Broccoli Clock

While I agree with you, this was "forced" upon me due to the vanilla textures, for example zinc.. When taken in isolation, increased in resolution, and placed on a white background it's still difficult to tell the difference. In lower light, perhaps dealing with everything else that mining throws at you, and presumably in a hurry to dig and get out of there, that lack of contrast is a real killer. It's weird too as the game leans into accessibility regarding the wire frame, but not for very very similar textures. Sure, you say, use the tool tooltip to inform you, but it really should not require that. There will be some who have played this game enough to instinctively spot a zinc block amongst granite at 50 paces, that isn't me. If VS did something to make those textures more recognisable, then I'd happily drop the mod, until then it is an essential mod in my library.

I see that was your first post, in a time honoured tradition, have a "hello and welcome to the forums" and a complementary (and entirely fictional) fruit platter to celebrate.

I appreciate the "it works for me" response is not what you want to hear, but.. ..it works for me. Edit: just for reference, there seems to be two different accounts, one for the forums, one for the game, are you being kicked out from a user/password error or is it just not serving you the page at all.

I hope I'm reading your comment right but borax is borax in the game, the block will show borax in the tool tip at the top at the top of the screen. It can appear on the surface which suggests a vein directly below that area (perhaps 5 or 6 blocks deep) much like the surface deposits of copper. It can also be found deep in the ground too. A prospecting pick will show it if it's present, amongst the items it lists. Here is the wiki entry: https://wiki.vintagestory.at/Borax And this is what it looks like in vanilla geology: https://wiki.vintagestory.at/Borax#/media/File:Borax-in-rocks.png Not sure if you use mods or not, but I find JuicyOres an absolute god send, it really makes those ores "pop out" against standard rocks: https://mods.vintagestory.at/juicyores

This is Todd Howard we are talking about, and sure corporate shenanigans will always take precedence (..all hail the orphan crushing machine!), if he cannot force through a passion project that he's talked about for decades then it's pretty much over for Bethesda. It's more than that though, people assumed that Starfield has always been worked on, there were constant rumours and hints towards that, but ultimately it turns out it had the standard 2 year development cycle and ended up the vague meh-ness it is now. Rinse and repeat with ES6.

I know this is all going off topic but there isn't a snowball in hell's chance that Bethesda pulls a rabbit out of hat with ES6 (if it ever arrives, although it will because.. you know.. money). You only need to look at Starfield. Howard was at pains to say he wanted this as his magnum opus, it was the game he wanted to make, an elder scrolls in space. Yet you'd think they've been developing the title over the many years since he said that, but no.. what arrived was a cookie cutter game, limited in scope, and with dialogue that feels it was either written in a hurry to match the deadline or written by AI. I'm not a fan of fantasy games, certainly not as the main meal, although I can take it as a side dish. That said even I play Skyrim, both vanilla and (heavily!) modded. It really goes to show just how well Bethesda landed with that one. I wouldn't be expecting lightening to strike twice.

You've probably watched as many, or perhaps more, blind playthroughs, and "thanks" to Minecraft the crafting square is immediately accessible to the user such is the influence of its meta. Now on one hand, I do think it's good to move away from what it represents and replace it with a far more interactive experience, and I also have this feeling that if someone gets so annoyed by no crafting square they quit then hell mend them, but onboarding is a tough gig and I do worry if that will be another pressure point, considering interaction like that will happen very early on in the game. There is a famous tweet regarding bear proof garbage bins in US national parks, where the average bear intelligence is higher than the lowest intelligent visitor. Whether that's an urban myth or not, not sure, but it's a great analogy for approaching the likely intelligence of your user base and how likely they'll work shit out before crashing out.

Those are all rookie numbers, you need to pick those right up!

I had assumed PG was aiming for the same audience as Hytale, so that's my bad. A TES-eque game in a VS engine would hit YT hard though, possibly overshadowing VS itself. There is such a clamour for ES6, while Bethesda keeps cranking out another reskin of Skyrim, and voxel games are definitely getting a bit of a revival. I think mostly down to the tech, things like Teardown show what is possible these days.

I'm guessing of all the mooted changes, the introduction of footstep sounds for the bear is not one people will complain about!

From what I've learnt of how the game is actually built (and I'm no expert btw although I am a dev and have built large code bases in C#), it seems lots is technically feasible. They don't look like they've painted themselves into a corner. I've seen it with many games over the years where they develop for the intended release rather than develop for intended possibilities. Time, resources and money are always the most malignant of influences though.. Fingers crossed though, it is heartening to hear the intent is to remove the crafting square. It's a meta that is useful, but not very haptic considering the game leans into that with certain elements (smelting, chiselling, clay forming, etc).

