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[Urist McScoopbeard]

... Is... Is that how it works??? In other news, this is the farthest I've gotten in this game! A truly unique experience! I've never been so worried about what's going to happen a week or month in to the game if I don't get my shit together ASAP. I finally had a great start, where I murdered yet another bear so I could dry his cuts.

[Robsoie]

It made me think, since i have been playing, none of all my characters through many versions ever killed a bear in UnrealWorld.
On the positive side, no bear ever killed any of those characters in that game.

I guess bears and my characters are just avoiding each other.

My current character has been exploring a small cave and discovered inside a pair of skis.

[Mephansteras]

My current character has hit the point of surplus. I've now caught and Elk, a Stag, and a Forest Reindeer in my trapline. I have hundreds of pounds of meat smoked or smoking and so much roasted small game and whatnot in my stores I've stopped using my net for the time being. Homestead is going well, although I need to cut down a lot more trees to finish my new house.

Anyone know what it takes to get people to join you these days? I've asked at least 6 or 7 people to help me and they are all completely uninterested. It'd be nice to have someone help me cut down trees.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Not sure what gets people to join you. I have been having a string of bad luck with early food these days. My past few characters have starved to death very quickly or died to hunting as they can never seem to fish enough, hunt enough, or build anything to preserve big catches faster. In this latest game I had begun construction on a trap fence and I just ran out of food far before I was even close to done.

What are some early game strategies to acquire food efficiently?

EDIT: The wiki suggests fishing, but boy I have never done anything but starve slowly on fishing. Hunting is profitable, but only gives you a few days... and if you start in the Summer forget about drying the meat.

[Mephansteras]

I have had great luck with the following order of things:

1) Find a good spot to live next to a decent water area. In spring, rapids are best. Haven't tried ocean but that probably works too. If you're starting in Summer than wherever you like should be fine.

2) Get some light lever traps set up nearby. Preferably two sets of at least 3, generally a view distance apart from my shelter in opposite directions, with at least one next to the shoreline.

3) Fish at ton. If you have a net, build a raft ASAP so you can start using it. In between fishing, start getting everything you need for a cellar. Cellar should be the first thing beyond a shelter and trap that you make. If you don't have a net, get one or more as soon as you have the food stores to make the trip and enough stuff to trade for one.

As you get stores of food in the cellar to last a few days start working on a trap line. Best spot for this is the border between a mire and a forest as animals like to go between the two. I've also had good luck walling off an entire single section bridge of land between large lakes.

Depending on your starting scenario I do some other stuff as well. Often I'll trade some excess starting gear for extra smoked/dried food to get myself going early on. This works really well for the hunting trip start, since you have a second character's worth of starting tools you don't need all of.

[Robsoie]

When you start a new character in the 3.30 Spring (that is in fact later Winter) , it's always a good idea to invest points into the Fishing skill , it makes a difference when it comes to active fishing (with a fishrod, if you don't start with the Fisherman scenario, make sure to craft one, it's better than having to fish with a crafted club).
Some cultures can start with a fisherman ritual too, that increase temporarly the fishing skill, making it even better.

Important too is to be at 0 fatigue before starting, as fatigue gives skill penalties and you don't want that when you start active fishing (especially if you have a low fishing skill), so if you walked in the snow without skis for a few hours and want to suddenly fish, having a 40% malus to fishing isn't going to work, rest yourself to 0 fatigue before.

And as Mephansteras said, building a cellar is a must, it makes a big and desired difference in the food preservation.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Thanks fellahs! I usually do go for the cellar quite quick, at the moment it's getting enough to need a cellar! I'll try adjusting my strategies!

EDIT: Holy bejolies! Light lever traps put in the work!

[Mephansteras]

Thanks fellahs! I usually do go for the cellar quite quick, at the moment it's getting enough to need a cellar! I'll try adjusting my strategies!

Yeah, it's best to have a cellar before you need one, because by the time you do need it you risk wasting some much needed food by the time you actually build it.

[gomez]

Do you cook the fishies before you put them in the cellar, or do you go straight from the water to the cellar?

[Paul]

Definitely build a cellar if you're in a spot you intend to settle. It doesn't take too long to make and helps a lot.

