Even with a compass and magnet, you can still become hopelessly lost in Survivalcraft's infinite terrain. There is no guarantee that you will always have your compass with you. You could very well die and lose it. So below are some back up plans in the event that you are to lose your compass.
Knowing Your Terrain[]
As you explore your world more and acquire more experience, you will find that you will know your terrain fairly well. Because Survivalcraft has infinite terrain, you will never know it all, but knowing even a small amount helps. This is good for short journeys to find food, resources, etc.
As you go exploring one important rule to follow is also taught in real-world woods-craft. Turn around often!!! It can be surprising to realize how different everything looks once you have gone far enough away and only then turn around to come back. If you look behind you frequently as you head out, you can spot landmarks that you can use on your way back.
Sand, Gravel, and Dirt[]
Sand, Gravel, and Dirt are all cheap items that can be found nearly everywhere. If you plan on leaving home for a while, you can leave a trail behind you. I do not recommend, however, that you do this on a long and treacherous journey. This is good for moderate journeys, as you can just follow your trail home!
Torches[]
Torches are made inexpensively.
If you plan on spending many nights away, you can use torches to mark your path. These are a good item to use. They are fairly inexpensive to make, and they are very easy to spot in the dark. They give off light for 15 blocks in the dark (counting vertical distance too) and can be seen from a long distance away. Just hang them on trees, in the sand, etc. every 15 blocks or so until you arrive at your desired location. You can also very easily take them down and take them home with you as you go, as they can be used again and again.
Note: If you are hopelessly lost, you may try suicide. Then you'll be spawn back to the last point where you've slept.
Getting Unlost[]
If you do find yourself hopelessly lost in the world and you haven't placed any magnets, there is one final method to try to find your way back. This will only work if you built your house near the ocean, or you know how to find it from the original spawn point. For this reason, it's always a good idea to build something at the drop-off point before you start roaming the world.
Remember that the ocean is essentially an infinite edge to the landmass. If you travel eastward from anywhere in the world, you will eventually get to the ocean. Once you get there, make some monument that you will recognize. Now turn north or south and follow the ocean until you find the drop-off point. If you know that your wandering has been generally south from the drop-off, then you would turn north at the ocean and vice-versa.
If you don't have a clue whether you went north or south, just pick one and start walking. If you don't spot the drop-off in several days of searching, it's time to turn around. Go back to the monument and start the other way. If you don't find the drop-off after several days in this direction, it's time to start a new life in the world.
Coordinates Cheat[]
The game now will display the character's coordinates when it's paused in creative mode. If you're at the point where you don't care about keeping the world 'pure', you can always restart it in creative mode. Then check your coordinates. The drop-off point is usually about 6000–6200 blocks N/S, the Y coordinate. The X coordinate is typically about 2000 but you always start on the ocean shore so you don't need to worry about that coordinate, or the Z coordinate.
- Note that since version 2.1, negative coordinates are used and the drop off point is closer to 0,0. Also, there is now a South coast.
Simply fly east to the ocean and check the coordinates. Then fly North or South to get to the drop-off. North is higher numbers in the coordinates and West is higher in the Y coordinates.
As above, this only helps if you know how to get to your home from the ocean/drop-off point.
Hacking the Project.xml file[]
Replace your "...Name="Position" Type="Vector3"..." (coordinates) with one of the following coordinates:
- GlobalSpawnPosition (drop-off point),
- Sapling's coordinates,
- Magnet's coordinates,
- Crafting table's coordinates,
- Chest's coordinates,
- Furnace's coordinates,
- Dispenser's coordinates, ect.
If you teleport yourself to the block, add one to the height (middle coordinate).
Determining North[]
Default texture with cardinal points.
It is easy to find North if you are outside and the weather is fair. Simply watch the motion of the sun or stars. Face the direction they rise from and North is to your left.
If you are underground or it's raining, it's much harder to tell directions but not impossible. Gravel, planks and granite blocks have a pattern that may be used to tell the compass directions. See the following image. Simply place one of these blocks or find one then look at the top of the block. Remember this only applies to the default texture. Using another texture may make these tricks unusable (or even easier!).
Caves[]
Many caves are simple and finding your way back out is easy. However, some can be very extensive and confusing. When exploring one of these, the following techniques can be helpful. Of course, you can always just dig yourself upward if you still have a usable pickaxe but the reason you're in the cave is to mine for materials and you probably will use up the picks before heading back out.
One very effective method is to bring a full stack (or more) of torches plus some other block that is not seen underground. Leaves are very cheap and good for this purpose. Glass is even better but not as cheap. Wicker lamps would be better yet.
- As you enter and roam the cave, place your torches on the wall on one side of the path. Say, the right side. Put them right on the lowest block near the floor. Space them out close enough that you can spot the last one placed when you put the next one down. This way as you leave you just make sure all the torches are on your left.
- When you come to a fork in the path, place a torch (or the other block) on the ground, in the center of the path that you just came through. Then as you are leaving, you will know which branch to take in the fork. Also place the first wall torch right at the opening of each branch of the fork.
- Some cave areas are more like Swiss cheese than any actual path. In this case it can be best to place several torches on the ground when you enter this type of area. Then try to light up the whole area without wasting too many torches. You may also want to remove a lot of the 'messy' stone and open up the area so the exits can be seen easier.
- In the Swiss cheese caves and some other cases, it can be helpful to add the 'other' block near the roof, to make it easier to spot your exit. This is where it is especially beneficial to have glass for the other block as it is immediately noticeable and can be seen clearly from farther away. Especially if you put a torch either above or just below the glass.
As you mine, you might break into another cave system. Mark the tunnel you just made like its a fork, with the torch on the ground. Also use the other block or more torches to mark it special like you would in a swiss cheese area.
If you had particularly good luck down one path but didn't finish mining it, you can mark this path as special. As you walk back out, just place one of your other blocks next to the torch at the entrance to that path. Be sure to mark each fork on the way, as well. This way when you come back for the rest, it will be easy to see which path has the goodies!
If you do a lot of spelunking (caving) in long, complex systems or several at once you may want to mark branches that you have explored and are now 'empty'. An easy way is to go to the opening of that path and place a second torch directly across from the first one you placed on the right wall. Place the new one on the 'left' wall. Now as you come back through this area, you can easily see the two torches and will know that you already cleared out that path.
If you have the great fortune to be in a world with plenty of pumpkins, they give you an even better trick. Jack-O-lanterns are very visible and have a face on only one side. You can use this to great benefit in caves as well as in the open. Stairs also work for this trick but do not provide any lighting and are harder to spot than Jack-O's. You simply place the pumpkin on the ground so that the face is looking the way that you came!!! Then whenever you run across a pumpkin, you will always know the direction back. So good!