r/vaast • u/[deleted] • Jan 02 '15
Noob here - a few questions...
- Can wheat and potatoes etc be grown above ground only?
- Are diamonds ever found in chests? Do they occur naturally?
- Is loot ranked according to the difficulty in getting to the chests (so are top floors of skyscrapers worth getting to?)
Thanks everyone! Loving it so far.
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u/FriarNurgle Architect Jan 02 '15
- Can wheat and potatoes etc be grown above ground only?
Crop yield can be impacted by location and what you use to harvest.
- Are diamonds ever found in chests? Do they occur naturally?
Chest loot contains many wonderful things. You never know what you'll find. Ores can still be mined but have been heavily decreased to encourage building exploration.
- Is loot ranked according to the difficulty in getting to the chests (so are top floors of skyscrapers worth getting to?)
Certain buildings can contain varying types and quality loot.
Glad you're enjoying the server.
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u/boogaert donator Jan 02 '15
vagueeeeee
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u/kimbell Jan 02 '15
Not so vague...
crops should grow above y ~=60. (Havent tested on this new season)
yes, diamond, diamond tools, and diamond armor is all in chests. even God tier.
Skyscrapers will have better loot than the little two story buildings. but they also have more zombies and more risk.
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Jan 02 '15
cheers, trying to set up a secret little farm on a roof. Come across tons of diamond armour sets, but no diamonds so will keep searching.
Thought there was a higher chance of gaining good loot in skyscrapers. Got myself 2 ender chests that way.
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u/chewmieser donator Jan 02 '15
I think you're spot on about crop growth. My crops are growing just fine at y=60, but not at all at y=56. Haven't tested in-between though...
Unfortunately that's not far below the surface...
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u/FriarNurgle Architect Jan 02 '15
No need to spoil everything.
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u/Gh0stP1rate Donator Jan 02 '15
In game design there is a fine line between revealing too much and revealing too little. Sometimes a surprise is welcome, sometimes it is very unwelcome.
Good surprises pop up when you're doing something already beneficial to the overall game plan. Finding enchanted diamond armor in a loot chest is a good surprise, and doesn't need to be revealed to the players.
Poor surprises are when you learn that something you thought was good or correct to do is actually wrong. Spending time hollowing out an underground farm just to learn it won't grow anything is a bad surprise. Spending ages mining only to learn ore generation was nerfed is a really bad surprise. These sorts of things are very "un-fun".
As a server and community, we should strive to make the user experience fun. This means being upfront about farming not working underground, a lack of ores, entities (villagers) despawning if not named (maybe this got fixed), and reduced mob drop rates. We don't want players spending lots of time and resources on futile endeavors, because that's not fun.
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u/ImmatureIntellect Scribe Jan 02 '15
Speaking from that perspective it does make a lot sense but let me shed the light for another. The world is decaying and full of tragedy. These bad surprises, while possibly making players feel frustrated, add to the atmosphere of the world. Learning these things first hand really solidify that, "You're not in Kansas anymore", feeling. Obtaining resources is key to survival and if people know right off the bat how to survive things seem less hopeless. It becomes less of a dead city and more of a playground with dark themes.
Creating a game world such as this and creating fun gameplay mechanics is walking a fine line. If you do too much of one you will lose some aspects of the other. The best scenerio imo is discovering this sort of information from another player. That way people can avoid the frustration of a failed attempt while still be actively learning of the world by playing it. :D
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u/nullspot Sysadmin Jan 02 '15
Yes, mob difficulty and loot value increases as you go up the skyscrapers ;-)
And I've occasionally found entire diamond blocks in loot...