Survival Retrospective: Tony C.

[RossBondReturns]

Over on my blog I've written a new Article about the Survival of my first member of the hall of fame: Tony C.

It discusses the backstory that I never got a chance to build on, how that affected my game-play style and how events played out that brought things to an end.

I will place a link to the original article here and also copy and paste it here if you don't want to click through. I hope it interests you!

Survival Retrospective: Tony C.

Survival Retrospective: Tony C.

March 16, 2017 by rossjgc, posted in Survival Retrospective, Tony C.

Introduction

So I’ve chosen to write articles based on each of the characters and how their play style is transformed by their backstory. This is true no matter how limited the length of survival time is for the survivor in question. So on this occasion we are talking about Tony C. who spent his entire survival experience in the Mystery Lake location.

Tony C’s Backstory

We didn’t get to investigate Tony C’s backstory very much because his survival ended up being so fleeting, but it certainly is important to understand why he survived for so short a time. Tony C. grew up in an inner city, one could say Detroit, and thus he faced a tough situation. His father was tough without the problem of drinking, but once drunk he was a danger to his wife and son. So Tony became tough in the face of this to stand between his dad and mom when he became a threat to her.

 

Unfortunately this caused him commit a significant crime in self defense, leaving his father permanently crippled. As part of a judges ruling he was sent to a Survival Training Course in Canada and the rest is survival.

Tony C’s Style

Due to his backstory I played as Tony C. in a more excited and aggressive manner than I usually would. The weather itself was generally great during the entirety of his survival except at the end. Tony just wanted to explore, and so I explored in a way that he would have. Instead of staying low and eventually looking into the lone cabin and then heading left to un-named pond and Trappers Cabin. Instead after looting the Loggers area I headed to the Clearcut and then headed left up the path to Forestry Lookout.

Now yes I know that there could’ve been a rifle there but Tony did not. I knew that sometimes the temperature drop could be bad there and going there with little food was dangerous…but Tony did not. He’s out there, ostensibly for the course, but now it’s turned into real survival and how long will that take to set in?

In the end I spent the night up top with knowledge as a player that I might be stuck up there if the weather came in. However I prepared melted snow for water, ate up and bedded down for the night.

I woke up to a storm and that made me both anxious as a player and Tony anxious as a survivor. Once again however I did some researching, ate and drank…I eventually chose to head out and deploy the rope. After this I headed to the un-named pond and beyond that to Trappers Cabin, harvesting Saplings and wood along the way.

Dropping off my wood and saplings I made the choice that I did not know would seal Tony’s fate. I chose to go and harvest the deer carcass in the old barn, so I went over and started to work. By the time I was done a deep, deep, fog had rolled in but I thought I had my directions figured out so I started back in the direction of what I thought was Trappers Cabin.

Final Moments

Except it soon became clear I was going away from Trapper’s Cabin when I found myself fending off a wolf attack at Max’s Last Stand. Surviving that I patched myself up, oriented myself to Max’s tree and looked up.

The conditions were essentially whiteout level the light was deep orange and falling as the sun began to set. I had no items with which to make a fire, so I knew i had to push forward. At this point as Tony I was pretty much uncertain of my directions but I had to push forward. So as I did I crested the top of the hill between Max’s Last Stand and Trapper’s Cabin I assume.

Visibility is now down to around two feet. I figure the only possible chance of survival is to find the old barn and if I have some sticks in my inventory light a fire and push back to the Cabin after this insane storm is over. However that’s easier set than done, Tony chooses to light the lantern, this makes things if possible even worse. He plants himself and stomps out a 360 marching in place hoping to see anything to orient himself.

By this time the sun has set…and I am essentially blind…I myself with intimate knowledge of Mystery Lake and hundreds of hours of game time am no longer sure of my direction. And somehow above the howling of the wind I manage to hear the wolf.

Whether or not it is the same wolf I do not care. I extinguish my lantern and pop a flare, the wolf gets closer but I cannot see it. It is now that Tony runs, runs in a direction that he hopes is away from the wolf. He hears the wolf coming faster, turns this way and that brandishing the flare.

The attack takes him in The Long Dark due to massive lacerations and blood loss.

Final Thoughts

I played as Tony very aggressively day one and more thoughtfully day two. One of the main reasons I played so aggressively is that I was just coming off the loss of Ava my first survivor to make it past 100 days. Playing with anger is not wise.

By the time I went to harvest the deer in the old barn I was thinking a lot clearer. I planned to simply harvest the deer and head back to Trapper’s Cabin to cook it up…and make more water. I was beginning to think long term.

I have never experienced a storm as violent and with such crappy visibility as the one Tony faced once he got turned around and attacked. It would not surprise me at all if I ended up running in a circle once the wolf engaged me again to the death.

It would be interesting in Hinterlands could put in some kind of black box that records your movements up to death…but how they could do that I have no idea.

Overall I’m happy enough with how I played Tony, I’m just not happy with how little time we got to spend together.

Thanks for reading!

[Ruruwawa]

This was a good read, thanks for sharing.   I've never considered -- for lack of a better word -- roleplaying a particular survivor who thinks differently than you, but I can see how it makes for a pretty engaging way to play the game.  Think I'll try it!

7 hours ago, RossBondReturns said:

It would be interesting in Hinterlands could put in some kind of black box that records your movements up to death…but how they could do that I have no idea.

I'd love something like this too.   Even if it's an extra last page in the same journal we can export that shows a more detailed account of the final 24 hours, using the stuff they already track.  Location, animal attacks, injuries, afflictions, condition, cause of death, etc..

[elloco999]

Indeed, a good read! I don't think I could block out my own experience for roleplaying a character that has never been to ML before or that doesn't have the knowledge to survive there. But it may be good fun to give it a try some time

[AZHockeyNut]

@RossBondReturns nice story, perhaps, you could write a brief story about the corpses we find in ML, send them to @Patrick Carlson and maybe they could add random journals in the game when you find a corpse. You get their "story" might be fun!

 

[RossBondReturns]

10 hours ago, AZHockeyNut said:

@RossBondReturns nice story, perhaps, you could write a brief story about the corpses we find in ML, send them to @Patrick Carlson and maybe they could add random journals in the game when you find a corpse. You get their "story" might be fun!

 

I absolutely could do something like that. I also need to do more writing on my Fan Fiction.