Indoor Surface Drifters are annoying

[Miles Upshur]

Hi. I've been enjoying the game for a few weeks now, and loving every moment of it. The game is everything I could've asked for, and radiates potential that I'd love to play a small part in molding. As the title suggests, I've noticed an issue that bothers me regarding the ominous walkers of the night, and I'm looking to find out if anyone else feels the same way. To put it bluntly, I can't keep these knuckleheads out of my house! I'm aware that darkness is the primary culprit, and understand that local rift activity may influence their spawns, but I'm absolutely sick of finding them moaning and groaning through the halls of my fortress. 

I've got enough oil lamps and torches staged around the place to light my way, and I feel like that should be enough to keep the monsters at bay. By the time you've made some armor and a falx, these guys are little more than a pest, and the initially grim and eerie atmosphere they created with their noises was quickly replaced by a jaded sigh as I try to carry on with my work. My solution is an overhaul of the rooms system that governs cellars, such that being inside is safer. 

A fully enclosed space with a light source, a door, and some furnishings should count as a room. Bigger rooms could require more furniture and light sources, and specified rooms could be created with specific furniture. Monsters cannot spawn inside rooms, although breaking this rule as a result of rift activity or temporal storms would be fitting. 

Anyway, this is just the way I see it so if I'm missing something or you've got anything to add, feel free to let me know. Thanks for the read. 

[Thorfinn]

Welcome to the forums, @Miles Upshur

You should be OK with a torch every 14 tiles in a 1-wide corridor, every 12 in a 3-wide. Yeah, you probably don't like that solution, but what you are suggesting would be really exploitable in caves. If replacing the torches every couple days is too much bother, you can make brass torch holders. There are also mods that let you make torch holders out of any metal, and mods which give torches a longer burn time, or even infinite burn time.

[Miles Upshur]

49 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

Welcome to the forums, @Miles Upshur

Yeah, you probably don't like that solution, but what you are suggesting would be really exploitable in caves.

I obviously didn't go into enough detail on how the system would work, but you're right. The most basic requirements would be an enclosed space with lights and furniture, but the blocks that make up the room would also need to be player-placed and could even omit natural blocks like soil and stone to prevent exploitation. There would also need to be limits on the minimum and maximum size of the room to further reduce unintended use of the system.

[LadyWYT]

5 hours ago, Miles Upshur said:

I've got enough oil lamps and torches staged around the place to light my way

Lanterns are your best friend. Oil lamps and torches do work, to be fair, but you'll need more of them to actually spawn-proof a room instead of just lighting it up.

Also, when you get to the late-game, make sure you look into rift wards. They're a bit of a resource investment, to be sure, but they'll stop rifts from spawning in the area that they're placed(provided you power them), and thus cut down on monster spawns as well.

[Miles Upshur]

I appreciate tips, but I'm also interested in discussing if the spawning mechanics could be improved. Dark areas = monsters worked for Minecraft, but VS isn't MC so adding more nuance to enemy spawns is good. I've got armor and weaponry that trivialize the encounter and make it a chore, so I'm trying to think of ways to improve the overall experience. I know I can make more lights, but lights are expensive-- unlike in Minecraft. 

To compensate, outside spawns could be increased, such that you still encounter the same number of drifters, but you now have the freedom to keep your rooms dimly lit if you prefer it that way. Narratively, the monsters originate from deep within the caves, or emerging from rifts that appear visibly in the world, so it doesn't seem right that they pop up out of nowhere in rooms that are *almost* completely lit. 

[Guimoute]

What VS needs is to change the drifter spawn light level requirement from max 7 to max 0.

If you want to change it, you can take a look at C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Vintagestory\assets\survival\entities\land\drifter.json and modify the light and even height conditions there. There is also a good mod called Drifters Belong Underground. I know it's not the purpose of the suggestion but things move slowly so those can help you while you wait.

I really dislike that we cannot "claim" areas as safe and inhabited. Being forced to put lights everywhere kills the atmosphere.

