Bruno Willis

Seems like it could be a very low-level Jonas tech: something which was hoped would stave of the rot, and does... at the cost of making the thing inedible and functionally useless. It could be cheap for Jonas tech, and basic to make, requiring mid-game rather than late game metallurgy. It'd be nice to have a few more uses for Jonas tech, and I feel like V.S. gains a lot from offering sub-optimal uses for the things you've gathered.

I think if a chiseled block has less than half a block of voxels, it can be waterlogged. You'd still end up with a square toilet that way though. Using coloured glass over a blue-ish stone might work? You could also put the water level quite low. I hear that in the U.S. toilet water levels are really high, but in my country the water level in the toilet is pretty low, so the water would be in shadow anyway.

I agree. I'm also a fan of giving the post-apocalyptic aspects more love, so I like the idea of finding broken glassware in ruins and knapping it into brittle knives. Probably not practical, but cool.

Fair, I'm not being very sympathetic. It is a real pain when you can't find clay, and not being able to progress sucks. I don't think this is an issue with clay though. I think having a few other progression routes would help a tone. Imagine if animal domestication were not tied behind copper saws? Especially if wolf taming were implemented, with all that entails. Or if weaving were implemented seriously, and was accessible without clay (but became much more do-able mid-late game). If weaving had a learning curve, you could get into that if clay was evading you. I think the best bet though would be to have some exploration and travel based tech that isn't locked behind clay, which you can get good at using, and which will probably help you explore and find clay (and other useful and interesting things too). Shoe making? Walking sticks? (there's a mod for them) Travois and wolves? Coracles on the water? They'd all help you anyway, but make finding clay more fun and easier. As is, I'll admit, there isn't that much to do to improve your situation except hunt for clay.

There is a progression tree which requires you to have clay, sure. But the game isn't about chugging through a progression tree, it's about setting up to survive winter, then getting ready and getting into the story. When I can't find clay, that means no cooking pot and no storage vessels through crafting. I think about my goals before winter: garden, house, food supply. I'll do hunting runs, looking for seeds (and clay), and I'll get my garden sorted. If I still don't have clay I'll improve my home base, keep looking for seeds (and clay), and get some bear armor and an improvised shield to start surviving fights. Then if I still don't have clay I'll go looking for caves (and clay) and run through the caves. You never know: you can find cooking pots, bowls, storage vessels, even little bits of clay in ruins. If you do manage to get set up from looting ruins, I guarantee you'll find a big deposit of clay right next to your base the following day. The point is not to obsess over tech progression to the detriment of game progression. There are other useful things to do. Think of it as a challenge run.

I feel like smaller birds shouldn't be interactable, but they should still mean something. Bigger birds, like chickens, mean something because they're interactable to get meat and feathers and eggs. Smaller birds / simulated high in the sky birds, could mean something because of what they signal. Smaller birds could gather in noisy bunches around berry bushes and fruit trees when they ripen. Gulls could wheel over the ocean in greater numbers when the fishing is good. I think it'd be really useful to use small simulated birds to signal useful things instead of being something 'useful' in themselves. Let's be honest, no-one's going out there hunting finches when there are fat, juicy pigs sleeping under the same trees.

The idea that a player might actually see a kiwi in game though... I don't know. They're extremely stealthy night birds. They make blood-curdling sounds though, so they'd fit right in with V.S.

My favorite world so far was one I didn't find clay in for many, many hours. I think 3 days of playing. I also had a total of 10 cat-tails on the land-mass I was on. I had to invest a huge amount of time exploring, gathering seeds, building, doing any other task, and at the end of it I really understood my area, and really knew where was the best spot for a long-term base. And it turned out a huge deposit of clay was 10 blocks away from my main garden the whole time. This game isn't about rushing progression. Take your time, if there's no clay, focus on something else. It'll be there, and you'll see it as soon as you stop looking.

For sure, but it needs to be done in a way which doesn't tax the game too heavily. What birds can be visual + audio simulations with no substance (no hitboxes, etc.) and which have to be actual models? This would add so much more to different locations. Is the sea even a sea if it's not filled with the hungry screams of seagulls?

