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Caravan Town is the fourth story island in Raft overall, and it's the first story island to be part of the "Chapter 2" update. The island also introduces the third island biome: desert.
Caravan Town also fully lives up to its name, being covered in caravans (known as campers in the United States) stacked on top of each another. The island is smaller than Balboa and has fewer dangerous animals, but the many campers and peaks of the island make it no less confusing to first-time visitors. That's why this guide will seek to help players uncover every secret, grab every blueprint, and walk away with Raft's "Caravan Town Historian!" achievement.
Preparations
- The best weapon to bring is the bow and arrow. The only roaming enemy on the island is a single white screecher, and it's weaker and slower than the usual screecher.
- Players should avoid throwing away dry batteries as they approach this island. One of the blueprints is for a battery charger, so keeping one spare battery for each battery-powered device is a good tactic.
- Bees appear in Caravan Town just like on Balboa Island, so the net is once again a useful tool to bring.
- Several tamable animals still make Caravan Town their home, so players who want a larger herd should get their net launchers ready.
- Part of the exploration involves going underwater, so players should get a fresh set of flippers, an oxygen bottle, and a metal spear ready.
- Instead of large crates, most resources on Caravan Town are found in small bundles tucked away in shelves and cabinets. Players should keep an eye out for these as they explore the campers, and they should leave these cabinets open to remind themselves of where they've searched.
- As always when it comes to large islands, players should bring along a good amount of food and water.
The Docks
Players will most likely start their explorations at the Caravan Town docks, which is a convenient spot to leave the raft. Right on the dock and next to a truck cab labeled "Port Office" is a pair of cables. These cables are the first battery charger part and the first special non-inventory item of the island. A little further inland and through a camper is a well, and at the bottom of the well is something strapped to a life preserver. Players can't get to this yet, but they may notice a few suspiciously placed hoses nearby.
Climb some stairs and then a ladder to find the first note on a table in a camper. Above this camper players will notice a fallen set of stairs, but two separate ladders will help players continue the climb. At the top of both ladders is a water pump and a second note, and this water pump can send liquid through a series of hoses down to the well below. However, players will need to rotate the hose ends to catch the water and make it arc the right way to reach the next hose. This can be tricky, and once players succeed they'll still need to run the pump several times to fill up the well. Once they have, their reward is the first zipline part.
The First Peaks and Market
Above the water pump are several more campers players can scavenge through, and at the highest point (up a ladder by three dead trees and one living tree) they should find note three and a second set of battery charger cables. Continue climbing up to the very top of the peak to find a crate.
Players may also notice another camper-covered peak back the way they came, but the only way to the top is a series of hard-to-reach ladders. Climbing up this peak is hard but manageable, and the reward for doing so is a crate full of metal ingots, hinges, and bolts.
To continue from here, players should find and cross a rough wooden bridge. On the far side is Caravan Town's market square, complete with signs like "Bread and Bakery" and "Lamar's Legumes (so yummy!)." There are plenty of campers in the area to raid, and the one labeled "Canned Goods" is full of Bob's Beans cans and the fourth note. Players who continue to climb up to the nearby peak will find a third set of battery cables and a crate.
From the Heights to the Depths
On the far side of the market is a ramp that leads up to the highest point in Caravan Town, a tower made out of stacked cargo containers. This tower holds various commemorations to people and world news events, the fifth note, and a workspace where players will need three zipline parts. Players should note that it's possible to walk across the steel cables that attach to this tower (though not the zipline ropes), and in fact this is how players can reach a lootable camper.
On the far side of Commemoration Tower is a ladder. This leads to a staircase which in turn leads to a rickety bridge players must jump over to cross. The far side has a wide, open area where players can find a strange rocket and note six. The rocket needs explosive powder, and while players might have some lying around their raft, those who don't won't have to look far to find a poison-puffer.
Players can use a ladder to climb down another set of campers, and at the base of the first ladder is note seven. From here players can descend into an area full of large sacks of food, and while there's plenty to scavenge there's nothing essential here. This is also a spot where players might start their explorations since it descends all the way to the water.
Heading down to the water on the tower side leads to a large hose connected to a bicycle frame, and sitting next to it is note eight. As the note implies, there's something to find underwater, so it's time to grab flippers and an oxygen bottle and follow the hose. Along the way, players will find plenty of underwater resources and several respawning poison-puffers they can use to get explosive powder. However, players who anchored at the docks shouldn't have to worry about the shark.
The hose ends in a container that has one zipline part, a key to the infirmary, and a blueprint for a metal detector. Once they surface, players should also find themselves next to a lonely outcropping they can climb up to find a couple of crates. Afterwards, players should head straight back to their raft to research and then build a metal detector.
Zipping Across the Landscape
The metal detector can discover hidden items on large islands and story islands. The more lights are on, the closer the player is to the hidden item, and once they all turn on players can use the shovel to dig up the spot and find the item. There's no hidden item in Caravan Town that's needed for the plot, but players can still get started on treasure hunting straight away.
Instead, players need to dry out some explosive goo from a poison-puffer and use some explosive powder in the strangely shaped rocket on the heights. The rocket will explode, but its cargo will safely land on the lonely outcropping. Players who reach it will get the third zipline part, Major Tom (a decorative item), and a blueprint for fireworks.
Returning to Commemoration Tower, players can apply their zipline parts to create a zipline tool, along with a set of blueprints that will let them craft future ziplines and zipline tools. The zipline tool needs to go in an equipment slot, and once it's there players can use the ziplines around town to go to previously unreachable areas.
The first of these areas is the infirmary, which features a number of mutated wild pigs. These pigs attack the player like boars, but they have fewer hit points. The best strategy is to find a high point the pigs can't reach and pick them off with a bow. Players can gather leather from these pigs, but not meat.
Past the pigs is the infirmary complex. One door is locked, but the underwater key will open it. Inside is some healing salve, a crate, note nine, and the mayor's chest key.
Another zipline starts at the market mesa. Players will need to jump across or down to reach it, but it leads to an otherwise unreachable crate on Commemoration Tower.
The other important location to visit is the mayor's island, and the zipline to reach it is on the roof of Commemoration Tower. Here players will find the workspace to use the three battery charger parts to create the battery charger blueprint. They can also get the mayor's hat and open the chest to get the engine controls blueprint and the last note, the one with a code to reach the next story island.
At this point, players can continue to explore the area around the mayor's house for more items, but all the unique items of Caravan Town are now in the player's hands.
Raft is available now on PC.