New player seeking help

[Nikolaj]

I'm new to this game, and while the concept seems very interesting, I'm unsure what I should be doing. I started the game in some place called Iron-something and just started walking from there. Eventually, I reached a stream or river, where I set up my hearthfire and built a leanto (after being chased around by a boar for a while). The wiki mentions that fishing is a good starting skill, but I don't have the stuff necessary to do it. Specifically, I need a hook and a lure (I found a spindly taproot, which as I understand it, should be ok as a string).

It seems to me that the easiest hook to get, is a bone hook, for which I need bones. So in order to get that, I need to kill an animal, for which I need a sling (I'm not sure if it's possible to just attack an animal with my stone axe?). To get a sling, I need to find 4 more spindly taproots (5 really, if I want to fish afterwards), but in about two hours of searching, I still haven't found more than the one I already have. I'm now starting to run out of food.

I'm sure I must be doing something wrong. Is there an easier way of getting food? Should I just give up on the fishing thing and try something else? Any suggestions are welcome.

[Noss]

You need the hunting skill and to find a rabbit or a chicken.

If you have a 2 x 2 space empty in yuor inventory.
Walk up to the rabbit. left click it
When you stop walking and it is not hopping, right click it
You will pick it up
Then you can kill it and get a bone to make a hook.

If you have stone working you can make a rock lobster lure
If you have carpentry you can make a wood fish lure
If you are near a leach marsh you can stand in the mud and get leaches in yuor equipment and use them for bait.
But to fish you need to see the fish jump. That means there is a fishing spot. If you don't see them jump there are no fish there.

If you raise your exploration you will see lots more roots and will start to see chantrelles and blueberries to eat too. You can eat the spindley taproot but it will not give you atributes just feed you.

[Granger]

You can also hope to see a rabbit (or chicken) and a fox near each other.
Usually the fox will kill the rabbit and you'll be able to pick up the cadaver afterwards.

[Nikolaj]

Thanks for the help, guys. I've learned hunting, and I'm now chasing down rabbits, which is definitely helping me get some food. I've built a drying frame for the fur, so now I'm considering getting leather working, so I can get some hide straps from the fur.

Also, I see that the topic has been moved, so I guess I posted it in the wrong forum. Sorry about that.

[Twerp]

I'd suggest picking up the boat building skill and making yourself a nice rowboat if you haven't already. You can't beat boats for getting around quickly, and a good deal of the fishing spots I've seen can't be reached without one. They also make a dandy escape pod when some animal decides that you need to die.

[shishikyuu]

I also got a question and I didn't think it required a new thread.
do fir boughs (and branches) regrow on trees? if so how long does it take before they do?

I couldn't find this in the wiki or anywhere in the forum. I also think it's needlessly complicated to plant new trees >.<
I can imagine you need a clay pot and some other tools for something like an apple tree but just a fir should grow by just plowing some land, dropping a cone on it and maybe give it some water. :S you'd prolly end up with a Q3 tree though.

at least it doesn't take 20 years before they're useful, that's a good thing.

oh, and another thing. my hunger bar says: "hungry 66% (86%)" what's the difference between the 66 and the 86?

[Panopticon]

I also got a question and I didn't think it required a new thread.
do fir boughs (and branches) regrow on trees? if so how long does it take before they do?

I couldn't find this in the wiki or anywhere in the forum. I also think it's needlessly complicated to plant new trees >.<
I can imagine you need a clay pot and some other tools for something like an apple tree but just a fir should grow by just plowing some land, dropping a cone on it and maybe give it some water. :S you'd prolly end up with a Q3 tree though.

at least it doesn't take 20 years before they're useful, that's a good thing.

oh, and another thing. my hunger bar says: "hungry 66% (86%)" what's the difference between the 66 and the 86?

Those numbers mean that you are 66% from the state of hungry, towards full. And your total food level is 86%. anything above 99% is overstuffed, 99-90 is full, 89-80 is hungry, 79-70 is very hungry, etc.

[Nikolaj]

Alright, so I managed to find a bunch of apple and nut trees, and I haven't died yet, although I'm getting there with all the boar and bear attacks I've been subjected to. I'm keeping some leeches in a chest, but they've been staying bloated for a while now. How long does it take for them to get skinny again? I could just go all the way back to the swamp, but every time I do that, I tend to be mauled by a boar/bear, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Also, I've built a house and filled it with cupboards and some other stuff. I've started doing some farming, but I don't have a lot of different seeds, just some grain and pumpkin. I'd also like some metal down the line, so I'm considering finding somewhere to trade. As I understand it, Constantinople is the premier trade hub in the world, but I'm unsure where exactly it is. I might try something closer, but I've yet to actually encounter anyone else, although I have seen a few hearth fires. I'm near a village called Ironcliff, but I'm not sure anybody actually lives there. Does anybody know which way Constantinople or some other good trading village is? I'd also be interested in opinions on which trading goods are good for a new player to bring to the table.

[Twerp]

I'm not sure how long leeches take to revert to their non-bloated form, but from experience (and my somewhat infrequent logins) I know it isn't any longer than a real-time day. Build that boat to beat those bastard bears and boars; you can outrun them at the third movement speed, and if you can make it to your boat, they can't touch you. Approach the swamp from the water and don't stray too far from your boat, and you should be able to get leeched up without pissing off any deranged wildlife. As for where in the world you are compared to Constantinople, well, beats the hell out of me. Maybe you could party up with somebody in the area and follow their arrow across countless miles of boar-infested terrain~

I wouldn't mind knowing what things are considered useful trade goods myself, everybody in my neck of the woods seems to be communities of paranoid isolationists. The wiki claims that chantrelles (them foragable mushrooms) can be traded in bulk for armor and stuff, which sounds rather hard to believe to me. I guess just high-quality versions of the standard resources would be appealing. Like a crate full of q60 clay, maybe? Damned if I know what's passable.

[Potjeh]

Chantrelles, blueberries, nettles, fish, bricks, linen, pearls.