ifoz

I think you're talking about the "ancient" ruins, made from unique "ancient" blocks, not limestone or marble.
I haven't seen any since 1.18, though they were indeed in the vanilla game at least back then.
I have some screenshots of them from a completely un-modded world.

Building materials traders can still sell the "ancient" blocks though I think.

I don't know where they went!
I'll keep you posted if I suddenly start finding them again.


This screenshot is from back in 1.18. This is fully vanilla though.

I sadly don't have a screenshot of this story, but I hope to return to this thread eventually with some silly drifter screenshots of my own!

Recently I was tending my farm (at midday) and walked back to my house. Standing perfectly still, very politely at my door was a drifter.
He ran from me when I approached, so I decided to let him live.
Wondering how a drifter, albeit such a mild-mannered one was there during the day, I searched for nearby caves. Before long, I stumbled upon a cave entrance in a cliff just outside my house. Peering inside, I discovered my own personal translocator, not 20 blocks from my house!

I extend my thanks to that polite drifter who inadvertently led me to my home translocator!

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

automation doesn't feel like it should be the end goal for every loop.

I wholeheartedly agree.
While some level of automation is much appreciated, such as that of extremely tedious, menial tasks, I'd prefer if we couldn't automate most things.
Most things are at least somewhat engaging and require thought and work, even if it's a bit grindy like smithing.

With all that said, I would still love to see further uses for mechanical power, and some of MassiveHobo's suggestions sound super cool!

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

And now I want to put my rusty and temporal gears on a string and wear them as amulets.

To me, the Forlorn Hope Talisman looks a lot like a temporal gear being worn as an amulet!
Though a Rusty Gear Talisman would be a super cool addition...

I love rusty gears as the currency, and the fact that gears are canonically a holy symbol is super cool. They're irreplaceable because they're super intricate and that's why they cannot be replicated. They also seem to have connections to temporal gears, which makes them a bit otherworldly and perhaps more intricate than could be created with the tech we currently have.
I do actually really like the look of machine teeth though.. Maybe they could act as a misc item that players could create their own economies around.
Something small like omok pieces that have no actual use (other than the omok board but that only applies to omok pieces) but are a fun little collectable trinket.

If they were in the game as a weird little collectable, I guarantee I would want to find one of each just because they're a cool little thing.

Wooden rails are in the game's files, so fingers crossed for some kind of cart system and maybe trains eventually!
I say trains eventually because you would want steel to make railway tracks that are at all decent. You could not run a train on wooden rails.
Since steel rails are not in the files yet but wooden rails are, I am lead to believe that the devs may be tinkering around with some kind of simple cart or tram system.

This is a super simple suggestion, but it's a bit of a tiny gripe that I personally have.
The 'Malefactor Leather Tunic' is actually a leather jerkin. Specifically, it bears an extremely strong resemblance to the jerkins worn by British soldiers in WW1, four buttons and all.
The 'Leather Jerkin' armour in the game is actually leather gambeson. It has sleeves, which jerkins generally do not. It also has pants, which jerkins do not have as they are only a vest.
I would really like to see Malefactor's "malefactor leather tunic" changed to "malefactor leather jerkin" and the "leather jerkin" armour changed to "leather gambeson".

1. Real life leather jerkin. (Photo from Google images).



2. Real life leather gambeson. (Photo from Google images).

On 5/14/2024 at 1:06 AM, egorvsv said:

I think these insects will put a lot of stress on the system

They've made sure that they won't, the insects are basically just particles that can move around and make sounds when you are nearby.
Each insect is not an actual in-world entity that the game needs to keep track of.

9 hours ago, Khornet said:

As always happy as I am to see news and new features in VS, I have to voice my disappointment with feature priority. A rework of... bricks? Really?
Aren't there more fundamental issues in VS that could use reworks and polish?

It's still only May, and the update is scheduled for around October. 
The devs are just showing features that they have in complete or somewhat-complete states.
Bricks are not a "major" feature in this update, they're just something the devs wanted to show off, and I think it's for good reason. I really like the new bricks. I am very excited to build with them, even if you may not be.

There will be a whole new story event, four new locations, new enemy types, more lore, most likely a new boss, mounts and sailing, and that's just the stuff we currently know of. This update is going to be huge, and I am sure that the devs are hard at work with all of these confirmed large features. Bricks are a low feature priority in the scheme of things, but to me they are a very welcome one.

I'm very excited to see where this update is going, I love all of the new content so far!

Mounts and ships as mobile pseudo-bases is super interesting, you could probably do a fully nomadic playthrough which is really cool!
I'm really glad we are getting a faster mode of travel, I used to grind out ruins to find clothing I wanted and the huge travel times were the real downside of it.
Also the new bricks are amazing, I can't wait to build with them.

15 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

As for another angle on the scrap armor...what if instead of actual armor, the Malefactor could make a drifter disguise?

