LadyWYT

In Vintage Story, they don't remain idle, as far as I can tell; they do move around and go about their lives, though some mobs do get more active when a player is nearby. I think in the other block game, there's a certain radius that the mobs will stop moving and just sit in place(which is why dolphins end up drowning unless you shove into an aerated box). That's not really a problem either, unless you have a LOT of mobs nearby. It could work, plus it would likely just be limited to chunks within a certain distance of the player. That way, only the areas that you're most active in(and thus, the areas most in need of "restocking") would be the areas affected. New chunks don't need this kind of simulation calculated, since they haven't yet been modified by the name. Old chunks that the player doesn't spend any significant time in don't really need that kind of simulation either. Perhaps there could be a check to see how many times within the past X months/years the player has visited the chunk(provided the player breaks a block), and if the player has made enough visits then the chunk could "update" every once in a great while with a few new flowers or something. It's another case of, I'm not sure how much processing it would end up eating through, but if it's just a rare occurrence for strictly chunks the player is active in frequently, it might be feasible.

I see, though I'm not entirely convinced there's not a way to restore from a "save point" with mods. It's sounding more like a mod that achieves something to that effect is going to require some rather heavy coding, and I'd hazard a guess that if that's truly what's required for a mod to achieve the goal...then it's probably going to take a lot of work to get the concept functioning properly in the game as well. And as I noted earlier, I don't believe there's a lot of demand for such a thing(especially when you can already achieve the desired effect in the present state of the game by backing up your own files), so I don't believe it would be worth the effort to try to add such a system.

Fair, but I will note that while lantern light can stop rifts and monsters from spawning in that area, it doesn't stop monsters from spawning on the fringes and running into the light. Well...I mean, right now it probably does, since monsters seem inclined to avoid bright lights to some extent, but I suppose that's something that could be potentially tweaked in the code in order to give rift wards a bit more value. Let monsters run from daylight(which would also keep them in caves a little better) outside of a temporal storm, but artificial light won't deter them(save for preventing spawns). Or just make a monster that, while a rare spawn, isn't stopped by artificial light at all, while having a larger spawning range from rifts. At that point you really NEED a rift ward to keep it out of your base, unless you really want to invest the resources into lighting up everything for miles around. Although while I'm spitballing ideas, I suppose you could just leave things as-is, but let the rift ward turn its affected area into a temporally stable area...provided that the rift ward is powered, of course. At that point, it's not just preventing rifts--it's a handy way to build in that scenic spot you found that isn't the most stable place in the world.

Refueling rift wards probably isn't an issue at this stage of the game--temporal gears are rather easy to acquire as long as you have temporal storms enabled and otherwise engage monsters on a semi-regular basis. Fourteen days is a generous amount of time for power as well, and you probably only need to power the wards during periods of high rift activity/before a temporal storm hits. If/when temporal gears are given more uses, then it might get a lot more expensive to keep multiple rift wards powered. Very true, but I also think it might be one of those things that's a bit situational in its use, or otherwise geared toward more passive players. If you live further north in the world, to the point that winter nights are very long, you might find having a rift ward or two invaluable. Same applies to those who do a lot of work at night and don't want to deal with monsters. If you sleep through nights, or otherwise have rifts turned off, then rift wards probably won't be as useful. For what it is right now though, yeah, it's a bit underwhelming for the resources it takes to build. I do think you're right though, in that when more monsters are added, it'll be more valuable to invest in one.

I read this, and thought you meant actual creature mobs, like rain frogs that only spawn when the weather is right, or something to that effect. Not an invisible entity that serves as a vehicle for spawning things. Overall, it's an intriguing idea, I suppose, but I think it still runs into the processing hurdle--how much power is needed to actually process all that computing.

If a player is getting through the winter by dying constantly to starvation, that's not really surviving. The starvation argument doesn't really work in favor of this "backup plan" either, as if a player is already at the point they're starving to death in the dead of winter, rolling them back to their previous "save point" probably doesn't fix the issue. Maybe if they didn't sleep for a very long time, but in that case they've just lost a LOT of progress they probably aren't going to be very excited about working through again... In any case, I think the main hurdle to get over is just the extra time it takes to make and reload backups. It can potentially take a couple of minutes, or even longer, and if one is accident-prone and/or sleeping frequently to save their progress, that ends up being a lot of downtime. A lot of downtime in which the player is just waiting, with nothing to do other than wait. That's not very fun, and can become frustrating rather quickly. Agreed, especially on the mod bit. A mod is often the proving ground for concepts before they're added to the game. Not every popular mod gets added, of course(nor should they), but the more traction a mod gets then the more likely it is some iteration of that idea will be added to the game later. Otherwise, yeah, I don't really see this being a feature that a lot of players want.

