Progression

[Veronica Hohenheim]

Compared to other block game this games progression is way too slow and I needed to adjust to that,but even then once u make a copper it feels like a speed train.As current vs world isnt feels lived in,atleast to me.Maybe that is the point or at least thats what people want but to me after a point I feel like there isnt anything to do but maybe make prettier buildings.While it is normal to focus on cosmetics more when there isnt much else to done it felt to early for me.We do not have other dimensions or long questlines.Its in its core a sandbox game and a one that emphasis on being more realistic.

I think increasing tool durability to 400 percent and lowering copper spawn from default itself will create a more realistic progression just by adjusting player settings.So I am planning to do that for my next save.Still tho it doesnt change the fact that it would be still a fast progression to reach iron or steel for that matte once u make copper tools.Prospecting pick is one of the accomplices of that.Without it u can just mine mindlessly and do not reach a vein for months maybe,and with it u can find iron veins that will take u process for months on end.

Tbh I do not know what I want either.This is a videogame and it obviously cannot take centuries to change technology tiers.I like to idea to reaching first metal tools should be a challange,for example I do not think it wouldnt be easy to just stumble upon a pure copper bits irl so they should be rare and maybe even not pure.So player may need to do panning endlessly to make a first copper tool.But then it will make gameplay a drag,just panning waiting for a lucky draw to get that sweet bit for maybe hours sounds ridicilous.Developers chose a sweet spot they were satisfied with that doesnt make a game a second job but I think it needs more,way more love.Yeah bronz,iron and steel exists but do we realy need them ? I think that need shouldnt be durability as much as is right now,as in real life tools doesnt break that easily.As even some of them will become relics to be found centuries later.I dont know how but I would like to see other incentives to progress to further tiers without making lower ones obselete.

[Echo Weaver]

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

We do not have other dimensions or long questlines.Its in its core a sandbox game and a one that emphasis on being more realistic.

Do you know about the story quests? You begin the story by finding a Treasure Hunter Trader, who will ask for a tin bronze pickaxe. Deliver them the pickaxe, and you get a map to the first story location. Complete that area and return to the trader, and you'll have the opportunity to buy a tamed elk to ride and can journey to the next story location, which is a long way off. 

I'm also playing a game currently where I just am not allowed to use copper until after the first winter. I needed to install some mods to do it, though, because some things that I think should be early game are gated behind boards, which require a metal saw. In particular, animal troughs and henboxes require boards, which pushes animal husbandry into the copper age. That seems nuts to me, so I modded in a crude trough recipe. 

[Veronica Hohenheim]

19 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

Do you know about the story quests? You begin the story by finding a Treasure Hunter Trader, who will ask for a tin bronze pickaxe. Deliver them the pickaxe, and you get a map to the first story location. Complete that area and return to the trader, and you'll have the opportunity to buy a tamed elk to ride and can journey to the next story location, which is a long way off. 

I'm also playing a game currently where I just am not allowed to use copper until after the first winter. I needed to install some mods to do it, though, because some things that I think should be early game are gated behind boards, which require a metal saw. In particular, animal troughs and henboxes require boards, which pushes animal husbandry into the copper age. That seems nuts to me, so I modded in a crude trough recipe. 

I did see them in gameplay vids,the archives.It looked a one off and a pretty small mission.I havent tried it myself yet.Regardless it is not my main issue with the tier progression.

[Echo Weaver]

Just now, Veronica Hohenheim said:

I did see them in gameplay vids,the archives.It looked a one off and a pretty small mission.I havent tried it myself yet.Regardless it is not my main issue with the tier progression.

Pretty sure it's not small, though I'm just starting it now.

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

Compared to other block game this games progression is way too slow and I needed to adjust to that,but even then once u make a copper it feels like a speed train

This is mainly due to Vintage Story being a slow-paced game in general. It is possible to make very fast progression, but that requires a lot of effort and knowledge on the player's part. Which, I think is fine; the game is better when taken slowly, but it's nice to have the option to "speedrun" certain things if one has the skill and desire. The drawback to the slower overall pace though is that it can definitely be a turn-off for players who'd rather just complete a game in a weekend's worth of play(not saying that's the case here though).

