No islands

[Daisy Kowalczykowski 0]

i guess it's not a bug but it is an issue, i've started over twice now after sailing for hours irl, days in-game, and haven't come across any land mass other than the starter island. Perhaps the ocean is too big for the map, or land is too shallow to find islands. i don't know but it's an issue that's taking the fun out of it. People tell me follow the birds, i see no berds, and the land below water has hills but none quite large enough to stick out the water.

[handofthesly 214]

Strange that you aren't seeing any birds, they normally indicate another island.

Also, have you crafted a Map so you can see where you have been?

Edited December 7, 2017 by handofthesly

[Wizza 11]

I had this issue too but after following my compass back towards my original yland I found birds and followed them. They are there but going in one direction didn't seem to work for me, try heading home.

[Daisy Kowalczykowski 0]

No i did not have a map made i just stayed on the same course for hours, aproximately. some people on youtube travel for a bit and boom another island, map showing a whole cluster. am i just having bad luck with maps?

[kimbuck 746]

try  ( using compass  as a guide)  sailing    first  north    for a while  then   east.  then  south     then  west  then   north back  home ...around   your  home  island.   Plot your  course  manually on a piece of paper  nearby... and    mark  dots  where you see birds   etc.  Then when you have  surveyed   all around your  island,  mount  an  exploration  expedition  to where you saw any birds.

Some   islands are  far  away ...i   have found  2  within  sight of  each other!   Note which are  polar  and which are  temperate   or  tropical ...  it will give  you an idea  where to  search.

If no luck  ,  sail in   ever increasing  circuits of your  home   island...    they are there  (  you are not alone....) ..it  just takes  patience

 

[Weizarred 1]

I had this same issue earlier today. Sailed for 3 days in-game, straight west from my starting island, without seeing a single bird. Got so boring and frustrating that I had to give up on playing. It's hard to go back into that game not knowing whether I'm just having extremely bad luck or something glitchy is going on. Have you at least seen sharks? I encountered literally nothing other than one passing rainstorm, and had the same deal where if I peaked underwater I could see mountains but nothing ever reaching above sea-level.

Any info on approximately how long it should take to sail across the world in a raft, or how the map edges are handled (i.e. does it loop around or are there invisible edges?) would be helpful, but this was a really discouraging experience for me in terms of the exploration aspect of the game, which is what I'm the most interested in.

[Gracekain 86]

You first need to check the skies for birds.  The birds travel between islands.  If you do not see birds then travel around the island until you do.

[handofthesly 214]

In my experience, sailing in one single direction for ages is not the best method for finding new islands.

Normally I climb to the highest peak on my spawn island and look for birds. However, I've always been able to see birds so I know which direction to start sailing in.

In this picture you can just see 2 birds in the distance, I sailed that direction and found 2 separate islands.

[kimbuck 746]

in my game  i  found the  islands in a  chain running  from  nw   to  se    ...  roughly.  with a  couple  offset to  either side.    If  you  are sailing in a straight  line and   see no  birds ...  try  zig...zagging.  I  actually   sailed in a straight  line  between  2  islands an didn't see them...only  discovered them on  my return  trip.

4 hours ago, handofthesly said:

In my experience, sailing in one single direction for ages is not the best method for finding new islands.

Normally I climb to the highest peak on my spawn island and look for birds. However, I've always been able to see birds so I know which direction to start sailing in.

In this picture you can just see 2 birds in the distance, I sailed that direction and found 2 separate islands.

 

[Daisy Kowalczykowski 0]

i will try to spot some birds from up on a hill then, fingers crossed. but once i'm on the water i see no birds flying. ty everyone for the tips

[InvictusESP 34]

Try to sail until the island is not loaded, but do not go further. Then check for other birds (sometimes I have trouble too for seeing other birds from an island).

[Daisy Kowalczykowski 0]

started over again, starved again after like e 12 days ingame on the ocean

atleast i finally spawned on a tropical island so i'll stay here atleast till i can find clay and make a map

[kimbuck 746]

4 hours ago, InvictusESP said:

Try to sail until the island is not loaded, but do not go further. Then check for other birds (sometimes I have trouble too for seeing other birds from an island).

This is the  best idea  ....   the  islands are  really  not that far away and  if you do not  reach one in one  "yland day" then you are headed in the wrong direction. I have  found  island  in sight of  each other...like a  figure "8" on a map ...another island was a cluster of small islands surrounded by shoals and  difficult to navigate through.   Firstly  i   suggest you do as  invictus  says ... look  for where the birds are  heading  on your  spawn island  then   sail around your  island  with it  just  out of  load distance, looking for  birds as a guide. 

Also   craft a map ... you will need  pencil  ..paper   and place the map in a  dynamic  slot on  your  toolbar. Sailing is  easier now   that there is a compass...   in early  days before the compass  was available,  it was easy to get lost!

 

[Dustin Michael 22]

This will give you an idea how close islands are to each other. With a ship that has 2 large sails and a normal one I can bounce for island to island that are close to each other in about 5 minutes. All Maps are different but they all will fit in this same rectangle. 

[Corman2008 0]

I have been sailing for a very long time in a very fast ship with 5 sails. I have not seen one island....i have been in blizzards storms but no birds and it's so bad I can't event find my own way back home