melcantspell

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Everything posted by melcantspell

  1. I am excited about the new update, thanks for the hard work you put into this lovely game. Just one small wish: would it be possible for you to share updates / new content in a short, high level text description as well? Nothing against the videos - I bet they are super well made, but I had to click away as soon as I noticed that it would be a big spoilerfest, and I really don't want to explore TLD thinking "ah, here is what they showed in the video, looks familiar." It would be awesome to have a rough idea what is in a new update while still being able to explore yourself. Edited to add: maybe that already exists - I would appreciate if somebody could point me to it. Thanks
  2. I totally believe that this may be correct. I think this is a confirmation bias thing - you see crows a lot, and the weather changes a lot as well. Still, as a reminder about potential weather changes I find the crows useful. They do have this "reminder" function in general to me. Whenever I hear crows, I focus my attention on them - is it a bear? a corpse? Or just crows flying above my head? If it is the latter, it forces me to look at the sky more closely, thus making me aware of any weather changes, even if there is no direct correlation to the crows.
  3. My top 3 tips for playing interloper: - DO NOT RUSH. Walking slowly makes less noise and allows you to plan your next steps. If you get surprised by anything - especially if it puts you in danger - hit the escape key, sit back and think about your options before making your next move. Playing slowly makes the game a lot easier. - BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS. You can avoid wildlife completely if you listen to your surroundings. You can hear wolves, bears, deer and rabbits. You can hear the crows that announce weather changes, the wind picking up etc. Listening to all these cues helps so much. It also helps to aim for higher elevation levels when planning your travel routes. This will allow you to see your surroundings better. Is there a hill in front of you, and you don't know what is behind it? Do not walk the straight line. Circle it and try to get on higher ground so you can see any possible predators early on. But listening is the most underrated skill in TLD, it helps so much if you really tune in to the sounds of your environment. - BE MINDFUL OF WHAT YOU REALLY NEED. Resources are scarce in interloper, so it is key not to waste them. Do you really need to cook today, when it is overcast and will cost you a match? Or could you wait until tomorrow and use the magnifying lens if the weather is clear? If you plan to cook tomorrow using the magnifying lens, maybe you should hunt today so you have enough meat to prepare etc. Avoiding wildlife attacks helps to save a lot of resources too. Oh, and it is easier to collect a lot of sticks and keep the fire going than to find new matches. Enjoy
  4. I do think this is a frequent occurence in TLD - I found a lot of ropes in all the maps that I could not find a purpose for. I always made sure to haul them "somewhere safe", in case I need it later. I guess once or twice I have actually come back to that place later and hauled ropes across the maps when I was missing one. It makes for an interesting decision ... ropes are heavy, but immensely useful IF you need them ...and you never know when (or where) you will need them
  5. Yes, that's what I did - made a fire in the shed and cooked some water to pass time quicker without actually saving the game (yes, this IS cheating. I only did it this time because the game cheated on me as well with resetting the bear when I had gone inside ... so I guess I considered this a fair exception). AND after 2 hours the journal told me that the bear had died. I am happy that my game will not end here (I haven't seen much of Ash Canyon yet ;)), but I am also happy that this has been so intense. That's exactly what I like about TLD.
  6. @gotmilkanot That is SO cool and helpful! Thank you. This might save many virtual lives BTW just after writing my last post, I got one lucky shot in - the bear did not charge right away, but ran away instead. I carefully crawled to the shed once the distance was reasonable. Now I shot the bear for the third time and there are no blood stains on the ground, but I did see the arrow in his shoulder - will it bleed out anyway?
  7. I am right here on what looked like a perfectly bear-safe edge (behind me on the right is the bear den, and in front of me a little to the left, Miner's Folly). Only it seems it isn't so bear-safe? I don't dare to really wait what happens, but once I shoot the bear he runs straight at me, always, so he might have a path up there? (I would really like to know, only I am pretty sure I would not survive the mauling). Has anybody tested this before, can the bear come up here? I have tried to shoot him many times now in hope of a rare, lucky one-shot kill, which of course won't happen. Thanks for the tip with the outdoor shed. Which difficulty do you play on? It's hard for me to believe the bear will not run straight into the shed if he runs straight to me while I stand on that cliff (although it is of course not unreasonable to expect that a bear could get up there in real life). Right now, I don't really know how to get there (bear will attack me on sight if I just wait on the cliff until it gets to its den, so I can't just wait and try to make it to the shed). On the other hand, it's nice to see how quickly I got myself in a very intense situation on that new map. I just don't want to lose my character after having landed 2 pretty good shots into him already (I am sure that going indoors reset the bear).
