beginner's doubt about many things

[LadyWYT]

37 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

is this assuming if i don't use the short range search mode?

You don't need to use the short range node search mode until you're actually ready to sink a mineshaft trying to find ore. Density search is what you'll use to figure out good dig sites as that mode will cover a wide area and tell you what's probably there.

 

38 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

how is that possible to get that amount of copper pickaxe to mine those absurd amount of rocks?

Sinking a mineshaft straight down really isn't that hard or expensive. If you should need another pickaxe prior to obtaining the ore needed for bronze, there is plenty of surface copper to be found, or you can spend some rusty gears at certain traders for bronze pickaxes.

40 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

isn't 20-25 far enough that those ore generated in between?

Maybe, but it depends on the ore. The ore could have generated in between, but in that case it will be caught by the propick's node search mode if you dig small branches off the main shaft and take samples.

Also keep in mind that ore in VS does not generate like ore in Minecraft. Ore in Vintage Story typically spawns in circular disks, and some ore disks are huge(like iron, quartz, and coal). Thus it's a lot easier to drill into the disk from above than discover ore via Minecraft-style branch mining.

43 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

what if all those tools used up without getting anything?

There's always that possibility, but it's a risk that the player has to take sometimes in order to improve their situation in the game. Nothing is ever quite guaranteed. If the player is too risk-averse that they don't even try to accomplish things due to the "what-ifs", they really aren't going to get very far in Vintage Story.

 

44 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

there are more than multiple ways that may need unknown amount of copper like building dream underground rooms, repairing armor, losing resource due to occasional unretrievable loot on death...etc.

Keep in mind that copper is a very basic resource. While it's plentiful and more durable than stone, it does not have the durability of better metals like bronze or iron. 

If losing items on death is a big concern I would recommend turning the /worldconfig deathPunishment to keep instead of the default drop.

3 hours ago, lilith99 said:

also the hunger rate decrease too fast and food value compare to other survival games

You can turn down the hunger rate and spoilage rates as well. 

/worldconfig playerHungerSpeed 

/worldconfig foodSpoilSpeed

1.0 is the default value for both. Setting it to 0.5 will halve the rate at which you get hungry/food spoils.

3 hours ago, lilith99 said:

how long winter lasts till crops-farm-able time

It will depend heavily on your latitude and local climate. For the typical temperate area, winter arrives late October/early November and planting season doesn't come until late April/early May, depending on what kind of crops you wish to plant.

3 hours ago, lilith99 said:

initially i still struggle to find berries, yes there maybe tons of them, but some places don't have any when i search the wrong place, also they spoil so quickly, sometimes i get surpass amount, sometimes i get nothing till starving to death... a bear and a wolf only last about 1.5 day, all the veggies i preserved are still well with many months left even after a year,

Food will last longer if you cook it into meals and seal it in crocks. Until you can do that, and have a cellar to store the crocks in, it's best not to gather more food than you can reasonably eat within a couple of days, or it goes to waste. Rot you cannot eat, but you can, in most cases, return to harvest previously unharvested wild crops.

 

3 hours ago, lilith99 said:

I'm more surprised that it seems like only me doing this thing people considered terrible and miserable? it's just not wanting to waste resource before i know more about the game, eating full meal just to get kill afterward is more discouraging than starving to death... at least it's what i feel.

That's fine if that's the way you want to play, but the rest of us are advising against that particular strategy for good reason. Food supply is, in essence, what determines what the player can do in the game. Constantly starving to death means no real exploration outside of spawn, which likely means no access to equipment better than copper, maybe bronze. If you want to get the lay of the land, you'll need to be able to explore a few thousand blocks away from spawn, rather than a few hundred. Likewise, when it comes to surviving winter, if winter has arrived and you have no food stored, it's really too late to begin storing food. Your best bet is to hunt for survival, which will be tougher given that animals don't spawn as often in winter, and when they do they're scrawnier. While it is possible to survive winter in this fashion, it is quite brutal, and will greatly hamper your ability to do other things such as search for ore, improve your base, etc. 

[lilith99]

yeah, i play through a year starving to death almost everyday, and i do have veggies stored a cellar, i don't eat those just because i don't know how to explore and find things not around spawn point. and as i mentioned before winter i try not to eat those food because i don't know how long winter will be. it's more like testing and see what comes at me before i start using resource as much as i can, it seems quite doable even starving everyday(collecting bushes, seeds and copper), again because i didn't know how to explore, so it does not hinder me much.

