Future mounts, new transit options?

[Zaph42nd]

Been thinking about it, but with VS introducing new mounts in a future update, I'm also wondering if we might see carts and carriages get introduced as well? Currently the best way to transfer lots of items (or players) across the map in one trip is elk + boat, though that first requires logistics networks (waterways) to exist which is already a pretty massive task... Cartwright's Caravan (https://mods.vintagestory.at/cartwrightscaravan) I think is a good start, but mount-pulled carts, plows, etc... I think would be very fitting

[LadyWYT]

8 minutes ago, Zaph42nd said:

I'm also wondering if we might see carts and carriages get introduced as well?

I think various ideas have been floated for such, but the main hurdle, I think, is figuring out how to animate a cart and not have it look exceptionally goofy when navigating a blocky world.

One solution that has crossed my mind regarding that--make carts very slow when not moving on roads, and thus require the player to build infrastructure if they want to use anything bigger than a handcart. Carts are large vehicles and require a lot of space to move, so they aren't going to be able to move through forests and brushland without a clear trail. Sand, gravel, and soft dirt will hinder wheels. Rocks will make for a bumpy ride, if not break the wheels. Hills and mountains are going to be incredibly difficult for a cart to traverse, if not impossible without infrastructure. And of course, there's not really anyone around to build such infrastructure aside from the player, so...

[Zaph42nd]

11 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

I think various ideas have been floated for such, but the main hurdle, I think, is figuring out how to animate a cart and not have it look exceptionally goofy when navigating a blocky world.

One solution that has crossed my mind regarding that--make carts very slow when not moving on roads, and thus require the player to build infrastructure if they want to use anything bigger than a handcart. Carts are large vehicles and require a lot of space to move, so they aren't going to be able to move through forests and brushland without a clear trail. Sand, gravel, and soft dirt will hinder wheels. Rocks will make for a bumpy ride, if not break the wheels. Hills and mountains are going to be incredibly difficult for a cart to traverse, if not impossible without infrastructure. And of course, there's not really anyone around to build such infrastructure aside from the player, so...

Love the idea since at the moment paths are really only good at increasing your groundspeed marginally, most players I don't think bother really building elaborate roads unless they are in a multiplayer game (or play without a map or simply have infrastructure as a world-goal). Makes me curious too if we could see very dilapidated/destroyed roads near some important story structures later down the line, it'd act as nice set-dressing and motivate players to consider building roads too

[Sparticus247]

I'd actually like to see if possible that some mounts have bonuses in certain situations. 

Maybe camels move faster in deserts 

Maybe elks move faster wooded areas within so many blocks of trees. 

Maybe horses can carry more than the other options, and get a greater movement bonus on paths.

Edited September 4 by Sparticus247

[Mushroomancer]

Generally speaking I find elk to be delightfully whimsical, but I am also quite glad to see more mounts being added. I know there are some mods that add carts to the game though I haven't experimented much with them. Generally there are difficulties with physics when it comes to mounts and carts interacting, especially on - as was said above - a blocky world without much in the way of gradient. I'd love to see it tackled, though. The idea of being able to have a proper, nomadic style of play with carts and elk or horses would be quite neat!

[williams_482]

42 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

I think various ideas have been floated for such, but the main hurdle, I think, is figuring out how to animate a cart and not have it look exceptionally goofy when navigating a blocky world.

One solution that has crossed my mind regarding that--make carts very slow when not moving on roads, and thus require the player to build infrastructure if they want to use anything bigger than a handcart. Carts are large vehicles and require a lot of space to move, so they aren't going to be able to move through forests and brushland without a clear trail. Sand, gravel, and soft dirt will hinder wheels. Rocks will make for a bumpy ride, if not break the wheels. Hills and mountains are going to be incredibly difficult for a cart to traverse, if not impossible without infrastructure. And of course, there's not really anyone around to build such infrastructure aside from the player, so...

I think if cart movement worked similarly to existing animals (noticeable slowdown when climbing a block, wide turning radius, very fast on flat ground) but somewhat more extreme, this could work well. The one thing that would need to change would be treating slabs and stairs like flat ground movement-wise, something I hope could apply to mounts as well. It's a little silly that adding stairs or slabs to a road makes your elk traverse more slowly than if you left the elevation changes as full blocks. 

As I see it, the other problems with paths right now are:

- Expense. Four stones per block doesn't sound like much, but it adds up in a hurry. Paving roads with proper paths requires that you go dig up a lot more rocks than normal mining and quarrying activities will give you.

- Elk have quirks that don't play nice with paths. In addition to the slab/step issues, it's impossible (or very difficult) to tell an elk to go perfectly straight on a cardinal direction. Exacerbating this, elk are wide enough that they never benefit from one block wide paths, and only benefit from two block wide paths if they are right in the middle with little room for error. Three block paths work very nicely, but nobody has the spare rocks for that. 

[Zaph42nd]

3 hours ago, williams_482 said:

I think if cart movement worked similarly to existing animals (noticeable slowdown when climbing a block, wide turning radius, very fast on flat ground) but somewhat more extreme, this could work well. The one thing that would need to change would be treating slabs and stairs like flat ground movement-wise, something I hope could apply to mounts as well. It's a little silly that adding stairs or slabs to a road makes your elk traverse more slowly than if you left the elevation changes as full blocks. 

