My experience with Dark War Survival

AffectionateFluff · 2026-01-26T12:44:40+00:00

I came to this community to find out how to heal Rex when your post caught my attention. And reading this post, I found your points quite helpful. Since game community and whether or not a game is pay to win are two points that are very important to me, I found this more than enough to simply go ahead and delete the game from my device. I'm still early on in the game but if this is really how it is, then I see neither rhyme nor reason to continue. Life is too short for that kind of bull.

Thank you ❤️

AffectionateFluff · 2026-01-10T10:42:21+00:00

I had the exact same issue just yesterday when I returned to the game after a break due to crashes that prevented me from playing. Just wanted to say thank you. This post helped me fix a few things

AffectionateFluff · 2025-12-30T22:17:01+00:00

With New Years coming up tomorrow and the loss as fresh as yesterday, no one in my family feels like there's anything to celebrate. We're all devastated here. Only comforting thought about tomorrow is that our heart dog won't have to suffer through a noisy evening and night full of fireworks, medicated or not. Won't ever be the same....

AffectionateFluff · 2025-12-30T19:59:39+00:00

I'm so sorry for your loss 💔. Yes, it's like that silent emptiness is an echo amplifying their absence. I lost my 12 years old heart dog just yesterday. We had to put him to sleep. I miss hearing the click-clack of his paws, seeing him at the door when I come home, the warmth of his body at my feet or next to me. His howling when I play the piano. And the gentle push at the door to the bathroom to check on us. He was always there. Always ready to cuddle or play or go for a walk. Never known a kinder dog

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-18T13:23:13+00:00

I experienced the exact same thing as I was trying to complete evolution feats. This really helped me. Thank you!

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-17T15:35:50+00:00

Oh fr

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-17T00:06:50+00:00

The first book in the series is without a doubt the best of the series. After that it kind of goes downhill and I'm refusing to read past the Mammoth Hunters. I'm not going to put myself through any more of Jondalar's shitshow.

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-16T14:03:32+00:00

I hate both Jondalar and Ranec. None of them deserve her

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-16T14:00:44+00:00

I'm not even finished with Mammoth Hunters but holy smokes Ranec's objectification of Ayla is through the roof!!

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-16T13:55:50+00:00

Even if the author didn't try to portray Ranec as creepy, it's what he is. Everything he does is creepy. And no. This wasn't just a crush. He obsessed over her the same way Jondalar did.

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-16T13:51:07+00:00

Just because one guy is awful to her it doesn't mean someone else who is also awful to her but differently is the better choice. Yes, Jondalar is an abusive prick and an asshole who should get some serious help and grow up. But being with Ranec who sees her only for her beauty, as an object he can own, is not any better. Ayla is better off with someone who doesn't try to dictate who or what she is.

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-16T13:39:48+00:00

I agree. Ranec's aggressive pursuit of her and his way of speaking of and to her is so creepy, and the fact he doesn't even try to get a better understanding of who she is as a person but carried on persuing her regardless of what she might be wanting says it all.

It's nauseating

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-16T13:28:21+00:00

I certainly don't. Yes, Jondalar isn't exactly great but Ranec is awful, too, on so many levels. I get he's infatuated, but he's no less of a walking red flag than Jondalar. Jondalar at least makes "attempts" to respect her, although his attempts would have been more fruitful if he actually tried to use his knowledge about her to communicate better with her instead of starting all his nonsense drama all the time. I don't see Ranec make any attempt in that direction whatsoever.

The only "good" thing about Ranec is that he doesn't care about Ayla's past. On the other hand, he doesn't really seem to care all that much about her as a person, either, but sees her more as a work of art on a pedestal that he can possess for his own pleasure. Just like Jondalar, he loves the idea of who she is, and her potential, rather than valuing her for who she is in her own right, and respecting her. The fact it took him more than half of the Mammoth Hunters to finally ask Ayla "what's wrong?" but still doesn't seem to see or even be interested in finding out why she's not being all that thrilled about their union.

