Mods / Temporals Reformed - An Enemy Behavior Overhaul
Author: Darthzz
Side: Both
Created: Aug 24th at 7:59 PM
Last modified: 2 days ago
Downloads: 3658
Follow Unfollow 197
Recommended download (for Vintage Story 1.20.12, 1.21.0, 1.21.1 and 1.21.2 - 1.21.6-rc.1):
temporalsreformed.zip
1-click install
This mod takes an alternative approach to enemy balance to make them feel more individually dangerous, dynamic, intimidating and unpredictable. Yet, also, reduces ALL temporal mob spawnrates to roughly half and makes them require more darkness to spawn*. It also makes enemies react slightly less mindlessly, giving them slightly better self preservation and changing their aggression behavior. You can now for example, distract enemies with meat, or slip by drifters (who aren't as aggressive) in caves instead of being harassed constantly. The goal of this mod is to make enemies feel much more individually intimidating without relying on massive groups or hordes.
In short, takes on a more "survival horror" approach to enemy design, instead of the high-numbers horde focus.
(thumbnail art painted by me in Paint Tool Sai 2, follow me on other socials by the name Darthzz or Derethzz for more!)
!!! This mod will make the game harder in some ways, easier in other ways. !!!
(also be wary of latency, this mod might make that more dangerous in multiplayer unfortunately)
Some of these changes include:
- Note, despite temporal enemy mob spawns being FAR fewer than in vanilla, you should still be wary during temporal storms and heavier rift activity, as well as the deepest layers of caves. You will still see a lot of enemies in those scenarios. Just not as much "1 trillion drifters in low rift activity swarm your house" type stuff compared to vanilla.
- Temporal mobs will attack and react to some animal types. They will attack and flee from a select few more creature types instead of being so fixated on the player all the time. This EXCLUDES farm type animals for the most part, as that could lead to too many unfair scenarios. But also, they have a chance to "eat" from corpses and meat on the ground. It is now a viable strategy to distract temporal enemies with meat.
- Enemies are more reactive to being pelted with ranged attacks, most of the time. They will either run far away, run to cover, or might even make a big U-turn to charge straight at you. Bigger crowds of enemies tend to also react when even just one gets hit. Due to limitations and core game jank though, this won't always happen unfortunately.
- Most temporal mobs can "climb" now, however, it's mostly noticeable with shivers, who climb like locusts. Drifters and Bowtorns don't necessarily "climb", but instead have an increased StepHeight of roughly 8 blocks, and should only climb up if there's a valid spot to stand. They do not do this often at all, functionality prone to rework.
- Enemy strength is somewhat evened out across tiers. What this means is that lower and higher tier strength is more smoothed out and less abrupt compared to eachother for the most part. This also means however that lower tier enemies will still be rather strong throughout the game. Since mob spawns are overall much fewer and more sparse than in vanilla, and since this is going for more of a survival horror adjacent focus, the point of this is to make all the mobs feel less like "fodder" that you just cut down on a whim and more like something you should be wary of at all times.
- Drifters aren't quite as aggressive anymore. More territorial and defensive. They will largely wander around ignoring you unless you disrupt their personal space, which will provoke them into attacking. Hitting a drifter will also frequently cause them to flee, though it depends on the tier. This allows you to walk or run past them more easily instead of being interrupted so often while caving. They also throw rocks less often and are less accurate with them. However, the rocks are now slightly better at poking you through armor, while still doing low damage, giving their rocks more of a utility purpose rather than just being annoying. Drifters are also a lot more quiet now, you have to be right next to them to hear their grumbles. This makes them a bit less annoying, though potentially more sneaky. Drifters will also have a chance to charge at you and ram into you if you get close enough to irritate them, and they will also punch you in a very frantic manner.
