Short Questions/Quick Answers

[Pastah]

I'm using crow berries on my light lever traps, but birds don't seem to be going in them. I also notice that birds don't enter traps unless I'm near them. I set like 6 light lever traps about 5-10 world tiles away.

[PALU]

The only reasonable way to preserve meat during the summer is by smoking it in a "sauna". You can either build a "sauna" yourself, or "borrow" one in a village (the villagers don't mind and won't take your meat).
The unreasonable way is to salt it, but good luck of salting anything if you haven't even got a "sauna"...

Using a cellar can increase the shelf life of food for a while, and is a very worthwhile investment.

Animal trapping seems to be somewhat connected with your presence, as it seems animals rarely appear unless you pass by, but pre existing animals can definitely be caught in new traps.
I build my traps close to the homestead and make a small round trip each morning to check on them.

Trap quality matters (i.e. trapping skill). Traps seem to have a "push" factor of human presence that might be countered with a "pull" factor of bait or a sufficiently shorter path (trap lines work better than isolated traps, except for humans, as those recognize trap lines).

Light lever traps are usually best set close to the homestead, however, as you tend to be pestered by bird interrupts often enough.

[Pastah]

What can you use bones and antlers for? Are they good for trade?

[PALU]

What can you use bones and antlers for? Are they good for trade?

Bones can be used as rather poor dog food, while antlers have no vanilla use at all (you can use them as decorations). They are there because of modding demands and for future expansion into using them.

[Pastah]

How do I get more rituals in the newest version?
Why can't you cook smoked, dried, or roasted food?

[MrMotorhead]

New rituals can be gained by doing quests or completing a game course.

There are no vanilla recipes for cooked meat, but if you want to there is a neat mod you can install https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=1106.0  This does have some recipes that use cooked meat in new recipes and maintains a good balance in the game.

[Pastah]

Why don't animals eat roasted, dried, or smoked meat? Makes no sense.

[Privateer]

dogs will eat cooked food before it spoils.

[Pastah]

New rituals can be gained by doing quests or completing a game course.

There are no vanilla recipes for cooked meat, but if you want to there is a neat mod you can install https://www.unrealworld.fi/forums/index.php?topic=1106.0  This does have some recipes that use cooked meat in new recipes and maintains a good balance in the game.

I can't seem to find any quests? I been through like 8 villages.

[PALU]

Dogs eat unspoiled (including stale) cooked food as mentioned, but no other creatures do.

If you don't seem to be able to find any quests it's probably because the quests that exist are "hidden" ones, i.e. requiring you to speak with the particular individual that can provide it. This can be tricky if the quest is a confused traveler one, as you may not run into that character out in the wilderness. Finding every adult male (so far I've only encountered a single quest where the quest giver is a woman, and that was a "public" quest, and only one other quest where a woman was involved at all) in every village to speak to them isn't really possible unless you have such an amazing people memory that you remember exactly who lives in each village and who you've spoken to during this visit.
Quests eventually expire if not taken, allowing for new ones to be generated.
There is a cool down between completed quests during which new ones won't appear in the same area (I'm unsure how large areas are, but might cover a whole culture).

[Edico]

Do animals ever steal cooked meat from cellars? They don't appear to at least. Kind of nice that those weasels and ermines take out local birds for me

[Privateer]

Dogs will if no food source is available

[PALU]

I'm not aware of dogs eating from cellars, but I may just have failed to notice it. I've had wild animals raid cellars, and I've had dogs eating food prepared in the "sauna" as well as dried meat that just finished drying.

[Edico]

 What do they usually steal? Raw meat? Crops?

[PALU]

Not sure, but I suspect it's raw meat, but it ought to depend on the critter.