I also found a farmstead with a river quite close next to it. Are rivers safe sources of water do drink from, or do I need to purify/heat that too? It's a real chore having to clean water without having any carboys for mass storage.
Water that hasnt been purifyed has a change of giving you food poisoning. Unfortantly boiling it and putting in cayboys or jerrycans is the best way of doing it. You can also fill bottles with it but obviously it doesnt hold nearly as much as a jerrycan.
Another thing, is it possible to start fires without needing lighters? Any Bear Gryllian way of starting cheap fires?
You need a lighter to start fires.
Another final thing, is it possible to mass move items lying on the ground? I chopped down some trees and those logs are all nice and dandy, but my guy isn't named The Hulk and I can't put them all in his backpack. Can I mass move those logs somewhere else or am I forced to carry one at a time?
Nope, the only way you can move more is by getting more clothing to increase your volume. When moving things, your weight limit doesn’t really matter. If you go over it then you will just move slower so it all comes down to what you are wearing.
Does anyone have some general survival tips when you managed to survive the first day and got out of town?
Archery. Archery is a fantastic skill for surviving out in the wild. Once you get a bow you have effectly unlimited ammo for it since you can carve wood into 10 arrows. With high enough archery you will have a silent weapon that can take out all kinds of zombies (skeletons are immune to arrows it seems. Brutes and Hulks will pose problems untill you get decently high archery) Another thing you can do once you get stronger is make a lot of beef jerky after you raid a lab and get a bunch of salt water. Jerky is easy to make and a good fall back food if you are stuck in your home due to rain and your cooked meat is spoiled.
I recommend making another trip into town at night and trying to get a lighter and some jerrycans/carboys. If you get carboys with another liquid already in them (bleach or amonnia) you can dump it on the ground. I suggest you hit up some sport goods stores (wood axe, wood saw, hammer, lighter, pot/frying pan, bow), clothing store (backpacks, trench coat, cargo pants, army pants, messenger bag, purse, military rucksack), gas station (jerry cans), and a library (all the books you can carry). Once you get all of that you can effectively stay out in the wild and level up your skills as long as you want.
Another way you can get an unlimited ranged weapon is by just making wooden spears and leveling your throwing. You can level your throwing by just tossing spears at a wall and while out getting delicious squrrel meat.
Lastly, if you don’t like skill rust you can turn it off in the options menu (press ?). Some people might consider this cheating in a sense but I don’t like playing with skill rust.
