Test of the Safari
- Requires Level 12
Demonstrate the Principle Principle demonstrated by: Delerium On:
In the Test of Safari you will learn to track and capture 7 species of Egyptian fauna. Each species has unique behaviors and tracking methods, and each must be accomplished 4 times.
For every 4 animals you capture (they do not have to be 4 of the same animal), your Strength increases by 1 permanently. Once you have captured 4 animals of each of the 7 species, you pass the Test of the Safari -- in addition to gaining your 7th Strength point. You do not gain anything for more than four of a given type of animal caught, only the first four add to your strength and help you pass the test.
WARNING -- Due to changes made in the game around November, 2006, the Test of the Safari cannot be completed by hearing-impaired players or players with substandard speakers. Specifically, the removal of shadows from bullfrogs leaves users with sound restrictions with NO WAY of detecting and pinpointing the 4 frogs needed to complete the Test. Hopefully, Pharaoh will consider the impact of this change on the Test and the inadvertent discrimination against players with hearing impairments. -- Spatulus
Or do what I do... get a guildie/wife/someone else to do the actual work. That's what I did (hearing and speakers are ok, I just suck at those frogs :) ) -- Cappu
Tracking Falcons
To identify a Falcon Roost, drop a rabbit. A falcon will take it sometime within the next 5 minutes (but never within the first minute), and will fly toward the nearest roost. Trees may be checked for roosts but doing so is exhausting!.
- This is not true. I had a rabbit taken after a few seconds. ~Greenish
- Also note that when you find your first falcon the other 3 will be from the same area so stick around and drop more rabbits don't leave and try again you'll just end up coming all the way back to the same area you found your first one. NOT the same tree but will be around the same area. i found this out the hard way taking a week to do falcon tracking instead of one day....
- This is not universally true. My 2 first falcons were half-an-Egypt apart - Cappu
I read the above to mean that for actual falcon hunting you don't check trees. This is not the case. That is exactly how you catch falcons, only it obviously goes faster if you have an idea which tree might have a roost! But checking trees for roosts triggers an end timer for about two minutes. So here is what you do:
Stock yourself with grilled onions and grilled fish. Go to 0 0. You can start falcon hunting at any place, but on 0 0 you are assured to have the roosts near (this is on the NW border of Karnak). Drop a rabbit and wait for a falcon to take it to its roost (where it will play nicely with the little falcon chickies). A message in Main will say in what direction it flew. Go follow it and check trees on the way. I recommend taking an overload of rabbits (say, ten per falcon) and drop one at every copse of trees. That way you'll have pinpointed the roost way faster. - Taemon
The above is true because there is a bug in falcon placement that is well known and has persisted across tales. All falcons appear very near the origin (0,0), which is in FP on the Karnak border. It is a shorter run from Karnak than from the FP chariot. I caught all of my falcons right about -40,-40, in some cases just by eating some strong END food and checking every tree. Only takes about five or so. The falcons do seem to like that area and don't build nests anywhere else. Maybe Teppy will fix this bug some day and falcon hunting will be a challenge.... -JulianJaynes
Bug confirmed on 4/08. While I didn't get them grouped into a tight spot, all the falcons I managed to get remained within a 10-80 coord. variance from 0,0. - Huringe
Tracking Fennecs
Build a Fennec Trap using 4 boards and 1 rope. Each night, traps on the outskirts of a pack will show signs of creatures, and all traps within 250 coordinates will capture one. At least 4 different subspecies of Fennecs must be captured and released.
Traps will detect signs of Fennecs (“on the outskirts of a pack”) from 1000 coordinates away.
Fennec Traps deteriorate and disappear in 30 Days.
- According to one long-time resident of Sinai (2 tales), no Fennec has ever been spotted in that region. -- Nebmare
Tracking Desert Rats
Fast-moving Desert Rats blend perfectly with Egypt's terrain, but their distinctive tracks will lead to them every time. Be aware that the wind will cover up tracks over time.
You need 1 canvas and 4 boards to set up a Desert Rat Trap. These are not normal buildings: they don't appear on the ground and they don't last more than an instant. Either they catch the rat immediately, or they don't. The materials are NOT consumed if you fail to catch the rat.
