Messages

46

General Discussion / Re: Windows install problems

« on: July 12, 2022, 01:15:42 AM »

Thanks that solved that problem now to get nights mod to work.<snip>

Glad to hear that.

47

General Discussion / Re: Windows install problems

« on: July 10, 2022, 06:33:41 PM »

I have not used windows for over 20 years but <snip>

Based on 0, api-ms-win-crt-runtime is part of the Microsoft software package 'Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015'.
Have you tried installing that package to overcome the lack of .dll issue, using link 1 below or another official Microsoft website?


0 https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0-dll-missing-error-solved/
1 https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=48145

48

Gameplay questions / Re: Tracking timing of fishing nets?

« on: April 27, 2022, 04:41:05 AM »

In older versions, I used  the character log (Shift+L) to check when I had put nets in the water, so that I could check them after 24 hours have passed.  If placed in early morning on the 6th, I could check the morning of the 7th, etc.

Since the character log got removed, I don't appear to have an easy way to track that.  Is there an alternate way to check when I put the nets in / if the nets are ready, besides pulling them up and resetting the timer?

You can still do something similar to determine whether it is good time to check your fishing net(s) but now with a little more manual effort, for example:

• In the zoomed in map right after dropping net(s) look at your screen & make a mental note of TIME OF DAY value (e.g.: 'Early morning').
• Press SHIFT+P (opens 'Character Info' screen) & make a note of DAYS ALIVE numeric value (e.g.: "You are 16 winters old, and have lived 123 days of adventuring life.") then close that screen with ESC.
• With this information in hand ('net set Early Morning on Day 123'), press v (opens Message Log).
• Press ENTER (initiates the 'Enter a note to log' function).
• Enter a message that will be committed to the SAVEGAME Message Log file e.g.: 'dn123em' = '(D)ropped (N)et on day (123) during (E)arly (M)orning'.
   Note: later, you may scroll up/down in this v screen, looking for this message therefore after typing the value such as 'dn123em', also placing some extra characters (something like 888888888888) would make that line stand out and thus much easier to find.
• Do other stuff to pass time.
• Finally, the next time you feel in doubt ('is it time to pick up the net(s) now?'), simply hit v and search in Message Log the last dnXXXX value (PageUp/PageDown keys) and then make a quick determination whether it is time yet to retrieve the net.

It is a lot to explain step by step but once you get used to it, it should probably take 5-10 seconds to add an entry.


Bonus: If you consistently follow a particular convention when entering your Message (such as the example above 'dnXXXzz') then it would be easy to programmatically find those characters in message log file (UrW_dir\SAVEGAMEDIR\msglog.txt) from outside the game. This can be done while game is running on the second screen or via ALT+TAB window switch.

Search & Display Suggestion #1: Here is one primitive example on Windows, using Command Prompt, for a UrW character named TEPU:

Code: [Select]

C:\>TYPE c:\Steam\steamapps\common\UnRealWorld\TEPU\msglog.txt | FINDSTR /C:"-- dn"
(600060):58g6:["]{04EC0530}      | -- dn102lm 888888888888
(600060):58g7:["]{04F50524}      | -- dn117n 888888888888
(600060):58gh:["]{04EC0531}      | -- dn123em 888888888888
Search & Display Suggestion #2: There are also software tools that can continuously display the bottom of a continuously updated text file (such as the msglog.txt), that can even highlight some lines based on matching keywords.
Linux & Mac has tail utility distributed with the O/S.
Windows has PowerShell which has tail functionality but there is also free software options.
In the context of the example above, since we know all messages we enter begin with "| -- " prefix (by UrW) and then our TEXT is appended to the line, and since we know all our fishing text entries (based on the example convention) will consistently begin with 'dn', we can simply search for or highlight "| -- dn". It should then show us a nice and easy display, such as:

The free software in the screenshot is SnakeTail https://github.com/snakefoot/snaketail-net

In summary, using this procedure you can get a similar reference point and I think it is better than no-information at all.
Having said that opening a log file & entering a message does break the game flow, on my mind, it is not ideal.
It would be great if devs did some QoL improvement here, for example when player hovers the mouse over map-net-icon, a pop-up single line of text could say: "You remember you set that net yesterday early morning".