Edited December 27, 2024 by Guimoute

[LadyWYT]

23 minutes ago, Guimoute said:

What VS needs is to change the drifter spawn light level requirement from max 7 to max 0.

I don't know about turning down the maximum light level requirement to 0; that seems like it would make it too easy to light up caves. Perhaps turning it down just a little bit though would help.

1 hour ago, Miles Upshur said:

I know I can make more lights, but lights are expensive-- unlike in Minecraft. 

That's kind of the point though. The better lights are more expensive and take a bit more effort to acquire, but they also bring a lot of value so you'll want to acquire them sooner or later. The effort and expense just means that you'll need to be a bit pickier about where you use them.

27 minutes ago, Guimoute said:

There is also a good mod called Drifters Belong Underground. I know it's not the purpose of the suggestion but things move slowly so those can help you while you wait.

I think that mod is probably the best solution to the conundrum here. Either that, or the one that only allows monsters to spawn on natural groundcovers like stone and grass. That way the underground still remains dangerous, but players who really want the moody indoor lighting without the risk can still accomplish their goal.

Of course, players could also clutter their houses with enough decor that there's not enough space for monsters to spawn. This often works for me in the early game: a small room with pelts for rugs and enough things propped up against the walls that it's very unlikely anything nasty will spawn inside.

[Miles Upshur]

1 hour ago, Guimoute said:

I really dislike that we cannot "claim" areas as safe and inhabited. Being forced to put lights everywhere kills the atmosphere.

Yeah, that's where I'm coming from. Being forced to modify an essential, but ultimately aesthetic feature for a practical benefit isn't an ideal game mechanic. Rooms are a more general approach to the solution, but alternatives could be some type of artifact that repels enemies, or a special block that can claim an area based on progression. And thanks for the mod idea, I'll check it out. 

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

That's kind of the point though. The better lights are more expensive and take a bit more effort to acquire, but they also bring a lot of value so you'll want to acquire them sooner or later. The effort and expense just means that you'll need to be a bit pickier about where you use them.

I like effort and expense, but in a different way. Making more lights is a repetitive and boring task when building a large fortress, which is already a big resource commitment itself and ought to have some associated benefits. 

[Guimoute]

8 hours ago, Miles Upshur said:

Yeah, that's where I'm coming from. Being forced to modify an essential, but ultimately aesthetic feature for a practical benefit isn't an ideal game mechanic. Rooms are a more general approach to the solution, but alternatives could be some type of artifact that repels enemies, or a special block that can claim an area based on progression. And thanks for the mod idea, I'll check it out.

You're welcome!

About the "claiming", I took a bit of a shortcut with this term but it would be something quite natural of course, not "this chunk is now mine" with a command. A bouquet of criterion would have to be developed to determine seemlessly what area is really lived in.

[Thorfinn]

14 hours ago, Miles Upshur said:

Narratively, the monsters originate from deep within the caves, or emerging from rifts that appear visibly in the world, so it doesn't seem right that they pop up out of nowhere in rooms that are *almost* completely lit. 

I think they are just this game's answer to the supernatural, as opposed to the natural, which obey your preferred spawning rules. It's not much of a horror game if you take away the  "things that go bump in the night."

 

14 hours ago, Miles Upshur said:

I'm also interested in discussing if the spawning mechanics could be improved.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but how would that improve things? Make them different, yes, it does that. I don't see ambient lighting as an aesthetic choice, but more as a refusal to accept the game world on its own terms. Rather than adapting to the game world as it is, you want the world to adapt to your preferences. BTW, you are not alone; there are several people who have modded alternative visions of the nature of the VS world.

I don't hate the idea. It's more that if those spawn rules were the game's intent, I'd think it would have been coded that way. I accept that maybe there's a reason for it, even if I don't know what that reason is. Yet.

[Miles Upshur]

3 hours ago, Guimoute said:

You're welcome!

About the "claiming", I took a bit of a shortcut with this term but it would be something quite natural of course, not "this chunk is now mine" with a command. A bouquet of criterion would have to be developed to determine seemlessly what area is really lived in.