Is anyone's build ever truly finished. For those who don't know I'm Scottish and we have the Forth Bridge (it's well known, you'll prob spot it from the linked image) and it was so long that when you finished painting it, you literally went to the other end and started painting it again. The phrase "like painting the Forth Bridge" is synonymous with a never ending task. That, that is how I see everyone's base. After you finish that final flourish of some figurehead on your roof, or chiselled that elegant staircase, you'll stand back and go... "you know, that's lovely, but what if I just added...." Surprised you manage to suffer the game long enough.. (obvs, just a joke at your 'strict preferences' .. )

Less that, rather the large chunk that Steam takes. Don't get me wrong, I feel Steam provides a lot, from user support to promotion to centralised updating and version management but it's expensive. I don't want to piss on your parade here, but your initial argument was MSFS got a boost from being on Steam. The charts show a different story. I mean I think you are right, btw, flight sims are a fairly niche genre, and one that is gatekept behind a paywall. The game, the controllers, the DLC, it all racks up. MSFS is not a game for the masses, it's the select few that can afford all that stuff. I suppose that's the same for many sim genres. Things like iRacing require a considerable investment in both hardware and software just to get onto a competitive grid. The interesting thing, and it's probably just unfortunate that you chose them as examples, but each of those titles; PZ, MSFS, and ETS, have all had quite difficult development cycles (all for differing reasons too!) and I just don't think they should be the benchmark to judge <insert game here> introduction onto Steam. That said, I don't think we disagree on this, I think we all accept that if Tyron, et al, decided to throw this up onto steam then it would gain a lot of traction just from the mere fact of being on Steam. I wouldn't say this for GoG, and I'd certainly not say that for Epic which is where software goes to die. Yeah, even though it has a terrible name (..yes, fight me on that!) and an even more terrible logo (..my fists are still raised, come at me!) there is no doubt it has cemented its legacy, for now at least. I do think some traction will come from things like Hytale, and perhaps Project Glint if it's attracting the same Hytale audience, but it's the old "you can lead a horse to water" adage. In a sort of related situation, I've played DayZ since the mod days (I'm terrible despite having 10k+ hours in it), but I prefer a specific type of DayZ experience. 1PP (as opposed to 3PP), a vanilla or lightly modded community server, and the classic maps. With DayZ being an online game you need others on that server to make it feel alive and competitive, but fewer players enjoy that stripped down realism vibe, the servers with lots of modded OP guns all over the place, no nerfs for carry weight or sprinting, lots of map additions adding more loot locations, those are the servers that are full. To continue my previous analogy, I've led people to my particular type of water and they just don't want to drink. That's why, imo, things like Hytale will get all the attention, because it's flashy and sparkly and immediately rewarding, rather than a struggle from the start fighting against hunger, climate and disease as you do in VS (or the sort of DayZ server I prefer).

Just bear in mind this is a game that has panning. Purely anecdotally, I'd find it fun, but then I'm one of those that enjoy similar things in real life!

The problem is streaming/promotion has changed drastically over the decade(+), nowadays you need something to catch the eye. Now, for me I think that things like the amazing chiselled builds would be enough to temp the Minecraft creative lot, but when there a low attention span and a high bar for engagement I just feel that niche games as you refer to them suffer in that system. Now, if money was thrown at promotion, that would probably move the dial. As for it being "THE" reason, it's not the sole contributor, but it certainly has a big factor. That's purely subjective though. For example, I knew nothing about Hytale, yet found out about VS from YouTube. To be honest, I could easily forget Hytale straight away as (imo) it looks awful, but here's the thing I accept I am an outlier, the inconvenient fact is a YT short of a kwai deer will bring more eyes on to Hytale than just about any other content from VS. That's just the way the Internet works, frustratingly. I absolutely wouldn't! Ooft, that's a whole dissertation of an answer. There is a multitude of reasons why those particular games gained traction. MSFS is effectively a AAA title, that is supported by the massive marketing budget Microsoft has, it's on Steam but it's numbers are terrible.. https://steamcharts.com/app/2537590 meanwhile ETS is so niche they literally had to create their own competition in ATS! As for PZ, it's been cemented into the psyche of the survival genre almost more for their development hell than the gameplay. It's a meme in itself. There are solid reasons not to push to Steam, some are control based, some are financial, but one of them counter intuitively that it may damage development. I would presume VS has been incrementally increasing its playerbase over the years, although I don't have the stats to back that up, however a sudden influx of players can offset the current balance within the community. Putting it on Steam would likely open a bit of the flood gates, and that's not always the best option in a development cycle. What I will say, is that I agree with your premise that financing streamers/promotion and shifting to Steam would greatly increase the uptake of the game. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for VS to get more coverage, and I do my best to support streamers with likes and comments (when they deserve it, of course!), but I also know that in terms of mainstream it's never going to vibe in the way the other block games do. I think just now, it's good for VS to be included in the pantheon of enjoyable voxel based survival games. I think the audience will come, it'll just be organic rather than forced.