  8. I've finally taken my 230 d Stalker survivor to Ash Canyon. I was so looking foward to finally feeling like the first time I played TLD. No spoilers, no idea what I was going to get myself into .. just exploring a completely unknown map. It's been great fun so far. Then I got steamrolled by 3 blizzards in 2 days and had to shelter in place in the mountains, eating up all the food that I had brought and found on my way. Looking in the distance, I spot a deer carcass and head over there. Pretty disappointing: the deer was quite obviously eaten by a hungry bear, and the leftovers are pretty sparse. That's it, I am going to shoot the bear with my rifle, I think I saw him just behind that corner. And the next moment he is mauling my face (I must have overlooked the path he took, I had not seen him coming at all.) There goes my rabbit hat, my mittens, my deer boots ... I survive, but my clothes are trash. Oh and he wrecked the rifle. So now I had no food, shabby clothes, no rifle, snow was falling and wind was blowing. I bandaged my wounds and waited until the blizzard past. Or should I say blizzards, because there were 2 in days. I am now still at Miner's Folly, and I am starving. I know where the bear is, but I have not found a good spot to take him out. I am pretty sure I would not survive another mauling. I have shot the bear twice after the initial attempt (once with the revolver and once with the bow ... both were counted as hits in the journal ... but the bear did not bleed out. Probably because I hid inside the house which might have caused the bear to reset?), with no luck. Any tips are very welcome. I really do not want to starve to death right next to 30kg of bear meat, if it can be avoided
  9. I get the confusion. Usually when you start a new game, you are excited to learn what it is about, to step by step learn how it goes etc. You know what your quest is about, and you start working on tasks. The Long Dark is different, because there is no quest, except the idea that you can survive the cold and wilderness - how you do it, and how you spend your time and resources, that is totally up to you. I remember how confusing that felt at first, but it is the best part of the game. The solitude may seem boring at first, but once you explore more, you will know that it is not.
  10. Definitely Broken Railroad. The only real shelter there is the Hunting Lodge, and although it is quite convenient (rabbits just outside the door, stealth-kill the bear, moose in your front yard etc.) it gets incredibly boring very quickly. That happens with all shelters, of course, but other shelters have surroundings you can explore in day trips. BR is the end of the world. At least, for now it is. Right next to the Lodge, there are a few dark rocky cliffs that seem to beg for a cave system to be put there ... at least, that is what I hope
  11. As of now, I think that is a pretty easy question: Bleak Inlet, because it has more predators than other regions (Timberwolves) and allows for less flexibility in your strategies (you need to prepare to fight and you have to access the locations in a certain order & wait for the aurora, so your shelters are harder to plan as well). That being said, I really hope that when Hinterland announced that Timberwolves might spread to other regions, it means that things will even out just a little bit. I totally do not know how to deal with Timberwolves and I find it hard to learn it, since it takes so long to prepare for the journey to Bleak Inlet, and then I always die in the first fight. So for now, I avoid BI for the first few hundred days and only go there when I am mentally prepared to die.
  12. Obviously I can't speak for Hinterland, but in general it is a good idea to file a bug report even if you think that somebody else had already posted the same issue. it could be that during investigation it turns out not to be the exact same issue looking at several reports usually helps to identify the root cause more quickly (I know that TLD players seem to be a lot more loyal, so I don't think this is an issue here, but) in general it is a good idea to not assume that a report has already been filed.
