Moltrey

Update: After watching TakTangent's latest start on a new world I decided to try the Conquest Landform Mod, using the recommended settings. So far, so good. The terrain is much less spiky and difficult compared to the average vanilla world, refreshing. Also, I am tending so far in a small sample size to discover a few different ruins. I need to start a lot more worlds to have a better sample, but the better and arguably more realistic terrain has removed a smaller irritant in vanilla; too much difficult terrain on average. Note: The Conquest Landform Mod does seem to work well with the Algernons Watersheds Mod. So on the whole, hurrah!

So I mentioned this issue in one of the recent release threads: Lack of enough interesting POIs other than Traders (which are nigh useless at the onset). Combined with more often than not spawning in with bears and/or wolves nearby is making my experiences with VS less than appealing for the first time. I know, I know. VS is not meant to be an easy experience unless you nerf difficulty settings. About all I adjust these days is slightly higher walk speed and 25hp combined with a 5 day grace period on monsters. I will show a list with my installed mods below. But here is the thing; I have played this game for quite a while now, perhaps 2 years and I have never felt this frustrated with "Meh" spawn worlds. Very few ruins let alone buildings or larger POIs. There needs to be SOME interesting "bits and bobs" here and there or I lose interest eventually. I don't want too many of them either, that would be worse imo. I do seem to find the Giant Tree a fair %, had one or two small towns, but after generating map after map and spending around an hour to an hour and a half my frustration overall is starting to make me want to set Vintage Story aside for the first time. Am I just an anomaly here? Does anyone else have these issues with a change to less points-of-interest? I don't want to be "that guy" who complains a lot. I imagine with enough walking/exploring of the map some of these issues would be lessened, but again, I don't ever remember having this many maps end up boring enough I choose to close and delete and start over. Here is the Mods List: I have tried various settings with Algernons Watersheds, usually the next highest world height combined with Landscape at 120/140%. as well as vanilla.

Regarding the AI slop issue; I'd say the minimum QoL response if it's allowed would be to have an "AI exclusion" toggle for the Mod Page so we don't end up with a crap ton of mostly useless mod instances we would be obligated to swim through. In general, I am against pure AI stuff. Just like our cell phones, as a 62 yr old I view them as tools, nothing more. They have no power over you if you keep them as such. Yes, I know it is easy for me because I grew up with rotary phones with bad AT&T lines and 3 TV networks and PBS. For all you "youngsters", don't let modern convenience rule your life, give your brain a break; you will thank yourself later.

Tyron & Co.: I am continually impressed with the groundwork that you laid for Vintage Story. For the most part, the underlying structure has supported the team's vision of where they are going. So many games seem to get time constraints that throttle their efforts down the road of development. Perhaps I am being a bit too generous, but based on other studios out there, I am inclined to think not. The combat update has to be my most anticipated part upcoming, but it is all intriguing. Best of luck the rest of the year and thanks for taking time to update us!

Open question to the forum: Does anyone else have a feeling that Better Ruins instances are pretty few and far between now? I am running it along with Algernon's Watersheds in 1.22. I find generic ruins regularly, bits and pieces of wall and portions of buildings. I have probably started 15-20 games since the latest patch and have found 1 Chert Scribe(?)/Abbey with basement and translocator and one abandoned settlement and maybe one other in those instances. I play on basic settings w/o changing map creation other than the 2 mods mentioned. Granted, I have not spent a great amount of time in most maps, usually an hour to hour and a half before deciding "meh" and quitting. Sometimes Traders are there, one or two in the spawn radius on the map. I am not upset about it, but have a nagging suspicion that they are not spawning like they used to in previous editions. Another thing I noticed is less underground "homes" or prisons, etc. It's all subjective of course but I can't shake the feeling this stuff is a bit less prevalent in v1.22. What say you?

Sorta gives new meaning to being turned into a pillar of salt... . Never seen one of these yet.

Just a note to say so far playing on v1.22.2 I have not noticed the .0 lag hitches in the game. Once the objects have loaded in upon spawning gameplay has been smooth for me.