You have to look at the type of game it is, and that probably explains the lack of hype (compared to other titles). Hytale's protracted launch to alpha is a perfect example. It has flashy cutsie graphics, it's not realistic and leans heavily into magic. The mining/construction (at this point) is very simple. Yet, the hype is considerable. Sure, you have to factor in that people thought the game was dead, and it's resurrection brought eyes on, but it is a far more approachable game than VS. Now to be fair, that's why I like VS. I am not someone who spent a lot of time in Minecraft, I find it too simple. That said without things like Create or TFCraft it's unlikely VS would exist in the first place. I think VS appeals to a very specific type of player, and while mods expand that user base it's just not as "friendly" as its peers. You could onboard new players a little better, but you don't want to water down the obvious survival aspect of the game, which I believe (although I could be wrong) is the primary focus for Tyron, et al. Now the flip side is that while the user base for a "more awkward game" is less broad than its competitors, it will result in it being quite deep and the modding/community demonstrates that. In short, VS isn't flashy, or cute, or fast paced enough for the general streamer ecosystem to vibe with it mainstream.

As you know, that interests me. I think I've collected about 30-40 different variants, but as we both know that's a drop in the ocean.

Thanks, I'll amend the list as all the other stuff is vanilla specific. As you can probably tell from its inclusion, I have used BR before but find them too unbalanced compared to vanilla, albeit some of the builds are fucking lovely. Yeah, I had thought about compiling a list and when I did it was like Smashmouth (...they don't stop comin'), but you are right that quite a lot of those things are incidental to most people's playthrough. I should probably produce some steel if only to get chromium so I can get the best backpack, and steel itself is obviously more durable so it would make sense for my tools. They aren't really needed though, and as for the more advanced alcohol brewing until they balance out the intake versus the negative effect I just see no benefit (or at least minimal benefit).

So I play the game for the vibes. I'm not someone who collects tons of resources or makes mega builds. I want to create somewhere cute and cozy, with cuthie interior design, some nice paintings and some chisel work and plant pots. Chickens in the garden, crops in my field, and a bubbling pot making a hearty stew. I'll sit on my balcony and watch the seasons pass. Lovely, just fucking lovely. However, considering the amount of time I've had in the game (I bought it about a year ago, 1.20) there are some major milestone things I've simply not got round to, and to keep the suspense I'm going to put it into a spoiler... Jinkies, that's quite the list, and it makes you wonder just what the f*ck I am actually doing all this time I've spent in game. Vibing in the answer, but equally I'm not goal oriented, I'm too scatter brained and absent minded to do that, but there's some notables on that list that even I'm surprised with. Over to you. You don't need to provide a list like I did, or even mention the hours played (I did so not for the glaze, but just to demonstrate I've had more than enough time to do all of these things, several times over!). What is on your "to-do" list?

Thanks, I have actually seen that before. If it was just for the weaving action itself, yeah that would probably scratch that itch. It's quite surface level though, and that isn't a single drop of shade being thrown, well done to the mod maker, but I'd really love the ability to make, for example, tapestries or apparel with a fully implemented weaving mechanic.

Thanks to all that have replied, there definitely seems to be a pattern of people making bad choices in their first playthrough, which is totally understandable. Stability, climate and aggressive mobs are not something first time players are going to be aware of (or if they are, perhaps not to the extent that it'll affect their playthrough).

This is just a guess, but I don't see the devs going down the weaving route. While it fits with the cottage core vibes, you feel it would involve an entire revamp of all the clothing in the game. We have tons of variants out there, admittedly most of them gatekept behind ruins/Resonance, and have a way of repairing them. It's a head/heart thing, my heart wishes for it to be included, by head looks at the amount of work involved and accepts that a full weaving mechanic would be akin to asking for the Moon on a stick. Now, just as fauna alone, I still welcome them. I've followed games that have developed over decades, like this one, and you can look back in their develop to times when the norm was not questioned because it was the norm, whereas the modern implementation makes those versions look positively lacking in content. The lack of birds, for example, is a glaring omission imo. No shade being thrown, and we obviously have chickens, but anyone who spent even a short time "out in the wild" will know that birds are not only a constant but add so much to the visual and aural impact. In that sense, I'm all for as many new animals as possible being added. I get that there are mods that do that already, but other than QoL mods I'm less keen to add extra content because it is rarely balanced in the way the vanilla game is.

I'm absolutely here for all the extra flora and fauna. The fish, the new boars, the new flowers and now some sheep, superb! It would be lovely if the sheep introduced wool, requiring a whole set of cottage core loveliness, such as a spinning wheel and loom. OMG, a loom with the same level of detail you can get from the chisel. Damn.. it won't happen but custom made clothes would be amazing.

I think it's great that there are those accessibility options, but they do seem a little limited. Perhaps they are specifically tailored to common colourblind conditions, but even without me suffering such a thing I find I have to change the wireframe colour/width based on what shape, colour and light level I am clay forming or iron smelting in.

Walking before you can run. The game is still in active development with changes and additions and bug fixes being made regularly. Such an all encompassing tool would end up having to reflect that. I definitely do not believe this should be a focus for the devs, but I don't speak for them, far better option would be a community created editor, that way the devs can concentrate on the game first and foremost.