A Few Dead Men

[Drifter Man]

On one or two occasions I found a pair of boots there [upper floors in the Upper Dam], otherwise just the chocolate bar or something like that...

Edited September 21, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 23

Today's plans are similar to yesterday's, except that the carcasses at the Dam are both processed to the last bone and I'm even hungrier. My stomach is almost empty, I have a can of pork and beans, salty crackers and two cattails. Not even enough to carry me through the day. As soon as the weather allows, I'm heading out towards Alan's Cave, and hope to end the day at Camp Office so that I can fish and restock on cattails... after politely asking the local wolves for permission... of course.

-----------------------------------

In late morning, as soon as I hear the winds stop, my first steps lead to the other trailer, but I don't find anything of value there. Then it's to the river, collect a few cattails. Winds start blowing and I run out of warmth very quickly: I'm forced to start an emergency fire. I didn't get far, but the day is still ahead.

The winds stop while I'm warming up. Soon afterwards I'm at the Hunting Blind. I don't see any wolf and start a fire next to the deer carcass. 0.7 kg... almost nothing. While this nothing is being cooked at the fire, I turn my attention to the blind. There is a wolf, but it's occupied by a rabbit and lets me search the blind. Inside I find a flare, a prybar, pork and beans and... my bedroll! I play with the wolf for a little bit and then return back to the river.

I make my way onto the hill and to the Hilltop Cave cave by the Lake Overlook (thanks @JAFO for the correction!), suffering only one sprain on the way. There's another deer carcass - 0.5 kg. I should rethink my reliance on carcasses. They hardly have enough meat on them to be worth starting a fire. In the Hilltop Cave I find some books, antibiotics and a soda that is no longer usable.

It gets windy again, but I'm safe now, close to the Camp Office. I check out the lake and find it... empty. No wolves, anywhere. Such an opportunity! I work until nightfall, searching Lake Cabins and collecting all the cattails from places I can't normally reach because of wolves. In the end I have about twenty.

Lake Cabins are empty except some old pieces of clothing. I arrive at the Camp Office in last daylight, encumbered and exhausted, but still at 66% condition. My situation isn't great but at least I used the favorable conditions on this day as much as I could. [57250 calories consumed]

Edited September 21, 2018 by Drifter Man

[JAFO]

1 hour ago, Drifter Man said:

I make my way onto the hill and to the Hilltop Cave, ...  In the Hilltop Cave I find some books, antibiotics and a soda that is no longer usable.

Hilltop Cave? That's in PV. From the rest of your description, I'm guessing you mean the cave by the Lake Overlook?

** Only 1 week to go!! ** It's getting exciting!

[Drifter Man]

19 minutes ago, JAFO said:

Hilltop Cave? That's in PV. From the rest of your description, I'm guessing you mean the cave by the Lake Overlook?

** Only 1 week to go!! ** It's getting exciting!

Thanks - I messed them up  Yes, it's the one near Lake Overlook.

I hope though I have more than 1 week to go!

[JAFO]

Just now, Drifter Man said:

I hope though I have more than 1 week to go!

So do I.. but at that point you can officially say you've completed the challenge. I hope you go on to set a new record.. (which I believe currently sits at 50 days)

[Drifter Man]

12 hours ago, JAFO said:

So do I.. but at that point you can officially say you've completed the challenge. I hope you go on to set a new record.. (which I believe currently sits at 50 days)

Well that's ambitious

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 24

Today's plan was simple, so I didn't bother sharing it here before playing. Fishing.

The idea is to fill my stomach before I get on my Dyson^TM journey again. I go to the fishing hut in the morning and fish, boil water and cook fish all day. I have a cooking pot from Camp Office but it's not efficient on a single cooking spot. The whitefish takes me about 30 minutes to cook, not long enough for me to fish in the meantime. Next time I should start another fire outside the hut just for cooking.

I use the prybar to open the hole (takes about an hour!) and fish in 1 to 2-hour sessions. Unlike in TWM, when I did one 4-hour session and one or two 1-hour ones, I catch no big fish - only five whitefish. It's enough to feed me for today, but tomorrow I'll be hungry again.

