Survive and Thrive: Episode 1 – Initial Reconnaissance

It did take me a little while to find my bearings and work out where I was on the map using my GPS device (iZurvive), but straight away I could see a lighthouse on an island in the distance, which gave a reasonably decent indicator of my general spawn location. It was around the time I saw the u-shape around the docks that I got a genuine handle on where I was on the map, which allowed me to plot a course to the local town’s water fountain (u-turn and route to fountain drawn out on the map below), and at a good time; I was starting to develop a serious thirst!

I tried not to engage with too many Infected whilst roaming. With a very limited kit, I didn’t want to catch an infection or bleed out so early on.

So here I am in my first camping spot – Elektrozavodsk (or Elektro for short). It’s a mouthful, but it’s a decent sized town with ample looting potential. I’ve found water, I’ve got a few orchards in close proximity, and there are plenty of buildings and a dockyard to loot and develop my kit from. I found a popup gazebo too, which feels like a nice perk. I’ve set that up next to the fountain for now but come morning, I’m going to need to find a better location to turn in to a campsite – there are Infected all over the town centre.

Water and my first resting spot

Loot-wise I’m looking good so far – I’ve got food and water nearby, a couple of sharp objects for crafting, a melee weapon, a couple of guns (without the appropriate ammo) and some better clothing.

Next steps – at first light I want to loot more buildings and hopefully find a bag at some point, to increase my inventory. After that, crafting the appropriate materials to fish and get a fireplace on the go are genuine possibilities, now that I have a knife.