Topics

1

Suggestions / Working with water in winter

« on: May 04, 2023, 07:16:56 PM »

Anyone who has had to work with water in cold climes will know that it's a bit of a bitch.

I suggest that tasks involving water that are not performed in a cabin should make one quite a bit colder and greatly increase the risk of frostbitten hands.  This would add a bit of value to containers where the player has access to a cabin, and force players cleaning or rinsing hides outdoors in winter to make a fire next to them in order to avoid frostbite.

If implemented; it may be an idea to give a player an idea of how long a task is going to take in the message box before he starts, so he has an idea of how big a fire he needs to make.  Actually this should be done anyway, I presume it's easy to code and with some mods I forget if a task will take half an hour or six hours     

2

General Discussion / Three years in the Unreal World

« on: April 26, 2023, 09:21:21 PM »

For the first time, I have a character who has completed 1095 days without dying!  Three years!  To celebrate, I am buying everyone a barrel of kotikalja posting about it here.  My iron-age Finn is a Kaumo, and at 191cm and 101kgs an absolute unit.  He's great at everything, although a little bit deaf.  Three stars for every skill, and over three years they have developed like this:

Lore & Craft Skills


Agriculture   00%   17%  Seems to be only sowing that raises this.
Building           15%   42%  Built 3 cabins and a lot of fences!
Cookery      60%   93%  A mix of all cooking styles.
Herblore           30%   98%  Quite a bit of grinding involved here!
Fishing      60%   60%  Hardly done any fishing so no surprise.
Hideworking   90% 100% Lots of skins and furs tanned.
Timbercraft   15%   92%  See above about building cabins and fences.
Physician           75%   78%  Lots of wounds healed, on dogs and allies too.
Trapping           80%   83%  Traps only used to protect homes and crops.
Tracking           70%   99%  Includes 20% from game course.
Weatherlore   00%   46%  Grind, grind, and more grind!
Textilecraft   80%   84%  Lots of repairing looted clothing.
Carpentry           85%   88%  Making stuff.  Lots of stuff.


Physical Skills


Skiing      30%   100% Skiing on zoomed in map raises this faster.
Stealth      60%   100% Practise this around trapped birds etc..
Climbing           15%   100% Climb fences.  Lots of fences.
Swimming           00%   100% Careful here, cold or fatigue will drown you.


Combat Skills


Dodge      75%   81%  Try to find an angry badger to help with this.
Shield      00%   00%  I use a bow or a battleaxe.
Knife              35%   38%  A guy lost in the forest gifted me the rise.
Sword      00%   00%  Axes FTW.
Club              95%   96%  Lobbing rocks at squirrels.
Axe              95%   99%  Good at slicing people and bonking animals.
Flail              00%   00%  Silly weapon.
Spear      90%   91%  Great weapon until you get a good bow.
Bow              85%   100% Masterwork longbow.  It's like having a rifle.
Crossbow           00%   00%  Never seen the point.
Unarmed      30%   36%  Kicking trapped birds in the head.

I started in summer as hurt, helpless and afraid, as far to the north east as I could get.  The first year was as a hermit on the far north eastern coast, using only stone and wood for weapons and tools.  Furs and leather are not enough for a winter up there, I was going hypothermic and getting frostbite all the time.  I decided for the second year to return to civilisation, and get myself some nice warm woolly undies.  I built a cabin between two large marshes, and hunted and traded.  The third year has been dedicated to expunging the scourge of the Njerps, and thus far it's going very well.  I've destroyed all their villages, but I am still finding camps of warriors.

EDIT:  Apologies for the formatting, I have tried and failed to fix it

3

Bug reports / Seeds looted from Njerp villages have "Taken" tag

« on: April 24, 2023, 07:36:16 PM »

I have been gleefully genociding the Njerps and have noticed that when I loot their stuff, bags and baskets of seeds often have the "Taken" tag that denotes them as stolen.  I suppose that technically they are stolen, though their former owners were in no state to raise any objections!

I think it's a bug as other stuff I loot does not have the tag, just seeds and then only about half of them.  The other weird bit is that after a month or two in my cellar, the "Taken" tag disappears.

Anyone seen similar?

4

Suggestions / Unconscious and Unable To Walk fatigue

« on: February 28, 2023, 02:50:37 AM »

In recent wars against the Njerps I have noted that the ones who lose consciousness regain fatigue while they are sleepy-byes.  I have been knocked out a few times, and I can assure you that you do not awake feeling refreshed.  A severe concussion and maybe some puking is more normal.  I understand that adrenalin kicks in and gets you back in the game, but you are in no way feeling better about things. 