Edit: typo

49

Suggestions / Re: Regarding Villagers/Village AI

« on: April 23, 2022, 04:41:35 PM »

<snip>
The suggestion comes this way:

People were "welcoming me" in a happy mood, as they kinda know the character.
And nobody would come near the fences, near the animals there with their diverse affections and wounds.
Dogs were around, but just that.
And people acted as if there was nothing going on there, like plain normal.

The character left the village by noon, and now it is down south.
He will come back again. And I don't really know what the character will found in the return, after a week or so.

There's a little picture of the pen.

Thanks this was nice to read.

Let me tell you about a similar experience I had: upon entering a village after a wild animal (wolf) attack, I observed a similar situation. A lone wolf was running away and villagers as well as other in-pen-village-animals appeared clueless about the whole thing. As much as I can remember it was in a northern village, I cannot remember free-roaming dogs in the scene. At the time, I have had the exact feeling "wow what a mess!" and "wow these guys must all be blind!".
I was shocked!
It must have been that state of mind (shock, sadness, anger against the animal and the gods that allowed all this) that shook me to the core and made me things I should not have done.
I watched myself doing things like: enter the pen and butcher that downed animal(reindeer), go sell it to the very same village, and still under the influence of continued shock, come back, butcher the second downed animal, sell it also. Once all downed animals were all shall we say "cleaned", shock wore off.  Of course then I did come back to the battle ground to pay my respects - that's the right thing to do.
At the time I thought for a more believable game world, perhaps villagers should have acted better.

Circling back to your post, after saying "the suggestion comes this way", you do not explicitly suggest anything but continue to describe your observations of the village in the aftermath of the battle. Correct me if I am wrong but I am guessing what you are overtly suggesting is "let's not have this AI - let's have it better (i.e.: a more appropriate response to a wild animal attack)"? If so, I agree completely!

I thought about this scene at the time but as far as I can remember I did not post a suggestion - I am listing below a few of my thoughts on the matter.
I know AI programming is very hard with all sorts of unintended outcomes with every change and hard to test in general.
Plus all this below is lengthy to say the least but perhaps we can at least discuss and hear what @Sami & @Erkka think on this...

I think if current AI code allows such changes:

a) There could be an village-under-wildanimal-attack state. When it is activated, the village entities, meaning all in shouting-distance villagers/village dogs/any other in-pen animals that can get aggressive, should all counter-attack the village-attacking-wild-animal(s) to defend their lives & village property. Since not all humans/dogs/other animals are uniformly Terminator T-1000s, perhaps it could be added as a small chance to run away from the village (or hide in a nearby doored village building, until the battle is over). I think this would replicate the real world a tiny bit better.

b) There could be a village-post-wildanimal-attack state in which:

b1) One villager or more villagers (if 2 or more animals/humans were harmed during the attack) find themselves tasked with first-aid duty to try and stop bleeding of their fellow villagers & village animals. To do this efficiently, they could go fetch bandages from the nearby centrally located village-common-bandage-store (village first aid kit, the wise elders put together in advance).

b2) In this village-post-wildanimal-attack state there could be a high priority harvest the dead-animals duty (village property animals or wild animals). Villager or villagers (for parallel processing if multiple animals are downed) should start skinning/butchering the animals.

b3) In this village-post-wildanimal-attack state there could be a high priority guard harvest duty for the already dead-animals (village property animals or wild animals) that are being harvested by villagers. For any non-villager (even if friendly, such as a nice PC) approaching downed-animals villagers should first warn them to not touch/take the dead animals, just like they inform people who take their village property items & then warn potential-thieves when they walk away with village goods. If the warnings are not heeded (perhaps, after some extra warnings) villagers should eventually start attacking as a last resort, as an anti-thief behaviour, just to protect the village property (dead-animal).

b4) In this village-post-wildanimal-attack state there could be a high priority offer gratitude action which triggers only if during the recent battle PC assisted the village in their defense/counter-attack. Perhaps it could operate simply by counting successful strikes on village-invading-wild-animal(s) by the PC both with thrown objects & melee items.
In the post-battle-state villagers initiate a dialog and offer PC something as a gesture of thanks. Perhaps a pre-existing item from the village common store such as a few arrows, something balanced against the number of successful hits/strikes made by the PC on the wild-animal. Pre-existing so that this function is not tied to waiting for the (slow) processing of the dead-animal skin & meat (if any). And if no village-invading-wild-animal(s) are killed during the battle, village might still want to offer appreciation for PC's heroic action of risking their life to defend the village.

