I think a relatively simple solution to my early-game problems would have been to prevent the player from spawning in a bad biome in general. At least when it is the first game maybe? I already knew a gravel biome would be harder because I've played minecraft. But that experiece also made me expect smaller biomes than what this game has. I think what made finding clay even more difficult was that I assumed it would be found near water. Probably because that's how it is irl and in minecraft. But 2 of the 3 clay patches I eventually found were on top of hills. So the tall grass was covering the blue texture on the sides and I was mostly seeing the hills from below while exploring flatter terrain that is easier to navigate. And I was mostly looking at the ground around water anyways. I think it would be better if clay would spawn in a less random manner. For example near water in lowlands the way the sand spawns.