new to the game

[Tenma]

what map should i go for ?

[dino_inc]

The large farm map is great for learning, the other maps don't really have enough space to allow you to experiment as freely.

[Evil Overlord]

Dino is right, just go standard to figure out what you like about the game before sticking yourself in one of the specialized maps.

[Tenma]

Originally posted by dino_inc:

The large farm map is great for learning, the other maps don't really have enough space to allow you to experiment as freely.

ok ty :)

[Tenma]

Originally posted by Evil Overlord:

Dino is right, just go standard to figure out what you like about the game before sticking yourself in one of the specialized maps.

ok ty :)

[YetiChow]

That entirely depends on how "into" the game you plan to get.

Each different farm layout has its own advantages as you know; but they also give slightly different experiences. Your starting farm will likely change/inform how you progress through the game, so knowing a little about your options ahead of time should help you pick the one that fits better.

With that in mind...

1. Original Farm: This farm has the most space for growing crops, and the simplest layout. It's great if you want high-volume production, or if you want to try a bit of everything (crops, animals, areas dedicated to making artisan goods, an orchard... you can have it all on this farm with room to spare.) If in doubt, this is a good default choice purely because it has no "drawbacks"... well, unless empty space is a drawback for you. And hey, it could be -- for some players (and I'm one of them), the thought of "wasting" space is anathema to a game like this; but at the same time, not everyone can be bothered to tend to a massive farm all the time...

2. Riverlands: this farm is arguably the toughest for a new player, since its special advantages from fishing require you to actually be able to catch the fish. The fishing mini-game can be frustrating for new players; so trading in a good chunk of your farming space for more fishing opportunities can be a source of regret if it turns out you don't like fishing. But, not to worry -- later on you'll be able to get crab pots which will do the fishing for you. In the meantime, you'll want to plan your crops a little better than you might on other farm types, since you'll have less space to plant out. You'll still have a reasonable amount (it's a farm first and a fishery second), but you may have to walk a little bit in order to get to some of your crop locations. And if you're planning to raise animals, finding space for them may become challenging. Oh, and one last thing in the Riverlands Farm's favour: it's very pretty :3

3. Forest Farm: this farm can be challenging to plan out, but less so than the Riverlands; and especially now that the bushes can be cleared. The major advantage of this farm is that it has significant grassy areas, which spawn wild forage plants (e.g. mushrooms) you'd normally have to go looking in the woods or mountains for; and there are also a good number of hardwood stumps which respawn (every farm gets a certain number which you can clear out once; but these stumps are in addition to that and give you a great long-term hardwood supply, perfect for building fences and some advanced buildings and machines with.) All the bounty of the forest will be right on your doorstep with this farm! The down-side... you can't grow crops on the grassy areas; so again you're trading a chunk of farming space in for the farm's "special power". BUT, you can place buildings and machines on the grassy areas, so they may not be such a limitation in the long-run. You will need to get creative about organising your farm, or get used to smaller crop areas and less efficient sprinkler use (sprinklers get fairly expensive, at least for the first few years, so you'll want to maximise how useful they are by surrounding them with crops... which can be hard to do when the spaces for growing crops are broken up by forest grass.) If you do it right though, this farm will provide a nice boost to your normal farming income, and will look great too. If you pick the right perks to complement a foraging profession, you'll be able to make quite a lot of money out of those foraged items. Oh, and the Forest Farm also has several small and large ponds, one that could even be called a small lake (apparently it's even big enough to fish in); so water access isn't a problem... although you may want to build a well out beyond the greenhouse, since the lakes are mostly over to one side. You get get a lot of crab pots in those ponds, though...

4. Hilltop Farm: This is another farm that's tricky to lay out; but it's actually quite simple to keep organised -- the cliffs make great dividers, meaning you can save dramatically on fencing. A river runs through the farmyard, further breaking up this farm (and here's your opportunity to fish or use crab pots), so water is usually close to hand. But this farm's greatest advantage is that it spawns mine-able rocks, ore veins and special geode-bearing stones. These mining locations are a great boost for the early-game, since they give you easy access to metals and even occasional finds of the rare Irridium ore, right on your farm! Normally you'd have to wait for the mines to become available, then fight and explore your way down through many levels of monster-infested mineshafts in order to get most of those metals and minerals; but with geodes spawning quite frequently here you can easily collect those items without having to delve into the mines as much (you'll still probably want to go through them eventually for other reasons... but you can do that with better equipment thanks to this farm type.) As an added bonus, there's a particular bundle in the Community Center which unlocks a fast-travel option around town, and this farm should give you a lot of the resources for that bundle quite easily. Many players consider this farm the best looking, too; although really that's a matter of personal taste (in other words, the Riverlands, Forest and Hilltop farms are all prettier than the default and Wilderness options. Probably because these three have more going on, whereas the others are basically a large area of bare dirt.)

