Can't really add much to what the others have said, but the rested bonus helps out alot with health/stamina regeneration and i think it also gives you a XP boost

That's really its secret to success, there's a couple of minor annoyances but it doesn't *fail* at anything it tries to do, everything's on a range from good enough to bloody great, and the systems all play together well and combine into something greater.

Originally posted by Mharr:

Eg: A falling tree or angry troll can cut fine and core wood without a metal axe.

Well now, they may be able to cut the tree down, but they won't break the trunk into planks for you. If you are lucky you might get a piece here and there if a Troll rampages on the forest.

I did end up buying the game to give it a try,
I really like the way the survival stuff is implemented. It's not a 'eat in 10 mins or you'll die!' game which is nice. It's all basically debuffs. The game is definitely not what I thought it was, but wow it's a really nice surprise and extremely interesting. Good mix of everything and fun combat.

Yeah, you can't literally just sit in the first biome forever, gotta do some starter dungeons to get magic rocks for a smelter at the very least. What I'm saying is there's not a strict sequence of make this armor, go here, kill this, gather that - there are ways to reach everything short of the artisan table without engaging any bosses and triggering meaningful attacks on your home base. Eg: A falling tree or angry troll can cut fine and core wood without a metal axe.

Originally posted by ErrorCode109:

Awesome thanks!
This sounds like a very nice mix of semi-complexity while still being not to heavy to detract from the fun :cozybethesda:

There are some things everyone should understand. In order to progress in the crafting areas and learn new recipes, you have to venture into increasingly dangerous areas to open up these crafting skills.

There is a progression that requires that you cannot just build a home and spend all your time crafting, hunting and fishing. You will hit a wall in crafting and building unless you gain the ability to go into places that are more dangerous. In fact, you cannot even fish until you meet the merchant in the Black Forest (2nd biome after you start in Meadows). Unless you enter the tombs (dungeons) in the Black Forest, and kill a few Trolls, you won't even have enough gold to buy fishing gear.

So please understand that it is a game that requires you to progress in combat in order to progress in crafting. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if your dream is to chill out in Meadows cranking out high level food, potions, weapons, and armor you will be sorely disappointed.

Although if you are into homesteading for its own sake you'll be well stocked with food, meads and upgraded gear to make those dungeon runs mostly painless. There's a lot of sequence breaking possible too, ores that you 'should' be prospecting with magic can also be found by determined exploration and there are creative mechanisms for catching fish.

Originally posted by Mharr:

Although if you are into homesteading for its own sake you'll be well stocked with food, meads and upgraded gear to make those dungeon runs mostly painless. There's a lot of sequence breaking possible too, ores that you 'should' be prospecting with magic can also be found by determined exploration and there are creative mechanisms for catching fish.

Actually, you cannot brew mead until you venture into Black Forest for Blueberries and Dungeons for Yellow Mushrooms. You have to also get copper and tin there so you can make bronze and chop the core wood and fine wood trees, since stone axe won't cut Fine and Core only found in Black Forest.

You don't die from hunger and you don't drink water, but food is important in increasing your health and stamina to be able to fight, move, build, farm or do anything. Temperature is important at night time because getting cold makes it harder to regain stamina, and without preparation you get hurt in the mountains biome as it's too cold. You can craft clothes/armor to increase your defense to fair better against enemies, and there is a detailed structure building system in which you must obey the strength of each part otherwise it will collapse, and fire is important for sleeping as well as staying warm in the cold. You can craft different colors of a cape later on in the game, otherwise all the armor can't be colored but changes your character quite a lot, and there is some variety in capes later on.

Awesome thanks!
This sounds like a very nice mix of semi-complexity while still being not to heavy to detract from the fun

Going through your list, food is based on buffs rather than starvation as described, hydration isn't simulated, temperature (and dryness) ranges from slight debuff to actively killing you, shelter and fire are based around a quite complex building system combining structural support, keeping the rain off and letting the smoke out, a room might register as sheltered on a good day but lose that status during a storm depending on wind direction.

Customising appearance, not so much. There's one set of armour for each difficulty tier and generally speaking everyone ready to head into region X or Y looks pretty much the same. There are a few different texture options for the various shields at least.