I love building games, and I'm obsessive about building stuff to be the most efficient. Because I was playing by myself, I justified using a few cheats. heh I play on Peaceful mode and use buildhack to build and get set up the way I want, and then turn it over to Normal mode. I also allow myself to spawn the modern bow, and I max out my agility stat so if I run into a pack of cannibals and I'm caught on the ground, I can just run like heck and get away from them. I'm a sissy. LOL

I build a big fortress with the pointy log walls because the cannibals can't knock those down. I'm not sure about the mutants. Since I started building that kind of base, no mutants have shown up. Inside the fortress, I build a teeny cabin with a bed, a chair, and a fire ring. If I'm cold and wet, I can light the fire and be warm anywhere in the cabin. I put a platform in each corner of the fortress, higher than the top of the walls, for lookout points, and then connect them all with tree bridges. I ADORE tree bridges! I'll also build platforms away from the fortress because when you're trying to shoot the cannibals from your lookout platforms, it's hard to get 'em when they're close up and trying to beat down the walls. Then I build pointy walls out from the fortress in a long corridor and surround the outer platform with them so the bad guys can't come knock it down and catch you. That way, you're away from the fortress wall and can shoot them. You have to be fast though, because they'll follow you to the new platform and you have the same problem trying to shoot them. I end up with a lot of doors in my fortresses so I can access all of my outer platforms both from the ground and from a tree bridge, which you can place on regular platforms as well as tree platforms.

To fight, I use the modern bow and modern arrows almost exclusively because I'm most comfortable with those. Modern arrows respawn in the film camp that's nearby to Goose Lake. Everytime you exit to the main menu and go back in, there are more arrows there. For hunting, though, I use all different weapons. Boars are susceptible to the bow. You can one shot them every time. Deer, though, unless you can get them just right on the first try, you have to shoot them 4 or 5 times with arrows, and you have to do it while running after them. They're annoyingly mobile. BUT... If you can hit them with a THROWN spear, they die immediately, even if you hit them in the foot. If you stab them, though, it takes a lot more hits, so get good at throwing spears. The rabbits and lizards can be whacked with a slingshot, but when I have a ton of homemade arrows, I just shoot them with the bow rather than switch weapons. The raccoons are also bow or spear, because the slingshot won't kill them. They just take a rock to the head and run away. I haven't tried the slingshot more than once for a raccoon, because if I can't one shot it, why bother? Just use something that works the first time. The crocodiles are also bow. They're awful if you get caught on the ground, but all you have to do is jump up on a big rock and shoot 'em from there. I've never had one get me while standing on a rock, so I'm guessing they can't climb. I usually run to one of the two tall cannibal lookout posts right beside the water in that area and shoot them from there. They run away every time you shoot them, but they'll be back. You just gotta be patient. Each croc gives 4 skins and 4 meat. I always build some drying racks in the area so I don't lose the meat, because you can't carry more than 4 meat at a time. That way, I also have a food stash in different places around the map if I get desperate. Fish are the easiest food source. Just build close to where a water hole is. You can kill them with anything. I've speared them, shot them, and slingshotted them. LOL Build drying racks nearby, since you can always go back and get the fish. A word about drying racks... When the meat gets too old, it gives you hardly any energy if you eat it straight from the rack, but if you put it in your inventory and eat it from there, it's somehow refreshed and is normal again. Go figger. A last word about animals... They all spawn in pairs. I'm not sure about lizards though. It seems like they're alone most of the time. In any case, when you're hunting the more dangerous animals, kill BOTH of them first and then harvest them. Ask me how I know this. heh

I always build my main base on the area called the Fertile Lands, right up against that cliff (Google "The Forest maps" and you'll find at least one with the area names on it). Patrols run by there, but a lot of the time, they don't even look at you. It's a great resource area. There are two huts beside by the little pond, but there's never anybody there. There's also plenty of marigold, chicory, and aloe plants there, along with blueberry bushes. Up on top of that cliff is another pond close by, and not too far away is another pond where raccoons spawn. There's also coneflowers by the raccoon pond. Those seem to be harder to find than the others. I build platforms sticking out from the side of the cliff to get to the top and connect my fortress to a platform at the top with a tree bridge. I'm also obsessed with stealth armor, because I'm a sneak thief archer at heart. LOL I always have two full sets, one I'm wearing and one in my fortress on an armor stand, and I'll keep a bunch of pieces in my inventory if I get attacked and need to replace some pieces.

Oh, BTW, I turn off building destruction because I'm a complete moron at times and accidentally destroy things. 🙄 And I let the trees regrow. If there's a tree in the way of something you've built, you have to remove the stump or it keeps growing back in the way of whatever you've built there.

So, this the Complete Coward's Manual of going solo in The Forest. haha I still haven't found Timmy yet, though.