This is a super fun idea, I really like it!
I imagine it could maybe be made from thatched grass and scrap metal, and could let you get within 3-5 blocks of surface drifters without drawing their aggro.
There could also be a disguise made from cloth and scrap metal, which would let you get within 1 block of surface drifters before drawing their aggro, and 3-5 blocks of deep drifters.
Just some ideas I had regarding the disguises idea! The grass one would be for the early game and the cloth for the midgame.
They would also probably take up your chest armour slot, making the player have a trade-off between stealth and protection.

3 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

The workaround I can think of is causing spikes to mangle the bodies enough so they drop less loot, like how mauled animal carcasses or drifters that died to other drifters do.

That's actually a super good idea, I never thought of that! I think that players should really be discouraged from making fully automatic farms of really any kind in this game.

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Could just be my playstyle though and metal scrap might be easier to acquire than I thought.

I can often find stacks of 6-10 scrap metal in the basements of vanilla surface ruins, and more underground.

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

The other potential issue I could see with the scrap armor is that if it's a craftable unique to Malefactor, it might make them a little too strong in the early game. Maybe if it was something craftable by everyone, with a small discount for Malefactors? That way it gives other classes another option for early defense, while staying in the theme of Malefactors being adept improvisers.

I think you are right, the Malefactor's early game is pretty strong as it currently stands. Maybe spikes or extra metal plating could be added to any armour with metal scraps, though they would only last a few hits and then break, leaving the base armour still equipped. This way, the Malefactor could improvise some quick armour modifications. One for self-defence (spikes), one for some more protection (plates) and maybe one for extra stealth, though I don't know what it would be. This could still be slightly useful late-game, though would be more suited to the mid-game, where you could have something like bronze armour with spikes, or leather armour with some extra metal plating, even if it's just for a few hits. Imagine being stuck in an underground ruin, drifters howling at the door, and being able to quickly cobble together some extra protection for your armour with some metal scraps you've found inside, giving you that little bit of temporary extra defence needed to break through the door and make a run for it.

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Maybe craftable spike traps instead?

This would actually be super cool and definitely open up some creative trap designs! Though, I don't know how effective traps would be in singleplayer against drifters, and that may end up encouraging automatic drifter grinders, which is a little counter-intuitive to this game's message of working hard to achieve things.
 

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

I'm not sure about the scrap armor though. It's a neat idea in theory, but I feel it goes against the sneaky aspect of Malefactor.

I do now realise this and kind of agree. I think the solution would be to make the scrap armour not made for tanking and combat by giving it protection tier 0 and maybe around only 200 durability, therefore having it instead a way to make up for Malefactor's physical combat weaknesses in the early game. The reason I suggested giving it spikes was because originally it was just going to be a bland piece of early-game gear, but this would give it a super niche use beyond the early game.

 

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

I'm not sure about buffing the sling; it runs the risk of edging out Hunter as the ranged class.

I think the sling would offer a Malefactor alternative to bows and arrows, at least until the stage in the game where bronze and iron arrows become available. I think that the Hunter should always have the ranged advantage, though I think a higher durability sling would be a nice addition for the Malefactor. 300 max durability just seems a little bit harsh to me if you intend to be using the sling into the later game. Also, the sling has a significantly higher charge time than bows, meaning that bows will always be superior, though the sling can fire stones instead of arrows. I would like to see an improved sling, though I would hate to see Hunter's main draw become obsolete because of it.
Also being able to fire beenades and perhaps smoke bombs sounds super cool! That could definitely open up some interesting combat scenarios!
(Also being able to sling snowballs would be cool. Gives the Malefactor a sneaky advantage in snowball fights. )

I've been playing Malefactor recently, and I have to say it's one of my favourite classes purely because of the cool outfit and the sling.
I do have some suggestions though.



Despite having the "Improviser" trait, the only improvised weapon you can make is the sling.
I think that scrap weapons should be relegated to this trait, or a slightly more sturdy version of them. It suits the Malefactor perfectly with their whole "making the best of the situation you're in" thing. I also think that maybe you could get more bandages per tattered piece of clothing, as a bit of an incentive to cut them up if you're really in a bind.
I also had the idea of a scrap bow or crossbow, though I don't know if this would be relegated to a novelty due to the existence of the sling.

Perhaps a new set of Malefactor-exclusive armour could also be added, the scrap armour. It would have the unique ability of dealing damage to things that directly melee attack you, due to it having protruding spikes. It would have pretty low durability and take a lot of scrap metal to create, but I think it could help to spice up the Malefactor's playstyle. I imagine it made from about 14 scrap metal, a pelt (1 huge / 1 large / 2 medium / 4 small) and some rope.

I really like classes with unique craftable things, it's part of why I love Tailor so much. I like it when the class goes deeper than just stat buffs and nerfs.


Mock-up for what the crafting recipe could look like.


I also think the Malefactor's late game is quite weak, and while I get that that's the trade-off for a more profitable early game, I think this could be somewhat remedied with a higher-durability sling being crafted from leather and flax twine. Rename the original rope-and-hide sling to the "crude sling" and the new one to the "strengthened sling" or something of the sort. It would have tripled durability (900), 0.5 more damage and maybe 15% increased accuracy, but other than that would function the exact same.



