Slough Creek Guide - How to keep all four pups alive!

[___]

Edit 3/28/10: I typed up this guide just a few days after WQ Episode 2 was first released, so some parts of the guide might not be applicable if you're playing a more recent, updated copy of WQ. I'm a bit too lazy at the moment to re-download WQ and play through the game again to perfect my guide, though I might do it eventually. Until then, people post plenty of good advice on this thread, so feel free to post a question or jump to the last page and skim for helpful information if you need help and my guide isn't working for you.

Slough Creek is a pretty difficult episode to tackle, but, after a bit of trial and error, I found a strategy that allowed me to make it to the end of the game with all four pups. A lot of people seem to be struggling with this game(I went through three or four litters before I finally got it right xD), so I'm posting all of my personal tricks here.

I'll admit that these tips are more about playing to win than playing for fun, so not everyone will like all of them, but they are good if you want to keep all four of your pups alive with minimum frustration, and they worked very well for me.

The basics...


Get rid of the tutorials. When you first start the game, hit the "esc" key, click "game settings", and uncheck "show tutorials". The popups will pester you endlessly if you don't.

Zoom your camera out. Press the "-" key and hold it until your camera is zoomed all the way out. This gives you a much wider field of vision, making it easier to keep an eye on your surroundings.

Save your game extremely often, reload the last save if you glitch or mess up somehow. This might seem like cheating, but, considering how glitchy the game can be and how stubborn the predators are, it's good to have a backup plan if your mate decides to randomly grab a pup and drown it in the river, or if your den is swarmed by three coyotes at once and half your litter is eaten.

Note: Be careful not to save your game if one of your pups has extremely low health, or you might end up having your pup die as soon as you reload your game, making it impossible to save that pup.

Never rely on your mate for anything, ever. As many people have noticed, the mates in Slough Creek are a glitchy and unhelpful bunch. This issue might be fixed later, but, for now, you should mostly just pretend they don't exist. Be grateful if they help, but don't expect it. If your mate glitches, you can try to fix it by howling, or just reload your game.

Starting out...


Which den site to choose: Bison Peak Cutoff. Press the "M" key to to bring up your map, then set a course towards the green circle on the bottom right. As far as I can see(no pun intended), this territory has the best visibility - it isn't as hilly as the others, with no jutting humps of ground that can block your view of the area, which makes it easier to keep sight of pups and predators and makes the camera less jerky when you travel. It's also the closest one to the rendezvous site, which will make the final mission of the game easier. Distance from hunting grounds and neighboring wolf packs doesn't matter, as stranger wolves are harmless and scavenging is more efficient than hunting.

Never mark your territory. Marking your territory is mandatory in order to claim the den site, but after you have the den, never mark your territory again. Marking territory is a pointless waste of time. Stranger wolves are harmless, and predators don't care how much your territory is marked - the amount of predators is the same whether your territory is at 100% or 0%.

Caring for your pups...


Training your pups: Howl until the blue gauge is full. Training your pups by picking them up and dropping them at the den is difficult and time-consuming, but howling raises their affinity quickly and easily, and you don't have to be near your pups to use it - if you notice the blue gauge dropping, you can howl from anywhere in the game and it will fill. For added speed, cut your howl off by moving as soon as the rest of the pack starts howling. The blue gauge fills every time you start a howl, but you don't have to complete it.

Always scavenge, never hunt. It doesn't matter how far away the nearest carcass is - running to the other side of the map to get the food is still better than hunting elk. Finding and killing the elk takes too much time, leaves your pups defenseless, your mate will never help you, and hunting elk depletes your health so much that most of the carcass goes towards replenishing your health, with only a tiny bit of food left over for your pups. Not worth it. Just hit the "v" key and head towards the biggest purple cloud of your screen to get food.

When feeding your pups, be careful to only hit the "F" key once. Your wolf regurgitates food every time the F key is hit, even if the pup you're feeding is already full - if you hit it multiple times, you could end up regurgitating your entire pup food bar into one pup.

