Honestly, the game is super easy when you figure out the basics. So much so that I only play permadeath style.
This is what you gotta do:
Spawn, find rocks, flint, and sticks. Make tools. Next, find cattails to make the baskets for inventory - always looking out for berry bushes. Make sure to chop down a tree before your first night so you can make a fire. For hunting, rabbits die with one spear throw. Just practice and you'll get very good at it. Begin curing hides as soon as possible to acquire the hunters backpacks for more inventory. Clay really isn't that hard to find, it's just hard to spot. Particularly for beginners. Anyway, find the clay, make pot, bowls, and crocks. In that order. Then make a crucible for when you eventually find copper. Make a root cellar to preserve food longer. Use fat obtained from animals to seal crocks after filling them with food. That will make them last a very long time. You will soon have so much food that you will need to stop hunting for a while. I generally go weeks at a time without hunting after I get my crocks going.
Follow these steps, generally, in order. But you have to work quickly the first few days. Once you have your food situation established you will have plenty of free time to do more entertaining things.
Tips -
If playing offline make sure class exclusive recipes option is not enabled. That will allow you to make and use the sling in the early game and that will help a lot with hunting.
Bump up HP to 20. It's much more realistic. A fox shouldn't be able to kill you and just a few bites. I personally also lower my healing rate to about 50% as it feels more realistic.
You will also be able to make the recurve bow with any class and that's a great weapon.