- Shivers are very erratic and unpredictable in behavior. Their chance to either flee you or charge at you suddenly is much more unpredictable and dangerous. They also tend to circle around the player and stay close as long as you're within line of sight, more or less, staring at you from various distances. Essentially, sometimes they'll stalk their prey. Shivers can also now punch/swipe attack and mix it up with their bites. They are also especially brutal now. Even lower tier ones will have the bite strength of a wolf, high tier ones even moreso. The last 3 tiers of shivers are now much more specialized into their own niches. Fight them only if you absolutely have to, they are seriously dangerous and unpredictable.
- Bowtorns are much faster and avoidant of the player, making them feel more strategic in behavior. Their melee attack is also much more dangerous and tends to pierce armor pretty reliably. But also, they have a new behavior, where they will charge at the player if they get too close, making them very dangerous to just beeline towards. They are relentless, but not too relentless, and may give up and move on after a time.
- Locusts are slightly more aggressive. They're still the main swarmers, even if this mod is overall less horde-focused. Sawblades are also a bit more dangerous, be careful.
- Bells now only summon mechanical mobs (aka just locusts for now), but can now summon sawblades. They also have less cooldown between summons, though their alert range is smaller. But also, they will now smack you in the face if you get too close.
Notes:
Certain story event related creatures are uneffected, and will likely stay that way for now.
*Even though spawnrates are far reduced from vanilla, you may still see sizable quantities of mobs during temporal storms or while you're in the vicinity of other players.
For now, this mod does not change mob loot, and deliberately may stay that way, keeping it compatible with other mods that change enemy loot drops.
This mod isn't aiming to be ultra hardcore or anything like that, and I am trying to keep it relatively balanced around its core goal.
With that, here are a few tips:
- You don't need to attack every enemy you see while exploring. You can often walk or run past enemies, or find another route around them.
- Consider bringing meat on your ventures, you can use it to distract enemies in some cases.
- Some enemies, especially bowtorns, will move on after a time when they are unable to attack their target, and will simply wander away a long distance.
- Ranged combat is your friend. You will want to stay a distance from certain attacks. A lot of enemies will flee in response to being pelted by arrows. (or bullets if you're using Firearms)
- Back away to avoid most attacks, run further if you have to. Sometimes you need a lot more space between you and the enemy to not get shredded. Consider mixing jumping into this as well, it will help bring you out of range of attacks.
- Prefer exploring caves during lower rift activity and during the day to minimize chances of experiencing The Horrors.
- Corner peeking around blocks is your friend. They force a space between you and the enemy and are heavily recommended when facing against shivers, who are horrifyingly dangerous in this mod.
- Since Bowtorns are much harder to catch up with, try chasing them into corners, into pits, or into water. But don't get too close. Their melee is much more dangerous now. Ranged combat is still very handy against them.
- Shields. :)
- With bells, prioritize Sawblades first, either by dispatching them quickly or creating as much space between you and them as possible when attacking the bell. Bells are also not particularly fond of water. :)
- BEWARE DEEPSPLITS.
TODO:
- Change shiver and bowtorn posture per tier
- Config support
- New mobs maybe?
This mod is very experimental and prone to drastic changes, but the core goal will remain: To make enemies more individually powerful, less predictable and more terrifying, thus altering the combat to be less horde-focused and more focused on making foes more imposing even 1-on-1, more like a survival horror game.
This mod is also very compatible with Darce's Drifters (which was used in the screenshots) and highly recommended to add an additional layer of variety.
After a bit of testing, I can confirm this mod *is* compatible with Combat Overhaul for the most part, but some damage and health values might be a bit off, or at least might not display accurately since CO splits damage types differently. This may also make the combat easier, as CO melee generally does more damage than in vanilla, at least for slashing weapons. Keep that in mind considering a lot of times, Temporals Reformed will have caves with only a few enemies, a single enemy, or even none due to the lower spawns, so more damage = fighting is over far more quickly and enemy is easier to take down. On the flipside, you might feel like you're taking more damage than normal if you don't have all armor slots filled out. There are also console warnings when entering the game with both mods enabled, but it just means my mod will overwrite some of the values CO changes, especially with Bowtorns. In short: Combat Overhaul works with Temporals Reformed, but miiiight not be fully balanced
This mod mostly influences stuff from Vintagestory\assets\survival\entities\lore.
