One With Nature run


Hotzn

Recommended Posts

This is actually a continuation of my "Living off the Land" run in this same subforum. I have extended this run to 118 days and have stopped for some time in CH (Jackrabbit Island). Now there has been an update from v228 to v235, so I'll continue a bit. The only two achievements I am still lacking are "Happy Harvester" and "One With Nature". I have experimented a little with hibernation in this run, but only at the beginning, and it netted me some 10 days. I shall not report every day, but there will be some observations concerning any new features I stumble across. So let's go.

Day 119:

I "spawn" with some 9 hours of darkness left in the house on Jackrabbit Island. Lighting a lantern, I find all the stuff I had spread out on the kitchen floor in one heap in front of the door. So it's still there, which is good, and I can go to bed and sleep.

9 hours later I get up and find myself in some kind of early morning indoor twilight. Is this new? Looks good, anyway. I drink and eat a little and go back to sleep for two hours (blizzard outside). Now there is more light inside, obviously the morning light bug has been fixed. Good. I gather my stuff from the door and spread it out again. I am not missing anything substantial, it seems. Then I step outside and... get some graphical glitch. And the game freezes. First time ever. Hmmm...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to Bill Tarling, I was able to work around - had to force starting with DX9.

So now I step outside into a fresh and clear winter morning. A deer carcass is lying on the ice not far towards Coastal Townsite. With three wolves patrolling in the area, I carefully harvest leather and guts. No meat, unfortunately. Being hungry, I plunder some fishing huts and a car on the highway, but find no food. I notice that the fishing huts now have little chimneys. Or maybe they had them before and I just didn't notice? Or they have been made more detailed? Anyway, they look nice. Then, when I have reached the highway, fog falls (the fog seems a tad to greenish). Better wait that out, as I don't want to run into wolves. Going through my backpack, I realize I have no bedroll on me. Hrgn? I remember taking both a standard and a bearskin bedroll with me from ML. Did I drop them off at Jackrabbit? I also don't have a flare. Hmmm... I am badly equipped for this trip.

Well, I go over to the car and sleep inside for an hour. Who needs a bedroll? When I wake up, It has started snowing and the wind picks up. This is starting to look like trouble. I can't light a fire on either side of the car, only behind the trunk. No good. So I huddle up next to rock - out of the wind - and start a fire there. Did I mention I am starving by now? And... getting tired.

I put some wood on the fire, then walk over to the car and check the temperature inside. It's +10°C, so I sleep there for another hour. When I wake up, wind direction has changed, my fire next to the rock has been blown out. I start a new one, now beside the car. It works. Forage more wood, feed the fire, get in the car and sleep for another hour. Waking up again, the fire is down to embers. Dang! I try to feed it with a piece of fir frewood, but nothing happens. What? Ah, wind direction has changed again. This still leaves embers for a moment, apparently a new mechanic. Nice. It is now very dark, so I try to light my lantern to find another spot for the next fire (luckily, luckily, I found cardboard matches in the car. Otherwise, I would be running low on matches now) and realize... I don't have the lantern on me! I am really badly equipped, and the reason is I had this glitch and crash before. I had sorted my equipment then, and in my mind that was still the case when I left again after the reload. But obviously it wasn't. Amateurish and dangerous. But let's see...

I find another spot out of the wind somewhere next to the car (in the darkness I don't even now where) and light another fire. Phew. Now I can see again as well. And then a stroke of luck - the wind dies down. Still foggy as hell though, can't see a thing. I forage for more firewood for 30 minutes, only to find the wind picking up again. This is going to be one unpleasant night... foraging some more wood and feeding the fire, temperatures soon drop below freezing even next to the fire. I manage to sleep for a total of 2 hours and forage for some more wood before wind direction changes and blows out the fire. This is the point where it gets serious, the cold is creeping into my bones really quickly, and in the pitch darkness I cannot find another spot to light a fire (too windy everywhere). I even have difficulties finding the way back into the car. I start freezing, condition is already down to 78% (from starvation). Then the wind dies down and the sky becomes clear. And do I see the first promise of dawn yonder over the mountains? Yes, one hour of darkness remains, dawn is approaching! Hosianna!

