Interloper run (v364-365)

[Hotzn]

15 hours ago, mystifeid said:

Damn. You better survive. I've been waiting weeks to find out what happened and now you're going to die?!!

I surely don't intend to, but things do look quite grim. The morning of day 9 sees me back at 42%, but... no more coffee, no more stim, no bedroll and no knife/hacksaw/hatchet to speed up harvesting. The lack of coffee and bedroll forces me to make it to another bed by nightfall without getting all exhausted on the way. The Mountaineer's Hut might be within reach and could provide food and maybe the hacksaw, but on the other hand would become a deathtrap if the weather turns bad or the firewood doesn't suffice to make it through the night. But what's the alternative? Going for the mine leading to CH without knowing where it is? And the trip might prove too long, as I would still need to cross the mine and reach the next bed in CH. And the Outbuildings, Rural Crossroads and the Farmstead are currently stripped of food. Hmmm...

5 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

Mother Nature isn't part of Hotzn's plan, and will bear the full force of his wrath. The true test of Hotzn vs Nature.

Hotzn hasn't started to fight yet.

Hrrrr... Drifter Man knows Hotzn. Hotzn feels invigorated!

2 hours ago, Ohbal said:

Oh man, I felt this one! That change in the map also turn me crazy the first time I saw it... but I was not playing on Interloper so had time to find the new route to the mine   

Good luck man, you are going to need it!

Read below only if you are in for some advice

Hidden Content

 

So it wasn't just me - the map HAS been changed! Yeah, I guess a lack of terrain knowledge can be pretty deadly on interloper... we'll see how it goes.

[togg]

When did it change? I've done the hopeless rescue challenge just before interloper came out and I remember struggling so hard to find the mine to CH, really well hidden, it was also the first time I was looking for it! In the sandbox I had reached PV from CH but never the other way around.

[Hotzn]

Day 9:

After 9 hours of sleep, I wake up in pitch darkness, parched and with 3 hours of darkness left. Drinking some water, a cup of Reishi tea (just for the calories) and eating my last 2 cattails, I go back to sleep for another 5 hours and wake up at 52% condition, with 11 hours of daylight left. I have made up my mind: I shall deliver myself to the mountain. If I make it up the rope, I should also make it to the Mountaineer's Hut. There will be some food there, and maybe the hacksaw. It is likely I will have to spend the night there, which could be my undoing if the weather turns nasty and the firewood is not sufficient. But hey - no pain, no gain...

Outside a stiff breeze is blowing, feels like -35°C. This is bad, but I have no time to lose. Make it up the rope. By the time I have reached the transition to TWM, I am freezing. Gnnnhhh... press on towards the hut and reach it freezing, exhausted, encumbered. 18%. Hotzn, better get that fire going... first attempt fails... 14%... second attempt works, put a looooot of sticks on the fire and some other stuff until the fire gives off +35°C... 10% condition... heart starts pounding, vision blurs... quickly search the hut... a ski vest, a book on ice fishing, the magnifying glass, mountaineers rope and other useless stuff. No hacksaw. A can of dog food at least. 7%... my condition is still falling from exhaustion. Must eat & sleep, but careful - my water is out, only 0.14 litres left. I drink it all, eat the remaining venison and... food poisoning. Hhhhhhh...

I sleep for five hours, hoping to recover some health, but I don't. Wake up at 7%. I don't even know why I don't recover anything, it must be one of my many afflictions causing this. Fire is out, by the way.

I am out of sticks, so I stumble outside to get some more while I am still warm. Turn right and behind the hut... man, my vision is blurred, hardly see them sticks... and tire out so quickly. With just a handful of sticks, I get back inside and light another fire... first attempt works. Now what? I'm utterly exhausted again, just from getting the sticks, and I have no more water, getting thirsty. Sleep for one hour, then get up to make half a litre of water, drink it, eat the dog food, go back to sleep for 5 hours.

