Snowballs in Hell


Drifter Man

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8 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

The wolf guarding the Engine spotted him, but...

I have a policy on fresh games, particularly when it's an awesome start:  It's always worth the match to start a fire to scare away that game-ending wolf.  In fact I always carry a couple sticks for emergency anti-wolf fires until I get better options (decoys or weapons).

Sprain an ankle while fleeing?  Press 4 and start lighting that fire asap!  While the wolf is fleeing you'll have time to choose what to do next (make rose hip tea, hobble away, etc).

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Snowball 33 has completed Stage 1 and is ready to report.

Snowball 33 / Day 1

I spawned above Crystal Lake with 5 hours of night left. Standard procedure: collect sticks, reishi mushrooms - I'm taking all of them now, they can be turned into hot 100-calorie drinks during warming breaks - and rosehips, of course. Rope down to the lake - I used to take the longer route around the lake to get more sticks and some cattails on the way, but I ran into a wolf about 3 times out of 4, so I stopped that practice. More sticks, watch out for wolves on the lake, there often are two at night. Fishing hut, Mountaineer's Hut. Hacksaw found - great. Start fire, make water, warm up, run around and gather more sticks nearby.

The timing couldn't be better. I went to bed with the fire burning and slept for 6 hours into late morning, recovering to 92% condition and making use of the calories I spawned with. Keeping a small reserve of about 30 sticks at the Hut, I set out to check the container at the Engine, the one that cost Snowball 32 his life.

Having warmed up at Chasm cave, I had to retreat from the wolf to the cave again at first, but my second attempt was successful. I found two pairs of leather shoes, three pairs of socks (including one pair of wool socks), a thin wool sweater in excellent condition (rare find!) and a sweatshirt. Enough material for a snow shelter without the need to sacrifice anything. Then on to the "three-way" cave for the torch, matches and other stuff, get rosehips and sticks nearby, and back to the "engine-to-engine" cave.

The first corpse with a torch is not there - bad news, I like to use the second torch to navigate the second cave below the summit. I have to rush through the cave to save my only torch. I get what is there to get - six coals are the main find. Close to the exit from the cave, I start a fire with the torch and extinguish the torch immediately - 50% left, it will do. I stoke the fire up to 3-4 hours. I put in one coal to make it really hot - fatigue is kicking in, only 4 hours of daylight are left and I can't afford to lose time. First job: sticks, reishi and cattails to the right. You can get about 15-20 cattails from the river at the second engine, but there is a wolf guarding this area. Warm up. Second job: firewood and rosehips at Andre's Peak. Warm up: Third job: rope down, watch out for the bear and head home via Landing Gear.

It is dark by now, my character is freezing and nearing exhaustion. I drop the two pairs of leather shoes for which I have little use, excessive cattail heads are long gone. A wolf barks me up in one place that is usually safe (although I know that it, too, can be wolved) and I am ready to mourn a third snowball in a row terminated by a wolf. But instead of attacking my weakened character, it just follows me and I get the opportunity to sprint away, using the last drops of strength before exhaustion.

Mountaineer's Hut. 32% condition. 10 hours of fire using all the sticks I've brought plus some of my reserves. 10 hours of sleep, I wake up at 64%.

My intention is to drain my character again in the morning, collecting sticks and, if necessary, just by running around like crazy. With 10 more hours of sleep I can get back to nearly 90% condition and leave for Stage 2 - the summit - about 4 hours before the next daybreak. I need to move fast - otherwise I will get locked to the Hut for days, constantly trying to get enough firewood to maintain condition.

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On 1/14/2017 at 4:26 AM, Drifter Man said:

Thanks! But I've actually found the perfect place for a shelter. I know that your curiosity would get the better of you (as it did of me), so I won't post it here for now. I want you to have the same big grin on your face like I had when I found out :)

:)  I really cannot believe I didn't figure this out sooner.  It seems so obvious now.  You are the man, @Drifter Man!

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33 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

Enjoy your warm place to sleep :)

I've been trying to find such a place on top of the mountain.  Sure, you can hang out in the cave or tail section, but what about a snow fort on the top of the mountain?!  I have found one place that might work in the long term.  The cave on the right offers good protection against the wind and there is one "just right" spot for the snow fort.

 

OB_TWM_SUMMIT1.jpg

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1 hour ago, Drifter Man said:

@Ruruwawa So it also works when the fire is just starting? 60% chance of survival is much better than 100% certain termination.

The wolf flees when it gets close enough to detect the fire... a few meters or so.  It doesn't matter if the fire is successfully started in the end, but you do need to be in the process of starting when he enters fire detection range.  If it fails before he gets this close, he won't flee.  A successfully started fire does will also cause the wolf to flee.

