Zaph42nd

Yep, in the early-game it's more foraging than growing but still distinct from berry-bushes in that berry-bushes are semi-renewable without replanting. Early-game while you can spend the first few nights getting wild-crops and such, seeds and, by extension farming, become more viable after settling in somewhere

I can sum it up into one word: decorating. More specifically with my food-sources secured in winter and not much to do, I spend the time adding some finer detailing to my base using a chisel, perhaps working on a few flourishes to infrastructure too if it's not too long of a trip. While migrating south is an option and some would argue the better use of time, late-game once you've gotten food supplies stable, have winter clothes, and made armor/tools, decorating isn't a bad use of time either

Possibly repeating others but wish I had known starting out and especially in mid-game a couple of things: - Windmills are more effective and efficient at higher altitudes above sea-level and with some distance between windmills ensures they run smoothly. That took me some time to get used to, especially with how 1.22 changes windmill behaviors a little bit - Hunger rates are reduced by sitting and not having items in your off-hand, that took me way too long to notice. Relatedly, you need to balance your diet to maximize your health, an unbalanced diet while preventing starvation, does make fighting a lot less fun (plus diverse diets encourage playing with more game-systems) - You can tame an elk even in Homo Sapiens (no lore content) which makes traversing a lot less annoying (or more now that you've got one) and you should try to get some saddle-bags to make it even more worthwhile

Funny you'd mention sketchbook, actually it inspired my post lol. Aside from the sketchbook, I've found that the cave-drawing mechanics (charcoal drawings) provide some opportunity for mapping until you get the gear to produce leather, paper, etc... Reminds me a lot of desire-paths, my main-save uses desire-paths (shortcuts and trails off the original roads) since I find that they save on tool-durability and work nicely if I find ore-veins later in a specific region. One limitation of that though is I find that it produces somewhat messy-roads so usually need to go and re-pave as I begin to settle into an area or build into a fork in the road

As I've been playing a lot of Wilderness Survival and Homo Sapiens, noticed a trend in my building habits - without a map landmarks and other features matter way more and I'm far more driven to develop infrastructure than in other difficulties and build smaller structures closer together (if possible). Does the restriction of having no map change your approach to builds and settlement spacing/design? If so, do you find yourself building more markers, bridges, and roads in absence of a quick-access map?

Perhaps mentioned previously and more fitting with overhauls to pastoral/livestock systems, I'd really love to see light-automation in the form of livestock-driven tools/machines such as ploughs, carriages, and other similar systems as this would encourage more engagement with livestock breeding aside from obtaining a sustainable protein source... Aside from utilizing livestock for agricultural tasks (tilling land, carrying goods, etc..), these systems could also work quite nicely for early-game integrations with machinery such as querns (horse-mills) providing a stop-gap between a full-automation system (windmills and waterwheels) and early-game automation.

With the changes to berry-bushes and introduction of fishing mechanics, I've wondered how y'all have changed your early-game food sourcing? Personally I've become more inclined towards fishing/hunting to establish a basic food-supply whereas pre-1.22 I'd usually spend my first few days collecting berries and setting up berry-bushes near my base, slowly transitioning into agriculture within the first in-game season.

A lot of these depend on your playstyle but my unpopular opinions are: Cave ins and soil instability are fun and enhance mining: I prefer playing with this setting on despite how janky it can be sometimes, though admittedly I still find the sudden sinkholes a little annoying unless resolved with mods to change sideways instability. Map and minimap are best disabled to encourage a deeper exploration and mapping of the landscape: If kept in game, I'd make these require a map item to be visible since as it stands currently the minimap and map somewhat diminish learning your surroundings and planning accordingly (where to build, pathways/roads and routes, etc...). I think the system is relatively well done in Wilderness Survival and Homo Sapiens where landmarks help you navigate the world and (at least for Wilderness Survival) maps only tell you block-distance. Tool durability and mining speeds: I'd lower tool durability somewhat especially for stone tools and decrease mining speeds for lower-tiered tools. As it stands currently, there is little incentive to upgrade some of your tools beyond basic metals (such as sheers, cleavers, etc... which I typically never make into their steel equivalents and leave at copper or bronze)

Voted bears/wolves like most have, though combination of bear/wolf attack and falling is still my most memorable (turns out yes, you do need to be situationally aware and mind the sinkholes as you run away from bears)