  13. The very same thing happened to me in the exact same spot!
  14. I am not a doctor but in my opinion getting the insulin makes sense from a survival perspective. There are several injured and sick people that Father whatshisnameagainsorryIforgot has to care for. Survival chances increase if there are people to help with the necessary tasks (get firewood, hunt for food, cook up water etc.) Assumed that the diabetic isn't heavily injured and "just" needs the insulin, getting the insulin for him and thus enabling him to support the cleric (even if it's just for a limited period of time) will increase survival chances for everyone. It might even allow him to "go and get help", and maybe even medical care ... Edited to add: I also think there should be a timer, or at least it should have consequences if you don't hurry to get that mission done.
  15. I think your idea is great for a survival game with similar mechanics like TLD, but with a different atmosphere / backstory. Maybe let's take it one step back. Animals were domesticated because they followed humans around for food. That took a VERY long time, and it's not very likely this will happen in the lifespan of a grown, individual wild animal. But it would be so cool if meat that is kept outside actually attracted wolves (or bears?) from a wide range (without the option of taming them). Mix that with the new rule that meat that is not frozen (=kept inside) will spoil completely and not be brought up to 50% by cooking, and it could be a nice addition to balance out the food storage options we currently have (meaning: food kept inside will spoil quicker, if it's down to 0% it's rotten and you can't eat it anymore; food that is kept outside will "freeze" and keep for a long time, but attract wild animals. Could even make the new stone storage more useful if stone storage prevents meat from attracting animals)
  16. While Coastal Highway is not exactly my favorite region, I find it to be one of the easiest regions for long-term survival in Stalker. IMHO, The key is to NOT choose one long-term base, but use all of them. The distances are quite short, so it is often easy to outrun a wolf or bear, if you are not carrying too much weight (which you don't need to, since your stuff is spread nicely between a dozen bases. The only things you need to carry are matches (the weather is usually great, so you can often use the magnifying lens), weapons (preferably the bow) and bandages. It doesn't hurt to take a flare or two, just to feel safer, but I find that I rarely use them. I usually don't stay at a base for more than a 1-2 nights in CH. If your base is "everywhere", it is rather easy to avoid wolf-infested areas. Just don't go there for a day or two
  17. I play standard Stalker, no customized settings. Thanks for your thoughts, Gun Tech. Yep, I agree, risking life in a perma-death game because you don't know the mechanics doesn't feel very helpful. Especially since it is kinda hard leaning the mechanics that way. I can't even remember what I had done wrong the last time, as soon as I get another chance. I definitely suck at aiming, probably need to train this a lot more (I am used to playing Interloper, avoiding wolves as much as possible). Would you actually recommend making a fire after Timberwolves have already attacked? Also, will avoid tactics work with Timberwolves in any way (I haven't found one that works so far, but maybe there is one), or do I always have to shoot them?
  18. Just want to add - I actually DO enjoy the region. I feel it just sucks that all my good runs end there instantly. I do enjoy a challenge and I will definitely try again someday. The bummer with BI is, you can't really go there in the beginning of a game. So, you spend so many hours with that run, and get used to it, and then - bam - it just explodes into thin air. I literally spent less than 15 real life minutes in BI this evening until my run was deleted because I bled to death on my very first encounter with the wolves. How can I best prepare for this? I was thinking "play more stalker" (instead of interloper), so I can get used to more wolves, but stalker is not a problem at all. It's the timberwolves, I do not know how to handle them. How can I best learn that, without sacrificing 150 day runs (it was the 2nd time tonight, really hurts)?
  19. I just died on day 152 in my best Stalker game so far. Had it easy from day 1 (hadn't played Stalker in a while, it was a blast!), wasn't ever below 90% health. I spent 152 days all across the maps, in HRV, Timberwolf Mountain, Pleasant Valley, Forlorn Muskeg, Milton, Mystery Lake, anywhere. I shot 10 bears, a few moose, life was good. I had weapons galore. Then I was like - hey, let's give Bleak Inlet another try. I was there only once in a previous game, and made it to the cannery, but then I died on my way back to the next region, so my memories for that region were bittersweet. I went there on day 151, and made it to the lighthouse / radio tower in the evening. Spent the night there. Didn't have a second rope, so headed back to the ravine the next morning. Ran into timberwolves, which I shot repeatedly with my revolver until I died on the icy lake between the ravine and the radio tower. Really? I know I am the one to blame here, but I am not sure what exactly I am doing wrong here. Obviously I don't insta-kill the wolves. But when being attacked by 5 timberwolves, how can I make sure to instakill them? The bar was almost all the way down. I would have needed one more shot. If only I hadn't died quicker than that. ONE battle with the wolves. On day 152. Geez, that really sucks. I am very disappointed, not with the game, but with myself. I must be doing something VERY wrong with these timberwolves. please help me. One day I would like to go back to Bleak Inlet, and maybe even enjoy the region.
