"The Challenge"

[nekot]

"The Challenge" is simple:

Survive one winter!

But...

...under rules and terms listed below:

1) Character creation
-Custom
-Random culture
-Winter
-Do not re-roll your stats, go with first generated ones
-Improve any skills you like


2) Map generation
-You are lost, do not look where you start, it has to be random. Best you can do is close your eyes and press "r" for random starting location and then "e" for start.

3) Scenario and game course
-Hurt, helpless, and afraid (and naked, explained later)
-The UnReal World

4) Start
-As I said, you are naked, take all clothes off ("T" then "+" then press space)
-You have nothing with you, drop all items on ground ("d" then "+" then press space)
-Destroy all ("D" and keep confirming discard with Enter button until all is gone)
-Yes, you are naked and have nothing apart of will to survive (and few wounds to heal)

5) Rules
-Do not zoom out with Enter, do not even peek, you are lost, remember? Travel only on zoomed in map
-Do not use big map "F6"
-You can peek on a peak (you can use Enter to take a look around only when standing on top of the mountain but you cannot walk on zoomed out map), you can ignore this rule, but personally I think it's fair to take a look from top of mountain.
-If you get to village by any luck, you can start to travel on zoomed out map
-Survive whole winter
-Have fun!


"The Challenge" is doable, I've done well few times but died of my stupidity in half way through like:
-chased big game and get drown under broken ice
-frozen to death as were not enough lucky to get fire started, should have think about fire earlier
-attacked sleeping Njerpez and get killed - what a nightmare!!

Now I've got new char but it's carving for water and I cannot fine any.
I could give you few tips but I don't want to spoil your experience.

Please post below your stories if you ever dare to try "The Challenge".

Edit:
- do not use mods, you can have them, just don't use them during first winter.

(also edited point4.2 to clearly state that you start with nothing at all)

[LoLotov]

We need more of these...

[caius]

We need more of these...

I agree.  But...

Please post below your stories if you ever dare to try "The Challenge".

These stories should go in the Stories forum.  Possibly with Silenia's "Poems of the Fallen" as appropriate.

[Kiena]

Oh, this is fun!  Difficult, but fun.  What killed me in my first run (3 days) was actually lack of water - I landed in a coniferous forest, and never found anything but that, spruce mires, and heathland.  The heathland kept me alive for a little while - I found lingonberries - but they weren't enough to stave off dehydration (or starvation!), and once they ran out, it was over.  I didn't realize how hard it is to find water if you're only in a zoomed in map.  Right before I died, I zoomed out to see what was around, just for curiousity's sake, and there was a lake one tile over from where I started.  Ah, if only I had gone east instead of south!  There was nothing near where I died, though, not even an open mire.  (How I wish I could have collected snow!  Though that would have killed me from hypothermia, I suppose, since I wouldn't have anything to melt it in.)

Gonna give it another try!  Already learned some nice tricks.

Actually, question - do you get to keep your knife?

[nekot]

Actually, question - do you get to keep your knife?

Just for you - Poem hint:

Keeping your knife - too easy to play.
My answer is "No", and this what I say:

No items at all, but take a look around.
Many of them just lying on the ground.

Can't you see? They'll change your life
hit one with other to get...

Spoiler: show

Stone knife

Please post below your stories if you ever dare to try "The Challenge".

These stories should go in the Stories forum.  Possibly with Silenia's "Poems of the Fallen" as appropriate.

At least post links to them.

[LoLotov]

The lengthy story of trying should go in stories, but the challenge itself belongs here, as do any other challenges people can think of...

[Kiena]

*facepalm*  I knew about the axe, but not the knife.  That would have made my run much easier!!  Thank you so much.

Had a second try, this one went much, much better.  A couple of well-placed mountains got me to a set of villages, where I lucked out in getting a simple "gather branches" quest.  I traded the reward for a fishing pole, and since the village was very close to the sea, I trekked there every day to get food and slowly build up more trading items in exchange for cooked fish.  Alas, I wasn't fast enough to get clothing, and froze to death on day 23, on my way to the sea.  Just after trading for a proper knife, too.  (Though I suppose next time that won't be such a priority, thanks to your hint.)  I have to prioritize clothing sooner, I guess, on my third try!

[Plotinus]

When you peek on a peak, at the top of the map, it says something like:

Rumaotsa
"Ugly front"

No man's land
North of Koivula


Should I pretend I don't see that and continue in my chosen direction (or react to only things I can see on the map like a lake to the east) or can I head south to Koivula?

[nekot]

It's up to you.
I personally ignore that and do not read it. I just look on map itself and then decide where I go (like another mountain or anything that feeds character story).