Materials are ONLY consumed when you catch the rat. You can try as often as you want with the materials for one cage. It will give a short End timer. - Taemon
To catch a rat in your trap, you first need to follow the tracks in the direction of travel. Look closely at a track and you'll see rough toe prints on one end of the track. Using a very close-up single F8 camera view and lowering your texture resolution (click yourself/Utility/Options: Video) can be very helpful in seeing the details of the tracks. Once you know which way the rat is traveling, continue to follow the tracks until they end. There can be fairly large gaps between tracks, so scan a good-sized area for further tracks. Once you think you've found the forward-most track, set your trap in front of it. If that was the most recently made track, you should catch a rat. If you don't catch one, scan further ahead for more tracks while your END timer runs down.
Also, rats can double back and go in circles. The toe prints can help you understand the path of travel when tracks criss-cross or do other confusing things. -- Ankh-EnDa
Tips for Catching that Rat:
- Rat tracks are spaced in proportion to their age, the older the tracks, the further apart they will be.
- Rat tracks do not immediate disappear once the rat is caught. The tracks stay and fade out in accordance with the same schedule as for above
- If you are following an active set of tracks, the next set of prints will show up within a few seconds in front of the last set. I have found is worth those few seconds to see the next set show up to make sure I am in the right spot
- Rat are know to be suicidal. They have been observed to jump off the cliffs at the edge of the world, drown themselves in bodies of water. Life is tough as a rat
- Rats despawn and move on by themselves, they do not wait around to be caught. Their tracks also won't immediately go away (well, that last bit is slightly conjecture, since I can't prove it despawned, but I was tracking a good rat and he “disappeared” leaving his tracks behind)
Build the trap using your menu: Projects | Tests | Tests of the Safari | Set up a Desert Rat Trap. It helps to pin the menu when you start tracking.
The rats can climb up 90 degree cliffs, catch them fast if they are near one.
- It helps a great deal to turn off "Advanced Terrain" under Utility... / Options: Video to see rat tracks and otters. Turning "Advanced Terrain" caused the game to crash for me but I was able to log right back in. Also a good idea to have Shadow Quality on high. -Calen
Tracking Bullfrogs
Bullfrogs exhibit almost perfect camouflage, but their distinctive sound gives them away. High Dexterity helps capture these creatures.
This is a night time event: 6PM to 6AM only.
To catch a bullfrog, one must be in the same coordinate grid as the frog, and attempt to catch it from the menu: Tests... Test of the Safari... Capture a Bullfrog. If you are not in the right grid square, you will trigger a five-minute Endurance timer. There is no timer if you catch the frog.
It is possible for a coordinate to have more than one frog. If you find one, it may be worth trying again in the same spot, even if you don't hear anything.
- Good Advice! When you catch a frog there is no timer so jump again in the same spot. Both my wife and I have caught 2 frogs in one spot. (perhaps they were mating)
* I found 3 frogs in the same spot. (mating +1, hmmm....)
A Frog Hunting Guide
Early in Tale 3, Bullfrogs produced a tiny shadow on the ground (see below). As of November 2006, they no longer do.
- I have reliably caught Bullfrogs with a Dexterity of 0. I don't think Dexterity matters, at least as long as it's non-negative. -- Nebmare
- I think different frogs despawn at different times. I've had a frog stop croaking at 3am Egypt time, but I've also caught one at 530am - Aziza
- If you are having problems tracking the frog sounds through your speakers, change to a pair of headphones while searching. The defined left/right speakers makes frog searching alot easier -- Cadomak
- Does that mean the only way to find a frog is to home in on it by sound alone and try random attempts over 20 coords? I certainly hope not... Anyone who's hearing impaired or on a laptop without stereo speakers is screwed if that's the case. -- Spatulus
- Is this to cover up for the lack of frog audio for some people? No shadow+No audio=No frogs=No Safari. I've put a lot of time into the other animals and now I am being told "Sorry that the frog audio doesn't work, to make matters worse, we're eliminating the shadow as well". Compound that with the fact no one I know including myself has ever received a response about the lack of audio for some people regarding frogs and you have a really bad Test. Changing a Test in the middle of a Tale is unfair to new people or even to people with just a few remaining frogs to catch. -- Draomin
Tracking Otters
Otters build an underground network of tunnels. It is possible to put a stick (wood) down to block a portion of the network, but if too many holes are blocked, the Otter will get annoyed and eat a stick!
