Getting Started

Getting Started in RimWorld

Welcome to the RimWorld! This guide will walk you through your first hour, explain essential mechanics, and help you avoid common pitfalls. By the end, you'll have a thriving colony (or at least one that isn't burning down).

1. First Hour Walkthrough

Your first hour should follow this sequence:

1. Choose a scenario: Start with the default "Crashlanded" scenario. It gives you three pawns, some supplies, and a straightforward goal.
2. Select your storyteller: Pick "Cassandra Classic" on "Community Builder" or "Adventure Story" difficulty. Avoid Randy Random and high difficulties until you learn the ropes.
3. Generate the world: Accept the random world for now. You can adjust temperature to a temperate forest for easier survival.
4. Land your colonists: Immediately pause the game (Spacebar or Pause key). Survey your landing zone.
5. Prioritize shelter and food: Unpause, immediately designate a small room (say 5x5) with sleeping spots, a campfire, and a stockpile for food and materials.
6. Gather resources: Cut trees for wood, mine shallow steel and stone chunks, collect berries and healroot (if available).
7. Build a basic structure: Use wood walls and a wooden door. Build a roof (you need 60% of roof coverage to be fully roofed). Don't build roof too large initially.
8. Plant rice: Sow rice in fertile soil (the darker patch) near water. This is your fastest food source.
9. Create a storage zone: Make a stockpile room or zone for food, wood, steel, and weapons.
10. Manage mood: Keep pawns fed, rested, and warm. Build a horseshoe pin for recreation. Avoid corpse exposure.

2. Character Creation (Pawn Selection)

RimWorld doesn't have traditional character creation. You start with three randomly generated pawns (colonists) from the crash. You can re-roll them (the dice icon) or accept. Key traits to look for:

• Positive: Industrious, Fast Learner, Brawler (for fighters), Tough, Green Thumb (for growers).


• Negative: Pyromaniac, Wimp, Depressive, Chemical Fascination, Gourmand (these cause severe problems).


• Skills: Prioritize pawns with high Construction, Growing, and Shooting (for defense). Cooking and Crafting also valuable. Avoid pawns with major skill deficits (e.g., 0 construction makes them useless until trained).


Tip: You can choose pawns from a scenario editor, but for first game, skip rerolls if all three have a mix of good traits and no major health conditions (like missing limbs or dementia).



3. Controls on All Platforms




• PC (Keyboard & Mouse) :

- Left-click to select, right-click to issue context actions.
- Drag to select multiple pawns.
- Scroll wheel to zoom in/out.
- Pause: Spacebar or Pause key.
- Time speed: 1 (normal), 2 (fast), 3 (super fast) – use 2 or 3 only when safe (no threats).
- Architect menu: Bottom bar tabs (Structure, Production, etc.).
- Orders: Bottom bar icons for work priorities, zone, etc.
- Hotkeys: Q/E to rotate buildings, F1 for help, Tab to toggle draft mode.


• Console (Xbox/PlayStation) :

- Left stick moves cursor, right stick pans/zoom.
- A (Xbox) or X (PlayStation) to select, B/O to cancel.
- Use triggers to cycle time speeds.
- D-pad for quick menus.
- Pause with Menu button (Options).


• Mac/Linux: Same as PC; keyboard layout matches standard QWERTY.




4. UI Overview



The main interface:


• Bottom bar: Left side – colonists portraits with health/mood icons. Right side – architect menu tabs (select building categories). Click a tab to see submenus.


• Top bar: Resources (wood, steel, food, etc.), silver, population, date, and time speed controls.


• Right side: Selected object info panel – shows stats, health, needs of selected pawn or building.


• Left side (PC): Work priorities tab (F key default) to assign jobs.


• Notifications: Top-right corner; click to review alerts (e.g., "Colonist needs food" or "Raid imminent").