As for progression speeding up after copper...I think there's a two-fold reason for that, the foremost being player skill. A more experienced player will be able to build off of copper tools quickly, since they know the basic steps of progression that come next. A brand new player though will probably be stuck at copper for a while, since they're still figuring out how various things in the game work. The other main reason copper speeds up progression, is that copper unlocks the rest of the game's general toolset(chisel, saw, quern, etc); from there it's just a matter of finding better metals.

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

As current vs world isnt feels lived in,atleast to me.Maybe that is the point or at least thats what people want but to me after a point I feel like there isnt anything to do but maybe make prettier buildings.While it is normal to focus on cosmetics more when there isnt much else to done it felt to early for me.We do not have other dimensions or long questlines.Its in its core a sandbox game and a one that emphasis on being more realistic.

Tagging on to what @Echo Weaver already said--keep in mind the game is still very much unfinished. There is a main story to complete, yes, and while there is quite a lot of content for what is implemented so far, it's still only two chapters out of a planned eight. As far as end game content in general, currently end game tech is still mostly undeveloped--we have a handful of Jonas tech devices, but that's about it. I think the next major update though is supposed to be fleshing out the end game tech, so that issue should be remedied within an update or two.

 

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

So player may need to do panning endlessly to make a first copper tool.But then it will make gameplay a drag,just panning waiting for a lucky draw to get that sweet bit for maybe hours sounds ridicilous.Developers chose a sweet spot they were satisfied with that doesnt make a game a second job but I think it needs more,way more love.

The idea of increasing tool durability across the board, in exchange for making surface copper more rare, feels like a fair trade off. However, I think the current balance is fine as it is, and probably better suited to the average player given how many complaints there have been about early tools being too hard to acquire. So an early metal tool that is fairly easy to acquire(plenty of surface copper) but that breaks relatively easily compared to other metal tools is probably more satisfying since it gets the tool in the player's hands faster, while still pushing the player to seek out better materials instead of sticking to copper.

And yeah, I think you're spot on with that statement about panning. It's pretty boring, and not really a good idea to force the player into that path, but it's there as a safe, convenient way to get a few early game minerals.

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

Yeah bronz,iron and steel exists but do we realy need them ?

The player needs them not just because they last longer, but also because some content requires better equipment to handle it. For example, chromite ore requires steel to mine and process, and is a required mineral for crafting sturdy leather for the best backpacks in the game. Likewise, the first story chapter requires a minimum gear level of tier 2; while the player can complete it with less, that requires much more skill. Chapter 2 requires iron gear as a minimum.

 

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

I think that need shouldnt be durability as much as is right now,as in real life tools doesnt break that easily.

There's a lot of things that happen in the game that aren't accurate to real life. The reason those decisions exist is for balancing reasons. "Realistic" doesn't always mean "fun", and part of the general challenge of the game is that the player will need to replace equipment every so often, and thus need to devote the time and energy to acquiring the necessary resources and crafting the items. Better quality materials are harder to get, but also mean less effort long-term for the player since the tools last much longer.

 

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

I dont know how but I would like to see other incentives to progress to further tiers without making lower ones obselete.

That's progress though; if the new equipment isn't actively better than the old, there's no reason to work towards new equipment as there's no progress actually being made. However, I wouldn't call low-tier materials entirely obsolete. In the late game, copper is still very useful, but the player is using it for lanterns, lightning rods, and machine parts rather than using it for tools. Many players still use flint axes to chop firewood(I do this myself), or a flint knife or shovel as a cheap tool to collect a few things instead of retrieving a better tool for the job. 

[Veronica Hohenheim]

44 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

I'm also playing a game currently where I just am not allowed to use copper until after the first winter.

yeah I think thats the way to go tbh.Gamifying the game,imposing challange to urself.

[Veronica Hohenheim]

15 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

This is mainly due to Vintage Story being a slow-paced game in general. It is possible to make very fast progression, but that requires a lot of effort and knowledge on the player's part. Which, I think is fine; the game is better when taken slowly, but it's nice to have the option to "speedrun" certain things if one has the skill and desire. The drawback to the slower overall pace though is that it can definitely be a turn-off for players who'd rather just complete a game in a weekend's worth of play(not saying that's the case here though).

As for progression speeding up after copper...I think there's a two-fold reason for that, the foremost being player skill. A more experienced player will be able to build off of copper tools quickly, since they know the basic steps of progression that come next. A brand new player though will probably be stuck at copper for a while, since they're still figuring out how various things in the game work. The other main reason copper speeds up progression, is that copper unlocks the rest of the game's general toolset(chisel, saw, quern, etc); from there it's just a matter of finding better metals.

