Hankering For a Challenge

    I have found out that I approach RW gameplay is different from most people. While most are interested primarily in the building aspect and even start in Creative Mode and fly around to squash all challenge, I on the other hand want this to be a serious SURVIVAL game. I don't mind building nice things later on, but the feeling that you're working against mother nature's cruelty should be part of the experience. The way I see the silent "plot" of the game, you are stranded in the wilderness after some kind of collapse of civilization, and you have to scrape together an existence from the stone age tier.


    For making the game more challenging as it currently stands, here's what I've come up with:


    - In Settings, instant corpse despawn. Death hurts so much that everything you carry is gone.
    - No fly mode, obviously
    - Set the hotkey for sprinting to something inaccessible (my keypad is inaccessible, so I edited the config file to set that to Numpad 0, and I don't have a numpad on my keyboard so I can't actually do it). The lack of sprinting means exploration is harder, and you can't outrun a bear, a boar or a big cat: either you can fight these predators, or don't dare wander into other biomes.
    - Set ores to Low when creating world. You'll need to mine for quite a while before you can get the Tier II Workbench.
    - Turn off ponds. You can still fill your bucket and bottle from lakes, but those take time to locate


    Well that helps, but there's still tomatoes and fruit trees and timid animals everywhere. It's not much challenge to get enough food.


    Does anyone know of a world creation seed that appears to produce low amount of plants, and a lot of hostiles?


    Finally, I wish there was a setting in config that would let me reduce the size of my inventory to at least half. RW "looks" more realistic than Minecraft but the amount of stuff you can carry around free as a jaybird is just as silly.

    Challenges can vary depending upon the person. I'm glad this game allows every walk of life the ability to play this game they want to. I see this game in a whole different light. It's a blank canvas, and I must fill it with things. The ability to be really creative in this game is really amazing. I've been dabbling with the creative mode, and although I don't like it, I would not be able to get things accomplished if I didn't use it. In a way I have created myself more work in some areas using Creative Mode for landscaping that I have to fix by hand to make it look half way decent again. I would literally have had to spend a good 6 real hours for what I did in 2 minutes. I work full time with overtime and I just don't have the time to game.


    I have multiple worlds going though. Haven't quite figured out if I like or dislike the Surreal world type yet.

    I agree Hudson555! I love that we have options. I've only just begun to play survival mode, and even then it's mostly a creative endeavor. (Though I am not cheating in my Survival game.) I think soulsurvivor's Settings suggestions are great, and they would definitely up the difficulty level a LOT! I don't know if I would enjoy it, it might be super frustrating for me—who isn't so good with the survival stuff. Though, I would be willing to try it. One thing I do not want to see in the game is zombies! I know that monsters in the dungeons is planned and I am not sure how I feel about that. Maybe it would be exciting, or maybe it would be just too much for me. Hopefully we'll continue to have options to turn some things off.


    I am not a fan of violent games and can only just bear to kill virtual animals if they are for food. So gaming for this newbie is very selective indeed as there aren't too many non-violent immersive games. (Though I am a fan of puzzle games like Myst, Obduction, Quern, etc.) I love creative mode too—and this game just rocks in terms of the building experience. I think it will only get better too.


    I haven't tried a Surreal World yet. Can you post pictures?

    I agree that RW deserves to be a "different strokes for different folks" experience. I don't have that much time to game either, nothing like it was before I became the breadwinner for my household. Personally I love building but as a reward for all the risks you took, danger you overcame.


    I would just like more options to that effect. Like, besides having vegetation either on or off, have a setting where you can set low levels of edible vegetation and fruit bearing trees as these are sources of food that are essential to surviving.


    The well known Shore Leave world seed might be one of the best for challenge, as it starts you in a pretty small area of vegetated land in front of a sandy beach (not freshwater) and you do well, at first, to avoid the nearby woods.


    The new hotfix lets you now turn the bow crosshair back off from editing the config file text (which I have done). Yes, you must actually aim to hunt, like real archery.


    To answer MommaT's question about Surreal: its basically a labyrinth of scarcely vegetated grassland paths walled between really tall jagged mountains. It sucks because you don't get all the biomes, and building space is small unless you demolish the rock walls somewhere.

    Well, having a button to set food items like ores would make it more challenging, yet flexible. You could also deselect most of the passive animals as well and just keep goats and other animals who will hit back if you hit them, but some more control at worldgen menu might be a great item for the future. I'd also like to see a feature that gives you a significant risk of falling if you walk full speed when you're travelling along an 80-degree incline. You'd have to either carve a shelf to walk on or strafe while facing the incline(as you move much slower.) You can only face away from the rock face as long as you're not moving. Maybe the character could put their hands out as if they needed the balance and call it "climb mode." Until they managed to craft crampons.

    Just thought I would mention this in case it's what you are after; Medieval Realms is a survival server.


