i feel kinda cheated :S

[Echo Weaver]

8 minutes ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Find the first story location and complete it.

This is usually done by finding a Treasure Hunter Trader to get a map (with the tin bronze pickaxe) rather than just wandering around. Thought it would be good to note that. Of course, you have to wander around exploring to find the Treasure Hunter, but it shouldn't be so far.

[LadyWYT]

8 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

fighting rust world mobs early game isn't worth it. Their drops are abysmal for the tier 1 mobs and Tier 2 mobs and above will just wreck your day. 

I actually disagree here, at least partially. Yes, the player will want to pick their fights carefully, when possible, and most of the time it's better to avoid a fight if possible to avoid wear-and-tear on one's equipment and oneself. However, it is actually advisable to go kill some surface monsters if an easy opportunity presents itself, as this is a decent way to get an early temporal gear. And a temporal gear is what's needed to reset one's spawn point.

Incidentally, the cost of resetting one's spawn is why it's also a good idea to build a temporary base within walking distance of the world spawn, provided one isn't playing Homo Sapiens or Wilderness Survival. In those cases, setting near world spawn won't save you any walking, as the player respawns somewhere within a 5k radius of world spawn in those cases.

8 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

• Carry poultices. They can be made from reeds and horsetails which are usually found in forests.
• Always carry a knife
• Always carry at least 4 spears (until you get into steel weapons)
• Don't pet the bears and wolves!
• Don't be afraid to ask for help if you don't understand something! The community of this game is far kinder than the one I experienced in Minecraft.
• Look at something and press Shift + H if you are unsure what it is or what it does. The handbook is a treasure trove of game knowledge!

The rest of this is solid though.

 

9 hours ago, Bruno Willis said:

That's how to make biomes smaller. Create new world > (standard) customize > World Generation > Landform scale. Change landfall scale to less than 100%

Tagging on to this: you can also shrink the polar-equator distance to make it easier to get to the arctic and the tropics, although I will note this is really only applicable to worlds with the realistic terrain generation and not the patchwork. Regarding biomes though...it's very important to take note of what kind of climate one settles in, as the game will try to realistically simulate that climate. That is, cold climates will actually experience winter, complete with absolutely brutal cold and long nights for the arctic(but long days in the summer as well). The tropics...don't actually have as much challenge at the moment, since heat doesn't really affect the player unless mods are involved(though you will die if you jump into a hot spring or lava).

[Teh Pizza Lady]

8 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

This is usually done by finding a Treasure Hunter Trader to get a map (with the tin bronze pickaxe) rather than just wandering around. Thought it would be good to note that. Of course, you have to wander around exploring to find the Treasure Hunter, but it shouldn't be so far.

yeah I edited my post to clarify that before you replied LOL

[BMiBudzYT]

like here is something else... so ive lowered the  landform scale down to 50% and i cant for the life of me find any clay... no red or blue :S, It seems the start of the game is near impossible to do without getting lucky or dying lol

Just found a patch of some

Edited September 25, 2025 by BMiBudzYT

[Echo Weaver]

8 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

fighting rust world mobs early game isn't worth it. Their drops are abysmal for the tier 1 mobs and Tier 2 mobs and above will just wreck your day.

Like @LadyWYT, I respectfully disagree. Surface rustbeasts are the primary way to get rusty gears and essentially the only way to get temporal gears -- at least in early game, but aside from some nice ruins, that's still true for me. Temporal gears are what you use to change your spawn point so that you can build a base in a location untethered to your initial spawn point. 

BTW: I always set my temporal gear respawns to infinite because I just don't have any interest in setting up a base someplace far out, then getting snapped back to initial spawn in a bad temporal storm or what not (well, ever since a nightmare drifter got into my base during a temporal storm and camped my corpse). The default is 20, but I think we need a way to actually change spawn permanently.

[LadyWYT]

5 minutes ago, BMiBudzYT said:

:S, It seems the start of the game is near impossible to do without getting lucky or dying lol

*pat pat* It's okay buddy, we've all been there. Vintage Story does seem a fearsome beast when one starts out, but once you start figuring out your strategies and things the game starts feeling a lot more manageable. 

 

7 minutes ago, BMiBudzYT said:

i cant for the life of me find any clay... no red or blue

For clay, there are three different types: red, blue, and fire clay. Clay deposits are difficult to spot until you learn what to look for--if you are using the colored world map, you can look for circular discolorations in grassy areas, as those are usually either clay or peat. Otherwise, clay is distinguished by the patchy covering of grass on top, and the obvious mottled clay texture on the sides(which will be a stark contrast to dirt).

