Some friendly tips and tricks I've found useful

[Shneekey]

This is a pretty nice survival game, however there's some less intuitive ideas that can significantly help you survive and thrive on the open ocean much more easily. Here's a few things I discovered on my own that have significantly helped me, maybe they'll help you too.

* Instead of building a whole row of nets, alternate between net square and foundation square. The odds that something is going to 'shoot the gap' between them is minimal, even if you are precisely perpendicular to the direction you are going. And if there is any sort of angle (which is virtually certain after the first time you get spun around), then the odds of anything slipping past approaches zero. Meanwhile, you halve the amount of resources needed to snag flotsam floating past.

* You only need to build nets on two perpendicular angles, an 'L' or 'T' shape shape if you like. How you set it up is entirely up to you, your sense of aesthetics, and how easily you can access the nets for collection.

* Start small, build tall. Because many islands require a second or third story access point to reach the top with the chest full of goodies, A 5x5 or 7x7 raft is going to be plenty of floor space, especially if you start building up. For your first island, you can build a ramp of 45* angle roof up to the top of the island, if you have enough room. Just remember that you're probably going to lose most of that construction. Still might be worth it if you get enough scrap, metal ingot, or other rare and valuable goodies from it. Plus you'll probably make your wood back in the trees you can gain access to and chop down. But with two or three levels, you'll have more than enough square footage to do whatever you want.

* Having said that, you really need a 5x5 raft before you start doing research, and make sure nothing critical is on the edge of the raft, as the shark tends to vastly prefer attacking the edge of the raft over a central block. But once you do have that 5x5 raft, drop the research table and start getting a lot of low-hanging fruit that will be enormously useful, such as the scrap hook and nets.

* Avoid the flowers at the beginning of the game. They'll just take up an insane amount of storage space, and the only purpose they have is for painting. So until you get a paint mill and brush, the flowers have zero use.

* Small crop plot is invaluable. Not for growing beets or potatoes, but for attracting seagulls that can then be killed and eaten. Cooked drumsticks are way better food than cooked beets or potatoes.

* Scrap Hooks are amazing. Make one as soon as you can, and never make another plastic hook again!

* The smelter is a huge gate for many 'quality of life' goodies, so being able to collect sand and clay as soon as you can is going to be huge. To this end, distract the shark with some bait while you dive and collect scrap, clay, and sand from the shallows around islands. This is, in some ways, even more important than the chest at the top of the island or the trees due to how many dried bricks are needed to make the smelter. You're going to want 14 clay and sand to do the research and craft the smelter.

[BonPadre]

I will add a bit more. And nice post OP. We need way more of those great posts.

* Even early game, don't settle much for crops, because they tend to not really fill your hunger bar much, prefer fishes. so fishing is an early thing you should take seriously. In normal mode 3 Tilapia, or 4 mackerel will fill or nearely fill your hunger bar, letting you do your stuff for about 15 minutes, before needing to eat again.

* When you go for fishing, start it right after a shark attack, and go all the way through your fishing pole, you'll get plenty of usefull fishes, shoud it be the medium ones that will feed you, the smaller ones to make shark bait, or the larger ones (salmon) you stockpile for now as you don't have a large grill.

* Never forget to get as much shark meat as you can when you kill it. 4 parts are what you will get at max

* even early game, build 2 of each, small grill and water purifyer, and never leave them empty. always have something ready, so in case of emergency, you have it.

* Don't sleep. this game (at least for now, I can see that changing over developpement) doesn't require you do so, and if you do, your hunger bar and thirst bar will drain anyway. So make use of that night time, intead of wasting it.

* Be proactive, and never really stop to do anything, concentrate more on getting wood and leaves to make rope, you'll end up with way too much plastic anyway. so apart from when you need some, don't go mainly on that. Primary targets are barrels, planks and leaves.

* While you use your hook, never forget to grab what else you can with your bare hand. The more, the better.

* Research very early nets, make it even your 3rd - 4th research, as it will collect stuff for you, while you take care of food or shark.