As I see it, the other problems with paths right now are:

- Expense. Four stones per block doesn't sound like much, but it adds up in a hurry. Paving roads with proper paths requires that you go dig up a lot more rocks than normal mining and quarrying activities will give you.

- Elk have quirks that don't play nice with paths. In addition to the slab/step issues, it's impossible (or very difficult) to tell an elk to go perfectly straight on a cardinal direction. Exacerbating this, elk are wide enough that they never benefit from one block wide paths, and only benefit from two block wide paths if they are right in the middle with little room for error. Three block paths work very nicely, but nobody has the spare rocks for that. 

Ditto, the expense I think is less an issue in servers, more an issue in single-player, quarrying mods help a lot but I don't love the idea of requiring stone roads, sodded or sandy roads I think are also a potential option, would be neat to see implementation with desire-paths (e.g. the paths you walk the most eventually become hardened soil which might slightly increase the effectiveness of carts and mounts) but that'd probably be code-intensive I think? Regarding elk-physics, I think that each mount may potentially have slightly different physics, it'd make a lot of sense if tied with generational breeding such that you'd eventually breed horses, elks, camels, etc... spec'd for speed, carrying/cargo, etc... but as it stands currently elks are less than ideal for long-distance travel and especially traveling more hilly/mountainous terrain

[botany_bro]

5 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

One solution that has crossed my mind regarding that--make carts very slow when not moving on roads, and thus require the player to build infrastructure if they want to use anything bigger than a handcart. Carts are large vehicles and require a lot of space to move, so they aren't going to be able to move through forests and brushland without a clear trail.

i second this- but with consideration to the time/material cost of building roads, it would be cool to have some system of automated tilling (a stock-drawn plough comes to mind), and other road building tools to make things go a little faster. TOBG has a handy way of path building, which i think is a little too easy for VS, but the way it is now is soooo tedious. but anyways i am a big big nerd on trail building and travel infrastructure and will welcome any and all new road-building tech. 

[Mushroomancer]

25 minutes ago, botany_bro said:

i second this- but with consideration to the time/material cost of building roads, it would be cool to have some system of automated tilling (a stock-drawn plough comes to mind), and other road building tools to make things go a little faster. TOBG has a handy way of path building, which i think is a little too easy for VS, but the way it is now is soooo tedious. but anyways i am a big big nerd on trail building and travel infrastructure and will welcome any and all new road-building tech. 

It would be really nice to see a more indepth roadbuilding system or to at least have more material-efficient paths. As is, the vanilla experience for roadbuilding and pathlaying is more an issue on the material end, those paths do not stretch as far as you expect when filling an inventory with them. I love roadbuilding in general, though, and I know there are some mods that make it easier, or at least less intensive on the material cost timesink. 

Specifically Better Ruins adds blueprints, I believe, one of which is always highly prized by yours truly for quadrupling the output of path blocks when crafting them. Something like this, even late game, would be so beneficial to cutting down on roadwork tedium. Though seeing more diverse types of paths would be great, too.

[LadyWYT]

9 hours ago, williams_482 said:

- Expense. Four stones per block doesn't sound like much, but it adds up in a hurry. Paving roads with proper paths requires that you go dig up a lot more rocks than normal mining and quarrying activities will give you.

Don't forget wooden paths. But yeah, the expense is a bit of an issue. I think the bigger balancing factor is just putting a bulky hitbox on the cart and making it fairly slow compared to other means of travel. That way the player can still carry a lot of stuff, but they're not going to have the convenience of fast travel, and are going to have more limited options when it comes to handling different types of terrain.

[OBAMFSpike]

On 9/4/2026 at 9:20 AM, Zaph42nd said:

Been thinking about it, but with VS introducing new mounts in a future update, I'm also wondering if we might see carts and carriages get introduced as well? Currently the best way to transfer lots of items (or players) across the map in one trip is elk + boat, though that first requires logistics networks (waterways) to exist which is already a pretty massive task... Cartwright's Caravan (https://mods.vintagestory.at/cartwrightscaravan) I think is a good start, but mount-pulled carts, plows, etc... I think would be very fitting

Ive found that a healthy balance between roadways, translocators, the sailboats and some ingenuity really makes resource allocation a breeze. 

Would I love to a see a cart or carriage though you sure got that right! 

I love this game. 

[CastIronFabric]

On 9/4/2026 at 10:20 AM, Zaph42nd said:

Been thinking about it, but with VS introducing new mounts in a future update, I'm also wondering if we might see carts and carriages get introduced as well? Currently the best way to transfer lots of items (or players) across the map in one trip is elk + boat, though that first requires logistics networks (waterways) to exist which is already a pretty massive task... Cartwright's Caravan (https://mods.vintagestory.at/cartwrightscaravan) I think is a good start, but mount-pulled carts, plows, etc... I think would be very fitting

as a side note, I think Cartwright's Caravan does allow you to use mounts to pull.

I do welcome that being part of the core game