Tagging on to what @Echo Weaver already said--keep in mind the game is still very much unfinished. There is a main story to complete, yes, and while there is quite a lot of content for what is implemented so far, it's still only two chapters out of a planned eight. As far as end game content in general, currently end game tech is still mostly undeveloped--we have a handful of Jonas tech devices, but that's about it. I think the next major update though is supposed to be fleshing out the end game tech, so that issue should be remedied within an update or two.

 

The idea of increasing tool durability across the board, in exchange for making surface copper more rare, feels like a fair trade off. However, I think the current balance is fine as it is, and probably better suited to the average player given how many complaints there have been about early tools being too hard to acquire. So an early metal tool that is fairly easy to acquire(plenty of surface copper) but that breaks relatively easily compared to other metal tools is probably more satisfying since it gets the tool in the player's hands faster, while still pushing the player to seek out better materials instead of sticking to copper.

And yeah, I think you're spot on with that statement about panning. It's pretty boring, and not really a good idea to force the player into that path, but it's there as a safe, convenient way to get a few early game minerals.

The player needs them not just because they last longer, but also because some content requires better equipment to handle it. For example, chromite ore requires steel to mine and process, and is a required mineral for crafting sturdy leather for the best backpacks in the game. Likewise, the first story chapter requires a minimum gear level of tier 2; while the player can complete it with less, that requires much more skill. Chapter 2 requires iron gear as a minimum.

 

There's a lot of things that happen in the game that aren't accurate to real life. The reason those decisions exist is for balancing reasons. "Realistic" doesn't always mean "fun", and part of the general challenge of the game is that the player will need to replace equipment every so often, and thus need to devote the time and energy to acquiring the necessary resources and crafting the items. Better quality materials are harder to get, but also mean less effort long-term for the player since the tools last much longer.

 

That's progress though; if the new equipment isn't actively better than the old, there's no reason to work towards new equipment as there's no progress actually being made. However, I wouldn't call low-tier materials entirely obsolete. In the late game, copper is still very useful, but the player is using it for lanterns, lightning rods, and machine parts rather than using it for tools. Many players still use flint axes to chop firewood(I do this myself), or a flint knife or shovel as a cheap tool to collect a few things instead of retrieving a better tool for the job. 

I think u wrote a similiar reply to me before,it was just not this detailed.I wasnt convinced then I am not convinced now.I still think it is too easy too rich higher tier metals,like in my first game I reached iron before winter for example.And needing higher tier equipment because some content requires them yes but I dont think there is enough content to feel a big thing for me is what I am saying.I mean I didnt 100% the game as u have read above but I didnt see anything that made me excited for higher tier equipment other then having a solid armor.+how do u do that multiple quoting ?

[LadyWYT]

2 minutes ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

+how do u do that multiple quoting ?

Just highlight the piece that you want to quote--it should bring up a green box that says "Quote Selection".

[Veronica Hohenheim]

27 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

iven how many complaints there have been about early tools being too hard to acquire. So an early metal tool that is fairly easy to acquire(plenty of surface copper) but that breaks relatively easily compared to other metal tools is probably more satisfying since it gets the tool in the player's hands faster, while still pushing the player to seek out better materials instead of sticking to copper.

And yeah, I think you're spot on with that statement about panning.

 

28 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

vely better than the old, there's no reason to work towards new equipment as there's no progress actually being made. However, I wouldn't call low-tier materials entirely obsolete. In the late game, copper is still very useful, but the player is using it for lanterns, lightning rods, and machine parts rather than using it for tools. Many players still use flint axes to chop firewood(I do this m

thanks!

[Echo Weaver]

In my primary game, where I'm just smelting my first batch of steel, I always carry around a stack of obsidian. Even iron tools still break fairly regularly, and I want a way to finish my work without carrying spares. Knapping never ceases to be useful as a backup imho.

56 minutes ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

yeah I think thats the way to go tbh.Gamifying the game,imposing challange to urself.

A lot of sandbox games are like that. I enjoy having the story as a long-term goal -- even if I'm not actively trying to pursue it, it gives a sense of purpose to my progression. But I still need my own goals. 

[Teh Pizza Lady]

2 hours ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

Compared to other block game this games progression is way too slow and I needed to adjust to that,but even then once u make a copper it feels like a speed train.

