Thalius

Am I the only one that finds it odd that clay, peat, all types of stone, as well as many other blocks always break as clumps that need to be reassembled into blocks using some other medium (if they can be reassembled at all); but soil, sand and gravel (which arguably should be the least likely to hold together when broken), all break as solid, place-able blocks? I could wish that soil, sand, and gravel also broke as clumps that would need to be managed in some way to be usable as building blocks if so desired, just as with any other medium. Trees breaking as blocks that can be placed and built with immediately is about the only one that makes logical sense, along with stone blocks that have been intentionally quarried out to keep them whole. No complaints here. Love the game, and I know it is developing. Just had some thoughts on soil that have been nagging me for a while. ~TH~

My vote was also for the homesteading update to come with 1.15 for reasons that many have already stated. I'd vote for the Lovecraftian update to follow that (really wish there were more dangers and challenges in the world to deal with, ruins to explore, and really looking forward to seeing the story/lore to unfold in the game), followed closely by a combat update. Any of the other options rank the same for me after these three. Might I offer that as part of the homesteading update, there is some form of fishing added to the game, and possibly some form of snare/traps for small animals? Even if it is fish traps or trot-lines/limb-lines? We don't need to see fish in the lakes/ocean yet, but it would be nice to find value in bodies of water other than just for reed collecting. I added the primitive survival mod just for these two thing mainly, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Some aspects of that mod are a little over powered for my taste, but still, it has added a small element to VS that I've felt has been missing for a long while.

I like the idea of a temporal storm specific mob(s), but what you describe just sounds like a VS version of the enderman from Minecraft. I'd like to see something original and challenging, and much less Minecrafty. As for painting- would love to see that make it into the game. Use the microchiseling feature with a paintbrush, but instead of chiseling microblocks, color them.

Is this modpack updated to the version 1.7.1 yet?

I have been doing a little thinking on this topic and wanted to put some ideas on the board. May I suggest three different options that would be tailored to three different levels of difficulty in the game? On easy mode, no items are dropped from hotbar or inventory when you die, including armor and equipped weapons. Easy mode is supposed to be for those who want a less challenging, more laid-back game experience anyway. Or perhaps inventory items are dropped in a bag that does not de-spawn, but you still have to return to pick them up. Hotbar items remain in the hotbar. On normal mode, items in the hotbar are kept upon dying, as well as armor and equipped weapons, but inventory items are dropped and de-spawn within a few minutes. Create a skill set to which players can allocate points acquired on level up that increase the amount of time before dropped items de-spawn. On hard mode, all items are dropped and de-spawn fairly quickly. Allow use of same skill set available in normal mode to increase the time before item de-spawn. My main point in suggesting hotbar, armor and weapon items be allowed to remain with the player unless difficulty level is on hard is this: I imagine the creation of good weapons and armor through forging and alchemy processes in the game will be both challenging and rewarding, and take time. It will make exploration over long distances frustrating on certain levels if items that have large amounts of time and resources invested in them can be so easily lost. Allowing hotbar and equipped items to remain while inventory items are dropped is a suggested compromise between keeping or losing everything. Just some thoughts...

Ugh... "It's taken me like, not even half a game day to get back here! Where did all my diamond armor go!!! Diamonds last forever, right!?! ...Arrrrggg!!!" Can we link the de-spawning of gear to the hardest difficulty setting or something? ?

I say you drop a bag or backpack containing items upon death, and it does not de-spawn. If additional bags are carried to increase inventory, those are dropped as well. Items in hot bar are strewn around on ground and do not de-spawn either, or perhaps are damaged from weathering over long periods of time laying out on the ground. Damage would not occur to items held in bags.