5. Wilderness: On the first day you arrive, this farm looks much like the standard farm experience. But come nightfall, be prepared for monsters to come lurking through your farmyard. The wilderness monsters, which are unique to this map, will limit what you can do of a night-time until you're equipped to deal with them; so this effectively means you have to do your farming during the day, and if you get any seeds from quests or rewards then you'll have to get them in before nightfall or else face a tough time trying to plant them while also fending off the monsters. Eventually you'll be able to turn the monsters on and off with the help of some good friends in town; but until then you'll have to be vigilant about defending your land. You'll have to take special care to protect your animals as well, and since you'll need a particular animal product in order to gain access to control over the monsters' spawning (or not spawning, as you may choose), you'll have a lot to keep track of every day. So, this farm tests your time management more than anything else.

A few general notes: all farms allow you the same crop growth, animals, machinery and buildings; and apparently there's a fishing location on every farm now (I haven't tested that, but usually fishing on the farms will only pull up trash. Originally the Riverlands was meant to be the exception, but it would seem that's changed as of the 1.11 patch.) All farms can also be made to spawn night-time enemies as an end-game option; the Wilderness farm simply does it from day one. Every item in the game can be obtained regardless of which farm you choose; although certain farms make certain sets of items easier than normal as you'd expect based on that farm's theme. So ultimately, every farm still allows you do to everything in the game; you may just need to adapt your strategy a little.

For a new player, I'd generally reccommend either the Hilltop or Forest farms -- both give you a nice starting boost, and their slightly smaller working space means you'll fill them up quicker and thus feel more satisfied with your efforts.

[ItsKylos]

that a big guide !!

[Tenma]

Originally posted by YetiChow:

That entirely depends on how "into" the game you plan to get.

Each different farm layout has its own advantages as you know; but they also give slightly different experiences. Your starting farm will likely change/inform how you progress through the game, so knowing a little about your options ahead of time should help you pick the one that fits better.

With that in mind...

1. Original Farm: This farm has the most space for growing crops, and the simplest layout. It's great if you want high-volume production, or if you want to try a bit of everything (crops, animals, areas dedicated to making artisan goods, an orchard... you can have it all on this farm with room to spare.) If in doubt, this is a good default choice purely because it has no "drawbacks"... well, unless empty space is a drawback for you. And hey, it could be -- for some players (and I'm one of them), the thought of "wasting" space is anathema to a game like this; but at the same time, not everyone can be bothered to tend to a massive farm all the time...

2. Riverlands: this farm is arguably the toughest for a new player, since its special advantages from fishing require you to actually be able to catch the fish. The fishing mini-game can be frustrating for new players; so trading in a good chunk of your farming space for more fishing opportunities can be a source of regret if it turns out you don't like fishing. But, not to worry -- later on you'll be able to get crab pots which will do the fishing for you. In the meantime, you'll want to plan your crops a little better than you might on other farm types, since you'll have less space to plant out. You'll still have a reasonable amount (it's a farm first and a fishery second), but you may have to walk a little bit in order to get to some of your crop locations. And if you're planning to raise animals, finding space for them may become challenging. Oh, and one last thing in the Riverlands Farm's favour: it's very pretty :3

