If you think that's hard, you should see some of the mods out there I was trying the Better than Wolves mod, and my GOD! It's a struggle just to find enough food to prevent yourself from starving to death, and when you die you spawn in a random far away location. You can't make wood or stone tools, and beds don't work.
Anyway, vanilla minecraft isn't so bad once you get yourself some armor, weapons, and a bed to set your spawn point with