LadyWYT

Welcome to the forums! The good news is that fishing is already on the roadmap. The bad news is that we don't know when the devs will implement it. However, the good news is that if you're open to modding, the Primitive Survival mod offers a few ways to fish along with other neat gameplay bits(although you may want to tweak the configuration files if you don't want Cthulu in your game).

Yeah, if you just press and hold shift(or whichever key you have sneak/crouch bound to), your character should climb down the ladder without issue. If you're falling off the ladder while trying to do so, it's likely because you are pressing the backward movement key while descending(or perhaps pressing one of the side movement keys by accident) which will cause your character to move off the ladder and thus fall.

This is the main reason I'm not in favor of intense overhauls like this. While Vintage Story farming is highly simplified compared to what real farming is, it's still more complex than what a lot of other games offer(stick seeds in ground, come back later to harvest, rinse and repeat). The more time the player has to spend farming, the less time they're spending doing other things the game has to offer, that they may enjoy more. As it stands, the current system is complex enough that the player does have to think a bit in order to get the most from their farms, but it's not so complex that they have to spend a lot of time micromanaging it, or pick between farming and other gameplay. I do think they would be great as mods, and a few mods that implement some of the concepts do exist. However, I will also note that those mods aren't very popular. Depending on which one you look at, in some cases the farming complexity mods are less popular than the mod that...uh...makes bathroom functions a thing. Honestly, I don't think it's necessarily bad to have more challenge up front for new players, given that Vintage Story is already a very challenging game and that's part of the appeal. It's a tough mountain to conquer, but very satisfying when one manages to do so. However, you do have a point, in that you don't want to make the early so difficult that new players get too discouraged by the default difficulty and quit. I do agree that there ought to be more use for the hoe, but I think the better way to go about it, without upsetting the current balance, is to simply require the hoe if one wishes to remove the weeds from fallow farmland. Likewise, if farmland sits fallow for too long, it should revert back to dirt, at which point it can either be dug up safely, or tilled again in order to keep farming. The plow would be great for large scale farming, but should probably be a tool that's available later in the game, once the player has access to bronze and a creature strong enough to pull it. That way, it's something for the player to work their way up to, but also something that could be safely skipped if the player really doesn't enjoy farming or livestock that much. As for the current farming balance, here are the main advantages I see: 1. There are two different options when it comes to planting crops. The player can either put in the effort to rotate their crops carefully and avoid the need for fertilizer, or they can use fertilizer to focus on specific crops and thus avoid needing to bother with crop rotation or massive farms. 2. If the player designed their farms with good irrigation and were careful about what crops they planted and when, they can safely plant their fields and leave on an extended expedition(exploration, story content, etc), and have fields ready to harvest(or nearly ready) upon their return. They don't have to choose between having flax/a full cellar for the winter, and doing the story or exploring. 3. The player can build farms however big or small they wish. However, adding a mechanic like needing to weed crops to ensure a good harvest is going to limit farm scale severely since larger farms are going to require a lot more time and effort to maintain. If month length is set to longer than default, larger farms will be required in order to produce enough food to sustain the player through the winter, and some players just really enjoy building massive farms. However, it's not really going to be fun for the player if they have to end up spending all day doing nothing but take care of weeds. Likewise, it's also not really going to be fun for the player if they have to choose between progressing the story or exploring, or taking care of a farm to make sure they can actually stay fed over the winter or have flax for windmills and bandages.

Yeah, but my main point is that if you going to refer to the things in question specifically as "rituals" and "charms", then you're going to end up painting a picture of witches in the woods or druids circling a bonfire or other associated things, and not steampunk tech or realistic natural process. Well, either that, or you get something like the Imperium of Man from Warhammer 40k, with the tech priests and whatnot, but that kind of setting just doesn't quite fit with what's been presented in Vintage Story so far. For the player to accomplish things, it's better to rely on natural process, or steampunk gizmos, like what's implemented in the game already. In the event of natural processes, the player can draw upon real world knowledge to make things happen, such as building a charcoal pit, or refining various metals. For Jonas tech, the premise is building machinery and powering it to accomplish a goal, except the machinery in question is more heavily stylized to fit a medieval steampunk aesthetic. As for rituals and charms though, that's why I laid out my dreamcatcher example the way that I did, as well as cited Witchery and Thaumcraft as examples of what I would expect from actual rituals and charms. Tying a bunch of sticks and feathers together with string to create something that magically wards away monsters, or sprinkling a bunch of powders on the ground in geometric designs to summon entities, transmute material, or control natural processes, just isn't the same thing as building machines or using conventional work(farming, smelting, smithing, etc) to get things done.