There are still no wolves, so I clear a few remaining cattails I didn't have time for yesterday. At dusk I use the good weather and follow the Lake Trail to the Quiet Clearing, but find nothing except a few sticks. I light a flare on the way back for a bit of warmth bonus, to avoid having to start a fire and spend time warming up. Flares have been piling up in my backpack and I don't have much use for them. I arrive at the Camp Office exhausted but I made it through another day without condition loss. [59970 calories consumed]

Edit: a look at my skills. On Deadman, you can actually read books because you aren't starving (hopefully!), so I should stop feeding books to the fire all the time. Unlike in Interloper, my carcass harvesting goes up really slowly because I mostly take just the meat, and you skill goes up depending on the time you spend harvesting - i.e. you get more for hides and guts. At the same time, I find high carcass harvesting skill level relatively less useful than the others.

Edited September 22, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 25

Since my situation is about the same as yesterday, I decide for another round of fishing. I want to go to another fishing hut but I underestimate the cold in the morning and am forced to start a big fire in the nearest one again - I still take a 1% hit from freezing. The fishing goes even worse than yesterday - a 4-hour fishing session plus two short ones (while the fish are cooking) gives me one bass and one whitefish, for some 1400 calories. And that's all, for one day of work, 30+ sticks, one coal and 1% condition. Fishing won't sustain a deadman.

Wolves return in the evening, blocking the path back to the Camp Office. A cup of warm tea and a flare keep me from freezing as I collect sticks around the Lake Cabins in strong winds and then return to the Camp Office via Lake Path. I am able to recover my 30+ sticks back but I'm eating cattails tomorrow. No more fishing here. [61780 calories consumed]

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 26

Today I don't want to make the same mistake of leaving too early. The world is too cold. But I must move out around noon at the latest and seek food. I'll search around the railroad tracks and hopefully visit the Forestry Lookout. It usually has some food and maybe a hammer, which would allow me to craft a knife and arrowheads in FM

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First I repair my bedroll and harvest some cloth found at the office to have spares for repairs. Before noon I start a short fire in the stove, cook some reishi mushrooms and rosehips I found in the last few days and warm up my last can of pork and beans that will keep me warm as I go to the Forestry Lookout. Weather outside is nice - light fog, felt -12°C. I cross the tracks and collect some sticks. I check out Derailment from above - there is a deer carcass but the place is swarming with wolves. So not today.

A few snowflakes fall. Soon winds pick up. When I reach the Forestry Lookout, it's all-out blizzard. The lookout has a hammer, whetstone, Sewing Primer. A bandage in the first aid kit and a box of tools. No food. NO FOOD.

I can't leave in a blizzard, so I sleep in short intervals, hoping for it to end. The blizzard ends when the last daylight does, almost bang on. I munch on cattails and read books through the night - apparently it's clear enough for me to be able to do it. I finish the Sewing Primer and Frozen Angler, then I eat more cattails and sleep again. I have 10 cattails left. Unless I find more food, I'll be starving by the end of the next day. [64480 calories consumed]

Edited September 22, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 27

This will be make-or-break day for Deadman 3. With empty stomach, 10 cattails and maybe 10 drinks left, he has to find substantial amounts of food by tonight, whatever the weather. The best procedure would probably be going to the Ravine and killing a deer with the flare gun. Even if it fails, I would still find some food, cattails and deer carcasses there. But then I'd never get to Forlorn Muskeg. And it wouldn't be much fun.

So, against my better judgement, I'm going to the Muskeg today. I'll dash to the Camp Office first, take a break and warm up. Then on to Poacher's Camp. I want to park in the cave that is nearer to Spence's (it tends to have no wolves, although there can be a moose around) so that I don't have to burn fire all night. At this moment I have 11 coals and 36 sticks. But if I don't make it there, I'll camp at Poacher's.

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Well, things didn't go quite as planned, but the situation is closer to "make" than "break".