* NEVER leave your game when you have stuff in your nets.... that will be lost, when You reload, your nets are empty (hope that will get a fix) So make sure to collect all that and have it in your storage or inventory

[kopiC]

Planning on making a guide from these? Will be a waste if this post disappears after it gets older.

• Smaller raft = easier to spot shark attacking raft. If the attack happens far away, you may not even hear anything, or reach it in time.
  
• Larger raft = easy picking up item from sea. Your personal choice in the end.
  
• You can use fishing rod from higher storeys. Hooking things is slightly harder from higher floors, but not impossible.
  
• You still want to keep plastic hook for hooking barrels or other floating resource as and when needed. Metal hook solely for digging in seabed.
  
• Keep wood rod for catching herrings and pomfrets.
  
• Keep wood spear for getting gulls.
  
• You can kill gulls from nest. Higher you place the nest, the easier. Best way is still using scarecrow. (Sadly, makes farming useless at this stage. However if dev implement cooking dishes with variety of ingredients, farming may become useful again.)
  
• Stay focused during dive. If you desperately need scraps, don't get distracted by ores, sand, clay or worst, stones. Feel free to grab seaweed and shells as they cost no time to pick up. You don't want to end up in middle of nowhere.
  
• Get multiple smelters (at least 2). Late game will consume a lot of green goo and iron. You don't want to be waiting for your ingot/goo when you have reached the next island.

[Shneekey]

Thanks, I really appreciate the additions, however I would like to respectfully disagree with you about not sleeping, for two reasons:

1) While you don't move overnight, timed things (like grilling) will tick over, so setting up materials to cook then going to sleep will have freshly grilled food in the morning when you wake up.

2) When diving, night dives are almost impossible to find anything. Always dive at dawn, after the shark has been distracted/killed.

I'd further say that sleeping nights makes for better let's play footage/streaming, but that's only for those doing videos or streams.

[Lil Mandrake]

i like to sprinkle some additional short tips:

1) don't use stairs, use roof (any kind work as long as you have materials) if you desperate of scrap.

2) research birdnest and build it as fast and as many as you can. not for killing the seagull (as far as i'm aware) but for the eggs, it's good for replenish hunger.

3) make paddle, even you have sail. it helps alot when it come to adjusting your raft

[luggage]

I currently use ladders on either side of my building ... you can slip through the gaps on the side so they are like a door, or alternatively quickly climb up a level or two or three. Much faster than going inside, running up stairs, etc.

[BryanChung]

Good information! :)

[BonPadre]

Originally posted by Shneekey:

Thanks, I really appreciate the additions, however I would like to respectfully disagree with you about not sleeping, for two reasons:

1) While you don't move overnight, timed things (like grilling) will tick over, so setting up materials to cook then going to sleep will have freshly grilled food in the morning when you wake up.

2) When diving, night dives are almost impossible to find anything. Always dive at dawn, after the shark has been distracted/killed.

Btw, grilling still continue either you sleep or not, so I don't see a difdference. What difference I see, is while I sleep, I still consume food bar and thist bar, while I gather nothing.

So for those bars consumed, I end up with more materials, as opposed to a sleeping person.

Now indeed I do not dive while at night. I tried and I agree, it's a waste, so if I'm stopped at night, it's time I tend to spend fishing, or building if I have a reserve of wood, or completing some researches, something less I have to do during daytime. But again, my gamestyle is more oriented toward feeding from fishes than from crops.

Anyway, again up to anyone. I offer a different vision for anyone who reads there to grab what's usefull to him. We may have different gameplay styles thatmay need some variants.

[Ghostlight]

To make a nice "overhang ramp" for accessing the very top of the highest islands, do this...

At the edge of your raft build 2 poles side by side. Place a floor on top of these, placed away from the centre of your raft (so you are now overhanging the raft edge by 1 block). Build a ladder from the deck up to that floorboard. Climb up there and just repeat. The next 2 poles go on the furtherest edge of the ceiling, again away from the raft so it now overhandgs by a further block.

Repeat this till it is a leaning tower 5 or 6 stories high and it will overhang the raft by 5 or 6 blocks. This makes it extremely easy to reach the very top of any island, and has a minimal footprint on the raft since it is only 2 poles and a ladder actually touching your raft. Thus...