No, I'm afraid I really don't get what you mean. Regarding the story, Tyron has a very clear vision of how things are meant to unfold, but of a planned eight story chapters only two have been implemented. While it is fair to point out things one dislikes in the storytelling, or suggest improvements, it's also pretty rude to demand the entire work of art change to something it's not meant to be. Spoilers ahead: In short, the theme of the story so far has been persevering in the face of adversity and winning, so if the ultimate conclusion after several many hours of gameplay is just "Rocks fall, everyone dies, the end", that's not going to be satisfying for anyone, nor does it fit the tone and style of writing that's been presented thus far. The ideas you've been proposing are better suited for mods(in which case, some already exist to do what you want, such as the one I linked earlier), which allows players who actually want that kind of gameplay to have it, without changing the game entirely for everyone else.

It actually was possible at one time, as I recall it happening to me in my earlier days of VS(1.18). However, that's also why the devs ended up adding an invisible wall there. If the player got rocketed up onto one of those ledges, they could either skip the boss and go straight to the library, or cheese the boss by shooting at it until it died.

THIS. Plus I think that realistically, if the player had the option to be evil, then logically they should only get the worst ending possible, and have a horrible time getting there(in which case, they're probably also going to complain about getting such a bad ending, despite the fact that they did so much evil). Even with just committing petty crimes regularly, the only ending that should be possible there is a mediocre one--not bad, but nothing satisfying either(which again, will probably generate several complaints when players inevitably play a tamer murderhobo, and don't receive a hero's reward). In order to actually get a good ending befitting a heroic character, one needs to actually act like one. And as I mentioned before, the player isn't exactly a nobody in the story...spoilers: Overall, the devs have a specific story to tell, and it doesn't seem to be one that encourages, or otherwise supports, evil actions on the player's part. The NPCs will respawn if killed, partly to avoid the player breaking things(because it's inevitable that most players will try killing an NPC at least once, to see what happens), and also likely to avoid the player being unable to complete the story in the event an NPC dies accidentally(like falling from the sky...and yes that's actually been an issue). Not to be rude, but I do have to ask now...did you actually play through the story of Vintage Story and read the associated dialogue and lore text? Because there's a lot of this that just does not fit at all with what's laid out in the lore.

It's not the fire, as much as it is just the light level that cuts down on spawns. Torches are the earliest source of bright light the player can obtain en masse, and while they aren't as effective as lanterns, they're a lot more effective than oil lamps. Realistically, I wouldn't expect fire to affect rifts at all, but a large enough fire might be enough to keep small numbers of monsters at bay.

In that case, if you're really wanting to just murder all the NPCs so you can take their stuff without repercussion, then realistically, the story ought to get the Morrowind treatment. The NPCs don't respawn, and the player gets notified that the world is now doomed, since the story can't be completed due to missing characters, and now needs to start over. Of course, if the NPC was a seraph, then they should respawn, and hold an eternal grudge, which once again prevents the player from completing the main story.

Welcome to the forums! *looks at username with suspicion* You're not a bear trying to figure out how to keep those pesky players from escaping, are you? Jokes aside, the best way to survive bear attacks, is to avoid getting attacked in the first place. If you see the bear first, you can avoid getting close enough to provoke an attack. If, however, the bear has already noticed, the best thing to do is run, usually cutting across rougher terrain where bears may have a hard time following. That is, of course, assuming that you're decent at navigating terrain yourself, and the bear isn't something like a polar bear(which can outrun the player). If you're not great at navigating rough terrain, you can also try diving into deep water and stabbing at the bear from below. Oftentimes, it's possible to kill the bear this way. And of course, if the bear hasn't spotted you yet, you could try digging a deep pit and trapping there--said pit should probably be around 4-5 blocks deep, as bears can climb 3 block heights I believe. If you are the brave type and a good shot, you can always try throwing spears at the bear and killing it at range, or softening it up before killing it in melee. In the early game though, do keep in mind that the strongest weapon you have available is often going to be a thrown spear. If it's later in the game though and you have bronze gear or better, you should be able to confront bears head-on and survive with relative ease. Last but not least, if you are playing with friends, there's always the tried-and-true strategy of simply making sure that you are faster than your friends. Of course, you may not have friends for long if you keep sacrificing them to bears, so you don't really want to utilize this strategy too often.

@Bruno Willis keeping my comment over here since this is the more appropriate thread for the topic: Plate armor is actually one of the worst choices for doing the story, if you're playing singleplayer that is. I think currently chain armor is the strongest, since it's very protective without sacrificing too much ranged accuracy or speed.

I can see where this would be frustrating for hardcore players, however...I'll also point out that the story isn't designed around hardcore-style gameplay. It is actually canon that the player respawns after dying. How many times the player is actually supposed to die over the course of completing the story, I'm not sure, but it's almost certainly at least once prior to arriving in location 2 of Chapter 2. That being said, I don't think that the goal of boss fight design is to ensure that the player dies multiple times, but rather to ensure that the player has a tough challenge to overcome before progressing the story. Typically, that means the player will end up dying a few times if they've not done the fight before, but not always.