Morning felt temperature -20°C outside Forestry Lookout. Brr! I start the day with an empty stomach, so 4 of my cattails go straight away. I start a fire in the stove and make tea, then take a torch and leave. When I reach the tracks, I'm on my guard for wolves but instead I find a deer. It runs away from me but my plans immediately change. I drive it onto the lake and let one of the wolves kill it. I approach until the wolf reacts to me, then take my best guess and shoot. Unfortunately, I miss and the wolf runs away. I start a fire next to the carcass and boom - light fog turns into strong winds in a minute - the fire is dying even before the the fog effect lifts. Things didn't use to be this way, you could reasonably rely on the weather to stay consistent rather than changing by 180° any time. Not anymore.

I retreat from the wolves - they pursue but don't attack - and take shelter in the Camp Office, sleeping for 3 hours. The winds subside, it is clear now. I return to the carcass a second time, start a fire. I manage to get 6 kg out before winds again kill my fire. I cook and eat two pieces on the spot, pick the remaining four and make a run for the Camp Office.

Now I have food but almost no firewood... I have 10 coals but don't want to use them yet. And I need to make water and cook that meat. I'll have to figure this all out. [67630 calories consumed]

Edited September 22, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 27

I had more food than I could eat in one day, so my plan was to stay at the Camp Office, collect some firewood and cook. Things turned out a bit differently.

First I checked the surroundings of the Office: sticks have respawned. Good. I used my hammer to break down some furniture - a chair, a few crates. Reclaimed wood is actually better than sticks for warmth and duration (per weight basis), it's just bad for firestarting. I cooked my venison and ate two steaks right away.

In the afternoon I can't resist: clear weather, no wind. Yes, wolves will scent me, but two pieces of cooked venison can't be so bad. Tomorrow I may not get the opportunity. I drink a hot tea, pick up my venison and follow the tracks towards Forlorn Muskeg, picking up more sticks on the way. It's my lucky day, no wolves are around.

I hesitate for a moment whether I should make a fire to the right from the railroad and collect cattails. I lose some minutes thinking. Winds pick up. I have to run to Poacher's Camp. On the way I'm checking for wildlife. The W-7 wolfpack (to the north of Poacher's Camp) is not here, bear B-2 follows path 1, which means it will take some time before it approaches the Camp. I slip into the boxcar and start a fire. I lose 1% to freezing. Inside and around the train I find a tomato soup (still edible), a flare, some coal and some clothes. I find a good hoodie and put it on.

When I'm warmed up, light fog falls. I continue to the south towards High Blind, through areas I know to be wolf-free. I'm encumbered now, but I stop to pick up cattails - I'm never coming back and food is precious. I find High Blind but I don't go there. By the time I reach solid ground, fog thickens and visibility is now very poor. The cave should be here! I can't find it and wait for too long before starting another fire. 2% condition lost.

It's dusk now. I need to find shelter but I'm not quite sure where I am. The cave must be nearby. To the east or to the west? I think I know FM, but everything looks different in heavy fog. I try going a bit in both directions, always returning to the fire. I sprain a wrist and an ankle, fix both even though it means I'm down to 2 painkillers. I still have some rosehip tea in reserve.

I decide to go west. After a while a wolf approaches me from the front, I send it running away with the flare gun. A mistake possibly, I wasn't too cold, I could have tried to walk away. I think it was one of the Bunkhouses pack, so I must be too far to the west. I return to the fire, warm up and go back east. There are three deer on my left. There shouldn't be deer on my left, not here! Then I see another deer in front of me, and I realize where I am. The wolf was the one that guards the eastern cave (the one with coal) - the W-14 wolf. I was too far to the east, and now I ended up at Muskeg Overlook.

I'm still warm, pick up some sticks, find the hollow tree and start a fire. Search the corpse and backpack for a pack of salty crackers. Harvest deer carcass for 1.7 kg venison. I cook and sleep in short time increments, worried about the wind, but the wind lets me live.

In the morning I'm in 62% condition. I have 1500 calories in my stomach, 1.7 kg venison, salty crackers, tomato soup and over 20 cattails. I'm low on firewood though, coal won't keep me warm out there. I'll have to take care of that today. [71750 calories consumed]

Edited September 22, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 29*

*I marked the previous entry as Day 27 by mistake. It was Day 28.