    Ore is set to a lower than standard amount. Items like the ore detector, mining drill, and other modern day items are locked out so players can't use them. Fly mode is disabled, there are no teleports (apart from one SOS one - sometimes we just get stuck). So if you want to travel, you need to travel!


    The server also has a ranking system in place for things like "survival time". Current record for someone surviving without dying is just under four days (so a challenge there to beat the record!)


    It is however, a themed server - so medieval period builds only.


    Welcome to join us if you like.


    p.s. There are other survival servers available too ^^

    The PVP in this game is something that attracts myself and many. However there is a fine line between the building types and the PVP types before this game would flip into a Reign of Kings knockoff that nobody wants.


    The maps in this game are huge extremely huge. They are large enough that people can get established and if there were cooperation bonuses would allow for groups to form and make small cities or for group defense but I never imagine the players in this game would be on a server long enough to produce that sort of game.


    You see two types of structures in this game. Those that are trying to create a unique creative and pleasing to walk in environment and those that build a survival type building with stark walls and hidden access. The latter being more or less built in a defensive nature and in many cases the players of this type of mindset might not build on the surface at all. The dungeons with their treasures of weapons and armor beneath the surface encourage the Morlock-type players. The dungeons even enhance their playtype. There is no such bonus for the surface dweller other than the beauty of the game environment. (albeit very Northern European or NW US type weather of gloom and rain dominant)


    I am new to the server running scene (Angriff's Lair) but other than flying I have not disabled anything for players to find, explore and build. I have provided some map movement capabilities with the TP commands and 10 or 11 points but for the most part these are to places that I have built for visual enjoyment or new frontiers areas for other players to move away from the central spawning point. I have put in area protection but only set by Admins not players staking out the area.


    This brings the point of how do you get people of like mind to establish in like areas? The PVP player wants to be close to others with enough distance to allow establishment then take out opponents. There is no reward for taking out the others and little protection with type of building. In Reign of Kings different structures with different material take longer or more intent needed to take. Intent is not a problem for PVP players if there only reward is the exaltation of ruining another players building progress. That game quickly became a clan gangbang fest and most building type players exited. I mean who wants to be locked in a cage every time you log on because you did not hide your body well enough for players, when you are not online destroyed your buildings, found your hidden sleeping body and put a inescapable cage around it? Your only hope is that you hid a small knife so you can seppuku yourself and start over from scratch. Funny for a minute or two but quickly falls into the sadomasochist realm.


    So the challenge for the game and any server allowing both types of play is provide a balance. There are not enough mechanics in the game to provide rewards for the surface building dwellers versus the PVP players. Area Protection helps but is not a reward but rather a defense and actually eliminates the PVP player from almost all aspects other than being caught out in the open and the game map is too large for that normally. To me there should be an economy of things that creates both rewards and penalties for both player types. Right now there is a haphazard method of rewarding, cut down trees, dig in the ground and find a source of water. Resources are so abundant that any one place can have them without a trading requirement or pvp fight. Why did the Conquistadors attack the Incas for their gold and the Incas let them have it? Gold was valuable on a personal status improvement to the Conquistadors but only was a grouped religious worth to the Incas offering no personal value.


    There is little need in this game now for a PVP that has only personal gratification of killing a player or destroying his efforts. The opposite fear of your efforts being destroyed are an attraction until it actually happens to you then you are likely to give up on the game if you built and lost much at all. There is no reason to trade with them as resources are abundant and omnipresent. I guess if you want lemons you might want to trade to get them from someone in another area but you could just circle around and get them yourself. If you build defensively and never see another PVP player that too can be a similar turn off.


    Well all that said the basic question is will the game develop a deep enough reality capability in server setup tools for a dualistic game to prosper? Will an interdependence requirement built around resource scarcity and maybe even a character building trait that allows you, as a player to improve your chances of survival while you build something beautiful. Will there be a reward for building something other than gratification? A survival leaderboard as explained in a previous post helps the PVP player but does nothing for the builder. An economy helps but economy character building people don't play to be a peasant they play to be a Count or Duke.


    So that points to the ability to produce and project Power in the game. This is something new and different. If you build a great city with many building or have a nice walls or defensive structures then couple that with a great economy or resource provenance then you have a perceived Power. The Power capabilities of you character should created stronger or harder to destroy buildings and structures. It may even enhance your abilities to mine build stronger armor further or increase your trading capabilities/value. If your character comes up to a title level such as a Count then you might even have additional quests to build a Church or Temple to the Glory of a Deity that would help your plants grow further or make your ability to fight stronger.


    Players of lessor Power would either strive to increase theirs without other knowing it or they would ban together in defense. A grouped power of several lessor power vassals could have the same level of power of a Count/ess by themself. But a Count/ess with two vassals in their group would build stronger walls and better weaponry.


    Well you get an idea of my wish ... and it will probably always remain a wish but who knows it could change the course of script writers (which I am not) that could enhance this idea or even move in a better direction of the character build rather than the character assassination and destruction trend in PVP games. =O

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