LadyWYT

I second the tropical map idea, though maybe nix the island part unless you just really love sailing. There is more water content so I would definitely increase the amount of water you have covering the map in order to have more ocean, but otherwise there's not yet enough water content to justify a proper islands map, in my opinion. I would say add dinosaurs as well, but it doesn't look like those mods are updated for 1.21 yet.

I want to say that shearing sheep or goats for wool is intended, but I can't recall having seen any particular official statement on it other than cloth weaving being on the roadmap. In any case, without a way to actually process the wool into something useful, there's not much benefit to a shearing mechanic.

As @Echo Weaver noted, the mechanic is already telegraphed clearly in the game by the big teal gear on one's hotbar. There's also an entire handbook page on temporal stability as well. However, it is a feature unique to Vintage Story, so it's also something that will probably catch new players off-guard quite easily. As for why the mechanic exists...it's mostly just an extra challenge for the player to deal with, and it can be turned on and off in the world creation settings or via console command after world creation(make sure to reload the world for the change to take effect). The lore reason for the mechanic's existence, without spoiling too much, is that someone in the past essentially scienced a little too hard and tampered with things they shouldn't have tampered with in order to save humanity from being wiped out. The result was some sort of cataclysmic event that allowed humanity to survive extinction, but broke the world in the process and caused all the chaos the player encounters in the present day.

Just highlight the piece that you want to quote--it should bring up a green box that says "Quote Selection".

This is mainly due to Vintage Story being a slow-paced game in general. It is possible to make very fast progression, but that requires a lot of effort and knowledge on the player's part. Which, I think is fine; the game is better when taken slowly, but it's nice to have the option to "speedrun" certain things if one has the skill and desire. The drawback to the slower overall pace though is that it can definitely be a turn-off for players who'd rather just complete a game in a weekend's worth of play(not saying that's the case here though). As for progression speeding up after copper...I think there's a two-fold reason for that, the foremost being player skill. A more experienced player will be able to build off of copper tools quickly, since they know the basic steps of progression that come next. A brand new player though will probably be stuck at copper for a while, since they're still figuring out how various things in the game work. The other main reason copper speeds up progression, is that copper unlocks the rest of the game's general toolset(chisel, saw, quern, etc); from there it's just a matter of finding better metals. Tagging on to what @Echo Weaver already said--keep in mind the game is still very much unfinished. There is a main story to complete, yes, and while there is quite a lot of content for what is implemented so far, it's still only two chapters out of a planned eight. As far as end game content in general, currently end game tech is still mostly undeveloped--we have a handful of Jonas tech devices, but that's about it. I think the next major update though is supposed to be fleshing out the end game tech, so that issue should be remedied within an update or two. The idea of increasing tool durability across the board, in exchange for making surface copper more rare, feels like a fair trade off. However, I think the current balance is fine as it is, and probably better suited to the average player given how many complaints there have been about early tools being too hard to acquire. So an early metal tool that is fairly easy to acquire(plenty of surface copper) but that breaks relatively easily compared to other metal tools is probably more satisfying since it gets the tool in the player's hands faster, while still pushing the player to seek out better materials instead of sticking to copper. And yeah, I think you're spot on with that statement about panning. It's pretty boring, and not really a good idea to force the player into that path, but it's there as a safe, convenient way to get a few early game minerals. The player needs them not just because they last longer, but also because some content requires better equipment to handle it. For example, chromite ore requires steel to mine and process, and is a required mineral for crafting sturdy leather for the best backpacks in the game. Likewise, the first story chapter requires a minimum gear level of tier 2; while the player can complete it with less, that requires much more skill. Chapter 2 requires iron gear as a minimum. There's a lot of things that happen in the game that aren't accurate to real life. The reason those decisions exist is for balancing reasons. "Realistic" doesn't always mean "fun", and part of the general challenge of the game is that the player will need to replace equipment every so often, and thus need to devote the time and energy to acquiring the necessary resources and crafting the items. Better quality materials are harder to get, but also mean less effort long-term for the player since the tools last much longer. That's progress though; if the new equipment isn't actively better than the old, there's no reason to work towards new equipment as there's no progress actually being made. However, I wouldn't call low-tier materials entirely obsolete. In the late game, copper is still very useful, but the player is using it for lanterns, lightning rods, and machine parts rather than using it for tools. Many players still use flint axes to chop firewood(I do this myself), or a flint knife or shovel as a cheap tool to collect a few things instead of retrieving a better tool for the job.