Don't bother going to the cattle ranch. It's a fun and neat mission, but it won't help you or your pups. The food you get on the ranch usually doesn't carry over when you return to Slough Creek, and it often glitches, causing you to have a different number of pups or some other strangeness when you get back. It's safer and easier to just eat carcasses.

Good pups matter more than bad pups. I'm such a loving parent, aren't I? I don't know if pups are programmed to have their own individual personalities, or if this is just a glitch of some kind, but sometimes one or more pups in your litter will wander away farther and more frequently than its siblings, regardless of how full the blue gauge is. If one of your pups is noticeably more stupid than the others, don't feed it as often. These mischievous pups are much more likely to die, so you should try not to waste too much food on them. Prioritize their siblings over them at feeding time.

Howl to keep your pups still. It can be difficult to round up your pups while they're all running around in different directions, but howling will distract them and keep them from moving for a few seconds.

Defending your pups...


For "predator zoom ins": They're annoying, disorienting, and glitch often, but try to keep your bearings. You can still move while the predator zoom in is going on. If you can see your wolf during the zoom in, try to make your way towards the predator. If you can't see your wolf, stop moving, or you might end up running in the wrong direction or overshooting your target. If the zoom in glitches, try to fix it by entering and exiting scent view, or just save and reload your game.

The all purpose predator cheat: Save your game and reload before the predator gets your pup. Your stats will be the same when you reload, but the predator will usually be gone. Not the most honest way of keeping your pups safe, but preferable to a dead pup.

Coyotes: Kill them. If you don't, they will keep coming back, no matter how badly you hurt them or how far you chase them. You can end up with multiple coyotes circling your den if you don't kill every single one you see, even if it isn't near your den when it appears. Every single coyote in the game is after your pups, even if it doesn't appear anywhere near your den - if you notice a coyote spawn while you're out getting food, it will begin to walk in the direction of your den, and must be killed before it gets there.

Bears: Bite them three times. Make sure you have full health first, because it's impossible to dodge their counterattack, which takes a big chunk out of your health. Once the bear has been bitten three times, it will turn tail and run. Bears cannot be killed.

Stranger wolves: Stranger wolves in your territory are completely harmless. They simply stand still wherever they appear, and won't bother your pups. There's no reason to approach one if you see it, but, if you run into one accidentally, just run away. As far as I can tell, the outcome of stranger encounters doesn't affect the game.

Eagles: The eagle will be hovering above your head for literally the entire final journey. When it tries to kill your pups, it will swoop down and land, then hop towards them on the ground, causing a pop-up reading "Your puppy, -insert pup name here-, is about to die!", giving you a limited amount of time to chase it away. Eagles can't be killed, but they will not land anywhere near an adult wolf, so keep your pups close!


The final journey...

During the final journey, your mate will appear next to you when you reload your game, regardless of where it was when you saved. This can be useful to retrieve it if it glitches or runs away.

Feed your pups and load up on pup food before you leave. Considering how slow the pups move, you want to make sure they don't starve before the journey is over, and having a full pup food bar both ensures that you'll be able to keep your pups' health up and makes your pups more likely to follow you closely.

When the journey begins, howl to keep your mate and pups still, then run straight towards stranger wolf territory alone. When you enter a stranger wolf's territory, your entire pack will automatically be warped over to Sandbar Crossing, saving you lots of travel time.

When/if you cross the creek, turn your camera back to normal and keep an eye on your mate. You can squeeze through that tiny crack between the river and the wolf territory, or you can just walk through the shallow water in Sandbar Crossing, but, either way, pups will need to be carried across one at a time. Your mate is likely to drown your pups, so be careful.

Carry your stupid pup. You can only carry one, so, if you know that one of your pups is more likely to wander away than the others, that's the one you should pick to carry.

Walk backwards towards the rendezvous site, or switch and rotate your camera. It's important to keep an eye on your pups while you travel, either by walking backwards or tweaking your camera a bit. Hitting the "o" key makes the camera rotatable, rather than just hovering directly behind you. Use the "{" or "}" key to rotate it so that the camera is in front of your wolf, making it look as though your wolf is walking towards you when it moves forward. This allows you to easily keep an eye on your pups as they follow you.