So, by chance I wound up at Muskeg Overlook and found lots of food there. But I'm low on fuel and have to find a way out of here without freezing - shelters are hard to come by in FM. Now it's morning, too cold and too windy, so I'll keep my fire and try to collect any sticks I overlooked last night. Then I'll backtrack, using deer as decoys where possible, and collecting more sticks on the way. Ideally, I want to reach the western cave (closer to the Homestead) by tonight, where I can sleep without fire, at least for most of the night. Hopefully I'll then be in position to go to the Homestead and work at the forge for a day.

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The clear, windy morning quickly turns into heavy snow with strong winds, felt -34°C. I'm happy to find many more sticks in the area, and always return to the fire to warm up. I harvest two scrub brushes as well. I'm no longer worried about fuel. I sleep in short time increments to stay ready, and a reishi tea is warming next to the fire. When the winds give way to light fog - for a moment there's a strange, unnatural combination of winds blowing in the fog - I drink the tea, pack my bedroll, take a torch and go.

The wolf guarding the entrance to the Overlook is not there. It wasn't there yesterday, I would have noticed - I find my campfire right in the middle of its usual patrol area. The deer herd is gone, and I follow the shoreline to the west, avoiding the eastern cave and its guarding wolf that attacked me yesterday. It is warm with felt -4°C to -6°C. I notice a deer carcass on my right, but I focus on the priority. I first locate the cave I intend to spend the night in.

Inside the cave it's felt +18°C. I'll be safe here, and there are no wolves around. Now it's time to care about the deer carcass.

It has only 0.7 kg of meat, so I'm quickly done with it. Next stop, High Blind.

A bottle of accelerant, a book (Survive the Outdoors), some firewood, but most importantly, a truckload of cattails. I keep picking all cattails I can see on the way in and on the way out. I end up with about fifty.

No need for fire tonight. The cave bonus, the bedroll, my clothes and the "Cold Fusion" feat let me sleep safely until dawn. I'm less than 36 hours from completing the challenge and about 25000 calories from hitting my calorie target. [74450 calories consumed]

Edited September 23, 2018 by Drifter Man

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 30

It's foggy now but I know better than to walk outside in early morning. Round the next bend I'd be building an emergency fire of 40 sticks. I'll wait until midday and if the weather is reasonable, I'll slip by the Bunkhouses and approach the Homestead from the north. Ideally I want to work at the forge through the night (knife + as many arrowheads as I can get material for - I have 6 pieces of scrap with me). Then sleep in the morning and leave in the afternoon of Day 31, destination Marsh Ridge.

If the weather isn't good today, I'll wait in the cave until tomorrow. No rush.

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I use the morning to read "Survive the Outdoors" and sleep, leaving the cave around midday, felt -6°C, in light fog. I avoid wolves at the Bunkhouses and build a fire next to a deer carcass between the Bunkhouses and the Homestead, harvesting and cooking neat 2.0 kg of meat in place. Wind nearly blows my fire out but this time I'm able to babysit it until the meat is done. And since I haven't eaten since last evening (in expectation of this opportunity), I can also eat it on the spot - no risk of attracting wolves. The deadman mode teaches you appreciate the sound of meat sizzling by the fire even more

As the Homestead is free from wolves - only deer are around - I pick up a large amount of sticks, finishing with more than 70, in addition to 10 coals I have with me and some 10 more in the building. Warm drink keeps me from freezing in the wind as I return to the forge and start the fire.

First I only put a few sticks in, let water boil in a can, and search the barn. Simple parka - a good piece of clothing but slightly heavier than the ski jackets I already have. I'll leave it behind. Matches, Sewing Primer, two sewing kits, guaranteed 1000 calories in the form of dog food. Surprise in the tool container:

My second cured gut found! I force open the locker, nothing inside. Several pieces of scrap metal are around together with coal and firewood, I pick them all up. I don't break any crates - I'll leave the accelerant and anything that possibly is in the safe behind. Then I put in coals and start forging.

First I verify that I can make water in the can while crafting arrowheads. I can - 3 minutes left before it boils dry. Then I work until after midnight. With a knife and 8 arrowheads done, I add sticks to the fire and go to bed.