This isn't true--you can milk a gen 0 ewe, it's just very difficult. I think the failure rate is something like 95% or higher. In any case, I've done it, so I know that it's possible, but it does take a lot of patience and isn't really worth the effort most of the time. You're much better off waiting until gen 1. In any case, welcome to the forums! You don't need to keep feeding your ewes in order for them to produce milk. You can only milk them once per day(24 in-game hours between milking times), so it's more just a matter of being patient. The once-per-day limit is also why it's not a bad idea to keep older ewes around until you have enough higher generations to replace them, though do make sure the older ewes are at least gen 1, for reasons stated above.

I think the intended solution is for the player to use rift wards to defend their base from rifts. It takes a fair amount of work to acquire one, and it'll cost the occasional temporal gear to keep it powered, but for that level of security it's a fair trade. Given the recent changes to rifts that allow them to spawn the occasional monster in daylight, I'd say that's also going to be the reason the player needs to invest in rift wards over relying on cheap lanterns everywhere.

I've made cheese a few times, but usually by the time I'm acquiring dairy in any reasonable amount in a world I'm dropping the old world in favor of starting over fresh for an update or new modlist. For just building the initial dairy nutrition, I think drinking milk is the best way to build up the points. From there, it's just a matter of eating the occasional slice of cheese or so to maintain it. Cheese is definitely something that could be a more appealing trade item though. Currently, only the agriculture trader offers it for sale, and even then only on occasion(and it's expensive). Make cheese available at a cheaper price though, and available at survival good and commodities traders, and now the player has a feasible source of early dairy nutrition until they can acquire proper dairy livestock themselves. Or in the event the player doesn't want livestock at all, they have a viable way of obtaining and maintaining dairy nutrition.

You can, it's just a more uncommon drop compared to regular quartz. You might have to pick up several pieces in order to get a couple pieces of clear quartz.

Should be possible, though a pure trade strategy will hinge on access to survival goods and commodities traders, as those seem to offer raw materials specifically.

How else does one acquire clean dirt

If I'm reading correctly, I think the main issue here is that if passive healing rate is turned down, then it can create the strategy of...just hurt yourself a bit to slow down hunger depletion, and thus make your food stores go further than they really should.

Interesting. This feature does make rift activity have a lot more impact and actually feel dangerous. I almost died in the forest while out hunting the other day, thanks to a couple of sneaky daywalkers.

This is a pretty huge fix--we've been playing with his modded hotfix on our server and man...it's a game changer. You don't realize how much the bug affected gameplay, until your food stores start running low because you have to actually eat properly! In any case, this fix and all the others are much appreciated.

This was me when I first started playing, frustration included. However, the tedium is the trade-off for having a method that safe, which is quite fair in my opinion. Eventually, I got better at the game to be more confident about venturing out for surface deposits. Yes and no. Panning is a decent way to get them, along with other goodies, but if there is a deposit of quartz near the surface it's also just as easy to pick up the surface bits and get some clear quartz that way.

As are pigs--there is a reason I said most predators aren't really desirable foodstuffs. Bear is tasty but may need to be pressure-cooked for tenderness. Gator is tasty but chewier than most people would probably enjoy. Haven't had snake, so couldn't say on that bit.

Like others here have noted, the general way of acquiring enough copper for the first anvil and tools is by mining surface deposits with the pickaxe and crushing the ore with a hammer. Panning for all the ore is an alternative that's very safe, but also very slow and tedious, so it tends not to be the usual strategy. As for the anvil mold breaking, that is intended behavior, however... Breaking a mold that contains metal that has not yet hardened will produce a mess, and not a finished product. I think in that case though, the metal is supposed to drop as chunks, that you can break down into bits with the chisel and then re-smelt. If no metal dropped though, it sounds like you found a bug, in which case best to report over on the github bug tracker. ...Tyron(the lead developer and creator of Vintage Story) is designing the game he himself wants to play. It originally began as a mod for Minecraft, but due to disappointment in the direction Minecraft was heading, and the limitations of Minecraft's engine for mods, he ended up just building his own game to ensure his vision could be fulfilled completely. Given the success of Vintage Story, there are obviously a lot of players out there who also enjoy his design, but that also doesn't mean that everyone who tries the game out is going to enjoy it(that can be said of any game). If you're not enjoying the game or prefer Minecraft instead, that's perfectly fine too--everyone's allowed to have preferences. The refund policy is quite generous, as I understand it, so you should be able to get your money back, though it may take a few days for the support team to process your request.

