No Science Machine Challenge

[Kraglok]

Night 50

 

Well unfortunately I died again, using up my last touch stone.  I got trapped right at dark when some spiders were chasing me and couldn’t stop running long enough to get a torch built.  Dumb.  It’s this kind of stuff that sneaks up on you when you are racking your brains trying to figure out how you are going to survive Summer with minimal gear.

 

A small good thing is that I’ve now got two watermelons grown at the three farms in the Metal Potato Thing set piece.  This made me realize that there might be another survival strategy in the event you go the Basic Farm or Improved Farm blueprints:

 

Make TONS of farms.  It’s not only a way to create a reliable food supply but you could also leave any watermelons unharvested until Summer.  Watermelons cool you off like eating ice does.

Anyway, I’ve got about 7 or 8 days of Spring left and I’ve given up on Snow Chester barring something miraculous.  I am starting to plan a survival method for Summer.  I’m know overheating is slowed while in caves so it might make sense to retreat underground.  Food will be an issue but I do have this stockpile of gears that would help.  I think I’ll scout a cave nearby and see what the lay of the underground land is.

[emerphish]

Only day 8, but I am slaughtering everything I see (man, this chick is bada**). Food is under control, sanity is iffy but I found a bee biome with ~150 flowers in it.

 

I think for summer I will use a straw hat, parasol, and camp under a tree most of the time. I don't think I'll be able to kill the dragonfly if it comes, but I might try out the old bell, never used it before. Also, if I get a krampus sack that would be godly.'

 

 

@Mobbstar, I have never seen a winter trap in all my years, but it would save my life so hard. Not exactly sure how changing season mid-season would affect how long an in-game year is, but it would be totally worth a shot. 

[Kraglok]

Gah!  I’m an idiot.

 

So I explored a nearby sinkhole and discovered an almost perfect setup in the cave.  There were several Light Bulb Plants a short distance away as well as a cluster of trees and four berry bushes.  There were Rabbit Houses nearby too and a Mushtree Biome.  Only problem was there was a Tier 3 Spider Den sitting right in the middle of it.

 

No problem.  I have some extra grass I brought to make torches so I set a couple traps and clear out the spiders.  The Den sits in the dark and I’m down to my last torch but it is day time and the circle of light at the bottom of the rope is visible from on screen so I figure I’m safe.  I nearly had the Den beat when my torch ran out.  I hesitated a moment to see if I could make another torch and Charlie killed me.

 

That sucks because I think I had a real shot at making it through Summer given that setup.  Ah well.  I guess I’ll try again.  I’m going to give Maxwell a shot.  The chances I die due to his low health are pretty high but I will do my best to be more careful than I was with WX.

 

[emerphish]

Gah!  I’m an idiot.

 

So I explored a nearby sinkhole and discovered an almost perfect setup in the cave.  There were several Light Bulb Plants a short distance away as well as a cluster of trees and four berry bushes.  There were Rabbit Houses nearby too and a Mushtree Biome.  Only problem was there was a Tier 3 Spider Den sitting right in the middle of it.

 

No problem.  I have some extra grass I brought to make torches so I set a couple traps and clear out the spiders.  The Den sits in the dark and I’m down to my last torch but it is day time and the circle of light at the bottom of the rope is visible from on screen so I figure I’m safe.  I nearly had the Den beat when my torch ran out.  I hesitated a moment to see if I could make another torch and Charlie killed me.

 

That sucks because I think I had a real shot at making it through Summer given that setup.  Ah well.  I guess I’ll try again.  I’m going to give Maxwell a shot.  The chances I die due to his low health are pretty high but I will do my best to be more careful than I was with WX.

Why didn't you spam-eat those 15 gears? That's like 900 health right there, and you upgrade as you eat.

 

Anyways, I think I'll give the caves a shot because I found a set piece with 4 treeguards walking around in the middle of the desert, plus a miner's hat that i can fill up with lightbulbs.

[emerphish]

So, I am almost considering  actually going to set up the wooden thing so that if summer isn't going as planned, I can have more time to hopefully get some blueprints. I have one in-game week to get ready, but I don't think there's anything I can do this summer since there is no way to cool down this summer at all.

[grekon]

I just started day 38 and its actually going great.

Full stomach, full hp and sanity is above 170. With all these flowers popping and mushrooms growing back sanity shouldn't be a problem. I need to make sure I'm not wet that would make sanity drop fast still. Now is the time to prep for the final season - Summer The Final Boss (lolz). Good thing is my touch stones are still untouched . I will put my full gear set next each of them... an axe, a straw hat and a grass suit. Is that lame or what xD. I will share what my plans are once it gets closer to summer(I didn't think of what to do yet but shhhh nobody knows).