As you say, at least it's a chance.

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28 minutes ago, Timber Wolf said:

I've been trying to find such a place on top of the mountain.  Sure, you can hang out in the cave or tail section, but what about a snow fort on the top of the mountain?!  I have found one place that might work in the long term.  The cave on the right offers good protection against the wind and the is one "just right" spot for the snow fort.

In my view, the summit is too far away from the only workbench on the map. You can't make snares there. Or do you plan to kill the bear between Eric's Falls and the Deer Clearing with the flare gun and haul meat to the top? :)

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3 minutes ago, Ruruwawa said:

The wolf flees when it gets close enough to detect the fire... a few meters or so.  It doesn't matter if the fire is successfully started or not, but you do need to be in the process of starting when he enters fire detection range.  If it fails before he gets this close, he won't flee.

As you say, at least it's a chance.

I see - thanks for the tip! I'll remember to give you credit each time it saves me :)

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5 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

Or do you plan to kill the bear between Eric's Falls and the Deer Clearing with a flare gun and haul meat to the top? :)

I think this would be the only way it could be done.  Getting bear would mean everything.  I was thinking about finding a way to live on only the top half of the TWM map.

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@Pillock he wants the meat. Unfortunately, all wolfskin and bearskin items are apparently out of reach of TWM-dwellers, forever.

@Timber Wolf could you please post here (or elsewhere) how you go about setting up your life, and how long you can survive? My first survival strategy (staying in the Mountaineer's Hut) got me to 26 days. Up to 40 might be possible with all the matches from the map including those from the summit, but I'm developing a new strategy around the snow shelter in our "sweet spot" that could carry me much farther than that, hopefully.

I think you will still need 1-2 matches per day with the shelter on the summit, or anywhere else (except the one place). Also, I don't think the summit has a whole lot of firewood. But maybe you know something I don't. In any case, I am curious what you find :)

And yes, I'm already thinking about incoporating the bear into my survival method... In the end I want to colonize TWM on Interloper, no less :)

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Snowball 33 / Day 3

Although I couldn't get as many sticks as I wanted, I gathered enough to light a 10-hour fire in the afternoon, using some more of my reserves. Before that I scrapped three pieces of clothing that I couldn't wear anyway, to save time below the summit. I left for the summit with 3 hours remaining to daybreak and at 84% condition. Winds were strong, felt temperatures in the -40s, so I began freezing almost immediately. Nevertheless, I passed through safely to the Wing and opened the container there: some food and two tins of coffee, but no tea. This can complicate matters - sleeping for 10 hours heals by 32% without tea and by 38% with tea, and I could use those extra 6%.

I took note of the deer carcasses. One at the Wing, one more before the fallen tree bridge, but nothing beyond that point. I stopped at the cave before the rope to Deer Clearing to warm up. My condition was 60% at that point.

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Emboldened by coffee, I climbed up to the Deer Clearing at dawn. No matter how careful I was, a wolf soon approached me, but I managed to run away from it and hid again in a cave - and how lucky I was: I found a box of matches and a flare inside. Warmed up, I proceeded to the container, collecting sticks on the way, and took away some conserved food, two pieces of cloth and three pieces of scrap metal. The rest of the journey up to Secluded Shelf was safe and uneventful, except that I got frostbitten in the head while climbing the second rope.

I wasn't sure my torch would last through the cave, so I lit my flare and passed to the other end. The weather was good, so I started a fire and built my snow shelter. I dropped items I didn't want to bring along to the summit and ate my dinner. 10 hours of warm sleep brought me back from 30% to 61%.

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Day 4

There was no time to lose, and I immediately headed for the rope to the summit. I was freezing before I could reach the rope, but I made it to the top and went straight to the tail section. There I started a fire. I have to say, my luck with firestarting has been really bad in this playthrough. I failed so many times that I started to run out of tinder. Matches, of course, are much bigger concern, but there is nothing I can do about bad luck.

s_33_4.jpg

First container: clothes. Nice workboots that will need serious repair before they are useful. One pair of running shoes and one of leather shoes (will dispose of these). Two pairs of cotton socks (= cloth). Three beautiful wool toques in addition to the one I already have - I can wear two and turn the others into raw material. Plus a wool ear cover. Nice find all in all. When I put them all on, my temperature bonus jumps to 8°C, and I will get even more once I repair some of the damaged pieces.

s_33_5.jpg

Second and third container: food - pinnacle peaches, summit soda, salty crackers, all in nice amounts. Three more tins of coffee, but no tea! No tea for Snowball 33.

