How to min max the game during the day, night and gain resources more efficiently. Basic Guide & Tips Hey everyone, I have been playing the ALPHA and now the BETA and have made a very quick guide to help everyone survive. I only have 20+ hours into the game and I love it! So because of this I plan on updating this as and when new updates are released. SQUADS - Aim for 3 squads early on, 2 squads will be full with pistols and 1 will have 2 pistols and 2 machetes. Can loot faster. SCAVENGING - When scavenging, don't loot for metal or brick on the first and second day, scavenge only wood as the first few buildings you will need to adapt only need wood. Until you get some form of production, factories and weapons will need metal and/or tools. NOTE: If you need to build towers, from the 3rd day, only build metal towers and gates at a bare minimum. LOOTING PRIORITIES - Use 1 squad to loot close gun shops and/or police stations, the other 2 to look for food and nearby buildings. Use the squad that only has 2 pistols to loot the gun shops and police stations. Once all CLOSE TO HQ are looted, loot agricultural building and teaching facilities. - The first aid kits are usable but are done manually however they have now added the medical bay which makes this easier. Search for fuel is your fuel amount is 4.0 or less. This should give you enough of a surplus. - You need to find agricultural equipment and tools as early as possible to start construction of farms before the first winter arrives. USE TIME WISELY USE TIME WISELY - Keep an eye on the time, aim to have all of your squads back at HQ and surrounding buildings an hour before sundown. If you have a vehicle, you can use this at night to keep looting as it can move much faster than the zombies however in the new BETA versions, zombie hordes could be a problem but this strategy is situational. NOTE: Every location is different and seasons affect the time of sundown. If you hover over the time, you can see when sundown and sunrise is to min-max your time looting and scavenging. TOWERS - When towers are built, they automatically pick the pistol. If you do not have 2 pistols or 2 automatic weapons, you MUST select the bow and arrow. If you do not, the tower will not attack incoming zombies. - NOTE: As someone previously commented, ammo doesn't seem to refill all the time but they do fill up during the day when BELOW 100 rounds of ammunition. CARS - Cars are NEEDED to survive. The best car is the truck, has 6 fuel and 40 storage slots. The 2nd best car is the combi, it has 15 storage slots, 3500 points of damage and holds 3 fuel. The worst car is the Sedan, it has 10 storage slots, 3,000 points of damage and can hold 3 fuel. There is also the Tanker which carries large amounts of fuel. It holds 20 fuel and 4 storage, ideal for making a secondary HQ in a favourable location. - NOTE: The Sedan is quicker than all other cars and can be used to move quickly if an emergency arises. Worth having at least 1. FUEL - Fuel is also needed to run cars. You can use fuel from cars that you have no need for in the wild. If you have a pickup and see a car you don't control or want like a Sedan, you can take the fuel out of it and put it in your pickup. Easy way to obtain fuel. Also if you find the Tanker, and have no need for it, you could also take the fuel from this also. GUARDS - Guards are useless during the day except to defend against human enemies and during storms when the zombies are out. Use them to work on other things like scavenging, building, farming or cooking. - NOTE: They can't repair the tower during the day if there is nobody in the tower. Aim to have the guards in position an hour before sundown to get ensure they get back. INDIVIDUALS IN SQUADS - Give your 2nd, 3rd and 4th people in the squads assault rifles. When driving, the number 1 is ALWAYS the driver and WILL NOT USE their weapon. Placing automatic weapons on the other 3 will mean maximum damage output. - When you have enough weapons, the 1st and 2nd should have Assault Rifles, 3rd the Shotgun and 4th the Sniper Rifle, this means your squad is a jack of all trades and effective anywhere. - If you need certain squads for certain requirements, like clearing buildings of infected, you should only equip them with shotguns to clear them faster and easier. If you want an 'outpost' away from the HQ in the middle of nowhere with clear line of sight, it's worth having them with Sniper Rifles. - NOTE: I always have the 1st person with an Assault Rifle when I have the weapons as it helps with laying down an effective weapon for all situations. (If snipers have their building entered, you are at a massive disadvantage. If your squad of shotgunners are against a rival sniper unit, they will be ineffective until they are close enough to the enemy. FOOD - 1 can of food or 1 cooked meal supports 4 people a day. This includes the squads. If you start the game on normal with 40 people, you would need to find or create 10 food every day to survive. - NOTE: Farms provide 4 wheat, but with fertiliser that can be increased to 9. 2 Wheat and 1 wood creates 1 cooked meal. 20 wheat and 10 wood will create 10 meals. With this in mind, 5 farms should be enough to keep everyone fed. People will eat cooked meals before eating canned goods. A cannery will improve the shelf life of food. AUTO-SAVES - The game auto-saves every 12 in game hours. At 06:00 and 18:00. Because of this, the potential to reset the night if it is too disastrous is there. Simply reload the auto-save for 18:00. WOOD - Wood is limited, trees in the current build will NOT respawn. Buildings can be deconstructed for wood, brick and metals and will respawn when loading a save. AMMO SAVING - You can save ammo by using bows in towers. GATES - Gates are only good as focus point for zombies also having 4 guards on it counts as a tower, but this also means 4 weapons. Early on a tower behind the gate just in range is a good idea, this with a couple of Sniper Rifles makes it a great place to support the gate. RESEARCH - You can generate research points by having your people in a research centre. Looting buildings with knowledge means an immediate gain in research books. Sorry I haven't updated this, recently bought a new house and moving into it soon. Once that's sorted I will be making a video along with updating this guide. I hope that this helps people in the current build of the ALPHA version of the game. Anything that you have found that can be useful, please add in the comments and I will add it to this list. I will be creating a video on my YouTube channel to highlight these points. Many thanks!