I've never said Valheim was "too hard". I've thousands of hours in far more difficult games - Empyrion: Galactic Survival, No Man's Sky, Dying Light... it's not the difficulty of game play, but more one of mechanics - pick up a rock, no, pick up a rock again. Pick a mushroom, no, actually pick up the mushroom... Yes, I know about the get-close-enough-auto-pickup too.

I'm not 12, I don't need YouTube videos to know how to go to the bathroom by myself, and I won't go into all the things that appall me abut it here.

It's not that I don't get the game - I even want to actually really like the game, but no, Hugin is not nearly enough, can be hard to find, and sometimes likes to set down in the middle of a bunch of enemies, which while easy enough to dispatch, is nonetheless annoying.

It just feels very unpolished, very Early Access - and that's fine too - I play quite a few Early Access titles. Perhaps it simply needs time to mature - just hopefully not as long as it took Viking culture ;-)

i entered this game blind.. and struggled a lot with building mechanics to begin with.. once youy realise you have to "see" the edge you want to connect to..it gets a lot easier... and then there is weight loading of pieces... this i suggest you ask about ..as the engine takes a while to "colour" the panels when viewed holding the hammer..even to the point they collapse.. also real world building extra supports mostly doesnt work.. other than that ..enjoy the discovery and the games initial scenario that you are a fallen warrior and need to identify and relearn everything

Sounds like you're looking for a tutorial; the starting biome 'Meadows' and Hugin are your tutorial. Valheim is, at this time, holding your hand. You are in Valheim kindergarten.

Something you may have overlooked as it's a bit hidden; but when you open your inventory you see the three symbols to the right; one of them reading "Lore". The other two are "skills" and "friendly fire"

If you open that one and scroll down, you should be able to see all the messages Hugin has given to you. It certainly offers an opportunity to look at those messages later at a more convenient time.

As for other tips I can give you,
Be patient. Take your time to explore your first biome, to get aquainted with the game and its mechanics and how to craft items.
Once you've done that, either start a new world where you will follow the "campaign" or where you will build a nice looking base; while using the old one to get used to the next biome.
Also, try to divide the roles, but make sure you both do all things. It'll make life a lot easier if both are able to cut wood, mine ores, harvest veggies and butcher animals, instead of only one.

Something similar can be said about weapons. It's a good idea if both are getting a bow and raise its skills, but having two different melee weapons won't hurt you much. Instead it may even do you good, as long as you keep in mind that you have turned friendly fire off.

And last - but not least - if you feel this game isn't for you (now) shelve it and give it a try later. The game's still getting updates - albeit most of them are bug fixes - so at some point it may have improved to something you may like more.
There may also be mods to help you improving the game into a direction you like better. Although given the game is EA, you may run into broken ones from time to time.

Thorin :)

Originally posted by indigo:

I've never said Valheim was "too hard". I've thousands of hours in far more difficult games - Empyrion: Galactic Survival, No Man's Sky, Dying Light... it's not the difficulty of game play, but more one of mechanics - pick up a rock, no, pick up a rock again. Pick a mushroom, no, actually pick up the mushroom... Yes, I know about the get-close-enough-auto-pickup too.

I'm not 12, I don't need YouTube videos to know how to go to the bathroom by myself, and I won't go into all the things that appall me abut it here.

It's not that I don't get the game - I even want to actually really like the game, but no, Hugin is not nearly enough, can be hard to find, and sometimes likes to set down in the middle of a bunch of enemies, which while easy enough to dispatch, is nonetheless annoying.

It just feels very unpolished, very Early Access - and that's fine too - I play quite a few Early Access titles. Perhaps it simply needs time to mature - just hopefully not as long as it took Viking culture ;-)

"It just feels very unpolished, very Early Access - and that's fine too: The game is in fact early access. I wonder why people buy early access games then complaint they "feel" unfinished?

Played this right after release with some friends.
Multiplayer worked instantly without any problems and we had a lot of fun together for more than 100 hours. Right now we are waiting for for the final release to give this game another try.

Originally posted by indigo:

I'm not 12, I don't need YouTube videos to know how to go to the bathroom by myself, and I won't go into all the things that appall me abut it here.

I didn't mean to insult you with my appalling answer. maybe don't ask questions of people at large if you are so easily offended by any of the answers you could receive from a wide variety of people who are only trying to help you after you asked for help.