With some more light, I can see what I am doing again. Soon another fire is crackling merrily next to the car. Never has the title "Long Dark" been more true. At 67% condition, I have made it out of this dreadful night. And the dawn is beautiful - has something changed about the lighting? Feels great, anyway. Looks like I made it through another night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 120:

As soon as I can see clearly, I run back to Jackrabbit Island. None too early, since soon fog settles back in. However, I keep direction and make it back to the island. Sneak up to the house carefully, since I am not in a condition to fight with wolves right now. Make it back, eat my remaining MRE and sleep for two hours.

I heal some %, but wonder for a moment if sleep-healing may have been reduced. If so, it would be a good thing. I then check the cupboard and find my two bedrolls - normal and bearskin - all right. Ah, the bearskin bedroll has been reduced in weight from 4 to 3 kg. That's good, it was a bit too heavy. There are more weigth adjustments for the animal hides, all seem good to me. Aha, they have a value for "cured" now. Wonder how you cure them, maybe just by spreading them on the floor? That's what I do anyway. I sort everything and get 5 more hours of sleep, which get me back from 70 to 90%. So it seems sleep-healing has been reduced. Good.

With a mere 3 daylight hours remaining, I want to take a look down the slope towards Misantrope's. I collect some lichen there, but am interrupted by a wolf chasing a rabbit up the slope. The wolf gets the rabbit, but realizes there is a bigger prey nearby and jumps me. Dropping a beef jerky right in front og ots fangs is no good, and a melee ensues. The wolf runs off after three full power stabs, I am down to 58%. Another wolf now could be my undoing, but I harvest the whole rabbit nevertheless and return to my rabbit house. The rabbit meat is at 95%, so I eat it raw (grroarr!), have a drink and call it a day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 121:

10 hours of sleep got me back from 58% to 100%. Hmmm... has sleep-healing not been reduced after all? Today, I want to go after yesterday's wolf. Just in case, I'll take the rifle along. A quick inspection shows we now have an "actions" button where the rifle can be unloaded. Nice addition. Peeking outside, I see fog and wind, so back to bed for another hour. After that it's clear, -6°C and 11 hours of daylight left. Time to move. The wolf is lying on the ice some way off towards Misantrope's. The wolves ususally patrolling between the two islands seem to be still in bed, so I run over and harvest the carcass (only 3.1 kg of meat). When I have finished, fog has fallen. Dang! Should I try and head back to Jackrabbit Island in this weather? What if I stumble upon wolves? I try anyway and make it without incidents, almost missing the island. Back home in the house, I see that guts and hides seem to "cure" by lying around on the floor. OK, let them cure.

[fast forward: I continue playing at v236...]

Leaving the house, I check the corpse behind Jackrabbit Island and see something black on the ice next to it - a crow feather. This is new! From the forums I know we can now craft bows & arrows now, and the description for the feather says it's used to make arrows. Then over to Misantrope's. While climbing the slope up towards the house, I hear a familiar growl. I have my rifle drawn, but can't make out where the wolf is approaching from, so I get jumped and have to fight. The injured wolf runs off towards Jackrabbit's, I patch myself up and realize I am down to 63%. Better get into that house now... oh no, another wolf is barking me up! Fortunately, I manage to slip inside just in time.

I loot the place, finding quite a bit of food in the kitchen (also a cooked fish in the oven, hadn't had that before). This is most welcome, since I am hungry and will stay here for one night to heal. And that's what I do...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 122:

Getting up at dawn, I realize my framerates are pretty bad (some 10-14 inside the house). I know this phenomenon from real life, but I am certain my avatar didn't drink last night, so I'm unsure what's up. Maybe my forcing DX9 has something to do with it? Anyway, I peek outside and see that a) the sun is not up yet and b) a wolf is patrolling right in front of the door. So back to bed for 2 more hours and peek again... seems clear, weather is fine... time to move.

