LadyWYT

Welcome to the forums! Sounds like you're having the same issue that was solved in this thread:

Welcome to the forums! You don't need to sell the pickaxe to progress the quest. You just need to have the tin bronze pick in your inventory(brand new, or at least above 95% durability), and then select the "Know of any interesting places around here?" dialogue, or the "I brought you the pickaxe..." dialogue if you've already asked the treasure hunter about the former. Bear in mind that you need to talk to the same treasure hunter each time for these quests, as story progression isn't shared between treasure hunters(to my knowledge). In any case, once you select the "I brought you the pickaxe..." dialogue, the tin bronze pickaxe should be removed from your inventory automatically, and the treasure hunter should tell you about the location along with giving you a map to the approximate location of the entrance.

I gotcha. In that case I'd recommend picking Standard or Exploration as the base game mode, and then turn off all lore content, as well as adjust the other settings to your liking. For extra challenges and content, browsing the mod database and picking out a handful that look interesting is probably the best way to go.

Welcome to the forums! Overall it's a decent idea, and I've seen enough players lamenting the lack of option of removing monsters(outside of mods), so it potentially has a place. However... These two go hand-in-hand; you can't really have one without having the other. You can find story locations without talking to traders, yes, but you're going to be in for a very difficult time. Likewise, it's difficult to have traders without including story content, since...well, traders are part of the story and talk about specific locations and facets of the lore. You could just disable all that dialogue, I suppose, and restrict the traders to just the trade dialogue, but that begs the question...well, why are they there(especially when there's no other civilization at all due to story content being disabled)? And why do they sell things clearly related to some sort of civilization? I will also note that Homo Sapiens mode was added to the game to give players the option to have a purely realistic survival experience, and is more of an "extra" game mode compared to the standard game modes that development is balanced for. To really flesh out Homo Sapiens, you will probably want to look into adding some mods that adds extra features and challenges. Yes and no...there are mods that change monster spawn rules/disable them entirely, but otherwise I'm not sure there's specific mods to control each listed feature individually. The best advice I have here is to go browse the mod database to see what's available and try out a few that catch your eye. For some extra challenge in Homo Sapiens, I'd recommend either looking at the dinosaur mods or Fauna of the Stone Age; both mod sets add plenty of new creatures of varying difficulties, that will fit nicely into a more "real world" survival playthrough.

Bowtorn hit hard if you don't have a shield/aren't wearing armor, and can be difficult to deal with if you don't see or hear them approaching, or otherwise have issues closing the gap with them or have multiple bowtorn to deal with. Bowtorn have a particular screech noise they make when they've spotted you and are winding up for a shot, and they aren't especially accurate, or smart about making sure they have a clear line of fire. Once you learn what to listen for, it's pretty easy to react and dodge/block the incoming shot. They also flee once you get too close, and aren't fast runners, so it's easy to chase them down(or dive into a pack and scatter them, in the case of multiple).

