When you start the game you are met with a loading screen and then the "Main Menu" with a fly-through of a town behind it. I recommend that first time players take a moment here to go into the "Settings" menu and adjust their "Graphics". The fly-through behind the menu will update so that you are able to see how the game may visually function based on your settings.

I have a setup which is not made for gaming so I often have to run games as "Medium" quality in order to provider a smoother experience. This game was no exception. I do also recommend taking the time to consider grass distance - this also affects the distance at which other vegetation can be seen so if you are hunting for a specific vegetable then, you will not be able to get on a hill and spot a patch if this is set too low.

There are two "Game Modes" currently. The "Populated Island" and the "Empty Island". Most people probably will probably want to get right to the game. If this is you, then you will want to select "New World" and choose "Populated Island" so you can get right in. This is a good way to see the "final" product of the world and there are no problems with using the default world settings.

Do not start on an "Empty Island" expecting any sort of civilization to be present. In this Game Mode you will be one of the first settlers to this new land.



I will go into detail about the World Creation settings here for those wanting to understand the game prior to jumping in, those starting new worlds, and of course, for my own reference. The World Creation options are the same for both Game Modes.

World's Name: Enter a 15 character string of what you think is a cool name in this box. The "world" is actually and island for those of you looking to for the most fitting names.

Day duration: This affects the REAL TIME length of each in game day. For example, the default value is set at 20 minutes. This means that 20 minutes of your play time is the equivalent of 1 full day for your character. Essentially the clock will be moving at 1.2 minutes for every 1 second of play time. The minimum value here is 10 minutes and the maximum value is 120 minutes. I won't go through the myriad of other options but the simplified formula is 24/day duration = in-game minutes/real-time seconds. Okay now you ask, "Why do I care?". I'm open to comments here, but for me this affects how long I can explore, look for plants, chop wood, hunt, or mine above ground while still being able to see. There is a real threat for predators/bandits to sneak up to you (probably more in future updates) and in general it's inconvenient to perform those tasks in the dark.

Season: This affects the starting month and season. The game does record "time" which can be seen when you sleep. The game progresses through all 4 seasons. This will affect the animals, vegetation, and visuals. The default option is June (Summer).

• Summer: June-July-Aug.
  
• Autumn: Sept-Oct-Nov
  
• Winter: Dec-Jan-Feb
  
• Spring: Mar-Apr-May

Animals number: This affects the density of animals per each square kilometer. The default value is 50, the minimum value is 10 (you can't have no animals), and the maximum value is 100.

"When Doing" perks progression: You are able to choose character "Perks" which determine what you are able to do in the game. The default value is "unchecked" which means that when you are chopping wood, then you will gain points towards the next park in that progression tree. If you turn this feature off then you will only be able to learn Perks through interaction with other characters which requires a certain friendship level and gold amount.

Hardcore Mode: As the game states - all saves for the World will be deleted when your character dies.

Warning: It is difficult to adjust some of the sliders to exact values as you will see from my screenshot.



EXP gain speed: The rate of experience gain. This effects the base value for experience gained when doing activities such as digging, building, chopping, hunting, crafting, etc. The default value is 100%

Gathering/Chopping Speed*: The rate which you are able obtain manually collected resources such as vegetation and wood. The default value is 100%, the minimum value is 10% and the maximum value is 1000%. (I like to set this value to at least 200% as this can become a tedious affair, but I still want to do these actions myself at the early game)

Building Speed*: The rate which you are able to add materials to building structures. The default value is 100%, the minimum value is 10% and the maximum value is 1000%. (Once again, I like to set this value at 200%)

Character Speed*: The rate which your character traverses the world. You are able to adjust your character's movement in the game by holding down "CTRL" to walk and "Shift" to Run, but these will be based off of the standard rate you choose. You will have the ability to obtain other forms of transport so the default value here works well. The default value is 5 m/s, the minimum value is 2 m/s, and the maximum value is 10 m/s.

Trading Prices: This affects the base value of all items in shops [more data needed here]. The world market price for items is supposed to fluctuat based on Supply/Demand so I recommend leaving this value at the default of 100%. The minimum value is 10% and the maximum value is 1000%.

