The valley is a vast territory that extends around the cave and belongs to your tribe. From this valley you can access the different activity zones to accomplish tasks that will improve your reputation. The valley is also a meeting place where you can discuss with your fellow Homo sapiens.

The map which shows the different activity zones in the valley.

Image 3.3 : Valley map

Since Sapiens is a 3D game which is rendered in real time, you can control both your character and the camera at the same time to get a better view of your surroundings.

Image 3.4 : The valley

To move your character around, use the keys A-W-D, 4-8-6 on the keypad or the arrow keys left, right, up, and down. The camera will follow your character automatically.

If you wish to rotate the camera around your character, use the right mouse button while moving the mouse to the left or right. The camera will stay in that position until you move your character, the camera will then reset to the default setting automatically.

In order to zoom the camera in or out on your character, use the scroll wheel on your mouse. If you don’t have a scroll wheel, you can use the –and= keys on your keyboard.

To help you find your way around the valley, you have access to a map simply by using the TAB key on your keyboard. The map is also useful to help find your friends, which are represented by oranges markers. If you move your mouse cursor over one of these markers, the player’s name shall appear. To exit the map view, just hit TAB again.

In order to communicate with the people you meet, you just need to use the chat bar at the bottom on the screen by clicking on it with the left mouse button or by hitting the ENTER key. A cursor shall appear in the text field to indicate that you can start typing your message, once you’ve finished typing your message, hitting the ENTER key or clicking on the SEND button will broadcast your message to those close enough to hear it.

By default, only the last lines of chat are viewable on the screen in the text zone portion of the screen, which is just above the chat bar. You can enlarge or shrink this zone by clicking repeatedly on the More/Less buttons in the text zone in the button left corner of the screen. You can also scroll up and down the lines of chat with the arrows on the left of the text zone.

At the top of the screen is the information bar which informs you of the general condition of your character. This bar is divided into 2 parts: points and inventory. The points section indicates how many energy, tribal, and spiritual points your character has (How these points work is explained in section 2.3). The inventory section informs you of the number of offerings you have, also the number of small and large flints that are in your possession (see section 2.6 for information on these items).

At the extreme left of the information bar you will find a button that has your symbol on it. By clicking on this button, you will be presented with the main menu that is detailed in section3.2.2. You can also access the main menu by hitting the ESC key.

Finally, when activities are presented to you, one or more contextual buttons shall be presented to you on the left of the screen. If you leave the mouse cursor for a few seconds over one of these buttons, a descriptive text will appear. If you click with the left mouse button you shall do the activity that’s related to that button. Table 3.1 explains the function of these contextual buttons.

Table 3.1: Contextual buttons found in the Valley

Icon	Appears when	Function
Gathering	You are near a gathering bush (green bush with red berries)	Starts the Gathering activity. (section 3.3)
Quiz	Being near the shaman’s alter and have at least 1 offering.	Starts the shaman's quiz. (section 3.4)
Flints	Being next to the quarry.	Starts the flint cutting activity. (section 3.5)
Duel	Being in the duel zone and having at least 1 offering.	Starts the musical duel when you click on an adversary. (section 3.6)
Create the hunt	Being near the fire, there must be less that 4 hunting groups already being prepared.	Creates a hunting group. The person that creates the group is the group leader.
Start the hunt	Have a hunting group.	Starts the hunting activity. (section 3.7)
Cancel the hunt	Need to have created a hunting group.	Disbands the group.
Join the hunt	Being next to the fire and there must be at least 1 group formed. You cannot join a group if you already belong to one.	Joins a hunting group when you click on a group leader (person holding a spear).
Quit the hunt	Have to be part of a hunting group.	You leave your hunting group.
Exile	Be near the raft.	Sends your current character into exile, allowing you to create another one. (section 3.8)