[LadyWYT]

Just now, lilith99 said:

i do have veggies stored a cellar, i don't eat those just because i don't know how to explore and find things not around spawn point

I'm trying to be as patient as I possibly can here...but the reason you're having trouble exploring the world is that you do not have a food supply established. When you die to starvation, you will only respawn with half of your hunger meter. The farthest you will be able to explore, with no food at all, is about a thousand blocks from spawn before you die of starvation. A thousand block radius from spawn is a decent area, but it's far too small of an area to make progress in the game beyond simple stone and copper tools. You will need to explore a much wider area in order to progress beyond copper and stone(especially if you intend to play the game's story), and you will need an established food supply in order to do so. 

As I said, you can play however you want, but if you keep trying the same strategy and keep getting the same unsatisfying results, then it's time to make adjustments to your plans until you get the results you desire.

[lilith99]

i don't explore farther because i just don't know how much do i need to travel or where should i search dig for limestone, hence i don't eat, so i just do what's around me, after a year i still can't figure out how much do terrain layers change horizontally after i read almost every guides in handbook, then i come here asking/venting, not because i keep dying so i can't explore.

[LadyWYT]

23 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

i don't explore farther because i just don't know how much do i need to travel or where should i search dig for limestone

While you might not know exact numbers, surely you have enough information to make an educated guess. Pack some food, and when your supplies start to run low either return to base to resupply, or try to hunt/forage supplies from your surroundings. Cookware can be brought with you and campfires can be made practically anywhere.

 

25 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

after a year i still can't figure out how much do terrain layers change horizontally after i read almost every guides in handbook

As @Maelstrom noted earlier, I believe, rock layers can stretch for thousands of blocks. Terrain features themselves can stretch for a few hundred blocks. As I noted earlier, if you're dying to starvation constantly, you're not going to be able to venture much more than a thousand blocks from spawn, at best. Thus you're unlikely to see much variation in rock layers and terrain features.

 

27 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

then i come here asking/venting, not because i keep dying so i can't explore.

Venting is fine if you need to vent, but with all due respect...if you ask for advice and then proceed to ignore all the advice that you're given, it's going to be very difficult for other users to keep taking your requests seriously. If you want to continue playing the same way you've been playing, that's fine, but if that's the case there's really no point in continuing to offer advice.

[lilith99]

yeah now i know because of your advices, thanks! im not ignoring, i just explain why i do that, because you guys keep thinking i can't progress because i ignore hunger, so i keep explaining...

[Forceous]

5 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

because you guys keep thinking i can't progress because i ignore hunger

That is true though lol, that is the exact problem why you can't progress.

[LadyWYT]

10 minutes ago, lilith99 said:

im not ignoring, i just explain why i do that, because you guys keep thinking i can't progress because i ignore hunger, so i keep explaining...

Right, but if this is the case unfortunately something is getting lost in translation. You presented the problem(difficulties with exploring and making progress beyond copper). Based on the information you've given us, the core advice that's been offered is to establish a food supply, as that is why you are having such troubles exploring and advancing. It's fine to explain why you made your initial decisions and no one is faulting you for that, but it's something you really only need to explain once or twice. When you keep explaining the logic behind the starvation every time someone suggests establishing a food supply, then it comes across as refusing to listen to the offered advice and instead arguing about why the initial plan doesn't have problems.

@Forceous is right--the food supply is what is causing the problems. There's really no plainer way to say it. Until the food supply issue is resolved, you will continue to have problems exploring the world and making progress because you will have a very limited area to work in, that almost certainly does not have everything you need to advance in the game.

Edit: Apologies if any of that sounds a bit harsh. I'm just trying to make myself as clear as possible.

Edited February 4 by LadyWYT

[Thorfinn]

BTW, @lilith99, I wouldn't lose any sleep over limestone. The difference between linen sacks and backpacks is just shy of meaningless, and by the time you can forge plates, you can equip yourself better than if you had all 4 backpacks. So long as you are not a hoarder, 20 inventory spaces (27 with a mining bag) is more than enough to finish the game.

Edited February 4 by Thorfinn

[Forceous]

Marble can also be used for lime, you grind it in the quern and it'll give you lime. You'll find limestone and marble in mountains.

[Ratbatboo]

I'm wondering if you've actually looked at the Guide on this forum for finding Limestone?

It's at 

 

[ArgentLuna]

On 2/4/2026 at 3:16 AM, LadyWYT said:

While rock layers are a thing, generally it's better to find some cliffs or caves and examine the layers that way, rather than dig. 

Looking down the deep holes in the ground can give you an idea of whats down there in any given area as you explore, just be careful around them if you have soil slippage on.