Exactly, I'm not looking for a copout solution that removes all intrigue and challenge. The surface drifters were obviously quite effective in keeping me at the beginning of my journey. But now that I'm all geared up and they can't really hurt me, it's just getting old. 

9 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

I think they are just this game's answer to the supernatural, as opposed to the natural, which obey your preferred spawning rules. It's not much of a horror game if you take away the  "things that go bump in the night."

Please don't take this the wrong way, but how would that improve things? Make them different, yes, it does that. I don't see ambient lighting as an aesthetic choice, but more as a refusal to accept the game world on its own terms. Rather than adapting to the game world as it is, you want the world to adapt to your preferences. BTW, you are not alone; there are several people who have modded alternative visions of the nature of the VS world.

I don't hate the idea. It's more that if those spawn rules were the game's intent, I'd think it would have been coded that way. I accept that maybe there's a reason for it, even if I don't know what that reason is. Yet.

I get where you're coming from, and I agree that night time wouldn't be as eerie without them, but that's not what I was suggesting. My contention is that they aren't scary anymore, and I'd like to change that. If the devs are absolutely certain they want drifters to spawn anywhere dark then so be it, but I'm not so sure that's the case. It just seems like a placeholder mechanic for a game as robust as this. 

I'm very much in favor of the give and take philosophy in game design, and would like to see surface drifter combat enhanced. Say they move forward with preventing drifters from spawning indoors. Now there's room to expand on how Drifters spawn outside. Perhaps more would spawn the more rooms you have, or the drifters could band together to bust down your doors. And suppose the further along you make it progression-wise, the more dangerous surface drifters become, with new types and attacks. 

As it stands, surface drifters are merely flax packets and I really don't think that's what the devs intended. 

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

Make them different, yes, it does that. I don't see ambient lighting as an aesthetic choice, but more as a refusal to accept the game world on its own terms. Rather than adapting to the game world as it is, you want the world to adapt to your preferences. BTW, you are not alone; there are several people who have modded alternative visions of the nature of the VS world.

Actually, I would say the two go hand-in-hand. There's nothing stopping players from using the dimmer lights for aesthetics, but making that choice also means dealing with the consequences, whatever those may be. For the vanilla game, that probably means dealing with the occasional unwanted house guest, which is also why I use bright lights indoors and save the dimmer lights for outside where spawns don't really matter so much.

1 hour ago, Miles Upshur said:

And suppose the further along you make it progression-wise, the more dangerous surface drifters become, with new types and attacks. 

No, absolutely not. In my experience, games that make all the enemies scale with the player rob the player of the sense that they've really accomplished anything. The whole point of getting better gear is to be able to deal with stronger enemies, and thus unlock more areas of the world to explore. If the basic enemies just get stronger the better your equipment gets, you're not really gaining anything at all.

1 hour ago, Miles Upshur said:

As it stands, surface drifters are merely flax packets and I really don't think that's what the devs intended. 

I disagree here; I think that is the intention of surface drifters. They're the most basic monster that you face and help new players practice their combat skills, similar to surface shivers and bowtorn. Outside of temporal storms and certain story locations, you don't encounter the more dangerous monsters unless you're exploring caverns deep beneath the earth. The deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets.

1 hour ago, Miles Upshur said:

I'm very much in favor of the give and take philosophy in game design, and would like to see surface drifter combat enhanced.

They may get some tweaks latter on, but I think they're fine as-is. Drifters, in all their iterations, are the basic, most common monster type you'll encounter, and it works. I'd also say that their combat has actually been improved in 1.20, in indirect fashion, with the addition of the shivers and bowtorn. Sure, the drifter tactics haven't changed, but now players have other things to deal with in addition to the drifters. Given some of the comments I've seen with those who have encountered them(and judging by my own experience), it works quite well.

[Thorfinn]

1 hour ago, Miles Upshur said:

My contention is that they aren't scary anymore, and I'd like to change that.