Right, but the world isn't at the mercy of the player, but rather the player is at the mercy of the world. The game has a clear story to tell, and while the player has a lot of freedom to do whatever, there are still some definite limits in place. Not to mention that if the player can just tear apart the story location after it stops being relevant, then it's really hard to take the world seriously at all, instead of treating it like a theme park. Which would also require a monumental amount of physics coding to implement properly, as well as generate a plethora of player complaints when they die to the inevitable structural failure. Or players on servers complaining about story locations getting thoroughly gutted, or fighting over who gets to live in the Resonance Archive, etc. Not to mention that some places are literally frozen time anomalies... Yeah, but I will point out that the player character is supposed to be one of the good guys. That is, there's already an established history of the player playing nicely with certain other important characters. At best, to stay within a realistic style of the punishment, the player should get an instant "game over, man" when they steal, murder, or otherwise prove they have ill intent. Obviously, that's not going to be fun, but if the NPCs act like nothing happened and the plot continues as normal after the player does the time/pays a fine, then it's obvious the world doesn't actually react to player actions and continues on for the sake of "plot". Likewise, I will note that if the player is allowed to steal or get away with murder, then they're going to expect those to be viable gameplay options and complain if that ends up not the case. Additionally, it's a whole lot easier to just stop the player from tampering with things they shouldn't to begin with, than it is to try to program NPC line-of-sight, or track who owns what in the event the player accidentally sets an item down. Finally, if the player is allowed to steal, then multiplayer is going to have to deal with certain NPC locations getting picked clean by greedy players who were somehow able to game the system. The short of it is, if the player isn't intended to do certain things, maybe they shouldn't have the option of doing those things to begin with. Except land claiming is a game mechanic put in place to stop unintended player behavior in those locations. The actual reason those locations fell apart, is due to certain catastrophic events that happened in the world's past. The instability that exists there now is a lingering result of said catastrophic events. Honestly, the suggestion just comes across as asking for a Minecraft-style sandbox rules, but with Vintage Story's aesthetics. And that's not at all what Vintage Story is. That being said, for players that really want to tamper with the story locations outside of needing to use creative mode, that should already be possible via mods. All that would really have to be done, is just removing the protections entirely from story locations. It seems there's at least one mod that does just that, although it was made for an older game version so it may or may not work anymore: https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/23236

Ah yeah, that'll do it!

It's also worth noting that you can get a 50% discount on your first elk, assuming you bring the trader the correct item. Elks can also carry two seraphs at a time, so unless you both want your own mounts, you only need to buy one.

The whole reason that story locations are protected, is to prevent the player from outright ignoring the puzzles and challenges(like players can in the other block game), or otherwise exploiting NPCs/robbing them blind(like players can in various other games). There are also some location pieces that just aren't even feasible for the player to remove, given the sheer size of the blocks in question or the fact that removing certain parts would logically collapse the structure. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some sort of reputation system implemented, however, such systems are often difficult to implement well, without resorting to NPC omniscience or stuff like "even the chickens can report crimes". Likewise, while jail would be a realistic option for punishing crime(death isn't a logical option given that the player is immortal), it's not actually fun to sit there and serve the time. If the player goes to jail, they're going to expect to be allowed to escape, or to otherwise just "sleep it off" before going back to bad behavior. It's also worth noting that the player isn't just some random nobody either. While it's ultimately up to the player to determine how to play, Vintage Story isn't an RPG, and currently the story is set up with the premise that the player was an individual that generally had good intentions and played nicely with others. The exceptions might be the Malefactor and Blackguard classes, as it's clear both have done some horrific things, but it's also implied that Malefactors gave up crime and tried to redeem themselves, while Blackguards did what was necessary to keep peace in the ranks. To my knowledge, this is somewhat how land claiming already works in the game. Additionally, there are padlocks players can use to lock up storage, and there is an item that players can use to reinforce structures to prevent others from breaking in. I don't think any changes are necessary here. Honestly, if a player really doesn't want their stuff messed with, maybe don't play on servers that allow players to mess with each other like that. Otherwise, if the player is okay with the risk, there are already ways of fortifying bases in the game, such as padlocks and block-reinforcement(I think it's the plumb and square required for this?). Way too complicated, and it's easily exploited by just hitting blocks with the hammer and chisel to turn them from natural blocks to chiseled blocks. Depending on the structure in question, many have fallen into disrepair simply due to being abandoned for decades, if not hundreds of years. The temporal forces and whatever else was involved in tearing apart the Old World is also to blame for the anomalies found at certain locations. Rift spawns and monsters spawns aren't related to land claiming, outside of monster spawns being fixed in most story locations for storytelling purposes. Land claiming is simply a tool to help manage players in multiplayer, as well as a tool used to keep players from tampering with story locations and either stripping them bare or bypassing the challenges within. Lorewise, chunk instability, rifts, and monsters are all results of past catastrophic events. This is best accomplished via creative mode, which has several different "command blocks" and other tools to help players build their own stuff. As noted before, one reason the story locations are under such protection, is that the player isn't meant to strip them bare. Logically, stripping out certain blocks would cause structural collapse, or otherwise not be feasible due to the size of the items in question. In certain cases, there are also anomalies present that seem to freeze things in time, so to speak.