Foundations are important things, and the opening story would be a kind of cornerstone upon and against which all other "stones" in the story are placed to construct the whole. SO... Setting some perimeters in my thinking based on what you shared. Let me know if I am off on any of this....... -We are looking at our world emerging from the darkness in the time before our grandparent's age. Implication is that it is new, but enough people have come before us that there is knowledge that has been gained that we can seek out from our ancestors who were the first in this new world, ancestors that were the first to struggle against the darkness. I assume these bits of wisdom will be found in "lore" hidden in the game. Many games do books or scrolls- I had the idea that perhaps there are pages scattered through the world; lore that was lost that can be collected and reassembled to an original manuscript? Perhaps manuscripts can be found with pages missing? -A reference to a "protector light" that went dim. Implication is that there was light at some point before the darkness, a light that was meant to protect. What? Who? Mankind? Who put it there? And Bearfirth witnessed the failing of the light and the darkness that then consumed everything. -She survived the dark, and in spite of the despair and hopelessness around her she dared to dream of light and life, and her dreams sprang into reality around her as she slept. (A minor point- in your story at that point you say: "One day...", but there was only darkness. Day implies light, but there was none. I envision one long, endless, merciless, all consuming night.) But the darkness came for her at the end of that day, and she fled into the earth- and found a being with the power to give her, in the face of all hopelessness, the strength to oppose the evil in the darkness. A madness, you called it, and I think that was great. I'm drawing a few conclusions in my next comments based on this part of the story- There is a conflict between the light and the dark. Conflict may be too strong a word, but there is a tension, at the least, and the darkness wants to consume the light. (That is the nature of darkness, after all..) The darkness may be simply a force of nature with no will of it's own, but evil has made it it's home, as evil always prefers to dwell in the dark, and those beings want into our world as well, our realm. (Dimension sounds to Mine-crafty). There are beings that tried to keep the darkness from consuming our world, but they failed. Their power failed, for one reason or another, and their protector light died, and the darkness came for us... and for them as well. For them light was life, and they could no longer hold back the darkness. Their time was coming to an end. One of our ancestors persevered in the darkness, however: Bearfirth, the first of us. The beings saw this, saw her heart and her stubborn courage and took compassion on her, and with the last of their power they made a decision- rather than trying to delay their inevitable passing, they took what remained of their power and merged it with her spirit, and in their dying gave up the last of their power to pushed back the dark one last time- and made her the keeper of the light, her and all of mankind who would listen to what she would be shown. In her flight from the darkness that first night she encountered the last of the beings; I would guess not an accident, the being found her in her flight from the darkness. she called it a god, and she was given knowledge, and a gift, a madness that would give her the strength to oppose the darkness in the face of all odds. And so she returned to the surface, and fought the darkness, and the evil in it, and called out across the land to the others that she knew were hiding in the hidden places of this world. When they came to her she taught them, and in their fellowship together she passed onto them what she had been given. They called her the Keeper of the Sun, and she was- but so were they all now. In their striving against the darkness the day would always find them... as long as they persevered. ------ What I feel is left from all of that is that our world is one where there is a tension between the light and the dark, almost as if there had been a great conflict between powerful forces that are gone now, and we find ourselves living in the midst of the consequences of their struggle. The beings of light- the "gods" are gone, we hold the light now. The darkness is a force of nature with no will of it's own, but creatures and beings who love the night thrive in the darkness as we thrive in the light. They use the darkness to their advantage and shun the day. If it had not been for the gift that Bearfirth had been given, then the evil and the darkness would have our world for themselves as well. Instead they have us to contend with, and the darkness is held at bay. In this story there never will be an end to the conflict, and so there is never really a conclusion to the game- and with a game like this one there should not be. There is only the struggle against the dark, and the better we learn and develop our skills, the better we can oppose the darkness and the evil that lives in it. If a way were to be found where one can enter into the realm of eternal shadow, who knows what knowledge could be found to better aid our struggle against the dark in our own world? And here is a crazy thought- If our will and our influence is strong enough in the realm of darkness, will we bring the light there as well...? I could imagine a realm of unending shadow, with no day. With enough time there, however, and after accomplishing some objectives, a new day begins to dawn. Brief at first, but which lengthens as we begin to conquer parts of it- clear dungeons, defeat boss-type enemies, colonize a percentage of it, etc... The larger our "footprint" the longer the day becomes... None of this would be known early on in the game. The player would have to pursue the story- its implications, rumors of lore and lost knowledge and such and piece it all together. Just some thoughts....

Greetings... Luk- for what it is worth, I think it is a good beginning! Not discounting what the others have offered, but I think what you have come up with so far is a good starting place. Personally I like a good story that hides just out of sight in the background of the game. Those who choose to search it out find a deeper side to the game, and (hopefully) find rewards as they seek out the deeper lore hiding out there somewhere... Treasure, dungeons, magic- nothing overpowered, but special little bonuses for those who choose to engage in that part of the game or for those who accidentally happen to come across some of those things while trying to ignore the story. I imagine all of this lore will exist in small pieces found in books that show up in the game at random? Also, as I read over what you have written, it sounds like the nights are supposed to be fearsome things! I envision the drifters already in game, wraiths, ghouls and other creepy crawlers that nightmares are made of, all slithering out of some other dimension held at bay only by the light of day. Or perhaps the daytime and our world are the anomaly? Light and life springing out of the darkness, and the darkness is always trying to reclaim it? Begs a story of a way to enter into another dimension of shadow- a realm of constant darkness where the evil dwells, which seeps into our world during the dark of night. One who is brave and fearsome enough to venture into that realm would face great challenges and death... and perhaps find great power as well?? A way even to hold the darkness at bay around his dwelling in our world??? If one can come to understand the darkness, perhaps one can learn to control it as well...