I'd like that too. Not by getting rid of them,  but by making them scary. Right now all you get are surface spawns that are a yawn, I get it, but get a few corrupts or nightmares spawning in your smithy or bedroom as you progress through the ages and they are no longer just annoying. It gives a reason to slow down and fortify rather than rush through, knowing you will have copper or maybe bronze by the first temporal storm and have to face something more serious than some weenie rock throwers.

Maybe when you enter the pottery age, a small fraction, maybe 20% of the spawns are deeps?

[Thorfinn]

Oh, missed your reply, @LadyWYT

4 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

games that make all the enemies scale with the player rob the player of the sense that they've really accomplished anything.

This is true, Lots of games do not scale well. (Terraria, I'm looking at you.) I think the surface drifters should remain just surface drifters, hot knife through butter, but in a world where I cared enough to harvest temporal gears, I can see myself on the lookout for nighttime spawns of nightmares, or, dare I dream, double-headeds. I'd be OK with deeps able to break through a crude door, but not anything better. Get your flippin' saw already, for pete's sake, and the better door will keep them out. You can augment doors with metal plates or temporal gears to make your home more secure.

[LadyWYT]

14 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

I'd like that too. Not by getting rid of them,  but by making them scary. Right now all you get are surface spawns that are a yawn, I get it, but get a few corrupts or nightmares spawning in your smithy or bedroom as you progress through the ages and they are no longer just annoying.

 

1 hour ago, Miles Upshur said:

My contention is that they aren't scary anymore, and I'd like to change that

The main issue I see here isn't so much that drifters aren't scary...it's that they aren't scary once you learn how to handle them and are used to seeing them. To new players, they're absolutely terrifying, but to veterans not so much. It's a familiarity problem, in my opinion, and that's an issue that applies to pretty much any of the monsters. Sure, you could make the drifters a lot more challenging, and they might therefore pose a more serious threat to veteran players for a while, but then where does that leave new players?

The better option to me would be adding another enemy type or two, with different tactics--that way players will still need to guess a bit as to what they might encounter when spelunking or running around after dark.

[Thorfinn]

Agreed. I don't want things worse for new players. Is "made a bronze anvil" enough of an indicator that surface spawns could now include an occasional deep drifter, if for no other reason than to gradually ease new players into what is in store for them in caverns or even story locations? Lore-wise, it 's plausible that higher powered seraphs attract more attention from the rust.

You could add new monsters, sure, but I'd not want to throw them on new players. Just phase them in (see what I did there?) as the game perceives the seraph to be capable of handling them.

[Miles Upshur]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

Oh, missed your reply, @LadyWYT

This is true, Lots of games do not scale well. (Terraria, I'm looking at you.) I think the surface drifters should remain just surface drifters, hot knife through butter, but in a world where I cared enough to harvest temporal gears, I can see myself on the lookout for nighttime spawns of nightmares, or, dare I dream, double-headeds. I'd be OK with deeps able to break through a crude door, but not anything better. Get your flippin' saw already, for pete's sake, and the better door will keep them out. You can augment doors with metal plates or temporal gears to make your home more secure.

Woah there, drop everything. Terraria doesn't scale well? I'd say Terraria is among the best examples of progression-based gameplay that gradually expands the players power throughout the game. VS has even given me strong Terraria vibes when I'm deep underground in a ruined shelter, looting the corpses of lost miners. Granted, they are also very different in their own ways, and I by no means think VS should be nearly as combat oriented as Terraria. But VS can surely learn a few things, even if they have to factor in a 3rd and 4th dimension.

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

No, absolutely not. In my experience, games that make all the enemies scale with the player rob the player of the sense that they've really accomplished anything. The whole point of getting better gear is to be able to deal with stronger enemies, and thus unlock more areas of the world to explore. If the basic enemies just get stronger the better your equipment gets, you're not really gaining anything at all.

I'm not suggesting an aggressive progression system that defines the game, more of just a set of milestones. There's plenty of room for debate on where those points may be, but complacency and survival do not go hand-in-hand, so a dynamic approach seems more applicable for the type of game VS is. I agree that progression loses that sense of accomplishment if the enemies rise at the same pace, so it's important to keep them distinct.

