New challenge! First attempt - 9 days


mellow_swe

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Ok so I decided to up the ante a bit and try to simulate the endgame when you run out of everything and survival becomes a day to day struggle again.

My first attempt ended after 9 days and was a bit sloppy but I'm sure I can improve on that.

I also thought I would issue a challenge to those that feel like 100-day runs are becoming routine.

Here are the rules:

You can only use tools and items that you either start with, or that occur naturally in the wild.

This means basically there is no rifle, knife, hatchet, etc.

No food lying around can be used.

Also some of the items you can craft like hooks for fishing tackle require scrap metal so that's out.

The only clothes allowed are the ones you wear at the start and the ones you can craft.

Old mans beard lichen, rose hip, and mushrooms are all ok since they are growing things (even if they do not regrow in the game).

Any wood you can find lying around is ok as it can be foraged anyway...although if you want a real challenge you can leave those where they are as well...

Snares are ok as they are made up of renewable or forageble items (gut and wood).

Basically think that if there is an unlimited supply of an item it is ok to use it...if it is not then it's out.

Also you can not resupply items that you had at the start, e.g. matches. You get 12 at the start and even if it is an item you start with you can not resupply it. 12 is all you get... :twisted:

Post your stories here if you feel like sharing.

Good luck!

Forgot to mention that stalker is the difficulty setting! Wouldn't be much fun without them wolf attacks, now would it? :twisted:

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Well after several tries my new best is 12 days.

Got rabbitskin mitts but not the deerskin boots or the wolfskin coat yet.

Early plan is like this...

After spawning, I make my way to Mystery Lake, gather as much cat tails as possible, then head for one of the fishing huts.

Get a fire going and make water and forage for wood. Keep the fire going for a few days to stock up water and wood, then head to Trapper's. Make a fire to thaw out the deer carcass in the barn, make snares with the gut and reclaimed wood.

Catch rabbits and get a wolf to kill a deer nearby, use flare to scare it off and get as much as I can before the deer freezes, gut first.

Then I can craft the rabbitskin mitts and get my warmth bonus up.

All the while trying to balance the fine line of starvation, and gathering wood in any spare moments.

Next step is to get the deerskin boots and I was really close on my last run but I got greedy and tried to harvest the rest of the deer carcass after getting the gut I needed and the wolf that I fought for it came back and finished the job.

This really takes a lot of patience...

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Here are the rules:

You can only use tools and items that you either start with, or that occur naturally in the wild.

This means basically there is no rifle, knife, hatchet, etc.

No food lying around can be used.

You wrote no rifle,no knives and hatchet...yet you harvested deers and rabbits. :) If the rule is to not use knife and hatchet,as well no using food lying arround...then you are convicted to death by starvation in few days. :)

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You can harvest any animal by hand as long as the carcass is less than 50% frozen. No need for knife or hatchet...

If the carcass is frozen you need to thaw it out first by making a fire next to it.

Obviously deer carcasses lying around are ok as deer are part of the wildlife and also respawn.

No processed food should be used...

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May have to give this a try, I have tried this to some extent in the past, but I have to say in the current version 2.00 on Stalker that kill is going to have to be fresh. Lighting fires on carcasses to thaw them is too time consuming and attractive to wolves. The highest probability without an attack was to take hide, gut meat in that order. but a wolf visit or more is in the very high percentile.

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You can harvest any animal by hand as long as the carcass is less than 50% frozen. No need for knife or hatchet...

If the carcass is frozen you need to thaw it out first by making a fire next to it.

Obviously deer carcasses lying around are ok as deer are part of the wildlife and also respawn.

No processed food should be used...

Ok,you gave the point. :) I forgot completely about that,as I never use fire to unthaw corpses. :) Still,one thing I wonder.How is possible to harvest hide without a knife or hatchet? I never tried,so I don`t know,if it is possible.If it is...well,it is only a game,no need for every detail to be realistic,right? ;)

After I die in my current run and achieve Pacyfist and Silent Hunter,I may give this challenge a chance.If I won`t find any challenge in game anymore,of course.

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Still,one thing I wonder.How is possible to harvest hide without a knife or hatchet? I never tried,so I don`t know,if it is possible.If it is...well,it is only a game,no need for every detail to be realistic,right? ;)

You need few cuts here and there, e.g. around ankles, and then you just grab that skin and pull.

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In the game it is possible to harvest hide and gut by hand but I agree that it might not be totally realistic. Unless the player uses a sharp rock or something.

Lighting fires to thaw out carcasses may not be the best way, especially in this challenge as you only get 12 matches...but I've found that I can rarely grab everything from a fresh kill without freezing to death. Harvesting 2 gut and 4 hide from a deer takes 4 hours in game and with only about 4-5 degrees warmth bonus it's difficult to just manage that.

I'm going to try and vary the strategy a little and see if I can survive longer.

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I would agree that the character probably uses a sharp stone to harvest meat, skin and gut manually. I mean that's definitely possible (and also much more realistic than harvesting ready-made leather from a corpse in the first place, think about it!) ;)

To get some decent leather, you need to scratch away subcutaneous fatty tissue from the skin first, then dry and tan the skin for days and whatever else - I'm no specialist regarding these things, but you definitely can't just skin animals and sew the freshly harvested skins together. :lol:

I guess this is one of the points where "fun while playing the game" collides with realism and the devs decided to emphasize on the fun. Which is just the right decision, TLD is meant to be a survival game and not some kind of "learn how to survive in real-life wilderness simulator".^^

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This is quite the challenge!

