AlteOgre

On Ilu Ambar - Quenta Yára, year 2 has almost passed as our @Seraphs learn to master their trades. The development of adequate tools now enables them to chisel the most soft and brittle materials. (enabled 'micoblockChiselling all' and added QP's ChiselTools mod) The world continues to evolve and life's struggle is slowly getting harder as stronger canines with more pack-like behaviour emerge and the coming of the rifts in last year has seemingly slowed the growth rate of crops. (enabled spawning of 4t1 canines like coyotes, dingos and smaller wolf types + reduced crop growth rate with 4%) Note that we had a very serious back-end caused roll-back of 6 days and a long wait for back-end maintenance, pushing us all back for almost 2 weeks. Server hasn't had even a single crash since then and we haven't experienced any lag issues either. Running smoother than ever, even when fully populated.

Added two new mods for the purpose of general convenience: * SeaLevelFix: The base game does not correct the 'near surface ore spawn levels' for worlds with non-default height. Our world has a height of 320 instead of the default 256 blocks and therefore those ores are typically found some tens of blocks deeper underground. This mod corrects for that. This may be a 'late addition', but still very useful as our world expands. Mod will only be effective with new terrain generation: terrain generated before this addition will have 'near surface ores' generated at deeper levels. Most have got used to that by now. * OfflineFoodNoSpoil: This mod enables reduced food spoil of items held in the player inventory while the player is not logged in. We will work with a setting that makes the player inventory while not logged in be similar to a 'cellar'.

Year 1 has come to and end for our @Seraphs and they rejoice in another spring, full of life and excitement! The new year is coming with some ominous changes. Strange distortions of reality appear in apparently random locations at random times. The few who dare share their experiences report that entering them, on purpose or accidentally, is said to be quite scary and comparable to the effect of a long stay deep in the underhome. They are referred to as rifts and they can at times come in huge numbers, resulting in many spawns of the creatures that once would remain deep in the underhome or who would only come out of the many caves and crevices after dark ... (enabled rifts) The changes appear to have a remarkable effect on the seraphs and animals of our world whose appetite seems to grow bigger and whose perseverance to cross bodies of water has grown stronger respectively ... (seraph hunger rate and creature swimming speed increased) The arrival of stronger canines may have sped up the selection of bulkier, more agile and more illusive species of deer ... (added FotSA:Capreolinae - deer stronger than 6t1 won't spawn yet) Finally, the skillset of our seraphs has grown and they are now able to close off many smaller holes in rooms that would otherwise cause draught and unintended cooling or heating. A new product called oakum, craftable from flax fibres, does the trick ... (added HeatRetention mod)

We have no huge oceans, but there are large bodies of water. We use Conquest Landform Overhaul with LandCover 80%, LandCoverScale 125%, Upheaval 30% and LandFormScale 160%. Btw, welcome to Ilu Ambar!

Year 0 was a good year for newly arriving seraphs. A 'walk in the park' some might say. The world is gradually changing, and Year 1 has just started on our VS server. Word has spread that some industrious seraphs have mastered and improved ways to quarry large chunks of rock, allowing for more effective and efficient quarrying methods ... (added StoneQuarry mod) Last year and early spring still gave a berry boom ... but somehow the growth rate of this easy food resource has slowed significantly ... (added BerryBushGrowthControl) The abundance of small prey seems to have boosted the development of stronger predators and we're getting multiple reports of hunters encountering stronger foxes and even newer, stockier breeds of canines ... (enabled spawns of stronger foxes, raccoon dogs and some jackals)

Hey Anddreygg and Skylar1998, I can assure you that our server is a very new player friendly server, where you will find many cooperative players who will be willing to support you and teach you the game. The server starts with relatively low difficulty settings and as in-game years go by, they will gradually be enhanced to eventually be similar to vanilla ... and beyond. We will enter our second spring tomorrow and there are multiple small, buzzing settlements with friendly and active players near spawn. Here's a link to our forum post, which holds all important info you may need:

Community is steadily growing and very active. We've just expanded the player slots for a second time since launch. Come join in while the world is still friendly to all new seraphs (see forum post), and as we're approaching our second spring (and some planned additions).

