Question for those who've won challenges

[Dobralov]

What was your "roadmap" for finally being ready to take on these challenges? Did you become familiar with all regions first, and did that include mapping? How many hours did you play before you started making the attempts? Or, did you just jump with "trial by fire?" I love the idea of having an incentive to keep moving, but the week-long deadline seems somewhat irritating. Admittedly, that probably means I haven't reached the skill or knowledge level where I need a timeline to feel "challenged."

My current play-style involves finding a great base and exploring around it, but I rarely move to other zones. From a survival in a "last man on earth" situation, it seems silly to just grab some stuff and march off to another zone without a plan. More so now that I have a rifle, a fishing hole, and can basically survive indefinitely here. Exploring is /dangerous/ even under ideal conditions!

Seems like to be successful, you have to possess fairly intimate knowledge of not only the safe areas, but the transition zones. And it seems that some of these transition zones are in out-of-the-way places (like the mine in Coastal Highway that leads to Pleasant Valley).

[JiffyPopKids]

I have done The Hunted part 1, Whiteout, and Nomad. I know all the regions pretty well (an acception with TWM) so nomad was pretty easy. I know pleasent valley like the back of my hand, so the hunted wasn't too hard. and nomad was pretty easy considering I know most regions pretty well. . I went to signal hill first, then the barn, then the rural store, then to CH, The abandoned forestry lookout, gas station, crumbling highway, church, lighthouse, then to Mystery Lake. (from ravine) the dam, then the forestry lookout, then trappers homestead, then camp office, then back to pleasant valley for the skeeters ridge basement, then to TWM for the mountaineering hut. That challange was easy, accept I was soooo boooored. Whiteout I just explored 100% of Coastal Highway and got what I needed, and obviously the hunted was very easy since Ik pleasant valley pretty good. along with Mystery Lake.

[marbanno]

@dobralov challenges are a nice departure from Sandbox and it's nice to have a predetermined goal. Knowledge of the maps will greatly in trade your chances for success but I'd also argue taking them on without that information is a great learning opportunity. Yes you will die and not make your goal, but along the way, you may discover things to help your survival in more efficient ways and different from your current approach.

I've been trying to do a speed run on Hopeless Rescue doing simple survival as quick as possible and not gaming the systems. I know exactly what to do...but knowing is half the battle... even though I haven't been successful, I'm testing different strategies under the challenge conditions.

I guess the most recent thing I've learned is to not be afraid of a location/challenge/BEAR. If I die, so be it. Use the experience to improve your future survival.

GL!

[Dobralov]

@marbanno

I do like the idea of the goal-oriented gameplay beyond "don't die." Like I said, I catch myself thinking, "why should I go explore the collapsed hallway with its wolves" when I have low-hanging fruit here? Well, the answer is boredom, of course, so in essence, boredom is most often my killer. Exploration is risky (and fun) as hell, and it's so damn easy to get lost.

The daunting part of the challenges is that I literally have NO idea where most of the transition zones are. Finding just one can take a game week, and chances are, it will be the wrong one. So the idea of just wandering through regions looking for TZs sounds somewhat un-fun.

I'm currently just in sandbox on the Coastal Highway. I'm using the coastal village as a home base and slowly going on rubberband exploration missions. I think I might just stick to that type of experience until I learn these regions before I tackle the challenges, though both of them sound like fun.

[Alcator]

Ordered from easiest for new players to hardest for new players:

Nomad is a piece of cake and can actually be used as a motivator for exploring new areas. Hopefully they will add Nomad Part 2, where they will also include Forlorn Muskeg and include a hard limit of "no more than 4 days in any of the locations, no more than 1 day in any non-target location".

Whiteout could theoretically motivate a player to explore Coastal Highway and a tiny bit of the caves that lead towards PV and DP, but it's clearly not designed with new players in mind.

I don't like The Hunted Part 1, mostly because of the brutally scripted behavior of the antagonist; I managed to finish it (with 11% condition remaining), but it felt like one of those "Guess the solution that the developer expects, otherwise you are screwed" puzzle games.

Hopeless Rescue probably cannot be successfully finished without good knowledge of the included regions.

-----------------
The Hunted Part 2 requires THP1, so that's that.

[JiffyPopKids]

Originally posted by Dobralov:

@marbanno

I do like the idea of the goal-oriented gameplay beyond "don't die." Like I said, I catch myself thinking, "why should I go explore the collapsed hallway with its wolves" when I have low-hanging fruit here? Well, the answer is boredom, of course, so in essence, boredom is most often my killer. Exploration is risky (and fun) as hell, and it's so damn easy to get lost.

