My two cents after playing for 300 hours.

[Thorfinn]

4 hours ago, TeaJay said:

Even if you have the elk the distances in chapter 2 are way too much. There was talk of adjusting it in the next patch and you can also use the worldgen option to change to distance. Minimum is 25%. 

That's subjective. IMO, the problem with it was not the distance, since it's only a few days of sprinting, but rather that you can't do anything on your journey but gain memories. Your inventory is too limited to bring back anything.

But, yeah, I read in the notes that they had nerfed the distance, and you can further reduce it to trivial. On my last 1.21 world, on defaults, I found the new treasure hunter, the RA, both unassisted, and saw the chapter 2 locale in the distance by mid-June. Personally, I think that's a little close, but I understand that's subjective.

[Echo Weaver]

11 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

That's subjective. IMO, the problem with it was not the distance, since it's only a few days of sprinting, but rather that you can't do anything on your journey but gain memories. Your inventory is too limited to bring back anything.

But, yeah, I read in the notes that they had nerfed the distance, and you can further reduce it to trivial. On my last 1.21 world, on defaults, I found the new treasure hunter, the RA, both unassisted, and saw the chapter 2 locale in the distance by mid-June. Personally, I think that's a little close, but I understand that's subjective.

You don't have enough inventory even with the inventory of the elk and/or sailboat? I kind of like the idea of a long journey, but I haven't actually attempted it yet.

I seem to recall at some point there were plans for wagons such that you could have a transportable base. I think my friend who got me into the game said those were planned for 1.20, so clearly that didn't end up happening.

I don't want to mess with my personal game, but oof I haven't managed to find that treasure trader yet. At least it looks like we're going to be decked out with the best weapons and armor when we finally find the archive. I thought I read that in 1.21 the other traders would be able to give you help in finding the treasure trader. Is that true?

[Thorfinn]

8 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

You don't have enough inventory even with the inventory of the elk and/or sailboat?

I did it without either. I was in a world without oceans, so the sailboat was not an option, and I was  so underwhelmed by the elk I left him home. It took longer to get him through the terrain than it was worth. Plus, it seriously reduced the ability to forage for food along the way. Had I known then what I know now, I think I would have bought the elk at the first trader I found after finishing chapter 2 so I would only have to get him through once. Still wouldn't have been a lot of storage for how much you can pick up on such a long journey, but it would have been something.

[Thorfinn]

17 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

I thought I read that in 1.21 the other traders would be able to give you help in finding the treasure trader. Is that true?

It's a new treasure hunter, in addition to whatever else is on the board, but yes.

[Zane Mordien]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

On my last 1.21 world, on defaults, I found the new treasure hunter, the RA, both unassisted, and saw the chapter 2 locale in the distance by mid-June. Personally, I think that's a little close, but I understand that's subjective.

I feel confident you are in a very small minority.  I could possibly find the RA if I was desperate looking for limestone or bauxite,  but only because I know how to spot it.  I have no reason at all to travel far enough even in 1.21 to find the village. You just love exploring?

[Krougal]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

Wow! I thought I was doing pretty well with about half that.

Same. Unless this is in F and not C?

 

[LadyWYT]

4 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

I feel confident you are in a very small minority.  I could possibly find the RA if I was desperate looking for limestone or bauxite,  but only because I know how to spot it.  I have no reason at all to travel far enough even in 1.21 to find the village. You just love exploring?

I'm pretty sure that's why the chapter 2 locations are placed so far away--it's not just for narrative, but to keep players from stumbling across them before they've completed chapter 1. The RA is difficult to find without the map, so it's unlikely that the player will just stumble across it(though it has happened); the chapter 2 locations are a lot more noticeable, even from a distance, in some cases. With the longer distances though, it's unlikely that most players will be stumbling across them.

That being said...it doesn't really hurt the story if you do chapter 2 before chapter 1. It is possible, and the story still makes sense, although it might get a little confusing meeting a certain "old friend" and whatnot if you've not been to the Archive. That, and it's a shame to miss out on the Archive anyway...really cool place.

[Thorfinn]

8 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

You just love exploring?

Mostly I love massive farms. I don't know why, but I almost always have 1000+ block farms by sometime in July.

[CastIronFabric]

15 hours ago, Irulana said:

1."/worldConfig classExclusiveRecipes false" there is nice winter outfit locked by tailor trait. 

2. I use merchants to store food, put few stacks of salted meat/cheese/sunflowers seeds/apples/bread etc then cancel action. I can spend many months far from base like that. We spend more time doing wide road to story location then exploring it XD.

3.Yes Boss fights are made very bad, they should be reworked completely.

