Vintage Story Is a Challenge-Centered Game.

[Thorfinn]

Good point, @Maelstrom. I was thinking the many people who come in and say, "I just bought the game. What mods should I use?" Or even, "What settings should I use?" IMO, first try bog standard and see if you are up to it. If not, then try to make adjustments before you storm off. The game is worth it.

[Maelstrom]

Glad you see it my way.  

[Vratislav]

11 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

then try to make adjustments before you storm off.

I thought there is Exploration mode that does it without fiddling with the world settings. Should it be renamed as "Easy mode" to be entirely obvious?

But I haven't played it so maybe it is not well balanced for players who are hit by the standard game too hard...?

[Thorfinn]

I don't know, @Vratislav. There must be someone here who has played Exploration. Maybe?

[Never Jhonsen]

Way back when I first bought the game, all those years ago, Exploration Mode is what I made my first world under; it looked like the easiest choice, and I knew I had a lot to learn.

And it was! Monsters are weaker, you're stronger, food's more filling and lasts longer, and the challenges are easier to face.

My recommendation to new players is to start a vanilla Exploration world. No mods, no adjusted settings.

[CastIronFabric]

As anyone who has played Stationeers or even KSP would know, a 'challenge' does NOT have to mean monsters or violence. A challenge can be heart pumping while also NOT be centered on combat at the same time. In Stationeers for example you are on the clock and its very easy to not get things done in time before you starve to death.

As a long term gamer I am exhausted with challenges related to physical violence, it just gets old and it diverts attention away from more novel ideas around challenges.

Edited July 5, 2025 by CastIronFabric

[CastIronFabric]

3 hours ago, Never Jhonsen said:

Way back when I first bought the game, all those years ago, Exploration Mode is what I made my first world under; it looked like the easiest choice, and I knew I had a lot to learn.

And it was! Monsters are weaker, you're stronger, food's more filling and lasts longer, and the challenges are easier to face.

My recommendation to new players is to start a vanilla Exploration world. No mods, no adjusted settings.

I still do Exploration mode.

Here is my summary of Standard mode:

Early Game: get as much done during the day as you can, sit and stair at a wall for the night and wait for the clock to be done.

Mid/Late Game: monsters just get in the way, mess up your train of thought and are just in general a nuisance.

So for my single player experience I just leave hostile off and I have no plan of ever changing that. However, I would like to see them make a change where if I attack a monster, they will then attack me in mass. Also, I refuse to accept not being able to build someplace I find cool simply because of Temporal Stability. Nope, not having any of that.

 

Edited July 5, 2025 by CastIronFabric

[Echo Weaver]

On 7/5/2025 at 11:21 AM, CastIronFabric said:

As a long term gamer I am exhausted with challenges related to physical violence, it just gets old and it diverts attention away from more novel ideas around challenges.

This is a great line of thought, and I have to agree, though some of my perspective depends on what you mean by physical violence (oh no I'm digging into word definitions ).

I guess I've played enough hack'n'slash of various types -- it's fine, but there are a lot better, more responsive, more creative real-time fantasy combat games out there. I describe myself as a "coward" to have a high concept of my gaming approach, but the more detailed description is that I much more enjoy thinking my way through how to mitigate a threat than meeting it head-on with punches and spears. I've been playing with my teenage daughter on LAN with my long-running save this past week since school let out, and we've been working on creating an effective kill zone at my base for temporal storms. The first attempt was a hysterical death loop where we got trapped inside our base with a nightmare drifter who camped our respawn point until the storm mercifully ended. The second attempt involved fewer deaths but not a lot of dead drifters. The last one was pretty good, and I got a double-header to boot, though the jerk didn't hand over any jonas parts.

All of this was probably far worse than just running around with spears, but it was FUN.

OTOH, I don't really view wolves and bears as combat opponents. They're environmental risks.

But really one of the highlights of my gameplay so far was the my first winter where I nearly starved. This seems like a good indication that I am the right mindset for this game. And also maybe I need a therapist.

On 7/5/2025 at 11:28 AM, CastIronFabric said:

Here is my summary of Standard mode:

Early Game: get as much done during the day as you can, sit and stair at a wall for the night and wait for the clock to be done.

Well, to be fair, you don't need to stare at a wall. Just make a hay-bale bed and sleep like a normal immersive human would do. And if you don't want to do that, there's usually a bunch of cooking and whatnot to do inside during the night.

ETA: I know that optional/nonexistant sleeping is pretty standard for most games, but I kind of think I'd prefer a fatigue metric just to contribute to immersion. I don't know that anyone has modded that. I'll have to think on it.

ETA2: Oh, healing is supposed to be boosted while you sleep??

Edited July 7, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[Rudometkin]

18 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

(oh no I'm digging into word definitions )

A crucial step of critical thought.

[Zane Mordien]

On 7/5/2025 at 11:28 AM, CastIronFabric said:

Early Game: get as much done during the day as you can, sit and stair at a wall for the night and wait for the clock to be done.

Early game every night for me is work. The first few nights I build my first temporary shack on top of a water block so I can pan sand or bony soil all night long. Then we I get copper, I spend my nights working at the forge or other crafting that I need to do. Late game is when I sleep the nights since I have everything time critical done already.

[CastIronFabric]

1 hour ago, Echo Weaver said:

This is a great line of thought, and I have to agree, though some of my perspective depends on what you mean by physical violence (oh no I'm digging into word definitions ).

