Guide for starting a New Game

### Before you Play

There are many ways to customize your game. There are three places that have customization options:

1. Opening Screen:
Before you create a new game or load an existing one, you will see the game version and language version at the top of the Opening Screen. The default language is English. By clicking on the words "English (EN)", a list of alternative available languages for the game will be presented. You can always change the game language at any time on this opening screen.
2. Loading Screen:
   Once you choose to start a new game (enter a name for the new game!) or load an existing game on the opening screen, the loading screen opens and presents a number of game customization options. These options have tool tips explaining what they do. Take some time to go through the options you have to customize the game to your liking. Note that there are two tabs to go through: General and AI (for mobs and mob attacks). You can always change the options on the loading screen when you load your game. Make sure to save your game so they "stick" for the next time you load the game.
3. Options Menu:
Once the new game has started or an existing game is loaded, you can open the options menu by pressing the `Esc` key and selecting Options. A popular option is to reduce the foliage under Video options.

### Trial Run

(Optional but highly recommended for new players)

Start a new test game just to get familiar with the game and try some things out.

* Get acquainted with the basic controls and the user interface.

* Do some of the things the Tutorial (`F`) tells you to do.

* Experiment with the foliage setting in the OPTIONS menu in the video section mentioned above. If you turn the foliage down all the way, the ground will be free of undergrowth, enabling you to see sticks, stones and edible fruits and vegetables more easily.

* Pay special attention to all the options and information that are presented when you press the Inventory key (`I`). You will find a detailed explanation in the Wiki Inventory.

* Practice looking at the in-game Map (`M`) to see where you are. You will find an up-to-date description of the map in the Infected Wiki: Map. You started the game at a random site. You can choose to settle where you started or you can travel to a different place before you start to build a base. There are three different biomes in The Infected, and each biome has Caves with ore particular to it and wildlife that is only found in that biome. The forest biome is green on the map, the rocky biome is brown on the map and the desert biome is tan-colored. Dismiss the map by pressing `M` again or by pressing the `Esc` key.

* When you think you are ready to start playing the game for real, quit your test game without saving and create a new game for your real game play. If you think you get off to a bad start, it is always fine to start a new game.

### Starting a New Game

When starting a new game, you will spawn at a random location on the Map. The possible locations are shown on the map to the right:

The tips listed here are just one selection of possible things to do and don't have to be followed in the order they are presented in. Some players enjoy having several projects going on at the same time. For example you can place ghost images of several things at once that you intend to build (e.g. Sawbenches, Foundation, Campfire, Shelter, Forges, Bed, Storage Containers, etc.) and "feed" them with the necessary resources as you acquire the resources. Everything can be moved later except Foundations and other components of buildings like Walls, Ceilings, etc. You needn't acquire all resources first, and by using the resources as you gather them you needn't worry about not having room to store them. Other players prefer to do things one at a time, and finish one thing before starting another one. There is no right or wrong way, just personal preference.

* As soon as you spot Sticks or Small Stones near you on the ground, pick them up with the `E` key. You will need them right away. Remember that you can turn the foliage down in the Options menu to make it easier to see things on the ground.

* Harvest any fruit/vegetables that you see and keep the seeds for planting later.

* Open the in-game Tutorial with the `F` key. It is a list of important tasks to do in a new game to get you started.

* As soon as you have at least one Stick and one Stone, craft a Stone Axe. You will find the recipe in the Itempedia section of your recipe book.
	+ Open the Itempedia section of the Recipe Book with `F4` and find the recipe for the Stone Axe. The recipe calls for one Stick and one Small Stone.
	+ Click on the Hammer and Anvil icon at the top of your screen (or press `F5`) to open the Personal Crafting Table interface. You can craft simple items on the little crafting board that appears.
	+ Click on a Small Stone in your inventory with `Left Alt` +  to transfer the stone to the crafting board. Click on a Stick or a stack of Sticks in your inventory with the same key combination to transfer one (and only one) stick to the crafting board. A stack of Sticks in your inventory looks like a single stick, but the little number at the bottom left of the stack tells you how many sticks are in the stack. A single stick in your inventory will have no number next to it.

* Chop down several Trees with the newly crafted axe to get Wood Logs and Plant Fiber. The Plant Fiber is required for the Stone Pickaxe and other Weapons and Tools.

* Craft up to three Sawbenches (recipe in the Placeables/Workbenches section of the Recipe Book) and add Wood Logs to them. They make Planks and you need a lot of planks!
* Build a Campfire near a water source. You will be boiling a lot of water on the campfire! (recipe in the Placeables/Food section of the Recipe Book). Build a Shelter over the campfire so that the fire won't go out. (recipe for Shelter is in the Construction section of the Recipe Book).

* Build a Wooden Foundation (recipe in the Construction section of the Recipe Book)

* Build a Bed (Placeables/Furniture section of Recipe Book) on the foundation. When it gets dark at night, use the bed to sleep until morning.

* Build up to three Stone Forges (Placeables/Others section of the Recipe Book). As soon as a Forge is finished, start smelting Small Stones into Iron Fragments. Try to keep the Forges smelting stones into Iron Fragments and stacks of 5 Iron Fragments into Iron Ingots all the time.

* Build one Wall and a Ceiling over the Foundation. This is necessary to keep the fire in the Forges from going out when it is raining.

* Use the Stone Spear to kill Frogs or Chickens for meat. If you are located near the fishing lakes in the center of the Map, you can use your spear to catch Fish in the lakes. Cook the meat on the campfire. Fish need to be dragged from the inventory to the ground and harvested () in order to get chunks of Raw Fish that can be cooked.

Things that are good to craft on day 1:

* Stone Axe
* Stone Pickaxe
* Stone Spear
* 3 Sawbenches
* 1 Wooden Foundation with 1 Wooden Wall and 1 Wooden Ceiling
* Bed on Foundation
* 3 Stone Forges on Foundation
* 1 or more Storage Containers
* Campfire near water source
* Shelter over Campfire

Two more goals to have in the first few days is to craft the Anvil and the Butcher Table. You need to make nails on the Anvil for many important things, e.g. Log Cart and Workbench. You need the Butcher Table to be able to butcher Category:Animals (other than Frogs and Chickens) for meat, and you need the Log Cart to transport logs for building and to transport animal carcasses to the Butcher Table. It is also a good idea to replace the Stone Forges with a Brick Forge as soon as possible, since productivity will increase. You will also want to complete a small cabin by adding a couple of foundations, walls, door and ceilings.

These things are only the bare basics and are not spoilers. There are so many things for you to do and discover in your first week that are not mentioned here. Enjoy!