50

Bug reports / Re: [3.71] Reward from quest spawned in inaccessible cave

« on: April 21, 2022, 07:51:34 PM »

There is a chance devs might advise it is intentional and thus "not a bug" but until then I continue to consider this behaviour of spawning something that is not naturally accessible to the player, a bug.

This topic was created by OP (@Valor) in 'Not bugs' section however based on the logic above, I have now moved it into 'Bug reports' section, similar to the previous one linked by @Privateer. While it covers the same aspect, for now I will leave these two as separate reports.

51

Not bugs / MOVED: [3.71] Reward from quest spawned in inaccessible cave

« on: April 21, 2022, 07:42:44 PM »

This topic has been moved to Bug reports.

https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=6707.0

52

General Discussion / Re: RAID

« on: April 20, 2022, 03:08:09 PM »

I want to take over the village and get it's valuables, and something very specific.
A Masterwork Mail Haubergeon.

I agree with PALU, other than ethics (which is yours to ignore), I would advise against it simply because it is not worth the effort (time & riskwise) and of course there already is a clearly better way of obtaining all those items (hint: active hunt elks/reindeers & trade).

If you try this, most likely outcome is you will die.

Having said that, if you are really determined to murder for profit, probably best to do it a few or even ideally single human at a time. Similar to animal hunting tactics, try and circle the village, ideally at night time, to pick individuals, let them chase you way outside the village.
Note that you will not always manage to separate one human away - many times they will start yelling like crazy, bringing along the half or entire village (I know because a friend of mine did this also). It is best to disengage in those circumstances because even kids in this game are Terminator T1000s that have no hunger/self-preservation; they will keep at it forever until you are down. Due to the way combat system works 2 kids and an adult can kill you in most attempts. (Needless to say, a village typically has much more population than 3).
To reduce risk, try to tire the individual you picked away from the village first, only then kill them. Rest, repeat.  Don't rush.
Having a shield and some skill with shields can make life easier. Note that to gain skill in shields, you can do what was suggested to you earlier in another thread: buy one or ideally more shields and throw them on the ground (a neighbouring tile next to your feet) all day long. Eventually you will gain skill points.

Again, I agree with PALU. Don't do this. And remember to share the outcome of your very risky attempts.

53

General Discussion / Re: How to make Leather?

« on: April 19, 2022, 02:52:23 PM »

What do i have to do to get leather?

https://www.unrealworld.fi/wiki/index.php?title=Hideworking_(Skill)



Edit: fix broken link

54

General Discussion / Re: Wounds, Injuries and Diseases

« on: April 17, 2022, 03:49:51 PM »

In "Wounds, Injuries and Diseases", sometimes, when you are injured, it can show "BL" below state, what does that mean?
<snip>

PALU's right.
The devs explain what BL means in NEWS.TXT file which is located in the Unreal World game top-level directory:

Code: [Select]

C:\Steam\steamapps\common\UnRealWorld>rg.exe -sn BL NEWS.TXT|grep bleeding
STDIN
5749:         "BL" abbreviation is now used to mark bleeding wounds in injury

That is a note from:
 Version: 3.18 - beta 4
 Released: 3-Jan-2014

55

General Discussion / Re: Tips to Survive in the Cold and Winter

« on: April 14, 2022, 01:21:46 PM »

I really need to know everything I have to know and tips to survive in the cold and winter please, I'd appreciate your help.

Excellent advice by @Privateer already.

I would also suggest reading the wiki page on the matter, here: https://www.unrealworld.fi/wiki/index.php?title=Winter_Survival

Tips #2 & #19 here can help with early game and even later in the game: https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=6459.0

56

General Discussion / Re: Tips about dogs?

« on: April 14, 2022, 01:06:38 PM »

Well, ever since I was suggested to get a dog, i went far north, to the Owl-Tribe Lands and got myself a dog, so, I was afraid of some things, like, my house is on a land surrounded by water, so I'd have to bring my dog swimming, and I'm afraid it drowns or freezes to death, or something bad happens to it, I just wanna make sure what should I know about my dogs and what should I avoid from happening to my dog, I'd appreciate your help, thanks.

