Speed of travel; Calorie consumption load and temp effects.

[SteveP]

Has anyone measured how fast the player can move on level ground at a walking pace? I'm assuming that in the coordinate system, each unit corresponds to one meter; is that about right?

Let me explain why I wonder about this: it's for planning for extended trips that need a lot of food or wood.

The minimum we can rest and regain strength is to sleep one hour. That loss of an hour might have been better to use to double back and return with more stuff if making an expedition? Walking certainly uses more calories up than sleeping so it would be interesting to check the detail statistics frequently to figure out the additional calories needed for carrying extra weight. I bet it is linear with weight.

calorie rate = base rate + load carried * load carry factor

ambient temperature might affect calorie burn rate too. It's good to have extra warmth above the basic stay above freezing temperature! I think it also affects healing as well as strength recovery and stamina.

Another point to consider is that even though the distance is only a few hundred meters travel on the map which amounts to only a minute or two of foot travel, that the game clock moves 12 times faster than real time. It means that effectively we are twelve times slower for a given distance of walking on the map. It's the same problem as with model trains; we compress time for the sake of simulating greater distance.

It all sounds a bit involved; almost like planning base camps for an assault up Everest! [glow=red]Thankfully the summit can be attained in 12 hours I would wager!! Any takers on the challenge?[/glow]

[Jolan]

Something else to consider on your summit challenge - I've noticed that walking speed seems to be effected by wind.  Walking into the wind slower walking with the wind faster.  

[LucidFugue]

On ‎26‎/‎12‎/‎2015 at 11:02 PM, SteveP said:

Let me explain why I wonder about this: it's for planning for extended trips that need a lot of food or wood.

The minimum we can rest and regain strength is to sleep one hour. That loss of an hour might have been better to use to double back and return with more stuff if making an expedition? [/glow]

I'm not sure I'm following your logic. There are a lot of variables to consider when setting out on an expedition in order to maximise the distance you can cover.

1. Temperature

If you have sufficient clothing to travel for an extended period of time without needing shelter (e.g. from midday till dusk you are above zero or close enough that you won't freeze for hours, and indoor environments will quickly thaw you out), it is better to pack less firewood and more food/water. That way you can journey for longer, and by the time you want to stop for a rest, you can top off your hunger/thirst and use the carrying capacity to gather firewood (if needed) for safe sleeping. Conversely, if you're going to only be out for an hour before you need shelter and fire, you'll likely be sprinting between windbreaks and getting to the next cave/house, and will need more firewood so you can rest up safely.

You can trade condition by freezing somewhat, but you consume more calories while freezing, so this is not recommended.

2. Food scarcity

If there is wildlife in the area you're moving to, you can skimp on food and plan to harvest as you go. Similar to carrying little firewood, this is a good way of minimising the amount you are carrying to maintain stamina. If the place has no wildlife, or you don't have the appropriate tools to hunt/harvest, you'll need to take all the supplies you'll use to get you there.

You can trade condition by rationing your food (starvation method), but obviously that's dangerous if there are other condition draining issues involved in the journey. I tend to only make this decision if I have <1000 calories left and it will be difficult to hunt anything for the next 24 hours.

3. Necessary equipment

Shedding extra pounds is easy when you start planning this way. You don't need a can opener. You don't need to lug around a set of quality tools. You don't need a prybar (unless you're making an expedition to a man-made structure likely to have locked cabinets). You can fill up your lantern and stash all the extra fuel, or ditch the lantern and rely on torches. You can ditch torches and resolve to start a fire when you need them - particularly if you're not going spelunking. Sharpen your tools before you go and leave the whetstone behind. Mend your clothing/bedroll and carry only half a dozen cloth pieces for emergencies. If you're not fishing, leave the tackle at home. Carry 2-3 old man's beard bandages and ditch the antiseptic.

 

Doubling back is a waste of time and energy. It happens sometimes, you set out and within the first hour a blizzard is setting in, suddenly you're going to freeze within the next hour or two, and even if you wait it out it'll be dark and you can't travel easily, which means you'll be stuck where you are till morning, when you might get 2 hours travel in if it's not too windy.

If you want to do a fastest summit run, then it probably depends on difficulty. Pilgrim you could just run up there. Stalker, I'd say the best bet would be finding a hacksaw, and making a beeline for the clothing crate. That tends to hand you 3-5 pieces of high grade clothing, which will make doing anything else much easier. You might be able to make it all the way to the summit just with that, if you're gathering sticks, boiling water in caves, and surviving on food you find on corpses along the way.