Development update, September 2025

[Tyron]

Dear Vantastic Vintarians
Vividly voicing for you the ventures we’re forging.

I've been trying to write this blog post for the last 2 weeks, surely didn't help catching a cold in the middle of all of it. Anyhow. Time for an update, let's get right into it!

Vintage Story

As you might have noticed, we've been fixing bugs and balancing mechanics feverishly over the last few weeks, with 1.21.2 alone becoming a 150 changes big update. Now that I've somewhat recovered, we should be able to push a stable 1.21.2 out within the next 1 to 2 days and then hopefully, move on to 1.22 which will heavily focus on game mechanics.

Possibly to my own detriment, I can show you the roadmap for 1.22, but again, huge disclaimer, this is an aspirational plan - and I really mean it when I say that. We rarely fully implement the entire roadmap for any update.

• We will be researching the feasibility of Rivers
• Reworked trader outposts (with some new aesthetic blocks as shown in the screenshot)
• Procedural dungeons
• Berry bush rework (i.e. add greater mechanical depth to them)
• Possibly fishing
• New Mechanical Power blocks (Water wheels, Flywheels, Elevators, Grinding wheels and more)
• Item heating overhaul
• Status Effects System
• Quenching, Tempering and Annealing system (Risk/Reward based tool improvement mechanic)
• Lots of other minor things that we usually do

Due to the amount of new content, this update will probably be one of the slower ones to release again, compared to the 1.21 update. Rest assured, we'll do our best to make it worth your wait! 

We've also not been idle on the hiring end - we have @Maltiez helping us out in improving the mod api, we are currently in talks on getting a sysadmin on board, and we're likely going to soon post a web developer position so we can separate out the 2 other projects of Anego Studios onto their own websites and community platforms. 

Until then, here's a few words from the new team which is working on what I originally coined as "the new adventure mode", now renamed into something more adequate!
 

Project "Glint"

Ahoy there! 

I'm Goblin, and I'm the senior game design lead on a new game from Anego Studios, which is codenamed "Project Glint". I'm excited to have this chance to introduce the new team, say a little bit about what we're hoping to achieve with Project Glint, and invite you to join us on this new journey!

The Project Glint team is made up of voxel game veterans with a passion for adventure games and RPGs. Many of us worked most recently on Hytale at Hypixel Studios, while others bring their experience as contributors to the Minecraft Marketplace and Vintage Story. We are:

Goblin - Game Designer and Team Lead
codename_B - Technical Designer/Engineer
ElsewhereHere - Art Director
Bob Nelson - Concept Artist
Chris Thursten - Narrative Designer

We're excited to do something new with Project Glint. Our goal is to create a novel voxel RPG experience that uses a blocky world as a platform for narrative, exploration and adventure. Project Glint won't be connected to Vintage Story, but it will use the same engine and we hope that the new tech and features we develop will ultimately benefit both games. Where Vintage Story is an uncompromising survival experience, Project Glint is intended to be more focused on RPG pillars like exploration, storytelling, and combat.

Currently we are defining the fantasy setting of Project Glint, while our technical designer is breaking new grounds on tooling, which will also greatly benefit the Vintage Story modding community - such as the VS Animation Support PR to Blockbench! Here's a screenshot of it in action


Even though these are still very early days, it's really exciting to be breaking into new territory and we can't wait to share more when we're ready. 

Also, we're still building the team! We're currently looking for a level designer to join us. If that sounds like it might be you, consider applying!

See you over the horizon!

- Goblin

View full record

[Guimoute]

Nice!

[Foe Hammer]

On 9/24/2025 at 12:50 PM, Tyron said:

Possibly to my own detriment, I can show you the roadmap for 1.22, but again, huge disclaimer, this is an aspirational plan - and I really mean it when I say that. We rarely fully implement the entire roadmap for any update.

• We will be researching the feasibility of Rivers
• Reworked trader outposts (with some new aesthetic blocks as shown in the screenshot)
• Procedural dungeons
• Berry bush rework (i.e. add greater mechanical depth to them)
• Possibly fishing
• New Mechanical Power blocks (Water wheels, Flywheels, Elevators, Grinding wheels and more)
• Item heating overhaul
• Status Effects System
• Quenching, Tempering and Annealing system (Risk/Reward based tool improvement mechanic)
• Lots of other minor things that we usually do

Due to the amount of new content, this update will probably be one of the slower ones to release again, compared to the 1.21 update. Rest assured, we'll do our best to make it worth your wait! 

