LadyWYT

Welcome to the forums(and the game)! It means that rift activity is high and that's likely to be an unstable chunk(although this is no guarantee). Hitting C will bring up the character information panel, which should tell you what the current rift activity is. Overall, it's nothing to worry about, but do keep in mind they spawn monsters, especially in the dark. If there's high rift activity and it's getting dark, you'll probably want to either sleep through the night, or find something to do indoors(or in a large lighted area with a perimeter fence).

Well technically...you could say we do, since: For an actual flying enemy though, I think I would either make it an enemy unique to a story location, or make it an enemy with limited flight abilities. That is, maybe it utilizes flight to ambush a target, or otherwise chase it down, and then fights on the ground. Likewise, it could also use flight to quickly escape situations it feels it might lose. That way it can have some unique fight characteristics, as well as a definite advantage, but not be implemented in such a way that it's going to be too annoying to deal with, or force the player to rely only on ranged weapons to deal with it. To my knowledge lighting doesn't affect temporal storm spawns very much, if at all. As for a minimum spawn distance from the player, I think there is supposed to be one, but I'm not entirely sure what it is, or if it functions correctly for every spawn. I've had a monster or two seemingly spawn right on top of me during a storm, however, those were also fairly rare occasions indoors, and when it happened outdoors I think it's more likely that the monster spawned further away and came up behind me without my notice. Overall, the best strategy to weather a storm safely, is stay indoors in a brightly lit area, preferably a smaller room with lots of decoration. That should minimize the chance of anything spawning close to you, while still giving you enough space to do things and defend yourself if a monster does happen to spawn. Edit: I will note that if one has to be stuck indoors with a monster, a drifter is the most likely candidate, but a bowtorn is actually the most ideal spawn. The reason for that is drifters have no qualms about playing patty-cake, but bowtorn do not like targets getting too close and will resort to running around in circles if they spawn indoors. Their melee attack is rather easy to dodge and they have a low health pool, so even the high tier bowtorn aren't terribly hard to take down in this circumstance.

And what I'm trying to say is that's not been my experience; as far as I'm aware, the temperature is working as intended. That's not to say there couldn't be a bug in the code, but I do find it a bit unlikely based on what I've seen. Just to make sure all the bases are covered on spoilage though--the spoilage rate for player inventory, in my experience, is a set rate, and will not be affected by outside weather.

First off, welcome to the forums(and the game)! There are mods that allow you to retrieve farmland, but as for why it's not in the game, it's likely to both prevent players from cheesing farm mechanics(dig up dirt and place the same dirt back to restore full nutrients) as well as perhaps to avoid a lot of inventory clutter and potential code bloat(though I'm not sure how efficiently such could be coded, so it might be possible). Given there is plenty of dirt in the world though, I wouldn't worry about this one too much. Eventually, you'll be wanting to replace the dirt with terra preta anyway. Whether or not temporal storms are fun depends on who you ask. For those who don't enjoy the mechanic, that is also why there is an option to turn them off, or sleep through them. You should be able to turn them after world creation with the command /worldconfig temporalStorms off; just make sure to reload the world after running the command in order for the change to take effect. Eh, not really. There are special monsters that only spawn during temporal storms, that have a chance to drop Jonas parts, however you can also find Jonas parts in ruins or hunt other special monsters in the deep places of the world. Temporal gears can drop from any monster, as well as be occasionally found as ruins loot or purchased from treasure hunter traders. Rusty gears can easily be found in ruins or retrieved from any monster, in addition to being acquired via trading. In my opinion, it's easier to acquire Jonas parts and temporal gears from temporal storms, but you're not going to hamstring yourself if you choose to turn the mechanic off. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a mechanical option in a later update, if it's not already a feature. In my experience, how fast a windmill can power a machine depends on what kind of machines it's trying to power at the same time, and how strong the wind currently is at the windmill's location. The ones spawned in the world stay as they are. The tree seeds planted by the player will turn into mature trees after a certain number of days, however, trees planted by the player will never be the old growth trees that can spawn naturally(like the huge oak trees). Fruit trees are different though, in that they will continue to grow over time until they reach their maximum size, regardless of whether they spawned at world generation or were a cutting planted by the player. Do keep in mind that if/when you go this route, you will definitely want a mod that allows you to reset your spawn point via bed or some other means, since you won't have access to temporal gears. I think there is a console command to change spawn, but console commands aren't the most immersive option.