I'm not saying that all the enemies throughout the game should be affected by progression either. The depths are always dangerous, but the surface is a shifting landscape where temporal storms and rift activity can shift the balance of power all over the place, so why not reflect that in gameplay. Keep in mind, that with a more dynamic system, there would be risks and rewards associated with progression, including ways of reducing the surface threat and putting them back underground, if you so choose. 

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

They may get some tweaks latter on, but I think they're fine as-is. Drifters, in all their iterations, are the basic, most common monster type you'll encounter, and it works. I'd also say that their combat has actually been improved in 1.20, in indirect fashion, with the addition of the shivers and bowtorn. Sure, the drifter tactics haven't changed, but now players have other things to deal with in addition to the drifters. Given some of the comments I've seen with those who have encountered them(and judging by my own experience), it works quite well.

This is good to hear. I've only seen the trailer for 1.20 but I'm eager to get my hands on the official release, whenever that is. I'm holding off on playing the test build partly because I don't know how, and partly because I'm still pretty new, so why rush. Although I am a bit surprised it took so long to be able to use ropes on animals, seems like a pretty important aspect of ranching. 

[LadyWYT]

55 minutes ago, Miles Upshur said:

Although I am a bit surprised it took so long to be able to use ropes on animals, seems like a pretty important aspect of ranching. 

My understanding is the ropes had some physics issues. A lot of physics issues. Some of them similar to what happens when Skyrim giants swat enemies.

2 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

You could add new monsters, sure, but I'd not want to throw them on new players. Just phase them in (see what I did there?) as the game perceives the seraph to be capable of handling them.

Depends on the monster, really. I think new players would fine, for the most part...and by fine I mean no more terrified than what's normal. I was thinking more about preserving the fear of the unknown for more experienced players by making it harder to guess what you might be facing.

55 minutes ago, Miles Upshur said:

I'm not suggesting an aggressive progression system that defines the game, more of just a set of milestones. There's plenty of room for debate on where those points may be, but complacency and survival do not go hand-in-hand, so a dynamic approach seems more applicable for the type of game VS is. I agree that progression loses that sense of accomplishment if the enemies rise at the same pace, so it's important to keep them distinct.

I'm not saying that all the enemies throughout the game should be affected by progression either. The depths are always dangerous, but the surface is a shifting landscape where temporal storms and rift activity can shift the balance of power all over the place, so why not reflect that in gameplay. Keep in mind, that with a more dynamic system, there would be risks and rewards associated with progression, including ways of reducing the surface threat and putting them back underground, if you so choose. 

Thinking about it...what about using a story location as a milestone instead? Perhaps some future location could hold something that we need, but that we can't acquire without turning some sort of additional monsters loose in the world as a result. Actually, I wouldn't be too surprised if that ends up happening someday, though I would also expect the additional monsters to be temporary and their spawns stopped after later events unfold. That being said, I think this is also good territory for the modded realm. Add new monsters, or retune the vanilla ones to be absolute pushovers or overpowered nightmares. Come to think of it...you can already do the latter in the game right now, by adjusting how much damage enemies are able to do.

If we had to stick exclusively to what's already available in the game though and tweak that instead of adding new stuff: I wouldn't allow anything past tier 2 monsters to spawn on the surface outside of temporal storms. Natural predators like bears and wolves have tier 2 attacks, as do large prey animals like moose and bighorns, so having a rare enemy or two that spawns at a higher tier isn't entirely out of the question. I'm still not convinced that it would be particularly fun though, since natural wildlife and you can spot and avoid, and underground enemies you can avoid by staying out of caves until you're properly equipped. Surface enemies are a lot more random; rift activity can go from calm to apocalyptic levels in an instant, and while having a hoard of enemies spawn on top of you while you're unprepared would certainly get your adrenaline going...it's not going to be fun at all to die as a result.