 

This raises a question I have meant to ask for a while though never really knew how or where to ask. Are there ways for modders to help contribute to these game mechanics? I do not mean like trying to get on the staff, but instead like if someone wanted to help make one of the roadmap mechanics a reality, is there a way they can help with that getting added to the game?

I get the feeling the answer is obvious or has been asked before, though I do not recall seeing this anywhere.

 

Regardless, excited to see what the team makes and for any news on Glint!

[LadyWYT]

22 minutes ago, Foe Hammer said:

Are there ways for modders to help contribute to these game mechanics? I do not mean like trying to get on the staff, but instead like if someone wanted to help make one of the roadmap mechanics a reality, is there a way they can help with that getting added to the game?

My best guess there is to just pick something that's on the roadmap and make a mod for it. If the implementation is good enough, and fits developer vision, it's possible that the mod(or chunks of it) will be incorporated into the base game--I think that's basically what happened with deer and goats. However, there's also no guarantees of that happening either. Worst case scenario is that it remains a mod that eventually becomes obsolete when/if the particular thing is implemented in the base game, but in that case the mod itself still offers players that kind of experience until such a thing becomes a reality.

[Michaloid]

On 9/24/2025 at 5:50 PM, Tyron said:

• We will be researching the feasibility of Rivers
• Reworked trader outposts (with some new aesthetic blocks as shown in the screenshot)
• Procedural dungeons
• Berry bush rework (i.e. add greater mechanical depth to them)
• Possibly fishing
• New Mechanical Power blocks (Water wheels, Flywheels, Elevators, Grinding wheels and more)
• Item heating overhaul
• Status Effects System
• Quenching, Tempering and Annealing system (Risk/Reward based tool improvement mechanic)
• Lots of other minor things that we usually do

Oh yeah BOIIIIII! Hope all of this makes into the update. Because this a lot of goodies that sounds SO dope!

[Arsenik Milk]

These are all incredibly exciting features that I would love to see on the game eventually - especially rivers because I love exploration in this game.

It looks like most of these focus on adding depth to existing survival mechanics (or fishing which, yes, please), with a couple others more related to exploration and homesteading. Some of these, at least from my end, sound like very simple technical changes (item heating overhaul - similar to Better Forging mod which allows stacks to keep temperature? Or include things like accidentally melting ingots on the forge by overheating them?), while others sound like major mechanical overhauls (a new status effect system sounds like a wonderful way to unify healing, poison, wetness, hypothermia, and drunkenness and allow for more mechanics down the road).

Hearing all of these will likely not make it in is tragic, because they're all really exciting. My personal wishlist is for rivers, water wheels, and fishing. I wish y'all the best of luck. May every bug be immediately found. 

[TabebuiaChrysotricha]

Seems very ambitious but if even half of the features make it in it would still be one hell of an update

[Guimoute]

Maybe "item heating" involves in part finishing the bellows they have started coding early 2023? That would be a nice leather spending sink. 

[Filip Nowak]

Great news! Thank you. 
Rivers would be amazing. I really liked the Rivers mod, but it also modifies the map generator, so unfortunately we couldn’t use it.
Although version 1.21 introduced smaller continents in the oceans, it still generates some really large or long ones, so ocean travel remains quite challenging.
If there were rivers that allowed sailing across continents, that would be great.

The new mechanical power block sounds exciting! 

What does the “Status Effects System” mean?

The Quenching, Tempering, and Annealing system - looking forward to it 

[DUCATISLO]

>We will be researching the feasibility of Rivers

But we have river mod...why not just use that and tweak it with the source code? Or there's something better you guys will do? Or just to add all the waterwheel and fishing together to make it work?

Edited October 4, 2025 by DUCATISLO

[Voldemort]

19 minutes ago, DUCATISLO said:

>We will be researching the feasibility of Rivers

But we have river mod...why not just use that and tweak it with the source code? Or there's something better you guys will do? Or just to add all the waterwheel and fishing together to make it work?

They could do it, but for some reason, they just don’t want to. Maybe it's all just an excuse to buy time for their second project which, in my opinion, is nothing but unnecessary bloat.
 

On 9/24/2025 at 6:50 PM, Tyron said:

Due to the amount of new content, this update will probably be one of the slower ones to release again, compared to the 1.21 update. Rest assured, we'll do our best to make it worth your wait! 

On 9/24/2025 at 6:50 PM, Tyron said:

Also, we're still building the team! We're currently looking for a level designer to join us. If that sounds like it might be you, consider applying!