Welcome to the forums! I agree with everything here so much. On birds specifically, I really like the idea of high up V formation birds that you never interact with, they're so high up. They could have close up versions: proper modeled geese, which would waddle round on the ground, and fly about occasionally in little, low V formations to suggest that they're the same creatures as the simple 2D sprites which are essentially set dressing. Those birds in the high sky would add so much to the game. V shaped birds in the sky could even be seasonally determined. The geese fly south overhead every autumn, and back again in spring. I've harped on before about small birds which are just simple 2D sprites, ideally linked with naturally generating nests (generating on cliff crags and in trees). The birds would just fly around in a bird-like way, like how bees work, but with fewer, bigger particles, and a wider, and especially higher, range. They'd also contribute that all important birdsong the game is missing. I'd love it if they reproduced, naturally and gradually, and if you could encourage wild birds to nest in places (maybe by leaving a nesting box unattended in a high location?)

I think the issue is that I don't associate bee keeping with mining, but sometimes I have to go dig up a bunch of clay to make new skeps. It feels a bit odd. I would also like alternative, longer term options for bee keeping, or even to use excess wax instead of clay as an alternative recipe for the existing skeps.

I love just gradually adding useful things to my base as I focus on progression. A path here, a berry patch there... maybe I should smooth this bit into a terrace with these useless bits of dirt clogging my inventory. Before I know it I've got a functionally and attractive home that I never want to leave, when all I wanted was a stopping off point to get going with the copper age.

Compared to your spear, your club will feel useless, but don't let anyone tell you shields are bad. They're the best. They don't slow you down, they don't cost much metal, and they can save your life when ranged foes show up.

If only forest had some way of regenerating naturally

From the brief glance I've had, Hytale seems to be able to produce quite large underground structures, which I believe are in the plan for vintage story? The Hytale ones seem to have some issues blending with natural generation, but the design principles are really cool: narrow ledges generating to cross gaps, natural and unnatural bridges, etc. They seem to have put more thought into what it would feel like to move through their underground spaces than V.S. has? Probably they're interested in making underground spaces which are deliberate, fun to explore spaces, where V.S. is aiming for realistic, risky to explore spaces. In that case I'd like to see V.S. leaning more into cave generation which matches real world caves: more narrow cuts and low roofed, angled passages that follow the geological layers, sinkholes with water at the bottom of them. I think giving caves a re-vamp that says either "these are fun to explore but unrealistic", or "these are risky and realistic and not meant for people" would really help V.S. The current caves still have some The Other Block Game vibes, and feel like placeholders to me. For V.S. I'd borrow the idea of ledges: could we have a sort of stone ledge (essentially a chiseled stone) which generates in ridges occasionally, in the same way cracked stone generates, but only on exposed stone. That way you'd occasionally get narrow ways to edge around a sinkhole to get to the cave on the other side. It'd also add just a little bit more detail to cliff walls, and could be a great place for sea-birds to perch... I also liked the look of being able to grab onto the top of a two high wall and pull yourself up. That could be a nice addition for V.S. (Although I carry rope ladders everywhere for this purpose, and that's a fun gameplay mechanic too) Hytale's birds looked good for Hytale, very cartoony and cute, and do not look like the sorts of birds V.S. should have. I image birds for V.S. would either be unobtrusive particle-like gatherings which make nice bird sounds, or be deliberate, fast creatures which have nests and sources of food, and swoop between them, or wheel way above in the sky. And really, both methods would be good for V.S. the first for small birds and song birds, and the second for large and hunting birds.

Welcome to the forums! I get it, I've been subsisting almost entirely on mushroom stew in my current colder start playthrough, and it can get desperate when you don't have compatible numbers of mushrooms. I think the current slot system is good and simple, but I way I could see to implement this would be "dicing." Basically, you put all your different mushrooms in the crafting grid with a knife and get "diced mushroom" which can be used as generic mushroom which stacks. Same with other vegies. (Double points if you could put the mushrooms on a flat surface together and then right click them with a knife to dice them). Diced mushrooms and vegies would have a much faster spoil rate. Mashed fruit could work in the same way. It would be nice to use those last few scraps in a decent meal.

Sticky dirt mod + turning on soil sideways instability! it makes the game feel so much more realistic and risky, but the mountains don't just collapse everywhere. Can't play without it.

This would make bees less effective and more interesting to keep, as well as making the world feel more alive. I like it.

I would love to see storms in the oceans as a unique challenge with its own mechanics: I.e. actually being lifted up and dumped down by big waves, boats filling with water, lightening shattering masts occasionally, and the possibility of being dashed against rocks. I don't know how this could be done, as it seems like it would require a different system from what is currently used to program waves, and it would require ships to have 'health' and need repairs, which might be more trouble than it's worth. Still, ocean navigation needs more excitement and challenge.