I return to Jackrabbit Island, looking for yesterday's wolf, but strangely can't find it. I watch another wolf patrolling between the two islands chase down a rabbit, but keep my distance. While searching for yesterday's wolf behind Jackrabbit Island, something weird happens: I see a wolf running more or less along the same path I came. Hmmm... is it the one which chased the rabbit a minute ago? But it caught the rabbit and should still be eating it. And why is it running along where I walked? It couldn't possibly have smelt me, the distance was too great. Or is it running away from something? The question becomes less interesting as the wolf approaches and sees me, as it veers towards me and is up to no good. I light a flare (waste, waste!) to chase it away and return to the rabbit to check if it really was THAT wolf. Seems it was, the rabbit still has meat on it, so the meal was not finished. I harvest it (rabbit now has 1 gut, that's another novelty) and go to the other side of Jackrabbit (where the upturned red boat is). There I find no wolves, but another abandoned rabbit (strange, strange), which I harvest. Then I return to my base (house on Jackrabbit) to dump my loot.

The rest of the day is spent cooking meat and producing water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 123:

In the early morning, it's +5°C and clear outside. I want to raid the Coastal Townsite today, so I run over. Careful now, careful... had too many wolf encounters in Coastal Townsite, so I take it slow... come around the back, loot two cars and get myself inside the gas station. Some goodies to be had here - food, a hatchet (hidden well under tires), some rifle rounds (love the way they are now hidden in various places, one really needs the lamp to find them), a firestriker and - befitting a gas station - scrap metal.

Then I approach the workbench for some info. Aha - apart from various bow & arrow stuff we can now craft deerskin pants. This is good to know, since I have been running around without pants for quite a while (jeans gave in long ago). I need to cure leather though, so no pants crafting yet.

Thinking a little bit, I decide to open up a second base in the gas station. I leave some of the non-degradable stuff spread out on the floor, some excess clothes in a locker and the food in the shelves and coolers untouched. Just now there were 9 hours of daylight left, but as I want to leave, a blizzard starts outside. I sleep hour-wise until it dies down. With 5 hours of daylight left, I intend to leave through the back door, but get chased back numerous times by wolves. Finally, I make it to the next house (away from the road) and am forced to spend the night there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 124:

Interesting... after 10 hours of sleep I am confronted with 14 hours of daylight. I remember there was a change from 14 to 12 daylight hours not long ago. Has this been reversed? Why? It seemed more realistic to have less daylight hours in winter. Strangely, there also seems to be a lot of daylight inside the house this early in the morning. I loot another house, but soon realize that further looting does not really make any sense at the moment - I have everything I need and discovering further matches will only start their degradation.

Checking my deerskin boots, I now need "cured deer hide" and "cured guts" to repair them. I harvest an excess pair of regular boots, which yields "cured leather". Can I use this to repair the deerskin boots? Apparently not. Hmmm... so what is this "cured leather" now good for? We'll see...

I take a peek into the house up the slope behind Coastal Townsite, but do not open any containers, just collect a box of rifle rounds lying around openly. I guess I want to repair my crafted clothes and craft the new deerskin pants next, so I need to collect some deerskin & guts and cure them. Returning onto the ice, I first harvest a ravaged deer carcass near the jetty of Coastal Townsite, then I see something lying on the ice near Misantrope's and venture over there. Hm, a dead wolf... now how did this happen? Anyway, I harvest it (carefully, since 3 wolves are patrolling the area) and - being heavily encumbered - take a break in a nearby fishing hut. I have no bedroll with me and have to move on, but I really should leave some stuff here to collect it later. It's going to be heavies - the rifle, the crowbar, a toolbox I found in Coastal Townsite, some water and spare clothes. The raw meat from the deer and wolf goes with me, let's hope it doesn't attract any wolves... which it does. I keep enough distance between me and another three wolves patrolling between the two islands, but two of them suddenly go after a rabbit and one of them veers over to me. I manage distract him with 1 kg of venison.