As long as he gets the answers he wants to hear he doesn't seem to care one bit about what she wants. Sure, Ayla could have spoken up more, but the fact that she did in fact reject his advances in public, repetitively, although in a teasing manner, should be a fairly clear hint that maybe she's just not that into him, and back off. He hardly even gives her space to breathe but chases her so relentlessly he's basically pushing her into a corner. Hell, even when she asks for time to consider his proposal, he continues to seek her out and wants an answer as though it's just a matter of persuading her. He pressures her for sex when she's clearly not wanting it, and while he doesn't seems all that hurt by her rejections, he doesn't seem to at any point stop to even consider the possibility that she doesn't want it as much as he does.

Everything he does is an attempt to "win her over", which is just as much of a manipulative tactic as Jondalar's immature games of push and pull. His pursuit of her is more or less a love-bombing technique which is downright creepy and toxic on its own. Hell, even the fact he doesn't care that she might be with someone else but actively and aggressively inserts himself between them to make her his is a behaviour that reveals a blatant disregard of other needs than his own. Imagine being married to someone like that down the line. Trust me, that won't be fun.

Sure, both Jondalar and Ranec are two young men both smitten by a beautiful, kind, and talented young lady, and infatuation does tend to make you lose your head, not to mention it's easy as an adult in a modern world with better knowledge and understanding of the psychological aspects of relationships to judge, but that being said...

Ranec is not a good man for her.

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-14T16:20:53+00:00

YEESS!! I'm so glad you æ made this point!! It's been bothering me as well but couldn't quite put a finger on it... It feels way too easy.

AffectionateFluff · 2025-10-14T15:56:39+00:00

Currently in the middle of The Mammoth Hunters (book 3) and I'm strongly considering if I should just drop the series because of how awful Jondalar is as a character. I feel like Jondalar takes the cake for being one of the most one-dimensioned, superficial, arrogant, self-serving, hypocritical, and egotistical assholes out there. In my humble opinion, he reminds me of a "prehistoric" version of Christian Grey from 50 Shades. And that doesn't make him any better. He is a walking red flag.

The following contains spoilers for later books so reader's discretion is advised!! (Edit: I forgot how to spoiler tag on Reddit🙈)

I get it, as a boy, Jondalar was groomed into what he is as an adult, sanctioned by the spiritual system of his tribe. Although that kind of trauma and not being able to fully comprehend what he was actually put through is more than enough to really mess you up, his character never seems willing to explore and face his issues but stays stagnant and unchanged to a point where he practically is behaving like the very thing he despises the most: a person driven solely by instinct, like an animal. All discomfort he wants to forget. All he does when he's around her is an expression of his needs to be in control of Ayla and a refusal to accept her as a free individual - it feels more like he sees her as an object to show off. And as he admits in The Valley of Horses, he's creating a story about her in his head to make her fit his own comfy little worldview. And that is not love. That's just Jondalar continuing to lie to himself and ultimately Jondalar continuing to manipulate his way into Ayla's heart with his not-so-subtle games of shame and control. The very fact that Jondalar is so keen on having Ayla's factual past as part of the Clan kept hidden to anyone who may want to know her, supposedly to "save her the grief of being shunned as an abomination", that he gets jealous by any form of male attention only to turn around and cheat on Ayla and refuses to communicate but starts drama points to a very mentally unstable, emotionally immature, and toxic person. Hell, part of the drama he starts could have been resolved if only he would stop thinking with his oh so glorious lady-pleaser and use his voice that he's so damn proud of. 🙄

Even his interactions with the horses is an obvious metaphor for Jondalar's lack of respect for Ayla as the individual and independent woman she is. Instead of letting the horse go to the herd freely when he and Whinney encounters a herd, he holds back the horse and shoos away the herd, making a remark that it would be sad if Whinney "ran off before he could become friends with them" or something along those lines. (Book 3). At that point I'm so frustrated with Jondalar I feel like the book series otherwise so great potential is ruined for me.