Just some ideas I had, what does everyone else think of these?  

10 hours ago, Silent Shadow said:

think the drifters are the corrupted "little metal men" Jonas Falx created

I think this is an interesting theory, but I doubt this is the case.

The 'little metal men' that Foreman Eustace mentions aren't a real thing. He says that he wishes Falx would make them so that they could shovel the coal for him.
Jonas has made locusts, bells and the big Eidolons, but has never made a human-sized robot.
Drifters also make grunting and groaning sounds, and have idle animations for both worshipping and curling up and crying, which are things that I doubt robots would do.
The old alchemist on the library resonator also mentions people "turning" which indicates to me that there is a process in which the rot or the rust turns rot-infected people into drifters.

14 hours ago, anna banana said:

They're awkwardly common from what I've seen. Just not connected to much so you might not find them too often ^^

Huh! I've never seen one before, and I was super confused when I encountered this one and asked my friend who runs our server if he had secretly installed Better Ruins!  
That's interesting though, I'll keep an eye out! I found it by spotting the ever-classic 'ruin-shaped bulge' in a cave wall.

I love playing Tailor and always seem to find clutter washboards in ruins, so I always build little areas to "wash" clothes in.
I think it could be really cool if soap allowed you to actually wash clothes, which would not do anything to most clothes, but could be used to visually clean up things like the rotwalker set and dirty linen trousers.
Just a fun idea that could give soap an extra use!

2 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Depends a lot on what character I decide to play.

I do want to start doing this, but I love accordion way too much because sometimes when I get hit it sounds like my character starts to angrily sing a sea shanty.  

I personally like accordion, medium-pitched for all of my characters.
Does anyone else have a personal voice instrument preference?

I might just have to try that bleedout mod for my little modded scenarios - though I do prefer the "vanilla" punishment for any proper, more serious worlds, bleedout seems like it would really help with my problems!

To people talking about calculated risk, I get it. This is normally how I play in vanilla too, though with Better Ruins on sometimes I will find myself oneshot by something like a sawblade locust or nightmare drifter that I did not see until it was too late due to such creatures spawning in and around the new surface ruins, and bleedout seems like it could help to remove the unfairness of such situations while still providing a hefty penalty. I am quite the hoarder and treasure hunter though, so sometimes it is my fault and my usual attitude of caution goes out the window in favour of shiny, shiny trinkets.  

In my serious world, I play with normal death punishment and no cheating using creative. Though, I rarely ever die since I have full Forlorn Hope gear and steel tools.

I know that more interesting travel will most likely be a part of the next major update, but this is a more specific suggestion.

I have trouble not using creative (if it's a single player world) to retrieve my stuff if I die more than 1000 blocks from my spawn.
I never used to, it's just that I've become busier in real life lately so I don't really want to waste ten+ minutes just walking to where I last died.
I don't want to turn keepinventory on as I still want some punishment for death, but I don't think a needless time waste is the answer.

I know that terminus teleporters exist, and I have one in my main multiplayer world, but I've been starting a few short modded playthroughs for fun and this has become a very pronounced issue in the early game.

 

------------------------------------------

What I'm getting to is that I think that if you die more than 1000 blocks from your spawn, you should get to choose three items from your inventory to keep with you when you respawn.
This way you could save your most precious items, but you would still be encouraged to backtrack if you wanted the rest of your stuff and your backpacks back.
This way, you could keep those one or two precious items that you found on your journey, and sacrifice everything else for not having to walk back for half an hour.
This could be turned off or increased in world creation if you desired, though I think a default of three would be nice.

I understand this may be a bit of a controversial solution to the current death penalty fans, but what does everyone think?

For anyone curious, I've played around with the Lore Weapons mod which adds repaired versions of all of the ruined weapons, but they all have the same stats as their respective tier falxes. It's super cool to see but I definitely think if a combat overhaul is in order then it would be much better if each type had it's ups and downs.

4 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

Pics when it's done?

Sure! I honestly don't know if I'll ever rebuild the hall, it would be a huge project. Right now I'm focusing on the reconstruction of this little homestead that I found - a much more manageable project for the copper age.  

On 4/28/2024 at 2:39 PM, LadyWYT said:

I do like the Nordic aesthetic and have been wanting to do a playthrough on a Cool start.

I literally just began a cool start playthrough a few days ago! I'm playing with Better Ruins on and my first ruin was this big Nordic-styled hall, so I thought that was quite fitting!
I'm nearly in the copper age now, got very lucky with copper deposits and the Nordic hall being filled with clay and cattails. (And nightmare drifters. Can't forget those).

This is so cool!!
Genuinely the most unique take on Dave I've seen, I really like how mechanical he looks.
The drifter too. 

I'm inspired to draw some VS-related stuff, I might end up posting it eventually if I get around to it. I'd like to draw a locust, they're such little dudes. I drew some robots a while back that I based loosely off of locusts by giving them long, spider-like limbs and protruding gears, but I think at some point I'd like to do my take on the classic little spider guys who inspired them.