Early game is too grindy if playing without resources. Any pointers?

[SPOILER!!]

The goal in the early game is to automate collection of blood crystals as soon as possible. Start building base next to a spawner nest instead of next to the crashed ship, because running back and forth collecting crystals gets old very quickly. Place a small radar to aggro freshly spawned biters but have the radar in range of turrets. Note where most of the crystals drop, then build belts to carry crystals from that area to the base. Belts can get destroyed by worms, spitters, and modded biters, so it's best to leave only plain biter spawners. Multiple "collection points" can be created like this to speed things up. If this still feels too slow, there's an option in the settings to increase yield from crystals.