The daunting part of the challenges is that I literally have NO idea where most of the transition zones are. Finding just one can take a game week, and chances are, it will be the wrong one. So the idea of just wandering through regions looking for TZs sounds somewhat un-fun.

I'm currently just in sandbox on the Coastal Highway. I'm using the coastal village as a home base and slowly going on rubberband exploration missions. I think I might just stick to that type of experience until I learn these regions before I tackle the challenges, though both of them sound like fun.

Eh. that type of game you're playing is... well... no offence. bad. if you don't explore, you wont learn anything. If you're lviing in the coastal townsite i suggest going to to the right of the map,

you'll come to a log sort down there a little ways. then a fishing village. and at the end of the map there's a bridge. follow the stream that it goes over and you'll find a campground. and behind the campground is a little cabin

So there's just a few tips. if it helps any.

and also, once you go down that way you can follow the road back. so no getting lost!

[IFIYGD]

@Dobralov- Nomad Challenge. Give it a try. It is the easiest of the Challenges, for a reason. It requires you to use all maps (Except Forlorn Muskeg... hoping they will add that map to Nomad someday), send 3 days total ime inside a particular location. It forces you to explore and learn the maps, leanr all of the TZ's, and live/travel efficiently. It really seems designed to teach the game mechanics and basic systems, and routefinding by landmarks. Once you already know the Maps, it becomes almost a boring Challenge to do. But to learn the game and become more efficient? It is great for newer players, or those sturggling to get up and go, so to speak.

I really recommend trying it out. And you can have a Challenge save going (several, actually), along with Sandbox saves. So if one starts to bore you, you can go back and continue the other.
Challenges are all in Voyageur Mode, (no choice there), so they are a way to hone skills with the threat of hostile wildlife. Good way to practice bow and rifle aiming, without hurting progress in any Sandboxes you have going. And also to get past any jitters of dealing with wolf struggles and bear maulings. The survival skills you learn in Challenges can greatly help when playing in Sandbox.

[JiffyPopKids]

IFIYGD, Imo I think Whiteout was easiest, I guess nomad was REALLY boring for me. just passing time, sleeping, eating, drinking, rinse and repeat 3 times then travel, then rinse and repeat, whiteout was better cause it wasn't boring. XD it seems like I had objectives I didn't have to wait for. but I am a really inpatient person so.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by JiffyPopKids:

IFIYGD, Imo I think Whiteout was easiest, I guess nomad was REALLY boring for me. just passing time, sleeping, eating, drinking, rinse and repeat 3 times then travel, then rinse and repeat, whiteout was better cause it wasn't boring. XD it seems like I had objectives I didn't have to wait for. but I am a really inpatient person so.

You also had a ton of time in the game before you tried Nomad. You already knew most of the maps, knew the mechanics and many of the exploits. Like I said, it is a beginner challenge. I did it after 100 hours of gameplay time myself, and it was quite easy. I wish I had tried it much earlier, before I knew the Mpas well, before I gradualted from Pilgrim to Voyageur, before I had developed my reckless playstyle. It may have broken some of my bad habits, before I ever developed them. Lol!

[Claus]

I jumped straight into interloper and then did one on stalker, but i would say it's nearly impossible to die on stalker unless you make some really big mistakes, there are way too many supplies compared to interloper.

I did the first challenge and was overwhelmed again by how many supplies there is, so many that it just felt like a normal camping day going through this challenge.

I suggest doing the challenges before you do interloper otherwise it will not be much of a challenge to you, interloper is just whole nother level of challenge than anything else in the game, i will say there are a few things i don't like about this difficulty so far, you are far too dependent on finding a modern fire starter or flares, until they add more fire starters such as frictions and other ways to sew your clothes together than with a modern sewing kit which kinda ruined the experience for me, i do not recommend playing on this difficulty just yet.

If you are planning on doing a speed run then it's a good idea to know every shortcut beforehand including the way through the mines and the cave, but i also recommend doing it first without knowing your way around, it's just more fun this way.

[Dobralov]

Originally posted by JiffyPopKids:

Originally posted by Dobralov:

@marbanno

I do like the idea of the goal-oriented gameplay beyond "don't die." Like I said, I catch myself thinking, "why should I go explore the collapsed hallway with its wolves" when I have low-hanging fruit here? Well, the answer is boredom, of course, so in essence, boredom is most often my killer. Exploration is risky (and fun) as hell, and it's so damn easy to get lost.

The daunting part of the challenges is that I literally have NO idea where most of the transition zones are. Finding just one can take a game week, and chances are, it will be the wrong one. So the idea of just wandering through regions looking for TZs sounds somewhat un-fun.

