Every series I've seen is either A14, has mods, or the people playing it aren't really being very efficient/explaining their thought processes. Are there any videos/video series like that out there? I'm trying to learn to play well, but I've yet to find good videos like what I'm looking for. I know there are guides, but I would greatly prefer videos.
I still don't know when I should make a tailoring bench to start making clothes, or good research choices after stonecutting and gun turrets. :(
Thanks for the help.
Some streams aren't that heavily modded. Hapdude doesn't use mods. He is nice to listen to know and generally knows his stuff. But he doesn't always make the best choices even if everything runs fine.
Tailoring bench: depends on the climate. If it's very hot or very cold you should get one in early to make some cowboy hats or tuques. In temperate climate for example it's not essential right away. Unless maybe you have people naked. Raiders will usually have some passable clothing that you can get by with for a while. But in harsh temperatures you want good hats because they give a lot of temperature protection (if made out of wool!) and are quick to make.
Research: geothermal power if you have vents and need power. Smithing -> machining if you want armor or weapons and have a good crafter (weapons take a long time though). Explosive IEDs can be very useful against crashed ships. Especially when you don't have many decent weapons. Electric smelting -> electric crematorium is useful once raids become larger.
You can't go wrong with the microelectronics research. Allows you to get in touch with other factions (on-demand trade, reinforcements, etc) and orbital traders. Plus, you get access to the upgraded research bench, so everything else is unlocked quicker.
I don't know about youtubers.
I can give some general advice re youtube. Search and filter for playlists and look for playlists with many episodes. Idea being that if they lasted a decent amount of time, then they are probably pretty good. Also check results well beyond the first page; youtube seems to heavily favor certain channels, which are almost always from mediocre at best players -- not sure why, but it just seems to be.
Could always watch Northernlion's A15 series. He's pretty great about explaining his thought processes. Now, this is the important part, he's wrong 99% of the time, so if you are trying to play well, just do the opposite of what he does (and/or read the comments on his videos).
Try these Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw8xXEJ0p21dN7hKEL1IvpG6wpq1OWAIo
Greystillplays has the most haphazzard base layouts I've ever seen. Most of the people doing lets plays don't have a clue how basic things work in the game either. They just charge in without any research and play, which most of the time is what makes them fun to watch. So I would rarely watch these videos for effective strategies as they are more trying to be entertaining.
Don't mean to self advertise... Well maybe :P.
But if you don't mind live stuff, I stream on Extreme Cassandra with no mods (besides pet naming). I talk through what I'm thinking most of the time but it depends. Planning on doing Youtube guides at some stage too.
You can find me here: https://www.twitch.tv/ledge_g2
I'm a fairly new streamer so I'm open to feedback and getting better (at the game and streaming).
I'm in my last stage of thesis writing so probably wont be live until after the 21st Oct though, but you can still check out the twitch archive if you want :).
Goodluck!