A new player asks a million questions.(Not really)

[Orangatuan]

I have a solo game in year 1 October, and a multiplayer game with 5 friends at about the same spot, who are also new to Vintage. These are the questions we've got so far. 

1. Is there a list of what equipment goes in which slots? As I've only just found out that the second chest slot is for a tunic. 
2. If there is no one in a game that has the skill to make sewing kits is there another way to repair clothes?
3. Is there a way to breed/populate a pond/lake with fish? 
4. When you use a chisel on a stone block it gains the description "Insulated face" does this actually help the temperature inside? 
5. All our building have single block outer walls due to being easily put up and modified, would double walling them improve the inside temperature? 
6. What is the best strategy for finding lime? We've explored 1000 in all directions from our home and haven't noticed any. The only lime we've got so far has been from ruins. 
7. Is there a method to getting temporal gears? 

Thank you for any answers you can provide. 

[StCatharines]

Welcome to the forums!

1. The clothes section of the wiki is a good place to start.

2. Damaged clothing can be repaired by 10% using flax twine, by 50% using linen

3. No, unfortunately.

4. No, but it doesn't prevent a room from registering as a room.

5. In general, no. See the full wiki page on rooms to understand why. In short, it only really matters for food preservation in cellars, past that it just gets you out of the wind and rain/snow.

6. 1,000 blocks in VS is a very short distance. Go 10,000 in one direction, see what you can see, and if you don't have luck, try a different direction from your base instead.

7. Kill higher tier mobs and hope for a drop when harvesting them, or find treasure hunters who sell them.

 

Enjoy your time playing the game!

[Zane Mordien]

Welcome, I hope you guys all love the game.

2. Don't forget you can make simple clothes from hides. Repairing clothes is only a thing if you want to look cool. IMO flax and linen are too valuable to waste on repairing clothes.

5. I would recommend 5,000 in each direction before you go 10,000. Unless you get really unlucky you should find lime or chalk in one direction. Also make note of bauxite if you see it. If you find a translocator it might be worth the 3 temporal gears to let it teleport you somewhere else to see if you have better luck on lime. Translocators generally go about 5k but it could be shorter.

7. Just mass kill surface drifters. On high activity nights there will be tons of them and if you use an improvised shield and armor with a copper falx only, you can kill them pretty easy by letting them through a door in a controlled manner. If you want to be creative you can make drifter killing pits and stuff to kill them, but I personally prefer to get my hands dirty.

Edited February 14, 2025 by Zane Mordien

[LadyWYT]

Welcome to the forums!

2 hours ago, Orangatuan said:

2. If there is no one in a game that has the skill to make sewing kits is there another way to repair clothes?

Outside of flax twine and linen, you can also sometimes buy sewing kits from traders(commodities and survival goods, I believe) or occasionally find them as ruins loot. You can also turn off the class-exclusive recipes, if you so desire, which will remove the restrictions on who can craft what.

2 hours ago, Orangatuan said:

6. What is the best strategy for finding lime? We've explored 1000 in all directions from our home and haven't noticed any. The only lime we've got so far has been from ruins. 

You can also grind chalk, marble, and seashells into lime; it doesn't require only limestone. Marble is rare though, so if you find it you'll probably want to build with it instead of grinding it up. Seashells aren't that rare, but it takes a lot to make any significant amount of lime.

Assuming you're after lime for leatherworking, keep an eye out for borax. Borax serves the same function in leatherworking, but is more efficient, plus you will need borax later for making steel.

Last but not least, you can sometimes find lime as loot in ruins, or for sale by commodities traders.

2 hours ago, Orangatuan said:

7. Is there a method to getting temporal gears? 

In addition to what @StCatharines already noted, you can also find temporal gears as loot in certain story locations. If you pursue the main story, you're guaranteed to find them, though it may be useful to have one or two with you on certain expeditions.

You can also find them occasionally through panning gravel, sand, or bony soil, though it's a very low chance.

[Orangatuan]

Thank you everyone for the replies. 

As far as the translocator, I have repaired one in my solo game, it took me 3500 tiles away into a cave at y=60, died before I stepped off the platform. Might go overland and carefully clear the caves. 

Also as far as the story goes, we've found some lore books, so I *think* I know what happened, but I still don't know why, and I did find a polished kimberlite monolith. Not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. 

