~ The Excel Study: An In-Depth Analysis of Explore Biomes ~

~ The Excel Study: An In-Depth Analysis of Explore Biomes ~
Posted 2023-08-22 20:30:19 (edited) #1056374 Hello and welcome to the forum! THANK YOU SO MUCH for visiting!! I've been working on this data compilation for months and am very excited to share my findings with you. Players have asked for ages what biomes are "best" to explore in, where to find the most NBWs, where to discover the most food and amusement.... and I seek to provide numerical data that will help you decide for yourself where you should be exploring. By the way: Thanks so much for all the grateful and supportive comments :D How to Use This Guide I recommend starting at "Labeling Interaction Categories" so that you're familiar with how I sort all of the aspects of exploring. Go to "The Answers" to view comparison data and hear my personal recommendations. If you're curious to see the raw data pertaining to each biome, click on the associated biome's spoiler tab. Biomes are listed according to difficulty rating: easy --> medium --> difficult --> challenging. Special Thanks Huge thanks to Choppedmint's forum "Best Biomes For What," which was a big help for me as a new player figuring out where to explore and how to get the things I need. Some other great forums that will supplement my research include Starling's "NBW Chances" forum, as well as Cleome's "[Grouse House Guide] Explore Encounters," both of them being BRILLIANT forums that will fill in the potential gaps of my research. Nerd Jargon Hypothesis: "Challenging" biomes will see the highest payout in terms of chased NBW sightings, amusement, food, and battle opportunities. They will also house the highest level enemies. This is due to game scaling: a new player needs to have skilled scouts in order to reach these biomes. The payoff for this training time should be increased rewards at challenging biomes. Inversely, "easy" biomes will have the lowest payouts and the easiest enemies, as they are meant to be accessible to new players. Process: Explore steps are taken and directly documented in Microsoft Excel. Reports are published to this forum once a biome reaches 100, 250, and 500 interactions, and it is acknowledged that the accuracy of these reports will increase as I update with more interactions. Results: As of my present findings, every biome is pretty much the same in terms of its RNG, with slight exceptions here and there. Let's begin! ~~ Labeling Interaction Categories ~~ All interactions sort themselves into twelve categories. ~ No Outcome These are often also referred to as "Dialogue" interactions. Flavor text appears on screen, and there are no buttons giving the player actions to perform. Based on random chance, your lead wolf may gain/lose some energy, hunger, or HP, but there is nothing the player can do to prevent this. ~ Battle All encounters with enemies that show an "Attack!" button appear in this category. ~ Food These interactions will either result in feeding the lead wolf or will add food to the hoard. ~ Herbs These interactions either result in you collecting an herb or using an herb on your lead wolf. ~ NBW Encounters All interactions that have a chance at you meeting an NBW will be sorted here. ~ Energy These interactions grant (~)+10 Energy to your lead wolf. ~ Choice: Energy / HP This almost exclusively refers to the Sleep / Rest interaction, in which you can choose if you want to give your lead wolf a boost in energy (by sleeping) or HP (by resting). ~ Hit Points This category is reserved for interactions in which there is only one button for the player to press, and that one button results in either a failure or an HP boost. ~ Amusement Grants an amusement item to the player. ~ Risk: Food / Battle This category is for the Critters Forward / Back interaction, in which the player can choose to engage in a battle (Move Forward) or collect a small carcass / egg / fish (Turn Back). ~ Risk: Food / Item This category is for the Beaver Chase / Growl interaction, in which the player can choose to take a shot at a beaver carcass (Chase) or a large log / rock / leaves (Growl). ~ Risk: Other Usually reserved for outcomes I did not observe, or interactions that provide SC and nothing else. Descriptions are provided in the raw data. ~~~~~ ~~ The Answers ~~ As you will notice if you look at the tabs below, different interaction data exists for different biomes, depending on where I've had more time to search around. To create an accurate comparison, the data below will compare the percentile value of each interaction, NOT the raw count. Numbers refer to biome difficulty. 1 = Easy, 2 = Medium, 3 = Difficult, 4 = Challenging. ~~~~~ No biome is exceptionally boring. I remember being personally bored in the Riparian Woodland, but couldn't tell you why. You'll come across NBWs at a pretty consistent rate everywhere. It might be worthwhile to note that the Prairie came very close to being statistically significant. Maybe explore here if you really want some NBWs. The huntin's good all around. Go to the Deciduous Forest if you're in need of amusement. I used to default to the Glacier, turns out I was wandering way off. You can find herbs everywhere. Again, it might be worthwhile to note that the Prairie is very close to statistical significance. Enemies are abound. The Mountains are VERY close to being statistically significant. I recommend going there for battles (I always do). Go to the Prairie if you need an energy boost. Go to the Desert if you need more HP. . You can find all sorts of enemies everywhere. Level 20 enemies can be found in almost every biome, including the "easy" ones. ~~~~~ ~~ Deciduous Forest ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Grasslands ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Mountains~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Coniferous Forest ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Prairie~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Riparian Woodland ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Desert ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Taiga ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Glacier ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Swamp ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Tundra ~~ ~~~~~ ~~ Rainforest ~~ ~~~~~	Paw #112093

