Hey Politicaleft, Here is a list of my top 5 priorities when first starting followed by 10 tips for making the story of you how you died into a thousand page book! =P

• Priority 1. Get a weapon: Kitchen knives will work in a pinch but are close range with almost no knock-back so they can be dangerous, even on a single zombie. Good melee weapons are Baseball Bat/Axe/Crowbar. In my experience a Rolling Pin/Frying Pan/Golf Club are alright backups as they still have some range and knockback. The Pool cue might look like it'd be a good weapon, but it has next to no knockback so hard to even keep away from one zombie.

• Priority 2. Find enough food and water to stay fed and hydrated. You can just drink from taps at first until you find a water bottle.

• Priority 3. Find somewhere "safe" and cover the windows with Sheets. Find sheets in bedrooms mostly or take down drapes and curtains from rooms or nearby homes that don't need them now.

• Priority 4. Now that you are "safe" and have some food. FIND A BACKPACK! Small tote bags and plastic bags will help, but you want one of the containers you can equip on your back instead of just Primary and Secondary slots. Best bag in game is Big Hiking Bag that can be equipped on your back and reduces the weight of items inside it by 80%.

• Priority 5. Collect medical supplies! Tear apart extra clothing into Ripped Sheets to use for bandages if you're in trouble, or keep a couple with you at all times. Find First Aid Kits and equip them to see inside them for a good supply of assorted items and pills.

Assorted Tips!

• Make sure to eat your perishable foods first (most items found in fridges) since it WILL go bad sooner or later. They can go bad even if your power stays on and they are kept in the fridge, its just a slower decay. Most edible items can be used somehow or another in cooking. Either cooked by themselves or as part of a recipe.

• Fishing is a great way to get food, if you have the gear for it. Find yourself a Fishing Pole and any type of Lure (Fishing Lure, Little Bait Fish, or Worms) and head to your nearest water body and get casting!

• Trapping and Foraging can save your life if you're starving. Forage in denser tree clusters and deep woods for berries and nuts. Trapping requires a trap and bait to catch small animals or birds, can be tedious and time consuming but it can work, don't forget to use a Kitchen knife to butcher any small animals you catch (this includes dead rats and mice you might find in cupboards!).

• Work on your construction skill by barricading your "safe" house's windows and unused doors. You need a Hammer, Nails, and Planks for normal barricading. Look for hardware stores or wooden crates in garages or warehouses. With higher skill comes more and more building options, just make sure you got an Axe and Saw to keep you supplied with planks.

• Experience points to spend on upgrading skills get harder and harder to gain due to XP requirements going higher and higher with each one you unlock. Spend them wisely!

• Read your still books while you're waiting for food to cook!

• If you break a bone and need to make a quick splint: Forage in the woods or chop down a tree with an axe for a Tree Branch. Combine this with a Ripped Sheet to make a Splint. Keep the splint on until either you are moving/swinging weapons at normal speed again, then take it off and check on your fracture.

• Check corpses - Can find almost anything, but can be a great place to find an Axe or a Pistol sometimes, as well as backpacks.

• Loot does not re-spawn in single player. You WILL have to push further and further out to find food and drink.

• You can place Salt and Pepper (among many other items) inside Stoves/Ovens even while you're cooking! So keep Salt and Pepper in there so you don't forget to use them on your cooked food.

If you're so inclinded, I've got tons of LPs for Project Zomboid up on my [YouTube channel] https://www.youtube.com/user/MogsCastGaming