They're also generally smaller and more...treelike, if that makes sense. By that I mean that they have proper branches(not just leaf cubes) and more slender trunks. They also tend to be somewhat smaller than your standard tree as well, with many only being a trunk and few blocks of branches. I'll also note that it's easier to spot them in the winter or spring, since in the winter they don't have leaves at all and in the spring they flower, meaning those branches will stand out from other surrounding trees a lot more. Summer and fall they can be easier to pick out as well due to fruit-laden branches, however, that only applies after the first year.

Honestly, this statement could be applied to a lot of the criticism/suggestions leveled at Vintage Story. That's not to say that Vintage Story can't draw inspiration from other games and how those games handle themselves, but just because something works in a different game doesn't mean that it will work for Vintage Story. Perhaps I'm being a bit cynical here, but sometimes after reading complaint threads I get the impression that the player(s) in question don't actually want to be playing Vintage Story, but rather a different game with Vintage Story's skin.

I don't usually comment in this part of the forums, however...I think what you've got here is either going to be an interesting success or one of the world's fastest dumpster fires. The concepts you've presented are interesting, and solid regarding the lore--no problems there. However, the hazard of getting into religious themes is that it tends to be a rather polarizing topic(similar to politics) and can devolve rather quickly into heated arguments outside of the game. Doesn't matter if the religious themes are tied to any real world religion, or completely made up for the setting--in the case of the latter there's always someone to start an argument with a real world comparison. And given that Vintage Story's setting is(or was) real world medieval times, there's not really any way to avoid real world religious references if you're going to stick to the game's lore instead of writing your own setting. I'm not saying you shouldn't attempt this server idea, mind you; I'm saying the main hurdle I see is dealing with all the drama that will inevitably stem from running with the theme. That being said, if you're up to the challenge and can keep a lid on the drama, I think the idea will do well.

Makes sense. It doesn't matter how ugly or basic the internal part of the structure is if you never see it; it just has to be strong. I wouldn't even say the concept is limited to medieval buildings. Lots of buildings from the old American West were basically wooden boxes since that was both cheap and efficient construction, but those buildings also invested in fancy false fronts so they would look nicer.

Making a backup can take a little while though, as can loading a backup, especially for weaker systems and/or big worlds(or heavily modded ones). I don't see it being worth it, especially when having to take a couple of minutes to respawn is a lot more frustrating than just taking a couple of seconds. I also don't see a difference between this proposed change, and the current respawn mechanics, outside of having to wait longer to respawn. Hence why you lose items on death by default--death has a penalty that way, in that you have to retrieve your stuff/make new stuff, but it's not so harsh that you lose the entire world. If that's still "too easy" then you could try just giving yourself a limited number of lives at the beginning of the game. That way your world doesn't get deleted just because you had an accident or two, but you can't very well play too recklessly either.

Is that diving bell, the thing you wear on your head? Or diving bell as in the monster that swims over to make a horrible racket to summon more monsters?

I agree that it would add surprise, but I doubt it would be the fun kind. I would say most of the crafting recipes in the game aren't realistic as well. While Vintage Story leans heavily into realism, realism does not always equal fun. That's probably why a lot of recipes just require a plain stick instead of a more specific item; it's realistic enough to be decently believable, but not dogmatic to the point the game isn't fun anymore. For example, sewing kits require sticks to craft, rather than requiring a needle. Arrows use plain sticks, despite the fact that realistically you'd need proper shafts. Fences use sticks too, but if you've ever seen a wooden fence it's hardly just sticks used in their construction. You could make separate items for each of those recipes, of course, but at that point you're using up more drive space for a bunch of different items that only have one or two highly specific purposes. A plain stick, however, gets the point across, saves on drive space, and allows a player more time to devote to other various things the game has to offer. For a mod though, I think it'd be fine. I think there's already a mod or two that implements the concept of requiring the player to refine wooden handles for their tools. I don't recall those mods being all that popular, but they do exist.