5. Essential Early Objectives (Day 1–3)



1. Survival: Keep pawns fed, warm/cool, and safe from predators.
2. Base foundation: Build a small barracks (shelter) with sleeping spots (not beds yet), a campfire for cooking and warmth, and a wall around materials.
3. Food production: Plant 20–30 rice tiles immediately. Forage berries and hunt small animals (deer, rabbits) with caution (avoid megasloth or bear).
4. Storage: Create a zone for food (raw vegetables, meals) and a separate one for wood/steel.
5. Defense: Build a perimeter wall or at least chunk barricades. Designate a zone for shooting practice (optional).
6. Research: Start research on "Solar Panels" (or "Batteries") for power, or "Rice" (to improve crops) – your choice, but batteries+solar panels unlock consistent electricity.
7. Mood management: Build a table and chairs so colonists can eat without penalty. Place a horseshoe pin or a poker table for recreation.



6. What to Do First and What to Avoid



First steps (immediately after landing) :

• Pause and evaluate map: locate fertile soil, steam geysers, nearby wildlife.


• Create a 4x3 room for storage (walls and roof).


• Build a campfire inside a small room (or outside but under roof).


• Designate sleeping spots for each colonist.


• Draft a colonist to hunt nearby harmless animals (e.g., rabbits, squirrels) if safe.


Avoid:

• Building with wood near fire: Flammable! Keep sparks from campfires away from wooden walls. Use stone walls for fireproofing later.


• Over-expansion: Don't build large structures early. Keep everything compact.


• Leaving ammunition or explosives in the open (if you have them).


• Neutral or hostile animal attacks: Don't hunt predators unless forced.


• Ignoring mood: If a colonist is unhappy, check their needs – often food, rest, or comfort. Give them a good meal (simple meals) and warm clothes.


• Researching high-tech early: Skip "Microelectronics" until you have basics covered.

7. Early Resource Priorities

List in order of importance:

8. Common Beginner Mistakes

• Not pausing enough: Think before acting! Pause often, especially during events.


• Building a huge unfinished room: It wastes resources and colonists work on it forever. Start small.


• Ignore temperature: Colonists freeze or overheat without proper heating/cooling in their rooms. Use campfires (heat) or passive coolers (cooling) early. Later, electric heaters/ AC.


• Lack of food: Focus on planting on day 1. Rice grows quickly (3–4 days).


• Lack of medicine: Tend wounds with herbal medicine. For infections, use industrial medicine if available.


• Fighting without cover: Draft colonist into rock chunks or sandbags. Don't rush into melee with unarmed pawns.


• Neglecting joy/recreation: Colonists need fun or they break. Place a horseshoe pin, chess table, or collect some art.


• Relying on hunting for food: It depletes wildlife. Planting and cooking meals is sustainable.


• Building bedrooms before basic shelter: Everyone sleeps on floor initially. That's fine.




9. Clear Day-One Checklist



_Immediately after unpausing (after you pause upon landing)_:


• [ ] Pause the game.


• [ ] Assign all three colonists to basic tasks:

- One to construction (create stockpile and walls).
- One to growing (plant rice in fertile soil).
- One to hunting (only safe animals) or gathering berries.

• [ ] Designate a small room (7x5 or 5x5) for sleeping and storage.


• [ ] Build a wood wall (4–5 squares long) as starting structure.


• [ ] Place sleeping spots inside for each colonist.


• [ ] Build a campfire inside/outside but under roof.


• [ ] Create a stockpile zone for food, wood, steel (inside the room).


• [ ] Issue a harvesting order for any nearby wild berries/herbs.


• [ ] If available, mine a few steel chunks for tools.


• [ ] Set work priorities: Everyone should have Construction, Growing, and Firefighting as 1 or 2. Decrease Cleaning priority.


• [ ] Check pawns' needs: Feed them if they are hungry (right-click on raw food or berries to eat).


• [ ] Wait for events (like a wild animal or trader) – keep game at speed 1 until basic shelter is built.


• [ ] End of day: Ensure all pawns have a safe spot to sleep (even on ground). They will sleep outdoors if not.


• [ ] Save the game (F5 or pause menu).

Pro tip: If you start with a constructor, have them build a research table on day 2. This unlocks electricity quickly.

Remember: RimWorld is a story generator – failures are part of the experience. Learn from each catastrophic colonist death or fire. Happy colonizing!