As a Whole

[Enjen]

I got to stop treating Vintage Story as a straight survival game. Or perhaps maybe just as that survival game. 

VS has a story that I have not even thought about until now when I read a post about it. I'll judt continue to play at my snail pace and may come across the story elements a real life month from now

[HalfAxd]

That's how I play... I'm always slow to "level up" because I like to wander the map and explore.  Building shelter at the end of a day and hearing that cooking pot bubble... that's the life for me. 

[LadyWYT]

I wouldn't say that I play at a snail's pace, but I do like to take my time and put some effort into the aesthetics of my base instead of just building purely for function. I also enjoy collecting various things in the game and displaying them...seashells has been the latest obsession. Overall, I'd say that I don't usually start the main story until spring of year 1; by this time I have plenty of iron to work with, if not steel itself. 

A typical game from start to finish(completing current story content) runs about 100 hours of playtime, for me. Bear in mind that I do sleep through most nights--partly for immersion and partly because I don't like working in the dark.

2 hours ago, HalfAxd said:

Building shelter at the end of a day and hearing that cooking pot bubble... that's the life for me.

The next time you have a fire going, try sitting next to it. There's a special tune that plays for just such an occasion!  I'm not sure of the exact conditions it needs to trigger, but you do have to be sitting by a lit firepit, and I think it may need to be nighttime. The cooking part is optional I believe, but if you've got the fire going anyway why not cook something tasty?

[Enjen]

On 6/28/2025 at 3:32 PM, LadyWYT said:

I wouldn't say that I play at a snail's pace, but I do like to take my time and put some effort into the aesthetics of my base instead of just building purely for function. I also enjoy collecting various things in the game and displaying them...seashells has been the latest obsession. Overall, I'd say that I don't usually start the main story until spring of year 1; by this time I have plenty of iron to work with, if not steel itself. 

A typical game from start to finish(completing current story content) runs about 100 hours of playtime, for me. Bear in mind that I do sleep through most nights--partly for immersion and partly because I don't like working in the dark.

The next time you have a fire going, try sitting next to it. There's a special tune that plays for just such an occasion!  I'm not sure of the exact conditions it needs to trigger, but you do have to be sitting by a lit firepit, and I think it may need to be nighttime. The cooking part is optional I believe, but if you've got the fire going anyway why not cook something tasty?

Oh you've got a nice workflow! I also hate working in the dark haha before going to sleep though I put some stuff in a Pit Kiln so it's burning while I sleep hahaha 

[Rudometkin]

I understand, as I'm in a similar boat! Probably worse off, though, since I'm over 20 hours in, and I think I have almost recently made a copper pickaxe.

I'm excited to get established and experience the story. Posts like this generate hype for it.

[Moltrey]

I find the map tends to dictate a good bit of your pace early on, unless you wander a lot. I am not a fan of ending up unprepared at sundown though. Just sort of letting the game come to me is a happy medium, but then I am pretty laid back about most stuff.

Very much waiting for the RC of .21.

[Silrana]

I play very slowly, too, because I'm addicted to exploring.  In my current game I'm building a compound but I also build little shacks here and there to store things I find until I can move them.  

From what I've seen on the forum, there are a lot of people who race to steel and then decide there is nothing left to do.  I can always find a hill or body of water to go see what's on the other side.  One of these days I'm going to make it my goal to uncover the entire map.

[Angie P]

1 hour ago, Silrana said:

  One of these days I'm going to make it my goal to uncover the entire map.

That's a goal of mine, too.... on a MUCH smaller world. Like, 10K blocks, just to see how dramatic and drastic biomes and such change, creating one now until the new update is released as stable.

 

 

Edited July 3, 2025 by Angie P

[Moltrey]

2 hours ago, Silrana said:

I play very slowly, too, because I'm addicted to exploring.  In my current game I'm building a compound but I also build little shacks here and there to store things I find until I can move them.  

From what I've seen on the forum, there are a lot of people who race to steel and then decide there is nothing left to do.  I can always find a hill or body of water to go see what's on the other side.  One of these days I'm going to make it my goal to uncover the entire map.