I guess I've played enough hack'n'slash of various types -- it's fine, but there are a lot better, more responsive, more creative real-time fantasy combat games out there. I describe myself as a "coward" to have a high concept of my gaming approach, but the more detailed description is that I much more enjoy thinking my way through how to mitigate a threat than meeting it head-on with punches and spears. I've been playing with my teenage daughter on LAN with my long-running save this past week since school let out, and we've been working on creating an effective kill zone at my base for temporal storms. The first attempt was a hysterical death loop where we got trapped inside our base with a nightmare drifter who camped our respawn point until the storm mercifully ended. The second attempt involved fewer deaths but not a lot of dead drifters. The last one was pretty good, and I got a double-header to boot, though the jerk didn't hand over any jonas parts.

All of this was probably far worse than just running around with spears, but it was FUN.

OTOH, I don't really view wolves and bears as combat opponents. They're environmental risks.

But really one of the highlights of my gameplay so far was the my first winter where I nearly starved. This seems like a good indication that I am the right mindset for this game. And also maybe I need a therapist.

Well, to be fair, you don't need to stare at a wall. Just make a hay-bale bed and sleep like a normal immersive human would do. And if you don't want to do that, there's usually a bunch of cooking and whatnot to do inside during the night.

ETA: I know that optional/nonexistant sleeping is pretty standard for most games, but I kind of think I'd prefer a fatigue metric just to contribute to immersion. I don't know that anyone has modded that. I'll have to think on it.

ETA2: Oh, healing is supposed to be boosted while you sleep??

Regarding Sleeping:

1. multiplayer

2. early game where you can not sleep thru the night long enough so yes you have to sit and wait looking at a wall.

Regarding violence:

no combat...peroid. Stationeers example: high adrenaline action of fast paced is most of the game. However there is zero violence, combat or whatever term is most palatable to describe what I think we both know I mean. How do they do that? well...they can.

 

[CastIronFabric]

12 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

Early game every night for me is work. The first few nights I build my first temporary shack on top of a water block so I can pan sand or bony soil all night long. Then we I get copper, I spend my nights working at the forge or other crafting that I need to do. Late game is when I sleep the nights since I have everything time critical done already.

good for you, I am not intrested in the play loop in question.

at all, which is why I turn it off.

 

[Echo Weaver]

13 minutes ago, CastIronFabric said:

2. early game where you can not sleep thru the night long enough so yes you have to sit and wait looking at a wall.

Hay-bale bed is about as early-game as it gets, and 7 hours gets you through the night.

[CastIronFabric]

24 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

Hay-bale bed is about as early-game as it gets, and 7 hours gets you through the night.

7 hours does not get you thru the night. I am sorry but your wrong. Monsters spawns are active for more than 7 hours even in spring time.

Edited July 7, 2025 by CastIronFabric

[Enjen]

2 minutes ago, CastIronFabric said:

7 hours does not get you thru the night. I am sorry but your wrong. Monsters spawns are active for more than 7 hours even in spring time.

I sleep at 24:00 or 1am and it gets through the night. Hell even at like 22:00 or 23:00. Gets me through the night at least on default settings

[CastIronFabric]

2 minutes ago, Enjen said:

I sleep at 24:00 or 1am and it gets through the night. Hell even at like 22:00 or 23:00. Gets me through the night at least on default settings

the monster spawns that throw rocks and spears at you for the evening last longer than 7 hours. They do not leave within 7 hours, not even remotely.

In fact, that reality is WHY the other upgraded bed last longer for sleep

 

Edited July 7, 2025 by CastIronFabric

[Echo Weaver]

35 minutes ago, CastIronFabric said:

the monster spawns that throw rocks and spears at you for the evening last longer than 7 hours. They do not leave within 7 hours, not even remotely.

In fact, that reality is WHY the other upgraded bed last longer for sleep

This is not my observation from plenty of play time, but you do you.

[Enjen]

45 minutes ago, CastIronFabric said:

the monster spawns that throw rocks and spears at you for the evening last longer than 7 hours. They do not leave within 7 hours, not even remotely.

In fact, that reality is WHY the other upgraded bed last longer for sleep

 

I'm not even talking about the enemies lol @Echo Weaver said the bed passes the night. Which I was agreeing to because you said:

51 minutes ago, CastIronFabric said:

7 hours does not get you thru the night. I am sorry but your wrong.

 

[CastIronFabric]

8 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

This is not my observation from plenty of play time, but you do you.

The monsters start to spawn in your area around 18:00.

They start to walk away from your base around 07:00

You can get them to despawn/walk away faster by running out of your base past about 32 chunks before 7am but I doubt one could do that around 1am.

The upgraded beds have a long time set on them SPECIFICALLY for this reason.

I have heard these points mentioned in multiple online videos and I have never experience it being otherwise in about 1500 hours of my game play in multiple files and multiplayer

[CastIronFabric]

3 minutes ago, Enjen said:

I'm not even talking about the enemies lol @Echo Weaver said the bed passes the night. Which I was agreeing to because you said:

 

night starts a midnight?

 

ok this conversation is over.

[Enjen]

5 minutes ago, CastIronFabric said:

night starts a midnight?

 

ok this conversation is over.

Hahaha I never said when night started. I don't know what point you're trying to make.

I hope you have a good day my fellow Vintarian