Welcome to Farthest Frontier. This guide walks you through a smooth, low-risk start that sets up stable food, safe storage, clean layouts, and a clear path into Tier 2 and Tier 3. Everything is written in plain, everyday language and organized so you can follow along while you play.
Farthest Frontier 1.0 Beginner Guide
1) The Settlement OS
Think in loops, not buildings. Every decision should strengthen one of these:
Food Loop → Hunt/Fish/Forage → Preserve (Smokehouse) → Store (Root Cellar) → Distribute (Market)
Heat & Build Loop → Logs → Firewood/Planks → Housing/Workshops → More Laborers → Faster Progress
Safety & Flow Loop → Compact core → Short hauls → Fortified storage → Bell garrison → Early towers
If a choice doesn’t improve at least one loop, skip it for now.
2) Map Pick & Start Site
Your checklist:
- Wildlife: One deer herd you can protect; water with a visible shoal if possible.
- Terrain: Flat patch large enough for a compact core and later walls.
- Soil & Water: Fertile strip within walking range for early fields; well sites show green.
- Deposits: Clay nearby is ideal; coal/iron are nice but not critical day one.
- Avoid: Wolf dens and thick boar zones on your doorstep.
Hotkeys worth tapping: F4 (deposits), F (fertility), I (moisture).
3) The 90-Minute Opener (Milestone-Based, Not Year-Based)
This is a tight, no-drama opener you can repeat on any standard map.
Milestone A — “Warm Beds, Full Cellar”
Mark 4–8 trees (H). Don’t strip deer habitat.
Firewood Splitter near trees. Cap at ~200 so you don’t burn your logs.
Six Shelters inside your future market bubble; leave spacing for gardens later.
Well by housing.
Two food sources total (pick any mix that’s local and safe):
- Hunter Cabin(s) on deer routes
- Fishing Shack on a shoal
- Forager Shack targeting berries/greens early
Smokehouse beside your meat/fish source.
Root Cellar close to the Smokehouse/homes. Filter it to accept perishables.
Checkpoint: Food > 4 months, Firewood > 150, No one freezing. Move on.
Milestone B — “Core Online”
Stockyard + Saw Pit near lumber. Add 2nd worker if planks lag.
Storehouse (non-food) + a second Root Cellar (food) near homes/market area.
Market (2 workers) centered on your housing block.
Light craft in the right places:
- Fletcher (set arrows high, bows low)
- Cobbler + Tannery near hunters (away from homes)
- Basket Shop near foragers/storage (baskets = fewer trips)
Checkpoint: Market taxes trickle in; food variety is improving; carts feel lighter.
Milestone C — “Fields without Pain”
Place one 5×5 field on decent fertility. Small comes online faster.
First seasons:
- Rocks/weeds high → Maintenance
- Good early spring → Peas; late spring → Beans
- Low fertility → Maintenance → Clover → Maintenance
Add Apiary on the field edge (fence if bears roam).
End-of-autumn habit: pause, tweak next year’s slots (more clover if fertility < 60%).
Checkpoint: You can feed winter without panic, with smoked stock and at least one crop cycle planned.
Milestone D — “Fort, Trade, and Upgrades”
Two Lookout Towers flanking the Town Center + Store/Cellar cluster.
Short palisade that creates a secure “goods courtyard” with a gate.
Trading Post near the core (easy to defend).
Spring merchants: buy Heavy Tools if they appear; sell surpluses (pottery, candles, smoked goods, linen).
Checkpoint: Raids bounce off your core; you have cash to accelerate what you’re short on (tools, bricks, seeds).