Move slowly, and keep everyone as close together as possible. Predators won't get near your pups when there's an adult with them, so just keeping the pack together is a better defense than attacking predators. When you begin to move towards the rendezvous site, the pups should automatically begin to follow you, but the pups are slow, so don't let yourself get too far ahead of them, and stop to let them catch up if any fall behind.

If the image on your screen as you travel looks somewhat like this:

http://i50.tinypic.com/fk8pyq.jpg

You're doing it right.

Make sure all of your pups are at full health before you reach the rendezvous site. If one or more of your pups is hungry, your mate might decide to run far away in search of food, which can be frustrating when you're close to finally finishing the mission.

Celebrate! If you made it to the end of the game with all four pups, you can look forward to having a nice big pack when the next episode comes out.

[MexicoWolf]

Wow, ____!

I found this guide very helpful, since I totally suck at Slough Creek.

Thanks!

~Mexico

[Koa]

Thanks! Although not all of the water at Sandbar crossing is shallow, though. It definitley helps to keep moving quickly if your crossing the creek. I carried one pup and the other one crossed on its own, so the pups are capable of crossing the creek without drowning. It does depend on the width of the creek and how "straight" of a line they are moving in (if they do zig-zags that takes up time and makes them drown faster than it would if they walked in a straight line)

[blackbloodwolf7]

Wow, this was amazingly (<-- don't even know if that's a word) helpful! I'm trying to make a record for myself on keeping three pups alive, and with this info, it will be much easier ! Thanks!

[MexicoWolf]

Here's a quick tip I discovered!

When you've claimed a den, go out and eat an entire elk carcass until it displays the message "You're Full!"

After it does this, go mark the territory.

When you have pups, you should find that your "Food for Pups" bar is completely full!

~Mexico

[Jadeye]

wow i will try that, every time i end up finshing the game with my run away pup and every time the run away pup is the wight one or the oddball. so my pack is my crazy mate, smart me, and a run away imature pup so far

[Koa]

Here's a quick tip I discovered!

When you've claimed a den, go out and eat an entire elk carcass until it displays the message "You're Full!"

After it does this, go mark the territory.

When you have pups, you should find that your "Food for Pups" bar is completely full!

~Mexico

I'll have to try that as well; I believe I had to make multiple trips when I had my pups. That should help.

[Masika]

WOW! Thank you so much for posting and sharing your tips ^_^ They are very helpful

Here's a quick tip I discovered!

When you've claimed a den, go out and eat an entire elk carcass until it displays the message "You're Full!"

After it does this, go mark the territory.

When you have pups, you should find that your "Food for Pups" bar is completely full!

~Mexico

Cool ^^ I will have to try this tip also Thanks for posting it

[Child of the wolves]

Cool. Also,sneaky

[lizf08]

Slough Creek is a pretty difficult episode to tackle, but, after a bit of trial and error, I found a strategy that allowed me to make it to the end of the game with all four pups. A lot of people seem to be struggling with this game(I went through three or four litters before I finally got it right xD), so I'm posting all of my personal tricks here.

I'll admit that these tips are more about playing to win than playing for fun, so not everyone will like all of them, but they are good if you want to keep all four of your pups alive, and they worked very well for me.

The basics...


Get rid of the tutorials. When you first start the game, hit the "esc" key, click "game settings", and uncheck "show tutorials". The popups will pester you endlessly if you don't, 'nuff said.

Zoom your camera out. Press the "-" key and hold it until your camera is zoomed all the way out. This gives you a much wider field of vision, making it easier to keep an eye on your surroundings.

Save your game extremely often, reload the last save if you glitch or mess up somehow. This might seem like cheating, but, considering how glitchy the game can be and how stubborn the predators are, it's good to have a backup plan if your mate decides to randomly grab a pup and drown it in the river, or if your den is swarmed by three coyotes at once and half your litter is eaten.

Never rely on your mate for anything, ever. As many people have noticed, the mates in Slough Creek are a glitchy and unhelpful bunch. This issue might be fixed later, but, for now, you should mostly just pretend they don't exist. Be grateful if they help, but don't expect it. If your mate glitches, you can try to fix it by howling, or just reload your game.