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Build the same tower on all 4 sides, so it doesn't matter if your raft gets spun round, you have an approach tower on all sides. I also recommend you make the 2 squares supporting each tower into re-enforced metal asap.

[Defektiv]

If your raft gets tilted you can turn your sail against the wind and almost come to a stand still. It allows you to move the raft relative to an island or abandoned raft easily with a paddle.

[Lil Mandrake]

Originally posted by Ghostlight:

To make a nice "overhang ramp" for accessing the very top of the highest islands, do this...

At the edge of your raft build 2 poles side by side. Place a floor on top of these, placed away from the centre of your raft (so you are now overhanging the raft edge by 1 block). Build a ladder from the deck up to that floorboard. Climb up there and just repeat. The next 2 poles go on the furtherest edge of the ceiling, again away from the raft so it now overhandgs by a further block.

Repeat this till it is a leaning tower 5 or 6 stories high and it will overhang the raft by 5 or 6 blocks. This makes it extremely easy to reach the very top of any island, and has a minimal footprint on the raft since it is only 2 poles and a ladder actually touching your raft. Thus...

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this method can be cheaper if you use roof as material. the method is roof-roof-floor and repeat as you don't need any scrap/nails to do so

[Kustom]

this needs a BUMP

[Ex]

im just looking for someone to play with

[Xyos]

Thanks for the info. This needs to be stickied.

[kopiC]

• everyone probably already know this - you can leave the hook in water to grab more stuff passing by, sort of flexible net.
  
• after deploying hook and fishing line, you can still add firewood, pick up items, steer the boat (!!!). But you cannot switch active item in hand, so no topping up smelter, stove, etc.
  
• (expliot, probably patched in future) if you hooked on to something, dropping into water automatically transfer everything to your inventory. Also durability of hook is not reduced. (Not my discovery, need to find the OP to give credit to). Same do not apply to fishing.
  
• You can use items placed on second storey, as long as item is close to edge and have clear line-of-sight to it. Stove, purifier, smelter all can be refilled in this manner. Just need to be a little familar with LOS collision on items.
  
• Similarly, using a bed, you can teleport to second floor. No need to build jumping platform, stairs or ladder everywhere. Just make sure its not night time for single player, or not everyone is in bed at night for multiplayer.
  
• Many items can be mounted to poles or walls: Small chest, Big chest (wall only), Small farm box, Small grill, lantern, nest, table, shelf, clock.
  
• In addition, some items can be mounted on ceiling: Small farm box, signs, lantern
  
• Place stuff above ground to prevent overcrowded, more importantly: avoid item destroyed by wall-hax shark bug.

Doing my part to bump this post up.

[dapramatarKK]

Originally posted by BonPadre:

Originally posted by Shneekey:

Thanks, I really appreciate the additions, however I would like to respectfully disagree with you about not sleeping, for two reasons:

1) While you don't move overnight, timed things (like grilling) will tick over, so setting up materials to cook then going to sleep will have freshly grilled food in the morning when you wake up.

2) When diving, night dives are almost impossible to find anything. Always dive at dawn, after the shark has been distracted/killed.

Btw, grilling still continue either you sleep or not, so I don't see a difdference. What difference I see, is while I sleep, I still consume food bar and thist bar, while I gather nothing.

So for those bars consumed, I end up with more materials, as opposed to a sleeping person.

Now indeed I do not dive while at night. I tried and I agree, it's a waste, so if I'm stopped at night, it's time I tend to spend fishing, or building if I have a reserve of wood, or completing some researches, something less I have to do during daytime. But again, my gamestyle is more oriented toward feeding from fishes than from crops.

Anyway, again up to anyone. I offer a different vision for anyone who reads there to grab what's usefull to him. We may have different gameplay styles thatmay need some variants.

Sleeping accelerates everything, any food that is being cooked normaly gets cooked instantly, even shark food. Trees grows faster too, but not instantly

Now one tip.
You can easily fight the shark in the water you can hit him one time before he hits you, making he run away if you wanna kill him you can hit it two times, if you use fins you can hit him 3 times before he gets too far.