Mods/gameplay styles/settings for inhospitable biomes ?

[Kolyenka]

My favorite way to play this game is to settle in a very inhospitable area with little around, and try to eek out a living just from what I find.

One that's worked well for me is to start in the coldest possible setting with primitive survival (and the mod that allows reeds to grow in cold biomes--didn't exist last time i played this game but i LOVE that mod) and live mostly off of fish in an ice hut. High precipitation and forests make it easier, low precipitation and unforested makes it very very hard. I do find it necessary change the body heat setting so that i don't start getting cold until around -20.

So, that's my classic....but I've played about 200 hours that way and it's getting old. I'm curious about hotter climates but last time I played them they were not what I was looking for.

Does anyone else like to play this way, and if so, what settings/mods/gameplay styles/self enforced rules do you use ? I'm looking for ideas to spice it up a little. Doesn't have to focus on inhospitable temps--difficult terrain, underground only, that sort of stuff, would all be interesting and new to me. Thanks !

Edited March 10, 2025 by Kolyenka
wording

[LadyWYT]

For a hot climate you might try out the Hydrate or Diedrate mod, and change your world settings so there is very little water to be had.

For a "standard" style of game, you can also crank up the hunger rate, turn down the healing rate significantly(set it to 25 or 50%), and change your cold hardiness value to something like 5/10 C. Food becomes more of a concern at that point, and bandages become much more valuable as just waiting to heal naturally probably isn't going to be very viable. Likewise, you'll get cold more easily, so keeping your clothing in good repair becomes more of a priority as well.

[Thorfinn]

If you luck out and start in a desert, you never have to worry about starvation because of all the sand which is there...

[Broccoli Clock]

7 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

If you luck out and start in a desert, you never have to worry about starvation because of all the sand which is there...

[Zane Mordien]

Similarly, Snow ball earth using the hot start is my go too. Having no storage until you find enough ruins for the bags or reeds is challenging. You get a very short growing season in a green house which is a fun challenge to get going fast enough to harvest. Then doing the story events with out leather to make the better armors offers a challenge.

Maybe one of the hot start mods will make it interesting to go the other way. 

[Thorfinn]

20 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

Having no storage until you find enough ruins for the bags or reeds is challenging.

There's no grass?

[Kolyenka]

17 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

For a hot climate you might try out the Hydrate or Diedrate mod, and change your world settings so there is very little water to be had.

For a "standard" style of game, you can also crank up the hunger rate, turn down the healing rate significantly(set it to 25 or 50%), and change your cold hardiness value to something like 5/10 C. Food becomes more of a concern at that point, and bandages become much more valuable as just waiting to heal naturally probably isn't going to be very viable. Likewise, you'll get cold more easily, so keeping your clothing in good repair becomes more of a priority as well.

very interesting ideas, thank you ! I'll definitely look into that mod. and that's a good combo of settings to try out for sure.

[Kolyenka]

35 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

Similarly, Snow ball earth using the hot start is my go too. Having no storage until you find enough ruins for the bags or reeds is challenging. You get a very short growing season in a green house which is a fun challenge to get going fast enough to harvest. Then doing the story events with out leather to make the better armors offers a challenge.

Maybe one of the hot start mods will make it interesting to go the other way. 

Huh, I have never tried being in the warm part of the world on a snowball earth. Is the growing season the only thing it affects/what else does that combo affect ?

And lol, i know all about no storage. Until that cold reeds mod came out all my storage was what I got out of ruins/reeds from forage vessels. It really does change how you play the game.

Next time I try another snowball world ill have to see what the hottest part is like.

What do you mean by "hot start mods" though--do you know of any in particular ? I was looking and didn't see any myself, but I'd be very interested.

[Kolyenka]

19 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

There's no grass?

there's grass, but how does that help with storage ? Unless you are using a mod that lets you make grass baskets or something like that.

But yeah grass is required. Otherwise you cannot make a fire at all.

[Thorfinn]

Fire pits are storage. I usually use a dozen or more even on a default world.

[Kolyenka]

2 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

Fire pits are storage. I usually use a dozen or more even on a default world.

ok, mind kind of blown. you can put anything in there or just stuff that is cookable ? either way that is a game changer in rly early game. One of my goals is usually to try and make things look nice so im not sure that would be viable for me long term, but short term, absolutely. Thanks for the idea !!

