Introduction to Dawn of Man
Dawn of Man is an intricate survival simulation set in prehistoric times, spanning over 10,000 years of human history. This detailed walkthrough aims to assist players in building their own civilization, guiding them through six distinct eras—from the Paleolithic Age to the Iron Age. Mastering the game requires understanding its mechanics, managing resources, and unlocking technologies essential for progression.
Understanding the Core Controls and Menus
Before embarking on your journey, familiarize yourself with the vital controls, menus, and stats that are crucial for effective gameplay. These tools help you monitor your settlement’s health, resources, and technological advancements. Here’s a breakdown of the most important controls:
To access these menus, use the following keys:
- Help: F1 – Basic tips and mechanics
- Stats: F2 – Settlement’s overall health and composition
- Resources: F3 – Food, materials, and tools stockpiles
- Limits: F4 – Manage resource caps carefully
- Charts: F5 – Population, workload, and animal data
- Defense: F6 – Control alarms and gates
- Techs: F7 – Invest knowledge points to unlock new technologies
- Animals: F8 – Detailed overview of domesticated animals
- Speed controls: 1-4 – Adjust game speed from 1x to 8x
- Milestones: 5 – View achievements unlocked
- Activity: 6 – Villagers’ current actions
- Tasks: 7 – Ongoing or queued tasks
- Knowledge: 8 – Progress in knowledge points (KP)
- Structures: 9 – Status of all built structures
- Megaliths: 0 – Status of megalithic monuments
Starting Your Prehistoric Settlement
The First Steps
Your adventure begins in the Stone Age with seven prehistoric humans and three tents serving as dwellings and storage. Immediate priorities include creating a dedicated work area for collecting sticks. Assign workers to this task by pressing the 7 key on your numpad, and switch between work zones using the + or – keys. With access to crafting stations, produce your first Wooden Spear weapons to aid hunters in their tasks.
Next, select your hunters by pressing H and send them out to hunt local prey. When they return, press B to open the building menu. Allocate four sticks to craft a Skin Drying Rack positioned near a fishing spot. This setup will boost your raw fish supplies and grant 5 KP, unlocking the Food Drying technology—a vital advancement in resource preservation.
Maximizing Knowledge Points (KP)
To advance through the eras, accumulating Knowledge Points is essential. You can increase KP by:
- Growing your population
- Constructing various buildings
- Hunting and fishing activities
- Gathering and stockpiling resources
- Defending against raiders
- Achieving in-game milestones
Monitor your progress by pressing 8 on the numpad, which displays your current KP and unlocked technologies.
Expanding Your Settlement
As summer approaches, focus on gathering nuts from trees to ensure a steady food supply. Once you have surplus fruits and berries, expand your fishing zones and build drying racks for skins and food. Increasing food production allows you to attract more humans by constructing additional tents, which in turn boosts your population.
With a larger population, assign groups of two hunters to pursue bigger game such as bison, boars, or deer. Avoid dangerous predators like bears, lions, or wolves early on. Instead, target mammals like mammoths and woolly rhinos, which provide higher KP yields—2 KP each—although these animals become accessible only in the Neolithic Age.
The Evolution Through the Ages
Era 1: Paleolithic Age
This initial age emphasizes establishing basic survival and unlocking fundamental technologies such as Food Drying, Bone Tools, Composite Tools, Slings, and Leather Processing. Achieving these will ensure your village’s stability and prepare you for the subsequent eras.
To finish the Paleolithic Age successfully, ensure your settlement includes:
- One Storage Tent with adjacent Wood and Stone Storage Areas
- Two Skin Drying Racks and Two Food Drying Racks
- A Skull Pole or Totem for morale
Era 2: Mesolithic Age
Once you accumulate 14 KP, unlock the Pottery technology, marking the beginning of the Mesolithic Age. Focus on assigning workers to collect water in clay pots, which is crucial for many processes. During this period, you’ll face raids, so upgrading defenses is vital. Engage with traveling traders to acquire rare goods and technologies, trading surplus resources when possible.
The Age offers five new technologies, each requiring 7 KP and prior unlocks, such as Stone Polishing, Archery, Cereal Processing, Pulse Processing, and Sledges. Consider domesticating dogs with the Dog Domestication tech to help defend against invasions, which become increasingly frequent as years pass.
Transition to the Neolithic Age
Era 3: Neolithic Age
Achieving the Cereal Processing and Leather Processing technologies allows access to Cereal Domestication, which begins the Neolithic Age—the final phase of the Stone Age. This era introduces a balanced agrarian lifestyle, moving from basic gathering to farming crops like barley, einkorn, and emmer.
It’s recommended to limit your farming patches to 5×5 or 7×7 to optimize productivity. During this time, focus on unlocking advanced technologies such as Pulse Domestication, Flax Domestication, Fortifications, Weaving, and Megalithism. These will enhance your village’s defense, morale, and resource processing capabilities.
Advancing to the Copper, Bronze, and Iron Ages
Era 4: Copper Age
Unlocking Copper Smelting signifies the start of this era, which demands better resource management and increased animal domestication. Copper tools and weapons are more durable and effective, opening new possibilities for hunting and defense.
The era features six new technologies, including Copper Smelting, Fruit Tree Domestication, Cattle Domestication, Rye Domestication, Donkey Domestication, and The Wheel. These innovations improve your trade, transportation, and food variety.
Era 5: Bronze Age
Transition to the Bronze Age occurs once Bronze Smelting is unlocked, enabling the creation of stronger bronze weapons and tools. This era emphasizes mining copper and tin, utilizing donkeys for transport, and constructing stone structures like warehouses and fortifications.
Seven new technologies are available, including Bronze Smelting, Masonry, Swordmaking, Shieldmaking, Composite Archery, Horse Domestication, and Brewing. Brewing beer can boost morale significantly, making it a strategic resource.
Era 6: Iron Age
Unlocking Iron Smelting ushers in the Iron Age, where your population gains access to stronger weapons and improved production. The era introduces five new technologies, such as Steelmaking, Baking, Reinforced Fortifications, and Hydropower. These advancements will significantly enhance your village’s resilience and resource efficiency.
Successfully navigating this period sets the stage for completing your civilization’s evolution, culminating in the advanced technologies of the Iron Age.
Alexa Monroe
Alexa Monroe is a US-based gaming journalist and lifelong gamer. She writes about game codes, updates, and hidden secrets that help players get the most from every title. Link x.com Link insta