I started playing the game Don't Starve yesterday and find it really difficult to get a base set-up. I fear I might have simply rolled a world that is too hard to play.
When starting a new world, what do I want it to include the most of? For example, my current world has a very large rock field (30-40 boulders very close to the spawn), a forest of trees and berry shrubs. A huge field of grass (probably close to 100+) — but I'm not seeing many rabbits or any pigmen and beefalos. I start by the swamp (and die often randomly to large tentacles) and there's a graveyard nearby I could farm for tons of research points.
In addition to animals is there anything else I'm missing and might need to have a good "first-time player" world?
Should I just give up and start a new world altogether? If I do what should I be looking for?
Best Answer
Loot that graveyard for research before you decide to move on!
It doesn't sound like you have a terrible world, but also not a super easy one. Having a rock field handy is a bonus, as is having early berries. The only thing you are missing that I find super useful for starting out is a bunch of rabbits.
There are a bunch of other food sources -- perhaps you even have tallbird eggs in your rock field? I'd say try a few games to see if you can get the hang of keeping yourself fed from the other food sources, but if you're just not feeling it, there's no harm in rerolling your world to see if you can't find one more to your liking.
For a first-time player world, food sources are the best things to have nearby, as well as ENOUGH rocks -- at least a fair number of rocks in the fields, if not a biome actually dedicated to them. Graveyards are great and the best way to boost your research quickly and early, but these don't renew in a game, so in the long-term they don't really need to be right by your base. Pigmen are also great if you're planning to make it a long-term game, but if you're just looking to get started, there's no reason they need to be close to your home base. If you happen to start near beefalo, that's great, but they aren't an instant fix for food problems.
Also for players just starting off, swamps are a pain. Tentacles can finish you off very quickly if you don't have armor and get caught by one. A swamp CAN be run through successfully, but in general they are just worse than other biomes near to start.