Deadman 3 / Day 31

I wake up in the morning, check the fire, eat dog food and sleep some more. In the late morning there's heavy fog outside. Early afternoon, it clears up and I'm fully rested. I've beaten the 30-day challenge. [76900 calories consumed]

Edited September 23, 2018 by Drifter Man

[BareSkin]

3 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I've beaten the 30-day challenge

Congrats!

Sounds you didn't even sweat.

[FunkyFuggerson]

4 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

Deadman 3 / Day 30

It's foggy now but I know better than to walk outside in early morning. Round the next bend I'd be building an emergency fire of 40 sticks. I'll wait until midday and if the weather is reasonable, I'll slip by the Bunkhouses and approach the Homestead from the north. Ideally I want to work at the forge through the night (knife + as many arrowheads as I can get material for - I have 6 pieces of scrap with me). Then sleep in the morning and leave in the afternoon of Day 31, destination Marsh Ridge.

If the weather isn't good today, I'll wait in the cave until tomorrow. No rush.

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I use the morning to read "Survive the Outdoors" and sleep, leaving the cave around midday, felt -6°C, in light fog. I avoid wolves at the Bunkhouses and build a fire next to a deer carcass between the Bunkhouses and the Homestead, harvesting and cooking neat 2.0 kg of meat in place. Wind nearly blows my fire out but this time I'm able to babysit it until the meat is done. And since I haven't eaten since last evening (in expectation of this opportunity), I can also eat it on the spot - no risk of attracting wolves. The deadman mode teaches you appreciate the sound of meat sizzling by the fire even more

As the Homestead is free from wolves - only deer are around - I pick up a large amount of sticks, finishing with more than 70, in addition to 10 coals I have with me and some 10 more in the building. Warm drink keeps me from freezing in the wind as I return to the forge and start the fire.

First I only put a few sticks in, let water boil in a can, and search the barn. Simple parka - a good piece of clothing but slightly heavier than the ski jackets I already have. I'll leave it behind. Matches, Sewing Primer, two sewing kits, guaranteed 1000 calories in the form of dog food. Surprise in the tool container:

My second cured gut found! I force open the locker, nothing inside. Several pieces of scrap metal are around together with coal and firewood, I pick them all up. I don't break any crates - I'll leave the accelerant and anything that possibly is in the safe behind. Then I put in coals and start forging.

First I verify that I can make water in the can while crafting arrowheads. I can - 3 minutes left before it boils dry. Then I work until after midnight. With a knife and 8 arrowheads done, I add sticks to the fire and go to bed.

Deadman 3 / Day 31

I wake up in the morning, check the fire, eat dog food and sleep some more. In the late morning there's heavy fog outside. Early afternoon, it clears up and I'm fully rested. I've beaten the 30-day challenge. [76900 calories consumed]

So do you think with enough luck, planning, an understanding you would be able to survive 100+ days? Or is that a complete stretch, Ive attempted it but alas, I havent made it past day 5. 

[Hotzn]

Congratulations, @Drifter Man. Guess my bet was well-placed.

18 hours ago, FunkyFuggerson said:

So do you think with enough luck, planning, an understanding you would be able to survive 100+ days? 

If 30 days are possible in the way we have seen here, 100+ days must be possible as well. Since food is the criticall resource, everything should become much easier once you manage to kill a moose. Bear might also work. Is parasites a thing on Deadman?

[Drifter Man]

19 hours ago, BareSkin said:

Congrats!

Sounds you didn't even sweat.

Thanks! It wasn't easy, but it was easier than the picture people paint here. It's a snowball-level challenge. You can't heal but you have warm shelters, no cabin fever, you don't have to think much about long-term issues.

19 hours ago, FunkyFuggerson said:

So do you think with enough luck, planning, an understanding you would be able to survive 100+ days?

I believe the first 30-50 days can be survived by looting maps. I guess than around day 50 the world will be too cold for anyone to move around much. So it depends on whether I can get calories systematically in one place, without ever going anywhere far from base.

I'll reformulate it. It depends on the rabbit rate in the Ravine. Back to the same equation I was solving two years ago in the Dam.

1 hour ago, Hotzn said:

Congratulations, @Drifter Man. Guess my bet was well-placed.

If 30 days are possible in the way we have seen here, 100+ days must be possible as well. Since food is the criticall resource, everything should become much easier once you manage to kill a moose. Bear might also work. Is parasites a thing on Deadman?