My best guess is that it was a change slipped into a recent update, that just went relatively unnoticed.

Adding to this, I would also make sure that the blocks composing the main structure have their interior sides flush with each other. That is, if you're going to be chiseling outside, don't cut away more than slab thickness, and when chiseling the interior it's probably better to add an "overlay" block layer and chisel that, instead of the blocks actually comprising the main structure itself.

You'll want to be looking in taiga areas for them, as they prefer cooler climates. So searching the cool climate zones is a good place to start. They can spawn in the temperate zones as well, though on high altitude plateaus(typically grassland or sparse forest) where it's cool enough for a suitable habitat. Those would be the prime spots to look. That being said, I wouldn't necessarily call them a common spawn, as I've only seen them in the wild a handful of times. It's probably easier to find them, than it is to find a baby one that you can actually capture and tame, since I'm not sure that deer can be bred like normal livestock species can be. Unless you're playing Homo Sapiens, or otherwise just really wanting to catch and raise your own, it's much easier to purchase a tamed adult elk from your local treasure hunter.

I will note that buckets are craftable with rope--the player doesn't necessarily need to use twine, though that is an option.

Sorcery like this is how the Old World was brought to an end. Shame on you. (I'm kidding, totally going to steal this idea for my own future use)

Unless something has changed, the player's position in the world shouldn't affect whether or not Dave appears. Outside of having a high enough render distance, the player just needs to be either at incredibly low stability, or otherwise be in a medium-heavy temporal storm. Typically I don't see Dave either, as I usually have my render turned down a little lower than what's required for him to show up, but I did turn it up during a heavy storm the other day to see if I could spot him and...nothing. Which was very odd.

Judging by what's pictured, that seems the most likely culprit.

I'm thinking the next update is going to expand on Jonas tech, but I could be wrong. It's also about time for another story chapter, but I think that might come update after next. But I mean...I'm not sure I would really call any of the updates we've had small ones

And now to stop beating that horse and move on to something more productive: This makes a lot of sense, really, especially for when herbalism is added. More variety is always nice, and glass containers would be great for spices, herbs, alcohol, and various other things stored in smaller quantities, or that you might want to sort based on sight alone. Given how resilient rotbeasts are, this is a tough one. But I think this is a prime spot to add caltrops to slow them down, or a smoke bomb to confuse them(although this likely won't work since they navigate fine without having any eyes, and in the dark). Given what unfolds in the "Ghosts" short story, it seems that they're attracted to sound, so having small firecrackers or other noisemakers would probably offer a good distraction. Currently, rotbeasts don't seem to react at all to symbols, trinkets, or substances, so unless their behavior is changed dramatically or there's some macguffin we just don't know about, I don't think this is a good solution. I will also note that one reason rotbeasts are such a fearsome foe, is that they don't have any known weakness and must be countered with force. Ties into the above--they don't react to much of anything, save for displaying murderous intent around humans and seraphs. Fire doesn't seem to stop them, though it does seem to hurt them, and given that the monsters do seem to have a bit of self-preservation instinct(they do have a chance to flee if damaged enough), I don't think it's out of the question that a really big fire might act as a deterrent. But if keeping them away were as easy as just burning a few herbs or a bit of incense, then they wouldn't be monsters as much as they would be just neighborhood pests. Should be covered by the herbalism system, whenever it's added, though I wouldn't really expect any concoctions to have much effect on rotbeasts. Living creatures, certainly, and mechanicals a "maybe". I would expect this to be more effective against living creatures rather than rotbeasts. Rather, I'd be more inclined to say that the reason you coat your weapon in oil when fighting rotbeasts, is to prevent extra wear and tear that might occur when spilling their filthy, sludgey blood. This one I can sort of agree on, since fire does seem to hurt them and a bonfire is a common way to keep dangerous things away from camp. At least, it seems plausible for the weaker surface monsters, and it seems plausible that this is how traders and other travelers manage to survive in the wilderness(although it's likely that not all of them do). However, I would argue that the fire has to be pretty big in order to keep the monsters at bay--a simple torch or cheap little campfire just isn't going to cut it.