Alternatively, the other block game's progression is unrealistically way too fast! You mine ore, you put it in a simple furnace made of stone and get entire ingots made without little else effort. And then crafting is a joke. 3 ingots and two sticks to make an iron pickaxe. No hammer and anvil needed, just the magic power of the crafting grid! Other, similar, instances of instant progression can be found elsewhere and I think we're all probably familiar enough that I don't need to spell it out. My point is that while VS feels slow by comparison, it's because what you're comparing it to is incredibly fast.

2 hours ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

As current vs world isnt feels lived in,atleast to me.

...

I did see them in gameplay vids,the archives.It looked a one off and a pretty small mission.I havent tried it myself yet.

So, if I am understanding you correctly, you're saying that the world of Vintage Story feels uninhabited, but you haven't started the main story, correct? Honestly, trust me on this, once you start the mission and dive into the story, you'll understand why it feels uninhabited and you may even find some other survivors out there, if you keep your eyes open!

2 hours ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

Maybe that is the point or at least thats what people want but to me after a point I feel like there isnt anything to do but maybe make prettier buildings.While it is normal to focus on cosmetics more when there isnt much else to done it felt to early for me.We do not have other dimensions or long questlines.Its in its core a sandbox game and a one that emphasis on being more realistic.

To reiterate my previous point, once you start the story (craft a tin-bronze pickaxe and give it to a trader. Ask him about other locations first), the game will start to feel more alive to you and less like a slower, more complicated version of the other block game (TOBG).

2 hours ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

I think increasing tool durability to 400 percent and lowering copper spawn from default itself will create a more realistic progression just by adjusting player settings.So I am planning to do that for my next save.Still tho it doesnt change the fact that it would be still a fast progression to reach iron or steel for that matte once u make copper tools.Prospecting pick is one of the accomplices of that.Without it u can just mine mindlessly and do not reach a vein for months maybe,and with it u can find iron veins that will take u process for months on end.

It really sounds to me like you're experiencing burnout that comes from getting what you want too quickly. I've felt that. You think something is going to take a while, you get it done super fast and start to second guess whether you're doing the right thing. It shouldn't be this easy! Or maybe you're just really good at gaming! Mastering the Propick is something that a lot of players struggle with.

But the progression is there for a purpose. Just like TOBG has Wood, Stone, Iron, Diamond, and beyond for tiers of tools and weapons, Stone is needed to mine Iron. Iron is needed to mine Diamonds. Diamond is needed to mine Netherite. That's about it.

However, in VS,

• Tier 1. Stone tools are limited to simple implements for resource gathering. Copper and/or tin must be collected from the surface or panned
• Tier 2. Copper is your first somewhat durable tier. I consider this the "starter" tier. Copper tools are needed to mine more copper and tin, and to make the first anvil which allows you to make the chisel (which can be turned into a soldering iron). Tin is needed to make bronze (unless you choose to go the black bronze route which is considerably more difficult without the ability to mine crystal veins.
• Tier 2.5. Bronze tools are top tier for the "starter" set of tools and weapons you can make. More durability and faster speed when collecting resources. The Bronze anvil is needed to unlock iron.
• Tier 3. Iron is superior to Bronze in every way. This is the lowest of the "good" tier of tools and weapons. Iron is so good that we stopped being able to make spears of the iron quality because they would be too OP. Iron is your friend. Iron is also very easily processed by getting a helve hammer and windmill setup. Your first major flax harvest should provide you with enough flax to make the windmill sails needed to power a helve hammer. You should be nearing your first winter by this time if you are keeping a steady pace.
• Tier 4. Steel is the best of the best. Steel armor is insanely durable. Steel weapons are sharp and hard to break. Steel tools almost never wear out. Steel is also required to mine Chromite. Chromite is necessary to make the top tier backpacks to finally expand your inventory to the max. Steel also takes a lot of resources to make and process correctly.

Maybe it's just me, but the progression seems more than worth the effort it takes to get there. Even if you never touch the story and just play VS as a survival sandbox game, you should still find the progression satisfying, so I'm not sure if you're just rushing through it and getting frustrated by your lack of progress or what is going on here.

[Echo Weaver]

Bismuth bronze is an alternative to tin bronze!

As for lesser-tier metals, I make my lanterns out of bismuth. It's the prettiest metal in the game (and basically irl too), but it's too soft by itself to be useful for tools.

