QuickStart Guide

This page works off the assumption that you are a brand new player to the BTW mod and are looking at how to get a very quick start to the mod. If you are instead interested in reading up a bit more it is suggested that you take a look at the Beginner's Guide. First off this mod is not like a lot of other mods, in that there are some changes to the core game mechanics so if you are coming from Vanilla or other mods, please be prepared for strange stuff, and with that we shall start.

Tools

First off we will go over some crafting changes that have been made from vanilla, more so the early game changes. If you have already been playing for a bit you may have noticed that you can not make a wooden sword, hoe or axe. The sword and hoe may only be crafted with iron or higher resources. The axe may be crafted with stone and higher and the pickaxe and shovel are the only tools that are able to be crafted with only wood (noted that the wooden pick has the ability to only mine one block, so use it wisely) There have also been changes to the recipes for the axe and fishing rod.

Also note that in order for the fishing rod to be useful it should be baited. Bait can be anything of that of fleshy monster drops. And if you happen across a bow and some rotted arrows, Steve must have the arrows on hand in order for them to be used in conjunction with the bow.

Food

Food is one of the aspects of Better Than Wolves that catches many players off guard. Firstly, your character becomes hungrier much faster, and second food is much harder to gather

• Some good early game plans are to:
  1. Hunt animals with an Axe. Axes use a lot less energy than your fists.
  2. Craft a fishing rod and bait it with drops from monsters (Rotten Flesh, Creeper Oyster, Spider Eyes.)
  3. Collect Mushroom and plant them in dark areas to farm
  4. Locate Pumpkins and use the seed to lure chickens into a farm. You will need an Iron Hoe to grow more pumpkins.
  5. Use Shears to collect tall grass to lure cows into a farm.

It takes 8 saw dust to cook one piece of meat.

Game Mechanic Changes

Here we will note on some of the more early game changes to mechanics:

• Hunger Depletion
  1. For the love of your deity of choice, do not sprint or jump
  2. You can get fat, having a bit of fat is more healthy than just skin and bones
  3. If you get too hungry it will negatively affect your physical abilities.(i.e unable to jump, decreased speed of mining, etc...)
  4. Try to make a Dirt Slab. Use this instead of jumping to conserve your hunger greatly.
• Punching Things
  1. Your fists are fleshy, they absorb shock. Use something harder.
  2. Again your fists are fleshy, therefore slower than a tool.
  3. Of course if you punch something its going to run away.. unless it's mad.
• Seed Sources
  1. Pumpkin seeds: They're bright orange beacons.. keep an eye peeled
  2. Hemp Seeds: You have to use a hoe
  3. Other Seeds, just because there is a village doesnt mean its occupants are alive anymore.
• Beds| Death
  1. Beds do not save your spawn point or make night into day like in Vanilla Minecraft.
  2. If you die, you will respawn at a random location with no tools or items. It will be difficult to locate your last base.
  3. Construct a compass to point you towards your original spawn location which is your only fixed point of navigation.
• Darker Harder Stone?
  1. Hardcore Stratification means there are different layers of stone in the ground. The deeper the layer the harder it is to mine. For example, Layer 2 takes 2x longer to mine than layer 1 and it does not drop cobblestone when mined with a Stone Pick.

Dying

Yes it really sucks now, yes you are in a different place and yes it is possible to get back, there seems to be some sort of strange magnetic field within the minecraft world. Do it lots and you aren't punished badly, don't do it in a long time and you shall pay dearly. So don't die.. much :)

Tips

• 1. Mining is much more difficult in Better Than Wolves, one of the best ways to get Iron/Redstone is to locate a natural trench or wide chasm in the earth.
  2. You Don't have to find a cave that goes all the wayfrom the surface to the redstone region, you can just tunnel above the third strata and listen for mobs and water/lava to try and find a cave
  3. Wooden Pick = 1 use, Stone Pick = 6 uses.
  4. Staying alive is your number 1 priority. Death usually means you will waste several hours to build a compass to return to your original spawn.
  5. At night wolves become aggressive and can fit through 1x1 blocks. Keep this in mind when designing your shelter. They also become aggressive if they run out of food and become hungry.
  6. Zombies can destroy doors in normal difficulty and have the ability to use ladders (but not always intelligently, or intentionally.)
  7. If your house is in total darkness you will be affected by Gloom and begin to take health damage. Use Trapdoors as a transparent block if you do not have a furnace yet, but keep in mind that zombies can break trapdoors and fence gates as well now.
  8. Squids are hostile and have a 2-3 block ranged attack that knocks you into the air. If you get eaten by one - your screen turns black but you can still kill the hat. It takes about 1&1/2 Stone axe durability to kill a hatsie. They can also destroy boats and swim in shallow waters. They are very dangerous.