I'm currently just in sandbox on the Coastal Highway. I'm using the coastal village as a home base and slowly going on rubberband exploration missions. I think I might just stick to that type of experience until I learn these regions before I tackle the challenges, though both of them sound like fun.

Eh. that type of game you're playing is... well... no offence. bad. if you don't explore, you wont learn anything. If you're lviing in the coastal townsite i suggest going to to the right of the map,

you'll come to a log sort down there a little ways. then a fishing village. and at the end of the map there's a bridge. follow the stream that it goes over and you'll find a campground. and behind the campground is a little cabin

So there's just a few tips. if it helps any.

and also, once you go down that way you can follow the road back. so no getting lost!

I *am* exploring, but I'm not yet comfortable leaving all the goods behind. I mean, it /is/ sandbox, which means you assign your own objectives, right? And I did find a transition zone, the ranger tower, then I got lost and barely made my way to shelter in a whiteout.

Harrowing, but fun. Am considering packing up what I can and moving into a new region, but I disagree my play style is "bad." I am trying to learn this region as well as I can before I move on. Slow and steady wins the race, and this is my first go at Stalker.

[Dobralov]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

@Dobralov- Nomad Challenge. Give it a try. It is the easiest of the Challenges, for a reason. It requires you to use all maps (Except Forlorn Muskeg... hoping they will add that map to Nomad someday), send 3 days total ime inside a particular location. It forces you to explore and learn the maps, leanr all of the TZ's, and live/travel efficiently. It really seems designed to teach the game mechanics and basic systems, and routefinding by landmarks. Once you already know the Maps, it becomes almost a boring Challenge to do. But to learn the game and become more efficient? It is great for newer players, or those sturggling to get up and go, so to speak.

I really recommend trying it out. And you can have a Challenge save going (several, actually), along with Sandbox saves. So if one starts to bore you, you can go back and continue the other.
Challenges are all in Voyageur Mode, (no choice there), so they are a way to hone skills with the threat of hostile wildlife. Good way to practice bow and rifle aiming, without hurting progress in any Sandboxes you have going. And also to get past any jitters of dealing with wolf struggles and bear maulings. The survival skills you learn in Challenges can greatly help when playing in Sandbox.

Thank you for the recommendation! I've seen the Nomad challenge referred to before, but I only saw two challenges available in my game. I had assumed it was something that existed in a previous version but was for some reason currently unavailable?

[JiffyPopKids]

Originally posted by Dobralov:

Originally posted by JiffyPopKids:

Eh. that type of game you're playing is... well... no offence. bad. if you don't explore, you wont learn anything. If you're lviing in the coastal townsite i suggest going to to the right of the map,

you'll come to a log sort down there a little ways. then a fishing village. and at the end of the map there's a bridge. follow the stream that it goes over and you'll find a campground. and behind the campground is a little cabin

So there's just a few tips. if it helps any.

and also, once you go down that way you can follow the road back. so no getting lost!

I *am* exploring, but I'm not yet comfortable leaving all the goods behind. I mean, it /is/ sandbox, which means you assign your own objectives, right? And I did find a transition zone, the ranger tower, then I got lost and barely made my way to shelter in a whiteout.

Harrowing, but fun. Am considering packing up what I can and moving into a new region, but I disagree my play style is "bad." I am trying to learn this region as well as I can before I move on. Slow and steady wins the race, and this is my first go at Stalker.

well. by 'bad' I meant it wasn't'isn't functional. I was giving you some tips so you can explroe faster and survive more efficent. sorry if I hurt you in any way. <3

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

Originally posted by JiffyPopKids:

IFIYGD, Imo I think Whiteout was easiest, I guess nomad was REALLY boring for me. just passing time, sleeping, eating, drinking, rinse and repeat 3 times then travel, then rinse and repeat, whiteout was better cause it wasn't boring. XD it seems like I had objectives I didn't have to wait for. but I am a really inpatient person so.

You also had a ton of time in the game before you tried Nomad. You already knew most of the maps, knew the mechanics and many of the exploits. Like I said, it is a beginner challenge. I did it after 100 hours of gameplay time myself, and it was quite easy. I wish I had tried it much earlier, before I knew the Mpas well, before I gradualted from Pilgrim to Voyageur, before I had developed my reckless playstyle. It may have broken some of my bad habits, before I ever developed them. Lol!

True that. but how are you going to do nomad if you dont even know where to go? like you spawn in Mystery Lake and need to go to timber wolf mountain. If I were still a noob I'd have NO idea where to go. this challange could take up to 100 days if you didn't know where to go. I did the challange in 50 days.