[DfDevadander]

Just so you know: I gave this challenge a go, and posted my results in the Stories forum, where I've started a thread for people to post their stories after trying the challenge

[JEB Davis]

2) Map generation
-You are lost, do not look where you start, it has to be random. Best you can do is close your eyes and press "w" for random starting location and then "e" for start.

A minor note... should be "r" for random

[nekot]

  Thanks, will edit now.

[Plotinus]

It's up to you.
I personally ignore that and do not read it. I just look on map itself and then decide where I go (like another mountain or anything that feeds character story).

I can't really help reading it but I don't act on the information. I pick a rule like "go mostly south, but if i run into a tree, then go east to go around it" and then stick to that. If I notice that I'm just east of a cultural region when i zoom out then I act like my character doesn't know and still go moustly south with a little east even if I know it's taking me nowhere.

Some strategy thoughts:

Spoiler: show

South is the optimal direction by the way. Most of the rivers go mostly east-west. The only north-south ones are the ones between kaumo and reemi, so you're more likely to run into a river by going in a north-south direction. Since the "can stay zoomed out" condition is finding a village, it's easier to find a village in the south because you might find a field or a pasture and then you can do a search around that area until you find the village. In the north where there isn't agriculture then you could pass a single tile away from a village and never know it.

On the other hand, there are a lot more mountains in the north so you are more likely to be able to peek and find a village that way. On the third hand there aren't as many lakes in the north and very few rivers (except the one in kuikka territory). There are also fewer mires so you won't find as many berries or enough water to drink unless you were lucky enough to start within walking distance of the sea.

Pay attention to the way the ground slopes. If it is sloping down a lot it may be heading towards water. sloping up may be heading towards a mountain. Each tile type has its own natural elevation -- if you're in a heathland and the gruond is sloping up there is a lichenous pine forest (or better: hill, mountain) in that direction. if it's sloping down then likely a coniferous forest.

the elevations go:
water < open mire < pine mire < spruce mire < coniferous forest < heathland, field < lichenous pine forest < hill < mountain

i'm not sure exactly where settlement, bushes, grove, thicket, pasture, road go, but i think settlement is the same as heathland and the others are like spruce mire or coniferous forest. (you can tell by standing on one while zoomed out and noticing which tile types act as boundaries to your sight. if you can't see past them, they are the same level or higher).

And usually the slopes are gradual so mountains will be near hills and heathland will be surrrounded by coniferous forest which is surrounded by spruce mire.

Cloudberries and to a much lesser extent cranberries are worth your time. lingonberries are not worth your time. Cloudberries and cranberries are found in spruce mire, pine mire, open mire. Don't eat them to stave off hunger, you can survive a couple months without food and hopefully you will find a village by then. eat them to prevent dehydration. the game will give you a few warnings before you die of thirst so you can wait until the warnings start. Keep them for emergencies because you may yet find a lake if you keep going.

Light a fire whenever you're cool. If you're by a lake, walk around a little to see if there's a big tree trunk nearby. if so, drag it to the lake and push it onto the ice then pull it back onto land. it might fall through making a hole, saving you some work and giving you information about whether the ice is safe to walk on. Stay at the fire until you're sweaty because literal sweat isn't implemented yet, or stay until you're hot if you want realism. if when you walk away from the fire you are chilly again 20 steps later, make a club and do some fishing until it's warm enough to safely leave the fire.

A 3x3 square of burnt ashes with you resting in the middle is as good as a big tree trunk fire and only requires 9-27 branches or spruce twigs. (you need fewer if you light the fires near some trees and let the trees catch fire, too)

Drop a small pile of spruce twigs whenever you meet a lake, some lakes are shaped so that you can accidentally wind up going in circles around them forever. if you come across the spruce twig pile, you know this has happened to you and can start searching for a way out (travelling at night with a torch can help you spot a way you haven't explored yet that may lead to the way out.

I did try going west for a challenge (and it turned out i started near owl tribe). survived almost 2 months, then froze to death because the fire I was trying to light wouldn't light. I was south of sartola, having never been in a cultural region in the entire time. My current character is going south.


Do cliffs count as peaks for zooming out or only mountains?

[koteko]

I'm tempted to try this out seems very challenging! (heh)

[caethan]

I've been trying this out and found a very useful tip that I may have to try during normal gameplay:  using torches to carry fire with you as you travel.  Lighting a fire with a torch never fails.  When it's raining and you're very cold, the six times you fail at firestarting without a torch might kill you.  Or at the very least, give you a frostbite.  I started keeping a stash of 4-6 torches and a dozen branches, with one lit while I traveled.  If I got cold, I'd find a log, drop a few branches on, and start it immediately.  Then while I warmed up, I'd cut down more branches and build up my torch stock.  Worked very well in tree-heavy terrain.