First off, welcome to the forums! I would recommend trying one of the other modes with content enabled, just because it offers quite a different experience. The lore stuff isn't nearly as intrusive as you might think, and the story locations have some puzzles and challenges that are quite fun to solve(this includes boss fights, by the way). If you want to tone down the lore content, you can turn temporal storms and other temporal mechanics off to cut down on the amount of "oddities" you'll run across on a daily basis. Homo Sapiens mode was added to the game so that players who wanted a purely realistic survival experience could have it, but it cuts out a lot of content and like others here have already mentioned--feels thin as a result. Also... A critical point here--Homo Sapiens, to my knowledge, is the same difficulty as Wilderness Survival. That is, it's very easy to die while being very difficult to survive, and many quality-of-life tools have been disabled(like the map feature). While it's possible to start playing the game at that level of difficulty...it's not for the faint of heart and you're going to be in for a really rough time. Standard mode is the way to go for a more balanced approach; if you really don't want the lore stuff at all, you can also disable that feature in the settings at world creation. Bear in mind though, that by disabling the lore you will be cutting quite a bit of content from the game. There might be fewer challenges overall, but what challenges remain have been made much more difficult to compensate. I think most deaths in Vintage Story aren't particularly heroic, because they usually come about as a result of lack of experience, lack of vigilance, poor planning, or sometimes straight bad luck. Case in point with the starvation--you won't starve to death immediately if you run out of food, but starvation death pressures you to find and secure a food source. That is, you'll need to learn to hunt, since it takes a while for berries and other foraged items to grow back. You'll need to be good at hunting and foraging, since farming is lucrative but takes a while for your crops to actually mature. And since food spoils, you can't do all of your food collecting in one day and expect to be set for the next in-game week or so; you'll need to learn how to preserve food to keep it from spoiling. In short, Vintage Story has a very steep learning curve, and can be overwhelming to downright frustrating at first as a result due to the sheer amount of information you need to learn. Once you learn how to counter a particular challenge, the game gets a lot easier, and it rewards creative thinking in particular(for example, building traps or figuring out how to avoid unneeded fights). Ironically, I would say the opposite; Valheim, as much as I enjoy it on occasion, is the picture of drudgery for me, due to all the grinding it demands for gear. Battling the monsters is fun and all, but the resource collection is fairly simple and upgrading the gear fully just becomes a matter of "kill a ton of these things, collect a ton of that". Sure, equipment never breaks fully so you'll never really lose the stuff you craft, but anyways...different flavor of game. Vintage Story has a lot of grinding, yes, but each tier of equipment actually feels like a great improvement. For example, copper tier opens up mining and pretty much all other basic resource gathering/processing, but copper tools still break pretty fast in comparison to bronze. Farming takes a bit of extra effort to reap the rewards, but means you'll have plenty of food/flax at harvest time without needing to rely on foraging. Each gameplay system intertwines and builds off of others, and stuff you learned early in the game will still be relevant later. The handbook is a handful, yes, but given the sheer amount of information you need to know to thrive in the game, I'm not sure there's any way around this. I'd recommend looking at the "Guides" portion of the handbook and using that as a list of goals to pursue. There should also be a guide in that section that lists the basic steps of progression to pursue; ie, stone age tools, pottery, copper casting, etc. For new players, the general advice I have there is to focus on each individual step in the progression guide; it's easier to handle if you take it one step at a time. The first main overall goal should just be surviving the first winter--if a player can manage that, they can handle anything else the game has to throw at them. One other note here--if reading through the handbook isn't your thing, you might try looking up some video guides, or even just asking questions about specific things here on the forums. There are several good video guides out there on pretty much everything the game has to offer, and there are plenty of players here on the forums happy to help with questions. I think overall the main issue is that you picked one of the hardest difficulties to start playing on, in a game that already has a very steep learning curve. As mentioned myself previously, and by others in this thread, I would start a new world on Standard or even Exploration difficulty, and just turn off the lore content if you really don't want the lore(though keep in mind this will remove a significant chunk of the game). Using the guides section of the handbook(or a guide here on the forums/on YouTube), take the game one step at a time, and just focus on securing a food supply and surviving your first winter. Also, once you have a better grasp on gameplay mechanics, it doesn't hurt to browse the mod database and pick up a few mods to flavor the game to your own personal tastes. The game settings offer a wide variety of customization up front, but sometimes the vanilla options just aren't quite enough either.

Generally, if you're looking for warmer climate chunks, best to head south. You're less likely to find them up north. Technically, you can get to the tropics by heading north, due to how world gen works with its climate bands(climates are layered in realistic bands, giving the illusion of a round world), but it's not worth that kind of travel distance.

There was a mod for the other block game that implemented this concept--Minecraft Comes Alive. That being said...no, I don't think I'd want to see this implemented in the game, for many different reasons. The prime argument I would use against it though, is that seraphs are immortal, according to the lore. Even if they're able, I don't think it's a good idea for them to be reproducing. Permadeath/limited lives exist as an option on world creation, yes, but that is to offer additional challenge for those who want that kind of game, and isn't supported by the lore. Now this idea as a mod? Sure.

I'm not sure you need a mod for that...dang thing is cursed. I swear, whenever I'm the one touching it, it breaks. At least we have real doors now so that doesn't happen anymore!

Yes, but there's a reason that falling into a body of water and getting yourself soaking wet while it's freezing out is a near death sentence in a survival situation. It is--higher temperatures will make things spoil faster. I play with Hydrate or Diedrate frequently, as I generally enjoy the extra challenge layer. But that's the beauty of mods...I get to choose that kind of challenge for myself, without affecting the base game for everyone else. I don't think a lot of players would really enjoy a thirst mechanic like that due to the extra micromanagement, especially since there are places in the game you need to go for the story, that don't really have water sources(and each jug you fill takes precious inventory space). Likewise, a thirst mechanic is similar to the hunger bar, in that it's a more in-depth mechanic...having it toggled on/off on a whim doesn't feel right for something like that.

Actually, real world constellations would fit perfectly with the lore. Without spoiling too much, the setting of Vintage Story is/was the real world late Middle Ages. Of course, due to some events, a few things have changed.

Welcome to the forums! This seems to be a known issue on worlds created prior to 1.21. There is a new treasure hunter shack that is supposed to spawn, that other traders can point you towards...for a small fee. These shacks will generate in worlds created in 1.21, but for some reason worlds created prior have issues spawning them. You could try spawning one in manually(I'm not sure of the exact command), or you could try exploring new territory and see if one spawns(or explore new territory and keeping asking non-treasure hunters to see if you can get a map).

Judging from the map, it looks like it has spawned. I recommend checking out the nearby ravine.

Welcome to the forums! You might try this series of steps laid out by @Professor Dragon: Shouldn't be a mod issue in this case, and I believe both of those have been updated for 1.21. Also worth trying, in addition to what Professor Dragon outlined.

Oh I don't mind the change, it just needs a bit of tweaking, perhaps.