[Veronica Hohenheim]

9 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Alternatively, the other block game's progression is unrealistically way too fast! You mine ore, you put it in a simple furnace made of stone and get entire ingots made without little else effort. And then crafting is a joke. 3 ingots and two sticks to make an iron pickaxe. No hammer and anvil needed, just the magic power of the crafting grid! Other, similar, instances of instant progression can be found elsewhere and I think we're all probably familiar enough that I don't need to spell it out. My point is that while VS feels slow by comparison, it's because what you're comparing it to is incredibly fast.

So, if I am understanding you correctly, you're saying that the world of Vintage Story feels uninhabited, but you haven't started the main story, correct? Honestly, trust me on this, once you start the mission and dive into the story, you'll understand why it feels uninhabited and you may even find some other survivors out there, if you keep your eyes open!

To reiterate my previous point, once you start the story (craft a tin-bronze pickaxe and give it to a trader. Ask him about other locations first), the game will start to feel more alive to you and less like a slower, more complicated version of the other block game (TOBG).

It really sounds to me like you're experiencing burnout that comes from getting what you want too quickly. I've felt that. You think something is going to take a while, you get it done super fast and start to second guess whether you're doing the right thing. It shouldn't be this easy! Or maybe you're just really good at gaming! Mastering the Propick is something that a lot of players struggle with.

But the progression is there for a purpose. Just like TOBG has Wood, Stone, Iron, Diamond, and beyond for tiers of tools and weapons, Stone is needed to mine Iron. Iron is needed to mine Diamonds. Diamond is needed to mine Netherite. That's about it.

However, in VS,

• Tier 1. Stone tools are limited to simple implements for resource gathering. Copper and/or tin must be collected from the surface or panned
• Tier 2. Copper is your first somewhat durable tier. I consider this the "starter" tier. Copper tools are needed to mine more copper and tin, and to make the first anvil which allows you to make the chisel (which can be turned into a soldering iron). Tin is needed to make bronze (unless you choose to go the black bronze route which is considerably more difficult without the ability to mine crystal veins.
• Tier 2.5. Bronze tools are top tier for the "starter" set of tools and weapons you can make. More durability and faster speed when collecting resources. The Bronze anvil is needed to unlock iron.
• Tier 3. Iron is superior to Bronze in every way. This is the lowest of the "good" tier of tools and weapons. Iron is so good that we stopped being able to make spears of the iron quality because they would be too OP. Iron is your friend. Iron is also very easily processed by getting a helve hammer and windmill setup. Your first major flax harvest should provide you with enough flax to make the windmill sails needed to power a helve hammer. You should be nearing your first winter by this time if you are keeping a steady pace.
• Tier 4. Steel is the best of the best. Steel armor is insanely durable. Steel weapons are sharp and hard to break. Steel tools almost never wear out. Steel is also required to mine Chromite. Chromite is necessary to make the top tier backpacks to finally expand your inventory to the max. Steel also takes a lot of resources to make and process correctly.

Maybe it's just me, but the progression seems more than worth the effort it takes to get there. Even if you never touch the story and just play VS as a survival sandbox game, you should still find the progression satisfying, so I'm not sure if you're just rushing through it and getting frustrated by your lack of progress or what is going on here.

yeah I guess I got progressed too fast and burnt out.I think I am going to start a new save and artificially slow myself down

[Kaldo]

I'm the type of gamer who doesn't really like slow beginnings and prefers the mid-game when you have tons of paths ahead of you and various tools at your disposal. When your house becomes larger and more personalized, when you're already familiar with the surroundings and layout of the terrain. In this regard VS seems very frontloaded to me - when you start off you have to learn food preservation in cellars, clayforming, cooking, leatherworking, farming, smithing, prospecting... You want better tools because of durability and options like the saw/boards while also having to build up food reserves for winter.

I think it's somewhat reasonable that you pretty quickly burned out on having to do all of this, perhaps? It was like that for me too the first time around and now on the second save, with a very liberal application of mods to address the things I didn't like, I found the game much better paced. I rushed through the stone and copper age and got to bronze and iron pretty fast, letting me relax and focus on other things, plan out the slower winter months in advance. The copper tool durability and some outright traps in that department soured my first game a lot.