[Zane Mordien]

44 minutes ago, Kolyenka said:

Huh, I have never tried being in the warm part of the world on a snowball earth. Is the growing season the only thing it affects/what else does that combo affect ?

And lol, i know all about no storage. Until that cold reeds mod came out all my storage was what I got out of ruins/reeds from forage vessels. It really does change how you play the game.

Next time I try another snowball world ill have to see what the hottest part is like.

What do you mean by "hot start mods" though--do you know of any in particular ? I was looking and didn't see any myself, but I'd be very interested.

The hot starting location just gives you day/night vs the artic start and you can find wild rye and like i said a short growing windows in a greenhouse. There are moose and rarely a type of goat may spawn. As always plenty of polar bears. 

 

I don't know of any hot world mods myself.

46 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

Fire pits are storage. I usually use a dozen or more even on a default world.

Amen to that. My first snowball world I had firepits everywhere for storage. 

[Chiaro]

On 3/10/2025 at 9:49 PM, Kolyenka said:

One that's worked well for me is to start in the coldest possible setting with primitive survival (and the mod that allows reeds to grow in cold biomes--didn't exist last time i played this game but i LOVE that mod) and live mostly off of fish in an ice hut. High precipitation and forests make it easier, low precipitation and unforested makes it very very hard. I do find it necessary change the body heat setting so that i don't start getting cold until around -20.

What mod is that? Frozen Reeds? Does it work for 1.20?

I'd like to try a cold world with semi-dry weather and fewer trees, but have only done a few restarts for testing so far. It's a bit barren, but the reed issue is the most problematic one to begin with.

Hope they include reeds for the cold norths (and souths) later on.

 

[Kolyenka]

57 minutes ago, Chiaro said:

What mod is that? Frozen Reeds? Does it work for 1.20?

I'd like to try a cold world with semi-dry weather and fewer trees, but have only done a few restarts for testing so far. It's a bit barren, but the reed issue is the most problematic one to begin with.

Hope they include reeds for the cold norths (and souths) later on.

 

yep, frozen reeds, and it seems to work for 1.20. im running relatively few mods (some are just for a SMP), primitive survival, better shelves, and from golden combs. no conflicts so far.

Totally agree about vanilla reeds further north. There needs to be something. IRL, the Inuit people, who live in the arctic circle, use grasses to make baskets.

Here's some examples

I don't think you should be able to use ANY grass to make baskets, but I think arctic grass should be a separate thing, and you could use that to make hand baskets. I think that would add realism and would make ice worlds a lot more playable. Of course, I do enjoy them as is. I just think there could be improvements, lol.

[Chiaro]

Here's my modlist for my current cold world adventures in 1.20.4:
Terra Prety
Primitive Survival
Better Ruins
Sortable Storage
Self Recording Thermometer
Prospect Together
Less Wolfs and Bears
No Screenshot Message
Frozen Reeds (new)
At Waters Edge (new)

Not many mods aimed to remedy issues with a cold world, unfortunately, but on the plus side Less Wolfs and Bears and No Screenshot Message has great value for download energy spent.

I've added Frozen Reeds, which worked and spawned in reeds in places not discovered yet, so that saved a lot of storage trouble. I also added At Waters Edge for splitting and cultivating reeds, just in case.

I wish there was a flora pack for adding more bushes and so on to the colder lands, cause it is quite barren compared to temperate areas. I feel the transition from temperate to polar areas is a bit neglected in the game as of now.

Also a bit worried about whether flax will be found in a colder world. I've found heaps of rye, but no flax so far, and see it only grows in temperate areas according to the wiki.

For world generation I've ended up with the recommended values for Terra Prety, experimented with the landcover percentage between 30 and 50%, will probably end up at 40 or 50% at least.

Other values:
-102x102k world size with 50k polar-equator distance
- Minus 90% forestation (less trees)
-8x slower sapling growth speed (the waiting game)
-Cold and semi dry world (less thunderstorms, I hope)
-tool durability 125%
-temporal rifts off
-animals passive
-no class recipes

Peace and quiet and a bit chilly.

Edited March 12, 2025 by Chiaro