A True Beginner

[moegitto]

How do you get started in this game? I've read the tips and tricks thread and it seems like I'm nowhere near that point yet. I'm stuck at around $4000, I've been mining, fishing, and planting whatever seeds I get. I'm still in the first month but I feel overwhelmed by this game, how do I get a good start?

[Samael]

Look Moegitto. Why is it that important for you to get the "Best start" you could possibly have when i'ts your first playthrough. The goal of a game is to have fun discovering the stuff ingame by yourself.

When you go read the wiki and you read 10000 posts about what you should do and what you should not do .. it kinda kills the fun don't you think ? ;p

Just play the game like you want. It doesnt matter if you start like a pro. The game plays forever. There is always time to do what you want and there is nothing negative by going slow and you don't have to start a game from the start if you think you screwed up.

This game is supposed to be calming you. Not stressing you ;)

[Tursmo]

You don't need a good start. You have multiple years to do stuff and the game mechanics at the start kinda force you to start small. You don't have much stamina yet, no proficiencys in skills etc. In the start there'll be million things you want to spend your money into, but that is not a bad thing. Just enjoy yourself and things will work out.

[Saint Landwalker]

"Stuck" at around $4,000 isn't like you're doing badly. Motor over to Pierre's shop, buy some more seeds, and plant those suckers! (But don't plant so many that watering everything causes you to pass out...)

Just keep doing what you're doing. You'll feel your way into it. To reiterate a point of Samael's, there's nothing you're losing by starting slowly (if indeed you're starting slowly in the first place.)

[moegitto]

I just want a foot in the door, I haven't read the wiki for fear of spoilers. It just seems like I'm going nowhere.

[Saint Landwalker]

Originally posted by moegitto:

I just want a foot in the door, I haven't read the wiki for fear of spoilers. It just seems like I'm going nowhere.

Growin' stuff takes a while. Don't feel like you have to rush up the ladder. Slow and steady.

The game kind of throws a bunch of stuff at you early like "Build a coop!" "Buy a chicken!" "Maybe upgrade some tools!", but that's not stuff that needs to happen ASAP. Especially the livestock stuff. Nice and easy...

[moegitto]

Thanks for the kind encouraagement guys, guess I'll just wait it out a little longer. With nothing but seeds to buy It can't hurt to wait and save up more money.

[Hurodrik]

Originally posted by moegitto:

Thanks for the kind encouraagement guys, guess I'll just wait it out a little longer. With nothing but seeds to buy It can't hurt to wait and save up more money. :meaty:

Just take note of the season lenght of 28 days and the fact most crops are seasonal. So think about that when you plan your planting to avoid having a nasty surprise in the first day of summer.

[Justin]

Your money will go up and down sharply as the seasons change - you'll spend a lot on seeds in the first few days of the month and then it'll slowly peter off as the month goes on.

Growing crops takes time.

In the meantime, sell your fish, and junk you get from clearing the field to help get some more money to invest in seeds. Kind of like XCOM, games like Stardew start hard and get gradually easier.

[Saint Landwalker]

Originally posted by Hurodrik:

Originally posted by moegitto:

Thanks for the kind encouraagement guys, guess I'll just wait it out a little longer. With nothing but seeds to buy It can't hurt to wait and save up more money. :meaty:

Just take note of the season lenght of 28 days and the fact most crops are seasonal. So think about that when you plan your planting to avoid having a nasty surprise in the first day of summer.

Which is another way of saying "On the first day of each season, everything is going to die unless it's a multi-season crop (like corn)."

[ぐー]

It's going to get easier farther in

[carrietorch]

Wow, I'm way more overwhelmed than anything described here!!!
I'm freaking out about not being able to find food or even my way around on the map. I'm passing out from exhaustion, running around in circles, getting lost in the dark and freaking out because I can't figure out where I am or where home is or why I can't walk around because there is so much stuff in the way.
I've been playing games like this for decades but never expected to be in fear of losing my life from starvation after two days!

[FafnirChaos]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, Necromancers are on the purge. Hide the dead bodies before they raise their army.

[c.a.barry]

Originally posted by carrietorch:

Wow, I'm way more overwhelmed than anything described here!!!
I'm freaking out about not being able to find food or even my way around on the map. I'm passing out from exhaustion, running around in circles, getting lost in the dark and freaking out because I can't figure out where I am or where home is or why I can't walk around because there is so much stuff in the way. :OMgosh:
I've been playing games like this for decades but never expected to be in fear of losing my life from starvation after two days!

I try and just plan one activity a day since it's takes a while to get anywhere. Example: one day I'll go fishing, next day I'll go into town to buy seeds and work on my farm. Baby steps and ignoring the quests that look too hard!
One thing I've started doing is keeping a torch in my inventory, esp. when fishing or mining so I can get back in the dark! And never leave home without a snack, even if it's just some algae to get you home.

[c.a.barry]

$4000 for your first season is pretty good! The order they give you the journal quests seems a bit arbitrary though, raise animals is one of the first ones but I'm almost through my first in game year and still don't have all the required bits to keep animals. You won't lose anything by ignoring quests or keeping them on the back burner. Focus on one thing at a time and don't bother with tasks you can't immediately solve.

[tikiman572]

Even as someone who tends to min-max and power game in games like this, your first couple of farms? Don't worry too much about what you're doing. Just play the game and get a feel of things. Grow accustomed to it. After that, you can start plotting long term power plays and the like.

Just one thing, though. Even with all that said, don't be like the Game Grumps when they played Stardew Valley for a brief, BRIEF amount of time. There's being new to a game and making beginner mistakes and all that... and then there was THAT shameful display courtesy of Danny and Arin.