Yeah, I try hard to understand gamers who seem (to me at least) to be in a big hurry and other outlandish (IMO) stuff like "speed runs". I guess they are just bored with normal play? Dunno, this stuff is anathema to me. I suffer from being a founding member of the "played but rarely completed" gamer niche. For myself, games are much more about the journey rather than the destination, although that is nice too. I am just not driven to complete everything. I tend to be the same way with books; if something about a particular book gets in the way of enjoyment I am likely to set it down for a while. I know in VS I am addicted to the drip of random cool finds, regardless of type. It keeps me invested in the game.

Then again, at 61 I am jaded concerning certain things and am stubborn about others. I imagine I would look odd to some outside observers too, so it's all good.

[Thorfinn]

1 hour ago, Moltrey said:

Yeah, I try hard to understand gamers who seem (to me at least) to be in a big hurry and other outlandish (IMO) stuff like "speed runs".

For me, it's just a challenge thing. Not speed related, at least that's not the intent, but challenges tend to require efficiency. Take doubling rustie HP or setting minimum storm spawns to tainted. When the first storm is 3-5 days, you do not have much time to prepare, and it's going to kick like a mule. Or reduce crop yields to something interesting, like turnips from 7 to 1.5.  Yes, it's going to look like a speed run, but in reality, it's essential to survive what's coming. No time for wasted effort.

It's that cursed Type A.

[Silrana]

3 hours ago, Moltrey said:

Then again, at 61 I am jaded concerning certain things and am stubborn about others. I imagine I would look odd to some outside observers too, so it's all good.

62 here.  If a game has an end, I usually finish it unless A- real life interferes and by the time I get back I forgot what I was doing, or B- I run into something I really dislike.  There's one game I've almost finished three times because overall I enjoy it but when I get to this one point my desire to play wilts.

I've found over the years that I prefer open-ended games.  Though even some of those try to herd me. "You can build this city any way you want.  Unless you want to use technology we don't approve of.  But don't worry, we'll make sure you don't use it by making it nearly impossible to implement it successfully."

 

[Echo Weaver]

I enjoy open-ended games, but I think a lot of what grabs me about VS is immersion. I can suspend disbelief and really live in the world. All the agricultural and crafting simulations contribute to that. I'll move along in the plot, but my instinct is to always tend to my comfort and security first. 

I can certainly imagine cranking up the difficulty in a future playthrough as @Thorfinn does, though I doubt I'll ever play on permadeath. I get too invested in what I've built, and my natural risk aversion would turn into paralysis.

I think what I have in mind for a future run is a start in a much colder biome. Also, another to deck out the game with the stone age mods.

Edited July 4, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[Moltrey]

I still astounds me that where Vintage Story is concerned, I have barely begun to scratch the game experience surface. Having said that, I also tend to start and restart games, usually on different maps because I am learning as I go and sometimes get to a spot where I realize 'huh, well THAT was a bad idea!' or I just feel I need to hone my first 2 months skills more.

Yeah, I'm weird. 

A good example was one game, after I got my pottery ducks-in-a-row and was happily cooking away, I ran headlong into Tyron's cooking trap. If you get over-ambitious and make too many meals, you just end up wasting the food as it spoils before you can eat it all (Doh!) - Lesson learned box checked and bonus realization that there is much more to this game than one realizes.

Edited July 5, 2025 by Moltrey

[Thorfinn]

On 7/4/2025 at 10:42 AM, Echo Weaver said:

Also, another to deck out the game with the stone age mods.

That is a blast! It's quite refreshing to go from the game mode where you play as the alpha predator, to where you have to think as prey or you die. You likely die anyway. Everything is faster than you, most is both tougher and hits harder. I'm sure you can adjust that, but just playing defaults on the Phanerazoic and Stone Age mods, it's like you are playing a completely different game. 

[Kevin Eric Snell]

After several weeks on an established iron-age world where I didn't really have to fear my environment, and with little interest in the main storyline, I recently tried a new world start. It's kind of a shock to reacquaint myself with that early game helplessness, and not a pleasant one. The mid-game mindset is incompatible with the gameplay I was confronted with. I'm not exactly certain if the presence of the new mobs ruins the early game experience or if I just need to remind myself how I played early on. I remember what got me through my first slog into the bronze age was learning to have absolutely no value for my possessions or my player's life. Also, in retrospect, it was also spurred on by the fact I didn't know how to use cheat mode. Even unconsciously, I think it affects my risk assessment knowing I can recover after a stupid death.