A game I really haven't spent enough time with because it's great, Vintage Story is a blocky survival game that's thoroughly challenging and a huge upgrade is out now. Inspired by lovecraftian horror themes, it's definitely one of the more unique open-world survival games around.
Version 1.17.0 is now in testing, so it's not fully released, and comes with absolutely tons that's new. A big tech overhaul too that should improve RAM use, starting a world should be twice as fast, multiple improvements to overall performance and improvements to creature AI too. Heck, there's even a fancy new water system that allows water to flow through most blocks that aren't solid.
New trailer is below and it's seriously impressive:
Direct Link
Other new additions include lightning strikes, 200+ new blocks, big visual upgrades to the temporal storms that happen, armour can now be repaired, 300 types of shield (a 30-fold increase), more and prettier flora, new and improved fauna like the addition of brown bears, black bears, sun bears, pandas and a gazelle, deserts storms are in, bamboo and straw hats and the list goes on.
Vintage Story doesn't get enough credit for being such a thoroughly interesting and massive game.
You can buy it from Humble Store, itch.io and the official site.
Last edited by Avikarr on 15 June 2022 at 12:56 pm UTC
I'll repeat this again, this game is NOT Minecraft. Yes, it's blocky, and its got crafting, but that's about it. This game is very realistic and a lot more challenging. Each update brings *consistent* improvements, not random unrelated things like Minecraft. Also, they have a normal combat system, not the weird unusable timer based weird thing Minecraft calls a battle system. Add to this the lovecraftian horror touch and you are in for a great time.
Last I looked this game had pretty annoying DRM
I bought it in 2020 and don't remember any DRM back then. Can you elaborate?
Last I looked this game had pretty annoying DRMI bought it in 2020 and don't remember any DRM back then. Can you elaborate?
From what I recall you need to create an account and login when installing the game and then authenticate with their servers each time you want to play the game.
Last I looked this game had pretty annoying DRMI bought it in 2020 and don't remember any DRM back then. Can you elaborate?
From what I recall you need to create an account and login when installing the game and then authenticate with their servers each time you want to play the game.
That's not exactly DRM, your account verifies you bought the game. It would be the same if you wanted to play a B2P game on Steam but you need to log in first on the Steam client. Yes it's still required.
Last I looked this game had pretty annoying DRMI bought it in 2020 and don't remember any DRM back then. Can you elaborate?
From what I recall you need to create an account and login when installing the game and then authenticate with their servers each time you want to play the game.
That's not exactly DRM, your account verifies you bought the game. It would be the same if you wanted to play a B2P game on Steam but you need to log in first on the Steam client. Yes it's still required.
I disagree, any required connection to a 3rd party server after the game has been obtained is DRM. The fact that you have a copy of the game verifies that you bought the game. Additional checks are the definition of DRM, and will make the game uninstallable and/or unplayable once the auth servers are shutdown. This is why it is important to split downloading and installing of the game into separate stages.
Not sure what a B2P game is, but yes the Steam client is also a DRM implementation because you cannot install or play your game without reaching out to 3rd party servers for permission.
Not sure what a B2P game is, but yes the Steam client is also a DRM implementation because you cannot install or play your game without reaching out to 3rd party servers for permission.Not without reaching out . . . but for all the games I play, the reaching out doesn't have to be successful. So like, you have to have the Steam client on your computer (although there's probably a workaround for that), but it does not have to successfully phone home. If I have no internet connection and start a Steam game, it tries to contact Steam, then whines that it couldn't and grumpily asks if I want to play in offline mode.
I'm not clear that you can really call that DRM--it doesn't enforce anything.
Not without reaching out . . . but for all the games I play, the reaching out doesn't have to be successful. So like, you have to have the Steam client on your computer (although there's probably a workaround for that), but it does not have to successfully phone home. If I have no internet connection and start a Steam game, it tries to contact Steam, then whines that it couldn't and grumpily asks if I want to play in offline mode.
I'm not clear that you can really call that DRM--it doesn't enforce anything.