If you're near a village, trade the extra meat to them for food that keeps better. Like dried/smoked meat or fish, or veggies/grain. Or trade for some salt and salt the meat from your kill, that makes it last a lot longer. A village of any culture will have some longer lasting food around for trade. If you encounter a wandering hunter or woodsman they will occasionally have some, and even if they don't they usually know of a nearby village. Villages are everywhere, often you will even find vagabond or forester villages in between the main faction areas.

If you're trying to play without interaction with npcs as a challenge, then you just have to hunt more frequently until you get yourself a cellar and a smokehouse built.

It doesn't take that long to build a small smokehouse though - all you need is 54 logs and 8 boards to build a little shack with a 2x1 interior. Then 35 stones for the fireplace. That's probably 9-10 days to gather materials if you have a woodsman axe, probably more like 15 without one. Then you can build walls at a rate of around 1.5 a day with proper tools, probably more like 1 a day if you just have the woodsman axe. So another 6-10 days there. But that's focused on building, so only doable if you are eating from stockpiled food or living off catches from traps or nets. It's feasible to get one up within two months even with lots of hunting in between though, as long as you're finding good kills.

Also, settling near some hills or a mountain near where game wanders is useful. My current char is living near a river with hilly terrain next to the river. Often I can go up the hills and spot large game nearby, making finding them much easier. Then it's just a matter of tracking them until they wear out and going for the kill. Putting an arrow or javelin in them before they get away can make this step a lot easier since they don't go as fast or as far wounded.

Do you cook the fishies before you put them in the cellar, or do you go straight from the water to the cellar?

Cook food first unless you're about to be ready to smoke/dry it, since roasted lasts longer.

[Mephansteras]

I don't think I've ever had a successful hunter character. And by the time I try I usually have an expansive trap line and tons of fish from nets, so I always end up quitting before I get anything good and go back to the stuff I'm good at.

I should really try that with my next character. See if I can make it work.

[Paul]

It helps to start with good tracking and bow skill. A high speed and endurance helps too.

Char I'm playing right now is Owl Tribe, with maxed speed and near max endurance. I put a starting point into bow and tracking and started at like 80 skill in both. Not too hard to be a successful hunter with a char like that, haha.

I rerolled him a few times, but I wasn't specifically looking for a super char. I just wanted him to be tall. Got a 6' and 137lb beanpole and was happy with that, lol. His strength sucks, but he more than makes up for it in speed and endurance.

Not entirely sure what height affects in the game, I just wanted to have a tall char lol. I know weight affects your max weight before you get to the point of being unable to move (but doesn't reduce the carry penalty for lighter loads). Another char I made was 4'3" and 78lbs, he couldn't hardly carry anything haha.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Do you cook the fishies before you put them in the cellar, or do you go straight from the water to the cellar?

Cook! Also already made changes, WOW! Light lever traps put in the work! Catches grouses left and right.

EDIT: So now, on to passive fishing. Where's the best place to put nets? Im in the rapids--its spring time.

EDIT: Got the hang of it! Reliably pulling in 5 trout or salmon a week! Perfect. It's by no means surplus... but it gives me a day or two buffer! Enough time to begin preparing the trap fence! The only question now is... Do I eke out a living 'til the thaw or muscle through the frozen ground NOW?

[Urist McScoopbeard]

So, how many tiles on the zoomed out travel map should a trap fence be? I've got one built across 3 narrow land bridges to the island I'm making my home, but they're not frequented by game really. In fact, all I've seen is a hare and some grouse on my island. I saw an elk get close once.

In short, I'm considered building another trap fence on a chunk of land not sequester with rivers... How long should it be?

[Robsoie]

Remember that when your character is doing physical efforts, his hunger will increase faster than normal, and if your level of nutrition is low, the hunger bar will increase even much faster, requiring you to eat a lot more food.

A good idea is to get your character a good nutrition level (Abundant is the best, then Well-fed) by eating regularly for a few days before throwing yourself in the bigger works , this way your hunger while growing faster due to the effort, will still not grow as very fast it does if your nutrition is only at Scace or Insufficient by example.
This allowing you to not consume your food stock as fast as you do if you don't keep an eye on your nutrition level.

I don't know if the game currently use your character Height/Weight to setup how fast your hunger grow, it should for more realism, but i remember a few years ago someone asked the question on the official board and it wasn't yet implemented, and no idea if since then it has been added to the game.