Fan of the behavior changes, but not the damage and health changes? Consider Temporals Lite
| Mod Version | Mod Identifier | For Game version | Downloads | Released | Changelog | Download | 1-click mod install* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1.1 | temporalsreformed | 185 | 2 days ago | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
|
Small update. No config yet. However, for now, there will be a second lighter version of the mod that only includes the new behaviors, without HP and damage changes. | |||||||
| 0.1.0 | temporalsreformed | 1122 | Oct 10th at 1:36 PM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
|
Quick fix for an error that kept showing up, and a little bit of Drifter HP adjustment. | |||||||
| 0.0.9 | temporalsreformed | 118 | Oct 9th at 8:08 PM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
|
- Smoothened out tiers, HP and damage among mobs even further. Hopefully finalized, as I feel this one is pretty balanced with armor progression compared to previous versions. (Drifters are the slower yet tankier ones, Shivers are in between, and Bowtorns are the least tanky, though still considerably stronger than in vanilla) | |||||||
| 0.0.8 | temporalsreformed | 419 | Sep 30th at 6:06 PM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
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Quick rebalance and tidying up some stuff. | |||||||
| 0.0.7 | temporalsreformed | 110 | Sep 29th at 11:48 PM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
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- New and reworked behaviors that allow Drifters and Shivers to have a high chance to be aggressive and charge at the player when taking damage from a certain distance. If too far, will flee instead. Low to mid tier Drifters will now only charge at the player if attacked, but will still swing at you if too close. The final two tiers will charge at you if you get too close no matter what. | |||||||
| 0.0.6 | temporalsreformed | 202 | Sep 27th at 7:49 PM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
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Small update. HOPEFULLY fixed Bowtorns spawning way, way too much. I believe the reason was because Iaccidentally left a value over from a previous test I did, to see what would happen if I let them spawn at higher elevations at their max height. This in turn likely made higher elevation worlds see far more spawns by mistake. | |||||||
| 0.0.5 | temporalsreformed | 233 | Sep 24th at 5:19 PM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
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- Smoothed out the damage balance and aggression curve between mobs even more. | |||||||
| 0.0.4 | temporalsreformed | 291 | Sep 20th at 2:10 AM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
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Another huge rebalance with some fun additions. | |||||||
| 0.0.3 | temporalsreformed | 118 | Sep 18th at 11:03 PM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
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New behaviors and rebalance update. | |||||||
| 0.0.2 | temporalsreformed | 752 | Aug 25th at 6:39 PM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
|
Updated to 1.21.0 | |||||||
| 0.0.1 | temporalsreformed | 108 | Aug 24th at 8:24 PM | temporalsreformed.zip | 1-click install | ||
|
- Released | |||||||
Your art made me install.
Small update. No config yet. However, for now, there is now a lighter version of the mod that only includes the new behaviors, without HP and damage changes.
- Reduced spawn chances by half, what the mod was initially intending
- Reduced light level from 1 to 0
- Slightly reduced surface mob HP
- Slightly reduced Drifter attack range
- Added more entity tags
- Made bowtorns a bit less annoying
Would be awesome when the config does roll around (if ever) if we could reenable bells spawning EVERYTHING again, including saw locusts >:)
All of a sudden the mobs are a whole lot less annoying, yet very much more scary/dangerous to deal with.
Exactly what I needed.
Thank you so much for making it! <3
Feels like it might be playing funky with CO, the drifters seem to have a lot longer arm than they should and hit you faster than the animation is, this makes even surface drifters a bit of a nightmare with their lunges
Ikaahi that's because I haven't yet patched in FoTSA interactions yet, but I probably will soon. I intentionally didn't make them target traders though since that might be too unfair, though they can still hit them by mistake and cause them to agro anyways sometimes, so maybe it doesn't matter so much? They do at least target VSVillage villagers though! If you do end up playing with both, I definitely recommend walling up the village farms, since farmers tend to huddle up in those areas a lot and are therefore at risk of being fired upon by bowtorns. I have played around with it a fair bit in my worlds and it is fun watching them go to war with eachother.
