Cold Climates are penalized too much and should have some of thier penalties removed or adjusted

[qualicabyss]

I feel that living in a colder climate is far too penalized currently, while it does make sense that colder climates are harsher, the sheer degree by which they are is absurd.
I've listed all the cold climate penalties I could find, and I doubt its all of them

bees don't spawn below 5c average temp, this is actually the warmer side of temperate, far warmer than in reality
crop growth slows below 10c and stops at 0c despite several crops being able to survive below 0c, even as low as -12c
more dangerous bear varients spawn in colder climates, and additionally spawn in areas with less rain and forest
wolves don't spawn above 15c average temp leaving only the less dangerous and rarer bears
high fertility soil doesn't spawn in cold regions
you can get to cold but not too hot (fire doesn't count)
fruit trees die to the cold more easily than they should
most berries exit dormancy at 15 c, except currants at 12c
its easier to build up a mountain if you need cold than underground for warmth
cattail, an essential resource, dont spawn below 3c
clay doesn't spawn below 10c
peat doesn't generate below 1c

Theres probably more.
while many of these make sense, several occur at higher temps than they should and other don't make any sense
I would like if some of these were adjusted.
Cold climates should function as more than a hard mode

Edited Saturday at 11:18 PM by qualicabyss

[LadyWYT]

2 minutes ago, qualicabyss said:

high fertility soil doesn't spawn in cold regions

2 minutes ago, qualicabyss said:

crop growth slows below 10c and stops at 0c despite several crops being able to survive below 0c, even as low as -12c

2 minutes ago, qualicabyss said:

fruit trees die to the cold more easily than they should

I mean...there's a reason the arctic isn't exactly known for sprawling farmlands and orchards. As for the cool climate regions in the game...to my knowledge farms and orchards are perfectly viable, but the player needs to make sure they're planting crops that can actually handle the climate.

 

6 minutes ago, qualicabyss said:

more dangerous bear varients spawn in colder climates, and additionally spawn in areas with less rain and forest

Well...polar bears aren't known to live in areas with lots of trees and rain, at least to my knowledge. And they're definitely one of the more dangerous bear species from a realism standpoint, since they're one of the few animals that will actually hunt humans for food. Brown bears are going to be more dangerous than black bears just due to the size difference, if nothing else.

[Rainbow Fresh]

Gotta side with LadyWYT here. There is a reason cold regions - and seeing as you are mentioning all the temperature limitations for certain spawns all the way down to basically 0° we're talking truly cold, probably forever-snow regions - aren't the prime hotspots for living. Even with modern technology we haven't metropolized the arctic like all of the warmer climates. So cold climated just being hard-mode is very much in-line. Hell, I can recommed The Long Dark as a game built around that very concept alone. And I don't see any reason to butcher cold regions just to make them more playable, when the only reason you would have to play with/in them would be your own choosing to begin with. It's a challenge, for sure; but one you can beat if you try.

As for some individual points of yours:

31 minutes ago, qualicabyss said:

its easier to build up a mountain if you need cold than underground for warmth

And it's easier to burn something to warm up anywhere than it is to cool down in warmer areas. I would know, for I live in a country that, for the most part, doesn't know what an AC is. Also, with the way things currently are you literally just need to build a 1x1x2 enclosed space to count as "indoors" and will always be warm inside. So if anything, more indepth heating mechanics are required.

 

32 minutes ago, qualicabyss said:

you can get to cold but not too hot (fire doesn't count)

That, albeit a completely different topic, is true - but the lack of hot climate content is known and will certainly be rectified later down the development pipeline.

35 minutes ago, qualicabyss said:

cattail, an essential resource, dont spawn below 3c
clay doesn't spawn below 10c
peat doesn't generate below 1c

Vintage Story is half about exploration to begin with. Missing resources can be found by traveling, even if that traveling requires getting to warmer climate to find things that are, indeed, tied to warmer climates. If you are looking for a perma-frost-only challenge run then maybe you want to look into a mod or two to make it truly possible? But that isn't the intended experience of the game and therefor the game doesn't need to adjust for it specifically.

[qualicabyss]

I'm not saying its all unrealistic (though some of it is) I'm saying its unbalanced
fruit tree temps are though

-28c is the coldest any fruit tree can survive, or -18 f
this is cold but not insanely so, and not enough to kill every fruit tree
my location has reached that temp (very rarely) and is near the warmer side of the range for cherries which die at a warmer -20c

[LadyWYT]

17 minutes ago, qualicabyss said:

I'm not saying its all unrealistic (though some of it is) I'm saying its unbalanced

That's...kind of the point though? It's going to be harder to survive in the arctic than it is to survive in the tropics or other warmer regions. Different climates are going to require different strategies to accomplish the same goals, and some things may not be achievable in certain climates at all(like cultivating an orchard in the polar regions). Yes, plants and animals tend to be more adaptable in real life, but the purposes of the tighter environmental tolerances in that game, I believe, is meant to make the climates varied and matter a little more than they otherwise would. That is, the player isn't going to be able to just gather plants from wherever and grow them at their base, or find certain animals outside of their specific environments. They're going to need to rely more heavily on locally available resources instead.