Gold in Ruins: I do not know whether this is the chance of gold appearing in ruins or the amount of gold you will receive if that ruin has a gold chest. At the base value of 100% I have found about 250g in one chest while obtaining over 700g in another. The minimum value is 10% and the maximum value is 1000%.

Resources needed for Crafting: This affects the base amount of materials you will need to craft items. I think everyone should experience this at the default value first to understand the world balance as this will heavily affect how much you need to gather in order to build a large town or supply a shop. The default value is 100%, the minimum value is 10% and the maximum value is 1000%.

Crafting Speed: [Test to be performed on whether this adjusts the in-game crafting time of planks]

Learning Points at Start: This will affect the later Character Creation section. This will set the number of points you have in the Character Creation menu to choose Perks. Since it is difficult to obtain Perks you do not learn in Character Creation until you get more gold - I do recommend setting this at "40" for your first few worlds. To build a town you will need to spend at least 20 points to obtain the necessary Perks. The default value is 30, the minimum value is 10, and the maximum value is 40.

*Note: I do not yet know whether these values affect the AI or if it indeed player specific.

NPC on Map: This will set the total population for world. The developer is working to test what the allowable maximum value could be for the late game. The default value is set to 1000 NPCs and the current maximum value is 4000 NPCs. The developer has mentioned increasing this value to 5000 if the 4000 population works well. I recommend for users to help test the current maximum NPC value so the developer can understand the performance on different setups. The minimum value is 0.

New Settlers arrive every: The rate which ships arrive and drop off settlers to the island. I think the average value for each ship is about 20 [verification needed]. This is based on in-game time not real-time which means settlers will arrive while you craft, sleep, or do anything that speeds up the in-game time. The default value is 5h (hours), the minimum value is 1h, and the maximum value is 24h. When you start from an empty world it will take several in-game months for the world to be fully populated at the default value. When adjusting this value it may be good to consider how this setting affects how much time you have to get setup before the NPC's begin to really take up space and establish themselves.

AI building speed: This affects the rate at which AI's are able to add materials to building structures. Remember that NPCs will also need to gather resources just like you! The structures they plan will be built just like your own (a scaffold and material requirements will be set) so they also need to spend time adding their gathered material to the structures. The default value and also minimum value is 1x while the maximum value is 10x.

Bandits Attack Radius: The distance which bandits will attack you or an NPC when approaching. The default value is 20m, the minimum value is 0m, and the maximum value is 200m.

AI declares war every: I have not played fully developed world's long so I am not well versed on how this affects the world and what settings are good. The default value is 30 days, the minimum value is 1 day, the maximum value is 100 days.

CheckBoxes: (these are fairly straightforward)

• AI can't build walls: NPCs will not build walls. I do not know if this is just in your town or in general. I think this is in general so I recommend leaving this off so they can protect their settlements.
  
• AI can't build roads: I will be honest that I do not understand this value. Roads are populated automatically based on surrounding structures and are not "built".
  
• No wars: War cannot be declared.
  
• No bandits on the map: No settlers will become bandits and no bandits will create Lairs.
  
• No farmers on the map: Farmers are able to establish building outside of Settlements and show up as their own Settlement. I believe this disallows this feature. I do not know if this will remove farmers from building in Settlements.

Once the World Creation and AI Parameters are set you will finally be able to get into Character Creation. You will be met with two menus. The Parameters menu allows for setting the visual characteristics of your character while the Perks menu will allow one to choose the in-game abilities of the character.

Parameters Menu:
First is the Character's name box where you may input a 15 character string of what you think will be a normal name. Know that it will not match the NPC names and that makes it fun.

This menu has six tabs. The are not named so I will just move from right to left and give a name which I think makes sense. The figure in the middle will adjust at each interval so you can preview it in real time. You can also select "Random face" and "Random Eyes" at any time.

• Body: Here you can choose Male/Female, Age, Weight, Muscle look, Skin color, Height, and Chest size via sliders.
  
• Outer Face: Adjust Forehead size, Cheeks, Chin, and Ears
  
• Eyes: Adjust eye color, size, position
  
• Nose: Adjust Nose characteristics such as curve, inclination, position, and size.
  
• Mouth: Adjust Mouth size, mandible, and lips size.
  
