Normal mode vs relaxed mode

[oz Helix oz]

So i bought the game, and... I am not very convinced at the moment, I find that you have to walk a lot and your stamina drops very quickly. Also, I'm playing in normal mode and looking for oxygen and shield is a bit annoying. Has anyone played the relaxed mode? is it much better?

[The Knowledge Seeker]

When I first started out....now this is going waaaaay back and things were far harder. I tried normal mode and landed on a snow planet and already went into panic mode. At this time I remember playing the long dark and thought that maybe I could find a shelter....well I started walking up the hill and a storm started...I died. I was like... ok, I better try peaceful. I tried again in peaceful and I was even more confused. I think I then just went to watch a video on how to survive my first 5 min of game and tried again. I ended up going to space and saw rocks out there. I shot one that was in my way and got gold from it and I have been hooked ever since lol.

So, to sum up, stick with normal, plenty of us will help you with any questions you have.

[Emaulligu]

You get upgrades later on for stamina and sprint, plus the jetpack (and hazards too).

Oxygen is mostly found in plants while sodium is more abundant on hazardous planets. I've noticed that more "calmer" planets tend to have less sodium.

The stacks in your inventory cap out at 9999, so you can definitely stock it up without worrying, as long as you can find some.

If all else fails, your ship provides full elemental insulation from the outside, if you want to wait for the storm to pass and you're low on hazard protection. You can summon your ship directly to yourself as long asit has enough fuel in the launch thruster to take off.

[UncreativelyNamed]

The very beginning of any save (other than on creative mode, which has the need for hazard protection and life support turned off by default) can be a struggle. However, it doesn't last long. Once you build up a supply of resources and/or acquire some tech upgrades, the survival aspect is pretty much gone. If you use relaxed mode, the difference at the very beginning of the game is that your hazard protection drains more slowly and, IIRC, you don't have to charge life support at all. (Or maybe it's the opposite way around, I'm not sure. I used Relaxed mode when I started out, and that wasn't that long ago, and I already can't remember for sure. )

A couple of tips:

1) Instead of using a different mode completely, if you're struggling so much on the "Normal" preset that you're not enjoying yourself, you can go into the difficulty settings and knock back survival difficulty until you have your feet under you. Then you can switch it back when you're feeling more comfortable and know what you're doing. At that point, you can start a new save (if you feel that going easy on yourself for a bit is "cheating") or you can just continue with the same one.

2) Caves are your friend in the very early game. Going into them sufficiently far recharges your hazard protection with no resources required, as does entering your ship, once you find it. (But not your life support, if you're playing with both turned on.) So, be on the lookout for caves. Not only does hazard protection recharge, but there are some hazardous plants in them that will give you sodium. Just don't go so far that you get lost and can't find your way back to the surface before you have the tool that allows you to dig. Anyway, I've found that the vanilla game will usually start you close to at least one cave, probably for these very reasons.

[Sabian Grey]

Sometimes in Normal I just change 'Natural Resources' and 'Goods Availability' to abundant.
Not as radical as full blown relaxed mode but would help with your Health and Hazard Protection (more resources to get sodium and oxygen and you can buy Ion Batteries and Life Support).