They're starting yet another project that's already in development and, surprise, they don't even have the people to staff it. Say no more. This already reeks of failure.

To be fair, I already stopped playing this game a while ago. Maybe I’ll come back in a few years if I see something worthwhile, but for now, I’m really unsure about the future of this game/games/projects and their development.  

[Echo Weaver]

Procedural dungeons! Wow. 

I know there's been research going on about water power for at least a year. I hope that will come together. I'm so excited by the idea of waterwheels.

[LadyWYT]

2 hours ago, Filip Nowak said:

What does the “Status Effects System” mean?

If I'm recalling correctly, there was an interview Tyron did a while back where he described such a system as being like the trait system we have already, but more of a way to earn new traits, temporary or permanent, good or bad. Exactly what all that entails, I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that with such a system, the player could perhaps receive training from an NPC or complete some sort of quest to get a permanent boost to ranged damage or receive the bowyer trait for crafting purposes. Or perhaps temporal gears could be shattered to give a temporary boost to movement speed, work speed, or damage, instead of just restoring some stability. For negative effects, falling damage could produce broken bones, which reduce movement speed for a time, or taking large hits in general could result in a wound that reduces one's overall health and healing abilities while it persists.

In any case, that's all speculation on my part. If such a system is implemented, it could be similar to the above, but it could easily be something very different as well. I do look forward to such a system though, as it seems a great way to introduce some extra hazards to the game, while also providing the player a way to expand their character's capabilities in a natural way.

[Rhyagelle]

5 hours ago, DUCATISLO said:

>We will be researching the feasibility of Rivers

But we have river mod...why not just use that and tweak it with the source code? Or there's something better you guys will do? Or just to add all the waterwheel and fishing together to make it work?

I love the rivers mod, but there's a lot wrong with it. It doesn't play well enough for world generation to create anything not wonky. What I mean by this, is not that the mod is bad--quite the opposite!--but that because it's not designed by the same team as Vintage Story, the generation of it doesn't fit. It's like trying to force a puzzle piece from one set to a completely different one. If they code it themselves, it'll function a lot better and fit into world generation going forward. 

[DUCATISLO]

14 minutes ago, Rhyagelle said:

I love the rivers mod, but there's a lot wrong with it. It doesn't play well enough for world generation to create anything not wonky. What I mean by this, is not that the mod is bad--quite the opposite!--but that because it's not designed by the same team as Vintage Story, the generation of it doesn't fit. It's like trying to force a puzzle piece from one set to a completely different one. If they code it themselves, it'll function a lot better and fit into world generation going forward. 

yeah I thought of that too since the rivers mod is always at sea level and makes some weird river generations. hope we get some mountain rivers too then.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if they don't implement rivers, then waterwheels will probably be delayed.

But procedural dungeons? I'm intrigued.

Possibly fishing? Possibly interested...

8 hours ago, Adnyeus said:

To be fair, I already stopped playing this game a while ago. Maybe I’ll come back in a few years if I see something worthwhile, but for now, I’m really unsure about the future of this game/games/projects and their development.

I have to ask just out of curiosity more than anything... if you're that upset about the state of the game and have lost interest in it, then why do you keep coming back here and being negative? Your comments are really bumming me out, dude.

[Echo Weaver]

4 hours ago, DUCATISLO said:

yeah I thought of that too since the rivers mod is always at sea level and makes some weird river generations. hope we get some mountain rivers too then.

Yeah, the sea level thing isn't what I'd choose in my ideal-for-vanilla rivers system. It almost always puts the river at the bottom of steep, unnatural-looking canyons. Not to mention that tunnels through mountains look man-made. An ideal system would involve water running downhill in some sort of natural way. OTOH, the current is really cool. I'm also not sure how that mod consumes resources.

It's a great proof-of-concept, and I'm sure VS's devs have learned from it.

1 hour ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

But procedural dungeons? I'm intrigued.

Yeah! I really want more reasons to go exploring underground. OTOH, i'm a strategic coward, so my fun depends a lot on the implementation. 

1 hour ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Possibly fishing?

When I first started playing VS, I was annoyed that it didn't have a fishing system like Minecraft and most other games that allow you to interact with bodies of water -- the one where you cast a line and the game calculates something to put on your hook. Now that I've been playing a good while, I see why they didn't want to do that. I'm still eager for fishing to be a more viable specialization. I'm excited to see VS's version of fishing.

