MST_Extra_Mod VS Catapult

More Survival Tools has a successor in the form of MST Extra.

Slightly related, there is an updated version of more survival tools here: https://github.com/chaosvolt/MST_Extra_Mod

Prison start is still very much a meme to be honest, more shenanigans we inherited from DDA. You may also notice that it can be hard to get anywhere with enough light needed to craft anything basic, and all the basic firestarting tools require light to make (unless you're using MST Extra mod, which adds dark-craftable fire ploughs).

For preserving organ meats, More Survival Tools Extra (same dev as Arcana & Magic Items) adds Jerked Offal.

I don't know how you could make the early game longer without making it more tedious. Making it easier to stay early game without being forced to raid a city is doable, part of what mods like MST Extra seek to do, and every so often I port ideas from it over to BN. But forcing the player to draw out early game isn't really feasible without the kinda stunts DDA pulls.

MST Extra. This is the successor to my old More Survival Tools mod that's long since been obsoleted. Adds more items and recipes, few other rebalances/tweaks, to make wilderness survival gameplay more interesting.

No idea. Keep in mind, last I checked that's not even in vanilla at all, but in MST Extra: https://github.com/chaosvolt/MST_Extra_Mod/blob/master/MST_Extra/recipes/recipe_medsandchemicals.json#L21

Bright Nights launcher/updater (also works for DDA!) by qrrk: https://github.com/qrrk/Catapult/releases

I use the Catapult installer to manage my installs of both CDDA and Cataclysm: Bright Nights Ahead. It also manages mods and sound packs. The link is to the most recent release, scroll to the bottom and click the .exe file option - once downloaded double click to install. Once installed launch, make sure the very top drop down has the “dark days ahead” version selected and make sure the “experimental” radio button is selected before clicking the “install selected” button. You might want to set the folder for install first.

Use a launcher to preserve your settings between updates. I prefer Catapult, mainly because the backup utility on the other one doesn't work.

I'd recommend grabbing a launcher like Catapult. Gives you a one-stop-shop for managing game version, forks, mods, tilesets etc.

Bright Nights launcher/updater (also works for DDA!) by qrrk: https://github.com/qrrk/Catapult/releases