This is really interesting as well because taming a single wolf could happen relatively early in your game - an early intro into animal husbandry, where domesticating takes many generations. I love the idea that a tame animal is still a dangerous one if not fed regularly. That fits right in with how scary semi-domesticated big horns are, and makes the idea of keeping wolves so much more exciting. They're still wolves, they should still be scary! It'd also be really neat to see your crazy friend taming wolves and always stressing about providing enough meat for them, and getting devoured every now and then, until one day they've domesticated the wolves enough, and they've got lovely loyal dogs.

This is a perfect example of why it would be worth re-visiting the claim system, to me. Actions like lighting a torch can become huge puzzles in claimed territory, when they really shouldn't be. I think it would be a good idea if the devs tried to make claimed areas a bit less restrictive as early as possible, because it has such an impact on future area design, whether they decide it has to stay as is, or if it changes. I feel like playing in claimed areas is a different game with different rules to the rest of gameplay - a fun game, but a different one. My concern is that this issue gets forgotten because you can get used to it, learn the rules of how to function in claimed areas, and it no-longer feels like an issue. The thing is, it can be really off-putting to new players, and still makes gameplay less immersive for everyone, even if you've gotten used to it. This'd be a lovely little fix. I feel like V.S. does a great job at saying "yes that'll work" when you try something that seems logical but sort of niche.

This would work really well for ordinary storms rather than temporal storms. In real life stones slowly work their way out of the ground in pastures, and farmers have to continually gather them up and build walls with them or get rid of them somehow. A storm could wash some of the soil away, bringing up new stones. It could also knock dead branches down from the trees, refreshing the sticks on the ground in forests. I would love it if collecting fallen wood was a legitimate long term strategy. Ordinary storms are a great opportunity to refresh the landscape. For temporal storms, I could imagine rusty spikes and things spawning temporarily on the ground, as well as loose rusty gears rarely? Then they'd fade out in the same way the last few rust foes do at the end of the storm.

While I'm hearing the reasons against these ideas, and I get those reasons, I like that you're looking for non-combat game loops which might put people at risk, exploring the storms and experiencing them, not just hiding or fighting. Having a non-combat reason to expose yourself to the temporal storms would make them so much more fun for me. I've set up a drifter trap in one world, but I set it out quite a way from any of my other structures. I really enjoyed sprinting for the shelter, but the killing and looting afterwards felt cheesy and not fun. I love the idea of weird time things happening which you can exploit if you can survive out in the storm long enough (unlike the less hardy humans). I had the same initial thought as riotmode about ruins becoming whole during temporal storms, and seeing it come up again makes me feel there is something in that idea. I know there are story events which play with this concept really well, but I don't think that's a reason not to implement something like it in normal storms. I think it'd be different enough if ruins occasionally flickered into either their rust-world equivalent or their unbroken original forms, and stayed that way for the duration of the storm. Perhaps it would only happen to some ruins, and never to a ruin you're currently very close to. I also really like the idea of paradox exploitation causing issues too. This is another cool reason to experience the storms instead of just combat. I've proposed neutral rust beasts before, as a different reason to go out into the storms. I like the thought of seeing some strange beings moving across the twisting landscape in the middle distance, and being stupid enough to run over and interact with them. What they'd be, and what they'd do, I'm less sure... On a different note, I'd like to see the storms get a bit more of a folk-horror element to line up with the lore: baby animals born during the storm come out as rust-warped monstrosities (that'd be pretty rare, I'd guess). Stored food would appear to be entirely rotten, and taste like it too during the storm, but then revert back afterwards. Wild animals and traders should hunker down and hide, to show you that you would too if you were wise. For sure. But the storms are cool and it'd be good to have a real reason to experience them which isn't combat. The other side to that would also be the much recommended change where rust-foes don't spawn right inside your house, so you have a reason to use high walls, close the storm shutters and bar your doors. If the negative effects were more interestingly implemented, I think we could get away with a couple of niche positive effects that only a foolhardy seraph would even consider exploiting.

This would be a great direction to go: it'd give all classes stronger identity, make clothing so much more interesting (than any game I've played, come to think of it), and make tailors the go-to trader, which seems fitting. Imagine how fun it'd be as a malefactor if the traders just straight up refuse to show their wares, until you can loot some less dodgy clothes, or how fun it'd be as a tailor if everyone's fawning over your perfect condition noble robes.

I think this is a good point: the game doesn't feel very uncompromising when it comes to weather exposure, which makes clothing less impactful than it is in reality. I think giving textile production and weaving the complexity it deserves could also help the tailor. Perhaps also being able to add pockets to clothing would help give them more of an identity? Extra slots of storage stitched into the lining of their clothes.