Back at Jackrabbit's I drop my loot (living room floor is full of animail hides by now), do some cooking and call it a day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 125:

I set out to collect my stuff from the fishing hut where I left it yesterday. On the way back to Jackrabbit's, I chase a deer into the wolves between the two islands. Harvesting it proves difficult, but I pull it off without getting into a fight. I return to base loaded with venison and frozen down to 59%. The rest of the day is dedicated to foraging for wood and cooking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 126:

I find out that in the repair menue for clothes, there is not any indication anymore whether or not a sewing kit is needed for that. However, a simple test reveals it is still needed: If I drop my sewing kits, repairing my toque becomes impossible, even if I have spare cloth. This may be extremely confusing for some players and must be changed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Days 127-135:

This time is spent looting the map a bit and venturing over to Coastal Townsite to craft the deerskin pants. They warm my butt quite well. The game has become a bit easier... again. The only other remarkable thing is that I got the Happy Harvester achievement at some point. Now the only achievement I am still lacking is One with Nature...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A la orden, senhorita!

Day 150:

Still based on Jackrabbit Island, I did not exert myself much since day 135. Got a free deer once when one of my hunting experiments worked out perfectly: Managed to steer a deer into a wolf just so that the wolf brought it down on Jackrabbit Island. The wolf then ran for a rabbit that was unlucky enough to hop around close by and left the whole deer lying around for me. No bullet used, no flare or torch, no handfight. At some point I ventured to Quonset Gas Station to craft 10 snares and bring them back to Jackrabbit's, so now rabbit has been added to my diet. I will eat some fresh rabbit meat from last night's catch raw every morning, grroarrr! Only got sick once from it - have to keep an eye on how often that happens.

Around day 145 the game was updated to v243. I have the impression that average temperatures have dropped since then, but I might be wrong. Also met a wolf which was grey instead of black. Nice. Today, I ventured to Commuter's Lament and found some Green Birch Saplings there. They are now curing away on the floor in my base. Guess I can use them to craft something, maybe a bow or arrows.

Things are looking good. Got all crafted clothes in good condition. Got the bearskin bedroll. Lots of stuff. And 36 kg of assorted food in the fridge. Still have to loot some parts of CH. At some point, I will move on to PV just to experience something different again...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 156:

I get complacent, and that is always dangerous in TLD. Running down the hill from the cabin on Jackrabbit Island with the intention of taking a trip to Quonset Gas Station (do some crafting), I am suddenly barked up by a wolf. I can't see where it is coming from, so I drop a decoy and scramble back up the hill. I then turn around to check the situation and realize I was being pursued by two wolves. One is already eating the decoy, but the second one is coming for me. I drop a second decoy, but the wolf doesn't go for it and jumps me instead. I fight it of and am down to 73% condition. I slip back into the cabin to patch myself up, rest for an hour and then go back out again to collect my wolfskin...

First, I find a dead rabbit with the meat still on it. Aha - two wolves pursued the rabbit up here, cuaght it and then went for me. That's how it happened. I distracted the first wolf with the decoy. The second wolf disregarded the decoy, because it presumably was the one which brought down the rabbit and was agroed away from it by my presence. Makes sense.

However... I don't find my wolfskin. This is strange, as I would expect the wolf to have bled out during my 1 hour rest and be lying around on the ice. However, all wolves are patrolling in full force - three on either side of the island. No wolf missing. And interestingly, the wolf's blood trail (which was there at first) has disappeared, but my own hasn't. Strange. I feel betrayed somehow, no amount of searching reveals a wolf carcass...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Day 162:

With 35 kg of food in the fridge and fully stocked on everything else as well, I am still based on Jackrabbit Island. My last trip to the coast has finally gotten me some maple wood. Now I have everything to make a bow & arrows... let's see if I like it.