Red clay is the most common type to find, and occurs in places that have enough rainfall. You can also find small deposits of it in the arctic, but that likely doesn't apply here.

Blue clay is also somewhat common, and occurs near sea level in places that get enough rainfall. You can also find blue clay occasionally from panning gravel/sand, or as cracked vessel loot.

Fire clay only spawns naturally in bauxite biomes or underneath block coal/anthracite deposits. You can sometimes find it in cracked vessels as well. Fire clay is needed for certain bits of late game industry, but it can be crafted easily enough by mixing calcined flint powder into one of the other clay types.

The best general places to look for clay is along water lines and in grassy areas. It won't spawn in deserts(unless it's fire clay in a bauxite desert), and if it spawns in forested areas it generally ends up buried under the forest floor and won't be noticeable.

[RatKing0]

I'm still extremely new to the game so can't speak on every point you brought up, but I do have a bit of input 

 

I saw in the world settings when setting up my first (and only) world that there was an option for a colored map. I sort of regret not toggling that on myself for similar reasons, it sounds like that would address a lot of your struggles with the map. Map markers are definitely going to be your friend with the default one

 

As for the constant rain, it's my understanding that different regions in the game have different weather conditions, so you should be able to run a distance and end up in a place that isn't so wet (you'll likely also find an area with less caves this way). If all else fails, you can create a new world and it will generate new terrain/biomes. There's also world generation settings you can play around with while you're creating the world 

 

I agree it initially seemed almost absurdly dark even when the moon is out, but it's something I've gotten used to. Having a lit torch in-hand helps a lot if you have to go outside at night. I spend nights inside of my base crafting and making pottery, so the outdoor light level isn't an issue for me currently

 

You also mention modding Minecraft - Vintage Story has many mods as well, I've not used any myself yet but have seen several quality of life mods that I'll likely be trying out once I get the basics down. I'd recommend scrolling through the list accessible through this website and/or asking around about peoples' favorite mods to see if any catch your eye

 

All in all, it's important to remember this isn't Minecraft. I've played MC for over a decade so I understand how easy it is to compare the two, but VS is both much more detailed and much more customizable. 

[Echo Weaver]

Oh, regarding killing rotbeasts -- my combat style is strategic cowardice. I just don't particularly care for head-to-head combat, and why fight fair when with some planning you can fix the odds in your favor? The more serious combat types throw a lot of spears because they're ranged damage that packs a punch. Spears don't stack, so they fill up your inventory, but if you're kiting some rotbeasts, you can just throw 3-4 and swing back around to pick them up.

I don't kite, and I don't throw a lot of spears. But I do put a trapdoor at head-height in the side of my stone age dirt hovel and use spears to stab the drifters who come to threaten me at my door. The extra reach of the spear keeps you out of the way of a lot of attacks. If they're close enough when you kill them, you can loot them through the trapdoor too. Later in the game, you can augment this strategy with pit traps accessible through trapdoors from your cellar. Then the rotbeasts can't run away when they're injured. 

I was surprised at how well the stone age dirt hovel trapdoor worked on my new game, and I got a temporal gear immediately. 

Edited September 25, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[BMiBudzYT]

i tried to make a coal pit... filled it to the brim did everything right but when it was done... the pit was 100% empty ????? and it was a crap load of wood

[Bruno Willis]

13 minutes ago, BMiBudzYT said:

i tried to make a coal pit... filled it to the brim did everything right but when it was done... the pit was 100% empty ????? and it was a crap load of wood

Oof. That sucks. You've got to be very careful with those (as in real life). Double and triple check there's no air holes or part-full wood stacks before you light it, and make sure to cover it up after lighting. I'd do a really small load next time, just in case. Once you get it right on a small scale, make bigger and bigger pits.

[Migo]

17 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

@BMiBudzYT

Let me ask you this. If you had paid $30 for Minecraft as it is now without any mods, would you feel cheated? (BTW, around here, we call it The Other Block Game or TOBG for short. It's a little bit like He Who Shall Not Be Named.)