I've experimented with dogs extensively, here are some random Dog Tips, in no particular order:

• If you have not done so yet, might be a good idea to read the relevant wiki page, here: https://unrealworld.fi/wiki/index.php?title=Dog
• Every Unreal World dog owner should read this one post from @Ara D.  It does not come in handy every day but eventually, one day, you will need it -> https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5378.msg13073#msg13073
• For dog owners, there is a Hunting Horn item in the game world; as per linked wiki article it lets your dogs hear where you are, calls your dogs back, and signals dogs to stop attacking non-aggressive targets.
  To be clear it helps you recall your dogs from longer range (compared to your voice). You cannot self-produce it.
  Hunting Horn wiki article is a single line but it is discussed in these forums in a few places, here is one such thread specifically on this item -> https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5718.0
  Earlier, I posted my findings on how to obtain a Hunting Horn here -> https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=5718.msg19267#msg19267
• It is certainly possible to have a zero dog leash policy this applies both when staying in one place and also when travelling. I do not recommend this (detailed below).
• When hunting actively you can command your dog(s) to attack via the keyboard shortcut: ! but be aware this can lead to the loss of the said dog(s).
• Every dog that attacks (something) is a dog at risk. Other than the risk of getting lightly or seriously wounded, an attacking dog may also get insta-killed or it may simply never return and even after extensive search you may never find it or its dead body. Be prepared for the loss but probably do all you can to minimise that risk. What the dog is attacking is very important. Attacking wolves is suicidal, bears is risky. Attacking reindeer/stag/elk is also risky but I do this frequently.
• WHAT they are attacking is important but HOW MANY dogs attacking is also an important factor. When commanding your dogs to attack non-wolves (reindeer/elk/boar/bear/human/...), sending more dogs have more chances of winning the battle without a loss. The more you sent against wolves (especially wolf packs) have the opposite effect, you will probably lose more dogs. Do not send dogs against wolves.
• When commanding dogs to attack, I always try and send two dogs. On my mind this lowers lost-dog ratio via two reasons. Due to the turn based attack system, when dogs chase and eventually corner an animal (say an Elk), 2-vs-1 they have much greater chance of winning the fight and surviving. Second reason is if one dog does get seriously injured & passes out (or gets killed) the other dog eventually may do better (say against an Elk) 2nd dog may either kill it or at least constantly bark and announce Elk's position. Your other (dying or dead) dog would most likely be nearby thus existence of a second dog gives you a better chance of spotting the lost dog and if it is not dead yet you will have a chance to apply bandage and stop its bleeding. In worst case scenario you will have access to the dead dog's body (see the last tip below).
• Be aware of the dog-left-behind risk: while in zoomed map mode, if you unleash your dog and it runs away from you (e.g.: chasing an animal), and then you decide to leave that area either in zoomed-in map mode (by walking/running/watercraft) or by switching to the zoomed-out map mode by pressing ENTER key, the unleashed dogs that are physically away from you will stay in their physical location. They will not be able to find you again. If you press ENTER to switch to zoomed-out map mode, game will warn you with something like "dog X will stay behind - are you sure?"
• If you have a missing dog, sometimes waiting in that general area for an extended amount of time can help and the dog can eventually make its way to you. If it is injured it may eventually come back. If it is scared & run away, it may come back. If it was actively chasing an animal, eventually will give up and come back etc.
• Having lost dogs many times, in the end, I decided (for me at least) it is best to keep dogs leashed most of the time when travelling. At times of opt-in battle (i.e.: a fight that YOU start) this keeps you in tactical control without wasting time on leashing animals. Tactical control helps in terms of when the dogs should attack and how many dogs should attack (as I generally have half a dozen dogs or more).
• At times of forced battle (e.g.: wolves/bear/Njerp/bandits attack you) likewise you have more tactical control. You might sacrifice some dog(s) and pull back with the rest for example. If they were unleashed they would all rocket away towards the target without giving you the chance to do so.
• When you have a camp/settlement with an enclosure you can leave your dogs unleashed as it is impossible for them to disappear but still not recommended as a bear can open the settlement door and end up surprising you in your sleep in a 1v1 situation inside the building but if your dogs are tied to you, it would never be 1v1.
• You can use your dogs (and any other animal pig/reindeer etc.) as pack mules although it would take away the dog from fighting-dogs group thus if you are serious about hauling stuff you should look into a proper truck (Big Bull, Bull, Cow) and keep dogs as fighters where there are more valuable and capable. Be advised of the risk: using a dog as pack mule quickly tires the dog and makes it an ineffective chaser/fighter.
• Dogs are limited quantity trade items but it is hard to globally run out of unless you lose dogs at an alarming rate or with limited loss rate keep playing the same game for a long time (rate dependent but maybe 4 or more in-game years). I cannot recall a recent version game in which villages run out of dogs to sell.
• When leaving your settlement, dog(s) can be left behind to guard your settlement and protect other animals (sheep etc.)
• Hungry dogs will bark frequently and be ineffective at fighting/chasing. Feed them to get rid of the annoyance & loss of performance.
• A dead dog is sad news but not a total waste unless you so choose (it can be skinned & its meat can be butchered)

