This is just a quick, small guide on how to navigate and proceed in the game, since there are no in-game tutorials and no in-game chat to ask for help.

IMPORTANT: Animals in Meadow have different speeds. This means that the faster ones will get to the obelisks faster, break it...and the slower ones will be unable to pick up the pieces because they were too slow.

same for flowers and crystals about the map. If you pick it up, and someone else is too far away, it will disappear for them. Wait for the group before grabbing things!

Tips:

• Mouse2 is the CENTER button on a mouse
  
  
• Turning Nametags On/Off : CTRL + Alt
  

Groves are different servers on the main server. So EU Grove 1 is the first grove on the Europe server, while West Grove 2 is the 2nd Grove on West server, etc.

In the bottom left corner of the Den, you will see Grove 1, and arrows to cycle to the next tone, with how many people are on it.

To switch groves, click the arrow to the one you want.

From top left and on, the basic meanings:

? - Question / What's the Matter / What are we doing
! - Exclamation Point / I see something
Arrow - Straight ahead / That direction
Check - Yes / Okay
X - No / cannot do that
Trail - Follow me
Tree - Going to Center Tree
Cave - Cave ahead / let's go to the cave
Stairs - Let's climb / we need to climb / go uphill
Party: SLow Down / Regroup - Need more animals / want to join us / slow down
Crystal - I see a Crystal! / Crystal over there
Flower - I see a flower! / Flower over there
Obelisk - Obelisk ahead / let's find one / etc
Water - Cross the river / swim
Swap - Switching animals / switching skins
Shout - Make noise!
Apple - I see Food! / Food over there
Mushroom - I see a Mushroom! / Mushroom over there
?? - This appears to be used for 'wait for slower creatures'
Hourglass - Wait! / Hold on

Emote 1: Wave
Emote 2: Cry
Emote 3: LOL! / Laugh / Smile
Emote 4: Mad / Angry
Emote 5: Tongue Sticking Out / Joking
Emote 6: Mischevious
Emote 7: Cross eyed
Emote 8: Wink
Emote 9: Dead
Emotie 10: Evil
Emote 11: Good Bye / I'm Leaving
Emote 12: Surprise / OMG!

Resting- Lay down / Sleep
Sit - Sit down (Unlocks at 2,000 Essence)
Home - Set your home point (can teleport back to it from the menu)
Wave - Your animal will wave (Unlocks at 9,000 Essence)
Drink - Your animal drinks (?? Essence)
Play - Your animal makes a playful gesture (30,000 Essence)
Yawn - Your animal Yawns (Baby animals only) (50,000 Essence )

Fog Emote: Must own "The Lonesome Fog" Virtual Book
Fire Emote: Mountains DLC
Storm Emote: Own "Fables from the Den" virtual book
Snowstorm: Temporary Holiday Emote
Flower: Blossom Comic DLC
Sketch Skin: Art of Shelter DLC

Sound Emote: Must own soundtracks, and gives a specific animal a special sound emote:
Shelter - Adult Badger.
Shelter 2 - Aduilt Lynx.
Paws - Baby Lynx.
Meadow - Baby Badger.

Tips:

• To change the Emotes in the 1-5 number hotkeys, you hover your mouse cursor over the emote you want to be there, and press the number. So if you want the Wink in #1, you hover your mouse over Wink, and press 1.
  
  
• To hide the Emote bar, click Hide. To reveal it again, hover your mouse in the lower left corner of the screen and click on "Show"
  
  
• There are two 'hidden' emote actions...you can move your camera up and down to 'nod' and shake your camera left to right to say 'no'
  
  
• You can 'say' two emotes at once by clicking on them in rapid succession

The Center tree is, as it says, in the center of the map. You can see its symbol on the map, and with that you will always be able to find the middle of the world again if you get lost.

To use: See the symbols required, and bring the necessary animals / amount of people. You must vocalize (Left Click) at the stone in order for the Rune to glow brighter.