4. During combat I always hide dig a hole then just block myself by ladder or dirt, remove armor and then heal. It is very effective as I can preserve my healing items. In 1.21 healing is much worse you can walk or run but when you step one block it resets WTF? It shouldn't reset after walking down or up, when you can run while helaing.

just a FYI: 

1. is a setting in the world gen, one does not need to do a command. Although its nice to be able to change that after world gen as well.

2. Food spoilage and hunger rate I THINK are also settings in world gen.

I cant intelligently address combat stuff.

[ifoz]

On 7/30/2025 at 2:29 AM, Krougal said:

Same. Unless this is in F and not C?

No, this is in Celsius.

[Krougal]

6 minutes ago, ifoz said:

No, this is in Celsius.

Oh.

Has anyone else noticed the bear armor has a random clothing durability (independent of the armor durability) ?

You can use a sewing kit on it, which will repair the clothing value, but not the armor itself.

Obviously not worth doing, but for science!

Although I guess if you absolutely need that last little bit of cold resistance for some polar expedition, maybe it would be worth it.

 

[Vratislav]

It is my personal experience about chapter two, from playing its content twice at this moment (first in a pre-release, so with some bugs, but it went). 

The journey is supposed to bring some struggle, that's the journey for us. For me, troubles were pretty similar as others mention: large distance, tight inventory and lack of food in the most distant part of the journey. Well, I took it as a challenge, that's what the game is for. 

The long distance actually helped me to master elk riding, together with navigation through the complicated landscape. Yeah, the elk is clunky, but in the bumpy terrain, it is actually fun to jump among hilltops and over the holes.

The lack of food pushed me to more creative solutions than stacking the inventory with bread and hoping it lasts. I have started the first journey on March with food for about ten days andgot to the D. in early April. It was located north, so the landscape was snowy, no food anywhere. I had actually to retreat mid-fight to find a food, running the Elk several thousand blocks to the south, spending last gears by Agriculture traders, do some hunting and finally finding some spring mushrooms and berries to replenish my food stack before finishing the job. Also, I have learned to ride the elk with armor put into the hotbar to save the satiety, wearing it quickly only when dismounitng or in some sticky situations.

About the inventory, even standard leather is OK, and who wants to be prepared, sturdy leather brings a lot of storage. The limits are supposed to be here, as Thorfinn said, the most valuable thing you will bring, will be memories. Yeah, it was unpleasant to find some valuable stuff to leave it behind. Yes it is tempting to sack every ruin met on the way (especially with BetterRuins mod  ). Then it was about choices. I have foud first Olivine deposit not far from the Village, and I have decided to prioritize four stacks of Olivine necessary for the cementation furnace even above some Nadyan souvenirs. Later, I have built a Rickety translocator and made a Village shopping trip afterwards. I have marked two or three great ruins  that were about 12k blocks away into map and returned to sack them next spring. The limited amount of storage in fact pulled me to play the game more

If there was one thing to complain, the character of the second boss tower should allow to obtain a glider (or at least its blueprint) either in the Village, or - maybe better - from Tobias. He should know the situation and provide his old Seraph friend with the parachute if asked. 

[Maelstrom]

On 7/29/2025 at 10:32 AM, LadyWYT said:

the chapter 2 locations are a lot more noticeable, even from a distance, in some cases.

Speak for yourself!   Even WITH that red 'X' on my map it took me about one ingame day to find the cotton pickin' ventilation shafts! 

But I'm pretty sure I suffered from RNG hating on me as they were flush with the ground and in some cases obscured by bushes, not to mention about 50 blocks away from said red 'X'.  on the edge of a sparse forest.

[Carber]

On 7/28/2025 at 6:15 PM, LadyWYT said:

Warm climates will cool off in winter, but won't see snow. However, I'd also note that for the default temperate start, there shouldn't be snow on the ground for 7 months either. Snow tends to arrive late November and doesn't start melting off until late March/early April. 

If you travel very far north or settle at altitude, the weather will be colder, so that could be a factor.

5 months with snow on the ground, which is the norm here in a "temperate" start, corresponds I think to the climate of Finland, Newfoundland, or the coast of Alaska, in case anyone is interested. I'm used to it by now and probably helps to the challenge, but it is not very realistic.

[Krougal]

12 minutes ago, Carber said:

5 months with snow on the ground, which is the norm here in a "temperate" start, corresponds I think to the climate of Finland, Newfoundland, or the coast of Alaska, in case anyone is interested. I'm used to it by now and probably helps to the challenge, but it is not very realistic.

Well, Tyron does live in Latvia, so that is "temperate" to him.