Thanks! Yes, I underestimated my chances.

There's the qualitative difference I mentioned above. Moose are hard to find, you can't wait for them. Parasites are active on Deadman.

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 31 (continued)

This afternoon I want to make it to the Cave between Waterfall and Marsh Ridge. There is no shelter on the way except two hollow trees I know of, and they may not be large enough to house a fire. I choose the direct path - it is shorter and I will see wolves from a distance. I may not be able to avoid them but I'll have time to build a fire. To reduce weight, I'm leaving the hammer and prybar behind. I'll also drop some water - sticks can be turned into water but not vice versa. If things don't go well with weather, I may be able to return and sleep at the Homestead but obviously I'd prefer not to.

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I make a few steps out of the homestead and get barked up. The wolves have relocated and are now patrolling right here. I make a tactical retreat and consider waiting for tomorrow, but tomorrow it will be the same thing. The wolf keeps walking around the building as if waiting for me to leave.

I steel myself with another hot drink, wait for the wolf to be on the other side of the building, and then run. I make it to the jetty where another wolf approaches. Still winds have turned into strong winds in a few seconds. I can't see where the wolf is coming from. Dammit, this is turning into a nightmare.

Eventually I sight it coming at me and send it away with the flare gun. I run along the jetty, reloading. The wolves do not pursue. Quick check of the weather: -12°C, even in the wind. I can pause and grab cattails, but deer carcasses are out of the question.

I make it to the first hollow tree - it cannot house a fire, so I start one next to the tree. The firestriker I brought from TWM in 70% condition 20 days ago breaks down - I've been working it hard all the time. Wolves are blocking the direct way to Hat Creek. Wind kills the fire before I'm fully warmed up, but I finish myself with a reishi tea (my third today; more will follow). Next warming stop is at the train.

Again, wind gives me about 15-20 minutes before killing my fire and driving me out. I sneak between the train cars and check for wolves on the other side. One on the left, two on the right, but the path to Low Blind is open.

The Low Blind has a piece of cedar and a book on archery. The wind is blowing harder now, felt -20°C, and I have no cover. I start another fire at the bottom of the rope to Marsh Ridge (but there's no rope, obviously - yet). This time it's 20-30 minutes, wind turns around, kills the fire, and I go on. I see nothing in these conditions, hope that the wolves I saw on the ice mean there will be none at Hat Creek.

I turn out to be right. Since the wind is now blowing from a favorable direction, I'm sheltered by the slope and reach the Waterfall without difficulty. Dog food and cattails for dinner, then sleep in the cave. I protected my condition but it was one hell of a run. Did anyone say I don't even sweat? [78270 calories consumed]

Edited September 24, 2018 by Drifter Man

[fauxjargon]

Congrats!

Parasites are active on Deadman mode, but they last only 10 days rather than 20 - I don't think there is currently a way to set the duration to anything other than 10.
 

If you have a bear kill or a big stash of wolf meat, along with enough reishi/antibiotics to cure yourself it is perfectly reasonable to get parasites.  I've thought about an endgame strategy where one forges tools at the Riken and then spends the next few days feeding on Desolation Point's abundant wolf population - or even the bear.  Alternatively, one could do it at the PV farmstead - with the added bonus of the 6-burner stove to save on fuel (however with the amount of coal available in DP I'm not sure that this matters).

[Kinnasmash]

Congrats!

Been loving watching the tale unfold. Looking forward to seeing how long he can hold on. With 62% and the gear that you do, I would venture you could make it at least to 50, maybe 70 and beyond. I think your play style matches well with the challenge, so I feel a lot can be learned here for those who are struggling and frustrated.

With only 3 files, you've absolutely crushed it. Well done!

[Drifter Man]

22 hours ago, fauxjargon said:

If you have a bear kill or a big stash of wolf meat, along with enough reishi/antibiotics to cure yourself it is perfectly reasonable to get parasites. 

I won't be trying to invite parasite infection unless it's the only way to survive. I don't remember ever getting parasites in this game - it does reduce condition, right?

11 hours ago, Kinnasmash said:

Congrats!

