Going in completely blind

[MOVx86]

After holding off for what felt way too long, I've decided to buy the game.

It's installing right now and I was mostly curious - how much of a bad idea is it to get into the game completely blind, no wikis, no guides, no external resources.
Will I be fine, or will I be too overwhelmed?

[Echo Weaver]

I'd say overwhelmed. It's not really a game meant to be learned just by doing. Instead of a tutorial level, it has the starting guide in the handbook. You can get pretty far with just that to explain some of the base survival mechanics.

[Thorfinn]

Welcome to the forums, @MOVx86!

I prefer to play games blind. I had quite a little experience with modding a game called "minetest" which can be made very similar to VS, and a lot of play time in colony and builder games, but I have some incredible n00b VS memories. I was well into my second game before I accidentally figured out you do not have to remove every voxel while knapping. Which lesson did not help much when it came to clayforming or smithing. 

I would, though, read through the tutorial at least once. Immediately after finishing your character setup, press "H" for handbook and look through the guides to get an idea of what the game has to offer. Then go through the getting started guide or whatever it's called. Do it as you play until your actions become second nature, and you don't have to think too hard, "OK, so what do I need to do next?"

Plus, nothing helps clear up text like someone reading it cold and maybe misunderstanding something that the rest of us can't see because we know what it's trying to say. As you find these things, mention them somewhere.

Good gaming!

[Grummsh]

I got the game after watching a bit of my favorite streamer play but that was it. After it I totally fell in love and bought the game. Id say the learning curve is steep at the beginning but you learn learn alot just doing things and using the built in handbook. If you get into a wall at some point you can always resort to using wiki or youtube guide in that matter (whatever it will be) cause at this point there are plenty of those online. But as for the start Id also suggest going in blind - imo you will have more fun that way (if youre into suvival games) and learn quicker

Good luck and let the great Dave give you strenght!

[LadyWYT]

You'll be fine going into the game with no external resources, and I'd actually recommend doing so. You almost certainly will be overwhelmed by the game itself though, but that's just the nature of things. As @Grummsh noted, the learning curve is very steep, and Vintage Story is not very forgiving of mistakes. However, I'd also say that most mistakes you really only make once, and quickly learn not to repeat.

As for learning the game itself, there's a short tutorial that will teach you the basic controls of the game, as well as help you acquire your first tools. At that point, you have everything you need to actually progress throughout the rest of the game, and the game itself will stop holding your hand and let you figure out exactly how to do that. The handbook provides detailed information on most everything in the game, so whenever you get lost or have some downtime, it's not a bad idea to just flip through and make a plan of what to work on.

Also, welcome to Vintage Story and the forums! Don't forget that if you get stuck in the game, you can always come here to ask questions. Most of us have been through the same struggles when we first started, and are happy to lend advice when needed.