I don't get 5 months, although I tend to settle at sea level. Granted I still haven't really figured out planting seasons for what, since it still always gets too hot and too cold at certain parts of the year. There was a chart someone did on Reddit that looked good but was wildly inaccurate for me.

 

[LadyWYT]

4 minutes ago, Krougal said:

Granted I still haven't really figured out planting seasons for what, since it still always gets too hot and too cold at certain parts of the year.

The general rule of thumb I use for temperate climate is plant turnips and rye in early spring or late summer/early fall, and plant everything else late spring/mid-summer. Turnips and rye are cold-hardy, so while they won't grow if the temperature is freezing they can tolerate some cold before they get damaged or die. Everything else you pretty much need to plant after the danger of frost has passed.

[Vratislav]

47 minutes ago, Krougal said:

Well, Tyron does live in Latvia, so that is "temperate" to him.

Two or three months of snow used to be normal even in lowlands of Central Europe, I remember it from my childhood. So, in the world, where industrial revolution never happened, a bit colder climate than actual should be appropriate. Also, if we imagine that it was actualyy medieval Europe, then additional (local) cold period odcured in the Europe in 15-17th. century.

This was standard winter in Central Bohemia in the end of 19th. century, the exact location is about 400 meters above sea level, so no mountains yet:

Edited August 1, 2025 by Vratislav
image

[Krougal]

2 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

The general rule of thumb I use for temperate climate is plant turnips and rye in early spring or late summer/early fall, and plant everything else late spring/mid-summer. Turnips and rye are cold-hardy, so while they won't grow if the temperature is freezing they can tolerate some cold before they get damaged or die. Everything else you pretty much need to plant after the danger of frost has passed.

Yeah, I do rye and parsnips spring/fall, spelt and onions in the summer, flax all the time. Granted, sometimes you just have to go with what you have seeds for.

The question is what day do you reasonably expect: The last frost of spring, heatwaves and the first frost of winter.

I realize it is based on latitude & altitude, but there should be some rule of thumb. I guess I need to dive into the code at some point if I want to know the answer.

2 hours ago, Vratislav said:

Two or three months of snow used to be normal even in lowlands of Central Europe, I remember it from my childhood. So, in the world, where industrial revolution never happened, a bit colder climate than actual should be appropriate. Also, if we imagine that it was actualy medieval Europe, then additional (local) cold period ocurred in the Europe in 15-17th. century.

This was standard winter in Central Bohemia in the end of 19th. century, the exact location is about 400 meters above sea level, so no mountains yet:
 

Well, can't assume this isn't post industrial world, I am not up on all the lore but they kinda had an apocalypse.

Could be approaching an ice age for all we know too.

Now from my own experiences, NYC usually only the winter months, Seattle almost never, Black Hills of South Dakota I've seen snow in April. Saint Louis MO weather was just insane, Charleston SC it's usually warm but we have gotten snow the last few years (granted it melts in a few days).

Oh yeah, almost forgot, Lake Tahoe, April, snowstorm. Granted it is high elevation, but it was like 90 in Reno.

Edited August 1, 2025 by Krougal

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Krougal said:

The question is what day do you reasonably expect: The last frost of spring, heatwaves and the first frost of winter.

I realize it is based on latitude & altitude, but there should be some rule of thumb. I guess I need to dive into the code at some point if I want to know the answer.

There's not a clear answer as it really depends on your base's microclimate. For temperate zones though, I would say that you can safely plant cold-hardy crops at the tail end of March/first of April, and planting other crops mid-late April. My general strategy is keeping an eye on the nighttime temperature and planting the appropriate seeds once it reaches the minimum temperature needed for the seed to survive. I say nighttime temperature, because the daytime temperature can get decently warm in early March, but will cool off too much at night and damage whatever's been planted.

[Krougal]

22 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

There's not a clear answer as it really depends on your base's microclimate. For temperate zones though, I would say that you can safely plant cold-hardy crops at the tail end of March/first of April, and planting other crops mid-late April. My general strategy is keeping an eye on the nighttime temperature and planting the appropriate seeds once it reaches the minimum temperature needed for the seed to survive. I say nighttime temperature, because the daytime temperature can get decently warm in early March, but will cool off too much at night and damage whatever's been planted.

Yeah, I've found August is too soon for the cold weather crops because of excessive heat, but not sure if Sept is too late to get harvested before winter. Of course medium quality or terra preta makes a difference.

It's not like I ever had a shortage of food past my very first game, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to not try and get so many plantings in anyway. Soil can always use a rest.