[TabebuiaChrysotricha]

2 hours ago, Echo Weaver said:

When I first started playing VS, I was annoyed that it didn't have a fishing system like Minecraft and most other games that allow you to interact with bodies of water -- the one where you cast a line and the game calculates something to put on your hook. Now that I've been playing a good while, I see why they didn't want to do that. I'm still eager for fishing to be a more viable specialization. I'm excited to see VS's version of fishing.

It's probably because in a game where getting food is supposed to be hard, fishing would either be 1. So easy and effective for gameplay purposes it's overpowered or 2. So slow and tedious for realism purposes it's frustrating and nobody adopts it as a viable alternative to hunting.

Fishing probably has to be balanced as an alternative to hunting which requires certain environmental criteria like climate, the size of the body of water, time of year and other factors (like water flow which could be added with rivers) which make it hard enough to do that it isn't laughably easy but also not so hard that it is unappealing for people to even attempt. Killing the fish which already exist is stupid easy and should probably not even be possible, specially when salmon spawn in tiny puddles and are slow as molasses, have you ever tried to swing a knife at a fish? It has been balanced by making full grown fish give pitiful saturation, which is also nonsensical. 

Edited October 5, 2025 by Nenelove

[hstone32]

13 hours ago, DUCATISLO said:

But we have river mod...why not just use that and tweak it with the source code? Or there's something better you guys will do? Or just to add all the waterwheel and fishing together to make it work?

I don't think you meant any disrespect, but this reminds me a lot of the unwelcome feedback I often get on my own personal programming projects, typically from people with little to no programming experience themselves. When I explain to them the purpose of my project, they say, "Oh! Something like that already exists. You should just use that instead, and save yourself the work!" If I try to explain to them why I don't want to do that, the explanation goes right over their head, and they continue to insist upon it as though they know better about this project they only now learned about than I, the author, do.

It's like... People think everything only ever needs to be made once. They assume that any new project should be re-worked to make use of things that already exists, instead of making it in a way that specifically suits the needs and the requirements of the project itself.

[hstone32]

Seeing the prospect of water power, it makes me wonder about the possibility of an electricity system being added one day in the future. The materials to make primitive electrostatics already exist in the game: Glass and steel to make leyden jars. Fur pelts and mechanical power to make Van de Graaff generators. Copper, zinc, and salt to make an electrolytic battery.

Maybe they could make lodestones be rare drops from mining magnetite. Not only could that be used for making compasses, it could be used to make a Faraday inductor, and then the fun would really begin...

[Facethief]

On 9/24/2025 at 12:50 PM, Tyron said:

I've been trying to write this blog post for the last 2 weeks, surely didn't help catching a cold in the middle of all of it. Anyhow. Time for an update, let's get right into it!

If there was a way to not catch the cold aside from staying away from everyone all of the time, life would be much easier. That said, hope you’re feeling better!

[Guimoute]

3 hours ago, TabebuiaChrysotricha said:

It's probably because in a game where getting food is supposed to be hard, fishing would either be 1. So easy and effective for gameplay purposes it's overpowered or 2. So slow and tedious for realism purposes it's frustrating and nobody adopts it as a viable alternative to hunting.

It's still tied to fish existing so I'm not sure how you would make it overpowered. You can see it as an alternative to the spear-fishing that already exists, not as a magical food source.

[DUCATISLO]

3 hours ago, hstone32 said:

it's like... People think everything only ever needs to be made once. They assume that any new project should be re-worked to make use of things that already exists, instead of making it in a way that specifically suits the needs and the requirements of the project itself.

fair point

[BMiBudzYT]

On 9/25/2025 at 2:50 AM, Tyron said:

Dear Vantastic Vintarians
Vividly voicing for you the ventures we’re forging.

I've been trying to write this blog post for the last 2 weeks, surely didn't help catching a cold in the middle of all of it. Anyhow. Time for an update, let's get right into it!

Vintage Story

As you might have noticed, we've been fixing bugs and balancing mechanics feverishly over the last few weeks, with 1.21.2 alone becoming a 150 changes big update. Now that I've somewhat recovered, we should be able to push a stable 1.21.2 out within the next 1 to 4 days and then hopefully, move on to 1.22 which will heavily focus on game mechanics.

Possibly to my own detriment, I can show you the roadmap for 1.22, but again, huge disclaimer, this is an aspirational plan - and I really mean it when I say that. We rarely fully implement the entire roadmap for any update.