I'd agree that pacing could be an issue with the game itself, but it is also something you get to "fix" yourself with knowledge pretty efficiently too. Maybe that's kind of the point too lol

Edited October 2, 2025 by Kaldo

[Thorfinn]

I like Wilderness settings pretty well. No surface tin, very rare surface copper, nerfed propick, among other things to increase the challenge. If anything, I'd prefer traders and cracked vessels to be lower frequency, and do set tool durability lower, pushing me to get off my duff and find better metals.

[Veronica Hohenheim]

5 hours ago, Kaldo said:

I'd agree that pacing could be an issue with the game itself, but it is also something you get to "fix" yourself with knowledge pretty efficiently too. Maybe that's kind of the point too lol

yeah I sort a abonded my first save,downloaded bunch more mods and started fresh.Tho idk if it will stick.

[Echo Weaver]

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

yeah I sort a abonded my first save,downloaded bunch more mods and started fresh.Tho idk if it will stick.

I'm curious what mods you put in the new game.

[Veronica Hohenheim]

36 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

I'm curious what mods you put in the new game.

these but I had to unable the new animal mods since it was making my game unplayable performance wise.I didnt searched much to be honest,just scrolled and chose what looked interesting to install and some of them was from my older save that I have kept.I was kind of hoping all this side stuff would help me to do other stuff then just focusing on the speedrunning metal tiers.Idk how much this list could be improved or how well integrated to game or whatever.I just want to feel a flow and let myself go from need to reach arbitary deadlines.I do wish to ride a dragon tho.Probably it will push me to explore a lot.Well I kind a need to regardless to find a copper cuz I made it very rare to spawn just to delay my entrance to metal age.

[Echo Weaver]

Cool. If you're making it hard to get into the copper age, I could recommend a couple from my stone age game:

Log Troughs, so that you can feed animals without making a saw

Crude Building Elements, to give you more pre-copper building options. There's a ceramic bucket in here, which opens up water and other liquids (pottery for water-carrying is a soapbox of mine). There's also a couple more tiers of crude door -- one that doesn't break off its hinges all the time and another that can be insulated against the cold.

Primitive Stick Window to make a trapdoor.

Storage Urn, a mod of mine that adds a ceramic crate.

Clayworks has ceramic barrel, bucket, and crate, but I don't use it because of the bloat from all the additional colors -- the colors are really the point of that mod. If you're having trouble with performance, Clayworks might not be the right thing. I'm testing out a ceramic barrel to go with the ceramic bucket, but I haven't released it.

Oh, and since you're playing with VS Village, you might want VS Quest. That's the mod that allows you to interact with the villagers from VS Village. Otherwise, all you can do is watch them go about their day and maybe steal their produce/livestock, which is kind of underwhelming.

I hadn't seen Floating Landmasses. I'll put that in my fantasy modpack that I haven't played with yet. 

I love the irrigation ditches and pit traps in Primitive Survival. The fishing is interesting too, though it's not as immersive because it magically generates fish. The Critter Pack is also awesome.

Edited October 2, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[LadyWYT]

There's this mod you might keep an eye on as well: https://mods.vintagestory.at/crstoneage

Not sure how nicely it plays with other mods, and it still seems to be a work in progress, but it does make the stone age significantly harder, it seems.

[Veronica Hohenheim]

13 hours ago, Echo Weaver said:

Cool. If you're making it hard to get into the copper age, I could recommend a couple from my stone age game:

Log Troughs, so that you can feed animals without making a saw

Crude Building Elements, to give you more pre-copper building options. There's a ceramic bucket in here, which opens up water and other liquids (pottery for water-carrying is a soapbox of mine). There's also a couple more tiers of crude door -- one that doesn't break off its hinges all the time and another that can be insulated against the cold.

Primitive Stick Window to make a trapdoor.

Storage Urn, a mod of mine that adds a ceramic crate.

Clayworks has ceramic barrel, bucket, and crate, but I don't use it because of the bloat from all the additional colors -- the colors are really the point of that mod. If you're having trouble with performance, Clayworks might not be the right thing. I'm testing out a ceramic barrel to go with the ceramic bucket, but I haven't released it.

Oh, and since you're playing with VS Village, you might want VS Quest. That's the mod that allows you to interact with the villagers from VS Village. Otherwise, all you can do is watch them go about their day and maybe steal their produce/livestock, which is kind of underwhelming.

I hadn't seen Floating Landmasses. I'll put that in my fantasy modpack that I haven't played with yet. 

