Inconsistencies/problems with rope.

[Jakub-urw]

I’m a new player, looking for some help. I’ve found myself in a situation where I want to start smoking meat (fish mostly). In order to craft a rope (which is required to smoke meat as far as I know) you need leather. In order to get leather, you need to hunt. In order to hunt (effectively) you need a bow, and in order to get a bow you need rope (or leather I don’t remember).
Am I the only one who finds this a huge problem? In order to get leather you allready need leather. This is a huge problem for my hermit character living far from nearby towns. Is there another way to get a bow/rope?

[caethan]

In the base (unmodded) game, the only way to get cordage is from hides (fur or leather) or by tearing up clothing.  As you say, it gives you something of a catch-22.  That said, there's ways to get hides without a bow:

• If it's late spring or summer, just tear up your excess clothing.  Big old fur overcoat?  Don't need it in the summer, use it for cords.  Just make sure you replace it by winter.
• When the water is clear, persistence hunting of game along riverbanks or large lakes is quite effective.  Chase game to the water's edge, then follow them along the edge until they're exhausted.  The riverbank makes it much easier to follow them, and they're likely to run back and forth repeatedly along the bank.  Once they're exhausted, throw rocks at them or just hit them over the head with your axe.
• Javelin hunting is fairly effective - slightly lower range than a bow, but still works OK.
• Trapping can get you small game quite effectively and early with light lever traps.  Two bird hides is a cord.  Even just keeping an eye out for squirrels, chasing them into trees, and throwing rocks at them can get you a cut and a small hide.  Big pit traps with a trap fence works well for elk or forest reindeer, but takes a lot of time to prepare.
• There's a number of mods that add some sort of way to make low-quality cordage in the early game.  My self-sufficiency mod lets you soak branches to soften them and twist them into cords.  There's others that let you twine birch bark, or use spruce twigs, etc. for preserving meat.  If you really want to be an independent hermit I think some modding is really necessary - otherwise you have no way of getting metal objects or quite a lot of clothing.

[Jakub-urw]

Interesting. I’ll keep javelins in mind. I didn’t realize you could make a ranged weapon without ropes! Thanks lot, and I’ll look into the self-sufficiency mod. Recently I wanted to add it to my game but I think I downloaded some old version which didn’t work.

Thanks for the advice, I’ve recently finished my timber hut and I’ve been hunting some squirrels by throwing stones at them (I know, very stone-age of me). My main source of food is fish but that never lasts, so I’m going to start hunting bigger game using the javelins you recommended. Last question, is there an easier way of finding/encountering animals? For me it takes a few days of traveling just to find a squirrel, and when I finally encountered an elk it run away faster than I could take one step to the right xD.

[Privateer]

Cord is what you use.

[Jakub-urw]

Making cords requires cloth, which is probably harder than hunting for fur.

[PALU]

Cord can be made from leather and hide, as well as clothes. Don't use ropes unless the recipe calls for it, as it requires a lot more resources and is overkill for a lot of uses. Note that using cords (or rope) for drying and smoking destroys the cord, so don't waste precious resources on it (presumably juices get into the cord, making it stiff and brittle so it can't be reused).
Hunting birds with rocks can help you early on. Light lever traps can be built to catch birds that give a rather small amount of leather and a small amount of food for a lot of work, but it's part of my starting strategy.
One problem with javelin hunting is that it hurts the hide quite a lot, but that's a small problem early on when the hide working skill is poor (so the damage doesn't matter, as you can't make better hides anyway).
Endurance hunting is my main active hunting strategy (I mostly use passive hunting, i.e. traps), i.e. keep following the animal using tracking and try to get it to run back and forth along a river (as mentioned).

For future gameplay questions, there's a sub forum for that purpose.

[koteko]

Light lever traps can be built to catch birds that give a rather small amount of leather and a small amount of food for a lot of work, but it's part of my starting strategy.

Just want to highlight this part for @Jakub-urw. This strategy works very well! Light lever traps can be made without needing an axe or even a knife. Bait them with any berry you find and if you can also with turnips, meat and fish (all raw, nothing cooked).

You can catch birds, hares, ermines/weasels and, to my surprise, even small foxes! (caught one today)

I usually place 4-5 of them around my chosen spot for shelter and cellar (make one to avoid the food spoiling too soon). You'll get plenty of prey.

[Jakub-urw]

Thank you all for the tips and tricks.
When I get back on my laptop I’ll make sure to fire it up and follow your instructions. I hope I can survive the winter that I’m preparing for!

Thanks again!

[Dungeon Smash]

i find the lack of cordage in the base game odd as well.  maybe it's a finnish thing, but here in the US one of the first things we learn at bushcraft or survival schools is how to make basic cordage from grass, bark, etc.  I usually play with mods for that reason.  Caethan's self sufficiency mod is what i'm currently using and it works well,  buiodda's mod is also excellent.

[koteko]

i find the lack of cordage in the base game odd as well.  maybe it's a finnish thing, but here in the US one of the first things we learn at bushcraft or survival schools is how to make basic cordage from grass, bark, etc.  I usually play with mods for that reason.  Caethan's self sufficiency mod is what i'm currently using and it works well,  buiodda's mod is also excellent.

I think it might be to add a bit of difficulty to the middle game, eg after you've learnt the ropes and won't die within an hour of playing.

I've had to increase the effort of several modding recipes to make sure I didn't spoil myself, especially regarding cords (now that I make them from branches, I can sell every fur..) and clay stuff (clay pots.. so I don't have to go around looking for a very expensive pot), but also clothes (I can make a few important woollen clothes by using any scrap wool I find, and now the coldest winter doesn't scare me anymore, nor am I encumbered).

To strike the right balance is hard.