It's early days for v1.22, but I am finding that so far the old nasty repetitive lag hitch is back. I need to spend some more game time to confirm; while not even close to debilitating, it is annoying. Curious if others are/are not seeing this.

Dumb question, I have dipped my toe in the new version & love it, but the new bushes- most "do" nothing when I right click. What status am I looking for on these new bushes in order to harvest them?

Not having even sniffed the whole prospecting/mining aspect much personally, yet still interested enough to scan the prior three pages of this thread leads me to ask: After boiling the issue down, aren't we right back at a core concept of how much work should the VS design require of a person in order to successfully obtain a given ore (or anything else for that matter)? It seems pretty clear to me at least that making one aspect more streamlined or even easier would tend to break the status quo of VS progression, at least compared to other progression areas. Sure, there is a healthy dollop of luck involved along with the process (pretty realistic, eh?) and I can see where folks can get really discouraged with the concept in practice (we'll get back 'round to that word). But I could say the same about starting in the stone age as a newb, until you read enough on it or watch vids and then do it, you're lost as what to do to be efficient enough to not starve if your luck is poor. I could perhaps see Tyron tweaking prospecting here or there but I don't foresee larger "work reduction" changes. It just doesn't strike me as the right VS vibe taken along with everything else in the game. Zooming out here a bit for side reference- I also play Matrix Games War in the Pacific: Admirals Edition. It is a very demanding PC wargame that simulates most aspects of the war in great detail. It also is definitely not for most people even if they are interested in the subject. Learning demands a lot of perseverance and persistence and there are many moving parts that require your attention. My father served in the USN during the war and I was in the USN myself, so for me the juice is worth the massive squeeze required. Getting back to VS, overcoming frustration regarding prospecting due to its nature in the game and the realistic randomness involved requires the old saying - Practice makes perfect, or at least adequate in order to overcome the bad vibes from failure frustration. At the end of the day, a big part of Vintage Story's divisiveness comes from design choices Tyron made when he decided to forge off in another direction from that other block game. Simple as that. Either embrace the suck or don't. Spending enough time with the game will raise your skill enough to no longer get ansgty about all the whys and what-fors involved. At least, that's how this noob sees it.

Lescalope: I recommend watching some YouTube videos on getting started in VS; they can ease you into what to do in early days and what to avoid. You can also slightly tune the experience by changing some basic settings under "customize" next to "create world". It will let you reduce the distance on respawn and many other settings like delaying the monsters for a handful of days so you can get your feet under you. You still have to deal with wolves and bears yes. Just run. Sometimes the shrubs and trees conceal them, so don't go into the heart of woods/forest, just the edges. VS is tough because it appeals to players who want a real sense of accomplishing advancing through the game. Give it some time, unlucky spawns and bad luck early on can really get anyone down. Find some help with beginners guides on YT and start there. Good luck!

Ah, my latest was epic. Spawn in, immediately hear bees. Sweet! Walk two steps and decide to break bush for sticks; hive was on ground in bush, bees swarm and start stinging me. Rage quit. Total time in game, maybe 30 seconds. Doh!

Thanks Tyron. This helps to soften the blow of losing my brother this morning to cancer, just a bit. VS will help me remember all the great times we shared like him taking me to see Star Wars in the summer of '77. Godspeed Mark, thanks for everything.

In another thread, Mickey22 solved his crash issues recently with VS and a NVidia GPU by reverting to v531.29 drivers.

MC: One other thing you might try is a MS tool I use to check Windows hasn't gone haywire. It is DISM or Deployment Image Servicing and Management, it checks your Windows image against an online version for errors/corruption. Left click on the Start button, type in command at top search bar, find Command Prompt, launch as Administrator if you can. Once the black text command window is open type: (Notes: _ are spaces, hit Enter when at end of line to execute. It may take a while to scan through everything.) DISM_/Online_/Cleanup-Image_/RestoreHealth I am at a loss as to why this is being such a PITA for you; I haven't had VS crash once yet. Anyway, good luck. Hmm, one other avenue just popped up in my head, you can always download DDU or Display Driver Uninstaller. You are going to want to launch it when in Windows Safe Mode so it can properly do its job. A lot of times old driver detritus is floating around your PC after a while, DDU will take care of it.