Well, yes...because that is how outside temperature works. It's colder at altitude than it is at sea level, however, the change will be a bit more pronounced in-game than it will be in real life, simply because the game world is scaled down. The player's body temperature, to my knowledge, is calculated based on the current outside temperature in that location, compared to the player's cold hardiness in addition to warmth bonuses from equipped clothing items. By default, the player's cold hardiness is 0 C, which means the ambient temperature needs to be around freezing before the player's body temperature will start to drop. Wearing warmer clothing, staying dry, and staying out of high winds will help prevent body temperature from dropping as well. As for spoilage timers in things like storage vessels, to my knowledge this is also calculated based on the current outside temperature at that location. So if it's a cold mountaintop, the spoilage timer should be ticking much slower than it would in warmer climates at sea level.

I believe they can still transport elks, but I think you have to actually be riding the elk in order to do so. That being said, I wouldn't recommend trying to stuff an elk through a translocator, given the cramped space and likelihood of something going wrong. If it's a translocator you intend to use frequently then it might be worth the effort of carving out passages for an elk to safely traverse, but otherwise it's just less hassle to go by foot.

Maybe I missed something, but judging by what's written in the mod description, it has some preset values for various items already, along with a config file that allows players to change those values to whatever they wish or otherwise add additional values for items not covered by the mod.

Gas lamps fit as a late game tech option, since there's already one such lighting system in the game already(the player just isn't allowed to build their own version) and it fits with a steampunk vibe. Electricity...no, I don't see that happening outside of mods, since that particular case leaves the realm of medieval steampunk and enters the realm of modern tech. In the case of gas lighting though, I wouldn't make it an infinite light source. Rather, I would implement it in a fashion similar to the in-game example: fuel a boiler with coal, produce light as long as there's fuel...albeit with a much longer burn time than the one that currently exists. That way it's a late game lighting system that will require quite a lot of effort and resources to build, but will have significant benefits with relatively little maintenance.

Yes, but that is cumulative downloads over the lifetime of the mod. If you go look at the Files section of the mod's page, you'll see the download counts for each version. Aside from a couple of outliers, the average version gets around 200-400 downloads. Based on that, and the fact that not that many players are following the mod, it's not something I would consider popular.

One thing that comes to mind here is you try looking at the in-game tapestries for inspiration. The designs are probably more complicated than what you'd want to attempt as a beginner, however, they do use basic colors and you could use portions of the designs(like the gears) as a template. Also when it comes to making a design template, you'll likely want to have some graph paper on hand. Very useful for cross-stitch, bead weaving, or other work that features a grid.

I like it as an option(base game or modded; I would lean toward modded), but not as something enabled by default. It was one mechanic that drove me nuts about Valheim--any kind of light source had to be refueled. It does make sense, but if I'm building a large fancy base the last thing I want to be doing is spending most of my game time either refueling the light sources, or collecting fuel for said light sources.

The core reason for that is that the primary catalyst events of the Old World take place somewhere in central/eastern Europe. Neighboring regions are referenced(like the Middle East, Asia, North Africa) and would be affected by the revolutionary Jonas tech rather quickly given their proximity to the tech's birthplace. I don't think it's necessarily out of the question that the tech could have spread to the Americas via the Beiring Strait, however, spreading such tech takes time, and there doesn't seem to be much of that between the introduction of Jonas tech and the catastrophic events that followed. So it's a bit of a stretch to say that the Americas were directly involved. Personally, I would rather just focus on a handful of European cultures, since that's the main focus, and have them done very well, while modding handles other cultures in more satisfying depth. To me, that is a lot better than implementing lots of different cultures, that end up having no depth at all due to how many there are. That being said, for story locations themselves, I wouldn't mind seeing a warmer-climate settlement based on African culture, or an encampment of Arctic nomads(I think there are at least a handful of these cultures remaining in Europe/Asia even today). I wouldn't expect either to be a replica of what their original culture was, as much as I would expect something new based off the original culture.