I suspect we'll see a "Rust World visit" implemented as part of the story, at some point, though one can never be certain. If/when such a visit occurs, I daresay it will be a specific story mission, and not something that's repeatable otherwise. As for mapping what's on the other side--there's no real reason to map it if it's a one-time visit, and tampering with that realm may have been what wrecked the world to begin with. The other reason I wouldn't encourage much mapping/research is to keep the Rust World somewhat mysterious; if you explain everything to the player and leave nothing to the imagination, the overall impact wears off fairly fast.

Don't forget that you can call your elk to you with the flute, as long as they are wearing a medallion. If they can't path to you, they'll teleport. Can save you trouble, potentially, if there is another incident.

Monsters already track you, although I think it could be tweaked to have certain types(such as drifters) be a little more oblivious overall and more attracted to loud noise(similar to the Warden from TOBG). That way, if you're very careful, you can slip by them without initiating combat. It wouldn't work for every monster though, and of course if you get too close or hang around too long, they'll notice your presence anyway. Oddly enough, bells are apparently attracted to bright light, so if you're carrying a lantern you'll already be alerting them before you get close enough to set them off. Generally when I think crude bow and arrows, I think more about something useful to tackle a predator(like a wolf or bear) than I do something to hunt prey animals with. A bow and arrows is a lot easier to snap shots off with while on the run, and it's going to take multiple shots anyway to kill the target. For more conventional hunting, I prefer the spear, as it does more damage at ranged but also serves as an okay melee weapon. Hunters are already very strong(not so much underground), so I think if it were a hunter-exclusive ability then other classes should have something similar to help balance it out. Or instead, make it a trait that you can learn from an NPC instead. However, if it's learned from an NPC, that makes it something unavailable in Homo Sapiens mode, where a lot of people would be wanting something like animal tracking... Overall, it's probably best to figure out a way to add a generic ability for all classes by default, or otherwise find a way to include little tracking clues in the world itself without sacrificing performance.

Yes please. Not only does it make the world more dynamic, but it also gives you a good reason not to hunt everything in the near vicinity to extinction. I wonder if it's feasible to make some sort of "tracking device", as in not an actual device but rather something that lets you enter a "tracking mode" so you can see various clues you couldn't otherwise find, similar to the different modes on a propick. Alternatively, there's the way Hunterborn in Skyrim handled it--made a specific ability you could use that would produce a random result based on wildife nearby. Since we already had something of an ability mechanic introduced in chapter two of the story, I suppose you could repurpose that concept into a general ability you have at your disposal whenever. That being said...knowing what's in the general vicinity doesn't tell you where exactly the creature is hiding. Fair, but I would also note that outside of a specific challenge you made for yourself, you shouldn't really have to rely on hunting to get you through the winter. Livestock is a good, safe source of meat/eggs, assuming you took the time to acquire some critters. Hunting is easier to do in the summer/fall and yields a bit more for the effort, and what you don't eat at the time can be easily preserved in crocks or with salt. Likewise, hunters should have access to something better than a crude bow and arrows by wintertime as well. I don't think tracking solves the crude bow/arrow "problem" either. The crude bow and arrows aren't meant to be good; they're just a cheap option for hunters in the earliest part of the game if you want to use a bow and arrows specifically. The advantage to it is that it's cheap(you don't need twine) and allows many more shots than a spear when your factor in inventory space. Overall, I like the concept of tracking--it would add an extra level of detail in the world. I'm not entirely sure how one implements more complex/dynamic tracking signs though, without also eating through a lot of processing. One thing I would note though--if you can track creatures, some creatures should be able to track you as well. Chiefly, if you go leaving a trail of edible items lying around, perhaps it may attract the attention of nearby predators.

I think it's fine as-is. Ground storage is nice in the earlier stages of the game, when you may not have a lot of storage options. However, ground storage isn't very efficient in terms of space, and can be a potential fire hazard. Crates are the most efficient for mass storage of a specific item, as they compress several stacks of an item into the space of a single block.