[emerphish]

Went through the Thing. Now I'm WX-78 (I chose random I swear xD) in the autumn, and I think things are going to be okay. I wish I killed all the automatons and grabbed the gears before, but whatever, I got this.

 

 

[Kraglok]

Day 5 (Maxwell)

 

Maxwell was a borderline choice for this challenge.  His fragility may get him killed since I can’t keep him in Dark Armor all the time (unless I somehow find that blueprint).  I figured not ever having to worry about sanity would be nice.  What I didn’t think about was how much stuff he has to carry.

 

Between the Codex Umbra, Nightmare Fuel to power it, Dark Sword, and Dark Armor (neither of which can be worn all the time), he’s got four inventory slots tied up all the time.  Yeah, I could leave that stuff at camp, but I feel like he needs them for survival in the event of unexpected attacks (like hounds mostly).  I did ditch the Purple Gem where I knew I could find it later.

 

Anyway, right away I found a body with the bee keeper set.  It has the blueprint for Bee Boxes, along with a Bee Keeper Hat, Bug Net, and Bee Mines.  I can smash a couple Pig Houses for Boards if needed and I can get two Bee Boxes out of that Bug Net, so that’ll be a great source of food eventually.

 

I located my desert and started farming tumbleweeds.  Got one blueprint so far:  The Rain Coat again.  Not going to be nearly as necessary for Maxwell as it was for WX.  In fact I wonder if I need to worry about wetness at all since my sanity is +20 per minute all the time.  I guess we’ll see.

Only other thing of significance is I found two McTusk camps right near each other.  That will be good for farming them efficiently.  I’m going to have to be careful though unless I find another armor blueprint or possibly some kind of healing.

[emerphish]

So one thing I'm wondering going through autumn as WX as opposed to wigfrid is how to deal with combat? Atm I have a grass suit and an axe, and I don't know what else to really use. I can try for a tentacle spike, as I have some panic gears, but I don't even want to go into the swamp unprepared. I have some pretty heavy-duty stuff like a pan flute and an old bell (still not sure how to effectively use it, I only have 2 uses left) but those won't keep me forever.

 

Also, how to stay dry? I need to stay all the way dry, not just migitate wetness. If I stand next to a roaring fire under a tree with a straw hat and parasol, that still is just barely good enough.

[Kraglok]

So one thing I'm wondering going through autumn as WX as opposed to wigfrid is how to deal with combat? Atm I have a grass suit and an axe, and I don't know what else to really use. I can try for a tentacle spike, as I have some panic gears, but I don't even want to go into the swamp unprepared. I have some pretty heavy-duty stuff like a pan flute and an old bell (still not sure how to effectively use it, I only have 2 uses left) but those won't keep me forever.

 

Also, how to stay dry? I need to stay all the way dry, not just migitate wetness. If I stand next to a roaring fire under a tree with a straw hat and parasol, that still is just barely good enough.

 

As for combat, I'd say avoid it unless you have to until you get a few gear upgrades in you.  I found quite a few gears in tumbleweeds but I'm gathering you aren't grinding blueprints like I am.  For a weapon, you can always get the spear at the Box Thing set piece.  I've gotten reasonably comfortable operating in swamps.  If you stay moving all the time you should be fine to explore.  If you need to pause to gather materials, keep a close eye on your sanity meter.  If it is pointing DOWN you are near a tentacle and need to move.

 

I don't think there is any way to stay completely dry with starter recipes.  Best I can say is keep scouting your map and maybe you'll find a set piece with a Rain Hat or something.  Apart from that, always light a fire immediately after it stops raining and dry off as quickly as possible.

 

In fact I've taken to always having a regular fire and a fire pit pre-built and ready to place.  It's a good idea so long as you have the resources.  And if you don't, it's a good reminder to get the resources ASAP.

[grekon]

Just reached day 50

 

I wonder how will the summer go. i know that as long as i am under the tree's shade I will not overheat but even then my temperature would still be high and Wilson's beard really might kill me.  wonder why isn't there anything basic to craft for summer to cool down... The biggest threat is going to be when hounds come at me during summer. I can't cool myself down and I lack good equipment to extend the time I would stay cool as well. I spent my time planting trees around the Savannah and i went for a trip to get a bunch of mushrooms and then I farmed some spiders for glance but I only have an axe so its not really going right. Up until now I collected 7 glances...

