I need help...

[Gman899 0]

I have sailed in every direction and cnanot find more than one island.  I have legit so much map unlocked with noly 2 islands one is the starter.  Plz help.

[Dustin Michael 22]

20 minutes ago, Gman899 said:

I have sailed in every direction and cnanot find more than one island.  I have legit so much map unlocked with noly 2 islands one is the starter.  Plz help.

go back to an island and start circling it. when you see birds in the distance follow them and that will lead you to another island. 

[vforventura 17]

Yeah, birds act as sort of ship beacons for finding other islands. They'll always fly in a straight line back and forth between two islands.

Keep in mind that its not the low-flying seagulls / vultures that you need to keep an eye out for, its birds super high in the sky, waaaay out of reach. If you can, try to find some high, central-ish mountain in the islands you have discovered, and look up and around from that point, moving the camera in a circle to cover every direction and keeping the sea horizon like just on the very bottom of your screen, and you should be able to spot a few. It could take a few minutes if they're all currently going to another island (or back from it) and out of loading range, so it pays to have some patience there.

Once you spot one, observe it for a bit until you're pretty sure that its traveling in a straight line and not circling over the islands you're currently on, and then take note of the direction its going in, or if you can, go back to your ship and start following it.

They always fly in a straight line from the center of one island to the center of another island, so once you know what direction they're going, its not hard to find those islands. It just takes some patience to wait for the birds to show up if they're not currently at your island.

[SteamMonkey 0]

My first playthrough I had trouble finding the birds. there were NONE visible from the coastline of my island anywhere. I ended up making a little boat and circling the island while slowly getting further and further from shore. I eventually found 1 bird, followed them to an island and the next one had a couple of birds I could see from it, etc. That first one was just a pain. 

The render distance is sort of... bad. You can sail a circle around an island and never see it, look on the map and never see it, get 2 feet closer and bam, it pops up. To get an idea of how far you can see, load up a map and look at how big the circle that is revealed is, on a ship, the render distance is ~twice that from what I can tell. That will help you figure out where your blindspots are. 

 

[V-Alfred 367]

4 hours ago, Gman899 said:

I have sailed in every direction and cnanot find more than one island.

This is based on my thought. The most easiest way to find islands is following bird that flying high between islands. Try to increase the level of detail on video setting, because currently 'view distance' is depends on level of detail. Thats make you need to be in range to be able to see the bird that flying high between island. I could be wrong, but nothing wrong to try out if you're in medium/low setting. 

Edited December 13, 2017 by Velocifer

[handofthesly 214]

Maybe it’s an unlucky map? I’ve also found travelling East and West more successful than going North and South

[vforventura 17]

Sailing randomly is just a poor idea under any circumstance, just like in real life. Its even worse in game because there are no particularly large landmasses, like continents and such, for you to eventually reach, so without at least some bearings, its very hard to actually find land. You could sail right between islands even if you go in the correct general direction and, as rendering distance in game isn't particularly forgiving, you could miss seeing the islands by just a few inches.

The birds are there to solve all of those problems: they're rendered from much, much farther away than the land (if you have good eyes and clear weather, and a clean monitor, you can spot 'em even when they're just a tiny little dot on the horizon) and they always give you the correct bearings for land.

Could you find land by sailing randomly? Sure, but there's a lot more water than there is land, since all maps are capped at a maximum of 12 randomly distributed islands (minimum is 8 I believe? how many you get depends on the seed, apparently, tho I've yet to get a map with less than 12 personally). The 'pick a random direction and sail' approach, be it in a straight line or zig-zag  pattern, is just foolish unless you want to avoid following birds for a sense of realism or roleplay or whatever it is. The birds are there, in every island, and in every game, precisely for the purpose of guiding you to new islands. If you're having trouble seeing them, just sit there more or less in the middle of your current island, preferably at a high spot so that terrain doesn't get in the way of your bird spotting, and wait for them to show up.

They take time to travel between islands, so you may need to wait 5-10 minutes, depending on distance, for them to show up, but they will show up eventually. That's why its a good idea to start looking for them as soon as the sun comes up, they're very hard to see in heavy storms (but not normal rain / snow), fog and at night, but very easy to see in clear weather with daylight.

Every island that I've found so far, had bird connections to at least two other islands but I suppose particularly remote ones might get only one connection. Regardless, all islands will be connected to the bird network, and the vast majority of islands will have two or more connections, so with a little patience its pretty easy (even if it takes a few in-game days) to find all the (probably 12) islands in your map. Its only 'hard' the first time you try to do it, once you follow your first bird you'll know what to expect, what you're looking for, and how the birds behave, and then its easy from that point forward.

Also, always carry a map. Easiest way to craft one, even at early game, would be to take 1 piece of leather crafted into a leather sheet, then one charcoal and one stick crafted with a knife into a pencil, and then you can craft a map combining both. The only slightly tricky thing might be getting a few bits of clay to make into a kiln to make the charcoal, but still, super easy and very doable even on a fresh, day one spawn.

With a map and the bird-spotting technique described above, you can find all the islands and biomes in your game fairly easily with any mode of transportation, from rafts to propeller packs to large ships, with the only difference between those being speed and comfort, and also how much food you'll need per trip, a stack of 20 roasted fruits per island should be plenty with leftovers even with a raft. Also, if at all possible carry a couple pieces of fur clothing (usually jacket and pants are enough to keep you from freezing to death) in case you have to sail / fly thru very cold areas or snowstorms. To craft those you only need one pelt from a furry creature, like wolves and bears and such (two if its rabbit pelts) and a sewing kit.

Edited December 13, 2017 by vforventura