[Zane Mordien]

22 minutes ago, Orangatuan said:

As far as the translocator, I have repaired one in my solo game, it took me 3500 tiles away into a cave at y=60, died before I stepped off the platform. Might go overland and carefully clear the caves. 
 

I keep a stack of dirt on me and seal the entrance to the translocator room immediately after I teleport. Then I dig straight up and use ladders to get to the surface. Just remember to put a torch in the room or it will have nasties for you when you return.  

[Orangatuan]

On 2/13/2025 at 8:41 PM, StCatharines said:

2. Damaged clothing can be repaired by 10% using flax twine, by 50% using linen

This doesn't make sense mathematically. 

1 Twine = 10%
4T (1 linen) = 50% so 12.5% per twine. 
16 T (1 sewing kit) = 75% so 4.6% per twine. 

Why is a sewing kit so bad at repairing? 

[StCatharines]

49 minutes ago, Orangatuan said:

Why is a sewing kit so bad at repairing? 

Simple! A sewing kit only takes four twine. 

[Michael Gates]

re: farming temporal gears. Lots of people like to go through pain and suffering to get blue gears, but you can farm them right out of your house and it's not even difficult. Here, look at this:

This is a simple Dutch door-- top and bottom halves that can be opened or closed separately. In game terms, it's made from two "solid trapdoors," in this case pine. You can build this as soon as you've got a saw. Once you've got this on your house, wait for dark, get a spear-- bronze is great, but stone is okay if you make several of them ahead of time-- open the top half of the door as shown, and wait for a drifter to walk by. Then.. and I know, this part is complicated.. you stab it.

Once all the drifters in front of your door are killed, nip out and loot. I get about one gear per night with this setup, plus string.

One note, you can see I'm standing back a little. This is why I use spears for this, they have REACH. You can hurt them, but they can't do anything but throw rocks. If your health does drop below half just close the top part of the door.

[Thorfinn]

Nice way to do it, @Michael Gates!

If there's only 1 space between your door and the dirt, I suspect you could also sit on the floor and poke out the bottom door, since I don't think crawlers can make that corner. Sitting might even prevent rocks from hitting you, if you made the block in front of the door 2-high so they can't get the angle.

[Never Jhonsen]

On 2/13/2025 at 3:19 PM, Orangatuan said:

7. Is there a method to getting temporal gears?

One of the traders, I do believe it's Treasure Hunters, sell Temporal Gears as well from time to time. Check in with your local T. H. Trader every stock refresh and see what he has for you

[Orangatuan]

I have come up with a few questions. 

1. How do lightning strikes work? 
As in what materials provide shelter from them?
What is their damage and aoe? 
Asking as both me and my friend have been damaged by them while inside buildings. 

2. Is there a preferred area for Oak? and I guess Acacia as well. For leatherworking. 
As I've only been able to find single oak trees. I actually managed to get seeds from the most recent one so I'm set in this game, just would like to know for any future games. 

3. I have noticed the wet status effect. What does it actual do? 

[Cattastrafy]

I'm kinda a noob but,

1) I imagine they can strike in any storm. I've had chickens die to them. You can make a lightning rod (three copper rods combined) and place up to 40m in the air and it will protect in a pyramid underneath it to keep you and animals safe!

2) can use shears on the oak trees you can find for more seeds easy enough, I noticed they seem kinda uncommon in pine forest or non existent in some but can't track a *great* place for them.

3) I imagine it's a multiplier to the temp outside if it's cold. Can't confirm. For instance, maybe your clothes let you survive in -5C. But if you're wet AND it's -5C, you might start to freeze?

Edited February 24, 2025 by Cattastrafy

[ifoz]

On 2/14/2025 at 10:42 AM, Orangatuan said:

I did find a polished kimberlite monolith. Not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. 

That's a Better Ruins structure.
If you want the inside scoop,

Spoiler

it's because the team think they look cool and they're fun to make. 

[Thorfinn]

4 hours ago, Orangatuan said:

1. How do lightning strikes work? 

If lightning hits the roof, it damages you 7 or 8 tiles below, in an inverted pyramid.

 

4 hours ago, Orangatuan said:

2. Is there a preferred area for Oak?

If you see maple or walnut, you are in the ballpark. It can grow quite far south. Into redwood territory, for sure. If you see larch, you are too far north.

 

4 hours ago, Orangatuan said:

3. I have noticed the wet status effect. What does it actual do? 

Makes hypothermia more common. Mostly late fall to early spring. Not a huge effect on Standard, but Wilderness, you might need to start fires in June or July if you get wet.