I love the irrigation ditches and pit traps in Primitive Survival. The fishing is interesting too, though it's not as immersive because it magically generates fish. The Critter Pack is also awesome.

thanks,idk why didnt I got a notif for this.Definetly going to check them

[Veronica Hohenheim]

13 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

There's this mod you might keep an eye on as well: https://mods.vintagestory.at/crstoneage

Not sure how nicely it plays with other mods, and it still seems to be a work in progress, but it does make the stone age significantly harder, it seems.

I downloaded primitive survival to expand stone age so it is nice to see additional effort is made from other modders but as is it isnt interesting enough,as he said they r currently just a proof of concept.I will be following its progress tho.

[Veronica Hohenheim]

On 10/2/2025 at 11:06 PM, Echo Weaver said:

Clayworks has ceramic barrel, bucket, and crate, but I don't use it because of the bloat from all the additional colors -- the colors are really the point of that mod. If you're having trouble with performance, Clayworks might not be the right thing. I'm testing out a ceramic barrel to go with the ceramic bucket, but I haven't released it.

I dont understand why would simple items would create a performance issue.Currently speaking I find it bit weird to not have any barrel for leather making purposes.It feels silly that I need to achieve a metal tool to make a leather.The second I wrote this I remember that I need borax or lime for leather,which I cannot crush them without having a pickaxe first.No leather for me I guess.

[Echo Weaver]

1 hour ago, Veronica Hohenheim said:

I dont understand why would simple items would create a performance issue.Currently speaking I find it bit weird to not have any barrel for leather making purposes.It feels silly that I need to achieve a metal tool to make a leather.The second I wrote this I remember that I need borax or lime for leather,which I cannot crush them without having a pickaxe first.No leather for me I guess.

A large amount of color/texture variants can be a performance issue. It has to do with the way textures are stored and looked up. I don't know much about it, but it's been explained to me a couple of times.

Before metal, barrels can be used for dyeing and making compost. The 2nd and 3rd steps of leathermaking just require oak, but one would have to mod in a lime/borax alternative to be able to do the first step. I'm not doing that, but it's not unreasonable -- there are a lot of things that can be used to treat leather, many of them gross. 

[Tabbot95]

On 10/1/2025 at 3:14 PM, Teh Pizza Lady said:

However, in VS,

• Tier 1. Stone tools are limited to simple implements for resource gathering. Copper and/or tin must be collected from the surface or panned
• Tier 2. Copper is your first somewhat durable tier. I consider this the "starter" tier. Copper tools are needed to mine more copper and tin, and to make the first anvil which allows you to make the chisel (which can be turned into a soldering iron). Tin is needed to make bronze (unless you choose to go the black bronze route which is considerably more difficult without the ability to mine crystal veins.
• Tier 2.5. Bronze tools are top tier for the "starter" set of tools and weapons you can make. More durability and faster speed when collecting resources. The Bronze anvil is needed to unlock iron.
• Tier 3. Iron is superior to Bronze in every way. This is the lowest of the "good" tier of tools and weapons. Iron is so good that we stopped being able to make spears of the iron quality because they would be too OP. Iron is your friend. Iron is also very easily processed by getting a helve hammer and windmill setup. Your first major flax harvest should provide you with enough flax to make the windmill sails needed to power a helve hammer. You should be nearing your first winter by this time if you are keeping a steady pace.
• Tier 4. Steel is the best of the best. Steel armor is insanely durable. Steel weapons are sharp and hard to break. Steel tools almost never wear out. Steel is also required to mine Chromite. Chromite is necessary to make the top tier backpacks to finally expand your inventory to the max. Steel also takes a lot of resources to make and process correctly.

 

I think the problem is that they make iron "better" than bronze when that wasn't really the case 1:1;

 

the advantage of iron was that it was cheap; and "good enough"; you basically didn't need to have a supply chain that had 2 separate ores both of which seem quite adverse to having deposits that could be accessed by early civs.

 

I mean I think one of the first groups to enter the iron age was a kingdom or people south of Egypt who weren't able to access/take advantage of the Cornish or Afghan tin trade routes.

This  of course raises some questions about "okay how/should does this effect gameplay for VS?"

 

What if early Iron was much more of a "side-grade"? with a more gradual "progression" being more of an infrastructural thing.

Edited October 20, 2025 by Tabbot95