Step by Step for those who haven't played single player much.

[BeastNips]

I'm from the UK so sorry about my English (ba dum tish). Another forum guy (I don't remember his name) started a topic recently for new players, giving some helpful advice on how to play Don't Starve if you don't have much single player experience. It was an excellent post, so I thought I'd expand on it a bit in a step-by-step guide.

 

I'm by no means an expert, and from my post-count you can tell I rarely contribute to this forum. I do however, have a fair few hours clocked on DS single-player. Single-player allows a trial and error approach in your own personal world; DST is multiplayer, so I feel a little leg up is needed for new players to allow them to play effectively with other (possibly more experienced) players. I don't have much experience of DST, but I feel the changes from vanilla aren't too many that I can't give some advice. Please correct me if any of the mechanics have changed relating to my advice and I'm unaware of them.

 

I'll do my best to keep it tasteful: advice without too many spoilers.

 

Step 1: Talk to each other.

DST has a chat function; use it! Many players require alot of survival resources, going solo without communication will be a bit of a pain. This is more of a constant thing than a 'step 1', but the first thing to do will be to decide who's going in which direction, which brings me on to step 2...

 

Step 2: Explore.

"Ok we've started, let's set up our base!" said no experienced don't starve player ever. Your permanent base should be placed near to what you need most, especially in the early game (days 10-30/40). For this we need to explore and look for certain resources to put your base near(ish). It's OK to set up sometimes 10-15 days into a game; you can survive as a nomad for this amount of time fairly easily.

 

Beefalo are a must. In single player they can be less important, but I don't see how you will sustain many players in the early game without farms. I may go into farms later, but all you need to know now is that you need farms, and need beefalo poop to make them. You will use a lot of poop, so having beeflo close by will save you a lot of traveling time. A good herd of these guys are also a brilliant defence against hounds, and eventually larger nasties. Don't build too close to them!

 

Rabbit holes are another must for the early game. You're going to need some kind of reliable source of meat for a certain food you will be making a lot of (I'm not here to talk recipes, use the wiki and other players for that). In single I can get by with 4-6 rabbit holes; as a rough estimate, multiply the number of players by 4, with maybe a few extra. Unlike the other resources, you want these right on top of your base, the others should be close by but at a safe distance.

 

A rock field is debatable, but I'd say it's a must. It's true that you will exhaust the rockfield fairly quickly, but you need the stuff from the rock field a lot in the early game, and you don't want to travel far every time you need something from it. Rock fields provide stone, flint, gold (usually) and nitre (that stuff you thought was useless). It's also where Tallbirds live, an excellent source of food.

 

EDIT: Proximity to the portal is another debatable one. In the 'tips for newcomers' thread the poster states that the portal should be relatively close, or at least suggests it. This can be good and bad. I'd suggest that this is a good idea, as long as it isn't at the expense of the resources mentioned above; in other words, chose beefalo, rabbit holes and a rock field over proximity to the portal. A suggestion for how to deal with players spawning in winter might be to leave some resources close by (thermal stone etc), and a fire pit. Also, plant some berry bushes for a non-perishable food source for new players starting. Basically, the same thing we did in single player for resurrection stones.

 

There are more things that many players see as a must: Swamps, pig villages etc. These are desireable, but you can do without them (but a swamp is definitely something to bare in mind for weapons and a birdcage later)

 

The plan should be that you decide who is going in which direction (using Step 1), then head out solo! You improve the chances of finding the essentials. This also aids gathering...

 

Step 3: Gathering

You're after: Flint> Twigs> Grass> Food. I would ignore flowers for now, but you'll need them later. If you set out in different directions then you should get all this no problem; don't strole through a forest another player has already picked clean, it's a waste of time (see Step 2). Once you have flint and twigs, you need an axe! Use this to cut trees and get some logs. Once you have twigs, grass, logs, axe and food you'll be ok as long as you keep stocked up. You'll also be able to build a fire when it get's dark (I'll explain why I wouldn't use torches through the night a little later on). After the axe you're aiming for a pick; you'll want to break random rocks until you have enough flint to keep you going (the other drops from rocks aren't a major thing yet, but keep them if you have space, especially the stone). You may also wish to pick up seeds; try to avoid the temptation of eating them.

 

You're a nomad at this point, so don't worry about progression. Your priorities at the moment are finding the resources you need to set up a base.

 

[PAUSE]

By this point you should have some food (berries, carrots and maybe the odd morsel), some basic tools (axe, pick), twigs, grass and logs. At this point (if you aren't Wickerbottom) you may wish to consider building a science machine (if you can find the gold) and making yourself a shovel, backpack, rope, spear and a log suit if you can afford it, but don't worry too much if you can't (I'll leave it to you to figure out what they all do). Regardless of whether you want to get these 'extras', continue this nomadic path until someone strikes gold! (finds the stuff you need to set up your base near)

 

Additional Note: In single player it's common to continue exploring through the darkness at night using a toch; in multiplayer I wouldn't bother. I'd make a fire and use this time to plan; chatting is much easier if you don't have anything else to do. You have potentially 6+ people exploring, you can give up a minute or so of exploring during the night.

