Perlin

I like the idea of arrow penetration damage and projectiles sticking to their targets. Though your entire suggestion would be a lot of work for the developers. A rework of the game's current combat system would have be done in order to implement everything you've suggested. However improved combat is on the Vintage Story roadmap so it is a possibility in the future.

It is an intended feature. If you have based in a wooded area, there's a good chance it's a spawning zone for wolves and bears. Removing trees from this area will not prevent the wolves from spawning either. I recommend basing somewhere flat, and somewhere where you haven't seen predators spawning. Wolves and bears will sometimes spawn in other biomes too. So if you find a suitable spot to build a base, wait around first and make sure predators aren't spawning there.

A simple suggestion that I think would go a long way in this game is footstep sounds for other entities. Anything walking around, especially in a forest is going to make some noise. I've seen a lot of complaints about bear attacks, and I think this would help. Bears in this game don't always growl while running towards you. Many times they are silent until they attack. It would also add much more immersion to the game too. Hearing the footsteps of potential predators in the woods would be really cool.

One thing to note is the game is taking place far before the 21st century. Bears back then acted very differently towards people then they do now in our modern age. If you read the Lewis and Clark journals, they describe bear behavior that's very similar to Vintage Story bears. Before bears had to worry about firearms, they would charge a human being on sight, just like in the game. Black bears are only running away from your mother because most bears left alive are conditioned to fear people, this was not always the case. Even still though, I agree with you. Bears are a little too aggressive, mainly towards livestock. One bear shouldn't be wiping out an entire herd of sheep. However their behavior against players I think is just fine and plenty realistic (in my opinion). They will not always charge on sight either, only if they're hungry. Otherwise they will only be provoked if you get too close.

I once had a bear jump up three blocks to get to me. Their behavior and abilities seem very inconsistent. Hopefully some more information about bears can be put on the wiki.

Yeah I can understand your frustration there, that's rough. My advice in the future would to just be digging a pit around your animals. If you dig it wide enough the bears won't be able to get to them without getting stuck.

If you want to easily take care of bears, or any other creature in the game, you just need a single decent durability spear and a water bucket.

Since your new, let me give you some advice, keep the bear hides. They drop huge hides, which will make a ton of leather down the road. Leather is extremely valuable because you can make high tier armors and backpacks with it.

After playing awhile in survival, I did have a bear jump three blocks high while trying to kill me. So yes, maybe your theory could be correct. Sadly only the developers really know for sure. Bears have not be documented much on the wiki. Bears appear to be a lot more complex then I originally thought. The wiki page on them should seriously get updated. Edit: Watch out for the bear in your trap. If it is only three blocks tall, it can potentially leap out.

This is a simple idea I had, which I think would be a nice quality of life feature. And that's give a "durability bar" to your bowls with meals. The bar could represent how much of a portion is left in a meal. Here is an example below. This would be a more convenient way to check a portion size, rather then having to hovering over the meal in your inventory.

I just did some experimenting in creative and I was unable to ever get them to jump a double fence. They couldn't even jump 1 block high fences, though they could hit animals that way.

That sounds like a bug rather then it being intentional. You could report it to the developers and it could probably be fixed.

I have not been experiencing this, but I was not aware they jump double fences! You just potentially saved me a lot of grief, will be setting up triple fences now. For me personally though, I don't think bears are too op. They are extremely strong don't get me wrong, but I like that. Wolves can be dealt with fairly easily with a few spear throws, so it's nice to have a new threat in the wilderness that's a lot more dangerous.

There are many other ways to replenish hunger in the game. When I started as a new player, I didn't consider the importance of crops since berries and meat was easily accessible, and I was also not aware of the importance of nutrition. You also missed the point of what I said. The advice I gave was to start farming early. Crops take a long time to grow, so even if you start just one in game month late, that's still a massive amount of potential food you missed out on.

I know this is a super late response, but for any new players looking up where to find lime, here is some more advice. If you were not lucky enough to have lime spawn nearby, your best bet for lime is through trading. Survival goods traders have a good chance to sell lime for a decent price. So instead, I'd recommend just looking for survival goods traders, and waiting until they sell lime. And hey while you're looking for traders, you may stumble into lime naturally.