• Hair: Adjust Hairstyle, Hair Color, and Beard type.

Perks Menu:
This menu will allow you to choose the starting "Perks" for your Character. Perks are detailed in the next section. Here you should know that the "EXP Points" are directly related to the "Learning Points at Start" setting we discussed earlier in this guide. Each Perk cost is based on Tiers. The Perks will not cost you gold at this point, but they will require gold and friendship levels when learning from NPCs once the game has begun. If you have Perk Progression on, then you will be able to learn the subsequent Tiers on your own, but you must still learn the Tier 1 Perk in this menu or learn it from an NPC in-game. Choosing Perks in this menu also affects your starting equipment which is detailed in the Perks section of this guide.

• Tier 1 - 5 points [10 friendship, 500 gold]
  
• Tier 2 - 10 points [10 friendship, 1000 gold]
  
• Tier 3 - 20 points [10 friendship, 2500 gold]
  
• Tier 4 - 40 points [?? friendship, ?? gold]
  
• Tier 5 - 40 points [?? friendship, ?? gold]

Perks are the basis of what your character will be able to do in the game. I recommend reviewing this section prior to choosing Perks in the Perk Menu so you can get an idea of how you may play and what equipment/abilities you want to start with as these will also determine what you are able to build. Notice that some buildings have multiple prerequisite Perks.

Some Perks will affect your starting equipment. Everyone starts with the following equipment:

• Poorman Top (2% Defense)
  
• Poorman Bottom (1% Defense)
  
• Poorman Shoes (1% Defense)
  
• Torch
  
• Iron Axe [Chop: 50 - Attack:10]
  
• Pickaxe [Chop: 5 - Attack:10]

Class by Tier: Worker -> Taskmaster -> Novice Architect -> Architect

Description: The Worker Tree of Perks supports the building of most structures (including the bakery and other crafting buildings). It takes 500 Perk progression points to obtain the next Perk in this tree. It will be beneficial for players wishing to start and manage their own Settlements to take on the "Taskmaster" Perk (combined with the Scholar Perk) immediately as a "Well" is required to establish a Settlement. This also unlocks the "Notice Board" and "City Hall" which are required for Settlement Management.

Starting Equipment:

• Wooden Log (2)

Class by Tier: Scholar -> Schrivener -> Scrollmaster -> Wiseman

Description: The Scholar Tier is helpful for gaining experience. It takes 10 Perk progression points to obtain the next Perk in this tree.The "Scholar" Perk is required in order to establish a Settlement creation and management structures (must be Combined with the Taskmaster Perk).

Starting Equipment: None


Class by Tier: Novice Swordsman -> Swordsman -> Advanced Swordsman -> Experienced Swordsman -> Masterful Swordsman

Description: The Swordsman Tier focuses on increasing your melee attacks and combat energy recovery. It takes 250 Perk progression points to obtain the next Perk in this tree. There are not too many immediate threats upon world start (except wolves) so I don't recommend to start with this Perk unless you are planning to attack the first few Settlers for their loot (which is a viable tactic for early game money and armor).

Starting Equipment:

• Leather Cuirass (10% Defense)
  
• Leather Boots (5% Defense)
  
• One Handed Iron Sword [Chop: 10 - Attack:12]

Class by Tier: Novice Archer -> Archer -> Advanced Archer -> Experienced Archer -> Masterful Archer

Description: The Archer Tier focuses on increasing your ranged damage. It takes 250 Perk progression points to obtain the next Perk in this tree. An archer build is difficult since the time to draw a bow is rather lengthy, the range of a bow is very short, and many animals are hard to take down with just the first few Perk Tiers. You will also need to buy or craft arrows to support the build. Initially you are only able to craft "Wooden Arrows" via Wooden Planks. Better arrows are crafted via the Blacksmith Tier.

