IMHO "Survival" game mode is the way to go

[Cougarific]

After playing on the default mode for awhile a new mode unlocked - "Survival".

IMHO this should be the default mode, it's much more traditional from a gameplay standpoint as you start alone and have to add new members to your clan by finding them and giving them a reason to join.

It makes a lot more sense to people coming to the game from a traditional gaming perspective, and I think if reviewers had played this mode *first*, the reviews would have been a lot more positive.

Being dumped into a game with a full clan already just means there's not much to do in the early game, so the gameplay seems dry and repetitive.

Putting together your own clan - instead of having one handed to you - really binds you to the members and gives you a reason to look out for them - especially when the babies come along.

There's a real sense of accomplishment when you look around at your happy clan and think "I started out alone - now I have this thriving family!"

And losing a clan member you went out of your way to "rescue" and add to the clan hurts a lot more than losing one that was handed to you.

[Sticks]

Are new members in the wild much easier to find in that mode because I've only ever seen one and I've played for hours, the idea of wandering around for hours and hours searching for one female to even make a generation go by doesn't sound fun.

[Cougarific]

I found 3 in the first hour fairly close to my starting area - the 4th one was farther away and harder to reach (we also got attacked by a bird as I was trying to "meet" him and he ended up holding onto the side of a tree, which meant I couldn't interact with him anymore. I intend to go back to check on him after a save/quit/reload to see if his position reset).

[LuckyN13]

I seem to only find them when I have no more genetic diversity in my clan (all members are related). Could a trigger for them spawning in the wild.

[LWRabbit]

I agree. Survival Mode just feels so much better than the First Time game mode.

Ironically, Survival Mode doesn't feel as overwhelming as the First Time mode, since you build up the clan slowly and only have to worry about yourself at first.

The thing is, if you don't know you are doing it can take a long time to build up neuron energy in Survival Mode, so that may be why the developers didn't make it the default start.

[Solvem Probler]

Almost every outsider I've found got immediately eaten by a tiger. These things just seem to hang around "NPC" apes and wait for the player. I found about 3 and then exactly 0, so my population stagnated.