[IFIYGD]

On the main menu, there is an option for Challenges. There are more than 2 available to players.
Nomad
Whiteout
Hopeless Rescue
The Hunted Part 1
The Hunted Part 2 (must complete The Hunted Part 1 to unlock Part 2)

They are more linear, goal driven games, with timers set on some of them. Completing them gives no biuffs or rewards like Feat Badges do. Just a badge that you can screenshot to share with friends and the community, and the satisfaction of completing the Challenge. And you can replay them as often as you like, to improve your times, do speedruns, or just use them to pricatice skills (as I mentioned... bow and rifle skills) without any effect to seperate Samdbox saves.

Not sure why you are only seing 2. unless you are seeing Feat Badges that can be activated at the start of a new game? The number you can activate is different depending on the experience mode you choose.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by JiffyPopKids:

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

You also had a ton of time in the game before you tried Nomad. You already knew most of the maps, knew the mechanics and many of the exploits. Like I said, it is a beginner challenge. I did it after 100 hours of gameplay time myself, and it was quite easy. I wish I had tried it much earlier, before I knew the Mpas well, before I gradualted from Pilgrim to Voyageur, before I had developed my reckless playstyle. It may have broken some of my bad habits, before I ever developed them. Lol!

True that. but how are you going to do nomad if you dont even know where to go? like you spawn in Mystery Lake and need to go to timber wolf mountain. If I were still a noob I'd have NO idea where to go. this challange could take up to 100 days if you didn't know where to go. I did the challange in 50 days.

Which is why I see Nomad as a beginner Challenge, meant for newer players. To complete it, you must explore the Maps, and learn them. Rather than start in Mystery Lake, and stay thee for 200 days without every leaving. It encourages you to leave the "comfy" map and move through the Transitin Zones, and explore the next map, to fins the neccessary locations, then move on again. You can do it as slow or fast as you like. My first try took over 90 days, and I didn't complete it, because TWM scared the bejeezus out of me. Next try, i completed it in around 70 days. Next run, I cut the time by a week. My shortest Nomad run has been 51 days. Which is just fine with me. I may try it again and shoot for 49 days. I may not. But I have run the Challenge nearly a dozen times, just as a break from Sandbox. Whiteout I have done twice, and that was enough. Both The Hunted Challenges once each. And that was enough. Hopeless rescue still elides me. mainly because I still really dislike TWM. Beautiful map, that I die on every time I try to live there for longer than a week.

Your goals, playstyle, and reasons for doing things are your own. Mine are my own. That is the joy of the Sandbox, and even the Challenges. We can all play it and them however feels best for us, and makes us happoest. I feel no need to be "better than" anyone at the game. I just want to make my next run, in any experience mode that pleases me, better than my last one.

[Dobralov]

Originally posted by JiffyPopKids:

Originally posted by Dobralov:

I *am* exploring, but I'm not yet comfortable leaving all the goods behind. I mean, it /is/ sandbox, which means you assign your own objectives, right? And I did find a transition zone, the ranger tower, then I got lost and barely made my way to shelter in a whiteout.

Harrowing, but fun. Am considering packing up what I can and moving into a new region, but I disagree my play style is "bad." I am trying to learn this region as well as I can before I move on. Slow and steady wins the race, and this is my first go at Stalker.

well. by 'bad' I meant it wasn't'isn't functional. I was giving you some tips so you can explroe faster and survive more efficent. sorry if I hurt you in any way. <3

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

You also had a ton of time in the game before you tried Nomad. You already knew most of the maps, knew the mechanics and many of the exploits. Like I said, it is a beginner challenge. I did it after 100 hours of gameplay time myself, and it was quite easy. I wish I had tried it much earlier, before I knew the Mpas well, before I gradualted from Pilgrim to Voyageur, before I had developed my reckless playstyle. It may have broken some of my bad habits, before I ever developed them. Lol!

True that. but how are you going to do nomad if you dont even know where to go? like you spawn in Mystery Lake and need to go to timber wolf mountain. If I were still a noob I'd have NO idea where to go. this challange could take up to 100 days if you didn't know where to go. I did the challange in 50 days.

Hehe, I'm not that sensitive, but thank you for clarifying. It's interesting, however, to note how my needs change as my character's needs become met. Shelter, check. Renewable food source, check.

And then the urge to explore, to find another human being or perhaps a clue about what happened. Of course, as a player, I know that won't happen, but it provides a good answer as to why "safe, local survival" isn't enough.

Gotta say, though. My foray into the mountain, the lookout tower, through the mines, and my near-death experience getting back made for some incredible moments. Anxiety, thrill of discovery, regret, elation, relief, fear -- it was all there, and it was glorious!

Will check out Nomad once I die in my current game. It's still early, only maybe 15 days in and my best game wasn't much longer...