After a very smooth start we faced some tough headwinds with problems at our server back-end and possibly also from EntitiesInteract/EntitiesConfig giving us major downtime. We took out mentioned mods and also had our host correct possible causes at their end and are now back up again, with more seraphs, sponsors and slots, and more mods as well!

Server updated to v1.20.12!

Server just opened, yeey!

We found EntitiesInteract no longer working with MoreAnimals and FotSA:Caninae since v1.20.10. As we wish to surpress MoreAnimals entity spawns and gradually introduce FotSA predators (a.o. the Caninae), we decided to not use MoreAnimals and FotSA:Caninae fttb, until EntitiesInteract can again properly control entity spawns from those mods. EntitiesInteract does still manage to control vanilla mob spawns fortunately.

Our spawn area is ready for opening.

We've added the wonderful OneRoof mod to our server. Just one day before server opening.

Server updated to v1.20.11.

Reserved for later use.

Reserved for later use.

Hear ye, hear ye, a new Vintage Story server is looking for thee! We at Ilu Ambar, a whitelisted, mature, high trust community rooted in LOTR modded Minecraft have a new Vintage Story server: Ilu Ambar - Quenta Yára We have launched our second, Beta server is launched on 10 May '26. Our first server version, Alpha, opened on 2 June '25 and was discontinued on 2 April '26. Main changes in our Beta when compared with our Alpha server are: smaller world (polar-equator distance 128k), more ocean, slightly less ores (still more than default) and a generally faster development pace (difficulty changes, world border expansion and mod additions). As with the Alpha, we will start with a very limited amount of mods, honouring the vanilla feel as much as possible. The way we gradually change the difficulty will be different: more focussed on seraph and generic PvE stats and less on addition of predators (most will be present from day 1). Here's an overview of the server's starting points and main features: Aimed for a lasting, friendly gameplay environment for long term themed roleplay and world building efforts. Theme for building and roleplay is medieval and in agreement with Vintage Story lore. World is persistent, with planned world border expansions (incl. with new VS updates). Server is modded with focus on vanilla mechanics and additional flavour and QoL improvements. Settings and mods make for a "new player friendly" environment on launch and first few (ca. 10!) in-game years, with increased difficulty and expanded features planned. The server is unique in the way it gradually enhances the gameplay experience through config changes and mod additions. The Beta starts with relatively strong seraphs and relatively weak PvE enemies, and without rifts and temporal storms. As seraphs gain strength (diet, gear, Xskills), so does their hostile environment. Moreover, seraphs will suffer from the ever intensifying temporal disturbances. The whitelist secures a high trust community of mature players, requiring minimal staff involvement and working with simple, common sense rules. Initial lore is set, with players and their seraphs adding their own tales to the server lore as their immersive, light roleplay evolves. As the world evolves, its lore expands. Not a server for speed running gamers, nor for pvp and/or 'faction' focussed gameplay. If this triggered your curiosity, do not hesitate to join us in our Discord server, and to continue reading. Ilu Ambar DISCORD Server Opening lore Difficulty progression Difficulty starts low and gradually increases towards 'fairly tough for late game developed hermits', after in-game year 11. Most entities will be present from day 1, and will start weaker than default. Some hostile entities will be added through mods later on. Temporal storm frequency and duration, and rust creature spawning distance and light level will all gradually become