Part 10

Begin your survival journey in The Forest. Learn about the plane crash, finding Timmy, setting up camp, and essential survival items like the Lighter and Survival Guide.

This is my guide to the single player adventure. Note that it's based on the experience of playing on Normal difficulty, since this is what most people will choose, but the same things apply to the higher difficulties, too.

Good luck :)

3.1 THE PLANE CRASH

You start in the plane, in a window seat, with your son, Timmy, sleeping beside you. Note the Toy he's holding to his chest, and the drawings. There are apparently 43 other passengers on this plane, but you can only see one of them; you can't see much out of the window either. You can pick up the Survival Guide from in front of Timmy. You can spot the author's name - yours! - and a dedication to Timmy. Picking it up begins the game, as the flight attendant announces that the plane has entered an area of turbulence (which doesn't make much sense once you learn more about what's happening), and soon the plane crashes, flying first past mountains and then through the forest.

You wake up first to see a man covered in paint (or blood) taking Timmy away.

When you wake up again you are alone in the plane, with all the passengers gone, along with the flight crew. Timmy's drawings are on the floor in front of you, and you are given two objectives.

OBJECTIVE: FIND TIMMY

OBJECTIVE: SET UP CAMP

Finding Timmy is the overarching point of the game, but there's a long way to go. You are in no fit state to begin finding anyone yet, but luckily the plane has most of what you need to get back to fighting strength. Eat the meals you find around, collect all the booze, sodas and meds, and pick up the PASSENGER MANIFEST from the cupboard door to receive a new objective.

OBJECTIVE: FIND THE MISSING PLANE PASSENGERS

This is completely optional, it treats the other passengers like collectibles, and there is no benefit to completing it. The game lists 43, and their names and seat numbers will be checked off as you find their bodies throughout the forest and caves.

NOTE: Timmy's name is circled on the Manifest. What could it mean? Also, only three tray tables are left down on the plane: yours, Timmy's, and someone who was sitting behind you, on the opposite side. Is this significant? Was the red man there the whole time? Nope.

When you try to leave the plane you automatically collect the PLANE AXE from the stewardess's corpse. With this, there's nothing left to do in the plane, so you might as well drop down to the forest floor.

NOTE: Make sure you completely loot the plane before leaving, but know that if you forget something, or you just want to get back in for shelter, you always can. The plane crash site is chosen randomly at the start of the game (from a few preset spots), and at least one of these makes it tricky to jump back inside (you might have to run up to the wing and then onto the roof, and then drop down inside).

3.2 THE FIRST DAY

Building camps is crucial, for the primary reason that certain camping structures allow you not only to shelter from the weather, but also to save the game, which you won't have done yet. So, rather than wandering off and potentially dying by getting squashed or something, you will want to create your own save point as a matter of priority. This requires either finding one or building one, and if you want to build one you will have to take inventory.

NOTE: Some of the crash sites are quite near pre-existing save points, but without a map or a compass you might struggle to find them. See section 2.1 for more information about the plane crash sites.

You start with the Survival Guide, the Lighter, the Backpack, and the Timmy Photo. These are all key items, meaning you can't possibly lose, drop, destroy or run out of fuel for any of them, and it's worth familiarising yourself with them early on.

• The Lighter is your main source of light for most of the game, mainly in the caves. It is rubbish and annoying, but still vital, since it has infinite fuel. As you progress through the game you will find several applications for it. It can be brought up and put away again with the 'L' key.
• The Backpack is used to assign hotkeys. Before you do this, I suggest you go into the Key Bindings section of the Options menu and change the four Item Slots from the Numpad keys to something easier to reach, such as 1, 2, 3, 4. With this done, right-click on the Backpack to place it on the mat in your inventory. You then right-click on another equippable or usable item (such as the Weak Spear), and choose to combine the two. This brings up a small menu on which you can press your previously assigned keys, whereupon each key is then assigned to each item. Unfortunately it doesn't work with every inventory item, but it's still a great quality of life inclusion.
• The Survival Guide is fantastic, as it supplies you with lots of blueprints from which you can construct buildings and tools, using raw materials. None of these constructions is useless, but several of them are indulgences, luxuries only of interest to people who enjoy the sandbox, building element of the game. (The first time you build the Gazebo, for example, you get a Steam achievement sarcastically reminding you that you're supposed to be looking for Timmy.) However, some of the things in the Survival Guide are critically important, and you will be returning to them a lot throughout the game.

NOTE: You can bring up the Survival Guide by choosing it from your inventory, or by pressing 'B' - the same button puts it away again. However, opening the Book does not pause the game (the game is paused on the inventory screen, though).

Also, from the start of the game you are given a persistent message about reading the Survival Guide. You can remove this message by reading all three BASICS OF SURVIVAL pages.

Finally, the inventory screen itself (open it with the 'I' key). This is where you equi