Welcome to the forums! Keeping in mind that purchases do not equal actual players--you can buy the game but end up not playing it very often, if at all. A high player count generally means that the game has enough engaging mechanics to be a popular choice for gamers to devote their time to. Likewise, a purchase doesn't really count if it's refunded later, and the Vintage Story refund policy is quite generous. I don't know that many people actually refund the game, but it's still a factor. Again, "copies sold" is not the same as actual players. The game's growing popularity and success are already shown by increasing attention on social media, and the number of new faces that come through the forums asking various questions appropriate for new players to be asking. I mean, it would be interesting to see the numbers, but I also agree with @Entaris...sounds like market research. I'm also not sure it would be healthy for the community either. "Flavor of the month" is a definite thing, and I don't think it would be good to have a big influx of people pick up the game just because it appears to be the popular thing at the moment. If one only plays the game because it's popular, and not because they actually enjoy it...they're likely to be disappointed.

Welcome to the forums! To my knowledge, it's not in the game, but if you want to pile up items on the ground faster, you can press ctrl + shift + right-click to place multiple items into the pile at once. It's a neat idea, but I'm not sure how feasible it actually is to implement given that inventory stack sizes do not often match ground pile sizes. Just in case you didn't know about this feature though--you can open multiple storage containers(in addition to your inventory) at the same time! Makes sorting things out much easier.

No if that were true I'd be in the kitchen or pantry. I am a Blackguard, after all.

I'm guessing what's happening is you're waking up at the foot of your bed, and the game is putting you up on the roof since the foot of your bed is blocked. And once you're outside, you're an easy target for the local rusty miscreants. I put my bed against the door on my friend's server, and woke up the next morning standing outside the door. Unless seraphs have a habit of sleepwalking, this is probably what's going on--a gameplay change with unintended but mildly hilarious results.

Oh...this would explain how I woke up outside. As a joke, I put my bed down in front of the door on my friend's server. I guess the foot of the bed must have been propped against the door, because I woke up outside in the morning. Seems like there ought to be some sort of check to prevent this from occurring.

The logs are especially important, because in the event you don't know exactly what you did to cause the bug to appear(or otherwise aren't sure of exactly what's happening) the logs will provide a pretty thorough report on basically everything that happened during that play session. Logs will be recorded in the VintagestoryData folder--located on the C drive, by default.

What version are you trying to update from, exactly? To my knowledge, all story locations should be placed in the world automatically when updating, at least for the last couple of updates, that is. Otherwise, if blocks need to be remapped after updating, the game should prompt you with a pop-up box when you first load the world in that update. All you have to do is click a button, wait a few minutes for it to work its magic, and then the world should be ready to play. No creative mode required.

Welcome to the forums! Not exactly a technical know-it-all myself, but my first guess would be that you talked to a different treasure hunter than the one you got the Archive quest from. To my knowledge, you need to ask the same trader in order to get the dialogue about the places mentioned in the Archive. The only other thing I can think to check is the modlist, if one is using mods. It's possible a mod could be interfering somehow. I would start a new world without mods(I would do this anyway even if not using mods) and use creative mode to speedrun the first story chapter. If you're still not getting the option to ask the trader about the locations(the option should start with "So I visited that ruin you mentioned..."), then it sounds like you've encountered a bug, in which case you should visit the github bug tracker and report it. You might also consider reinstalling the game client, as this often fixes issues, but make sure you back up any important worlds and mods before going this route. Also, just to make sure all the bases are covered...when you talk to the treasure hunter after completing the Archives, you do need to actually describe your adventure when he asks what you found there, in order to progress the story. If you refuse to tell him, he'll shrug and leave you to your own devices, and you won't be able to progress the story until you open up about your adventures. The elucidatory vessel only provides the elk discount; you don't actually need it in order to ask the trader about the locations.

No such thing as "quickly chisel". Creative placements of slabs, stairs, and complementary block types are the faster way to add some detail to a build, much like builds are detailed in the other block game. Support beams are another option, though they can be tricky to place. The chisel simply lets you refine certain details even further, and chiseling takes quite a bit of time even if you have mods that improve on the vanilla chisel tools. The main advice I would have, when it comes to building various things, is when it comes to adding details, it just has to look believably functional. For example, if you build a house floating in the air, that's not very believable, because there's nothing supporting it. A house built on a floating island, in contrast, is much more believable despite the fact the islands don't float, because now there's something to support the house. When you're adding various features, decorative or not, it's a good idea to be thinking of why it's designed the way it is. Form follows function, and all that. If it's a defensive tower, you'll probably want to build battlements, squared silhouettes, or make supporting pieces thicker in general in order to give the build some weight and make it feel like a proper imposing fort. If it's more of a status symbol, then you might opt for a more delicate design--fewer heavy/thick pieces and more flowing shapes and lines rather than squared silhouettes, along with some elaborate designs chiseled into the surfaces.

Yeah. I'm not sure why it's coded the way it is. It may just be that's the easiest placeholder to use for now, and chiselwork might get some love in a later update.