Make VS less like minecraft

[Olinoob Snail]

Hello everyone!

So, as I read recently on a post (I think it was the one talking about CurseForge I'm not sure), one of the worries was the VS may look too similar to minecraft, therefore attracting a fan base that might be expecting something else, or a least making comparaisons with minecraft when there shouldn't be any. I also saw someone mentioning that the basis of minecraft is "punch wood", therefore to seperate VS from minecraft we should remove some of the classic "punch wood" reflexes.

Here I would like to propose a few other mechanics that could be modified to make a clear distinction bewteen the two games.

 

• No punching eggs to collect them. This seems like common sense, but everytime I left click to break the eggs my hens lay, I feel like I'm making omlet. Why not just right click to pick them up? Maybe in the future some kind of egg boxes could be implemented where domesticated hens could lay their eggs.

 

• I haven't meddled to much with these, but I saw that in creative there are a furnace and crafting table. This is extremely reminescent of minecraft, and currently I don't see the point in them. But like I said I haven't messed with them too much so I don't know about their use.

 

• NO SAPLINGS. This is something that still to this day drives me nuts, both in TFC and minecraft. When you punch leaves irl, saplings don't fall out of them! Saplings are by definition young trees, they don't magically appear in the leaves of adult trees! What I suggest instead is adding seeds. The sapling model can still be used for when the seed starts growing if you don't want to get rid of it. Or, if seeds are too difficult to implement, changing the name "sapling" to "cutting". This would make a lot more sense, as it is possible to take cuttings for the branches of adult trees to then plant them. It would be a lot more accurate. This could also be expanded on: for example, to take a cutting from a tree, you might need a tool (a cutting knife, or some specialized tool). This tool could be made of stone, copper or bronze or iron, restricting the player to when he can replant trees. Thus  making "tree farms" could be maybe a tier 2 experience, or tier 3, etc... to be debated.

 

• Some punching motions could be changed. For example scooping dirt with bare hands, a scooping motion for the shovel, a swinging motion for the axe... I think this is already in the works.

 

• Adding real bushes, not just bunches of leaves

 

These are my few suggestions. I need to play a bit more to see if I can find anything else, but it's a start. If any of you have similar ideas to seperate VS from minecraft, write them down!

 

[tony Liberatto]

I have suggested that a few times already. The punching motion always felt unnatural to me. But now you gave us even one more reason to completely remove it from the game. One more way to differentiate Vintage Story from Minecraft. 
The eggs are one example, but things like pottery and glass is another one. So funny, you punch glass blocks and they even sound like they are breaking, but you still get a not broken block.
I support this idea and petition for the change. No more punching and breaking to pick up blocks and objects. 
The motion makes sense for shovels, pickaxes while mining and axes while chopping down a tree. But mostly that is it. Every other block, especially decorative blocks should be removed by shift-right-click. 

Trees should have seeds, pods, nuts, whatever you want to call them. But no saplings magically falling down when you break leaves. That is another somewhat easy way to differentiate the game from Minecraft and make it more realistic and immersive.

[Stroam]

16 hours ago, Olinoob Snail said:

No punching eggs to collect them. This seems like common sense, but everytime I left click to break the eggs my hens lay, I feel like I'm making omlet. Why not just right click to pick them up? Maybe in the future some kind of egg boxes could be implemented where domesticated hens could lay their eggs.

I want to extend this to consistent controls for almost all blocks and items.

• Left click is to violently touch something be it punch, swing, etc.
• Right click is the use/interact button. For turning the quern, opening a chest, etc.
• Shift+Left click is to softly touch something. Used for softly moving things. So picking up and placing down. 
• Shift+Right click is to Secondary use/interact.

Or something like that.

 

17 hours ago, Olinoob Snail said:

I haven't meddled to much with these, but I saw that in creative there are a furnace and crafting table. This is extremely reminescent of minecraft, and currently I don't see the point in them. But like I said I haven't messed with them too much so I don't know about their use.

Currently, have no use. I see your point. Those are fairly iconically Minecraft but as long as they look different and serve different purposes I don't see an issue. For instance if the furnace only provided warmth to a surrounding area. (No current warmth mechanics yet)

 

17 hours ago, Olinoob Snail said:

NO SAPLINGS. This is something that still to this day drives me nuts, both in TFC and minecraft. When you punch leaves irl, saplings don't fall out of them! Saplings are by definition young trees, they don't magically appear in the leaves of adult trees! What I suggest instead is adding seeds.