more challengeing. Settings that will be adjusted in time: seraph health points, hunger rate, temperature hardiness and health regeneration rate, and creature strength and swim speed. Food decay rate (starting low) will gradually increase and crop growth rate will gradually decrease (slightly). Other difficulty enhancing features: bedspawn becomes TG spawn, decreasing respawn usages of TG's, immersion enhancing mods. Mechanisms that help the player cope The vanilla learning curve involving improved health (diet) and gear. XSkills, Pets, FleeExhaustion. Corpses hold careless and/or unlucky seraph drops. Mods that enhance various controls. We support mobs radar and other helpful hud enhancements. Main world and difficulty affecting settings for the start of the Beta server: Start date is 1 april in-game y1, presented status is per april y2. World is large with polar-equator distance set to 128000 blocks. Spawn is at 45° latitude and world borders are set to 25.6k from spawn. Min and max reachable latitudes are 27.0°-63.0°. World borders will expand! WilderlandsSpawnbound is custom set to ensure seraphs will have a hard time reaching and staying near world borders without risk, but they can adapt. World is generated with Conquest Landform and Blocklayer Overhaul, TerrainSlabs, Watersheds, Waterfall, RockStrataVariety, WilderlandsForests, BetterRuins and BetterTraders. World generation setings: height = 320 blocks, landcover = 60%, landcover scale = 200%, upheaval = 10%, landform scale = 200%, ore occurence = 120%. Months last 30 days, days last 96 minutes, time always progresses, night does not fast forward and food decay rate is set to 25%. Player and entity stats: health = 19.5 hp, hunger rate = 75%, health regeneration rate = 125%, creature strength = 60%, creature swim speed = 100%. Crop growth rate is set to 98%. Use a rusty or temporal gear amulet to set your respawn point at your bed. Temporal fatigue ensures seraphs must sleep at least once per 6.0 in-game days to preserve their sanity. (Started with 7 days) Temporal storms are disabled. Temporal rifts are enabled (april y2). There will be more rust, and default game settings, and worse, will eventually be adopted! Fauna consists of vanilla animals plus horses (Equus), cats and pantherinae. Players can use /starterkit and maybe grab some leftovers in chests at the inn at spawn for an enhanced start. Mods (just the major, present ones) ClaimsRadar, ExitWarpLimiter, PlayerlistRevived, ProspectTogether, TheBasics, Th3Essentials, WorldBorder AmuletBedSpawn, LoginProtection, OfflineFoodNoSpoil, PlayerCorpseForked, WeatherTheStormSheltered CaveinFix, ConquestBlocklayerOverhaul, ConquestLandformOverhaul, PlaceOnSlabs, RockStrataVariety, TerrainSlabs, Waterfall, Watersheds, WilderlandsForests BetterRuins, BetterTraders, TraderCamps BloodTrail, CuniCulture, ElkJaunt, Equus, FotSA:Pantherinae, LouderBears, OutlawModReborn, PetAI AllClasses, TemporalFatigue, TraitAcquirerModdedClasses, WilderlandsSpawnbound, XSkillsFork, XSkillsGilded (Class traits and skill experience gains, and trait/skill book occurence are all customised.) CarryOn, DanaTweaks, Farseer, RealSmoke, SeamlessRapids, TemperatureHeightTweakPatch ChiseledBlockRetention, ChiselTools, PostsAndBeams, StoneBakeOven, StoneQuarryForked, VSRoofing Bola, Butchering, CaveinArmorMod, Quivers&Sheaths There are many mods planned to be added in a later stage, both for the progressive difficulty and to ensure players will keep enjoying their time on our server. To get an idea of which mods are to be expected, check out the posts below mentioning the many mods we added in the course of our Alpha server. View of the lakeside hamlet near our Alpha spawn, with a little in the back to the right, the welcoming "Inn of Ancient Tale" (Már Nathaiano Quenta Yára). We hope to welcome many new like-minded players to come play Vintage Story, or LOTR modded Minecraft with us in the coming years!