Edit: I should add that I'm writing all this from a viewpoint of having several many hours worth of experience with the new monsters added in the 1.20 pre-release.

Edited December 27, 2024 by LadyWYT

[Thorfinn]

55 minutes ago, Miles Upshur said:

Woah there, drop everything. Terraria doesn't scale well? I'd say Terraria is among the best examples of progression-based gameplay

Of course it doesn't. For every boss except daytime Empress (and maybe even her -- Terraprisma is definitely not OP ), once you kill the boss, you have the power to farm him. Often without even needing an arena. Queen Bee can be a bit of a challenge if you don't open up some space in the jungle, but kill her once and then you can safely farm her on any open ground outside the jungle, even though that makes her enraged. EoC isn't that tough to do as fast as you can find the hearts, but from then on, you can take him out using nothing more than the Shield you got from him the first time. The only real exception is Skeletron, if you don't get the Bone Glove and spend a little time in the Dungeon.

That's what you are complaining about with surface drifters -- you get decent armor and then they are reduced to an annoyance. A gimmee. So add in an occasional deep drifter or beyond to keep it interesting.

Edited December 27, 2024 by Thorfinn

[MassiveHobo]

I havent had this problem yet in 1.20 rc5/6. This reads like someone trying to build bases the same way they would in minecraft and being upset that this game has different rules.  

We could help you more if you posted some images, maybe your base is not properly sealed off to be truly considered indoors. Maybe it is but you've too many dim areas, and there only needs to be one dim block for them to spawn. Maybe it has open balconies/halls that you could seal off by keeping a large door that is always open. Maybe its just too big inside so drifters have 10x more surface area to spawn on inside, so you have 10x the drifters inside. 

My build style in this game prioritizes very compact and ergonomic storage/crafting areas so I can have a cozy, decorated interior in a small base with tons of storage, drifters are never a problem to me. Theres no reason why I wouldn't be able to build a little 16x16 castle and make it function better than any youtube art build while looking nearly as good.

For example I do storage this way, my access to 11 trunks and 11 crates only takes up a 2x3 area and maintains indoor status, the cobble is floor/ground level and I can place a decorative basement hatch on the outside of my base that gives me access to my storage. My builds became a lot smaller doing storage this way. 

 

You are right though in saying we need more ways to spawn proof the areas that are 'ours'. I for one want to be able to totally spawnproof the inside of my house during temporal storms, I shouldn't need a 1x1x2 panic box. A stupidly simple and quick solution is to make a chest with 16 temporal gears in it totally spawnproof the nearby volume within a 10 block radius.

Edited December 27, 2024 by MassiveHobo

[LadyWYT]

While I'm thinking about it--this mod will probably solve most of the problem posed in the original post.

https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/6561

[Miles Upshur]

6 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Thinking about it...what about using a story location as a milestone instead? Perhaps some future location could hold something that we need, but that we can't acquire without turning some sort of additional monsters loose in the world as a result. Actually, I wouldn't be too surprised if that ends up happening someday, though I would also expect the additional monsters to be temporary and their spawns stopped after later events unfold.

That's a thought I considered, but I don't think I've stumbled across any story locations yet, so I have no experience speculating in that regard. And a difficulty curve that goes up towards the middle and tapers back down in the endgame is exactly what I had in mind. If you get the choice to make it harder or return it to normal at the end would be even better.

6 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

Of course it doesn't. For every boss except daytime Empress (and maybe even her -- Terraprisma is definitely not OP ), once you kill the boss, you have the power to farm him. Often without even needing an arena. Queen Bee can be a bit of a challenge if you don't open up some space in the jungle, but kill her once and then you can safely farm her on any open ground outside the jungle, even though that makes her enraged. EoC isn't that tough to do as fast as you can find the hearts, but from then on, you can take him out using nothing more than the Shield you got from him the first time. The only real exception is Skeletron, if you don't get the Bone Glove and spend a little time in the Dungeon.

That's what you are complaining about with surface drifters -- you get decent armor and then they are reduced to an annoyance. A gimmee. So add in an occasional deep drifter or beyond to keep it interesting.

