My strategy for the first days (worked every time since version 1.08):
- Do the first quest to get the camel pack, fill it up and equip it.
- Dig a 2 deep trench around the ship (with your bare hands) approx. 24x24
- Use the remainder of day (not a lot!) to build a wall on the inside of the trench
- Do a few more quests to get the birch sapling and start growing it.
- Keep an eye out for spiders!
- Sieve dust to get enough stones (24 for a slab furnace)
- Switch to sears asap
- I never use the transposer for water except for a few quest, I push for the crucible
Sometimes I do not melt the leaves fast enough and I need to boil dirty water but on average a single crucible (over lava) supports me forever. In fact I am still using a single crucible (approaching day 100), but now I generate the leaves with the planter/harvester combo.
First day
-Grab wrench
-Pick up both fluid trandsposers from the ship
- go outside pick up two dust
-turn in all quests and pick easy/hard (I've been choosing easy)
-make dirty water with the dirt
-turn in that quest and the following
- plant the dirt and a tree
-add bonemeal and grow
- I cut down two wood to make a crafting table and a crook
-I crook the leaves and cut the tree
- make another tree
-crook until you get a silk worm
-if there's more than half the tree leaves left when I have a silk worm which I normally do I infect the leaves
-I then make the tinker's construct tables and make a bone shovel (watch shift clicking here least you end up with 30 shovel heads LOL)
-I dig a trench around the ship at least 2 deep. If I found the silk worm early I will (when near the ship) block off the outside of the fuel cell but this is optional. once I get around the ship I check the leaves and see where the infection has spread.
-I crook the leaves and gather saplings and string.
-once you have 12 string and 3 wood planks you make a bed and by this time if you've been quick and lucky you have a bed and a lot of dust
Sleep and avoid the onrush of enemies
-following the few basic quests you can make dirt.
-sift dirt to get grass seed. I made a 5x5 area of dirt and sifted, planted and spread grass. Bonemeal grass for a ton of fruits and plants. I had a whole orchard by the end of day 5. I have peaches, lemons, walnuts, rice, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, you name it I probably have a plant for it. the fruit gives you some water and helps with hunger. Lets you focus on growing oak trees and sheering leaves for the cruicible or collecting saplings for the fluid transposer or even heck you can make dirt and turn into dirty water. There tons of options.