I wanted to just put my food for thought on this line as someone who bought TOBG when it was not even alpha (now called TOBG Classic) I can say Vintage Story has far more content than TOBG Alpha ever did and we who bought TOBG at that stage during that time were completely fine with it, so I wouldn't even compare these two as if you did VS has way more content than when TOBG was in alpha, comparing a complete game to one in alpha is not a fair comparison.

To OP I think you've had a very frustrating first experience and that's fine, it reminds me of when I first played and couldn't find anything and was dying to wolves, bears, drifters and hunger. RE: World Gen, I think it probably doesn't help when you see other YTer's video's who have these insane world gen's. I would highlight most of these YTer's have mod's which alter the world generation, and do customise their world settings to get what they want. Stick with it, once you learn the habits the game becomes a little bit easier, what I love about this game is things aren't just given to you, you earn them.

[Arasine]

Until you're established, most of your time would be spent just looking for the basic starting resources. If you get unlucky with world gen, then even reeds for baskets can be miles away (15+ minutes solid running in a single direction). There's little reason to settle down until you have found the basics; reeds, clay, quern rock, trees etc. Just run run run until you find what you need. Mark everything! 

Ive deleted several worlds with 20+ hours playtime due to being unable to find certain things to progress gameplay. Sometimes you have to cut your losses if gathering salt will take a nine hour IRL round trip !

 

[BMiBudzYT]

9 hours ago, Bruno Willis said:

Oof. That sucks. You've got to be very careful with those (as in real life). Double and triple check there's no air holes or part-full wood stacks before you light it, and make sure to cover it up after lighting. I'd do a really small load next time, just in case. Once you get it right on a small scale, make bigger and bigger pits.

i doubled checked there was no gaps but i guess there must of been a gap ><, am i waiting for the fire noise to stop ?

[LadyWYT]

9 hours ago, BMiBudzYT said:

i tried to make a coal pit... filled it to the brim did everything right but when it was done... the pit was 100% empty ????? and it was a crap load of wood

Like @Bruno Willis noted, it's best to start small-scale with charcoal pits and doublecheck them to make sure all stacks are properly full before lighting and covering, and then upscale the operation once you've got a handle on small-scale operations. What probably happened here is that you had an air pocket somewhere in the pile, in that there was a stack of wood that wasn't a full stack. If that happens, the entire pit will burn to ash instead of turn to charcoal; you can check the pit by listening for burning sounds if you walk past. If there is just smoke, that's good, but if you hear burning noise that's bad--you can try to dig up the wood and put out the fire but it may not be salvageable.

One tip I have on filling charcoal pits, is to only place full stacks of wood and pile partial stacks elsewhere for other use. A full stack is 32 firewood; if you only place full stacks then you don't have to worry about air pockets nearly as much.

7 hours ago, Migo said:

RE: World Gen, I think it probably doesn't help when you see other YTer's video's who have these insane world gen's. I would highlight most of these YTer's have mod's which alter the world generation, and do customise their world settings to get what they want.

Agreed. In the case of YouTubers, they may or may not be using mods or settings other than default to make their worlds look that way; at the very minimum, they've likely tested several worlds before picking the one with the most interesting generation for their videos. Not that standard generation is bad, mind you, but when it comes to making entertaining content for a proper audience, the on-screen results are going to be a bit skewed.

[Echo Weaver]

3 minutes ago, BMiBudzYT said:

i doubled checked there was no gaps but i guess there must of been a gap ><, am i waiting for the fire noise to stop ?

If it's working, I see black smoke trickling out the top. Completely surround the firewood with dirt except for one block on top. Create a firepit there and light it. Then put a block of dirt on top of the burning fire pit. That block will be one block higher than the rest of the top, as if the firepit were a block (which I guess technically it is.

ETA: Once I have a pickaxe, I don't see a good reason to make enormous charcoal pits. You have to clear cut a lot of trees to do it, it takes time, and you better get enough seeds to replant or you'll find yourself living on empty grassland. Brown coal is plentiful and easy to mine, and black coal is also reasonably common. I run into enough of both of those while caving that I only make charcoal for stuff that requires charcoal, like making terra preta.

Edited September 26, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[BMiBudzYT]

[BMiBudzYT]

thats my fire pit, with one gap where the fire thing will be and then i closed it... which seems correct especially from the video that explained it too...if the walls are 1 block thick could that be an issue?

some of the wood were in different rotations but i dont think this would be an issue

Edited September 26, 2025 by BMiBudzYT

[Echo Weaver]

9 minutes ago, BMiBudzYT said:

thats my fire pit, with one gap where the fire thing will be and then i closed it... which seems correct especially from the video that explained it too...if the walls are 1 block thick could that be an issue?

some of the wood were in different rotations but i dont think this would be an issue

1-block thick walls are the way I build 'em, so that should be fine. If you watched a video, then you saw how you light them with a firepit. That had me hung up for a while because dropping a block of dirt on top of a burning firepit seemed like it would just put the firepit out.

