The biggest issue I have are the Driffers.

[MGJ]

Mainly the way they spawn. To be honest, I don't really mind it but I think it would make the game better if driffers, instead of spawning randomly, they spawn some distans away. It would allow the player to respond to them in more ways then just sword and armor. You could build defencive structures, arrow slits, pits, murder holes (in more realistic and historical way). I think this would make combat way more interesting, without needing to change much about what already is in the game.

I would really like to see what others have to say about it. And maybe if they believe my idea is flawed is some way. I am open for discussion.

Edited July 11, 2024 by MGJ

[Maelstrom]

They spawn within about 15 blocks of a rift.  Rifts do not spawn in areas with a high enough artificial light level (meaning light NOT generated by the sun).  Torches are good for about 3 block radius while lanterns are good for about a 12-15 block radius.  There's a mod that will indicate where a drifter may spawn.  I don't recall the name though.

[MGJ]

That is true but I think it's tedious to have to light up your entire base.

[Maelstrom]

It's not hard once you have enough wax, copper plates and clear quartz chunks.  Lanterns only need to be spaced about 25 block apart or so and that covers a LOT of real estate.  I typically don't need more than 10 lanterns.

[Thorfinn]

Just light up the parts you care about. They will leave your stuff alone, so you only need to worry about the area you are actually planning to work in. If you can't deal with Apocalyptic quite yet, you can crank out a couple dozen crocks and ingot molds and a dozen or so storage vessels, plus knap several stacks of spear heads, since you will need them. And there's always cooking. Chores like that can keep you busy the few nights where drifter activity are too high for your skill level. Or build drifter traps. You have even odds of a coveted temporal gear about 20-ish bog standard surface drifters.

[EDIT]

If you plan a little ahead, you can combine firing your pottery with incinerating drifters. Your task is just to cut them up for loot and keep forming or knapping.

[/EDIT]

Edited July 11, 2024 by Thorfinn

[MGJ]

I mean that's some nice tips. But my point is it would make the game more fun.

[Thorfinn]

Not getting why that would make it more fun.

Welcome to the forums, BTW.

[MGJ]

1 hour ago, Maelstrom said:

It's not hard once you have enough wax

Once I have wax is pretty far into the game.

[MGJ]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

Not getting why that would make it more fun.

It would make defencive structures usefull. Building a fort that fulfils it's defensive purpose is satisfying.

[Thorfinn]

30 minutes ago, MGJ said:

Once I have wax is pretty far into the game.

With a default start, you should be able to have wax before July, if you know how to find hives. The bottleneck is usually the plates.

27 minutes ago, MGJ said:

It would make defencive structures usefull. Building a fort that fulfils it's defensive purpose is satisfying.

So build them. You aren't trying to defend a gazillion people, it's just you. How large of a defensive structure do you want to try to man with only one seraph? You only need torches every seven blocks or so. The ramparts on even a 50x50 structure would only require half a stack of torches.

If you want a voxel-ish medieval builder, there are lots out there. Going Medieval, for example. That's not the niche VS is trying to fill. Obviously, or the lore and spawning mechanism would be different. Heck, drifters can't even bash through doors, let alone whatever fortifications you build. And they don't become active until within 20-ish blocks, so anything spawning outside a 40x40 would be inactive if you stood still in the center of your keep. Sure you could change the specifics, but then you are really playing a different game than the one this seeks to be.

[EDIT]

You could probably do it like real medieval castles were built. Start with a small keep or blockhouse, add towers and walls and crenellations as you can afford. In a medieval sim, torches aren't that difficult to do, but you have servants or maybe part of your retinue handling that. In this game, which is not a medieval sim, you would have to do that yourself. Either that or build only as fast as you can crank out lanterns. Or cheat in a couple stacks of them. It's all up to you.

[/EDIT]

Edited July 11, 2024 by Thorfinn

[MGJ]

50 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

you should be able to have wax before July

If you are lucky

52 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

If you want a voxel-ish medieval builder,

I don't -_-

I just think this would be a cool feature.

[Thorfinn]

43 minutes ago, MGJ said:

If you are lucky

Maybe. You have to be lucky enough to spawn somewhere there are trees, moderate rainfall and moderate temperature. Which is not that uncommon. It can be a little tricky to hear it over the music if you don't know what the music sounds like. You can always turn that all the way down until you can pick it out.

I agree it would be cool. It's just not where this game is headed. But it would be a great mod if you gave them trebuchets or some way of getting through the walls. Otherwise they would just walk around moaning and leaving in the morning.

Edited July 12, 2024 by Thorfinn

[LadyWYT]

As @Thorfinn and @Maelstrom have already indicated, it's not so much that drifters need to spawn at distance for your idea to be feasible--it's more about how you build your base. Drifters(currently) cannot climb save for ladders and slopes that aren't too steep, so it's rather simple to build walls to keep them out. Then it's just a matter of lighting the spots you want to defend the most, and possibly chiseling some holes into the structure to allow you to attack the drifters without much threat of harm to yourself. You'll still probably get the odd rift or two within the fortifications, but you could either chalk that up to bad luck/sappers, or figure out how to acquire and power rift wards in order to keep the rifts from spawning in certain areas.

Now one thing I think that could be added to the game, to help spice up fortifying areas--stuff like stakes, caltrops, Greek fire, etc. Though I also expect that to be a bit more practical in a PvP multiplayer setting, rather than in a singleplayer game. Drifter AI is...not the best, and while they'd need a bit more brains to avoid being easily farmed, they also don't strike me as entities that are meant to be particularly intelligent.