It is now in the middle of the night. The fire is crackling merrily and might just last until dawn, but that's it. No more firewood, condition 6%. It seems I'm out of tricks. Melt and boil a litre of water, get outside for sticks... 5% condition... vision blurs even more, can't see anything... suddenly it says the food poisoning has passed. Hmmm... does this go away by itself? Seems like it. Back into the hut, drink two cups of Reishi tea for 200 calories and go back to sleep.

Ha! Waking up, I am back at 8%! So it was the food poisoning that kept me from recovering health. This is good to know. But likely won't do any good in this run...

At some point, 2 hours of darkness remain, the fire is out, and I am starving and completely out of everything. Interestingly, the hut seems to retain the heat from the fire, the temperature is only slowly sinking. It is now -4°C inside, so with the heat bonus from the bed I can still sleep here. If this is a new mechanic, I like it very much - more realistic in an aspect that actually gives the game more depth and options. I also noticed that when going outside from the hut, I seem to retain my heat for a while, the "feels like" temperature drops only slowly. Very good.

But it does not help me survive this. I need calories. Oh, why didn't I think of it before? There are cattails on the lake! So out I go in the darkness in search of them. I have dropped everything except my clothes and a flare so as not to become encumbered too quickly from exhaustion. Lighting the flare, I step outside. It's snowing, and the wind is blowing. It's hard to see, and I get lost right away. Suddenly, I run into the jetty. I find a cattail here! Going around to the other side, I find... wait... did I hear some growling noise over the wind? I stop and listen... nothing... or something... yes, a dark shape appears from the blackness of the night... a wolf. At 5% condition, all that separates me from the fiend is a puny flare. I wave it, shouting. No reaction. I step closer, trying to look as menacing as I can. Wave the flare again, shout... and then... the wolf lurches forward.

The end.

[Scyzara]

Wow, that's really an exciting story! Very good read, Hotzn! 

As for the end of your story: Well, wolves seem to sense your condition and often ignore flares, torches and brands if your condition is rather low. I've thus stopped to use these means to deter wolves when below 50% condition. It's just too unreliable, imo. Especially below 20% condition I've never had a single wolf being impressed by a flare or torch - they always attacked me.

The same is true for dropping decoys, btw. I've often dropped several decoys in a row but the wolf ignored all of them and still came for me when I was at a low condition (or at a high condition, but exhausted). I somehow have the gut feeling the likelyhood for flares & decoys to work seems to decrease proportionally with your condition and anti-proportionally with your fatigue bar, however I've never really tested the issue in a statistically relevant manner.

So to sum things up I'm only using decoys and flares when above 50% condition (and 30% fatigue) now. Otherwise I just prefer to run and/or climb some place unacessible to the wolf. Steep rocks and hillsides usually work well. If necessary (exhaustion) I'm even sacrificing my emergency stims for these sprints.^^

As a sidenote: Campfires appear to be an exception from the rule. A least I've never experienced a wolf ignoring my campfire so far, no matter my condition or state of exhaustion. 

[Drifter Man]

Wow, what an intense finale

[Hotzn]

Thanks for the tips, @Scyzara, and thanks for the heads up, @Drifter Man. I am out if training, haven't played much over the last months, so... I die. But Interloper brings back some of that feeling from older versions, when it was really difficult to survive. I doubt I will ever be able to go back to Stalker after this. Someone said it might be impossible to survive long-term just on the TWM map on Interloper. Would be fun to put this to the test...

[Drifter Man]

Someone was actually hoping Hotzn might take up the challenge

[June]

On 19.12.2016 at 6:21 PM, Hotzn said:

I doubt I will ever be able to go back to Stalker after this. Someone said it might be impossible to survive long-term just on the TWM map on Interloper. Would be fun to put this to the test...

Exactly my thoughts. I can´t play Stalker anymore after hardcore Interloper arrived. It´s way too easy and forgiving.  As for TWM, I´m at day 70 on Interloper and living on the mountain for over 10 days now. The only problem I see is my wetstones for the tools, because at some point I have to go back and smelt new...well, and the nameless cold, which makes it almost impossible to go outdoors