It seems like @LadyWYT's thought it most likely correct -- there must have been an incomplete pile. And that can be tricksy, since one "log" of firewood in a visual stack actually represents two log items. So if you put down 31 logs, I don't think you'd be able to see that the stack was incomplete. LadyWYT seems smart to put down firewood 32 logs at a time. I just start stacking vertically and go until my stack hits the ceiling and won't take any more logs before I start a new one.

(Also, I have to max out my screen brightness to see anything in that pic. Maybe hold a torch in future pics?)

ETA: Newer stuff like the beehive kiln has a tooltip to say it's ready. I wonder if they'll do something like that for charcoal pits.

Edited September 26, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[LadyWYT]

5 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

ETA: Newer stuff like the beehive kiln has a tooltip to say it's ready. I wonder if they'll do something like that for charcoal pits.

Once you've covered the woodpile and built the little firepit on top, it should say it's ready to be lit. Once lit, it will give you a 30 minute timer warning you to cover it, in order to complete the charcoal pit. So the tooltip should already be there(assuming tooltips are turned on, anyway), but I don't think it will warn the player about air gaps, should any exist.

[BMiBudzYT]

8 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

1-block thick walls are the way I build 'em, so that should be fine. If you watched a video, then you saw how you light them with a firepit. That had me hung up for a while because dropping a block of dirt on top of a burning firepit seemed like it would just put the firepit out.

It seems like @LadyWYT's thought it most likely correct -- there must have been an incomplete pile. And that can be tricksy, since one "log" of firewood in a visual stack actually represents two log items. So if you put down 31 logs, I don't think you'd be able to see that the stack was incomplete. LadyWYT seems smart to put down firewood 32 logs at a time. I just start stacking vertically and go until my stack hits the ceiling and won't take any more logs before I start a new one.

(Also, I have to max out my screen brightness to see anything in that pic. Maybe hold a torch in future pics?)

ETA: Newer stuff like the beehive kiln has a tooltip to say it's ready. I wonder if they'll do something like that for charcoal pits.

oh ye sorry about the lightning its like 3 in the morning and i been playing board games with a legendary group of people since 7 haha, ye i also had smoke constantly coming out... must of been 1 gap, trying again one more time... god if it fails again thats a disgusting amount of wood

[Echo Weaver]

1 minute ago, LadyWYT said:

Once you've covered the woodpile and built the little firepit on top, it should say it's ready to be lit. Once lit, it will give you a 30 minute timer warning you to cover it, in order to complete the charcoal pit. So the tooltip should already be there(assuming tooltips are turned on, anyway), but I don't think it will warn the player about air gaps, should any exist.

Oh, but that would be the point of having a tooltip -- to tell you the thing is put together correctly.

[BMiBudzYT]

ok so i filled it 10000% correctly did the firepit thing at the top got the warning for 30 mins and then sealed it... but this time no smoke is showing... i hope this works coz thats another set of 3x3x3 of wood ><

EDIT: ok went to sleep and now i have the smoke

Edited September 27, 2025 by BMiBudzYT

[BMiBudzYT]

it worked!!! , Not to sure how tongs work , Figured it out lol

EDIT: what container do you need to squeeze honey in the help guild doesnt say which one

Edited September 27, 2025 by BMiBudzYT

[Teh Pizza Lady]

2 hours ago, BMiBudzYT said:

it worked!!! , Not to sure how tongs work , Figured it out lol

EDIT: what container do you need to squeeze honey in the help guild doesnt say which one

A bucket or barrel should work.

[Thorfinn]

20 hours ago, Echo Weaver said:

I just start stacking vertically and go until my stack hits the ceiling and won't take any more logs before I start a new one.

Sage advice. Plus, if you bring in a full inventory of logs, and split it all right away, half of it ends up on the floor. (More can, if you think about it a bit.) Standing amidst your mess, it automagically refills the slot you are using to do your stacking. When you are out of wood, build all the walls of the kiln, and find a place to kindle the fire. No muss, no fuss.