Vintage Story: Neolithic Survival & Progression
In **Vintage Story**, survival is a deep, granular simulation of primitive technology. Unlike other sandbox games where you can punch a tree to get wood, here you must manually shape every tool from flint, forage for nuggets, and respect the laws of thermodynamics and physics to survive your first week.
1. Knapping Tools
Find loose flint or stones on the ground. Crouch (Shift) and use one flint on a solid rock to start Knapping. You must physically "click out" the pixels of the tool head you wish to create.
2. The Clay Age
Clay is your most vital early-game resource. It allows you to create storage vessels for food and cooking pots for stews. Look for blue or orange flowers on the surface to find it.
3. Temporal Stability
The gear at the bottom of your screen measures your sanity and connection to reality. If it spins counter-clockwise, you are in a temporal rift. Drifters will spawn, and you must flee to higher ground.
Your First 24 Hours: A Checklist
- Forage: Pick up every stick, stone, and flint you see. Pick berries but avoid the blue ones (Deadly Nightshade).
- Craft: Knap a Flint Axe and a Flint Knife. Use the axe to get firewood and the knife to harvest dry grass.
- Fire: Combine sticks and grass to make a Firestarter (Bow Drill). It has a low success rate, so keep trying until the fire catches.
- Shelter: Don't just build a box. Ensure your "home" is made of solid blocks; dirt and gravel have gravity physics and can collapse if not supported.
Mastering the Pit Kiln
To turn raw clay into hardened ceramic, you must fire it in a pit kiln:
- Dig a 1x1 hole in the ground.
- Place your raw clay items (Storage Vessel, Crock, etc.) inside.
- Add 3 bundles of Dry Grass.
- Add 8 pieces of Firewood.
- Light it with your firestarter and wait for approx. 24 in-game hours.
Finding Your First Copper
You cannot mine copper with stone tools. You must find Native Copper Nuggets on the surface.
| Tip | Description |
|---|---|
| Surface Indicators | Nuggets on the surface are a 100% guarantee of a vein directly underneath. |
| The Crucible | Once you have 20 nuggets, you can melt them in a crucible over a charcoal fire. |
| Cast Molds | Pour molten copper into clay molds to create your first meaningful metal tools (Pickaxe, Hammer). |
Expert Tip: Mark every resource you find on your map (Press M). In Vintage Story, resources do not respawn, and finding your way back to a wild rye field or clay deposit is nearly impossible without map markers.
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