Starting out...


Which den site to choose: Bison Peak Cutoff. Press the "M" key to to bring up your map, then set a course towards the green circle on the bottom right. As far as I can see(no pun intended), this territory has the best visibility - it isn't as hilly as the others, with no jutting humps of ground that can block your view of the area, which makes it easier to keep sight of pups and predators and makes the camera less jerky when you travel. It's also the closest one to the rendezvous site, which will make the final mission of the game easier. Distance from hunting grounds and neighboring wolf packs doesn't matter, as stranger wolves are harmless and scavenging is more efficient than hunting.

Marking territory: Marking your territory is mandatory in order to claim the den site, but after you have the den, never mark your territory again. Marking territory is a pointless waste of time. Stranger wolves are harmless, and predators don't care how much your territory is marked.

Caring for your pups...


Training your pups: Howl until the blue gauge is full. Training your pups by picking them up and dropping them at the den is difficult and time-consuming, but howling raises their affinity quickly and easily, and you don't have to be near your pups to use it - if you notice the blue gauge dropping, you can howl from anywhere in your territory and it will fill. For added speed, cut your howl off by moving as soon as the rest of the pack starts howling, then howl again, and keep repeating that. The blue gauge fills every time you start a howl, but you don't have to complete it.

Always scavenge, never hunt. Finding and killing the elk takes too much time, leaves your pups defenseless, your mate will never help you, and hunting elk depletes your health so much that most of the carcass goes towards replenishing your health, with only a tiny bit of food left over for your pups. Not worth it. Just hit the "v" key and head towards the biggest purple cloud of your screen to get food.

Don't bother going to the cattle ranch. It's a fun and neat mission, but it won't help you or your pups. The food you get on the ranch usually doesn't carry over when you return to Slough Creek, and it often glitches, causing you to have a different number of pups or some other strangeness when you get back.

Good pups matter more than bad pups. I'm such a loving parent, aren't I? I don't know if pups are programmed to have their own individual personalities, or if this is just a glitch of some kind, but sometimes one or more pups in your litter will wander away farther and more frequently than its siblings, regardless of how full the blue gauge is. If one of your pups is noticeably more stupid than the others, don't feed it as often. These mischievous pups are much more likely to die, so you should try not to waste too much food on them. Prioritize their siblings over them at feeding time.

Howl to keep your pups still. It can be difficult to round up your pups while they're all running around in different directions, but howling will distract them and keep them from moving for a few seconds.

Defending your pups...


For "predator zoom ins": They're annoying, disorienting, and glitch often, but try to keep your bearings. You can still move while the predator zoom in is going on. If you can see your wolf during the zoom in, try to make your way towards the predator. If you can't see your wolf, stop moving, or you might end up running in the wrong direction or overshooting your target. If the zoom in glitches, try to fix it by entering and exiting scent view, or just reload your game.

The all purpose predator cheat: Save your game and reload before the predator gets your pup. Your stats will be the same when you reload, but the predator will be gone. Not the most honest way of keeping your pups safe, but preferable to a dead pup.

Coyotes: Kill them. If you don't, they will keep coming back, no matter how badly you hurt them or how far you chase them. You can end up with multiple coyotes circling your den if you don't kill every single one that appears.

Bears: Bite them three times. Make sure you have full health first, because there's no way to dodge their counterattack. Once the bear has been bitten three times, it will turn tail and run.

Stranger wolves: Stranger wolves in your territory are completely harmless. They simply stand still wherever they appear, and won't bother your pups. There's no reason to approach one if you see it, but, if you run into one accidentally, just run away. As far as I can tell, the outcome of stranger encounters doesn't affect the game.

Eagles: The eagle will be hovering above your head for literally the entire final journey. When it tries to kill your pups, it will swoop down and land, then hop towards them on the ground, causing a popup reading "Your puppy, -insert pup name here-, is about to die!", giving you a limited amount of time to chase it away. Eagles can't be killed, but they will not land anywhere near an adult wolf, so keep your pups close!


The final journey...