No survival but for lots of building and production on a big open world - perhaps try MP in Satisfactory?

Originally posted by Faustus:

No survival but for lots of building and production on a big open world - perhaps try MP in Satisfactory?

If dude doesn't get Valheim than Satisfactory isn't a good suggestion because the problem is the learning curve of the game and in my opinion Satisfactory takes a lot more learning to play. I would suggest playing games like fall guys that are simple to play.

It may not be your bag but I say give it more time. This was my first game of this type and I love it. It is a bit difficult at first but soon your wife and you will be killing things with ease and building awesome homes. Don't concentrate on leveling your skills but do learn how to upgrade items as it's not as hard as it seems. Recipes will be learned as you gather stuff so keep a look out for anything and everything. It will come naturally to you both shortly. Enjoy

Having to figure out the mechanics is part of the fun. But hey, there are 1000s of games on steam I'm sure you'll find one you like better

If you've played this type game before one thing that maybe throwing you off with Valheim is that your max health (and stamina) is based on the quality of food (and how recently you consumed it) that you are using. When you pock up a new resource all the recipes it can be used in are added to your list and its quite hard to miss. You do spend much more time in this game with basic tasks like hunting, gathering, cooking, mining, and smelting than in some other games of this type but its presented in a way that makes sense and actually increases immersion for some players.

Is Hugin not good enough for you? There are tons of instructions on what to do in this game, stats on how much damage things do, and on-screen controls for when you build.. what kind of simple instructions do you want? Because if you want advanced instructions on things like Stamina, then I would agree that those kind of mechanics are not fully explained, and they should be, but still... you do you with your waifu.

in the time it took you to make this post you could have YouTubed "valheim start tips" or something similar. hardly combing the internet. if you don't like the tips video rout then your'e gonna have to do it the old fashioned way. best of luck to you and yours

It's not a bad game to play with your wife. Don't expect it to grab you and pull you in. I got bored of it pretty fast, but with others to play with you might be able to play longer.

Originally posted by indigo:

I've never said Valheim was "too hard". I've thousands of hours in far more difficult games - Empyrion: Galactic Survival, No Man's Sky, Dying Light... it's not the difficulty of game play, but more one of mechanics - pick up a rock, no, pick up a rock again. Pick a mushroom, no, actually pick up the mushroom... Yes, I know about the get-close-enough-auto-pickup too.

I'm not 12, I don't need YouTube videos to know how to go to the bathroom by myself, and I won't go into all the things that appall me abut it here.

It's not that I don't get the game - I even want to actually really like the game, but no, Hugin is not nearly enough, can be hard to find, and sometimes likes to set down in the middle of a bunch of enemies, which while easy enough to dispatch, is nonetheless annoying.

It just feels very unpolished, very Early Access - and that's fine too - I play quite a few Early Access titles. Perhaps it simply needs time to mature - just hopefully not as long as it took Viking culture ;-)

"It just feels very unpolished, very Early Access - and that's fine too: The game is in fact early access. I wonder why people buy early access games then complaint they "feel" unfinished?

Originally posted by indigo:

I'm not 12, I don't need YouTube videos to know how to go to the bathroom by myself, and I won't go into all the things that appall me abut it here.

I didn't mean to insult you with my appalling answer. maybe don't ask questions of people at large if you are so easily offended by any of the answers you could receive from a wide variety of people who are only trying to help you after you asked for help.

Originally posted by indigo:

I've never said Valheim was "too hard". I've thousands of hours in far more difficult games - Empyrion: Galactic Survival, No Man's Sky, Dying Light... it's not the difficulty of game play, but more one of mechanics - pick up a rock, no, pick up a rock again. Pick a mushroom, no, actually pick up the mushroom... Yes, I know about the get-close-enough-auto-pickup too.

I'm not 12, I don't need YouTube videos to know how to go to the bathroom by myself, and I won't go into all the things that appall me abut it here.

It's not that I don't get the game - I even want to actually really like the game, but no, Hugin is not nearly enough, can be hard to find, and sometimes likes to set down in the middle of a bunch of enemies, which while easy enough to dispatch, is nonetheless annoying.

It just feels very unpolished, very Early Access - and that's fine too - I play quite a few Early Access titles. Perhaps it simply needs time to mature - just hopefully not as long as it took Viking culture ;-)

"It just feels very unpolished, very Early Access - and that's fine too: The game is in fact early access. I wonder why people buy early access games then complaint they "feel" unfinished?