The Steam client is definitely a lighter DRM solution than some others, though I still consider it DRM since you must always use it to install your game, installing the game is not possible without the client and Steam's servers. Each time you want to install the game you must ask Steam for permission. The only alternative would be to install it once, and then attempt to package it up yourself for later installs. This is possible, but undocumented and outside of what most people could do. Anyway, this is all somewhat off-topic since Vintage Story has a custom DRM.
B2P
Buy To Play
I guess you could say it's a form of DRM, but typically what people refer to as DRM is third-party software built-in to the game which this doesn't have.
The fact that you have a copy of the game verifies that you bought the game.
That doesn't mean much, it's the same deal with Minecraft. You could have acquired a copy of the game from a friend you want to play with. However since this is not a subscription based service (where you can download it free but need to pay monthly to play), you need to verify in some way that you did indeed buy it at some point, and logging in with an account is the least invasive option in my opinion.
EDIT: Also I installed the flatpak version, so clearly having a copy of the game verifies nothing. And I just tested it with my internet disabled, there is an offline mode that lets you play singleplayer as long as you logged in at least once before.
------------
Not without reaching out . . . but for all the games I play, the reaching out doesn't have to be successful.Sure sure, but you will need to connect to Steam for any multiplayer that uses Steam's services. They could separate the singleplayer gameplay but they choose not to. *shrug* Logging in with an account is the least invasive option in my opinion and I'll take that over 3rd-party software any day.
Last edited by wytrabbit on 15 June 2022 at 6:58 pm UTC
For a small development, it is an impressive game and very enjoyable, though difficult since it took me forever to figure out how to make coal properly.
I also recall that the developer said you only had to log in the first time, then you could play the game disconnected. I don't remember having to log in again after the first time but even if it is, my Steam games log far more activity and I'm willing to accept that.
For a small development, it is an impressive game and very enjoyable, though difficult since it took me forever to figure out how to make coal properly.
I just verified by disabling my internet connection, there is an offline mode that kicks in after 10 seconds of no response from the server. Since I logged in previously it assumed the same account.
B2PThe fact that you have a copy of the game verifies that you bought the game.
That doesn't mean much, it's the same deal with Minecraft. You could have acquired a copy of the game from a friend you want to play with. However since this is not a subscription based service (where you can download it free but need to pay monthly to play), you need to verify in some way that you did indeed buy it at some point, and logging in with an account is the least invasive option in my opinion.
Of course it's still possible to play the game without actually paying, and for that the account authentication also does nothing, as I know the game has been cracked. Few games are able to avoid this and it usually requires draconian measures.
Myself, I'm happy to login once to download the game after paying, but I don't want to be stuck asking if I can install/run it forever, especially since they will shutdown their servers at some point.
especially since they will shutdown their servers at some point.
You only need to login once, you can continue to play offline if the servers shutdown. I verified it a little while ago, the offline mode kicks in after 10 seconds of no response from the server.
especially since they will shutdown their servers at some point.
You only need to login once, you can continue to play offline if the servers shutdown. I verified it a little while ago, the offline mode kicks in after 10 seconds of no response from the server.
If you need to reinstall or lose your game files for any reason you will need to reauthenticate before playing, you may need to do this for a number of reasons. For most users this will be a problem, since most do not keep proper game backups and may not know how to restore old game files. Personally, I'm not willing to encourage this behavior by developers. I hope they will remove this limitation in the future.
At this point I'm not sure what you're complaining about--are you saying that it's DRM if you can't download the game again from a company that's gone under?especially since they will shutdown their servers at some point.
You only need to login once, you can continue to play offline if the servers shutdown. I verified it a little while ago, the offline mode kicks in after 10 seconds of no response from the server.
If you need to reinstall or lose your game files for any reason you will need to reauthenticate before playing, you may need to do this for a number of reasons. For most users this will be a problem, since most do not keep proper game backups and may not know how to restore old game files. Personally, I'm not willing to encourage this behavior by developers. I hope they will remove this limitation in the future.
At this point I'm not sure what you're complaining about--are you saying that it's DRM if you can't download the game again from a company that's gone under?
No, I am saying that it is DRM if you cannot install and play a game you already have a copy of without authorizing it with a 3rd party server.
See more from me