Disparity of days survived in journal and on save

[Ancestral_Spirit]

I'm currently going for the 100 days survived without finding Timmy trophy, 'Bad Father'.

 

From what i can gather from people posting on these forums is that the trophy pays attention to days survived listed in your journal and not your save data.

I've also just learnt that if you die, it resets your journal back down to 0 days survived.

 

Now, according to my save data, i've survived for 67 days.

According to my journal i have survived for 88 days.

Does anyone know why there is such a disparity between my save data and my in game journal?

 

To clarify the situation a bit further here's some extra info about my playthrough:

1. I've only ever played it multiplayer, and only with the same person every session.

2. Neither of us have died at any point during our playthrough.

3. We have not entered the lab or saved Timmy.

4. We have spent days in caves without sleeping and sometimes outside in our camp without sleeping.

5. I have always been the host.

6. Whenever we saved, i let my partner save first, and then i save after. He leaves the game, and seconds later i quit the game.

 

It would be more understandable if the journal had less days survived than the save but, here we are.

The only thing i can think of is that the save data counts the amount of times you've slept as opposed to how many in game days you've survived.

If anyone has any idea as to why this is happening, please let me know   

[poetic_justice_]

I have no idea why it is happening, but I also experienced the disparity between Save information (lower number of days) and Stats/Survival Journal information (higher number of days). The 100 days without finding Timmy trophy unlocked for me when my Stats information hit 100 days; my Save information still had me on Day 98 when the trophy unlock occurred. I did die, though, so Idk what to say. However, I had only played Single Player Peaceful. Sounds like bad coding, but if the trophy unlocks sooner rather than later and it's consistent for all players, I'm good with that.

[Ancestral_Spirit]

5 hours ago, poetic_justice_ said:

I have no idea why it is happening, but I also experienced the disparity between Save information (lower number of days) and Stats/Survival Journal information (higher number of days). The 100 days without finding Timmy trophy unlocked for me when my Stats information hit 100 days; my Save information still had me on Day 98 when the trophy unlock occurred. I did die, though, so Idk what to say. However, I had only played Single Player Peaceful. Sounds like bad coding, but if the trophy unlocks sooner rather than later and it's consistent for all players, I'm good with that.

My save data was consistently behind my journal data by about 20 days or so.

My trophy unlocked when my journal hit day 100 as well, so the trophy defo reads your journal rather than what your save data says 

We were playing multiplayer, normal mode. At some point my partner looked at his journal and his journal was 2 days behind mine, even though we'd always play the game together and never did solo play.

 

Like you said though, as long as the trophy consistently unlocks on the journal hitting day 100, i suppose we can take that as a win   

[poetic_justice_]

Yeah, I'm taking it as a win. Of the four times I've reached the final boss (trying to avoid spoilers here), twice the game has frozen. I am really happy this trophy didn't bug out, because The Forest has a number of good points but also a number of coding problems. If the coding for 100 Days without Timmy works at all, regardless of Journal or Save data, that is a really, really good thing. It seems like PS4 is the redheaded stepchild of The Forest ports and last on the list to receive updates/patches.

[Ancestral_Spirit]

On 5/10/2021 at 11:59 PM, poetic_justice_ said:

Yeah, I'm taking it as a win. Of the four times I've reached the final boss (trying to avoid spoilers here), twice the game has frozen. I am really happy this trophy didn't bug out, because The Forest has a number of good points but also a number of coding problems. If the coding for 100 Days without Timmy works at all, regardless of Journal or Save data, that is a really, really good thing. It seems like PS4 is the redheaded stepchild of The Forest ports and last on the list to receive updates/patches.

Holy moly that's terrible! I suffered from a crash the once whilst in the middle of saving, though i alternated slots that i saved in because of stuff like that. Can't say i ever had the game freeze on me as such though, urgh and right at the end of the game as well  :/

Thank you for the no spoilers. I've finished the game myself, but i wouldn't wanna spoil it for others   

 

I'll admit, whilst playing multiplayer there was plenty of slow down, frame rate drops, our base built doors not opening even when making the sound effects among other stuff. With all that being said however, we really enjoyed our time with the game, and we're defo looking forward to the sequel 'Sons of The Forest'  

[poetic_justice_]

The final encounter is disturbing, and given the game’s wonky aiming mechanics, the flare gun is definitely my weapon of choice. My second choice for weapons is the DIY sticky explosives.  the non-sticky variety seem to bounce off the target and explode harmlessly behind what I am aiming at. 