57

General Discussion / Re: Shield Mode, None, Center, High, Side

« on: April 14, 2022, 11:42:32 AM »

Ever since I got a Roundshield I always wondered what those "Modes" were, None, Center, High and Side, do they have anything special to do with chances of successfully blocking or how successful the attack will be blocked?

I see that PALU have already responded so my response is more of a general heads up note...

For other queries (or this one, if you still want to read more) please note that:
1) There is an in-game Encyclopedia which can be accessed with the F1 hotkey. In-game Encyclopedia is limited and can be updated only by the developers & distributed to players only with a new game version update.
2) There is an online wiki which is accessible here with great search and browse functions via the main page: https://www.unrealworld.fi/wiki

Just as an example, the shield article is here: https://www.unrealworld.fi/wiki/index.php?title=Shield

58

Gameplay questions / Re: Hunting Bears

« on: April 13, 2022, 11:15:18 AM »

Winter bear fur that people have gotten suggests they're not removed from the game world, I recall somewhere even seeing that it was the warmest fur value you can get.<snip>

I cannot argue with your logic & that is how it works in real life I get that. I do not think it works that way in the game is what I was saying.
Seeing something of winter fur does not mean these animals stay in game world (in caves or elsewhere) and realistically change furs.
Programming it that way would be programming unnecessarily realistically in my opinion. Having said that as I mentioned above I was only speculating, I could be wrong...

<snip>
What's the point of caves then?

Caves exist in real life so the developers put them in the game. That alone is a reason enough in my opinion as it makes the game world more believable.

As per Privateer, animals and treasures both can exist in caves and I have seen both in my limited experience.
I have also seen Njerp (human. raider-from-east.) in a cave so be advised there is always an element of risk when exploring a cave. What I have seen the most in caves is 'nothing'. Empty caves, in my anecdotal experience, is like 95-99%.

Having said that I only use caves as free pre-(naturally)built temporary shelters when it is raining/likely to rain. Other than that, personally I do not find 'exploring caves' that interesting or worthy of the time investment these days and have not done so extensively in the first place. A more experienced UrW cave explorer might chip in here in the ratio of finding non-empty caves...

Note that you can use a cave as your home base. As there are naturally built 'walls', it cuts down the construction time (&material) cost by a huge percentage.

59

General Discussion / Re: Combat Tips

« on: April 13, 2022, 10:50:26 AM »

Hey,  I'm relatively new to Unreal World, and I was wondering if any of you guys could give me some tips and advice in Combat, since I kinda struggle with It sometimes, and had died several times not knowing what I did wrong or what I didn't do, all I want is the basics of combat, things to keep in mind in combat and very useful stuff in combat, I'd really appreciate your help.

Welcome to the game and the forums!

As per your own experience so far & replies in this thread, combat indeed is very risky. As already mentioned, the problem is, even with best possible armour on your character, and a huge army of your own beside you (=hired villagers acting as bodyguard), you are still fragile so just one single arrow to the eye (which cannot be armour-protected) and your game is over.

With the ever present death risk do not be shy to do all you can to minimise risk and maximise chance of success.
What this means is acquiring & effectively spending wealth for extended lifespan because purchasable items CAN help you stay alive longer.

Before battle: do all you can, get the best gear etc. (see more below).
Outset of battle: if you are in control of the creation of an engagement, use that to your advantage too and create only the type of engagements where you have much greater chance of surviving. Do not risk 50-50% win chance engagements or even 60-40% ones (where you have the advantage). Instead try to get into 80-20% engagements.
Once in battle: do not sit out in the open against an archer exchanging shot for shot (use trees or shield for cover when it makes sense), initially try to approach from behind if possible, do not be shy to withdraw from battle where it makes sense and appears possible.