 

Step 4: Basic Base Camp

You've found your beefalo, your rabbit holes and your rock field; life is good! Now it's time to regroup... This is easier said than done. I'm not guna teach you how to read a map and give directions, that's your dad's job (apologies for the minor sexism).

 

Once you've chosen your base location:

 

We need a fire pit; no biggy since we have a rock field near by.

 

We need a science machine; again no biggy, since our rock field will supply gold.

 

We need chests, so get chopping wood! Keep your pinecones. You may wish to assign a player to do this while another continues this guide.

 

We need an alchemy engine; as long as the mechanics are the same on multiplayer, build this and get rid of your science machine. It's not uncommon (before Reign of Giants) for the science machine to be built and replaced by an alchemy engine in the same 30seconds.

 

Once this is done get traps down on all of your lovely rabbit holes, and probably assign someone to keep an eye on these.

 

Step 5: Food Production Basics

Keep in mind you're now working as a team, so some of these steps can be carried out while the above (Step 4) is taking place, if you have the man power.

 

Crockpot: You need this to make food worth it. Some may disagree and decide to live without a crockpot and they can have fun with that; as a new player you want this. You may wish to build more than one of these if you have the resources since there can be many hungry mouths to feed! See the wiki on the crockpot to see why this is useful.

 

Drying racks: Another essential food production device. I don't want to go into food spoilage too much, but drying racks extend meat spoilage massively. All those rabbits you're catching need to go on the racks. The amount of racks you need will be trial and error, but a rough guide is about 2/3 of your active traps with thoughts towards expansion when you start taking down bigger prey. Don't eat monster meat raw, or jerkied EDIT: or cooked.

 

Improved Farms: Skip basic farms (or whatever they are called); this is one of the reasons we go straight for the alchemy engine. How many farms do you need? Well how long is a piece of string? This depends on whether you're going to have a dedicated farmer. I'd say you want at least 4/6 farms per person. This will require a shitload (sorry for the pun) of poop; aren't we glad we set up relatively close to beefalo? Once they're up and running, plant those seeds you kept! You did keep them, right?

 

Step 6: Farming

I'm not actually talking about farms here, strangely enough. This is where you get everything you've been foraging for and put them in once place: Berries, Twigs, Grass. If you wana know how to arrange these, see a wiki or guide on them; the general rule is: too many together will go up in flames. You will also need to fertilise most of these to make them grow; aren't we double-glad we camped near beefalo? Use their poop to fertilise grass and berry bushes or they won't grow.

 

Tree are slightly different. Remember those pine cones? You kept them too, right? Plant pinecones to grow trees. You want these a little bit a away from your base in case something unfortunate happens (spoilers...).

 

Step 7: Follow Step 1

Talk! Organise! Coordinate! You're a team.

 

At this point I feel I'm getting into spoiler territory, so I'll wrap it up here.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

EDIT: Please understand that I try my best to avoid spoilers (where I think they are major), however spoilers will be mentioned in the following posts. Please be aware that if you read on, you WILL see spoilers. Don't be afraid to post spoilers, I just want to advise new players that spoilers will follow in the replies.

[imsomony]

I really hope the Magical Title Fairy makes yours "Not Your Dad"

 

Great write-up for new folks, thanks! I would also recommend one thing in the "Basic Base Camp"... a lightning rod. Telling why might be moving into the spoiler territory you're trying to avoid though.

 

 

[BeastNips]

I should point that when I say "don't go solo" in the 2nd paragraph, I mean in the later game. I realise now, it sounds like I directly contradict myself. Solo at the start, cooperate throughout.

 

 

I would also recommend one thing in the "Basic Base Camp"... a lightning rod. Telling why might be moving into the spoiler territory you're trying to avoid though.

I grappled with that very issue and finally decided against telling them. My logic was: This guide is primarily designed to help experienced players, in that it will inform less experienced players and make everyones life a little easier. If the experienced player is there, they will inform the others of the need for lighting rods hopefully. If they're all new to it, they find out the hard way as we did.

[rezecib]

@BeastNips, Once you get one more post on the forums, you'll be able to go back and edit that post to update it as you please. Nice writeup for new players, by the way

[Zillvr]

Great post, @BeastNips!

I will also like to share that bird traps are another option for getting morsels. If rabbit holes are not enough or your group has a surplus of silk making around 6-8 traps with no bait can even support three people through a whole default winter if you know the right recipes to use. But once a bird is caught, you have to cook them straight into the fire and not murder them in your inventory. Murdering birds in your inventory has a chance of dropping feathers whereas cooking them straight into the fire always produces cooked morsels.

 

I do not know if you would consider this in the spoiler territory, so I'll leave it up to you to decide. 