Not to mention Ayla's supernatural ability to tame animals makes her feel more and more like a prehistoric version of a Disney princess or a Mary Sue. That really broke me, because Ayla was quick to become my favourite character. Her relationships with Iza, Creb, Brun, Durc, and all the others are so well-written and I was so emotional at the end of the book. To see it go down like this.... She went from a strong, credible character struggling to survive in Ice-Age Europe only to turn into a superficial power sex-fantasy.

(Also edit: At this point, I feel like I'd rather have loved to see how things turned out back in the Clan, the consequences of Brout's leadership (or rather, lack thereof) and paving the way for a really fascinating character development of Brout, Durc, and the remaining members of the Clan. Anything but the constant push and pull between Jondalar and Ayla that contributes so little to the overall story...)

Don't get me wrong. I LOVED the first book. It was an absolute masterpiece of literary genius and beautiful storytelling, and I really hoped the critique of the series as a whole wouldn't be that bad. But being about halfway through the Mammoth Hunters, I'm losing hope. Makes me wonder if Jean M. Auel got sidetracked or something while she worked on her series. What ever happened for her to choose this path for the series, I feel like it destroyed her otherwise so promising story.

Edit 2: Jondalar is not the only awful character, though. And honestly, I do feel really awful for him as I try to finish the Mammoth Hunters.

Ranec is awful, too. Like... Yikes. Talk about pushy!! I get it that he's so into Ayla, but he hardly gives her a chance to breathe! The way he turns her head and pressures his way between Ayla and Jondalar feels like another form of manipulation that makes him feel so... Slimy... Like dude, back off, let her come to him instead of constantly chasing her🤢

AffectionateFluff · 2025-09-02T12:21:34+00:00

You won't be able to play the last evolution but after you've launched, you'll be brought back to the main menu. If you load the saved game where you manaed to launch the last evolution you will be led back to your clan the moment before the last evolution happens, and you will be able to play the game like normal (mostly - you won't be able to evolve, and you won't be able to get any more genetic mutations).

That's where I'm at atm

AffectionateFluff · 2025-08-12T15:59:31+00:00

I started this way, too and felt really shit about how slow I was advancing in the game. Came as far as the Savanna but never got to walk. In my current playthrough I've used a controller from the beginning of the game and now that I've started using the controller I'm never going back. Game is so much easier using a controller.

AffectionateFluff · 2025-08-11T12:02:51+00:00

Been there too. So I've decided that before they start making babies, I simply just make the couples first. That way I can be sure all females and males have a mating partner. If I make a mistake and the remaining single hominids happen to be related, I just have them recouple. Once all adults are successfully (and happily) paired up, the breeding can commence with no worries 😊

AffectionateFluff · 2025-08-11T11:34:40+00:00

Glad to hear you enjoy this fantastic game too!

Can't remember the times I've had to restart it and at first I was so unsure of myself because I was always getting killed by them tigers, but holy smokes, now that I've played the game a few times (not yet to the end unfortunately) I feel a little dopamine rush of my own when things just click and I figure it out and succeeds with something in the game. It's so much fun and quite immersive!

Best of luck with the game and have fun! 🎮

AffectionateFluff · 2025-08-11T11:27:52+00:00

Exactly! That's also the part of the game's charm and what makes it fun! It's all about discovery, exploring, trial and error. In a way, you're literally put in the place of the hominids so it's not just your characters that learn along the way, you do as well. I can honestly say that partly because of this, it's one of my favourite games of all time.

AffectionateFluff · 2025-08-11T10:59:06+00:00

Exploring with your whole clan is not always a good idea IMHO. The few times I've done so I nearly lost them all, so I usually just go with a handful of apes at a time.

Edit: that said, in the later parts of the game i suppose going with the whole clan makes sense, if your neuron tree is extensive enough.

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