I know right!

You really have to plan ahead and stick to that plan.

I've stopped counting the number of times I died because I was going to do something and got interrupted by seeing a wolf chase down a deer. Of course I think "Hey I have 100% condition and the weather is nice, might as well grab some gut/hide/meat" and then died in a blizzard or something.

Also time seems to be the most precious asset...

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So my new record for this is 24 days, 10 hours! This run was probably the most intense yet.

Started out at the lake trail at 3 am...green eyes popped up after only going a few yards and I had to waste my flare just to get to Camp Office. Some excitement right away!

After that I started my usual routine, forage wood and boiling water in one of the fishing huts on the lake before heading out to Trapper's.

Got the rabbitskin mitts and was going along quite well, then after about 10 days or so I was going to see if I had caught anything in my snares I had placed the day before. On the way I saw a wolf chase down a deer on the hill next to trappers but having learned my lesson I did not deviate from my plan and ignored the wolf for now. When I got to my snares however, I found that my timing was a bit off and the rabbit carcasses were already frozen. Ok no biggie, just set the traps again and see if I can't snatch some of the gut and leather from the deer that the wolf was eating. Weather was ok so it was worth a try!

I get close and the wolf attacks, I fight him off and is left with about 35 % condition. Start harvesting the gut and although I'm getting colder there's no danger yet. Figure I can get the leather as well and for a second I contemplate just harvesting 2 but decide that I am close enough to Trapper's and the weather is good so might as well go for 4. Big mistake! The moment I start harvesting the blizzard hits and I see my condition rapidly deteriorating. Not prepared for it, I stumble to try to cancel the harvest but fail. When I finally get control back my condition is at 5% and I'm both starving and freezing! Certain that this is the end I make a mad dash down the hill for Trapper's. Condition down to 4%. About ten yards from the gravesI hear a bark behind me! I forgot about the wolf! Oh well if he gets me then so be it! I don't even turn around to look, the door is close now. Condition 3%! YES! Made it to Trapper's, jaws of death snapping at my heels! Inside, but not out of the woods yet. Quickly eat some cat tail stalks to eliminate the starving and then rushing over to the stove. Condition now 2%!! I have no accelerant left and the fire starting sequence seems longer than ever. Please don't fail this time!! Halfway there and condition down to 1%!!! COME ON!!! Finally the bar reaches the end and the crackling sound of the fire reaches my ears through the sound of my own heartbeat. The freezing indicator goes out! YES, I made it!

Load the stove up with wood, eat and drink enough and then sleep for 10 hours to get my condition back up.

Must have been only seconds away from dying and my heart is pounding (IRL too!).

Recover and manage to get plenty of food and the deerskin boots. Even manage to get a couple of wolf skins and on day 22 decide to pay Fluffy a visit at the dam to try to get the wolfskin coat.

This might seem like a bad idea but in this type of challenge Fluffy is actually easier to kill than some of the other wolves. For starters you know where Fluffy is going to be. Fighting wolves by hand requires two fights to kill them as they don't bleed out after the first one and Fluffy can't run far away like other wolves can. Also Fluffy is probably the only wolf that can be fully harvested with no rush since the carcass will be indoor and won't freeze up.

I get almost to the dam without incident but at the end of the railway bridge I am surprised by a wolf feasting on a deer. I manage to fight it off but my condition is low and I'm now freezing. I can't enter the dam to recover as I have not dealt with Fluffy yet so I take shelter in the ruined house next to the dam and light a fire. Manage to spend the night there and recover enough to take on Fluffy. Two quick fights later and I am the master of the dam! Alas, it came at a high cost. To lighten the load I had left some bandages and antiseptic at Trapper's and only brought 3 Old Man's Beard Wound Dressings. They were now all gone! To get back home I would have to cross through some high density wolf areas without getting spotted. I chose to try the hills above derailment but didn't even make it that far before being spotted. Took refuge on a cliff where the wolf could not get me but he never wandered very far before returning. Trying to make a break for it he caught up to me and that was it!

Wow long post but it's been a while since a playthrough was this tense for me.

I'll rest for a few days and then try to set the bar even higher! :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

So after putting this challenge on ice for a few weeks to get the new achievements, I picked it up again last week.

After a few tries I have finally got to a point where I have a chance of a real extended run...

I am currently at 34 days, have settled in at Trappers. I have the wolfskin coat, deerskin boots and 2 pairs of rabbitskin mitts.

Plenty of water and firewood stored up.

I will need to go out for some old mans beard tree lichen as I only have 3 more crafted bandages + lichen and 2 regular bandages + antiseptic left. Have my bedroll at 4% so will probably harvest that and that will get me plenty of bandages but I will need to go to the other maps to get the lichen.

Need to keep focused though...one misstep and it could be all over! :)

Edit: I just realised that I won't be able to travel to Pleasant Valley since I can't get through the mine without light!

Oh well, just another curve ball thrown by this great game I guess... :)

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