4) Compact Core Layout That Scales
A reliable footprint you can adjust to terrain:
Inner Ring (Maximum safety)
Town Center • 2× Lookout Towers • Storehouse (non-food) • 2× Root Cellars (food) • Market • Trading Post
North/East Edge (Clean & Quiet)
Housing blocks with room for gardens, school, later services
South/West Edge (Noisy/Noxious)
Firewood Splitter • Saw Pit • Tannery • Cobbler • Fletcher • Basket Shop
Fields/Apiaries just outside one edge, with a road straight into cellars
Why it works: shortest hauls for perishables, single bell pull for safety, towers always covering gold and food, and a clean desirability split from noxious buildings.
5) Production Ladders (Pick Two Early, Add More Later)
Each ladder is a self-contained path from raw to trade goods.
Clay Ladder
Clay Pit → Potter → Pottery (needs firewood) → Trade/Households
Bee Ladder
Apiaries → Candle Shop → Candles → Services/Trade
Textile Ladder
Fields (Flax) → Weaver → Linen → Clothes/Trade
Hygiene Ladder
Hunting (Tallow) + Herbs → Soap Shop → Soap → Fewer diseases/Trade
Grain Ladder (only after basics are steady)
Wheat/Rye → Granary → Windmill → Bakery → Bread (high output, low spoilage)
Start with Clay + Bees or Clay + Textile, then add Hygiene, then Grain.
6) Defense Playbook You Won’t Outgrow
Bell Discipline: When raiders ping, pause, ring bell, let towers and TC do work. Don’t chase.
Interception Point: Later, add a forward tower or barracks away from the core to thin waves earlier.
Gold Discipline: Keep gold in the defended core. Traders draw aggro—your towers should already be covering them.
Upkeep Awareness: Towers cost gold each month. Build them in pairs, staffed to 2/2, not a dozen half-manned sticks.
7) Metrics That Matter (Glance Every 60 Seconds)
- Food Months: 6+ buffered going into winter; trend line stable or rising.
- Firewood: >200 before first snow; >300 as you approach 50+ pop.
- Laborers: Keep a floor (6–10 early). If builds stall or goods sit on the ground, you’re under-staffed.
- Haul Distance: If spoilage creeps up, your storage is too far. Add/relocate a Root Cellar.
- Tax/Upkeep: Market income should exceed tower upkeep comfortably.
8) Common Traps and Clean Fixes
Over-harvesting deer: Rotate cabin work areas; don’t strip forests around them.
One giant field too early: It takes ages to build and maintain. Use multiple 5×5’s.
Infinite firewood spiral: Cap it. You need logs for planks and builds.
Noxious next to homes: Tannery/Cobbler/Smokehouse kill desirability. Segregate districts.
Unfiltered storage: Let food and non-food co-mingle and you’ll waste half a day walking. Filter cellars for perishables.
9) Tier 2 and Beyond — How to Scale Without Crashes
- Services cadence: School → Soap → Healer → Entertainment; add them before spikes in pop.
- Desirability lanes: Garden strips and a festival pole along housing roads to trigger upgrades and more tax.
- Heavy Industry (once tools secured):
Iron + Coal/Charcoal → Ingots → Tools/Weapons; Bricks for upgrades; Gold smelting for cash. - Food for hundreds:
Bread as your staple; Livestock for milk/cheese (36-month shelf life) plus meat/hide/tallow overflow.
10) One-Page Session Plan (Printable)
Open
Mark 4–8 trees → Firewood Splitter (cap ~200)
6 Shelters in future market radius → Well
2 Food buildings (hunt/fish/forage) → Smokehouse → Root Cellar (food-only)
Stabilize
Stockyard + Saw Pit → Storehouse (non-food) + second Root Cellar (food)
Market (2 workers) → Cobbler/Tannery + Fletcher + Basket Shop
Grow
First 5×5 field → Maintenance/Clover as needed → Apiary (fenced if bears)
Two Lookout Towers + short palisade around TC/storage/market
Trading Post → Buy Heavy Tools; sell pottery/candles/linen/smoked
Scale
Add fields, second food chain (clay/bee/textile), soap when herbs appear
Gardens + festival pole for housing upgrades
Plan grain → granary → mill → bakery or start livestock