In defense of the new food system.

Early on in my current playthrough, I had built and abandoned an outpost on the far northern edge of my starting landmass. I abandoned it as part of my expedition to find the Swamp, so I really just removed the portal, which I later reconstructed when I found the Swamp. I recently had a reason to put a portal back into that outpost, so I spent some time staring at the map and weighing my options. I decided against sailing, since the landmass didn't make it easy. And the entirety of the intervening biome is Meadows (although the outpost borders on the Black Forest), so I decided an overland jaunt was the way to go.

And so – in a nutshell – I carb-loaded. I ate the three best stamina foods I had, which dropped my health down to 70 but boosted my stamina up over 130. And I ran.

It was actually quite fun. I ran, I sprinted, I leapt. On several occasions I happened upon deer and/or boars so suddenly I literally punched them to death.

When I arrived at the outpost, I immediately entered and tried to build a portal, only to discover that I didn't have enough fine wood (I knew this before I left – "No worries! I'll just harvest some when I get there"), so I stepped outside, located a birch tree and had at it. I made short work of the birch, as well as a couple of greydwarves who showed up for the occasion.

I returned to the outpost, built the portal and activated it.

Then I heard an odd sound. "That doesn't sound like a greydwarf", I thought as I turned around. And saw a troll looming over the palisade.

I'll be honest – before Hearth & Home I would have just jumped through the portal. But I still had a bunch of stamina burning a hole in my pocket. So I leapt out of the outpost and made a break for it. The troll was swinging a tree trunk and I didn't want him to smash my outpost (especially the portal). I put a little distance between us and popped a couple of poison arrows into him. And then I ate the three best health foods I had (enough time had passed during the run from my home base). Then I just pulled out my sword and shield and went toe-to-toe with the big blue bastard.

I don't care what anybody says. The new food system rocks.