day run...Lake Overlook cave seemed to have a decent spawn rate for rabbits... not sure the calories would sustain a Deadman ... it's probably not as good as Trapper's but I would be willing to bet it's better than the ravine..

[fauxjargon]

Congrats!  What an adventure.  It makes me want to go back to trying Deadman.  I'd feel good about a 20 day run, and a 49 day run is just incredible!

[Drifter Man]

20 hours ago, Cr41g said:

from memory and all the time I spent living there in my 500 day run...Lake Overlook cave seemed to have a decent spawn rate for rabbits... not sure the calories would sustain a Deadman ... it's probably not as good as Trapper's but I would be willing to bet it's better than the ravine..

So far I've found that the Ravine (all three zones above the Basin) give 1.2 rabbits per day (tested for 5 days) - not enough even for an Interloper, nowhere near enough for a Deadman. Trapper's has two zones within easy reach, each giving over 3 rabbits per day (tested for 6 days), which would be sufficient. So I'm looking for places that have two zones close to shelter. My other candidates are Marsh Ridge (testing now) and the place between two ropes on the way from Milton to ML.

Lake Overlook could work combined with the rabbit zone on the other side of the tracks (on the way from Camp Office to Forestry Lookout or Frozen Creek) but still it's a bit too far to check both zones on a single day (remember, you can't take any freezing damage). Thanks for the tip though!

At the moment my Deadman theory is as follows:

1. Start the Dyson^TM way but try to accumulate some cured gut, either from caught rabbits or from deer carcasses. Drop it in places you're going to visit again after a few days, like the PV/TWM bunker or the Dam
2. Once you cover all the ground you can cover initially (including FM forge), hopefully you should have a bunch of snares ready. Settle down at Trapper's and sustain yourself with rabbits.
3. Gradually gear up and get to Level 5 cooking. Maximum temperature bonus from clothing is important, although I have to say that I've never killed 4 bears on Interloper, let alone Deadman.
4. Once you have 25°C bonus and can eat wolf meat, you're more or less free to roam the world again and get all the resources you may need in later game (scrap metal, cloth, repeated visits to the forge).

I think I'll try to put it into practice once I'm more confident that rabbits can sustain me. Any other tips for "good" rabbit zones? Even if it's only one, it can help during transits... drop snares in the evening, collect rabbits in the morning and carry on.