Though sometimes terrifying, Sons of the Forest has solid building and crafting features. While stranded on the island, players must gather resources to give themselves the best chance of survival. A considerable part is creating structures that help with shelter, food, water, and more.
Examples of crucial building materials are logs. They have many uses, but gathering lots of them takes time and physical effort, two things players will find themselves short of while exploring the forest. There's also a small risk of drawing unwanted attention while gathering logs. Still, their benefits are undeniable, so here's how to get logs and what to do with them in Sons of the Forest.
How to Get Logs
Logs are well supplied in the remote forest since trees are everywhere, excluding beaches and caves. Players will have to cut logs down manually with an ax to get logs from trees. Luckily, getting an ax requires almost no effort since it is included in the emergency pack already in the player character's possession. Fans of the first game, The Forest, will be familiar with cutting down trees to get logs, knowing this can be tedious work.
To cut down a tree, hit the base with the ax to break away the bark. Thicker trees require more hits before they will fall over. When the tree falls, it drops approximately 3-4 logs, depending on its size. Playing with friends makes gathering this material significantly more manageable. One thing to note, those who play solo will have the help of Kelvin, an AI companion who can be given tasks to support the player. Kelvin can be commanded to gather logs or to cut down trees using the notepad.
Be careful while chopping trees with Kelvin to avoid getting hit with one or dropping a tree on him, as it can cause significant damage. Trees falling also can attract the local cannibals, so keep an eye out in the forest for random attacks. Trees on the island will grow continuously, so there's always a supply of logs.
How to Use Logs
Logs are essential for building shelters, cabins, animal traps, or defense walls. Building these things is made easier by using the build manual in their emergency pack, which has clear instructions for the various structures players can make—the manual has two modes. The first mode has basic step-by-step instructions for sections in custom builds. It outlines using logs to create the perfect base shelter with floors, stairs, walls, and doors. Of course, players will have to choose their layout and style, but it gives them a starting point.
The second mode is less hands-on in some ways and has actual "shells" or open layouts for shelters, cabins, and traps that players can place down and fill with the required material. A list of everything needed, including quantities, will be at the bottom left side of the screen. All players will need to do is gather the required logs and place them into the construction layout, and it will automatically set them in the correct spots.
Log shape and size can also be edited using the ax. Whenever hovering over a log, there will be red dotted lines that appear in certain areas. Players can use these lines to chop logs in half, split them down the middle, sharpen the tops, or cut them into quarters. All the log variations have a specific use in builds, so experimenting with them could have surprising results.
Sons of the Forest is out in early access on PC.