Edited August 1, 2025 by Krougal

[Pentatope]

On 7/28/2025 at 12:18 AM, Ankha said:

1. The default game is too damn cold at default temperate settings.  

I want to expand on this topic because it is one of my more sour gripes about the game. Firstly, I am definitely influenced by my Mediterranean-pilled climate preferences. I am not a personal big fan of winter's snow lasting 5-7 months (depending on elevation & latitude), as I personally experience winters from December to February. That isn't to say that I believe temperate climates should have snow longevity conform to a Mediterranean climate and weather cycle.

All of that lengthy introduction is just to say, I want to settle down in a location that is slightly warmer than the temperate/default world setting. No problem, most would think to themselves, "Just change your starting climate to 'Warm'". This is where the second disappointment kicks in. At least in my experience playing in the multiple "Warm" worlds I have started, the starting climate is warmer than my preference. Most "warm" worlds are too hot for snow to form during the winter, ergo In both world types, I have to travel 5-10k south or north (temperate and "warm" respectively) in order to reach my desired climate pattern. 
 

Personally, I don't agree/disagree with the sentiment that any "x" starting climate setting is too hot/cold. Temperate winters lasting 5-7 months may be accurate to the real experiences of temperate regions. Many "warm" regions on Earth never experience any snow year-round. However, I wish there was greater control or at least expanded options as to where I can start my world in the realistic climate distribution model. Currently, you are shoe-horned into long winter starting climate vs no winter starting climate, when players should be able to pick a climate with a "moderate winter". (It is not lost on me that many VS players may already consider temperate winters to be "moderate", but I can assure that not all feel this way)

Why is this so important? Couldn't you just spend a few in-game days traveling to a location with your desired climate?

I'm sure many have already identified why this may be frustrating to players or have personally experienced this problem in your games. When you generate the world, all of the story content for chapters 1 & 2 will have generated based on the world spawn. This means, that depending on where those structures spawn, you would be forced to travel a far greater distance than if you were to just stay at spawn. You could remedy this by reducing the distance that these story locations spawn, but you then risk the chance of simply running into them during your 5-10k trek either North/South. Most importantly, the only thing that all of this additional traveling in order to reach your desired climate is doing is bloating your world size & somewhat wasting your time. I say somewhat, because you can technically find/forage for materials during your travel, but if you don't find anything then you don't find anything. Plus, many people wouldn't WANT to spend the first few days of a world walking in one direction straight. Let me tell you, as someone who has done this in several worlds so far, it is not nearly as fun as it sounds. That is also several in-game days where my inventory is severely limited, ergo limited on how many materials I can collect, can't start clayforming b/c it takes up too much space in the inventory, etc. etc. 

These are all minor gripes, but it is something that I hope gets addressed soon. Not that I don't find temperate or hot starting climates fun, I've played in both and can say they both have their ups and downs, but I wish it was easier to get to that perfect sweet spot in the middle. 

Edited August 1, 2025 by Pentatope
clarity

[Krougal]

@Pentatope Try using a smaller world size, you can at least do less travelling to adjust the temperature to find your own personal "goldilocks zone"

I agree though. I tried hot and warm starts and it just felt like the game was lacking without that goal of being ready for the first winter.

I sure miss bamboo as a building material though.

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Krougal said:

Yeah, I've found August is too soon for the cold weather crops because of excessive heat, but not sure if Sept is too late to get harvested before winter. Of course medium quality or terra preta makes a difference.

Assuming medium or better soil, September is fine for planting cold crops since the growing season will last until the end of October. Turnips only take 9 days to mature by default, so you can get away with planting those late September and still expect a harvest. As for rye...you'll need to plant that at the very start of September or the very end of August if you're going to get a full harvest from it, since it takes considerably longer to grow than turnips.

Keep in mind too that you can use greenhouses to extend the growing season by a few days, so if you aren't sure that you'll have enough time for the crops to mature, you might consider planting them in a greenhouse to buy yourself a bit of extra time. You do need to be careful though, as greenhouses can stunt plant growth with too much heat, and won't fully protect plants from harsh winter weather.

[Zane Mordien]

14 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Turnips only take 9 days to mature by default, so you can get away with planting those late September and still expect a harvest

I know you already know this, but turnips are ready so fast that I plant them anytime because getting three 50% harvests over the spring and summer is still plenty of food.

Edited August 2, 2025 by Zane Mordien

[LadyWYT]

2 minutes ago, Zane Mordien said:

I know you already know this, but turnips are ready so fast that I plant them anytime because a getting three 50% harvests over the spring and summer is still plenty of food.

Right, but I generally plant warm-weather crops like carrots, flax, or onions after the spring turnip harvest so I get a full summer harvest, and then plant turnips in the fall for that last vegetable crop...that I really don't need, but like to have anyway.