Generally, the best way to find new rocks is to just...go run around and explore. Climate doesn't have any impact on what rock type spawns, so there's no need to worry about that. Translocators can help since they teleport you thousands of blocks away in an instant, but while the rock type is usually different at the new location it's also not a guarantee. Playing with true map colors enabled can help you spot different rock types. The only other strategies I can think of is that for some metamorphic rock(like marble) you'll need to figure out the host rock and then look for the host. Other rock types such as limestone, bauxite, and slate will often spawn in strata together, so it's definitely worth paying attention to rock strata and learning the patterns.

It's also worth noting that Tyron is building his dream game. He doesn't seem to be hurting for money while doing it either, so while a big studio could try to make him a monetary offer he can't refuse, I'm not sure whether or not he would take it. It's hard to say no to a lot of money, for sure, however it's also difficult to give up a dream that one is intent on achieving. With the track record that big studios have proven to have when it comes to making games and handling IPs, I think it's safe to say that it would take a lot more than just money to get someone to sell their dream these days.

I mean...if we want to be really technical about item weights in the game and whether or not they'll ever be added... I don't really expect that to become a thing at this point given that it would take quite a lot of work to implement given the amount of items in the game, for a feature that is practically guaranteed to cause some major uproar if implemented. If, however, it was added to the base game...it existed as a mod first(a mod that wasn't really that popular, given the downloads data): https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/2002 Popularity depends a lot upon who one asks.

Welcome to the forums! Well it depends entirely on why you're recommending VS to them. If you're recommending VS because you enjoy the game and think they would too...well then why not recommend it? I'm not sure anyone can answer these questions, aside from yourself. With popularity come benefits and drawbacks both. Overall, I think that if Vintage Story is a game you genuinely enjoy, and genuinely think others will enjoy it, it's perfectly fine to tell them about it(though if you're worried about potential bad apples joining the community, you might want to be careful who you're telling). But it's also important to be honest about what the game is like and where it's at in development--that is, it's still very early in development so there will be bugs, major and minor changes, a story that isn't fully finished(yet), and systems that are still very much works-in-progress(if not missing entirely). Vintage Story is also a game that has a rather steep learning curve that tends to catch new players off guard. That's not to say that those are absolute deal-breakers, but it's not really uncommon either for players to pick up VS expecting an experience like the other block game, or a fully finished title, and then getting frustrated when they run into issues.

I mean...at least it's not the sound of someone trying to gargle Lego.

Eh, kinda/sorta. Minecraft wasn't really a kids game when it was first created, but that's eventually what it morphed into. Originally it didn't have a crafting guide at all, but one did get added to the game at some point, as well as more streamlined achievements to help loosely guide the player through the game's progression. While Vintage Story might have a much more thorough handbook of information than Minecraft, I do think it's important to note that Minecraft has been around so long and grown so much that it's very easy to look various information about the game. Technically, you don't even need the internet to do so; you could probably just ask any kid or younger adult and they will probably be able to answer at least basic questions about the gameplay. In terms of difficulty, there are some things about Minecraft that can be tough(like redstone), but for the most part it's really only a challenge for kids and isn't likely to pose much of a challenge for an adult. That's not really a bad thing, but if one wants to do more than just build, explore, or redstone, Minecraft is probably going to be underwhelming. As for games dumbing down challenge over the years...I think at least part of it is due to the introduction of the internet. In the early days, the internet was still a bit of a novelty, and if you wanted to know more about a game you had to either play the game more yourself, ask your friends, buy a strategy guide, or read a gaming magazine that covered it. Once more information started getting dumped on the internet though, then it became a lot easier to just look various things up online. The other part of it, I think, is many games get watered down in order to try to appeal to a wider audience, and thus make more money via game sales and merchandising. The Elder Scrolls series is a good example of that; I wouldn't call Skyrim a bad game, but it's a mere shadow compared to some of its predecessors.

Right, and that's fair, but I also feel those are settings that depend quite heavily on individual preferences. "Island survival" to one player might mean an archipelago, or to another large islands with plenty of space and resources(and plenty of ocean between them), or to another mean a world that's almost entirely ocean with only a handful of tiny islands barely big enough for a modest homestead. It does take quite a bit of fiddling with settings to set one's own presets, if the option were added, however making the preset is something the player really only has to do once(unless they do a complete reinstall of their game). Plus if players can easily save a custom preset, there would probably be some sort of community list formed rather quickly that covers various presets. In any case, that's not to say that having more baked in presets is bad, just that I do think it's better to keep it simpler and let players tweak things to their own taste.

