Guides/You Have Just Spawned, Now What??

Applicable to "Hungry for Your Hunger" update

Thanks to Roud72, Carbon Coded, and Various Wikia Contributors

...and Coryn02 this guide is also for you =)

"Don't lose hope, we will survive."

Detailed Version for New Players (on-going completion) by jhepong

I know you've been having a hard time surviving your first couple of days. You've been grinding a lot gathering resources, food and spending so much time wandering and learning things, only to die after a few days. Learning all Don't Starve gameplay features through experience is really fun and exciting to most players. Still, there are new players who are starting to feel annoyed and frustrated, and worst, wanting to give up.

Even after reading all those guides and information in the wiki and the forums, still, a few don't seem to grasp the Main Points of Survival in Don't Starve. Maybe they're just used to other easy survival games, which are basically city/town building games brushed with a touch of survival for added suspense.

New players don't realize, until after a few deaths, how critical the first few days are in finding the most suitable area for their Base Camp.

'I don't want you to give up Don't Starve. This is one of the Best Survival Games of our time. That's why this is all for you who needs a more in-depth but leveled help - a comprehensive and detailed guide on your first days of survival the moment you spawn in your World.'

The First Time I Opened My Eyes
I guess you can call me Wilson, because that's what they call me. They say I'm a great scientist. But the truth is, I'm only good at growing my Beard into something that looks like an overgrown forest that sprouted over my face. Anyway, here's my story...

Day One
I woke up in some place, with a strange man talking nonsense to me. Suddenly, he just disappeared. The place looks nice with lots of saplings, grass, evergreen trees, berry bushes, carrots, some flint, flowers, frog ponds, bees and their bee hives. I think they call this the Grassland Biome. And it's such a wonderful place. But I must not be taken by the sight. I know this is a dangerous world. Time moves here for every step I make and every food I gobble. Soon I will starve if I don't eat. Hounds and monsters will try to feed on me. Then the Grue will also take me if don't have a light source at Night. Lastly, Winter starts on Day 21, so I should better prepare myself now, right?

'''But how do I prepare? What should I do?'''

"Time is of the essence." Now where did I hear that? Well, someone told me a loooong time ago, that I should do things at the right way at the right time. That I must conserve the precious time, but not forgetting about my Hunger, Health and Sanity, before the very first Winter arrives. I guess he's right.

So I started gathering food and resources that I can see in this Biome. After looting the Grassland dry,  I immediately start my exploration to find the best spot for a Base Camp. The first step was walking in one straight direction until I arrived at the edge, which I want to call the "sea cliff" 'coz it touches the ocean. Someone taught me this kind of exploration, because it will give me an idea of the boundaries of my World when I open my map.

Standing by the sea cliff, I didn't really know where I should head to. I think it's best to trail the sea cliff to grasp a little on how my World looks like: its size, its nearby Biomes, the mobs i'll be dealing with, the sources of food and raw materials that can be abundant in a specific area, and so on and so forth.

So I move towards the left or West or North or whatever they refer it. I just have to trail by the sea cliff; not too close to the cliff so I can still see the food and resources nearby; and not too far from the cliff because I might miss a narrow pathway or road or Obelisk or something that leads to another land.

On my way trailing the sea cliff at Day time, I managed to gather some food and materials such as berries, carrots, seeds, grass, twigs and all the flint I came across with. But I don't bother picking up flowers for now, since my Sanity is still full.

Then Dusk settled, it made me panic a bit for it means Night is coming. So I immediately thought of making an Axe with my flint and twigs. But I halted, because I remember someone told me that it is still early to craft one at this time of day. 'Coz I might yet to stumble upon an Axe loitered somewhere on my way.

So I moved on, until I saw the Forest Biome. Holy crap, this area has Spider Dens. And oh, look at all those Spiders crawling everywhere. That is a dangerous place. I guess it's time to make something to defend myself with. So I crafted myself a Grass Suit with my grass and twigs, and an Axe with my flint and twigs. It's a good thing that I've gathered a lot of grass, twigs, flint and food earlier because this forest seems to be only abundant with Trees and Saplings, but with little or no grass and berry bushes at all, and totally out of Flint.

Oh wait, since I already have an Axe, then I better chop a few trees to gather Logs. And so I did. I chopped two large Evergreen trees where I acquired six Logs and four Pine Cones. Quickly I Built a Campfire using two logs and three grass, but I didn't place it yet on the ground. I just stored it in an invisible slot which I don't know what it's called. It was actually very useful, because I can immediately place one ready-made Campfire (just like crafting a new Campfire) without using another set of raw materials for making one. It also frees some space for gathering more of its materials. That was very useful, right?

Also, I made one Torch with my grass and twigs, just in case I'll be running away from monsters tonight.

So, with a Grass Suit on and an Axe on hand, I entered the Forest. I gathered some Twigs from the nearby Saplings while trailing by the sea cliff. I even managed to find a few Berry Bushes and Grass. Then I saw a few Spider Dens clumped together with lots of little Spiders moving in random directions. The sight was scary but I moved forward trying to be courageous and all.

There are lots of mushrooms here. But I won't bother picking one since I can't just eat them raw or cooked without considering their specific effects for each type or color of mushroom. Anyway, I needed to conserve my inventory space since I'm not yet capable of making a Backpack, so I'll just leave the mushrooms be.