Carry your stupid pup. You can only carry one, so, if you know that one of your pups is more likely to wander away than the others, that's the one you should pick to carry.

Feed your pups and load up on pup food before you leave. Considering how slow the pups move, you want to make sure they don't starve before the journey is over, and having a full pup food bar both ensures that you'll be able to keep your pups' health up and makes your pups more likely to follow you closely.

Switch and rotate your camera. Hitting the "o" key makes the camera rotatable, rather than just hovering directly behind you. Use the "{" or "}" key to rotate it so that the camera is in front of your wolf, making it look as though your wolf is walking towards you when it moves forward. This allows you to easily keep an eye on your pups as they follow you.

Move slowly, and keep everyone as close together as possible. Predators won't get near your pups when there's an adult with them, so just keeping the pack together is a better defense than attacking predators. When you begin to move towards the rendezvous site, the pups should automatically begin to follow you, but the pups are slow, so don't let yourself get too far ahead of them, and stop to let them catch up if any fall behind.

If the image on your screen as you travel looks somewhat like this:

http://i50.tinypic.com/fk8pyq.jpg

You're doing it right.

Check your map repeatedly to make sure you're on course, and that you don't enter a stranger wolf territory. If you enter a stranger wolf's territory, you will automatically be warped over to Sandbar Crossing, regardless of where you entered it.

When/if you cross the creek, turn your camera back to normal and keep an eye on your mate. You can squeeze through that tiny crack between the river and the wolf territory, or you can just walk through the shallow water in Sandbar Crossing, but, either way, pups will need to be carried across one at a time. The rotated camera is good as a "rear view mirror" while you travel, but it can make crossing the creek harder, so you may want to reset it by hitting the "o" key. Your mate is likely to drown your pups, so be careful.

Celebrate! If you made it to the end of the game with all four pups, you can look forward to having a nice big pack when the next episode comes out.

If you noticed any mistakes or false information here, please let me know.

awesome! i hope this helps. the last time i saved all pups were alive but i was marking territory, so i made a new game. anyway i hope this info helps very much!
! I also found out that when your mate is carrying the pup you can't get it out of there mouth unless you make your mate howl then the pup can get out of your mates mouth.

[Double U]

this is extremely helpful; ill definetly be pulling this topic up when playing the game

[___]

Wow, I wasn't expecting this many posts so soon. I'm glad all of you like my tips!

Added another tip, to replace an old one:

Head straight towards stranger wolf territory. When you enter a stranger wolf's territory, you will automatically be warped over to Sandbar Crossing, saving you lots of travel time.

Also, thanks for the tip, Mexico. I haven't gotten around to trying it for myself, but I'll add it to my list if it works.

[Rosabell]

WOW THIS POST HYELPED ME A TON!!!!I WAS DOING EXACTLY WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT AND GOT ALL FOUR PUPS TO THE SUMMER SIGHT!!!!I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU (dont take that the wrong way)

~~MOONkiss~~

[FurryWolfs]

Wow. This is amazing. I didn't even know you could do that with the camera though LoL. That should help out quite a bit.

This should be stickied

[GhostFlower]

Which den site to choose: Bison Peak Cutoff. Press the "M" key to to bring up your map, then set a course towards the green circle on the bottom right. As far as I can see(no pun intended), this territory has the best visibility - it isn't as hilly as the others, with no jutting humps of ground that can block your view of the area, which makes it easier to keep sight of pups and predators and makes the camera less jerky when you travel. It's also the closest one to the rendezvous site, which will make the final mission of the game easier. Distance from hunting grounds and neighboring wolf packs doesn't matter, as stranger wolves are harmless and scavenging is more efficient than hunting.

Actually, I found that the Aspen Heights den is the easiest den to live at. The ground is semi-level so your camera doesn't fly all over the place and there are no bears, only coyotes. Or at least that is how it is for me. There are lots of carcasses around that den and the coyotes are easy to kill/chase off. That way you don't have to worry about predators getting your pups as long as you keep a steady watch for coyotes who come to close.

Hope that helped

Anyway, other than that, this is a prefect guide. I have used it to complete two games already, thanks for posting this guide!