I dont know if maybe its because of my fotsa mods, but I havent yet seen any interactions between monsters and animals yet. Also do the interactions extend to traders as well? And will this conflict with mods that affect those interactions?
I do love having staring contests with the bowtorns and drifters though.
Love some of the changes, dont like others, gonna love this mod once a config comes out so I can get the mobs the new stuff but make them a bit less strong in favor of a bit more of the numbers they used to have, somewhere in the middle y'know?
CleverMagpie Melee is still very much viable against bowtorns, it's just dangerous enough that you can't simply stand still and wail on them. You have to actually be wary of your surroundings and, ideally, be moving away as you're swinging. So melee isn't necessarily discouraged at all, but it does give a bit more incentive to engage in ranged combat on top of that.
Thorin48 yes!
I am still planning on updating and maintaining the mod, I'm just currently taking a big break from working on bigger features to work on some of my other projects, before getting into the more elaborate stuff I've had in mind for it. (such as fully customizable config and whatnot)
Darthzz am I allowed to fork this?
Super cool idea for a mod- I want to try it but I'm playing single player and I'm still fuckin terrified of running into the damn things (caves are a mild phobia of mine irl too! haha) but I just love the novelty in design that went into this overhaul and I super applaud the creativity and intelligence in concocting and then executing the idea!!
I'm a bit too nervous to try it out myself, so I haven't yet, but if you have the patience for it I have an armchair design question/critique
Which is: If bowtorns are as dangerous from afar as they are in melee, how does their ranged advantage play into an engaging problem to solve alongside the 'elevated melee damage' ethos applied to the other monsters? Particularly insofar as it applies to players/player-classes that specialize in melee? Is the idea that even melee players will want to play trench warfare with bowtorns specifically? Or is melee discouraged as a playstyle entirely under this design?
Again, great idea, can't wait to try it out
Thorin48
I actually was just looking at its configs rn; the rpg difficulty mod doesn't clearly advertise that it also has time-based progression, mainly emphasising scaling through displacement from the world spawn. I also tested that mod with this mod, but I'm pretty sure this mod has hard values that overwrite rpg difficulty's, because I inflated the hell out of the scaling in the configs and yet the highest max HP I saw was 100.
Edit: No, I have to be reading the configs wrong, the higher I tweak the values the lower the actual stats seem to get? I'm all the way back down to 10 HP basic Drifters. That's something I'll have to move to the actual rpg difficulty mod page to discuss though. Just editing to clarify that it probably wasn't THIS mod, Temporals Reformed, at fault, just me misinterpreting how another mod works.
BCCHP7_2hu
try the rpg difficulty mod it makes 2000 hp drifters or wait for him to config it here
Hey, this might sound weird, but uh, is there a config that allows us to modify spawnrates back to vanilla or even like 2x vanilla rates? I'm playing a heavy modded singleplayer run, but even with only a tin bronze spear I one shot EVERY single Drifter I come across, so I really just want the difficulty increase (primarily the higher health and I assume damage reduction? weird that those aren't vanilla world configs) while still having them be a constant presence.
Edit: Wait, I just saw your most recent post about config support, I'll let you cook then, boss. I haven't actually downloaded this mod because I kind of rely on Drifters being common enough to farm clay (from a Drifter loot table mod, I can't remember which) for my ever increasing cobblestone needs.
Edit 2: I should also elaborate on the insane damage values I'm dealing, which is apparently 40 damage on a tin bronze spear thrust. Must be some wacky percentage stacking. So yeah a proper health config in this mod would go hard. I need 500 health nightmare drifters.
Rekeme fixed!
DUCATISLO Proper config support is planned, with configlib support and everything. Like I mentioned in previous comments, I have a big backlog of other stuff before I get around to that though. For now, if you really want to adjust values to your liking, you can kinda "brute force" it by editing values in the mod folder itself. It's a crude method, but it can get the job done.
is the mod able to be configurated?
