New player-Starving to death

[ChadK 0]

Hi all, downloaded the game earlier, gave it a run out, think it could be quite fun once I get into it properly, came across a few players today which made the game better. However, this is all short lived as I keep starving to death! I've read tips like get off coast etc, but I'm not finding any food in houses, and these supposed "apple trees", someone needs to water them because they are producing nothing at all. Am I missing something obvious? 

[Kean__1 144]

The coast is where I usually find the most food quickly (the boats) but yeah, you can be an easy target for those looking to exploit the most vulnerable.  When I used to play in public servers I wouldn't try to make it obvious where I was at by running out in the open. I would use cover where possible by moving along the tree lines, etc. 

Zombies can also be a better source than most other places for food IME.

You can also find fishing gear at the boats and then work your way to a water source that is more secluded if you're concerned about hanging around the coast.

[Anwah 55]

Like Kean said, you want to fight Zombies, and check the boats on the shore and Meeting up with people can be fun but its a 50/50 exchange. I find people to be the best part of the game but also one of the worst parts lol  usually you want to approach them at  your own terms and make sure you dont stand still because Some of us are crafty lol and will get you lined up for an ambush with general ease. 

[ChadK 0]

Thanks for the tips, maybe I'll try a different server maybe less people in it, I've just done 2 play throughs, still found no food, all the boats at the beaches are empty, run through whole orchards not a single apple, and the most I found on a zombie was a rucksack. You think less busy server could do the trick? 

 

[Kean__1 144]

2 hours ago, ChadK said:

Thanks for the tips, maybe I'll try a different server maybe less people in it, I've just done 2 play throughs, still found no food, all the boats at the beaches are empty, run through whole orchards not a single apple, and the most I found on a zombie was a rucksack. You think less busy server could do the trick? 

 

Well, if someone else had just been through the area that could be one reason there is nothing there for you to grab.  ......another reason Z's are a good source sometimes for gear and food.  

You might want to consider a community server where they have rules.  ....but yeah, you may have better luck on a less populated server in regard to locating items.  Less chance of others looting areas that you will be in.  

[Parazight 1599]

Wander a dirt road.  Make a stone knife out of rocks.  Kill a chicken.  Carve some hooks out of the bones. Dig up some worms.  Craft a fishing pole. Go fishing.  Build a fire, cook your food.  Try not to run a lot.  Requires only ambient spawns and 0 'regular' loot.

I don't think fruit is spawning right now.

[Trev_Bash 9]

As a fellow noob I've found the food finding system a bit hit and miss. Sometimes there is plenty to be found - apples, pears, plums, elderberries, mushrooms and various tins all over the place, in backpacks, zombies pockets etc. Other times, for some unknown reason there is nothing at all to be found anywhere. Yesterday I had worked my way inland and had to quit. I respawned/rejoined the same server today in exactly the same place but suddenly I couldn't find anything at all to eat. The orchards were all empty and there were just a few rotten pears which made me sick, they don't always. Presumably another player had done the rounds just before me and there was nothing to be found. Yesterday I had plenty of everything but today the food disappeared and so I ate what little I had while I searched and then I died... 

As for live food, I've killed chickens several times but once they're dead I can't pick them up or get them to appear on the inventory so I can't cook and/or eat them. Any advice with live/dead animals would be most welcome.

I've found that other players/zombies etc can be a problem (but often avoidable) whereas lack of food is a real problem. To die just through lack of food annoys me most...

[Kean__1 144]

3 hours ago, Trev_Bash said:

As for live food, I've killed chickens several times but once they're dead I can't pick them up or get them to appear on the inventory so I can't cook and/or eat them. Any advice with live/dead animals would be most welcome.

I believe you have to butcher the chicken first before you can bring those components into your inventory (e g. meat, bone, etc ). 

Fish you can grab straight away when caught. However, if you want to cook it, you have to gut it first before you can put it on a stick.

Also, remember that you need to clean your hands after butchering. IIRC, you can go down to the waters edge an and action will then be available to do this. .....or you should be able to use a disenfectant spray, etc. I believe you can also use gloves and then take them off after you're done. 

I haven't spent much time experimenting with germs as I obviously didn't want to get sick. I don't think fish will make you ill though after handling. ....but I used disenfectant spray on my gloves, etc. just in case.  There was no prompt to wash my hands after gutting when I walked up to the shoreline.

[Trev_Bash 9]

Sometimes this game is weird. Had a Livonia game earlier today and there was nothing at all to be found. Tried everywhere and just couldn't avoid starving to death.