Tough choice, as I both utilize all of these to some extent(how heavily depends on circumstances) and I also enjoy them all as well. I will also note that you forgot hunting on there, technically, but I suppose that fits under foraging. In any case, on to the explanations! Under-used: Trading. It's not that I don't trade, because I do--it's typically where I get my salt. It's just that generally, traders aren't selling anything I particularly want, outside of salt or the odd decorative item or two. As for rusty gears, sure, sometimes I just sell stuff to the traders to earn them, but usually I'm putting my efforts to work elsewhere, and just saving the ones I find as treasure from ruins and monsters(there's plenty). Favorite: Combat is probably what I would pick overall, which is a bit of a paradox since combat is also something I generally avoid. However, I think that's also part of why I enjoy it--there's actually a reason to be picky about when and why I engage. Otherwise, the boss fights are very satisfying, and it's very satisfying to make all that shiny end game gear and then finally bring the pain to the monsters, instead of the other way around. The fact that you can make the monsters fight each other, or try to flee from your onslaught, is just the icing on the cake. Likewise, the monsters are balanced so that I can't just go unga-bunga with the bare minimum of equipment and expect to come out on top, like I can with the other block game. That's a quick way to get shredded, and the same general logic applies even with good equipment. Get complacent, and you will probably die.

First off, welcome to the forums! I've heard that boss health is supposed to scale in comparison to nearby player count, but I'm not 100% sure that it does. Overall, I would say that story locations in general are a little easier with a friend or two, simply because you can watch each other's backs or revive each other in the event someone falls(thanks new healing mechanics!). Very minor spoilers in that so far there is one boss fight per chapter, but not every story location contains a boss battle. Each story chapter has at least one "challenge" portion that will prove quite difficult on average, though how difficult it actually is depends heavily on individual player skill. I highly recommend taking temporal gears with you to reset your spawn, in the event that you meet with misfortune. Again, it depends on player skill. On average, the main puzzle locations take a couple of in-game days to complete, minimum. If you've never done those locations before though, I would prepare to spend more time there overall, as some puzzles can be quite challenging. The answer to this one really depends on whether you prefer to complete content solo, or with friends. Completing it solo, you can take as much time as you'd like at each location, and won't need to worry about sharing loot. If you decide to complete it with friends though, hilarious hijinks can ensue, and overall your reactions can play off each other.

Sea level is around Y 100; Y 0 is bedrock level. If you travel downhill to sea level, then you're more likely to encounter an ocean, but it's still very unlikely you'll run across one on default world settings unless you either get lucky or do a lot of exploring. When you do find reeds, you can dig up the roots with a knife and replant them near your base. Make sure you use a knife though, as the roots will be destroyed otherwise. Depending on the mod, it may be possible to try them out and uninstall mid-play should you need to. FOMO will quickly kill a player's enthusiasm for playing a game, especially one like Vintage Story. It is possible to experience most everything the game has to offer on one world, however, there are certain concessions you'll end up needing to make as well. Most are related to climate, in that certain climates support specific types of weather, plants, and animals that you won't get unless you visit those climates, or settle in them(in certain cases). For example, only the arctic will have daylight the full 24 hours in summer, and only the tropics are warm enough to grow crops like pineapples consistently without micromanaging a greenhouse(which might not even help if the climate gets cold enough). It's also not unusual for a map to be missing a key resource or two for progress and require the player to search a few thousand blocks or so in order to find it. Some maps have everything one needs within walking distance of spawn, and some have practically nothing useful and make the player really work for their progress. Unless the world spawn doesn't look like it'll be very fun for you to play though, or you're tired of your current world and want a fresh start, there's not really a reason to restart a world just because the new might be "better". As for oceans or very large lakes...the primary use of such currently is convenient travel. Sailboats are expensive to build and limited to the body of water they're built in, but they're able to haul a LOT of cargo between ports. Water travel itself is also relatively fast due to a lack of obstacles and aquatic enemies; the only hazard you really have to worry about is ice, which won't damage the sailboat but will impede travel. Otherwise, oceans aren't really that useful--I think you can maybe boil saltwater down into salt, but I'm not 100% sure. Once a proper method of fishing is added, they'll likely be a lot more useful.