I guess we disagree on how a progression based game should unfold. In most instances when I defeat a boss in any video game, I could do it again and it would often feel significantly easier than doing it the first time. That's just how memorizing patterns and strategies works. I was referring to the way the game is constantly advancing you through different stages as you unlock and explore more of your world. 

 

 

[Miles Upshur]

5 hours ago, MassiveHobo said:

I havent had this problem yet in 1.20 rc5/6. This reads like someone trying to build bases the same way they would in minecraft and being upset that this game has different rules.  

We could help you more if you posted some images, maybe your base is not properly sealed off to be truly considered indoors. Maybe it is but you've too many dim areas, and there only needs to be one dim block for them to spawn. Maybe it has open balconies/halls that you could seal off by keeping a large door that is always open. Maybe its just too big inside so drifters have 10x more surface area to spawn on inside, so you have 10x the drifters inside. 

My build style in this game prioritizes very compact and ergonomic storage/crafting areas so I can have a cozy, decorated interior in a small base with tons of storage, drifters are never a problem to me. Theres no reason why I wouldn't be able to build a little 16x16 castle and make it function better than any youtube art build while looking nearly as good.

For example I do storage this way, my access to 11 trunks and 11 crates only takes up a 2x3 area and maintains indoor status, the cobble is floor/ground level and I can place a decorative basement hatch on the outside of my base that gives me access to my storage. My builds became a lot smaller doing storage this way. 

To be honest, your suspicions are entirely accurate. 

My build style is very particular, and I like to maintain a fine balance between aesthetics and efficiency. I admire your style on a conceptual level, but I'm a different kind of nerd who likes building castles and thinks gloomy interior lighting is warm and cozy. Thanks for offering some help, but I think I've gotten a handle on things by now. I made more lights and I'll probably look into mods soon. 

I'm mostly here to get involved in a discussion about game mechanics. 

[LadyWYT]

15 minutes ago, Miles Upshur said:

And a difficulty curve that goes up towards the middle and tapers back down in the endgame is exactly what I had in mind. If you get the choice to make it harder or return it to normal at the end would be even better.

The difficulty curve for Vintage Story goes somewhat as follows, at least to me:

Early game: Easily the most brutal, unforgiving portion. You start with nothing, it's very easy to die, and it's also fairly easy to make mistakes that will end up throwing a wrench into your plans later on.

Mid-game: This is usually where the game gets easier, since the player has secured decent equipment, shelter, a good source of food, and some method of healing themselves. This is also usually where players can start thinking about starting the main story by locating and visiting the Resonance Archive.

Late game: Could be classified as the point that the player acquires steel, but I think completion of the Resonance Archive is perhaps a better marker. Resources generally aren't a problem by this point, the player has the best equipment for dealing with all manner of threats, and the world really begins to open up. As for whether it's that much easier...your mileage may vary...

24 minutes ago, Miles Upshur said:

That's a thought I considered, but I don't think I've stumbled across any story locations yet, so I have no experience speculating in that regard.

Which brings me to my next point...I'm not going to spoil too much here, but the reason I said "your mileage may vary" above regarding the difficulty of the late game: there are a few things that won't hesitate to kick the fire out of you, if you get complacent. Some of them have to do with the story, but some of them are just the new monsters, especially during temporal storms.

[MassiveHobo]

4 hours ago, Miles Upshur said:

To be honest, your suspicions are entirely accurate. 

My build style is very particular, and I like to maintain a fine balance between aesthetics and efficiency. I admire your style on a conceptual level, but I'm a different kind of nerd who likes building castles and thinks gloomy interior lighting is warm and cozy. Thanks for offering some help, but I think I've gotten a handle on things by now. I made more lights and I'll probably look into mods soon. 

I'm mostly here to get involved in a discussion about game mechanics. 

I think this game does need more spawn proofing mechanics, a very simple and elegant fix would be filling a chest with 16 temporal gears to have a 21x21x21 spawnproof cube around said chest.