[grekon]

Day 60

 

As a prep for summer i turned the savannah I used as a base into  a forest. There are lines of trees leading me to rabbit holes and beefalos and some flowers. On day 56 I spent my time picking flowers and mushrooms so that I can make parasols and restore sanity. I also tried to mine ice but they all expired by day 58 such a bummer... On day 57 I got really lucky because even though hounds attacked, the summer didn't kick in fully yet so I didn't over heat and then on that night it was also a full moon so there was no danger at all. i predict that there is going to one more hound attack before summer ends. The beard makes it so difficult i cant even walk out of the tree's shade for a second my screen edge turns yellow so fast. My diet will consists mainly of rabbits and butterflies. I still have two touchstone up so this shouldn't be too difficult

 

@Kraglok,My recommendation for you would be to wear any type of armor at all times. The nightmare armor only takes away 10 sanity and you have +20 so wear it. You can ditch the rest I would keep the sword if you want to kill something but its not really necessary. Try to keep yourself dry even  if you do not lose sanity because food spoils faster and your tools get slippery too.

 

@emerphish, You don't need to keep yourself dry at all times. A little rain can't really kill you. Eat butterflies to heal and look for the clockworks. Kill them and upgrade yourself but considering that its just autumn, rain shouldn't even happen that often so you shouldn't worry. I started as wx-78 in spring and even then it wasn't hard so you should be fine.

[Kraglok]

Night 11 (Maxwell)  I got a bit distracted and missed updating the previous night.

 

I’m developing an interesting strategy for long term survival.

 

I came across a dead body with boards so I recruited some pigs from the village and knocked down a couple beehives.  Now I’ve got what I need to make my Bee Boxes.

 

The place I’ve settled on for my base is just outside the desert, near (but not too near) the pig village, close to a grassland with a few rabbit holes, and near a spider den.  There are already four berry bushes nearby (too bad there isn’t a big cluster in the pig village though they do have a bunch of carrots for emergencies).

 

I figure for food I can just farm the spiders and eat Cooked Monster Meat along with my Honey.  Cooked Monster Meat does 3 damage and cost 10 sanity.  Honey heals 3 damage.  So I can eat one Cooked Monster Meat and one Honey and gain almost 30 hunger for the cost of 10 sanity, which I recover in 30 seconds of game time.  That’s awesome!

 

Not to say that’s all I’ll eat.  I’d like to stockpile the honey for the long haul since it lasts so long.  It could be a literal life saver in the Summer when I don’t want to be venturing far out of camp in the heat.

Once my Bee Boxes are set up I’ll be headed into the desert for more tumbleweed farming.  Oh, and I have decided to use the shovel exclusively on graves and I already got 5 Blue Gems from the ones I’ve dug up!  That gives me a chance at a Snow Chester for sure.

[Gotheran]

Ended up setting up a DST world for this and went with Wigfrid since Weston hasn't been ported over. Sofar so good but it's almost winter and we haven't found any blue prints, set down in the desert near some hound mounds, my friend is Webber and there's a pig village not too far to the south of us so it keeps us both fed pretty well. Having those hounds really helps as wigfrid so I can keep sanity and health up. I'm thinking of making a catcoon farm but I've only found one deciduous forest so far and there's only 3 spawners for them there. Need to try exploring some more, maybe there's a Wilton out there who had a Walking Cane or blueprints. We got chester and we're next to a wormhole incase of emergency.

[Kraglok]

Night 15 (Maxwell)

 

I’ve been farming tumbleweeds almost non-stop for four days with one blueprint to show for it:  Deconstruction Staff.  That’s pretty close to “What’s the most useless blueprint I could find?”

 

Food is proving to be no problem at all.  I’ve got a few rabbit traps set up and seeds are easy to get when you are moving along the same path (perimeter of my desert) all the time.

 

Once Winter rolls around things will get more exciting for at least a short time.  I’ll definitely want to farm McTusks until I get a Tam’o’Shanter.  But, unlike the previous characters I’ve played in this challenge, Maxwell really only needs one.  I want it for warmth in the Winter but the sanity boost is irrelevant to this character.  Mostly I’ll be farming McTusk for his hounds until I get four more Blue Gems for Chester.

 

[Kraglok]

Night 20 (Maxwell)

 

I’ve been making some minor preparations for Winter.  I’ve set up a couple fire pits close to the nearby McTusk camps.  It’s going to be dicey attacking without any winter gear but I’ve got my Dark Armor to at least protect me from attacks.  I’m going to bring a few pigs with me to help with the fight though.

 

No more blueprints thus far but, if I can get a Tam’o’Shanter for warmth, I’ll be able to farm tumbleweeds through most of the Winter.