Played this right after release with some friends.
Multiplayer worked instantly without any problems and we had a lot of fun together for more than 100 hours. Right now we are waiting for for the final release to give this game another try.

Originally posted by Carrylex:

Played this right after release with some friends.
Multiplayer worked instantly without any problems and we had a lot of fun together for more than 100 hours. Right now we are waiting for for the final release to give this game another try.

To be fair to OP the new crossplay backend is messing up multiplayer at this time.
Hopefully by final release they will have sorted that out.

Something you may have overlooked as it's a bit hidden; but when you open your inventory you see the three symbols to the right; one of them reading "Lore". The other two are "skills" and "friendly fire"

If you open that one and scroll down, you should be able to see all the messages Hugin has given to you. It certainly offers an opportunity to look at those messages later at a more convenient time.

As for other tips I can give you,
Be patient. Take your time to explore your first biome, to get aquainted with the game and its mechanics and how to craft items.
Once you've done that, either start a new world where you will follow the "campaign" or where you will build a nice looking base; while using the old one to get used to the next biome.
Also, try to divide the roles, but make sure you both do all things. It'll make life a lot easier if both are able to cut wood, mine ores, harvest veggies and butcher animals, instead of only one.

Something similar can be said about weapons. It's a good idea if both are getting a bow and raise its skills, but having two different melee weapons won't hurt you much. Instead it may even do you good, as long as you keep in mind that you have turned friendly fire off.

And last - but not least - if you feel this game isn't for you (now) shelve it and give it a try later. The game's still getting updates - albeit most of them are bug fixes - so at some point it may have improved to something you may like more.
There may also be mods to help you improving the game into a direction you like better. Although given the game is EA, you may run into broken ones from time to time.

Thorin :)

Originally posted by Renlish:

Auto pickup within proximity is a thing in most games. Your whine about this made me laugh. EVERY game I've ever played had this sort of functionality.

Here's a few from my library:
The Forest, Empyrion: Galactic Survival, Dying Light, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Dead Space (1-3), Resident Evil (all of them), Mass Effect, Outpost Zero, Osiris: New Dawn, Eden Star, Elite: Dangerous, Elder Scrolls III, IV, V - none of these have an "auto pickup" feature. We must play some very different kinds of games.

Originally posted by Renlish:

Have you figured out that smoke inhalation in game can kill you, yet? Sounds like that will annoy you too.

It looks very much like you just have a desire to have everything handed to you. This game doesn't work that way. That's ok, like I said, it might not be for you.

Giving people attitude when they make suggestions to help get your head around things will NOT endear you to anyone, regardless of the game. You might not be a 12 year old but you certainly come across like one.

And after that little tirade, I now know NOT to come to the community for information. Thank you for making up my mind for me. I have unsubscribed from this thread. All future replies will be an unread waste.

I don't need anything handed to me, and I don't whine. But also I also don't have much of a tolerance for people, especially those who recoil at criticism so negatively. I have no place in my life for people like that, so without further adieu....

Sounds like you're looking for a tutorial; the starting biome 'Meadows' and Hugin are your tutorial. Valheim is, at this time, holding your hand. You are in Valheim kindergarten.

Originally posted by indigo:

Was looking for something my wife and I can play together. I'm a big fan of survival/building/open world games, and she does well enough with most of them, so we decided to give this a go.

Took about 30 minute to figure out how we could even play together, spent the next 30 trying to figure out the game mechanics, as there are close to no instructions in-game, and neither of us have the time or patients to sit and comb the internet for simple instructions.

I haven't written this off just yet, but I'm very close. So far, this is not impressing me in any way. Everything is awkward, clumsy or simply overly convoluted.

My partner and I went in blind only knowing "vikings" and "survival". I do NOT do survival games at all (I've clocked 5000+ hours in Sims4 and that's about it) but even I could figure this one out.

I mean, granted, it may not be the type of survival game you and your missus like and I can understand that but your complaints are... odd, especially when all the information you appear to be after is literally told to you when you see Hugin a few times or when you pick up new mats and the "YOU CAN DO *THIS* NOW" recipes flash across the screen and everything you try to make will show you what materials are needed....

Auto pickup within proximity is a thing in most games. Your whine about this made me laugh. EVERY game I've ever played had this sort of functionality.