Posted 2023-08-22 20:30:19 (edited)

#1056374

Hello and welcome to the forum!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for visiting!! I've been working on this data compilation for months and am very excited to share my findings with you.
Players have asked for ages what biomes are "best" to explore in, where to find the most NBWs, where to discover the most food and amusement.... and I seek to provide numerical data that will help you decide for yourself where you should be exploring.
By the way: Thanks so much for all the grateful and supportive comments :D

How to Use This Guide
I recommend starting at "Labeling Interaction Categories" so that you're familiar with how I sort all of the aspects of exploring.
Go to "The Answers" to view comparison data and hear my personal recommendations.
If you're curious to see the raw data pertaining to each biome, click on the associated biome's spoiler tab. Biomes are listed according to difficulty rating: easy --> medium --> difficult --> challenging.

Special Thanks
Huge thanks to Choppedmint's forum "Best Biomes For What," which was a big help for me as a new player figuring out where to explore and how to get the things I need. Some other great forums that will supplement my research include Starling's "NBW Chances" forum, as well as Cleome's "[Grouse House Guide] Explore Encounters," both of them being BRILLIANT forums that will fill in the potential gaps of my research.

Nerd Jargon
Hypothesis: "Challenging" biomes will see the highest payout in terms of chased NBW sightings, amusement, food, and battle opportunities. They will also house the highest level enemies. This is due to game scaling: a new player needs to have skilled scouts in order to reach these biomes. The payoff for this training time should be increased rewards at challenging biomes. Inversely, "easy" biomes will have the lowest payouts and the easiest enemies, as they are meant to be accessible to new players.
Process: Explore steps are taken and directly documented in Microsoft Excel. Reports are published to this forum once a biome reaches 100, 250, and 500 interactions, and it is acknowledged that the accuracy of these reports will increase as I update with more interactions.
Results: As of my present findings, every biome is pretty much the same in terms of its RNG, with slight exceptions here and there.

Let's begin!

~~ Labeling Interaction Categories ~~

All interactions sort themselves into twelve categories.

~
No Outcome
These are often also referred to as "Dialogue" interactions. Flavor text appears on screen, and there are no buttons giving the player actions to perform. Based on random chance, your lead wolf may gain/lose some energy, hunger, or HP, but there is nothing the player can do to prevent this.
~
Battle
All encounters with enemies that show an "Attack!" button appear in this category.
~
Food
These interactions will either result in feeding the lead wolf or will add food to the hoard.
~
Herbs
These interactions either result in you collecting an herb or using an herb on your lead wolf.
~
NBW Encounters
All interactions that have a chance at you meeting an NBW will be sorted here.
~
Energy
These interactions grant (~)+10 Energy to your lead wolf.
~
Choice: Energy / HP
This almost exclusively refers to the Sleep / Rest interaction, in which you can choose if you want to give your lead wolf a boost in energy (by sleeping) or HP (by resting).
~
Hit Points
This category is reserved for interactions in which there is only one button for the player to press, and that one button results in either a failure or an HP boost.
~
Amusement
Grants an amusement item to the player.
~
Risk: Food / Battle
This category is for the Critters Forward / Back interaction, in which the player can choose to engage in a battle (Move Forward) or collect a small carcass / egg / fish (Turn Back).
~
Risk: Food / Item
This category is for the Beaver Chase / Growl interaction, in which the player can choose to take a shot at a beaver carcass (Chase) or a large log / rock / leaves (Growl).
~
Risk: Other
Usually reserved for outcomes I did not observe, or interactions that provide SC and nothing else. Descriptions are provided in the raw data.
~~~~~

~~ The Answers ~~

As you will notice if you look at the tabs below, different interaction data exists for different biomes, depending on where I've had more time to search around. To create an accurate comparison, the data below will compare the percentile value of each interaction, NOT the raw count.
Numbers refer to biome difficulty. 1 = Easy, 2 = Medium, 3 = Difficult, 4 = Challenging.
~~~~~

No biome is exceptionally boring.
I remember being personally bored in the Riparian Woodland, but couldn't tell you why.

You'll come across NBWs at a pretty consistent rate everywhere.
It might be worthwhile to note that the Prairie came very close to being statistically significant. Maybe explore here if you really want some NBWs.

The huntin's good all around.

Go to the Deciduous Forest if you're in need of amusement.
I used to default to the Glacier, turns out I was wandering way off.

You can find herbs everywhere.
Again, it might be worthwhile to note that the Prairie is very close to statistical significance.

Enemies are abound.
The Mountains are VERY close to being statistically significant. I recommend going there for battles (I always do).

Go to the Prairie if you need an energy boost.

Go to the Desert if you need more HP.

.
You can find all sorts of enemies everywhere.
Level 20 enemies can be found in almost every biome, including the "easy" ones.