[Orangatuan]

Thanks for all the help. 

I have now got to iron, making bloom, ingots and smithing the tools is all fine. Waiting for my flax to grow to make the windmill sails. 
But I have noticed the smelting temperature for iron, and reading the guide, blistering steel, is above the 1300 of the highest fuel I've got so far. 

I've had a look through the guide but can't find any fuels that go that high. 
1. So how do you get to those temperatures? 

And collecting the several types of "tree saps"  (Mod: Culinary Artillery)
2. Does the metal quality of the spile improve the harvest rate? 

I've found the answer to #2, it is No.

Edited March 9, 2025 by Orangatuan

[Broccoli Clock]

16 hours ago, Orangatuan said:

I have now got to iron, making bloom, ingots and smithing the tools is all fine. Waiting for my flax to grow to make the windmill sails. 
But I have noticed the smelting temperature for iron, and reading the guide, blistering steel, is above the 1300 of the highest fuel I've got so far. 

I've had a look through the guide but can't find any fuels that go that high. 
1. So how do you get to those temperatures? 

https://wiki.vintagestory.at/Steel_making

"Steel making is the process of carbonizing iron under high temperatures, for which a new type of furnace building is required."

..and..

https://wiki.vintagestory.at/Coke

Although to be fair the increase in temperature is only a few degrees and I am not sure how up to date the wiki is as it states..

"As of 1.19, the only ore that cannot be smelted by other fuel types and requires coke's high burning temperature is nickel."

 

 

Also, regarding the windmill, do a quick check at which Y level it is at. Above 120 and you get a speed boost. You can find the coords by pressing [ctrl]+[v]. I did it in my world and found I was just a few blocks short of the height so added them.

[Maelstrom]

On 3/10/2025 at 4:08 AM, Broccoli Clock said:

Also, regarding the windmill, do a quick check at which Y level it is at. Above 120 and you get a speed boost. You can find the coords by pressing [ctrl]+[v]. I did it in my world and found I was just a few blocks short of the height so added them.

More accurately - the max windmill power is 60 blocks above sea level.  Sea level changes as world height changes.  To find sea level check the block height of any nearby sea/ocean or even a large lake.

[Broccoli Clock]

3 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

More accurately - the max windmill power is 60 blocks above sea level.  Sea level changes as world height changes.  To find sea level check the block height of any nearby sea/ocean or even a large lake.

It's a point worth making, although I don't set the world height (I leave it at default, thus a Y120 will do) I am sure there are others out there that do.

Quote

The location and height of the structure affects the amount of power generated. Wind speed increases by 1% per block elevation starting from 10 blocks above sea level, with a maximum bonus of 50% at 60 blocks above sea level. For a world with a default height of 256 blocks, sea level would be Y-level 110. At Y-level 121 and above, a windmill starts to get the height wind speed bonus. For example, a windmill rotor at Y-level 121 could reach a potential wind speed of 101%, and a rotor at Y-level 170 could reach up to 150% wind speed.

That's from the wiki, the one thing I didn't realise was that it's incremental rather than a binary flag. I think my windmill is at Y124 (and it has 8 sails, although I presume it's calculated from the rotor Y level), so the increase is actually minimal.

 

 

[Maelstrom]

The rotor altitude is the important detail.  Also consider that there is a small power loss for long spans of axles, so dropping a 70 block length of axle can have a noticeable reduction in power.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

On 3/9/2025 at 12:21 PM, Orangatuan said:

I've had a look through the guide but can't find any fuels that go that high. 
1. So how do you get to those temperatures? 

Look into a bloomery for the iron and a refractory for the steel as @Broccoli Clock suggested already. I just wanted to add the bit about the bloomery for the iron. It will get you up to the temperatures you want.

[LadyWYT]

On 3/9/2025 at 12:21 PM, Orangatuan said:

But I have noticed the smelting temperature for iron, and reading the guide, blistering steel, is above the 1300 of the highest fuel I've got so far. 

I've had a look through the guide but can't find any fuels that go that high. 
1. So how do you get to those temperatures? 

Just to make sure, since you seem to be using mods--if one of the mods adds steel nuggets as a byproduct from your smithing, you're not going to be able to smelt those back into anything useful unless you have another mod that adds a fuel that burns hot enough to smelt them, or otherwise adds a way to process them.

Otherwise, as others have noted, the way to get steel is via refractories.