Saw some subtle changes in the menues, eg the time for curing stuff is now indicated. That's good. However, in the fire starting menue, I can't see the condition of my different matches anymore. That's bad. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 170:

Finally, I got around to crafting two bows and three arrows. The description of the bow says it's capable of taking down small game. However, testing it reveals it is capable of taking down bigger game - one shot to the snout and a wolf goes down. It's practically as good as the rifle. I think the rifle should be a lot stronger. But then, I think this way because I think this should be a game where you eventually die. As things are, you can practically live forever.

My bow and three arrows suffice to depopulate Coastal Townsite of wolves. I use the decoy method to take aim. Only once does a wolf run off wounded, taking my arrow with it. I give pursuit and encounter the magic "disappearing wolf" - the bloodstains stop right on the ice, no carcass anywhere. I head back to Coastal Townsite in hopes of finding the dead wolf rematerializing there, but no luck. Would be interesting to know why wolves disappear this way... my theory is that they dematerialize when they exceed a certain distance from the player. I actually watched this happen once: Saw a wolf pursue a deer behind Jackrabbit Island (I was standing on its top near the house). Both ran off into the distance, and suddenly the wolf disappeared into thin air, and the deer changed from running to walking again, turning around and walking towards its usual "patrol route". I presumed that the wolf cannot exist beyond y certain distance from the player, while the deer can.

I also realized that the arrows deteriorate when used. They can be retrieved, but I lost another arrow when I shot it into a wolf while the arrow was at 33% condition. Arrow disappeared and apparently took the arrow head with it. Hmmm... does that mean we should harvest arrows once they drop below 40% or something?

Anyway, a deer carcass and three wolf carcasses are lying around the town now, and I am free to walk around for the first time since I can remember. I'm on the lookout for the bear, but it's not to be essen at the moment. Good.

With now two bases (Jackrabbit Island and Quonset Gas Station), I am well stocked on everything. Things are looking good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 173:

On day 171, having returned to my base on Jackrabbit Island, I finally spot the wolf which made off with one of my arrows. I have made it my habit to step out of the front door in the morning and take a look around (if the weather allows it). And what's that - a tiny speck on the ice near log sort? Investigating, I find it is the "missing wolf" - and my arrow is lying right next to it. The meat is down to 7% condition, but I manage to cook and eat it without getting dysentery. Waste not, want not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 178:

I spent some days chilling on Jackrabbit Island, catching the occasional rabbit and eating through my slowly-decaying food. On day 178, I have eaten all meat (except for some scraps, which I keep as decoys) and anything under 40% condition. There is not much left now, and I leave for my second base, Quonset Gas Station. There is some meat left there from the wolf carnage I invoked when testing the bow in Coastal Village. I might also do some exploring up into the mountains where the lookout and some trailers still await my visit. The house on Jackrabbit Island remains stocked with everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Day 188:

On entering Coastal Townsite, I saw a wolf take down a deer. Trying to get a better overview, I provoked the wolf (brought down the deer nearer than expected, just behind a little ridge) and had to use a flare. So what, I have several left. Anyway, this little interlude provided me with even more meat. I then spent the days eating through my food in the Quonset Gas Station, mending some clothes and crafting new snares & arrows. I discover an error in arrow crafting: If I carry used arrows, any new arrows created will assume the same condition instead of 100%. I think this has been reported before...

Well, now I am down to some cans and Granola bars. I could return to Jackrabbit Island to get the "remaining" 12 days done... or make a run for PV. The latter seems more exciting. Hope I don't blow it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Day 201:

Made it to PV and the Farmstead without incidents of mention. I then put the 6 snares I brought along to use. Also hunted two deer. Then the inevitable wandering calorie bomb came to my doorstep and left me with another 30 kg of meat. From then on, I just spent my days inside, eating, drinking and sleeping. After day 200, the One with Nature achievement pops up.

The race appointed I have run,

the deed is done, the prize is won.

(From an inscription on a tombstone at the old international cemetery in Nagasaki)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.