Braydon-IT12blog-2018: April 2018

Thursday, April 26, 2018

There are a lot of challenges in this game. The biggest one is being able to balance out your heat, thirst, hunger, and sleep bars. They fall fast, but if you're skilled enough, you may be able to keep all of them full for quite some time. I can't.

One of the things you should always do is make water. It's easy and will keep your thirst bar full for a LONG time. To make water, start a fire and boil the snow, then boil that water you just made. It's too unsafe to drink after only 1 boil.

One thing I now do every time I restart the game is head to this broken cabin. Sometimes, you'll find a hatchet, which really helps for getting wood. It doesn't always happen though, but it's close enough to the starting cabin that it's worth the look. I also found a bunch of run-down trains, but I forgot to take screenshots of them. Sorry.

Every once in a while, you might run into a dead, frozen corpse. If you loot them, they could have anything from clothing, food, or most importantly NOTHING!!! They're usually found near or around human-made structures, but can sometimes be found in the middle of nowhere.

Today, I learned that by heading to the area that I went to yesterday, I'm actually heading the wrong way, so I decided to head in the opposite direction.

I found two run-down trains before I died of hypothermia. I did get a rifle from one of the trains, but I got attacked by a wolf quickly afterwards after I missed my shot. I tried 3 times today not today, but failed all 3 times. One time I gave up because a blizzard appeared, meaning I couldn't even leave my cabin without freezing to death too quickly. I also learned that if you throw a stone at a rabbit and hit it, you can kill it and eat it. This is important, because it means you don't need a gun to survive in this game.

To get charcoal, go to a dead fire, left click on it, and click "Take Charcoal" on the bottom right corner of the screen. You use charcoal to make a map on the ground to make a map. The picture up above is what I was able to make using the charcoal.

Here are some survival tips: 1, find food as fast as you can. It's the hardest thing to keep full. 2, collect rocks to throw at rabbits. 3, stay at your cabin until the beginning of day 2, then run to behind the cabin until you hit a wall, then go left until you find the train tracks. Loot everything there and head left, following the tracks. You'll be heading towards the lighthouse. 4, take EVERYTHING from the cabin. You're going to need all of it. And 5, if you find multiple pieces of clothing, wear the one that will keep you the warmest.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Game Journalism Day 2

At the start of day 2, I tried to prepare myself much more than last time. This time, I heated up a bunch of water, so I wouldn't die of thirst. I also tried to explore more, instead of staying near the cabin you start off at. What I found was pretty cool. I started off by going back to the same run down cabin where I got the hatchet last time, but there was none this time. I ran a bit more and found some frozen bodies. I didn't find much on them, except a new shirt and hood. I then found a hunting stand with some dog food in it.

This is also where I learned how to make my own fire. By holding down SPACE, a bunch of options will pop up. Choose the campfire one, and you'll make a campfire. This is also where you find your portable bed. Lucky for me, I got pretty lucky with lighting campfires today, only failing about 2 times. I also found a magnifying glass at the beginning of the game, which can be used to light fire, but I haven't been able to use it yet. When it shows I could use it, the Light Fire button doesn't show up. Maybe there wasn't enough sun to use it. I also learned that you can refuel fire, so it lasts longer and so you don't have to keep using matches to light it up.

I then left to explore more and eventually found a run down log train, fallen apart and everything. I followed the tracks, which led me to a new area! There wasn't much for me to take here.

I actually Had to sleep for a bit after discovering this. When I woke up, I found wolves near by and had to run away from them. Here's some tips: When done using a fire, take the charcoal from it. I don't know what it does yet, but I might need it. Also make sure to pick back up your bed once done using it. After following the tracks some more, I found a large frozen lake with another crashed train on it. I found multiple items at this crash, like clothing, bandages, and scrap metal. I then got kicked off the game, along with everyone else in the class to write this. I'm excited to play more of this tomorrow and see what else I'm able to discover!

Today, my biggest struggles were staying warm and eating enough. Since you're outside all the time, you get cold FAST, so you have to constantly light fires, which barely warm you up if you're not inside. For food, I just don't have much. I have a rifle, but have yet to use it, since i have terrible aim and a limited amount of bullets. It also gets dark constantly in this game and when it does, it's nearly impossible to see anything. I hope i can find out how to solve these problems tomorrow.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Game Journalism Day 1 -BEGIN (The Long Dark)

This week, we are playing a game called "The Long Dark." This is a survival game. The controls are as followed: You walk with the keys WASD, and look around with the mouse. click F for your inventory and SPACE to find other tools you may need, like campfires and your bed. Click on objects to see what they are and take. The first thing we had to do was start a challenge. The challenge we were supposed to start was: Hopeless rescue.

All you have at the beginning are the clothes on your back and whatever random items you find in your cabin (these are randomly generated).

Once I picked up everything I could, I left my cabin. Not too far away, I found a building with a dead deer inside of it. I gutted it and continued on. I found some rabbits and deer, but I couldn't kill them; I had nothing to attack them with. I then realized that I had a snare and placed it.

I also was able to light a fire in my cabin:

Eventually, I decided to explore a bit around my world, finding sticks, and even a hatchet!

I was running into problems, though. I was getting hungry and thirsty and I had nothing to eat/drink. I later learned that you can melt snow to make water, but then you need to boil it. Not only that, but you have, like a 50% chance of your fire not lighting. I was running low on matches, and FAST. I also ran into the problem of waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to see ANYTHING. I then decided to drink my melted snow, which poisoned me. I later died.