  20. Nevermind, I just managed to map the crashed plan icon. In case anybody else is as well struggling: you need to stay on the upper level, go as far to the right as you can, then step as close to the cliff as possible. I just mapped from this position and the icon finally showed up (after about 50 tries, spending a blizzard outside in the cold, and lighting fires whenever there was not too much wind ;))
  21. Is the icon for the crashed plane in Mountain Town still necessary for the achievement? I have tried like 25 times now to map it, but I can't get that icon to show up on my map.
  22. I just died on day 5 of my luckiest Stalker run ever. Spawned in Broken Railroad, first item I found was a crowbar. Made it to the cabin. Found 2 maple, killed a few rabbits, harvested some deer, found a revolver, lots of matches and even ammo. Oh, and a Cowichan sweater. I also found a bow and 2 arrows (1 of them broken), which I used to one-shot the bear below the ridge. Incredibly lucky, actually that was way too easy. It was a bad omen that the bear still made growling sounds even after it fell to the ground. Stupid as I was, I ignored it, thinking it was a glitch. Having climbed down the rope I immediately wanted to harvest the bear - and then it attacked me. OK, I guess that made sense, even a dying bear can be extremely dangerous. I barely survived, cared for my wounds and slept in the nearby cave. Investigating the hunter's blind I found a hunting knife. After recovering from the attack (which had completely wrecked my wool hat and sneakers), I spent the next days harvesting the bear, climbing up and down the rope, leaving the intestines and bear meat down in the valley. On day 5 I was starving, so I took 2 pieces of bear meat. Immediately after climbing back up I was attacked by a wolf, which I fought off with the hunting knife. Only seconds after the first attack, another wolf attacked me, there was no chance I could reach the cabin. So I bled to death Lesson learned: Don't climb ropes carrying meat.
  23. I just had a wolf bark and growl at me, right behind Mountaineer's Hut (in the valley with the deer carcass). I never saw the wolf, just heard it coming closer (I mean, real close, so I backed away until I could hear that he went off into another direction). The very next day, exactly the same thing happens. Invisible wolf? Bug? Sound hallucination? Will keep on investigating PS: Interesting that it happened in Timberwolf Mountain for both of us, not exactly the same space, but very close by.
  24. OK so I am in a dire situation in Pleasant Valley. It's day 30ish in my newest Interloper run, and things were running smoothly until I made the stupid mistake to go visit PV. Oh well, here I am now. Since I almost starved to death 2 days ago I desperately had tried to hunt deer with my 3 arrows (still waiting for the saplings to cure in ML, so I can make more ... but that's a different story, for now I am really happy if I ever make it back there). To cut a long story short, I shot 2 deer in 48 ingame hours. Unfortunately I lost the blood spotted trail of the first one. Then a blizzard started to build and I was freezing quickly so I had to give up the search and make it back to the cabin. I got luckier with the 2nd deer on the next day, but now I would really like my arrow back, and for that I need to find that 1st deer. Do you have any tips on finding it? I have not seen or heard ANY crows in that region, so I have no clue where it might have gone. How many days until a deer disappears? Will blizzards make the deer disappear? If so, is there any chance I might still find that arrow, or would you recommend that I just give up the search and try to go for another deer before I hopefully have regained enough condition to head back to Mystery Lake ? I hit the first deer very close to Draft Dodger's Cabin, by the way I'll never make that mistake again, the place looks super nice, but deer can end up virtually everywhere there. I was really desperate though, so I might do the same if I ever got into the same situation again, haha. And on a sidenote : what's a good strategy to stock up on food in Interloper? Or how much food do you usully stock up before you feel it's safe enough to move on to another region?