Starting Equipment:

• Wooden Bow
  
• Iron Arrows (quantity of 20)

Class by Tier: Trader -> Negotiator -> Money Lender -> Fairy Godfather

Class by Tier: Blacksmith Apprentice -> Novice Blacksmith -> Blacksmith -> Advanced Blacksmith -> Masterful Blacksmith


Class by Tier: Butcher -> Yager -> Skinner


Class by Tier: Gardener -> Herbalist -> Alchemist


Class by Tier: Chopper -> Benchman -> Carpenter


Class by Tier: Traveler -> Pilligrim -> Pioneer


Class by Tier: Digger -> Mine Worker


Class by Tier: Sergeant -> Banneret -> Captain -> King


Class by Tier: Risk Taker -> Bandit -> Murderer -> Assassin -> Thief's King

Once your World, AI, and Characters are set you will find yourself traveling on a boat with a patch of land in the distance. As you approach the landmass you have the opportunity to test out your movement, interact with other characters (press E when close), and get a feel for the names of other Settlers (I view the names as Norse-like). You cannot view your inventory or character Perks at this time. Eventually, even if you do not you talk to any other Settler, the dock will come into view and the game will transitioned to the dock automatically. You are unable to get on the ship from this point onward, but there is nothing on the ship to learn or gather anyway.

Now that you are on the dock you have full control of your character! Controls may be viewed by pressing "esc" clicking Settings -> Controls -> Change Controls. Here are some useful default controls to remember:

• Esc: Access Kingdoms Game Menu to Save/Load, change Settings, access Tutorial, and Exit.
  
• E: Interact with Objects (in a previous version you were unable to talk to Settlers with something equipped - This has been fixed in a recent patch)
  
• W: Walk Forward (tap when on horseback to increase speed)
  
• A: Strafe Left (turns the horse left when on horseback)
  
• S: Walk Backwards (tap when on horseback to decrease speed)
  
• D: Strafe Right (turns the horse right when on horseback)
  
• Left Shift: Use your Stamina Bar to Spring (Stamina restores based on Perks and Vigor Bar)
  
• Tab: Access Character Perks, Inventory, and Building/Crafting Menu
  
• Left Mouse Button: Hold to mine, chop, gather resources, or add material to buildings.
  
• 1: Equip / Unequip your Left hand (for torch and arrows)
  
• 2: Equip / Unequip your Right hand (for weapons/axes/bows etc.)
  
• X: Destroy a Building, Destroy a Bandit Lair (with torch in hand), Claim an Iron Bank, and Put a Saddle on a Horse
  
• Q: Call your Horse from any distance. The horse will need to take time to travel to you.
  
• F6: Teleport Character up a few meters. This helps in many cases where you are otherwise stuck
  
• F11: Access Bug Reporting: The game will add a screenshot of what you are seeing to the Bug Report as well as allow you to pick the type of issue. You can describe the report if the screenshot and issue type does not clearly demonstrate the issue.
  
• F12: Default Steam Screenshot Key

There are a myriad of ways to play the game, but here are some recommended First Steps that will help many players. Be aware that the initial Settlers will drift away very quickly from the dock. If you with to learn anything from them then I recommend talking to them all first. Maybe you didn't pick up the "Chopper" Perk or "Gardener" Perk in order to get more points in the "Worker" Tree. If you started with any gold you should be able to learn one or two Perks from these Settlers without having to complete their quest. I do not recommend investing points in Tier 2+ slots which you can progress quickly such as in the "Chopper" Tree or "Digger" Tree. You should be able to progress to the next Perk with only a few minutes of resource gathering. Don't get too attached to anyone on this first batch as they are not guaranteed to Settle near you (and most likely will not). I heavily recommend starting with the "Traveler" Perk no matter what path you decide - this will start you with a Saddle and allow you to own a horse (and its inventory) which makes travel much faster. The horse can also be called from anywhere in the World by pressing "Q", but it will take time to reach you.

Note: If at any time it get's too dark to gather resources you may want to look into building a small tent and fire to sleep in and restore your Vigor and pass the time till morning. You may also wait by pressing "T" and selecting how long you want to wait. This is also a good way of knowing the in-game time of day.

Almost all of the Settlers will have a quest as all of them are setting out on their goals. Most of these quests will be for Wooden Logs, Wooden Planks, or Berries. Their is always a forest biome past the Beach where you can gather many of the materials for them or yourself. Be careful of wolves or bears! They can easily kill you at this point and it is easy to wander too close to them when approaching from the beach since the forest is usually uphill. I recommend taking some time to cut down about 5 trees worth of of Wooden Logs. If you have the "Chopper" Perk or increased the speed during world creation then this should be pretty fast for you. each tree will drop at least 20 Wooden Logs (30 If it's a large tree) and yes, you will have to chop the logs to get them into your inventory. Each Wooden Log allows the crafting of 5 planks so you should have plenty to trade with or keep for yourself.