You need boards in your inventory, not unplaned wood. To place a board, you must unsuccessfully try to catch an otter, after which you can put the board into the hole the otter popped out of.
A typical Otter warren will have a dozen access points randomly distributed in a 36x36 coordinate area, and you'll have to cap 9 or so holes to capture the Otter. This is not as easy as it sounds as the viewing range for an Otter is only about 4 coordinates and the holes are all interconnected.
+Note the 36 by 36 reported coordinate area is incorrect.
Because of the limited viewing range of otter holes, I find a good method is to track down each hole before I start, I have found there is always 12 of them, and placing an object like a bundle of grass next to each one. These objects are easier to see from further away. Do not place the object on the hole itself, as this may obscure the otter (as I learned the hard way with a bonfire last tale) -- Telanoc
- Note that these appear to not be your typical "water-based" otters. They appear to be more like prairie dogs or groundhogs. I found my first otter hundreds of coordinates from water. --Fugue
Tracking Gazelles
Gazelles run faster than humans. The key to tagging a Gazelle is to tire it out. Strong teamwork is a must.
Gazelles are found alone, and if a human gets near one it will sprint away for a short distance.
The key to tagging a Gazelle is to tire it out: this is done by using a group of people to surround it. Strong teamwork is a must. The idea is to maneuver the Gazelle into running toward another person, which forces it to run again, and so on. These successive sprints will gradually wear out the Gazelle (you will receive a message in Main to this effect), and eventually it will stop running and lay down to rest. At this point you may safely approach the Gazelle and tag it. Any number of people can tag an exhausted Gazelle, so the more the merrier! The Gazelle will disappear after a few minutes.
- My gazelle disappeared after less than 15 seconds last night. Tag fast! -Fugue
The principle requires one to "see" a Gazelle. That means spooking it.
Two people can easily chase down a gazelle. Just get on both sides and keep running it towards water. (Some claim a steep mountain will also work, others say the gazelle can climb 90 degree walls.) There will be numerous messages in Main about how tired the gazelle is. Once it lowers its head, run up and tag it.
Note: Steep mountains are a bad idea. It can run up a 90 degree wall. You can't. Must be some crossbreeding with mountain goats going on. This happened to me on the western border of Qatara.
Tracking Ibis
Only one flock of Ibis inhabits Egypt. Tagging a single bird causes it to flee, but the rest of the flock is unfazed. The flock tends to move at night, and resettle in the morning.
Ibis catching seems to be the exact same as in Tale 2, see link below for information.
Tagging an ibis will also yield 1 ibis feather.
- It is rumored that Sinai is a good place to hunt for Ibis. -- Nebmare
- Best place to hunt for Ibis is on E!. Since the finder of the flock can only tag 1 bird, Ibis sightings are nearly always announced there.
See also
Otter Sightings, Public Fennec Traps
Guilds
Egyptian Safari Club - 1693, 3736 - Located right by the Upper Egypt chariot stop. Open to all of Egypt. The bigger it gets, the easier safari will be :) Chat Epiphany or an elder after you apply.
Safari Hunting Association - Safari Hunting Association is a guild from T2. We had in excess over 350 members. Please come visit our webpage and apply. Check out the section 'Membership made Easy'.
The Wayfarers - 568, 6957 - Located by the Lower Egypt UBody. All of Egypt welcome. The Wayfarers is intended to be a metaguild for those interested in the discipline of the Human Body.
Other useful pages
From Tale 2: The_Test_Of_The_Safari
Other Body Tests
- Main Tests page
- Test of the Acrobat - level 4
- Test of the Singing Cicada - level 8
- Test of the Safari - level 12
- Test of the Banquet - level 15
- Disciples of the Human Body)