That is hunting in real life, yes. I was speaking from the standpoint of gameplay balance though. Dispatching large animals in one hit is what the butcher knife and livestock is for. Make hunting in the game too easy, and then the player doesn't have as much reason to even bother with livestock at all since hunting returns more value. I will also note that if it's possible to kill large animals with only a shot or two early in the game, then Blackguard loses a good chunk of its early game weakness. Something like the bloodtrail mod is fine, because it makes tracking the prey easier for the player, but the player will still need to put in the effort to hunt down and butcher the creature. If there's a bleedout, then all the player needs to do is just hit the creature once, which is rather easy, and then just wait a few moments for the animal to die before receiving a lot of meat for little effort or risk. If I'm not mistaken, there used to be a way to farm rabbits via moat around the garden, that was very effective at producing lots of redmeat for little effort or risk. It's since been fixed for that reason as well, I believe. Predator animals are edible, yes, but the meat tends not to be the tastiest thing ever. Hence why bushmeat isn't as satisfying or usable for meals in the game. Though I'd also wager it's also a balance to help push the player toward livestock or at least being particular about what they hunt, instead of relying just on bears and wolves to survive(both of these tend to have decently fast respawns, and are easy to trap/provoke to fight instead of needing to chase).

First off, welcome to the forums! Pressing X will switch the current item to your offhand slot, if applicable--bear in mind that holding something in your offhand is an extra 20% to your hunger rate. Pressing Q will toss an item to the ground, and I think pressing either shift or ctrl with Q(I don't recall which) will toss the whole stack. The default settings mean that the map will be primarily land, with no large bodies of water. However, the 97.5% means that you will eventually find an ocean, if you explore enough. For more ocean though, I would recommend starting over and setting the land cover ratio to something more like 80%--that should ensure a handful of oceans to find, with relative ease, while still having land-based travel predominant. By default, the beginning climate zone is temperate, although the higher up you go the colder it can get. You can turn on coordinates in the Interface tab of the Settings menu--the Y coordinate is what your altitude is. Generally, unless you're building up on the very top of a mountain, altitude isn't something to worry about. If you happen to be on a high altitude plateau, the climate may be more similar to taiga conditions than to temperate proper, but in that case, you should be able to tell by taiga creatures like elk, caribou, or mountain goats spawning nearby(potentially). The difference between taiga and temperate winters isn't that much. Taiga will be a bit colder and last a bit longer than temperate winters, but it should still be relatively easy to handle with some planning. Clay is something that can be difficult to spot, until you learn what it looks like. Discolorations can be a prime indicator, if playing with map colors, so you're on the right track there. Clay is most easily found in grassy areas with decent rainfall, or by low altitude lakes and ponds, and it's more easily spotted if the sides of the blocks are visible since they're a different color than dirt. Red clay is the most common type to find, and can occur at lower and higher altitudes. Blue clay only occurs at low altitudes, typically near lakes and ponds. Fire clay only spawns in bauxite biomes, or underneath black coal/anthracite beds. You can also acquire clay from panning sand/gravel or as cracked vessel loot, but it's better to find a deposit than rely on these methods. The map should be giving you the Y coordinate value for terrain you've already explored, so this sounds like a potential bug(assuming you aren't playing with mods that could affect such). Honestly, it doesn't sound like the best of spawns, though it should still be manageable for a new player...albeit perhaps more challenging than the average spawn. Generally, the average experience on a temperate start is going to be at lower altitude, with ready access to cattails and berry bushes and other convenient early game resources. I would recommend starting a new world with a spawn you like better, and saving this world for when you have a bit more experience with the game. Of course, if you don't mind the bit of extra challenge, continuing on this world should be fine as well.

I do like the blood trail mod, as it makes hunting a bit more intuitive, but not too easy. I wouldn't add a bleedout mechanic though, as at that point hunting will probably become much too easy given the player can just land a shot or two on a large, potentially dangerous animal and just...wait for free food. In terms of gameplay balance, you can get a lot of meat quickly just by hunting, but it takes some dedicated time and effort on the player's part. Animal husbandry doesn't take as much time overall, and is a lot safer, but it requires some time and resources invested up front to get the livestock going before it becomes incredibly profitable. If hunting is made too easy, there's not as much incentive for the player to ever invest in livestock.

Is VSync turned on? That seems to cause some issues for some setups. I'm also beginning to wonder if it's not an issue related to this specific type of hardware. It seems that there's been a handful of performance complaints from users with similar hardware.

I'm pretty sure it was two, but it could have been four very early in a test candidate.