Still trailing the sea cliff, one lone Spider separated from the rest of its kin managed to get close to me. It was alerted and began to follow suit. Hey, Spiders have nice loots right? They would either drop a Silk, a Spider Gland or a Monster Meat. I could really dig with a Silk or a Spider Gland, but not yet with a Monster Meat.

So with my Axe at the ready, I can see myself slashing it in half. But no!!! Someone taught me, 'Don't risk yourself getting swarmed and followed by Spiders. Your first few days are not the the right time for battle or hunting. Your precious time is better spent on finding a suitable Base Camp before Winter sets in.' Geez, alright alright! And so, I ran!

Running from that pesky little Spider, I noticed a Tier Three Spider Den (that huge Spider Den with two more blobs of Silk on top if it) blocking my sea cliff trail. Oh crap, I better go around it. So I went; then I guess I lost the little Spider following me.

Not far, I have found a Spider-free area. Hey is that a Pig House over there. Yes, it is, I was right. It even turned its light off the moment I got near. There's a Pig in there I know, but it seems to be sleeping right now. I guess I better camp in this safe area since Night time is almost here.

Soon, Night has fallen, and I had placed a campfire surrounded by trees. And just as I have placed the campfire, I immediately build another using up two of my logs and again, not placing it on the ground. It's another Pre-Made Campfire for future use. Then, there's basically nothing so important I can do right now, except for chopping trees and cooking food.

So I chopped two Evergreen trees which dropped six Logs and four Pine Cones. I picked them all up, so now I have a total of eight Logs and eight Pine Cones. Then I started cooking all my twelve berries and six seeds. I cooked only five of my ten carrots because cooked Carrots spoil faster than the raw type, and I knew my cooked food is enough to last until the Night of Day Three (so that's the next next night from now). And also, I crafted this good time-saving plan for tomorrow: With these enough supply of cooked food, tomorrow Night I will not build any campfire because I am planning to be on the move even at Night with the help of a Torch; and so I can cover more distance than what I did today.

Then I ate a few Cooked Berries to fill my hunger. The Sun has not yet shone so I managed to lumber another tree, adding three more logs and two more pine cones. Right then, the morning sun greeted me to start another day of exploration.

Day Two
TO BE CONTINUED...

last edited July 31, 2013 @ 1830 hours GMT+8

-jhepong

THE STUFF BELOW IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Survival:
Travel/ Explore/ Find a suitable base camp for you!: Go in direction until you reach the island's edge or ocean. == - Start traversing the land via the island's edge by going continuous left or right

- You may leave the edge to gather nearby food and resources

- If you know you will be entering an aggressive mob infested region, craft a grass suit.

Food:
- Gather all seeds and berries you come across

- For carrots, gather only what you can eat for at least one to two days. Since they don't respawn once picked up.

-Leave some carrots unpicked for future emergencies.



Resources:
- gather full stack of twigs and grass and flint and logs and stone and gold and manure. HEY!!! you don't need to do that in one day. YOU DONT NEED TO COMPLETE THIS IN ONE DAY!!!

- Flint: when you already have at least 25, then you don't need to pick up all the flint that you come across.

Leave some flint in case of future emergencies.

- Flower: don't immediately pick up flowers just to craft a garland. One flower gives five sanity, therefore,

only start picking when your sanity starts decreasing due to certain factors like night, rain and some mobs.

- Axe or Pick Axe: don't immediately craft an axe or pick axe, you might come across with these tools from boons or set pieces. Only start crafting an axe if night time is getting near and you have not found one. Then start chopping some trees before night falls.

- Log: when you already have an axe, you don't need to complete the full stack of logs. Just enough to constantly have crafting supply of campfire. DO NOT GO LUMBERING AT DAY TIME!

DAY TIME IS BETTER SPENT PICKING UP FOOD AND FINDING YOUR SUITABLE BASE CAMP!

You can do wood chopping during night time by camping near a clump of trees. Do not place your campfire too near the tree you will be chopping, because it will light the logs and pine cones it will drop.

- Manure: you may gather a full stack of manure, but twelve pieces is already enough just for prototyping farms.

- ignore the rock mines, go for the gold mines. you don't need those nitres yet.

- You actually just need at least 10 gold nuggets to survive winter

TIPS AND HINTS
- Your spawn point usually is at a grassland biome. this area is filled with lootable food and resources.

This is your immediate supplier of flint lying on the ground, other than that, there are rockyland biomes which usually are far from your spawn point. if you have not found flint to craft an axe, that is ok.

You can craft a torch for light since you won't be able to craft a campfire or fire pit without chopping trees and gathering logs. Do not worry about cooking food since you will only start starving at day two.

- Do not fight anything in the first few days or else if will give you a disadvantage later on. Just Explore!

- Your most important goal of early exploration is to find the best spot for a base camp as soon as possible before winter sets in.

Therefore, time is of the essence. Do not constantly wasting your day time chopping trees, killing spiders, too much grass and twigs gathering, too much stone and gold mining. You should know if what you have is enough. -

A smart thing to do is gather enough food for multiple days and cook it at night therefore you dont have to make a fire and stop to get food.

more content and editing to come...

- jhepong