[Ancestral_Spirit]

On 6/4/2021 at 5:26 PM, poetic_justice_ said:

The final encounter is disturbing, and given the game’s wonky aiming mechanics, the flare gun is definitely my weapon of choice. My second choice for weapons is the DIY sticky explosives.  the non-sticky variety seem to bounce off the target and explode harmlessly behind what I am aiming at. 

I actually really liked the final encounter in terms of narrative, music and overall design. I think the only couple of issues i took with it, there are no other encounters like that throughout the entire game really, and it turns into a hack and slash type deal as opposed to using your wits and environment to fight the enemies. And obviously as you mentioned, the wonky hit detection does nothing to help this fight, it was very frustrating. My partner hacked at its legs and kited it, while i laid fire arrows into it.

 

I can't say we ever used the flare gun or even thought of it, i thought it was just used to scare enemies away, it never even occurred to me it could be used as a weapon 

As for throwing explosives, we nearly blew ourselves up a few times throwing dynamite at rock walls to blow them up since they seemed to have way too much bounce, so i got the feeling using something like that in an area where there was no escape was not the best idea.

The old pistol on the other hand on our second outing to see the proper ending, now that thing had some kick   

[poetic_justice_]

Yeah, there is an Australian gamer on YouTube who speedran the entire game on the hardest difficulty in one life in under 60 minutes. He used the flare gun bc it is essentially a fire shotgun with a huge cone of hit detection. Bullets, molotovs and arrows can pass right through the enemy’s limbs without making contact, and you’ve already described the problems encountered with non-sticky, bouncy explosives. The flare gun always seems to connect, even if it’s a glancing shot, and that always sets the target on fire. You wait until the fire burns down and the target stops making a specific noise, then fire the flare gun again. Flare, kite, flare, kite, repeat until you run out of flares. A hack-and-slash approach is too risky imo bc once the target starts the “death spin” at close range it’s impossible to get clear before it wipes out all your health. The flare gun stops the target from performing its current attack, so even if the enemy starts the death spin, the flare gun can end the attack and allow you to run to a safer distance. Even with fifteen flare hits, I still needed sticky explosives to finish the enemy off. It’s possible to do a 1-2 attack where you immobilize the enemy with a sticky explosive, then immediately throw a Molotov on the immobilized target. However, you must be quick to switch weapons and have good aim. When this 1-2 attack works, it’s beautiful, but the window of opportunity is brief and your aim must be just right. Without near perfect aim, the Molotov can sail right through the limbs and explode harmlessly on the floor. Again, that wonky hit detection effects Molotovs just like it affects arrows. 

[Ancestral_Spirit]

13 hours ago, poetic_justice_ said:

Yeah, there is an Australian gamer on YouTube who speedran the entire game on the hardest difficulty in one life in under 60 minutes. He used the flare gun bc it is essentially a fire shotgun with a huge cone of hit detection. Bullets, molotovs and arrows can pass right through the enemy’s limbs without making contact, and you’ve already described the problems encountered with non-sticky, bouncy explosives. The flare gun always seems to connect, even if it’s a glancing shot, and that always sets the target on fire. You wait until the fire burns down and the target stops making a specific noise, then fire the flare gun again. Flare, kite, flare, kite, repeat until you run out of flares. A hack-and-slash approach is too risky imo bc once the target starts the “death spin” at close range it’s impossible to get clear before it wipes out all your health. The flare gun stops the target from performing its current attack, so even if the enemy starts the death spin, the flare gun can end the attack and allow you to run to a safer distance. Even with fifteen flare hits, I still needed sticky explosives to finish the enemy off. It’s possible to do a 1-2 attack where you immobilize the enemy with a sticky explosive, then immediately throw a Molotov on the immobilized target. However, you must be quick to switch weapons and have good aim. When this 1-2 attack works, it’s beautiful, but the window of opportunity is brief and your aim must be just right. Without near perfect aim, the Molotov can sail right through the limbs and explode harmlessly on the floor. Again, that wonky hit detection effects Molotovs just like it affects arrows. 

 

Huh, the more you know   

Here's hoping it works the same way for the sequel, at least now i know what my weapon of choice should be. The only thing i will say is, i did like that when i used fire arrows and molotovs that the fire stayed on the ground for a little while, so even if i missed my shot, if the enemies were dumb enough to run over it (and they were) it would set them on fire regardless.