Suggestion:  I think fatigue level should remain as is, or more likely worsen while a creature is unconscious.

My other gripe is watching those with leg wounds and "Unable to walk" recovering fatigue as they drag themselves across the dirt towards me.  Anyone who has crawled knows that it is not really very relaxing.

Suggestion:  Creatures with "Unable to walk" should incur a fatigue penalty when they move.

 

5

Solved'n'fixed bug reports / [Fixed - persists in 3.72.2] Animals drowning when tied to a tree next to water

« on: February 22, 2023, 12:39:38 AM »

I was attacking a Njerp village, and once I had done for most of them I tied my eight dog meatshield to a tree next to four water tiles in an open mire.  When I came back from clearing the village around an hour later, four of my dogs had drowned.  It seems the dogs left on water tiles drowned, even though many dogs can occupy a single tile if need be.  They preferred to sink gloriously into the swamp than snuggle up. 

Seems a little harsh 

6

Gameplay questions / Find map location from message log?

« on: February 18, 2023, 03:08:29 PM »

I seem to have lost my fleet of cows.  I parked them up somewhere while I went to attack a Njerp village, and now I can't remember where.

In the message log I can see that I tied them to a tree, and there is an alpha-numeric code for the entry.  Can I use this code to find the map location, or do I just have to keep looking?

7

Bug reports / [3.72#2 Win 10 Steam] Cannot drop duplicated leash on cow

« on: February 17, 2023, 07:47:57 PM »

Not sure when it happened, but somehow I got a leash on a cow duplicated and I cannot drop the duplicate.  I can tie the cow to a tree and move away, but I still have the duplicate leash on me.  The original leash is a rope, and the duplicate is a leather rope.  I have been raiding the Njerps and using the cows to carry off the loot, and it might have happened when I overloaded them.  Something else to note is that the cow in question was liberated from a Njerp village. 

Save available if required, but from several days after I think the duplicate appeared as it took me a while to notice!

I have the latest version of the BAC mod installed, as well as a portrait mod.

EDIT:  It has just happened again, with a bull this time.  I have a save available.

EDIT 2:  A nasty suspicion is forming that I have now lost all my cows and the bull.  I still have the duplicate leashes stuck in my inventory, the text is red but the names of the cow and bull have now disappeared.  I went to clear out a Njerp village I had raided earlier, with the cows to help carry off my loot.  I tied them to a tree a tile or two from the village then went forward to check there were no Njerps still living.  I was rather surprised to see a Vagabond girl there, and on further investigation the Njerp village had gone, to be replaced by a Vagabond village with a single small kota and a woodsman, woman and the girl I mentioned before in residence.  They are not hostile to me, and on the F6 map it shows as a brown square, denoting it as my settlement.

Can this happen?  A defeated Njerp village switching to Vagabond?  And where the hell are my cows?! 

8

Suggestions / The UrW Anti-RSI Campaign group. ARSI, for short.

« on: January 28, 2023, 01:48:23 AM »

On behalf of struggling iron-age Finns everywhere, I have a couple of suggestions to reduce the risks of RSI and arthritis:

1.  Clothing should be at the bottom of the inventory menu, as I believe it is the thing we make least changes to.  No more scrolling past 25 items of winter clothing to get at the tool.  Though I do understand that getting at one's tool through so many layers of clothing can be time consuming.

2.  Let the examine herbs command apply to all herbs in the inventory, rather than having to herblore each one individually.  I like to have a decent herblore skill, but grinding it is quite literally painful.

3.  A suggestion I made a while ago regarding bow skill on the advanced game course:

"One task of the advanced game course is to increase your archery skill.  Should your character have above average archery skill already, this is a massive pain in the arse - I have just gone through six bowstrings (so about 600 arrows loosed?) which has taken over two days in game and two hours in real time!  T + Enter + Enter, repeat 50 times then go pick up the arrows and repeat, repeat, repeat etc.

It was not fun.

I am aware that the idea is that the player is encouraged to go bow-hunting, and the text for the task makes it seem that you need to be shooting live creatures for it to work.  However, some time ago I learned that shooting into the ground or anything really also work; and I am always impatient to get onto the Great Man of the Forest and Kaumo Furs parts of the course, which are great fun.

