feedback on the newest 4.2.0 Larion World Gen

[KloudO7]

Hi Badger,

Just a random player who enjoys your Larion World Gen mod, and I just wanted to give some feedback on the recent 4.2.0 update, idk where I can submit feedbacks to so I'm going to write it here.

The absolute most unique thing about the larion world gen mod are the massive river caves that go into the mountains, I'm sure you know what I'm referring to. I was absolutely mindblown when I first saw them and I enjoyed very much exploring them on a boat. That and the entire terrain structures (with massive river crevices that sometimes separate land from land, with sharp mountains peaks and ridges, and layered lands, etc) really made me feel like I was genuinely playing LOTR in minecraft. However, I was bummed to discover that I cannot find them anymore in the new update. So when I read the description, it was mention that "carver caves" are fewer. I assume that's referring to those giant river caves.

I just wanna point out that those carver caves and the terrain that they create are my favorite things that makes this mod unique and stand out from other world-gen mods. They're straight up mind-blowing. Also, it was a bit disappointing to see those sharp, tall, and defined snowy mountains are harder to find now, because I've created about 6-7 worlds and explored them for a couple hours and I've only found tall mountain ranges but not the ones that was like in 3.2.0.

There is no ill-intent, and I hope this doesn't sound like whining, it's just that 4.2.0 really feels like another world-gen mod that's no different than tectonic or lithosphere. The reason I love larion more than those other mods is because of its unique structures in 3.2.0. Not that my opinion is in any sense authoritative of course, I'm just one among thousands of players that play your mod, and I'm just literally one perspective. But, I just wanted you to know that those features in 3.2.0 are extremely unique and really makes the world fun to explore. The layers and structures are like nothing else. I feel like instead of removing them or reducing them, expanding them and making them stand out even more really makes the whole mod special. I've tested and played other world-gen mods a lot to decide to rest on larion because of those features. It'd be nice to see them back.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this.

[ViciousBadger]

Hello, thanks for reaching out. I actually don't get that much feedback so it's appreciated. That being said, this newest version is the closest I've gotten to my own vision of worldgen and I disagree that it's just the same as the other ones ;) Larion has a much stronger emphasis on steep cliffs and "semi-real" fantasy terrain while the others mostly focus on realism.

In 4.2 the massive river caves are still there, they are actually just very rare, as I found it annoying that they were so common and I wanted rivers to carve large saddle valleys most of the time. It can be difficult to find river tunnels now but I assure you they exists, and in some cases they can still be very long.

About spiky mountains, they are indeed less spike-shaped and closer to real mountains but you'll find that they have a very jagged surface with lots of steep drops, which so far I have not found in other worldgen mods.

I'm a bit confused as to what you mean by layered terrain, care to explain?

[KloudO7]

Thanks so much for the response. I appreciate the answers because it helps me see your vision. I will continue to play your mod because it is still very much unique from all other terrain mods, and not the most popular which makes it a plus for me as I don't always enjoy popular mods.

As for the "layered terrain" I think I was more so referring vaguely about just how much level of complexity the river caves bring, as well as the very jagged snow mountains can shape the entire terrains over all in some parts, which gave it a very "layered" feeling to it. I just love the complexity if that makes sense. Because in 3.2.0 I don't see flatlands that very often, and the average altitude is already very high up due to deep river ridges separating the lands. And on top of that you just get hills and mountains surrounding all around. It's just a very visual experience all around that ticks my brain, the edges and shapes of different mountains and lands and crevices are quite defined, which just makes my brain go oh yeah that's sick. Hence why I expressed my comments about 4.2.0 because it doesn't seem as "visual" and complex, the terrain is much more vast and spread out and natural and as you said- probably closer to your own vision and a bit more realistic so as to probably incorporate a good balance between realism and fantasy, which now makes sense to me.

However, I would still say, I guess as a consumer of your arts, I'd love to see still a bit more of those humongous river caves and the mountains and edges of terrains more defined and just a bit sharper because I guess the thing that makes me think it's similar to other terrain mods is indeed, if I can phrase it accurately- the terrain itself. Hence why I think 3.2.0 truly has something special there.

But, it's just a personal feedback. It's your own judgment and decision and I would still love to see you keep updating this mod and getting closer to your vision!

[ViciousBadger]

After some further thought I think I actually agree with most of what you are saying and am experimenting with some tweaks, making the horizontal scale of the world a little smaller again and also restoring the spikyness of mountains, turns out there was an easy way.

It's just tweaks, not an entire makeover, so still closer to v4 than v3, but here's a nice picture (with WWOO installed)

[KloudO7]

Awh that looks great! Thank you so much for sharing. This picture kinda describes how I feel when I went exploring. Those mountains are almost exactly what I'm describing because I remember I would be catching fish in some deeply creviced river below lands and looking up I would see literally sharp mountain peaks in some distance. The terrain itself is not extremely vast and it feels much more "layered" as it has closer connections of high & low terrains, altitudes, more tight-knitted layouts & layers of hills, lands, mountains and trees and other things altogether. It's very visual. Especially with Distant Horizons.

And of course, upon appreciating you making tweaks, I'm excited to see what you have further in mind for your project. I'm one voice out of many silent ones and I am more than grateful that you would be receptive towards one person's perspective. Looking forward to furthering your vision and thank you for interacting with me in discussion.