"Everything needs materials—flint, wood, grass, spider silk, and even gold nuggets…"
As she walked around the map, Hannah chopped down trees while picking up flint, flowers, dry grass, and berries from the ground.
Little by little, the items in her inventory grew.
Through the menu bar on the left, Hannah saw that she couldn't make many things yet.
Axes, hoes, torches, and campfires—battle gear still needed some missing materials.
And a lot of icons were grayed out, locked. Hannah noticed that a "Science Machine" was the condition to unlock them.
But this thing needed one gold nugget, four logs, and four rocks.
The logs were easy—after chopping down several trees, she already had enough.
As for rocks, she hadn't found any yet, but judging from the description that said a hoe could dig up rocks, it clearly wasn't a rare item.
The only problem was the gold nugget—she had no idea where to get that.
Compared to the old version of Don't Starve, Lucas had added some beginner hints this time.
For example, the first time Hannah stood in front of a tree, Wilson in the game gave her a hint, saying she needed an axe.
At the same time, a little arrow appeared, pointing to the tool menu.
It was the same for ores and other things.
This way, players could at least understand the most basic actions, instead of having to figure out everything on their own.
For most small-budget games, the biggest issue isn't usually gameplay or content.
It's more about the little details in how the game feels.
Beginner guidance is one of those details.
A lot of indie game designers like to be different, with their own unique style, kind of like indie films. But when it comes to details, it's hard to do them well.
And games aren't like movies. With a movie you just watch it. With a game, the player has to personally experience it.
For bigger games, even if they're not fun or the story isn't great, at least players never get confused about how to play.
Like Dark Souls, a hardcore game known for its difficulty. Players complain about how hard it is, but the basic controls—attack, block, dodge, light a bonfire—are all very clear, so players understand how it works.
In the current Don't Starve, Lucas didn't design it like a mobile game that holds your hand and teaches you everything step by step.
Instead, the hints show up gradually. For example, when players find ore, Wilson will say they need to make a pickaxe, along with a line of dialogue: "Maybe there's some gold inside these rocks."
Wilson's lines in the game work together with the hints.
But for Hannah right now, all she was really doing was picking up trash.
Stones on the ground, weeds, berries, saplings—she clicked on everything she could.
Along the way, she saw some butterflies, but she couldn't catch them—whether it was because of some requirement or another reason, she didn't know.
She also found rabbit holes in the grasslands, and when she clicked them, Wilson gave a line of dialogue, making Hannah realize that these rabbits ate carrots.
If she had carrots to set a trap, maybe she could catch them.
"This is kind of fun, but wow, this map is huge!"
Hannah's face lit up with curiosity.
She hadn't been playing long, but with her sharp sense for games, she quickly noticed that this game's style was completely different from Lucas's previous works.
What surprised her the most was how massive the map was.
When she opened the map and scrolled the mouse wheel, she realized that the area around her character was just the tip of the iceberg.
If she had to put it in percentage terms, she had probably explored less than 0.1%.
With the materials she gathered, Hannah made another axe and a hoe, then wandered off to explore further.
She still didn't really understand how to play, so for now she just ran around the map, exploring new areas and collecting whatever she found.
Collecting materials was, in truth, a bit boring.
But for Hannah right now, she was kind of enjoying it.
The main reason was that she could clearly see her inventory filling up.
Also, the sound effects of chopping trees or picking berries felt satisfying.
And most importantly, picking up junk was actually really addictive.
At this point, Hannah had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be looking for gold to build the Science Machine.
Now she was just running around the map, picking up all kinds of "junk."
At the same time, tools in the game like axes and pickaxes all have durability.
Once the durability runs out, the tool breaks.
But since the raw materials are pretty easy to get,
it doesn't really hurt if they break.
"Huh? What's this? A beehive?"
By the river, while chopping trees and picking up junk, Hannah heard a buzzing sound in her headphones and noticed something that looked like a beehive.
"I wonder if I can get honey if I smash it!" Staring at the hive, Hannah looked at the axe in her hand, almost unable to hold back.
She walked up to the hive and swung her axe down hard.
The moment she struck, a loud buzzing sound came out, and then five or six "killer bees" burst out of the hive.
"Wait! Not bees—killer bees!?"
Hannah's eyes widened as she held her axe. That name gave her a really bad feeling.
The next moment, the killer bees rushed straight at her.
The screen flashed red again and again, and the health bar in the corner dropped like crazy.
But instead of running, Hannah stubbornly stood her ground and swung her axe back at them.
To her shock, the axe seemed to do almost nothing. She chopped two or three times, but didn't kill a single one.
"What the heck! How are you supposed to fight these!?"
Hannah was stunned and finally thought of running.
But it was already too late.
With the last sting from the killer bees, Wilson in the game dropped flat to the ground.
[Day 1] (Everyone has a first death. Still, dying this fast is kind of embarrassing.)
Hannah's eyes went wide at the achievement that popped up.
Official trolling!
This has to be official trolling!
(End of The Chapter)
---
Read +100 advanced chapters on my patre*n
patr eon.com/GustinaKamiya
Free Tier can read 3 advanced chapters
---