3. Forest Farm: this farm can be challenging to plan out, but less so than the Riverlands; and especially now that the bushes can be cleared. The major advantage of this farm is that it has significant grassy areas, which spawn wild forage plants (e.g. mushrooms) you'd normally have to go looking in the woods or mountains for; and there are also a good number of hardwood stumps which respawn (every farm gets a certain number which you can clear out once; but these stumps are in addition to that and give you a great long-term hardwood supply, perfect for building fences and some advanced buildings and machines with.) All the bounty of the forest will be right on your doorstep with this farm! The down-side... you can't grow crops on the grassy areas; so again you're trading a chunk of farming space in for the farm's "special power". BUT, you can place buildings and machines on the grassy areas, so they may not be such a limitation in the long-run. You will need to get creative about organising your farm, or get used to smaller crop areas and less efficient sprinkler use (sprinklers get fairly expensive, at least for the first few years, so you'll want to maximise how useful they are by surrounding them with crops... which can be hard to do when the spaces for growing crops are broken up by forest grass.) If you do it right though, this farm will provide a nice boost to your normal farming income, and will look great too. If you pick the right perks to complement a foraging profession, you'll be able to make quite a lot of money out of those foraged items. Oh, and the Forest Farm also has several small and large ponds, one that could even be called a small lake (apparently it's even big enough to fish in); so water access isn't a problem... although you may want to build a well out beyond the greenhouse, since the lakes are mostly over to one side. You get get a lot of crab pots in those ponds, though...

4. Hilltop Farm: This is another farm that's tricky to lay out; but it's actually quite simple to keep organised -- the cliffs make great dividers, meaning you can save dramatically on fencing. A river runs through the farmyard, further breaking up this farm (and here's your opportunity to fish or use crab pots), so water is usually close to hand. But this farm's greatest advantage is that it spawns mine-able rocks, ore veins and special geode-bearing stones. These mining locations are a great boost for the early-game, since they give you easy access to metals and even occasional finds of the rare Irridium ore, right on your farm! Normally you'd have to wait for the mines to become available, then fight and explore your way down through many levels of monster-infested mineshafts in order to get most of those metals and minerals; but with geodes spawning quite frequently here you can easily collect those items without having to delve into the mines as much (you'll still probably want to go through them eventually for other reasons... but you can do that with better equipment thanks to this farm type.) As an added bonus, there's a particular bundle in the Community Center which unlocks a fast-travel option around town, and this farm should give you a lot of the resources for that bundle quite easily. Many players consider this farm the best looking, too; although really that's a matter of personal taste (in other words, the Riverlands, Forest and Hilltop farms are all prettier than the default and Wilderness options. Probably because these three have more going on, whereas the others are basically a large area of bare dirt.)

5. Wilderness: On the first day you arrive, this farm looks much like the standard farm experience. But come nightfall, be prepared for monsters to come lurking through your farmyard. The wilderness monsters, which are unique to this map, will limit what you can do of a night-time until you're equipped to deal with them; so this effectively means you have to do your farming during the day, and if you get any seeds from quests or rewards then you'll have to get them in before nightfall or else face a tough time trying to plant them while also fending off the monsters. Eventually you'll be able to turn the monsters on and off with the help of some good friends in town; but until then you'll have to be vigilant about defending your land. You'll have to take special care to protect your animals as well, and since you'll need a particular animal product in order to gain access to control over the monsters' spawning (or not spawning, as you may choose), you'll have a lot to keep track of every day. So, this farm tests your time management more than anything else.

A few general notes: all farms allow you the same crop growth, animals, machinery and buildings; and apparently there's a fishing location on every farm now (I haven't tested that, but usually fishing on the farms will only pull up trash. Originally the Riverlands was meant to be the exception, but it would seem that's changed as of the 1.11 patch.) All farms can also be made to spawn night-time enemies as an end-game option; the Wilderness farm simply does it from day one. Every item in the game can be obtained regardless of which farm you choose; although certain farms make certain sets of items easier than normal as you'd expect based on that farm's theme. So ultimately, every farm still allows you do to everything in the game; you may just need to adapt your strategy a little.

For a new player, I'd generally reccommend either the Hilltop or Forest farms -- both give you a nice starting boost, and their slightly smaller working space means you'll fill them up quicker and thus feel more satisfied with your efforts.

best guide 2016 ty alot <3

[Wazow]

One thing about the wilderness map, you can obtain a Dark Shrine of Night Terrors in the late game wich can turn off/on monsters comeing on your farm. (works for all maps) So if you want mosnters AND a difrent map you COULD just wait.....

[casezulu]

I'd start with basic map as it has the most space and okay logging, water access.

One tip is to get three hearts with Linus asap so he'll give you the sashimi recipe. After that you can easily keep your energy up all day with just a few fish, 75 energy and some healing for even trashy fish from the crab pots. I make it a priority to give him a spring onion twice a week and talk to him every time I go near the mine or mountain lake to get that recipe during Spring.