I think the task should be changed now that making bows is modelled better:  Make a bow and some arrows, then hit something that's alive with it.  This would still encourage the player to go bow-hunting and teach him how it works, and not leave the players with high archery skill crippled by repetitive strain injuries! "

Anyone else got ideas to reduce keystrokes?

9

Solved'n'fixed bug reports / [Fixed - persists in 3.72 patch #1] Character portrait disappearing

« on: January 09, 2023, 12:03:15 PM »

I have noticed my character portrait going blank now and then - a save and reload fixes it.  I have now pinpointed a cause, which is using the message log [v], then scrolling.  Just opening the message log does not cause the portrait to disappear, but scroll before returning to game and it's gone.

I suspect this has something to do with Sami's recent fix for the portrait showing in the message log screen.

I am using the BAC mod, and ModernNorseman's Portrait Mod - the latter may be causing the issue but I don't think so as it seems to be just a load of .png files as replacers.

Anyone else getting the same problem?

10

Suggestions / Change message log text for eating

« on: January 06, 2023, 07:04:13 PM »

Very small and simple one.

Suggestion:  Change the message log text from "You finish eating some of that **** cut" to "You eat some of that **** cut".

Reason:  Make it clearer to the player that they still have something left to eat in their inventory, or that they do not.

11

Suggestions / Improve stone tools a little

« on: January 03, 2023, 07:45:01 PM »

I am currently playing as a neolithic hunter in the far north east, using only stone tools.  It looks like despite my 98% hideworking skill, the best I can get is a harsh fur or leather.

I understand that the stone knife and axe are supposed to be used in only the most desperate situations; but it would be nice to see them upgraded, or even a "knapped stone" version of each - much harder to make but almost as good as their metal counterparts.

Here's a recent paper on stone tools in neolithic Finland, if anyone is interested!

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280568428_Subneolithic_bifaces_and_flint_assemblages_in_Finland_Outlining_the_history_of_research_and_future_questions_OPIA_33

EDIT:  I forgot to mention the enormous difference between butchering with a stone knife as opposed to any metal knife.  I admit to not having done the sums, but it seems a stone knife gets you less than a quarter of the yield you get with metal knives.  Make the stone knife butchery yield less and take longer, yes - but surely not by such a drastic amount?

EDIT 2:  The disparity is even more pronounced chopping firewood with a stone axe.  With Timbercraft skill at 92%, it takes over eight hours to make around 22 firewood from a block.

12

Bug reports / [3.72#1 Windows 10 Steam] Dog names causing sound effects?

« on: December 30, 2022, 07:35:36 PM »

I have a dog I called SNAPPER, and when I interact with him I get the twig snapping sound effect you get when you fail to sneak.

I have a dog I called GRUNT, and when I interact with him I get the wild boar grunting sound effect.

I am going to call my next dog FARTER, just to see what happens.

I think I may be losing my grip on reality...  becoming Unreal, if you will.

Note:  Dog names are in capitals in the game as that's how I roll, easier to see them in the combat text logs.

13

Bug reports / Minor text issue - skis & withes. Oh, and game courses.

« on: December 23, 2022, 10:03:39 PM »

The in game text says that withes can be used for making skis, but skis need a minimum tying equipment of 1.7m and withes are only 1.3m and cannot be joined together.

Solution:  Remove "withes" from the in game text on making skis.

EDIT 16/01/23:  Another minor text issue, on completing the advanced game course you get a message saying you can begin the game courses again if you wish.  I think this used to be a thing a few years back, but has since been changed.

Solution:  Change the text to reflect that doing the game courses multiple times is no longer possible.

14

Suggestions / "Liking" posts in the Modding Forum

« on: December 12, 2022, 09:56:29 PM »

Is there a reason we can't give "Likes" to posts in the Modding Forum?  It would be nice to give the hard-working modders some encouragement sometimes!

15

Off-topic / Bert's slightly interesting and marginally relevant documentaries

« on: December 10, 2022, 04:13:54 AM »

A documentary following a bloke called Jon, who is a Sami reindeer herder.  He's not exactly a traditionalist; he uses a snowmobile and other modern stuff, but the reindeer and the harsh but beautiful landscape never change.  An interesting look at modern Sami life.  Jon, the Sami:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwhs_I9pPYA



A hardcore chain-smoking alcoholic intellectual Frenchman casts himself into exile.  Alone, 180 days on lake Baikal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zskcSA0bfM