Probably a good change, since clicking the Vintage Story logo isn't necessarily the most intuitive action. Perhaps I'm wrong, but can this not be modded already? I'm not sure it's a matter of "it can't be modded" as much as it might be that no one's been inclined to change the title screen via mod yet. Similar reasoning to how texture packs can be made easily enough, but there's only a few texture packs that currently exist. Probably not the only one, but I don't think it would be a popular change. Greens, browns, copper colors, and bright teal tend to be the most prominent colors when it comes to general VS aesthetics. Pink on the title screen, whether bright or pastel, would be quite jarring, and I know it's a change I would definitely hate. I'd be surprised if these options weren't added someday. If the player can save their own preferences for later use, there's not really a need for more presets than the default. Another thing that's not really needed if the player has the ability to make their own presets. Plus the player gets to set their own rules that way, so they could play something as easy or as hard as they wish while only being limited to one life, instead of being thrust into "Wildnerness Survival but only one life" rules. The latter is easy enough to achieve already by tweaking one setting before world creation. I wouldn't be shocked if this became default someday, but I also wouldn't be shocked if it remained off by default either. Personally, I prefer this option off by default, as I enjoy digging up pretty much whatever I want without having to worry about accidentally causing a disaster. Could definitely see these options being added as well, though I'm not sure how much of a priority adding sorting options like this is.

Fair enough. The only other thing I can think of to check, is have the crashes been happening ever since you first started playing Vintage Story, or are they something that's only occurred relatively recently? In the event of the latter, are there any hardware or software upgrades that you have done recently that roughly coincide with the time the crashes started to occur?

I think that's where there's a disconnect currently between how things actually are in the lore, and how things can be implemented into the game. Given what I've seen of NPC dialogue and structures, the strategy is to pack everyone into the safest area of a fortified structure, and post the guards at the door. Monsters don't seem to be inclined to demolish structures or loot possessions, so there's no need to worry about vacated buildings getting destroyed or personal belongings going missing. As for why monsters don't just appear in the middle of those hiding, I would assume there's some unwritten rule the keeps them from appearing in areas that there's not enough space, be that rule plot armor or some unexplained "natural law". As for why monsters can spawn on top of the player during a temporal storm in actual practice, as well as why they spawn in dark basements outside of temporal storms...I chalk that up to a gameplay limitation. If just making an insulated room was enough to guarantee no monster spawns, there's all kinds of exploit potential there given how lenient the parameters are on "insulated room". Thus the current workaround to give some challenge is to let monsters spawn in dark areas(so players need to invest in good lighting for their homes), as well as allowing monsters to spawn in areas where there's enough space during temporal storms(so that players aren't just enclosing everything in 14x14x14 dirt boxes to avoid any kind of combat). Either way you cut it, I wouldn't be surprised if the spawn mechanics become more refined in a future update.

My general strategy is to just ignore the math and shove hides into the barrel until the output reading goes away. Then I know I added too many hides, so I remove one or two to get the output reading back and then seal the barrel. Granted, I've made leather enough times to memorize the hide stack sizes for full barrels, but when it comes to partial barrels I just can't be bothered.

I'm guessing a thirst mechanic is excluded in order to keep things a bit simpler to manage regarding stats. It's the kind of mechanic that's in-depth enough that, like hunger, it really shouldn't be a toggle in the options, but most players probably don't want to keep track of both a hunger and thirst meter. To be fair, I'm not saying that the mechanic isn't fun at all, because I do enjoy playing with it from time to time. It's just perhaps a bit much for the average VS game though. I'm assuming you meant "Expanded Foods" here, but in any case, you should be fine. The only option I can recall tweaking on HoD is turning the drunk effect back on, and turning off the movement speed penalty while carrying more than 3 L of liquid. Both of these are optional, of course, but I enjoy the drunk effect(especially with a mod like SlowTox), and while I can see the reasoning behind the speed penalty I don't like being slow because I decided to carry two jugs of a choice beverage instead of one. The mod I would be more concerned about here is actually EF, since to my knowledge it's still on a dev version and not a yet a stable mod release. That's not to say it won't work, just that there's a much higher chance of running into problems.

Does anyone actually use fertilizer though? I don't doubt that some players do, but I've never gotten the impression that it's a common thing.