In order to "Craft" you need to press "Tab" click on the "Craft Tab" on the Building Menu, select Wooden Plank, then select how many you want via the slider before pressing the "Craft" button. I do NOT recommend crafting all of your Wooden Logs into planks immediately as you may lose track of Settlers whose quests you want to complete (the world continues to move around you while you craft anything). I usually do one stack at a time and keep moving next to Settlers I want to talk to. You may also just gather until the next batch of Settlers arrive as well.

While you are in the forest it is a good time to also gather and handful of berries, azaleas, boston ferns, and any vegetables which may be nearby. Your character will begin to fill their "Hunger" bar which must be decreased by eating food you find. If your Hunger bar fills up and stays filled you will begin to take damage which will be very evident as the screen will change like you are being attacked. Azaleas and Boston Ferns are good to grab as they restore your health. Food alone will NOT restore your health and neither will sleeping!

You may wish to search for a place to start your Settlement/Farm/Bandit Camp at this time. I learned from the other guide made by "___" that new Settlers will attempt to join Settlements within 750m of each Ship. Don't worry too much about not having every Perk you want as there will be plenty of chances to learn them once Settlements are established. I would also not worry too much about food if you are not choosing to farm - food can be easily gathered by traversing the world especially if you have a horse by this time. There will also be a lot of rocks scattered throughout the world which allow you to gather a high quantity of untreated stone so don't worry too much about Settling near rocks or gathering rocks early. Press "M" to get a feel for the World and possibly identify where you might want to establish yourself. As you traverse the world you will run into question marks "?" on your compass. Be sure to check out these areas as they are "Ruins" and may benefit you by being a dungeon (contains gold, iron spots, or armor) or an Iron Bank! Now go out and find a spot with plenty of flat land which is near a forest and an iron bank!

[To be Added 9/15]

[To be Added 9/15]

Gardening requires the player to have experience in the "Gardening" Perk. You will then be able to build a "farmhouse" and "garden". I recommend building the farmhouse and garden close to your settlement to reduce your initial traveling time (in the early game I build mine within the settlement walls).

The garden is placed like a normal structure with the normal spacing/placement requirements. The garden allows its owner to plant 16 (? need to check again) different seeds. No watering or fertilization is required. The game will show what I call a "growth" clock next to each seed icon. This "growth clock" allows the player to monitor the time until the next stage of life. I think plants take the same amount of time to grow. I believe each plant has the following cycle: Seed -> Sapling -> Maturity. You can take the plant at any stage, but the only edible stage is the Mature stage such that the growth timer is no longer shown. I do not know if mature plants "die". I need to test the duration of each growth cycle. Each growth cycle is based on "real time" (open to discussion on this point).

Be on the lookout when traveling for colored plants and stock up on plants at every opportunity. To find seeds you will need to pick up its mature plant version. This is fairly easy with the use of a horse. I generally pick a direction and continue in that direction for the duration of the in-game day. Personally I think the open fields and rocky areas provide for more usable plants, but this may also be due to a lack of visibility when in the forest. I've never harvested any plants in the beach biome. Mature plant screenshots to be added.Take the mature plant into the farmhouse table and "craft" the seed from the plant. This will QUICKLY affect your in-game clock so I recommend being conservative when crafting seeds. The amount of seeds you acquire falls in a range which is dependent on each type of plant (1-3 seed range or 2-4 seed range). This range is posted in the description when crafting and the amount you craft during each cycle should appear as a notification.

Note 1: That eating plants will not heal you! You will specifically need to gather the herbs required in medicine to heal you. As of my last playing you could not grow herbs.

Note 2: In general cooking your plants into dishes does provide more benefits, but it requires more perks, more plants, and more crafting time. These dishes do sell for higher though. I tend to plant matching plants such that they can be cooked together for efficiency rather than plants of all kinds. More research is required to map the best dish and plant growth combination.