Had another Livonia game on a different server. Spawned in the dark and pouring rain and a thunderstorm, bad news 😞. Decided to followed power lines for miles and miles, eventually found a house with one tomato on the table. It kept me alive while I crept around in the dark and then I stumbled into a tomato garden. I took only what I needed then in daylight I hit the town and found plenty of supplies and food no problem BUT nothing in any orchard.

It's just strange how it varies from game to game...

[Kean__1 144]

4 minutes ago, Trev_Bash said:

Sometimes this game is weird. Had a Livonia game earlier today and there was nothing at all to be found. Tried everywhere and just couldn't avoid starving to death.

Had another Livonia game on a different server. Spawned in the dark and pouring rain and a thunderstorm, bad news 😞. Decided to followed power lines for miles and miles, eventually found a house with one tomato on the table. It kept me alive while I crept around in the dark and then I stumbled into a tomato garden. I took only what I needed then in daylight I hit the town and found plenty of supplies and food no problem BUT nothing in any orchard.

It's just strange how it varies from game to game...

Yeah, it's weird.  In Chenarus, it's feast or famine sometimes.  The spawns also seem to follow a pattern.  You can see this especially in rows of garages, barracks, military tents, boats, etc.  I find a particular item in one (e.g. a compass, water bottle, fuel can, dry bag, food cans, etc.) and then I'm bound to find several from those same sources as well.  Car parts, equipment, weaps / accs, flashlights, finshing poles/hooks, etc.

I hear Livonia is much worse in regard to food items spawning.  I'll wager I would be doing a lot more hunting and fishing to support my character's needs.  

btw, if you find a cooking pot, you can use it to carry water and drink from. Its capacity is equivalent to 2 plastic bottles IIRC.  You can also store items in it up to 12 spaces even while it has water so you don't waste space.  I use these in a pinch until I can find more bottles and eventually canteens.

Should be easier when the iZurvive app is updated to include Livonia.  As it stands right now, I don't think they include that map yet but are working on it.  

[generalmayhem 29]

When I first came to consul i had quite a few issues with food and drink. A different approach to my game and some advice from others on here and I now quickly top up with food and drink. Study the I Zurvive Maps and you will see lots of fruit trees on the side of roads and tracks and are a great way to keep your food topped up around the map. It was only a few weeks ago I was struggling but it is now never an issue.

[Trev_Bash 9]

How are things going foodwise @ChadK ?

On Livonia I have worked my way from Kolembrody to Brena then across to the airfield at Gliniska and then into Gliniska itself. So far there seems to be no shortage of food and drink (and weapons/ammo) and tbh I'm probably the best fed and equipped that I ever have been in the game. Still a distinct lack of fruit for some reason. I have been using a map and that really does help even without a compass. I'm now in the prison at Kopa. It seemed like a good idea at the time but there is no food here so hopefully my lucky food finding streak will return when I move on to the next village.

Edited January 1, 2020 by Trev_Bash
text correction

[Anwah 55]

fruit is spawning , I think they tweaked everything its almost kinda like partially hardcore but if you are on a populated server with healthy activity usually the shore is picked clean in certain places,  just walk, which trust me is a hard task these days. 

[EzyStriderPS4 191]

I love reading all of this! Everything is working properly and is highly dynamic.

[Kean__1 144]

1 hour ago, EzyStriderPS4 said:

I love reading all of this! Everything is working properly and is highly dynamic.

I just wish it were more randomized in its selection of what it spawns. On our private server I've come across literally more than a dozen skull balaclavas(?) for instance over several days. ....or items like compasses.

[Trev_Bash 9]

Waaah, how can things go from being so good to so bad so quickly?

More than enough food, more than enough weapons and ammo, unfortunately not enough care. Step out from a building and get wasted in a spray of lead... game over...

hmm, where next? and who's now eating all of my cans of food? 

[GeordieMarv 293]

Can we please have the ability to pickup dead chickens and put them in our hands or in our inventory??

There has been many times i'm starving to death, killed a chicken and then realise I have no knife. So I have to leave the chicken, and then when i'm some way from the chicken I find a knife and then can't remember where I killed it, and I can't find another.

Not to mention the comedy element of beating someone to death with a dead chicken, would be amazing.

 

[supernick 33]

mmmmh i don't eat fruit since last patch: maybe i was unluck, but those i found were all infected and get me sick.

About food, try follow these steps

1) go in a city/town if born in wild area, jump in other server then come back. main goals: open canister, water bottle, canned food (house or zombie)

2) eat and drink until stomach full icon appear, then have some food in stock, then start looking for portable gas stove, gas container (large is best of course) , cooking pot. kill some animal (chicken, sheep, pig) and store in the pot. 

Now you can manage food/drink threat