Navigating Stranded Deep's Custom Maps: A Guide for New Players 'stranded deep community maps'

Stranded on a deserted island with nothing but your wits can be both exhilarating and frustrating, especially when trying to access custom maps created by the dedicated community. In this article, we'll walk you through the process of installing and utilizing these exciting new environments in Strandy's survival game.

Step 1: Accessing Custom Maps

Firstly, ensure that you have enabled the 'Community' tab within your game's main menu. To do so:

- Open the Main Menu by pressing Esc on PC or LCtrl + M on Xbox/PS4

- Click on 'Options' and then select 'Graphics'

- Underneath the 'Map Settings', toggle the switch next to 'Use Community Maps' from Off to On

Once you've successfully enabled this feature, exit your game completely before proceeding.

Step 2: Installing Custom Map Files

Now that we have our community maps visible within Stranded Deep's map browser (accessible via pressing F4 on PC or Left Stick + Right Stick Up/Down on Xbox/PS4), let's move onto installing these custom files:

- Launch Steam (if you're playing the beta version)

- If prompted, sign in with your account credentials

- In your Library section, locate Stranded Deep and right-click it

- From the context menu that appears, select 'Properties'

- Switch to the 'Local Files' tab at the top left corner of this window

- Click on 'B browse...' next to where it says 'maps'

- Navigate through your computer's directories until you reach Documents > Steam > userdata\YourSteamIDHere\localcache\Saves\strandeddeep/maps/ (the exact path may vary depending upon operating system and game version)

- Inside this folder, look for any folders named after the maps you wish to play

- Drag-and-drop these map files into your main Stranded Deep directory or copy them using Ctrl + C on PC (or Command + C on Mac) followed by pasting with right-click > paste in Windows Explorer/Commander

Step 3: Loading Custom Maps within Game

After successfully installing the custom maps, launch Stranded Deep as usual. When you start a new game:

- Click on 'Multiplayer' from the Main Menu

- Select either 'Join Server' or 'Host'

- If joining an existing server:

- Enter the IP address provided by your host player

Elsewise (if hosting):

- Choose any map name and select 'Create'

If everything has gone according to plan, you should now see a list of available servers to join. Simply double-click on one that interests you or type its exact name into the search bar at top right corner of this screen.

Troubleshooting Tips

Still having trouble? Don't worry! Here are some common issues and their respective solutions:

- Custom maps not showing up in browser: Ensure that you have enabled 'Use Community Maps' as described above. If still experiencing problems, try clearing your cache by deleting the LocalCache folder mentioned earlier.

- To do this:

* Close down Stranded Deep completely

* Navigate to %AppData%\..\Roaming\Steam\steamapps\common\StrandedDeep (for Windows) or ~/_data/Local/Saves on Mac/Linux via Finder/Explorer

(Shift + E will open the latter directory directly)

- Once inside, look for folders named 'cache' and/or 'maps'. Move these files to a safe location outside of your main game folder before relaunching Stranded Deep.

We hope this comprehensive guide has helped you navigate through installing and playing with custom maps in Stranded Deep. Remember: practice makes perfect! Happy surviving on those deserted islands, survivors!

If you have any further questions or encounter additional issues not covered here, feel free to leave a comment below so we can continue improving our community resources together.

This article was last updated and is valid for the following versions of Stranded Deep: Beta 3.16.x series

Stranded deep community maps