The building is nuanced and a little tricky but once you figure it out it's mechanics, it's easy.

Have you figured out that smoke inhalation in game can kill you, yet? Sounds like that will annoy you too.

It looks very much like you just have a desire to have everything handed to you. This game doesn't work that way. That's ok, like I said, it might not be for you.

Giving people attitude when they make suggestions to help get your head around things will NOT endear you to anyone, regardless of the game. You might not be a 12 year old but you certainly come across like one.

Anyway, there's also an incredibly detailed wiki on the game and several helpful community guides that have been posted in these forums if the youtube route is not for you. But you probably "don't have time" to read them.

if its too hard you can play minecraft

I've never said Valheim was "too hard". I've thousands of hours in far more difficult games - Empyrion: Galactic Survival, No Man's Sky, Dying Light... it's not the difficulty of game play, but more one of mechanics - pick up a rock, no, pick up a rock again. Pick a mushroom, no, actually pick up the mushroom... Yes, I know about the get-close-enough-auto-pickup too.

I'm not 12, I don't need YouTube videos to know how to go to the bathroom by myself, and I won't go into all the things that appall me abut it here.

It's not that I don't get the game - I even want to actually really like the game, but no, Hugin is not nearly enough, can be hard to find, and sometimes likes to set down in the middle of a bunch of enemies, which while easy enough to dispatch, is nonetheless annoying.

It just feels very unpolished, very Early Access - and that's fine too - I play quite a few Early Access titles. Perhaps it simply needs time to mature - just hopefully not as long as it took Viking culture ;-)

i entered this game blind.. and struggled a lot with building mechanics to begin with.. once youy realise you have to "see" the edge you want to connect to..it gets a lot easier... and then there is weight loading of pieces... this i suggest you ask about ..as the engine takes a while to "colour" the panels when viewed holding the hammer..even to the point they collapse.. also real world building extra supports mostly doesnt work.. other than that ..enjoy the discovery and the games initial scenario that you are a fallen warrior and need to identify and relearn everything

It's not a bad game to play with your wife. Don't expect it to grab you and pull you in. I got bored of it pretty fast, but with others to play with you might be able to play longer.

Tab
Make hammer
Equip hammer
right click with hammer to craft menu
Make workbench
Make roof and walls for workbench
interact with workbench

Repairs are free <hammer icon in workbench near center>
Everything except consumables are returned, example wood from fire.

Pick stuff up to learn more recipes
Make nails when you can. Those are pretty much the only thing you need to craft to get the additional building options other than just pick up mats or processed ore.

That is a basic guide to get started.
If you miss a hint from the crow you can check the compendium in your Tab menu crow icon.

Good luck, have fun!

Crafting menu in hammer is logically set up... items after workbench will be workbench upgrades, items after forge will be forge upgrades etc.

Food is very important. It is your only health and stamina upgrade system.
Stamina use is also reduced with skill increases but food is the only way to increase the pool of stamina. Stamina management is pretty key in the game.

It may not be your bag but I say give it more time. This was my first game of this type and I love it. It is a bit difficult at first but soon your wife and you will be killing things with ease and building awesome homes. Don't concentrate on leveling your skills but do learn how to upgrade items as it's not as hard as it seems. Recipes will be learned as you gather stuff so keep a look out for anything and everything. It will come naturally to you both shortly. Enjoy

Having to figure out the mechanics is part of the fun. But hey, there are 1000s of games on steam I'm sure you'll find one you like better

If you've played this type game before one thing that maybe throwing you off with Valheim is that your max health (and stamina) is based on the quality of food (and how recently you consumed it) that you are using. When you pock up a new resource all the recipes it can be used in are added to your list and its quite hard to miss. You do spend much more time in this game with basic tasks like hunting, gathering, cooking, mining, and smelting than in some other games of this type but its presented in a way that makes sense and actually increases immersion for some players.

Is Hugin not good enough for you? There are tons of instructions on what to do in this game, stats on how much damage things do, and on-screen controls for when you build.. what kind of simple instructions do you want? Because if you want advanced instructions on things like Stamina, then I would agree that those kind of mechanics are not fully explained, and they should be, but still... you do you with your waifu.

in the time it took you to make this post you could have YouTubed "valheim start tips" or something similar. hardly combing the internet. if you don't like the tips video rout then your'e gonna have to do it the old fashioned way. best of luck to you and yours