Hey there, when I try to run your mod in single player I get an error messages for a patch in the server-main.log:
> 10.10.2025 01:16:44 [Error] Patch 31 (target: game:entities/lore/drifter.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-drifter.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-nightmare is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-nightmare was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '*-nightmare' does not exist. Full json at this path: {
"*": 0
}
It seems inconsequential and the mod still works!
update!!
- Baiting enemies with meat as a distraction is now more effective and hopefully more worth using as a viable strategy.
- Hopefully, HOPEFULLY fixed pathing issues. As much as I could, anyways...
- Slowed down drifters and bowtorns slightly for certain tiers.
- Extended cooldown on Shiver attacks, since they tended to wombo-combo you *too* reliably.
- Drifters and Bowtorns can now melee attack while running.
- Drifters will now slowly walk towards you at a certain distance.
I have an update coming up soon addressing some of this stuff actually. Hopefully fixing some of the bowtorn pathing issues, and also adjusting Drifter speed and behavior.
Proper config is still planned, though I have a pretty big backlog still, so it might be some time before I get around to it. If you really want though, for now, you can sort of "brute force" configuration by manually editing some of the values in the folder of this mod itself. It's not anywhere near as intuitive as a proper config, but it can get the job done for the time being until I get around to adding one.
Is there a config or anything to tweak the speed changes? I'm not fond of a Surface Drifter basically outrunning an unladen Hunter when it decides to come in to attack. Every exchange I've had with them so far ends with me around half HP no matter what I do.
I get the whole "every encounter is meant to be meaningful" but it's frustrating that a Blackguard wearing Bronze is constantly trading blows with surface drifters and coming out the other end shredded. It makes me feel like you really need a shield if you wanna go in for melee.
I got a Pathing issue from the mod
5.10.2025 14:53:49 [Server Error] Patch 44 (target: game:entities/lore/drifter.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-drifter.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/-nightmare is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/-nightmare was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '-nightmare' does not exist. Full json at this path: { "": 0 } 5.10.2025 14:53:49 [Server Error] Patch 38 (target: game:entities/lore/shiver.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-shiver.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/-corrupt is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/-corrupt was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '-corrupt' does not exist. Full json at this path: { "": 0 }
5.10.2025 14:53:49 [Server Error] Patch 39 (target: game:entities/lore/shiver.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-shiver.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/-nightmare is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/-nightmare was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '-nightmare' does not exist. Full json at this path: { "": 0 }
Darthzz is that so? Then clearly the issue must be on my side. I had no other mods changing enemy behavior so it must be something else that's conflicting. I'm curious what it is but I'm not sure I'd be able to find it considering I have around 150 mods. Honestly it's funny that something clearly not related to blowthorns made them have zoomies, becuase in my game those guys sprint man. Olympic level sprinters. I'll try looking into it on the weekened but like I said, I can make no promisses I will succeed. Thanks for providing the info!
Any chance for 1.20.12 backport?
quick lil update
- New climbing behaviors are now based on tier type for Drifters and Bowtorns. The last 3 tiers of Drifter cannot climb. (they got blade arms, after all)
- Made corrupt drifters as aggressive as the latter two tiers, but with a slower approach speed until attacked.
- Reintroduced climbing ONLY to surface bowtorns, and slowed down bowtorn flee speed slightly more overall. Also reduced tier of early tier bowtorn projectiles by 1.
- Adjusted shiver speeds by tier slightly, but also, will have a chance to become slightly faster when repeatedly attacked.
Vigilance Must definitely be some weird overwrite or something like that going on then, because deep shivers in this mod have 50 max HP. (which should still be enough even for copper tier stuff since there's typically only one at a time, excluding temporal storms and occasional duo groups)
ChiefKrogan Vanilla bowtorn fleeentity run speed is 0.03. In my mod, their normal runspeed is 0.04, and then up to 0.05 after being attacked or on low HP. It's only a slight adjustment enough to just be noticeable but not too extreme to catch up with. But like I mentioned before, latency could easily play a big factor in sort of "enhancing" this and making their behaviors more extreme than they should be, which it does sound like considering the "launching into the air" thing. Though I can't speak from your end since I have no clue what kind of mods, world settings, etc you might be using that could also play a factor into this.