3

Agreed. Seeds would be cool to use in cooking and maybe a very small chance to produce a sapling when planted. Having saplings appear around adult trees and eventually grow up into adult trees would be neat. Being able to pick them up by right-clicking with a shovel with a sack in the inventory would also be neat so you can transplant them.
 

17 hours ago, Olinoob Snail said:

Some punching motions could be changed. For example scooping dirt with bare hands, a scooping motion for the shovel, a swinging motion for the axe... I think this is already in the works.

I've already suggested this and am told it would take a fundamental change in the engine to implement. I specifically for using the axe and sword wanted swing time to add more depth to the combat and make all the actions feel more deliberate.

 

17 hours ago, Olinoob Snail said:

Adding real bushes, not just bunches of leaves

 

 

 

[redram]

With regard to blocks that already exist in minecraft, that's going to only get worse, as minecraft is getting a slew of new blocks, including blast furnace, barrel, loom, and grindstone (which many have requested for here).  Basically it seems that minecraft is taking pages from TFC's(and thus VS's) playbook.

I agree the sapling thing is silly, but considering the amount of charcoal some people make, it's probably necessary.  I think tree farming might become a bit prohibitive if growing them became more complicated.    Also it's nice to be able to plant them in planters.

[Exscorbizorb]

I am on board with pretty much all the ideas presented here.  Some of the trees represented in vintage story would produce edible nuts.  Certain pine trees produce seeds in their cones that (while not technically nuts, I guess) are quite good to eat.  Oaks produce acorns which are edible with a little work.  They are a staple of some primitive diets.  Since seeds instead of saplings are on the table (so to speak) for discussion it is worth considering whether or not:

• They will be edible
• Branches need to be broken to obtain them, or fall on the ground
• Trees would produce seasonally, if seeds "fell"

1 hour ago, redram said:

I agree the sapling thing is silly, but considering the amount of charcoal some people make, it's probably necessary.  I think tree farming might become a bit prohibitive if growing them became more complicated.

It wouldn't necessarily be more complicated, you'd just be planting seeds instead of saplings.  If it was implemented in a way that did add complication it might just call for more "reward" for doing it in the form of higher yields.

Here's another thought: What if seeds had a small chance of planting themselves?  It would help this situation if forests could spread slowly by themselves, instead of needing constant maintenance from players to prevent deforestation.  So an oak tree could periodically drop acorns through a certain season, and those seeds have a chance to form a sapling, or they can be grown by the player.

1 hour ago, redram said:

Also it's nice to be able to plant them in planters.

I don't think growing them from seed would inhibit that.  It could be incorporated by transplanting a sapling that grew from seed, or just planting a seed in a planter and letting it grow.

 

[Olinoob Snail]

18 hours ago, redram said:

With regard to blocks that already exist in minecraft, that's going to only get worse, as minecraft is getting a slew of new blocks, including blast furnace, barrel, loom, and grindstone (which many have requested for here).  Basically it seems that minecraft is taking pages from TFC's(and thus VS's) playbook.

 I don't think that'll be a problem. Minecraft is, ironically, stuck in its blocky ways so to speak. Their looms and forges are just variations of the crafting tables: ornate squares with a crafting interface. In VS, we can take a lot more liberties with blocks (make them 2 blocks high, less than a block wide, etc... just look at at' TFC's loom, it's not even comparable to minecraft's one), and add functionalities (minigames, or interactive interfaces). I don't think there'll be a comparaison there.

[Olinoob Snail]

On 11/2/2018 at 3:48 AM, Stroam said:

Currently, have no use. I see your point. Those are fairly iconically Minecraft but as long as they look different and serve different purposes I don't see an issue. For instance if the furnace only provided warmth to a surrounding area. (No current warmth mechanics yet)

 

I like the idea of controlling the temperature with a furnace to keep the cold a bay in winter! However in that case i think it could be renamed stove, and require a small chimney, like this:

This would make it different enough from minecraft

Maybe the logs and firewood could burn longer too so we don't have to cut down every tree in sight.

[Exscorbizorb]

7 hours ago, Olinoob Snail said:

Maybe the logs and firewood could burn longer too so we don't have to cut down every tree in sight.

At least in the stoves, as opposed to the campfires.