Note: This is mainly for people with more experience with the game.
The pseudo-speedrun strategy is good for more experienced players aiming for quick resources and advanced tools. It is based on many speedrun techniques, but has no clear goal in sight other than to get stuff quicker than normal.
Day 1
- If you spawned in day, start by crafting a hatchet and wooden spear. Use the wooden spear to kill armored ghouls for their alloys and metal. Throw it at the ghoul, and either rush in and grab it, or run in a circle to get it. Repeat this until it is dead. You will want to kill two armored ghouls, and go into an abandoned house for the night. Loot houses if you can, also.
In the abandoned house*, you will want to destroy everything of use. I wouldn't recommend destroying sinks, since it is a waste of time. However, destroy things like fridges and safes for their sulfur and metal. You will also want to destroy computers and TV's if they aren't already taken. Otherwise, you can look in boxes for microchips and craft a research bench, along with a sulfur pickaxe and preferably a metal axe and smelter (though it is not always possible). Don't place the smelter. Your food for the night should be ~4 cans of tomato soup, or ~5 steaks, saved in a campfire.
Day 2
On day 2, go into the city and hide your important stuff in boxes. Make sure to remember where those boxes are. If you find a radiation mask in a box, make sure to save it. This is a one-way trip, so just hide and wait for the radiation to kill you. Rush back and grab your stuff as soon as possible.
If you did not find a radiation mask in a box, you will want to craft one. It is very useful for the later stages. Meanwhile, you may want to find materials for alloys. Once the radiation mask is done, loot barrels and boxes on the outskirts of houses in the city for gasoline. If it's night, you will not have to worry too much. Set up a campfire near the city and then loot it. Spend your entire day mining and looting. You will want to loot all animals for animal fat and drops, especially if you want other types of clothing. At night, go into an abandoned house or just find a random place.
Night 2**
Now, place your smelter and make alloys. Then, gather more materials for the second research bench. You can make a gun, and if you are low on metal you can always spend a bit of gas to smelt iron ore (do this after you have smelted alloys, though). I would recommend AK-47, although MP5 is a much cheaper gun with much cheaper bullets. AK-47 has lots more damage, but MP5 can fire a little faster and it still does decent damage. If you don't like AK-47, you might want to try out the sawed-off or sniper.
There are many things you can do now. You can get tesla, team with others, or kill savages. Build a base or just camp at an abandoned house. Make a level 3 radiation suit and loot city for SWAT.
- If you spawned in the night, just set up a campfire and wait for day. Its a bit trickier because ghouls will attack "sooner" (by the second night), though hopefully this shouldn't be a problem.
*I recommend the house with two golden pressure plate triggers. Not many people know how to get in there, so new people won't be able to screw you up, and the safe and fridge are usually not broken. It also has a TV and computer to loot.
**This stuff is all optimized. Whether you can find armored ghouls, your food, radiation damage from resetting, and the lots of RNG can all affect this strategy. It may take 3-4 days, depending on your luck. However, reset after every day or so to avoid ghouls (especially fast ones). Savages are also a big thing