[Ridley]

I am exploring a method of teaching I think will benefit new players more. While these tips are nice, they honestly are not sticking to new players' minds.

 

You see, teaching players how to play a game is like how I teach new co-workers at my job. I don't tell them how to usher, count back change, butter popcorn correctly, and do chores. I show them by example and working with them. I've witness what happens when someone tells someone how to do everything on their first day, it is madness to watch and confusing/scary for the new co-worker. Not to mention the bosses think it is utter silliness.

 

Take Valve's "Portal" for example. They do not start you off with the portal gun, and when you finally get the gun, you only get half of it. The game walks you through and shows how to place portals correctly before unleashing you to concepts like gravity, turrets, and momentum. They let you slowly sink into the understanding of all the concepts that you will later have to use without much help. Don't Starve does not do this by default, and the only thing new players seem to already know is how to make fires and cook food. I spent 5 days camping at the portal with a player who didn't understand too much past survive with fire and food.

 

So after communicating a bit, showing a few small bits of information like how butterfly wings are food too, I picked a fight with a Krampus Hoard to show off. The plan was perfect, I would show the player that there is way more things to the game than keeping alive and fed. Krampus only attack whoever attacked them, so there was no chance in them targeting the new player. I killed a few Krampus monsters and realized my armor was gone and I couldn't take another two hits. Three Krampus monsters left and I wasn't going to be able to survive.

 

But wouldn't you know it, the new player rushed over and chopped the attacking Krampus down with an axe to help me! We proceeded to wallop the remaining two, and I give the player some healing glands to recover from the fight. When I asked what the player wanted to do now, it was decided to build a flower garden. I took the player to my main base and got to show all sorts of neat things before we started catching butterflies.

 

The list of all the things we experienced together was grand, and we both had fun doing things together. I did not show how to explore or use the map, because the map was not going to sink in because of its complexity and the exploration seems meaningless without a objective to search for. It is much better to demonstrate and work together than explain how to do things.

 

I'd rather put four berries in a crockpot and get distracted on something else, just so I can say "Whoops, I forgot to cook you dinner. See this crockpot? Can you open it and press cook for me?" Then I can hand them berries to make their own jam, and then I can leave them to pick berry bushes for the jam.

 

The only problem is I have not figured out how to teach multiple people at once, since I can really only afford to keep track of one or two. But since a overwhelming portion of the new players do not use the forums, teaching them in-game is going to reach more people than on the forums. I am considering on making a thread called, "How to Train your New Player." However I need more research still.

 

Teaching the people who decided to take interest in the same game that I like to play is so much fun. Being able to show off the most mundane things like they are the cat's pajamas makes it fun for me too. Every player knows the astonishment the Beefalo give initially, and a new player would enjoy spending a night in the herd only to learn we are going to shave them while they sleep.

 

In short, we need to teach through example and not speech. There is way too much information and meaning for anyone to try to convey through text. 

 

[BeastNips]

Well put Ridley! I agree entirely. Funny you should mention it, I teach for a living ha. I won't tell you which subject as my post is full of spelling and grammar errors (forums and alcohol are a bad combination).

 

While I do agree with your post, I often feel that my classes benefit from a combination of learning methods. I think your method is excellent, but as you point out it can't reach a wider audience. I feel my post does this; it is then supported by people you mentioned who are willing to train players. I compare it to having a PPT presentation, then setting learners off on a task and helping them individually with their weaknesses; they use this task to practice what they've learnt then refer back to the presentation.

 

Players will read my post and not understand a lot of it; then they will play. The more they play, hopefully, the more they re-visit this post; each time more will make sense. Hopefully other players will help them.

 

So while I mostly agree with what you say, I think their is still a place for guides like this. Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks for the contribution.

[BeastNips]

 

I will also like to share that bird traps are another option for getting morsels. If rabbit holes are not enough or your group has a surplus of silk making around 6-8 traps with no bait can even support three people through a whole default winter if you know the right recipes to use. But once a bird is caught, you have to cook them straight into the fire and not murder them in your inventory. Murdering birds in your inventory has a chance of dropping feathers whereas cooking them straight into the fire always produces cooked morsels.

 

Yes this was another one of those issues. The way I decided what goes in and what doesn't, was based a lot on my own experience. It was much later into my Don't Starve experience that I discovered bird traps as a viable food source. As these are slightly more complex creations, I decided to leave them to the player. I feel I offer the basics of what they can survive on, and nothing more (for the most part).

[Ridley]

So while I mostly agree with what you say, I think their is still a place for guides like this. Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks for the contribution.

 

 You have no idea how reliving it was to see a cool response. 

[BeastNips]

Ha no problem. Hope to see you guys in-game soon!

[BeastNips]

I have edited this slightly to include something I feel is important in base-location, and took out a few complicated bits. Enjoy.

[B00mStickk]

Nice guide buddy nice structural balance to it!

[BeastNips]

Thanks man, see you in-game soon hopefully!