Surviving the first five days

Surviving the First Five Days

Day One: During day one you should only focus on exploration and very basic construction. In order to eventually build a shelter and complete advanced survival tactics, you will need to be aware of as much of the map as possible. Although the game creates a map automatically as you travel around the game, it is important to take mental and physical notes. Aside from simply learning what surrounds you, you will need to collect flint, seeds, twigs, and grass. Flint and seeds are easily accessible and can be found on the ground, twigs can be gathered from saplings, and cut grass can be harvested from grass locations. With the seeds to sustain your character’s hunger as you explore, the only thing restricting your exploration is darkness. Instead of impeding your progress by making a campfire and becoming stationary throughout the night, use torches to remain mobile. Torches require two twigs and two units of cut grass to craft and will burn for 75 seconds. By using torches and seeds to stay moving and fed, you will optimize your time spent exploring.

Day Two: This day will be a direct continuation of the previous one as far as continuing to explore the map. During your travels be sure to avoid obvious danger meanwhile making sure to have enough food and torch materials to explore throughout the night. It should be noted that if you happen to come across any premade craft items (i.e. Spear or shovel), it is a good idea to pick them up to save yourself some crafting time later on when that becomes the focus.

Day Three: This is the day of the prototype. By now you have probably mapped out a sizeable portion of the environment and know where several natural resource areas are. Take this day to craft all that you can carry. Your focus is slightly shifting to thriving from surviving. You will need to collect logs, rocks, and carrots in addition to the items you were previously collecting. Logs and rocks can be acquired by using the crafted axe and pick axe on trees and boulders respectively. Carrots can be plucked from the ground without the use of tools. Keep moving and exploring until the end of dusk. Just before nightfall you will need to build your first campfire using two logs and three units of cut grass. During this stationary night you will need to cook the carrots that you collected and eat them to refill your hunger meter up as high as possible. Also take this time to look through your crafting tabs and see what items you will be able to craft the soonest and what they require. Always plan ahead.

Day Four: The fourth day is the day to think about settling down. You will need to aggressively scout for a prime location to set up your first semi-permanent area. You will want to look for dark grey boulders, rabbit holes, beefalo herds, as well as roads. Close proximity to dark boulders, rabbit holes, and roads is necessary, while beefalo herds are bonus. Take this day seriously and scout out what you consider the best area. Don’t forget to maintain the upkeep of food and fire resources while collecting crafting materials as well. Once you have found a good location you will need to mine dark boulders for gold nuggets as well as rocks and you’ll need to craft some traps. Make sure to collect extra cut grass as it will become more and more important. Build a campfire at the end of dusk, and take care of any final necessary upkeep before the dawn of day five.

Day Five: This day shall mark the beginning of the end for your character. Day five is the day in which you will build your science machine. As you should have already collected the materials previously mentioned  to construct the machine, this will be the first action you take on this day. The science machine is a permanent structure so make sure you position it properly to allow for enough space surrounding it for other items. While near the science machine you will have access to many more crafting options. Utilize this day to prototype a few more complex crafting items and to look into the new items you will have available. It is important to create a fire pit, which will serve as a more permanent and useful campfire. The fire pit is rain resistant as well as multiuse. Before you go out to collect food and firewood, you need to set your traps. Drop the traps near rabbit holes and take note of where you place them. Make sure to return to your campsite before the end of dusk. Simply use a log on the fire pit to relight it. Make sure once again to keep an eye on your hunger and sanity meter.