Fourth container: lots of largely useless medical supplies. I don't need bandages, antiseptic or antibiotics. I need painkillers, but there are no painkillers. Some cured leather and a rabbit pelt. Okay.

Items on the deck: distress pistol, hammer, two bottles of accelerant, two boxes of matches. I break up all self-standing crates on the deck but only find mountaineering rope and a piece of scrap metal. At least I can use the reclaimed wood. I drink five coffees throughout the night to keep my fatigue bar at safe levels. It is bright day already, and I search the rest of the summit and the cave - no great findings, just some more firewood. Weather quickly turns from good to bad and a blizzard starts while I am roping down. I drop the heaviest items, strip down (a very logical thing to do while in a blizzard) and run for the cave, where I get my items organized while waiting for better weather. I have 44 matches of the total of 60 I've found, and I will not get a single more. Every match I strike from now on is a step to death.

One more thing: each time you use your hacksaw to open a container compartment, it loses 5% condition. Those seven containers brought my hacksaw down from 83% to 13%. I can't repair it without tools. Soon I will have to cut carcasses with my bare hands.

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When the blizzard subsides, I repair my shelter and go to sleep with 5 hours of daylight remaining. Having healed from 31 to 63%, I'm ready for another day.

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Snowball 33 / Day 5

It is warm night and I can sleep for two more hours. I know I'm not going anywhere at night. At night you may not even see the direction from which the wolf is coming. The flare pistol is great to have, but it is not omnipotent.

I check the open cave: no deer carcass. Too bad, I wanted to skin it at night. I take the rope and firewood I find there, collect the other rope, which I dropped yesterday to run from the blizzard, and spend the rest of the night in the large cave, proudly checking out my new warm clothes.

In the morning I return to my shelter and start a fire. The weather is good and I fall to the temptation to sleep for another hour. Mother nature, laughing, turns the wind around and increases strength - the fire is blown out. Fortunately, I still have enough warmth after I get up. Dismantling the shelter, I proceed to the rope point: the wolf below is too close, so I start a fire and wait. But the wind turns into blizzard and I must run to the cave once again.

In the cave, I repair my ski jacket that sorely needed it, using the only spare piece of cloth I've got. Five must remain for the second shelter! Then I turn a few sticks into tinder, which is running out because of my never-ending failed attempts to start a fire. With 7 hours of daylight left, the blizzard ends. I'm not worried about fatigue, my coffee supply can keep me going for two days straight, I'm sure. But I cannot heal until I return to the Mountaineer's Hut. So, I waste no time and, with the wolf at safe distance now, I rope down. I immediately go to the rope attachment point above the second Engine - a shortcut without which I would stand no chance to reach home alive.

I'm never coming back here, so there is one more job I need to do. I leave the two ropes and the hammer at the attachment point and go to the Waterfall cave. Nothing inside save a few sticks. I start a fire (frustrated after failing to start it with a book, I spend my last accelerant) and warm up. There are 5 or 4 hours of daylight left and now it is very warm outside - felt temperature just -6°C. I collect about 15 cattails at Eric's Falls and notice the deer carcass nearby. Remember, I'm never coming back here - and I get to work. I extract the meat, but my hacksaw fails while working on the hide. This carcass is lost.

Warmed up again, and with a fresh dose of caffeine in my veins, I return carefully to the rope. Check the wolf - too close. Wait for a few minutes, then rope down.

s_33_1.jpg

It is so warm that I don't even have to make a stop at the big cave and go straight to the rope attachment point at the second Engine. While deploying the rope, I start to freeze. I must have been outside for at least one hour before I started freezing. Unusual.

The rest of the journey is uneventful. I return just as the night starts, in the cabin it is still felt +2°C - but before the new clothes, it would only be -2°C! I only wish they could stay like that forever...

My condition is 20%. I'm not ready to sleep yet, the coffee works wonders, so I organize my stuff and break down the crates and furniture with hammer. When a blizzard starts, I make fire and boil water. 10 hours of sleep get me back to 51% condition. I can say now, I've been to the summit and back.

Stage 2 complete.

s_33_3.jpg

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Snowball 33 / Day 6

Stage 3 consists in getting material for crafted clothes and, more importantly, guts for snares. There only are two deer carcasses in the direction of the fallen tree bridge - I couldn't find any others nearby. I'll get to them, but I'll also need to steal some kills on the lake. First of all, though, I must gather some firewood. With those clothes and good weather on Day 6, it's a piece of cake. I have 130 sticks by nightfall without having to freeze even for a minute. I sleep for 8 hours into the night, carefully, because I don't want to wake up freezing (or worse yet, never wake up at all). But I wake up and calmly fall asleep for another hour until I'm fully rested and my condition restored to luxurious 70%. No need to burn fire tonight.