Been loving watching the tale unfold. Looking forward to seeing how long he can hold on. With 62% and the gear that you do, I would venture you could make it at least to 50, maybe 70 and beyond. I think your play style matches well with the challenge, so I feel a lot can be learned here for those who are struggling and frustrated.

With only 3 files, you've absolutely crushed it. Well done!

Thanks! You guys are putting a lot of trust in my abilities (and the potential to survive in TLD). I'm confident about the next 10 days unless I get very unlucky, make a major mistake or get wolved. What's after Day 40 is a big unknown.

[Drifter Man]

Deadman 3 / Day 32

The adventures yesterday reminded me how difficult it is to move any appreciable distance in this world with unpredictable weather and temperatures dropping every day. My journey will soon have to come to a stop as I won't be able to afford exposing myself to the weather.

Today should be a relatively easy day - I hope! There can be up to three deer carcasses around Marsh Ridge - in the cave, on the ridge and in Milton Basin - that I want to process for meat. I should replenish my stick supply and get a maple sapling (and birch, too) - if available. Most importantly though, I hope to find an emergency stim here. If the weather is good, I'll search the Milton Basin as well. In any case, tomorrow I want to see myself on the way back to Mystery Lake. Milton Basin is as far as I'm going.

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First thing in the morning, I search the cave and collect coals, then locate the deer carcass and harvest it for 1.6 kg of meat. I cook it while in the cave and make some water.

Outside it's foggy but cold, -17°C, still too early. I move to the second carcass on the Marsh Ridge - 2.8 kg, perhaps the biggest I've ever seen. I start a fire and get all the meat out. Fog gives way to strong wind, but my fire is sheltered by a small terrain wave and I finish cooking without problems.

There are moose marks on the trees so I'm cautious, flare gun ready. But the moose is not around. I'm wondering, can the flare gun kill a moose? Probably yes, but I won't be trying. I collect sticks and reishi mushrooms - I find at least a dozen, which is great, because those warm drinks go quickly. The maple saplings are not here. But the emergency stim is, bundled together with salty crackers:

The winds are too strong, so I'm not going to Milton Basin. I try again in late afternoon: heavy fog this time. I finish the day by reading a book and preparing mushrooms. I forget about the stim - I'm still in 62% condition. [82130 calories consumed]

Edited September 25, 2018 by Drifter Man

[fauxjargon]

5 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I won't be trying to invite parasite infection unless it's the only way to survive. I don't remember ever getting parasites in this game - it does reduce condition, right?

Thanks! You guys are putting a lot of trust in my abilities (and the potential to survive in TLD). I'm confident about the next 10 days unless I get very unlucky, make a major mistake or get wolved. What's after Day 40 is a big unknown.

Parasites cap condition, they don't reduce it.  The cap goes away once the parasites are cured, too.

[Spakerman]

10 minutes ago, fauxjargon said:

Parasites cap condition, they don't reduce it.  The cap goes away once the parasites are cured, too.

yes, the cap goes away but the condition does not fill itself back in.  If you started the parasites at 100% and had no other source of condition loss then after 10 days your condition will be 80% of max 80%... when the parasites affliction then clears you will be at 80% of max 100%.   So the affliction doesn't tick away at your condition, and if you were already below 80% condition then there will potentially be no lasting impact of the condition.

Worst case (or best case depending how you look at it) is that parasites could reduce your condition from 100% to 80%.    But since you probably didn't start above 80% when you got them... no harm no foul.

[Ruruwawa]

1 hour ago, fauxjargon said:

Parasites cap condition, they don't reduce it.  The cap goes away once the parasites are cured, too.

1 hour ago, Spakerman said:

yes, the cap goes away but the condition does not fill itself back in.  If you started the parasites at 100% and had no other source of condition loss then after 10 days your condition will be 80% of max 80%... when the parasites affliction then clears you will be at 80% of max 100%.   So the affliction doesn't tick away at your condition, and if you were already below 80% condition then there will potentially be no lasting impact of the condition.

Interesting.  Is the course of the affliction different if you don't use tea/antibiotics?  Does the cap keep dropping as the days stretch past 10, 20, etc?  Or does it just stay at 80% if you don't cure it?