Certain animals you can unlock with the Gold Crystals. Those are:

1. Frog
2. Rabbit
3. Goat
4. Fox
5. Pheasant
6. Hedgehog

Other animals you must own the Shelter product in question in order to get. These are:

1. Shelter 1 > Gives you Adult Badger
2. Shelter 2 > Gives you Adult Lynx
3. Paws > Gives you Baby Lynx
4. Own all 3 of the above > Unlocks Bear Cub
5. Own all Shelter related products > Eagle (Bald Eagle skin)
6. Own Symbols Meadow Comic > Unlocks Wolf

(all shetler related products are:

Shetler and its Soundtrack
Shelter 2 and its Soundtrack
Mountains DLC and its Soundtrack
Paws and its Soundtrack
Meadow and its Soundtrack
The Lonesome Fog
Fables from the Den
Symbols Meadow Comic
Blossom Meadow Comic

One animal can be unlocked if you hit the Leaderboards...but will go away if you go off the board.

1. Eagle (White Eagle Skin)

Hitting the Arrow with a Diamond symbol, or M, will open the map.

Arrow - You
Diamond - Other players
Tree - Center Tree
Cave - Your Home (you set where it is)

Pressing the Middle mouse button opens your Scent mode, where creatures and footprints appear in white.

Hitting P, or the Square Symbol that has a piece taken out, opens your Collection page.

This shows you how many puzzle pieces / crystals you need for each type of unlock.

Pink Puzzle / Crystals - Unlocks Emotes

Blue Puzzle / Crystals - Unlocks Skins

Gold Puzzle / Crystals - Unlocks Animals

Even after you have unlocked everything, you can still earn essence for any you pick up.

To switch an animal, click on the available animal in your Den and you will select it.


To switch Skins, simply click on the skin you want to use in the Den (after you have unlocked some.) OR hit Escape while in game and go to "Character Options"

As of right now, Essence serves to put you on the Leaderboard, unlocking the Eagle to play as, and unlocks specific actions.

Flowers, Mushrooms and puzzle/crystal pieces give you essence, in varying amounts. For a description of what each gives you, see my other guides:

http://cs2bus.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=774911373
http://cs2bus.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1180328020

You can see how much Essence you have on the Den page, or up in the right corner when you pick something up.

Access the leaderboard from the Den page, on the list to the left. It will display your ranking out of the total, and the top 100 will be listed. Those on the top 100 list will have access to the White Eagle for the duration that they are able to stay on the list.

It could be daunting at first to find your way around, but n ever fear you will get the hang of it!


Each section has a distinctive mountain and that can help you navigate:

- Winter Biome: The tallest mountain
- Fall Biome: A mountain with two peaks
- Spring Biome: Short but wide mountain

Also the Center tree is visible on your in-game map. From where you care compared to it, you can tell where you are. If it is below you on the map, you are north of it, for example

Food is a new feature, and can be found growing and laying on the ground around the world.

it is easier to eat if you WALK over it, not Sprint.

Food can be seen in Scent mode, in appears to show up in different colors.

Berry trees might produce all colors of berries! Needs confirmation.

There appears to be 8 kinds of fruit:

1. Blue Berry (Blue in Scent Mode)
2. Acorn (Yellow with Brown top in Scent Mode)
3. Red Apple (Red in Scent Mode)
4. Pear (Green in Scent mode)
5. Green Apple ( Yellow)
6. Silver Berry (Silver in Scent Mode.)
7. Pink Berry (Pink in Scent Mode)
8. Orange Berry (Orange in Scent Mode)

Some animals are included on the soundtrack cover, like the fox was before the fox was released

This does not mean they are GOING to be added, but it means there is a possible chance that they'll be included eventually


the animals shown that aren't in game yet are:

- Deer (might not happen with the new Goat horn update)

- Musk Deer (might not happen with the new Goat horn update)

- Adult Bear (Found illustration)

- Swan (Featured in new artwork on Server Select Screen)