eldav80: Unresponsive ai with a will of they own, very rough learning curve.
I'd call the first a feature of the game, although it certainly can be frustrating to see your people marching toward their certain doom instead of getting this one resource which they really need for survival. As for the learning curve: Figuring out how to keep your people alive really
is the game (or at least its main point). There's several negative feedback loops which can trip you up, meaning that you'll have to plan quite far ahead (or see just how nimble your instructions can be in order to barely squeak by). Save frequently, and if you've spiraled out of control, jump back to see where you went wrong. The in-game help files are worth perusing for some hints about the various parameters for your buildings. Keen observation of your villagers' actions also helps a lot with figuring out how to optimize placement of your buildings and thus the efficiency of your food production.
While waiting for support to get back to you, why not give it another try on easy? Some hints: Villagers reproduce more swiftly when they have empty buildings to move in to, so to keep your population levels under control, it's entirely acceptable to limit housing. And keep the walking route of your average citizen (from house to work to food storage) as short as possible.
It really can be a very satisfying feeling to have your village running smoothly, and its difficulty just makes the accomplishment even more worthwhile.