 

I've recently been watching a youtuber called Cartoonz play The Forest with his friends, and have noticed some huge differences between the PC and PS4 build as well. Their hit detection for melee seems to be pretty on point in terms of hits connecting. The amount of times i was swinging melee weapons and watching my weapon connect with an enemies cranium, only to realise that due to lag, the head hit box has actually already left my vision was maddening. This doesn't appear to be happening in the PC version.

 

I've also noticed some massive difference to the A.I. for the enemies as well. In the PC version they seem to be doing things like eating each other when they go down, or trying to drag each other away when injured. Enemies are sizing you up, climbing into trees and making some sound effects that i never heard during my entire playthrough on the PS4 port. It seems as though if you're a console player, you get a really dumbed and watered down version of the original. I noticed this with the last boss as well. Sometimes mine would stand in a corner and just swing wildly around, but the PC version seems to be far smarter and always makes direct contact with you.

 

I'm just hoping that when the sequel 'Sons of the Forest' comes out, that we get a slightly more polished version or at least one that gets patches as the PC version does, cos the differences between playing the PS4 version and PC version are like night and day.

[poetic_justice_]

Interesting. I read claims from the developer that the AI "reacted to player presence" in The Forest, but saw very few instances of it. The ones I did see took my experience to another level of freakiness. In one case, I was playing a multiplayer game on another host's island. I became separated from the other two players at night, and a group of cannibals began chasing me. I had almost no weapons and couldn't outrun the group, so I turned to fight with a spear (no fire). Then the unexpected happened. One of the cannibals ran up to me, and I thought, "This host is not communicating or helping. I'm not going to fight, go down, and see if either of the players comes to revive me. If not, I'll leave the server." I didn't attack. The cannibal ran up, practically touched my character, made that creepy shouting/howling noise they make, then ran off. None of the other cannibals attacked. I thought, "That was weird," and continued to search for the other two players. A few seconds later, the same cannibal came running back in the darkness, but this time from a different direction. All I heard was the "huff, huff, huff" of his heavy breathing coming closer. I turned, and he was lunging toward me. He stopped. practically touched my character, and howled. This time, the other cannibals in the dark howled back. He ran away into the black background, only to come back later and repeat his actions a third time. The cannibals in the forest began to howl intermittently. They were tracking me but not attacking. At night, alone in the forest, looking for other players, this was a freaky experience. I can't think of any game I've played recently that unnerved me like that. The host left the game shortly after that and the session was terminated.

[Ancestral_Spirit]

21 hours ago, poetic_justice_ said:

They were tracking me but not attacking. At night, alone in the forest, looking for other players, this was a freaky experience. I can't think of any game I've played recently that unnerved me like that.

 

Seems almost as though the A.I. were hoping that you'd lead them to the rest of your group, or that they'd come running to help you after hearing howls so they could attack all of you at once with an ambush.

I'd love to get into the nuts and bolts of how the A.I. in that game works but sadly:

1. I don't think the dev would wanna show off his methods given how unique they are, and could have them potentially copied.

2. Even if i were to see exactly how it had been programmed, i'm not sure i'd understand what the hell it was i was looking at 

[poetic_justice_]

On 7/5/2021 at 6:52 AM, Ancestral_Spirit said:

 

Seems almost as though the A.I. were hoping that you'd lead them to the rest of your group, or that they'd come running to help you after hearing howls so they could attack all of you at once with an ambush.

I wondered about that first suggestion: cannibals waiting until I rejoined the other two players then attacking all three of us at once. Whatever it was, their not attacking while following and howling was more unnerving than if they had just attacked.

[NMErickson]

41 minutes ago, poetic_justice_ said:

I wondered about that first suggestion: cannibals waiting until I rejoined the other two players then attacking all three of us at once. Whatever it was, their not attacking while following and howling was more unnerving than if they had just attacked.

It seems if you are not hostile towards them they will do just that, track and terrorize, but not engage. It’s like a feeling out process. I saw a video of someone just training cannibals and it was fascinating. The AI system in The Forest seems adaptive and complex but yet a mystery. It’s very well done. Of course this just pertains to the low level basic cannibals and not the mutants or big ones. I also don’t know if the PC version’s is better but I did notice it to an extent on console.