First playthrough, can I start with friends straight away?

[Picuu]

Title.

Is there a tutorial for some stuff in the coop mode?

Thank you!

[Morri]

You don't need to play solo on the valley map first to learn the game. It's fun to discover everything with friends on the Oxbow as well.

Tutorial; sorta: when the first npc you have to talk to (Sedowin) asks you if you want to do a few exercises to help improve your muscle memory, say yes. That's a very brief tutorial. Other than that, pay attention to the popups whenever something happens for the first time as it'll explain some of the mechanics.
You also find a lot of info in the knowledge tab ingame when you want to look something up.

And if you have any questions, feel free to ask on the forum. People here are generally helpful!

Maybe one tip for when you start: change the customisation with number of days in a season a bit higher. Default is 3 days, but especially when playing for the first time and wanting to explore the game a bit, it'll feel incredibly short.
You can always change it back later once you feel more used to the game mechanics.

[Not MrBallen]

Originally posted by Morri:

And if you have any questions, feel free to ask on the forum. People here are generally helpful!

I am the exception, and not helpful at all. But on this occasion , you seem nice, so I will give some input.
the best way to learn the game, is play the valley, unfortunately thats solo. jumping in to oxbow as a first time player, well thats harder as there is not a great tutorial( it assumes you played the valley first). If you and your friends want to learn a new game, on your own with basic help, you'll love the game. As Morri said the forum is a great source for information.
As you may of guest, Morri is the fairy god mother of the forum, and if she does not know the answer , she knows where to find it.

[Picuu]

Thank youu

[Oga]

I started playing on coop introduction and stepped into coop straight away.
It's quite doable, as long as you and/or your friend(s) are used to starting games without tutorials and/or starting games sharing many of the aspects.

Starting in the valley will explain everything clearly step by step and hold you back a little on speed so it goes nice and smooth, for me the actually finding out "ohhw, you can do .... too" is something I like when playing games, hence I prefer keeping the tutorials to a minimum and coop was a good intro to the game.

[Maya-Neko]

Originally posted by Morri:

Maybe one tip for when you start: change the customisation with number of days in a season a bit higher. Default is 3 days, but especially when playing for the first time and wanting to explore the game a bit, it'll feel incredibly short.
You can always change it back later once you feel more used to the game mechanics.

Funny enough i made the opposite experience, 3 days feel so incredibly long. We played like 4-5 hours on our first session and barely made it through the first year. I wonder, if we even keep playing until we can play as our heir.

Though i wonder how it can be changed. When choosing to load, i don't get an option to change anything about the game.

[GrumpyOne]

I only recall seeing the option to change season length when starting a new game. I checked the settings for my existing run and can't find it.

[pdoan8]

If I remember it correctly, and the game time hasn't been changed:
- One game hour is equivalent to 2 real life minutes.
- A twelve hours day (wake up at 7 am and go to bed at 7 pm) is 24 real life minutes.
- One 3-day season = 72 minutes.
- 18 years = 72 seasons = 5,184 minutes = 86.4 hours (86 hours and 24 minutes). Not counting the time game pause in map/management/... screen.

I'm playing about 2 and a half hours a day on average. That would take me over a month to reach second generation. I usually solo long season (7 to 15 days) for 2-3 years before getting married. Then, 5-7 days season until I get 12-15 villagers. I will play 3-days season when there very little manual work I have to do. I will probably need to play one day season if I want to play the heir.

[Zoid]

Originally posted by Not MrBallen:

the best way to learn the game, is play the valley, unfortunately thats solo

I agree with MrBallen. I have played both worlds solo, and I think the Valley makes a much better experience than Oxbow. It's unfortunate that you cannot play co-op there, and equally unfortunate that the Oxbow world is not as well-developed as the Valley.

But here's an idea -- play BOTH! You can have many saved games, so play co-op with friends on Oxbow, and play solo on Valley to learn more (and find out what you're missing on Oxbow).

[Morri]

Originally posted by Maya-Neko:

Though i wonder how it can be changed. When choosing to load, i don't get an option to change anything about the game.

Only the host can change it. In an existing game it's by pressing <escape> - customise game.
Season length changes will not take effect the current season, but the next one.