New Player, Feeling like I'm missing something.

[FlowerChild]

Also, information I didn't find. I understand we can get hemp seeds by using the hoe on high grass. Can we still get wheat seeds by using it on the (regular) grass blocks?

You've got it slightly backwards there, in that you get Hemp seeds by using the hoe on regular grass blocks (tilling them). You can't get wheat seeds "naturally", and they can only be obtained through finding an inhabited village which comes *much* later in the tech tree (I wouldn't advise it until you have nether access for fast travel). Wheat is more of a late game food in BTW.

You can't farm pumpkins until you have a hoe, so using them for eggs for chickens is not really a feasible option for you at present. Really, at the stage your at, your only practical food options involve hunting, so if your local area is depleted of animals, you don't have much choice other than to move, either permanently, or just in terms of doing hunting expeditions (potentially overnight). Also, if you're going to move, try not to move to a new location towards the end of the day, as that'll mean the monsters will move in and attack the local animals overnight. I'd advise moving in the morning, stopping around mid day, and spending the rest of that time hunting the animals in the vicinity before holing up for the night.

Glad you're having so much fun with BTW man :)

[Gilberreke]

Just something I want to point out. On Better With Friends, we're currently sustaining 7 people on hunting trips alone and so far we haven't run out of food. A single hunting trip can easily net me several stacks of meat and that means a two day trip. Don't stop and enjoy the scenery. Haul ass out there, axe all the animals, bunker down for night and go back. Don't be afraid to sprint. The gain you get in reaching an area rich with animals by FAR outweighs the fact that you spend a lot of food getting there. Don't sprint the entire way though, maybe like 30% of the way?

Again, that's 7 people on just hunting trips. 7 constantly Hardcore Spawning really decimates the animal population and we still have enough food.

I suspect the people having trouble, just have trouble going on overnight trips. You probably have over 200 animals in close range to your base that you're not killing. Killing and cooking those 200 animals on SSP means you have hours upon hours of game-play without running out.

Side-note: a chicken farm does help A LOT, so get one. Then again, if you're out and about, you WILL find pumpkins and you WILL find eggs lying about. If you only found one pumpkin, you're simply not really going out a lot. They are not even rare in any form.

[Elred]

I get that hunting is the answer, but I always have the problem that axes run out of durability far too quickly and I have to go back to mine cobblestone (which I do on nights by the way). And hunting trips are fine, but I can't sustain myself during those without carrying enough cobblestones to make furnaces wherever I stop (since they doesn't give themselves back anymore), and I also have to carry enough wood to make workbenches wherever I stop or whenever I need a new axe (since they doesn't give themselves back either).

I guess, that's just me still needing to get my hands into the hunting habits, but at the beginning I felt if I went hunting, I'd waste time chopping wood and mining stone instead of actually feeding myself.

I'm still clearly noob anyway, and while I tried some mods to up the difficulty of the game a bit, it's the first one I try that just changes so drastically how the player feels toward its environment. I really love how the game put me in front of difficult choices and how I have to weigh everything I do because the margin of error is so small now. I'll learn eventually. Being 2 may help on that, I think one of us will be the assigned hunter while the other will have to stock up wood and cobble and coal, until a cave-trips can be safely attempted to get enough iron. Then we'll move on the next tier because I have the feeling getting iron-tier tools will just make the whole thing much easier.

Thanks for your help! :)

[Brona_Pretolus]

Although stone axes are by no means long-lasting, I think you may be severely limiting your ability to use them by spamming the attack button too much. Whenever an entity flashes red after taking damage, it is briefly invulnerable. However, your axe (or any other tool) will still decrement durability for each click when the target is red. It's really easy to burn up axes that way.

Hope this helps.

[Gilberreke]

Yeah, if you find axes to run out of durability, you're probably spamclicking them. The last quite a while for me.

[Elred]

Oh crap, that must be it. I'm just way too used to vanilla (even if this happened in vanilla too, stone tools were still more durable, and I usually used a sword). Thanks again for the great advice! We may survive more than a few day ;)

[DemonHunter]

I also have to carry enough wood to make workbenches wherever I stop or whenever I need a new axe

How many axes do you carry with you on these trips? It sounds like you're stopping to build new axes too often. Ideally, the only time you stop is at night, so you have to carry AT LEAST 4 axes (I usually go with 6-8) to be able to constantly hunt throughout the day.

Hope this helps :)

[Elred]

Alright, so we have a small camp set up in a small swamp (multiple biomes not so far), with farms (sugar cane, pumpkin and hemp), the structure for our first windmill, 3 wolves, 2 chickens, and enough resources to get by. Aside from the occasional witch (we got 2, killed 2, and each time we were left dying during a whole day), no real problem to be had. We're aiming for our first diamond pick right now, since we got our 3rd creeper oyster not so long ago.

However, I seem to remember reading stuff about full moons in some posts about the early game. The wiki is very elusive on such features (I can respect that policy), should we expect some backfire from our wolves or such? Or worse? Also, do witches only spawn in swamps at night? Or everywhere else? Since our last encounters were terribly close to us both dying, I'm pondering our real need to move to somewhere else.

(also, tell me if I need to create a new thread for that, this one being the only about "noobs" I thought it would be appropriate).

[Mason11987]

Alright, so we have a small camp set up in a small swamp (multiple biomes not so far), with farms (sugar cane, pumpkin and hemp), the structure for our first windmill, 3 wolves, 2 chickens, and enough resources to get by. Aside from the occasional witch (we got 2, killed 2, and each time we were left dying during a whole day), no real problem to be had. We're aiming for our first diamond pick right now, since we got our 3rd creeper oyster not so long ago.

However, I seem to remember reading stuff about full moons in some posts about the early game. The wiki is very elusive on such features (I can respect that policy), should we expect some backfire from our wolves or such? Or worse? Also, do witches only spawn in swamps at night? Or everywhere else? Since our last encounters were terribly close to us both dying, I'm pondering our real need to move to somewhere else.

(also, tell me if I need to create a new thread for that, this one being the only about "noobs" I thought it would be appropriate).

The wolves should be fine if they're separated from where any mobs could get near.

Witches only spawn in swamps. I think it's "near" the witch's hut, but I haven't encountered very many, I've avoid swamps outright since the recent changes.

Edit - Correction, it has nothing to do with the huts!

[milkmandan]

Witches only spawn in swamps. I think it's "near" the witch's hut, but I haven't encountered very many, I've avoid swamps outright since the recent changes.

Above sea level, in swamps, in darkness, and no relation to the huts.

[Elred]

Alright, we'll make sure to light the whole swamp eventually. A bit of challenge doesn't hurt. I have a long term plan of colonizing a jungle some time.

Anyway, a lot happened in the few hours since I last posted. We died both several times because we were too greedy with cave exploration, found a looted desert temple along an abandoned desert village. We're barely recovering from our deaths and need more food-hunt session, 2 chickens just don't cut it as far as self-sustainement is concerned. Working slowly on the mill, then on to the nether, then we'll see!

Edit: I really feel like playing Dwarf Fortress. Thanks again for this wonderful mod ;)