• We will be researching the feasibility of Rivers
• Reworked trader outposts (with some new aesthetic blocks as shown in the screenshot)
• Procedural dungeons
• Berry bush rework (i.e. add greater mechanical depth to them)
• Possibly fishing
• New Mechanical Power blocks (Water wheels, Flywheels, Elevators, Grinding wheels and more)
• Item heating overhaul
• Status Effects System
• Quenching, Tempering and Annealing system (Risk/Reward based tool improvement mechanic)
• Lots of other minor things that we usually do

Due to the amount of new content, this update will probably be one of the slower ones to release again, compared to the 1.21 update. Rest assured, we'll do our best to make it worth your wait! 

We've also not been idle on the hiring end - we have @Maltiez helping us out in improving the mod api, we are currently in talks on getting a sysadmin on board, and we're likely going to soon post a web developer position so we can separate out the 2 other projects of Anego Studios onto their own websites and community platforms. 

Until then, here's a few words from the new team which is working on what I original coined as "the new adventure mode", now renamed into something more adequate!
 

Project "Glint"

Ahoy there! 

I'm Goblin, and I'm the senior game design lead on a new game from Anego Studios, which is codenamed "Project Glint". I'm excited to have this chance to introduce the new team, say a little bit about what we're hoping to achieve with Project Glint, and invite you to join us on this new journey!

The Project Glint team is made up of voxel game veterans with a passion for adventure games and RPGs. Many of us worked most recently on Hytale at Hypixel Studios, while others bring their experience as contributors to the Minecraft Marketplace and Vintage Story. We are:

Goblin - Game Designer and Team Lead
codename_B - Technical Designer/Engineer
ElsewhereHere - Art Director
Bob Nelson - Concept Artist
Chris Thursten - Narrative Designer

We're excited to do something new with Project Glint. Our goal is to create a novel voxel RPG experience that uses a blocky world as a platform for narrative, exploration and adventure. Project Glint won't be connected to Vintage Story, but it will use the same engine and we hope that the new tech and features we develop will ultimately benefit both games. Where Vintage Story is an uncompromising survival experience, Project Glint is intended to be more focused on RPG pillars like exploration, storytelling, and combat.

Currently we are defining the fantasy setting of Project Glint, while our technical designer is breaking new grounds on tooling, which will also greatly benefit the Vintage Story modding community - such as the VS Animation Support PR to Blockbench! Here's a screenshot of it in action


Even though these are still very early days, it's really exciting to be breaking into new territory and we can't wait to share more when we're ready. 

Also, we're still building the team! We're currently looking for a level designer to join us. If that sounds like it might be you, consider applying!

See you over the horizon!

- Goblin

 

View full record

you really need to add a redstone like mechanic to this game and a way to change how doors open and close.... would love to see carts and rails also

Edited October 5, 2025 by BMiBudzYT

[hstone32]

1 hour ago, BMiBudzYT said:

you really need to add a redstone like mechanic to this game and a way to change how doors open and close.... would love to see carts and rails also

eeeehhhhh... I'm really not sure about that.

Redstone works on the other block game because, let's face it, it's really lousy survival game. It works much better as a sandbox world-builder. Redstone, therefore, is meant to be a interface through which the player can "program" the world. Using it, players can, and often do, trivialize survival tasks to near zero, so that they can refocus their entire attention on creative building instead. I think most players play survival mode mostly as a formality or for bragging rights, but they would rather skip straight to the part of their playthrough where they don't need to care about food or hostile mobs anymore. Mods try to fix this, but the implementation is never without issues. (Probably why Tyron decided to cease development on VintageCraft and start over entirely).

Vintage story in contrast, is one of the best survival games out there. While it's not free from any world building systems such as chiseling, none of the creative systems are designed in a way that lessens the survival experience over time like redstone would. The progression of vintage story isn't about trivializing survival, but instead about increasing the output of survival tasks, so that players are more capable of exploring the world as time goes on. For example, you go from foraging for mushrooms and berries, to hunting animals, to cultivating crops. Each level in this progression cycle improves how well the player can feed themselves, meaning they can focus less on not starving, and more on metallurgy, mechanical power, and eventually the story chapters. The need for food doesn't decrease, but instead, the player's capabilities to work on things beyond just survival increase. This is Vintage Story's comparative advantage, and a mechanic like redstone would ruin that in my opinion.

I'm not against the idea of expanding the mechanical power system though. I think it would be really cool if we could do so much more than just transporting items, and the helve hammer. But I hope they don't expand the system in a way that could trivialize survival in any way.