Winter

		The Winter season in The Infected is beautiful with snow blanketing the countryside and the frosted look of trees and foliage. However, it is meant to be challenging, and new players must learn to prepare for the harsh months in order to survive. In autumn the leaves on the trees start changing colors, which can be a reminder to the player to prepare for winter. In the game's loading screen settings you can choose to play with 4 seasons, with summer only or with winter only. Should you choose summer or winter, there will still be differences in the seasons, but the differences will not be as great. In the summer setting you will not encounter cold snaps or blizzards in the winter months. The Winter months are December, January and February. Below some challenges in regular winter are described with tips on how to master them.
Freezing Even in early Winter temperatures can rapidly sink to freezing levels. To prepare, the player should start crafting appropriate clothing for the cold months in a timely fashion. The Winter Coat and Snow Pants are essential. When the player starts to freeze, a freezing warning appears in the lower left corner of the screen, and the player's surroundings take on a blue tinge. When this happens, the player should quickly don additional clothing or retreat to a warm shelter. If the freezing warning is ignored, the player will gradually start to lose health. In January and February cold snaps and blizzards occur which last several minutes and which can cause an unprepared player to freeze to death. In these months it is advisable not to wander too far from a heated shelter. To be safe, players can either remain close to home during those months or prepare small primitive shelters with a heat source around the map in advance so they always have a place to retreat to should they be surprised by such a natural disaster. Medical Kits that can be crafted or found as loot in villages are a good thing to have with you if you travel far in winter since they restore health that can be depleted by freezing. Caves and deserted Village houses do not provide protection from the cold.
Overheating Character Outline available in Inventory In addition to the ambient temperature surrounding the player, the player's own body temperature is an important factor in the player's well-being. Just as a player who is too lightly clothed in cold surroundings is subject to freezing, a player who is too heavily clothed in warm surroundings is subject to overheating. When the player starts to overheat, an overheating warning appears in the lower left corner of the screen, and the player's surroundings take on a warmer yellowish tinge. This can happen when the player is too warmly clothed in warm weather outside, or when the player enters a heated enclosed space when warmly clothed in winter. When overheated the player should quickly remove one or more articles of clothing to cause the body temperature to drop or don cooling clothing, otherwise the player will gradually start to lose health. Clothing can be temporarily stored in a Storage Container or preferably on a Clothing Rack. The body temperature of the player is shown above the character outline, which can be displayed by on the head icon in the player's Inventory. The mode of temperature display can be toggled between Fahrenheit and Celsius with the setting Temperature Type in the game's loading screen options. It is, however, not necessary to constantly monitor the body temperature, since the visual clues for freezing and overheating provide enough time in most situations for the player to react before losing too much health.
Protein in Winter Animals spawn in winter, though not as often During the winter months the player can expect natural bodies of water to be frozen, preventing the ability to fish. Although some players have reported that they are able to spear fish that swim near the surface through the ice, not many players will have the patience to do so. As an additional hardship, the spawn rate of animals is reduced in Winter, so meat may also be scarce. Luckily, whole fish have a spoilage time of 18 hours, so whole fish caught in the autumn will last the entire winter and can be harvested as needed. In addition, both Dried Meat and Dried Fish have a spoilage time of 18 hours and last throughout the winter. The excellent Meat Stews require a Metal Stove to make and do not have a long perish time, so they are not the best option for storing protein for the first winter. To prepare for the winter months, the player should start storing whole fish, dried fish and dried meat in autumn before the waters freeze over. If caught without a good supply of protein, the player should pay extra attention to animal sounds which signify available prey. Crocodiles are just as plentiful in winter as in summer, so a visit to the swamp is a good hunting opportunity, especially since crocodiles are very easy to hunt in winter on the ice. Travelling to the swamp in December will avoid cold snaps and blizzards. Crafted Rations raise all food related stats and they do not perish, but they are not easily available to a new player because they are expensive to make. In a new game players are automatically provided with a supply of 5 Beef Stews, which are a great supply of all nourishment in an emergency, but these can be quickly used up.
Carbs in Winter Plants no longer spawn in the wild in winter, so players are dependent on their own planted crops, Rations and canned goods as a source of carbohydrates in the cold months. As mentioned in the protein section above, the player's initial supply of 5 Beef Stews are a great supply of nourishment in an emergency, but these can be quickly used up. Canned Fruit Salad and Veggie Salad are excellent sources of carbohydrates and also provide buffs which contribute to the overall increase in maximum health. They have a perish time of 22 hours and can be stored all winter long. In a new game players can easily obtain Empty Cans for the salads by looting at least one Village before the first winter arrives. As stated in the section on protein above, crafted Rations raise all food related stats and they do not perish, but they are not easily available to a new player because they are expensive to make.
Farming Crops in Winter Crops planted outdoors in Plant Beds will suddenly wilt and die when exposed to the first freezing weather of the year. For this reason it is necessary to move any outdoor Plant Beds to an indoor location in late autumn before the first freezing weather sets in. Planted crops will vanish if their plant bed is moved, so it is advisable to first harvest crops and then move the empty plant beds to avoid losing crops. Once inside, seeds can be planted in the empty plant beds. Even indoor crops can freeze if they are not in an enclosed heated space. It is important to ensure that a fire is lit all winter in the room where the crops are growing. Heat sources can be any forge, a Metal Stove or a Coal Heater. Such a heat source will keep rooms at a constant warm temperature of 23° C. The most convenient heat source for crops in winter is the Coal Heater because it will burn all winter long on just one piece of coal. The other heat sources are just as effective, but don't burn as long and the player will have to keep stoking the fire with fuel to prevent the fire from going out. A Greenhouse automatically provides a suitable temperature for crops to grow all year round without needing a heat source, but new players may not find the time to craft one before the first winter arrives and instead have to rely on having their crops inside their heated base. Crops require water to grow, and since crops planted indoors don't get any rain, they need to be watered frequently by the player. Even crops planted in a Greenhouse will need to be manually watered if no Water House (and enough Power to run it) is available. The good news is that it is easier to fetch water to water crops in the winter than it is in the warmer months. In winter, players need only open the food section of their inventory when looking at the ground to be able to fill their flasks with snow. In the warmer months players need to fetch water from a lake, river or the sea or from a full Water Basin.
History v. 9.4 No more plant spawns in winter. v. 9.3 Players can now toggle between playing with all 4 seasons, only winter or only summer. Choosing "Only Winter" means you cannot fish, as the water will remain frozen. v. 4.0 Animal spawns reduced in winter. v. 4.0 Water will now freeze in the winter months, locking out the ability to fish. v. 4.0 When water sources are frozen in winter, water can be obtained by adding snow to your flask and boiling it. v. 4.0 Plants in plant beds will now die if temperature is below 0 degrees. v. 4.0 Added snow footstep sounds in the winter on snow. v. 4.0 Added random cold snaps and blizzards in the winter season. These will only last a short duration (3 to 6 minutes) in January and February but may be impossible to survive without being indoors.
Swamp in Winter