Anyone able to run a TerraFirmaCraft server for BTW fans?

[Six]

I've been hearing more and more about TerraFirmaCraft recently, and with the talk of the direction RTH is going I thought some BTW fans might be interested in playing around with it for a while on a server?

For those that don't know, TFC is a bit of a 'realism' mod which plays quite differently to any other, the creator citing Dwarf Fortress as one of the main inspirations, and I think Wurm Online is also a good parallel. It adds a whole lot more in the way of rock, ore, minerals and plants, and managing to make a pick to mine stone is a challenge in itself. It's also very much still in development, but what is there is pretty solid and it has the smithing / stone work lines of tech down pretty well.

For more info, the main site is here: http://terrafirmacraft.com/ (though some of the info is out of date)

So is anyone in a position to put up a server for BTW fans to play around on?

[dawnraider]

I can't put one up myself, but I would love if something like this were done.

[Six]

I can't put one up myself, but I would love if something like this were done.

Oh right, that was the part I left out of the OP. Who also would be interested in joining?

[Azdoine]

I would love to join, but I'm worried about joining such a TFC server with Anarchists.
I'd probably not have much time to get on, either :(

[Six]

Haha, I'm not so sure how well anarchy would work with TFC, as it pretty much requires so much work that one person can't do it on their own. Much more manageable with communal work and shared progress.

[dawnraider]

Yeah, anarchy is completely out the window with TFC. Just read the beginming guide on the wiki, and holy crap, that is pretty labor-intensive. Also, good luck hiding a base if you can't mine stone until a week of in-game time has passed.

[Kombucha]

This mod looks insane. No offense to the author of MediateCraft, but TFC looks like a much more expansive execution of a lot of the same ideas.

I'll have to try this mod myself post-haste.

[BlackCat]

Do I get to mooch off of six even more?

Count me in! ;)

[Breathesleep]

I was Bioxx's texture artist for a long time. TFC is indeed a crazy complicated mod, but its alot of fun too. There's a certain thrill with finding a vein of particularly rare ore- finding any ore at all is somewhat of a challenge. He was modeling the content of the mod strongly after Dwarf fortress- we had plans for adamantium, even, and though the sprites are there, the development of the mod stalled a little while after I left. I ended up leaving the team because he asked me one day to make sprites for about a thousand different plants and fruits... hehe, it was a bit overwhelming, and I had finals going on at the same time. I hear the mod is still going strong though, when I left Bioxx was planning some sort of space adventure mod. it was going to be a complete overhaul- more so than TFC is even. Not sure if he ever went anywhere with that project.

[Detritus]

I might like to join in as well xD

[EpicAaron]

If someone can get up a working server, I would love to join. Haven't really looked into the mod until now.

[Battosay]

Never saw that mod before but it looks interesting indeed :)

[Ulfengaard]

I've really enjoyed this mod in the past, so I might be willing to give it a try. I find that I have to get into the 'simulator' mindset for the design to really work for me. If you approach it with a 'game' perspective, it might begin to feel too tedious (my opinion; YMMV). As a survival simulation, though, it's tops in my book. :)

[Thyrllann]

I'd love this - I tried TFC some time ago, and boy did it take a long time to get up to stone-breaking technology...
I think I can still remember how most of the stuff works

[Charzy]

It also requires some amount of RL skill to do things like forging tools from metal.

[Benanov]

I'll look into it, but I have two requirements:

This has to work on Linux and it has to be automation-friendly...because that's the only way I keep my sanity running the Wasteland.

[Kombucha]

It also requires some amount of RL skill to do things like forging tools from metal.

Such as what...?

[Six]

It also requires some amount of RL skill to do things like forging tools from metal.

Such as what...?

The forging is actually a small minigame, and how well you do it determines a little bit of the durability of the resulting tool head, as explained in the following video:

Spoiler

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I'd actually recommend all the Spumwack highlight videos as an introduction to doing things in TFC, I'll go collect them all into a post for easy watching...

[Six]

Spumwack videos

The basics - simple introduction to TFC, how it differs from vanilla and what to do when you start out:

Spoiler

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First ingot - the low tech smelting of small ore nuggets and hammering them into an ingot on a stone anvil:

Spoiler

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First pickaxe - how to turn that ingot into a tool:

Spoiler

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Prospectors pick - special pick used to 'sample' rock and tell you if there are nearby ore veins:

Spoiler

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Charcoal pits - main way to get charcoal, which burns hotter and is used in proper forges and mass ore smelting:

Spoiler

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Sluice - something optional you can set up to have a low chance to get small ingots from gravel and sand:

Spoiler

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[Wafflewaffle]

Wow this mod is cool. It's the kind of cool stuff i expect from RTH, of course with a little touch of danger to every action (courtesy of FC).

Too bad im too much of a wuss to play SMP =P

[Kombucha]

It also requires some amount of RL skill to do things like forging tools from metal.

Such as what...?

The forging is actually a small minigame, and how well you do it determines a little bit of the durability of the resulting tool head, as explained in the following video:

Spoiler

Show

I'd actually recommend all the Spumwack highlight videos as an introduction to doing things in TFC, I'll go collect them all into a post for easy watching...

I'm aware... just didn't get the "RL Skill" bit. From what I've seen about TFC, a good forging/smithing is about timing and reflexes, which is less of a RL skill and more a general byproduct of playing videogames.

[Ulfengaard]

RL Skill as in skill on the part of the player rather than based on an in-game factor like a skill number (i.e. Carpentry 37).

[Kombucha]

RL Skill as in skill on the part of the player rather than based on an in-game factor like a skill number (i.e. Carpentry 37).

Ah, I was misreading "Skill" as skillset, mabad.

I like a lot of what TFC brings to the table, but it doesn't seem to really concern itself with the concept of hostile mobs beyond allowing you to craft weapons. Would have liked to see some attention to maybe changing the way mobs and combat work. But my own personal desires aside, I really dig it.

[DaveYanakov]

I'll look into it, but I have two requirements:

This has to work on Linux and it has to be automation-friendly...because that's the only way I keep my sanity running the Wasteland.

By automation I'm assuming you are referring to automating server maintenance rather than in game systems?

[Benanov]

By automation I'm assuming you are referring to automating server maintenance rather than in game systems?

Yes, that's it.

FlowerChild may be scared of the makefile, but I'll be honest - git pull && make clean && make makes my damn day, and that's the long & short of pushing Warr1024's changes to BWR onto the Wasteland.