I started reading this. I'd like to share it. I think it is a good source that we can learn from. The information gets redundant after a while and even a little unclear as its author doesn't appear to speak English as a first language, but there is some great tips about desert survival. It would be nice to see the gameplay reflect these survival methods.
Here's the link: http://www.logicsouth.com/~lcoble/dir9/desert.txt