 

[grekon]

Day 62 - its over...

 

The heat is so intense in the middle of summer that I was overheating even though I stood under the trees. In conclusion it's impossible to survive a whole year with only basic crafting. I'm so disappointed... So lame. I died 3 times in a row...

 

Klei should add something basic to let us cool down in summer without the need of science machine. So lame...

[Gotheran]

you could horde ice during the winter, if you luck upon a fridge in a set piece it should last you all summer. Depending on how much you collect anyway, constantly explore around the ocean, it will cause HORDES of penguls to spawn, which means more ice, or for that matter snow chester, blue gems should be easy to come by in the winter, head to the desert and farm the hound dens, they usually spawn seasonal hounds.

[grekon]

you could horde ice during the winter, if you luck upon a fridge in a set piece it should last you all summer. Depending on how much you collect anyway, constantly explore around the ocean, it will cause HORDES of penguls to spawn, which means more ice, or for that matter snow chester, blue gems should be easy to come by in the winter, head to the desert and farm the hound dens, they usually spawn seasonal hounds.

Nah that would be the same as using advanced crafting. The whole point of my play through was to not use any of that. I would use only the items i can craft at the start. I also had a chance to use items like tentacle spike, tam'o shanto and blow darts but I didn't. There were also many chances where I could get a glommer flower which would make sanity management a breeze but I didn't do that either.

 

I was successful until summer because there are just no starting items for summer which is a bummer... Now that I think about it why is a endothermic fire camp not available at the start? Oh well not like it matters too much.

[Kraglok]

Night 26 (Maxwell gets distracted when hunting McTusks)

 

Couple more rounds of the desert.  No more blueprints.  Definitely haven’t been as lucky there as with my Wendy or WX playthroughs.

 

Food has been no problem and my occasional Cooked Monster Meat/Honey combo works fine.  I need to keep that in mind for future playthroughs with Maxwell.

 

I discovered there was a third McTusk camp near the pair I found early on.  That makes four total but the fourth is by itself and harder to reach so I’m going to focus my farming on the trio.  I’m up to 7 Blue Gems and so Snow Chester feels within reach.  I really want to get that done so I can focus exclusively on blueprint farming.

 

[Kraglok]

Tough break grekon.  Did you try the Caves?  I know they delay overheating.  One thing I was considering is finding a cluster of Light Bulb Plants means you don't have to start a fire at night so you don't pick up any heat that way.

[Gingerbread]

unless you cant find a blueprint for temporary endothermic firepit nobody can survive summer without any science machine...

 

If you can somehow learn how to make fire pit and thermal stone, icebox it is too possible.

 

Would be too easy if u can find some blueprints for basic fighting items such as spear and log suit or helm along with temporary fire pit blueprint and thermal stone.

 

And you died in DS as Woodie? Woodie is an OP char and never dies in summer just go to Werebeaver form and stay in that form forever.

[Gotheran]

Yeah, I'm gunna start up a run of this in regular DS with Weston soonish. Since Summer doesn't effect him majorly I'll only have to worry about 2 seasons.

[Gingerbread]

I wanted to give this a try. I started to play as Wes without science machine, alch engine, prestihatitator and shadow man..

 

From tumbleweeds I got blueprints of moggles, thermal measurer, electrical doodad and rain hat. I also found winter trap which was a real luck for me. in day 21 i am going to open the trap to nullify its power, I guess if u open winter trap, winter lasts little bit shorter (like 12-13 days), also it gives some winter hat, thermal stone etc which is really good.. So I have chance to look for tumbleweeds in all winter and spring...

 

But as I said, it is a real chance to survive in summer. Even if you go into caves, if you don't know how to make at least a temporary endothermic camp fire seems like summer is going to be a trouble or at least you should learn how to make a thermal stone and icebox from tumbleweeds...

 

I wanna settle down to this area as a base.. It has its own icebox which will surely help me to survive summer... At this point at least i need to learn how to make ice cube... I already know electrical doodad so if i can find an ice cube blueprint, i can survive summer...

 

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/394421605353671183/86D5641A5368B590215479DB7734C88C97CFE20B/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/394421605353671920/D365F0AD3A1B2D3D4DB058E21FD2D269CE067CEC/

 

 

[Kraglok]

I think there are lots of ways you could survive in that situation.  Collect a bunch of ice in the Winter and you can eat it in the summer to keep you cool.  If you can find a Farm blueprint grow a lot of Watermelons.

 

You'll just need to collect a lot of food.  I'd suggest trying to get some Honey, Birch Nuts, and Seeds as they all last a long time (even longer in the Ice Box).