Bloodwyn

Rejected

Well, to be fair the only textual lore is in the forms of quests and diplomatic events between villages. I'm not sure if any of it is recorded in tomes or scrolls. What I'm alluding by bringing up Millenaire, however, is the fact that the stories are simply generated by interactions between the cultures, the player and the environment; these are in the form of text in the chatbox and quests, but it wouldn't be that difficult to extend that to another form. A player can bring down the enemy of his favorite village, he/she can unite what were once eternal enemies, or liberate a village from a burden; the villages grow/shrink in population and territorial size as consequences of players, environments and other cultures. In a similar vein, the stories in VS could just be about the world at hand; the player could uncover a village being harassed by a particularly large nest of drifters nearby, and destroying the drifters could cause said village to grow and prosper, influencing the course of dynamics between other villages nearby who depended on its prosperity. Then, as a result, the heroic actions of the player could be transcribed onto scrolls, and would be made by a mix and match of various templates of strings according to how things went down; this example is poorly thought-up but it serves to show what I'm thinking about. Of course this means that individual bits of lore like the ones currently being found in ruins STILL have a place. But they would remain just that: individual bits of lore. Well, I'm still not sure I understand. Why would it carry weight if the story remained the same? The point of starting a new save isn't to continue where you left off, so why does it matter that something isn't carried over from the previous save? Each save is an entirely different world, why should the story be the exact same? Also, it wouldn't mean that there would be no efforts in world building. It would simply mean that all the efforts would go into creating the conditions for lore generation to be good. Dedicating time to a specific story should be done by the community. If the game is to have lore, it would be better if it were organic and directly tied to elements of the world at hand. I just think the risk-to-reward of incorporating a specific story into a sandbox game (where each world is an entirely separate and unique planet) is too low to be worth it. Even in the best case scenario, a perfect story that speaks to everyone will still barely make up for the resources invested in creating it. But even in an OK scenario where the story ends up being high quality, it will be nothing more than an interesting extra feature. There is too much risk that the story won't be cherished by most of the audience, and it could actually diminish the efforts made on the technical side of development. Having dynamic, unique lore or no lore at all are much more flexible alternatives.

Well, I'm not saying VS should aspire to reach the levels of depth of DF, that would indeed be very difficult. I used Dwarf Fortress as an example. Millenaire is a minecraft mod that uses a similar formula as the one I'm thinking of. It wouldn't be necessary to have the level of complexity found in DF to have a nice and organic lore.

Well, to an extent the lore would remain an abstraction. The real generation would be landmasses, dungeons, NPC cultures and the dynamics of everything in between; the lore would be nothing but an interpretation of these dynamics. This is the way Dwarf Fortress handles lore generation: it simply generates the creatures and the lands and simulates their existence, and lore would simply be extrapolated from the interactions of these elements. This sounds very simplistic, but you actually end up with extremely detailed and organic lore. Every new world would be fundamentally unique. The world would feel alive, and your presence in it would feel much more authentic and immersive. Having a pre-written story would only limit the audience imo. Also I'm not quite sure what you mean by meaningless. After-all, the focus of sand-box games isn't narration of a story. This game generates an entirely new world each game anyway, would that render game-play meaningless?

Geographical overhaul. Making the world feel more like an actual world instead of an infinite grid by showing the player (or at least the option to see) the generated world map like Dwarf Fortress does. Maybe even mark some points of interest like NPC cities and dangerous locations (goblin town, necromancer tower equivalents). I've always been more eager to travel thousands of blocks when I knew I had a destination. Randomly wandering in hopes of finding something isn't as appealing imo. Seasons, climactic bands and weather (possibly with cold/heat effects on the player) should be present. NPC states, cultures etc. A deep and organic NPC presence in the world can be a key selling point and can multiply the replay value of the game. The possibility to be a part of an NPC community (perhaps even manage NPCs) could be a funner and more organic alternative to solitude and automation. Trade should be important, but it should lay on a bed of economic dynamic (like the kinds of commodities produced in each village/city, the demand for others, etc). NPCs can extend play by (potentially) hundreds of hours, and depth in NPC cultures and dynamics offer a reason for the player to want to play again once he/she gets bored with the current world. I hate to bring up DF again, but I personally know people that have been playing one world for years and thousands of hours, and are continuing to this day because of the depth of NPC cultures and dynamics. Armor smithing, Cloth and Leather work, Cooking (more immersive), Brewing (potions and alcohols) and Animal husbandry (look into Animania). Horses! Above are what I believe are must-haves that will make or break it. The following are things that I would personally like to see before the game leaves early release: Ships and carts (not just boats or mine-carts). These would make trading complete. VS has limited character inventory space, it would only make sense to allow these methods of transporting goods and players. VS also encourages the player to set up mines in different locations, and carts/ships would just make the travel between mines more immersive and convenient. It think if done right, full sized ship mechanics would REALLY set VS apart from other voxel games, especially if paired with immersive NPC economics. If ships are a thing, perhaps a crew could be too. Random lore. I really hate the idea of having premade lore in VS. I think this game should put no chips in a pre-made story. I strongly suggest that lore be generated with each world, instead of trying to come up with a single setting. A story written by the authors of the game will fizzle out after a while, and serve as no more than an obstacle for those who want to deviate in their own server setting. However, lore generated uniquely for each new world ensures that the sense of mystery and the wish for discovery never cease to be present. Creating lore algorithms may be a bit of a challenge, but it's possible and it leaves us with a system that can leave all the focus on developing game mechanics. Character customization. I think Seraphs are an interesting idea, but I strongly believe that allowing players to be humans will be a simple change that will appease MANY people. I personally like to be something familiar; having an alter-ego that someone personally created can only enhance the experience. Jewel crafting, strategic/economic metagame, player managed NPCs that replace automation (mentioned briefly above), mythological creatures and deeper combat are some of the things I think would make the game feel truly complete.

Vintage Story Player name: Bloodwyn Age: 20 Time Zone: Rome Do you agree to follow the server rules?: Yes