Building with readily available, unprocessed, cobble stones is as old as mankind's need for shelter. So is building with lumber, aka harvested wood. Obtaining timber however, is a different ball game. VS offers a decent set of mechanics to simulate that imo. If you'd really want to make a point about the game being unbalanced wrt building realism, you could argue about the lack of required constructive support for blocks made from cobble stones that can be magically applied in gravity defying arches and roofs. Building with lumber could indeed be expanded upon a bit and this has been suggested a few times before, a.o. in this thread. Btw, do note that this does not relate to the topic of this thread.

No way man. The forced night experience is an essential part of the game. Prepare during the day to ensure you can survive the night. Whether that be by torch lit running through the wilderness on scarce provisions to explore in early game or find some resources to bring home, by hunting or by clay forming, cooking and establishing a base with some basic materials you collected during the day. Really. That is the game. Home page quote: "... uncompromising wilderness survival ...". That speaks volumes tbh.

Very nice concept! But ... eh ... why the physical appearance of a light image reflective mirror? What's light reflective on a temporal gear? Calling it a 'temporal compass' and giving it a corresponding appearance might make it a little more fitting to the theme imo.

The temporal distortion caused by temporal storms is temporary and only lasts as long as the storm causing it lasts.

Wow. Original, specific and concrete.

Nice work. It think the vines climbing should be included in the vanilla game.

Whoah, surely making a lot of vintage quality immersion improvements there! All fit to ensure players will love the game for many years to come, get inspired to create mods, expansions and numerous of their own or adapted vintage storylines, and spread the word to invite many others to enjoy numerous varied single and multi-player worlds and adventures, with friends and future friends and friendly foes. Do take your time and enjoy the quality of real life besides this life project ... while pondering which faces and edges of your marvellous shiny gem to work on before it will enter the world as a brilliant beta. Cheers!

After about 6 weeks of intensive playing and especially experiencing the early game both in SP and on servers, I think I may be able to throw in 50 cents in this conversation. It may be that my insight will change in the course of coming months or years. If so, I will update this post and bump it in some way if deemed relevant enough. Here's my current view on VS and its priorities for further development. First, my view on short term priorities, as expressed in Discord in two messages (1 & 2) : In the current state I think it's wisest to prioritise enhancing the appeal for new players, both in sp and mp, in order to gain a broader playerbase and expand server and modding communities. That would imply focus on enhancing exploration with more environmental features (flora, fauna, food sources and chains, organic resources, and structures and NPCs + interaction), and enhancing early game experience with more alternative (not easier!) ways to get going on your first explorative adventures in both sp and mp. I think it's not of much use spoiling the veterans in the community yearning for more end-game content as that need can already (at least partially) be catered for by the present modding community. Think addition of trees/bushes like yew, juniper, beech, walnut, chestnut, almond, hazel and holly, and vines for an alternative for twine, the possibility to create wickerwork for simple walls and wattle and daub, fishing and trapping, more herbivores and carnivores, herds, birbs and fishies, more significant inland seas, simple canoes or rafts to navigate larger bodies of water, mast as additional food source (proteins, in season!), additional edible roots (yam, cassave, peanuts), usage of resin and/or rope to reinforce tools as to enhance their durability, fruit trees, orchards with an orcharder, acres and pastures with a farmer and a simple shack, traveling NPCs like hunters and herders, maybe even bandits, various other small, humble structures of fellow survivor NPCs, possible animal companions like jackdaws, geese and small dogs, horses, donkeys and mules, etcetera. All additions that spice the early survival and exploration game and both broaden and deepen the experience for new players. Needles to say that anything added to enhance the early game will also have added value to late game, through various recipes and mechanics connected to later development stages, whether that be via adjustments/additions in the vanilla game or through the creativity of the existing modding community. Second, my thoughts on 'When will VS be finished for beta-release?': Realisation of a significant part of an early phase experience expansion as described above. This to ensure the game attracts a sufficienlty broad audience that actually keeps on playing in both new sp and mp worlds (multiple server activity) because they enjoy the early phase of the game because of its attractive diversity. Improvement of the early game experience on servers in line with these two suggestions, both aimed to ensure it will be appealing for players to try out new servers, to broaden their horizon, expand their network within the VS community and feed new initiatives for servers and mods, which on their turn serve to expand the VS player community (and business!): Progress of time reference: world-chunk-player Options for server management to ensure pleasant new player experience Expanded the 'lore' of the game and the rewards related to unravelling it in-game to such an extent that most players experience a persistent urge and joy to keep exploring the world until they discocered it all, even after they fully completed the technology development tree and started building and chiselling their ass off. Made sure that creation of mods/modpacks aimed to create alternative Vintage Stories are sufficiently supported with the mods API. Relevant features to think of in this respect are: Easy VS modding through adjustment of anything that does not require code modifications: textures, speech banks, item names, recipes, addition of structures, NPCs and interactions, and similar features. This also enables the less gifted coders to modify the game in order to create their own 'Vintage Story' based on the foundations of the vanilla game. World generation alternatives like alternative biome configurations, additional flora, fauna and structure types, and additional NPCs. Preferably also supporting some form of 'map based world generation' in the same manner as that was done for the LOTRmod for Minecraft. This enables modders to create their own fantasy worlds, which can tremendously broaden the storyline options for players in both sp and mp to enjoy. As noted, I may get some more/altered insights later on, but for now, this should do. Hope this may help a bit in getting this already great game and brand reach new heights. Cheers!