Since these "overwrite" issues seem to be weirdly common, I would like to see what kind of mods, world settings and such are used paired with this mod so I can find a proper workaround for whatever's causing it.
I generally like the mod but Imo the blowthorns are way too fast. It's impossible to reliably hunt them in open space with no prior trap setup or nearby water. And they sprint so fast they tend to bug out and launch into the air. The speed increease in itlsef isn't a bad idea but it's cranked up waaaaay too much.
Awesome! I'll give it another try sometime soon. It is also worth mentioning with my mod ecosystem that it may be decently different than yours, and as a result things might be a little more difficult to tune. For instance, drifter speed will pretty much always feel goofy on our end with battle towers etc, the toughest-of-the-tough enemies still have a decent appearance rate in some of the dungeons that aren't particularly uncommon in our server, but I do my best to cover my own bases before I accuse mod behaviors of being "off" in case something on our end is tweaking it! I'm not quite sure why the enemies were so passive for me yesterday morning's "test drive."
I'm curious about the deep shiver I saw, because I swear to you I did see some tuned health values-- a bellhead with HP above a hundred, but next to it that deep shiver had a whopping 16. Without taking better notes of where I saw it, I don't think I'll be able to look in to it, I was mostly just mentioning it on the off chance you'd made a typo, as we are all prone to do! :)
update :)
- Smoothed out HP and damage tier values further for mob tiers.
- Shiver aggressive range increased from 6 to 7.
- Shiver seeking-to-feed behavior should look less silly now.
- Drifter flee movement and animation speed slightly reduce.
- Re-introduced Drifter climbing. Still figuring out what to do with it in regards to Bowtorn.
- Gearfoot bowtorn melee seek charge speed reduced to be more latency-friendly.
Vigilance I don't get it, because shivers are supposed to react immediately to being hit by anything, even if you're far away. If you're pelting them with arrows, they'll either flee or find a route straight towards you, cancelling out their "stalking" behavior. Lower tier drifters running away a bunch however is intentional. The idea is that they're supposed to be more defensively territorial, and get increasingly more aggressive with each tier. Surface Drifters will just do their own thing and bother you on the surface far less than in vanilla, while stuff like the double heads will try to obliterate you. To be fair however, given how unpredictable they can be, its kind of inevitable that these changes might not always be consistent.
Deep shivers having less health also makes no sense? They have 10 more max HP than surface shivers in this mod, and each progressive tier bumps up by 10 more max HP. The increase is gradual, and then splits off somewhat at the latter 3 tiers (stilt, bellhead and deepsplit) who specialize more in the mod. (bellheads are slow, tanky and have high knockback. stilts prefer swipe attacks over biting. and deepsplits are hyperaggressive but less beefy than the other two)
Drifter normal walkspeed is the same as vanilla. They become *slightly* faster when fleeing, but it shouldn't be this unreasonable. Though I suppose I could tone down the animation speed and movement slightly to make it feel more natural.
Honestly, it kind of sounds like something is enhancing all these values somehow. Though to be fair, I haven't really seen how this mod plays in low latency on servers. That could explain why shivers seem to just sit and tank shots, for example. Gearfoots being nightmarish is kind of intentional, since they're an endgame enemy, but taking latency into account, I'll probably tone them down further.
Re-installed, gave it a try:
Some of the enemy behaviors seem way TOO passive now. I'd have shivers actively sit there tanking shots staring at me because they haven't yet decided to remove me from the planet. Same with drifters: they'd more often run away from me.
Also, deep shivers appear to have much less health than their very spongey relatives.
(also gearfoot bowtorn are just as nightmarish as i remember, the others seem fine.)