I think this is likely something that isn't limited to Vintage Story, but that is also an issue for first-time Minecrafters or games with similar controls. There's not the clearest indication of what to do or how to go about things, you kind of have to figure it out as you go. Which generally doesn't take too long, but I can see where it might be frustrating. The wiki is something that I think will improve with time. Keeping a wiki up to date is tough, yes, but the main factor there(in my opinion) is that Vintage Story is still very early in its development. Certain gameplay concepts are still being worked on, and there's still quite a lot more to be added. That doesn't mean that the changes can't be documented in the wiki, but it does make keeping things up to date a lot harder. Likewise, I'd wager it also makes it a bit harder to learn the ropes of the game as well, since things can change between play sessions if you play rather infrequently and third-party content(YouTube, social media, etc) may not be up to date. I like this idea. It used to be that videogames came with a physical manual that detailed the overall plot, the game's controls, and other useful tidbits of information. Including a .PDF handbook, or something similar(you could probably cut it down to a more simplified handbook for a .PDF), would be a nice throwback to those times, as well as let players read it outside the game, without the need for an internet connection. I like this aspect too, and it's one reason I can be quite critical of things presented in the Suggestions part of the forum. Vintage Story strikes a very good balance with its gameplay, giving the player lots of viable options to pick from regarding how they progress. How one progresses isn't the same for each world either, as there may be class choices or environmental conditions that alter which strategy is "best". Some strategies are better than others, of course, but I wouldn't say there's any that are so good as to make the others a waste of time. Also if you've not tried it yet, try throwing a rock at a large lake or pond.

Fun fact--you can pet the baby elephants regardless of their generation. You do have to watch out for the mothers though, as the babies rarely stray far.

I would assume the "Skyrim toilet" rule might apply, in that everyone has a trusty bucket or two that they collect that kind of waste in, so they can use the waste for...um...other purposes. That being said, it's not like public toilets are unheard of, so it's a bit odd that there's not a designated public privy. Even the Resonance Archive has a toilet, and it's been abandoned for ages. I don't know about upgrading the village, but Nadiya itself isn't quite finished yet, as evidenced by NPCs offering certain services(inn, barber) but having excuses as to why they can't perform their duties just yet. Perhaps part of the village will expand or be otherwise rebuilt in a future update, but it could also remain as-is and be fine. The general idea is that while humanity is creeping back from the brink of extinction, it's struggling quite a bit and recovering quite slowly. The presence of seraphs does tip the scales in their favor, of course, but recovery shouldn't happen overnight(it'd feel unauthentic), and making it take in-game years to expand the place would probably be a turn-off for most players.

Was the helve hammer under a roof, or exposed outside on a windy/rainy day? If you don't have it under cover, inclement weather will cool it down quickly. Otherwise, items being forged on it will cool down slowly, though at a slightly faster rate than they might if you're hand-forging. I presume the difference there is to account for the helve hammer being able to work a bit faster on average than the player can. It also depends on when the forged item was last exposed to heat. Once heated, an item will stay hot for a little bit before it starts to cool off, so if it's been a little bit since it was last exposed to heat then it may have already begun to cool off by the time you start forging.

https://wiki.vintagestory.at/index.php?title=File:Clothes-neck-forlorn-talisman.png

For me, the helve hammer is my wind chime. In all seriousness though, I love the idea. I think wind chimes would see the most use as interesting ambient decorations, but there's something to be said for just having something that's there as a nice decoration rather than something specifically useful. As for an alternate use, I recall there being a wind chime mod or two for the other block game, that made the chimes deter phantoms. Based on what's outlined in the "Ghosts" short story here on the forums, loud noise/lots of noise seems to attract monsters, so wind chimes could function as some sort of distraction for said monsters. Since there's no wind underground I doubt you could really exploit a mechanic like that very well(although you never know), but I'd wager that it could also be frustrating to deal with depending on how it was implemented. What's the point of decorating if monsters are going to constantly trash it, after all.

Actually, there's already such an amulet--it's a relic specific to the Forlorn Hope. It serves no purpose aside from being a cosmetic item that you can find and wear, and making it something baseline to all classes makes each class a lot less unique. As for giving the player a temporal gear at world creation...maybe as option one can choose, but I would keep it as a standard temporal gear otherwise. The temporary loss of one inventory slot(and potential loss of the gear if you die before using it) is the drawback in return for having an easy way to reset your first spawn point. Likewise, the ability to respawn, as well as change your spawn point, is very powerful(as Tyron himself has noted), so it shouldn't be something that's easily done on a whim at the start of the game.