But I must not lose even a single day. Temperatures will drop and and my clothes will deteriorate. By that time I must be ready to move to my secret warm spot.

Countdown to death: 37 matches.

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Sorry guys, it's over. I can't believe I've made the same mistake again. The way the game deals with blizzards and sleep/pass time mechanics is so counter-intuitive.

I went to bed while blizzard was raging outside. I set up 10 hours of sleep in the dialog box. I had a fire running with 4 hours left - enough to outlast the blizzard. Yes, enough to outlast the blizzard, but while the fire bonus phases out almost immediately after the fire ends, the temperature drop due to the blizzard stays for many more hours in sleep. I froze to death as a result of using common sense instead of thinking thoroughly about the mechanic I've already known of. Snowball 24 ended for the very same reason.

Never go to bed with a blizzard going on unless you have a protected fire that will last longer than your sleep.

Snowball 33 parts with a picture of his final success in life. Note the rocket-propelled wolf running in the background.

s_33_final.jpg

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I think I should add one more thing before someone starts blaming bad game mechanics :) It is the very same effect that killed Snowballs 24 and 33 that makes any sleeping in "outside" conditions possible. The fact that the temperature drop due to blizzard phases in slowly allows long sleep without having to burn fire constantly (or play russian roulette each time one goes to bed). The slow phasing out of the blizzard temperature drop is the flipside of the same coin. I don't want this changed, for then there would be no survival in TWM.

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On 1/15/2017 at 6:44 PM, Ruruwawa said:

The wolf flees when it gets close enough to detect the fire... a few meters or so.  It doesn't matter if the fire is successfully started in the end, but you do need to be in the process of starting when he enters fire detection range.  If it fails before he gets this close, he won't flee.  A successfully started fire does will also cause the wolf to flee.

As you say, at least it's a chance.

This method also allows you to steal wolf kills with total safety.

You just wait for a wolf to kill a deer, then activate the campfire template; keeping the green template on the ground in front of you, walk towards the wolf; as soon as it gets leary with you, left-click to start the fire-ignition process. The wolf will always run away.

You can cancel the fire-ignition at this point, and it'll only cost you one tinder, plus the match, and then help yourself to the kill. But the wolf usually comes back, so it's worth lighting another fire for security while you harvest, even if you don't need the heat (for yourself or the carcass). In order not to spend two matches on two fires, you could let the first one light, then carry a brand to the carcass to light the second. If you get the magnifier, you're better off cancelling the first fire so that you don't have to waste fuel; but that obviously restricts you to wolf-stealing on sunny days only.

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12 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

Never go to bed with a blizzard going on unless you have a protected fire that will last longer than your sleep.

Option B (the one I favor) is to sleep for smaller stretches to conserve fuel (which costs good weather + condition to gather).

If it's warm (Feels Like over 0C) and I have high condition, I might try a couple hours at a time with no fire at all.  My habit (from something like 800 nights spent in caves and the hut on easier difficulties) is to sleep without a fire for no longer than my current condition / 25.  Then I sleep in progressively shorter stretches untilI hit Freezing.  Then I get up and make a fire to make water, fish or cook.  This gives me the most utility from my precious fuel.

Certainly a longer sleep will heal you for more, but it's a huge gamble to sleep for more hours than you have condition to lose to freezing.  When I really must heal asap I go for a tea (if available) + 4 hour fire + 4 hour sleep.

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15 hours ago, ElvisHunter said:

Using the half spent torch to start fires guarantees 1 match starts. This may slow slightly the countdown to death. 

Yep. Flare works, too.

14 hours ago, Jolan said:

You're killing me. :)

Nothing beats the feeling when you can find out for yourself :)

14 hours ago, Pillock said:

This method also allows you to steal wolf kills with total safety.

You just wait for a wolf to kill a deer, then activate the campfire template; keeping the green template on the ground in front of you, walk towards the wolf; as soon as it gets leary with you, left-click to start the fire-ignition process. The wolf will always run away.

An elaborate method! I prefer the flare pistol now, though, for its spectacular effects. After all that beating I received from wolves, setting one ablaze and watching it run around is satisfying beyond description. Therapeutic. :D

13 hours ago, Hotzn said:

Again! We must gain knowledge of phase 3 and beyond! 

Jawohl! Snowball 34 is about to set out for the summit already.

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