First, obtain and and wear best possible armour and protective clothing.
* If you have not done so yet, read the wiki page on Clothing - it will help you a lot: https://unrealworld.fi/wiki/index.php?title=Clothing
* On that Clothing page, jump to the bottom of page and check out the last picture which shows Armour Coverage Statistics screen and while in game, the keyboard shortcut for that screen is: SHIFT + A. As per name, that screen shows how good your current clothing/armour is against different types of attack, and temperature. One might have a different goal (lighter build) but personally my goal is always to maximise armour stat against each attack type (and temperature). Highest coverage colour code is Dark Green. As a starting point I suggest you aim the same.

Second, having (eventually) obtained the best possible armour, do something harder: keep it consistently on.
* A lot of stories go like "I had the best armour but took it off while cutting a tree/fishing/swimming and forgot to put it back on. Then a very bad person/bear/wolf attacked me when I was not ready."
* There are very bad persons/bears/wolves in the game. Keep your armour on. Keep your weapons close to you at all times, also.
* Once you have more experience and protection then you can consider selectively taking it off without risking too much (protection = being offshore or being surrounded by bodyguards in the form of hired villagers etc.).

Third, numbers is everything (a.k.a.: do not fight alone)
* Many good suggestions posted already but one thing I have not seen mentioned is dogs. While the name is "Unreal" world, it is actually pretty realistic in the sense that 4 bandits can beat you (single-guy) up and take your stuff or kill you if you resist and dare make their robbery difficult.
* Alternatively, when you are travelling with 6 to 10 dogs, you can beat/kill them up instead and take their stuff.
Having experienced both sides of the spectrum, I prefer and strongly recommend the latter. Be the surrounder, not the surrounded which mostly equates to being the victor and not the victim.
Note that with bandits you can actually decide to give up your wealth and save your skin however you may not have that option with randomly encountered wolves or wolf packs/bears/Njerps etc. so do not assume you can always avoid fighting for your life. Sometimes you are forced to fight to the death. For that reason, try to be strong and stay strong.

Just to be clear strong does not always mean well armoured & well skilled.
Regardless of how armoured you are, eventually your armour will be penetrated.
Regardless of how skilful you are with weapons (even if 100% with all weapons/shield etc.) numbers conquer skill so 1 njerp fighter + 1 njerp woman + 2 njerp kids will kill your 100% skilled, 100% armoured Terminator-like character (I guess it would then be called Terminated).

Purchased dogs can be your own mini army to counter-balance enemy numbers. They can act both as additional targets for enemies to be distracted with, and they could ideally kill the enemies for you.
Here is a visual example. In this picture one player character has bright coloured clothing and the other has a bright future:


These are the 3 tips I could think of right now. Keep sharing your progress and let us know how you get on; share the good & bad news, perhaps someone here can help further.

60

Gameplay questions / Re: Hunting Bears

« on: April 09, 2022, 02:21:28 PM »

Heard they winter in caves, have put Bear traps across every cave entrance I can find, almost back to Spring now, no dice.<snip>

Where did you hear that?

What I know is there is a 2.5 year old NEWS entry, listed in game top level directory, inside the news.txt file, as follows:

Version: 3.60 (beta)
Released: 15-Sep-2019

fixed: bears active and awake in the winter.
Now they hibernate during the winter as they should.

As you can see, it mentions the hibernation but not the location or the detail of hibernation mechanic.

This is speculation but I am guessing hibernation in this game's context probably just means animals are removed from the game world.
In other words, it probably does not mean bears going into caves to hibernate there and eventually walk out at the end of hibernation period.
With this suspected background, what you did is logical in the real world (i.e.: what goes into cave will eventually walk out of cave thus a trap outside it makes sense); in the game world though, probably bears magically spawn on tiles rather than walk out of caves so traps in front of caves have no particularly high chance of trapping one.

<snip>What's a good way to track one down?

Bears are everywhere. Just cover more ground, you will eventually find one. If you go north, east, or northeast you will probably have higher chances of spotting one but you do not have to go any particular part of map to spot one.

Won't help with your current game but a tip for later: when you are starting a new character, increasing eyesight would help spot more.
More info on eyesight physical stat is on the wiki, here: https://www.unrealworld.fi/wiki/index.php?title=Eyesight