(edit: quick slide in to again remark that drifters feel more like they're speedhacking than walking and I still don't really think thats a plus)
I think as far as this mod altering loot I'd prefer it didn't, mostly because everyone is going to have their own twenty flavors of why and how. Personally, I'd like to adjust their loot to be faaaaaaaaar and above what it currently is on my server, while still being compatible with xskills, etc, to a point I feel like a lot of people would find reasons to get grumpy. I think the more mod-friendly a mod is, the better.
I am still very interested in using this mod, but I definitely don't think I can justify it still on my server when my friend is across an ocean on 4g internet: it sounds like I'd be subjecting him to torment beyond reason! I still wanna mess around with these new changes, though.
After a bit of testing, I can confirm this mod *is* compatible with Combat Overhaul for the most part, but some damage and health values might be a bit off, or at least might not display accurately since CO splits damage types differently. There are also console warnings when entering the game with both mods enabled, but it just means my mod will overwrite some of the values CO changes, especially with Bowtorns.
Small update. HOPEFULLY fixed Bowtorns spawning way, way too much. I believe the reason was because I accidentally left a value over from a previous test I did, to see what would happen if I let them spawn at higher elevations at their max height. This in turn likely made higher elevation worlds see far more spawns by mistake.
I've also replaced Bowtorn and Drifter climbing with higher StepHeight. This should prevent them from getting stuck on ceiling corners, and hopefully fix the egregious Bowtorn "moonwalk" bug.
Oh yeah, and I've also nerfed Bowtorn HP a little bit.
Coda_Vanistok A config is 100% planned and will be fully worked on after a list of fixes and tweaks. I've never made a config for a mod before, so this will be my first time learning how to do that.
That said, bowtorns will be rebalanced. They're by far the trickiest enemy to alter in this mod, as it's rather difficult to find a sweet spot between being menacing and dangerous, but not too insufferably annoying. Which is another good reason this mod is getting a config eventually (hopefully soon), as everyone has wildly different preferences. The idea was making them feel like a proper strategic predatory threat that actively hunts you down. By intent, this is meant to be offset by the fact they're meant to spawn the *least* often compared to Drifters and Shivers. For one, I'm probably gonna revert their speed to something closer to vanilla, since they're already more reactive to you beating them up anyways. I'll also adjust the health of the lower tier ones a bit, but they'll still be stronger than in vanilla, as they're meant to stand more or less on their own.
In terms of what the mod is *supposed* to look like, there are supposed to be half as many enemies both on the surface and in caves. Drifters and Shivers are supposed to be seen half as often, whereas Bowtorns appear even less than that, so you could feasibly get through caves often unbothered, only occasionally broken up by tension of mobs who are individually very threatening like they would be in a horror game. This was the case from what I've tested, and from what others played, but despite that, it seems like it's not uncommon for these reduced spawns to seemingly not apply at all, or even be inverted somehow.
For now, it would be additionally handy to hand over logs in case it really is a mod incompatibility I'm not aware of, or something like that. It may also help to look if custom world settings might factor into this somehow too.
Darthzz
I'm sure people would enjoy more loot, but I feel one thing seriously amiss is a config file for managing some of the nitpicks people have. Behaviorally, I love it, and the server I run agrees that the change in how they all behave makes it more fun. The problem is the balancing against vanilla, and lightly modified servers.
Also, yeah I know they can still technically spawn when a rift is available, but the numbers are certainly concerning given the individual danger of any one drifter. Bowtorns I feel are the biggest culprit, and I am personally addressing their tankiness even at the surface level on my own server. Regardless the individual danger, a single bowtorn can shut down our village when an archer's not around or paying attention, due to their fleeing dash and defensibility. Personal perspective, they make much more sense as glass cannons that will reposition when shot back at, and run from danger approaching them unless they can't. Especially with the nature of the shiver and drifter being more imposing too.
I did check, we're at temporally stable location, highest I saw was 168% on the status hud mod, 118%-ish at the lowest in some places.
Coda_Vanistok Temporal mobs could always do that, even in vanilla. They normally require darkness around the rift area to spawn, but sometimes they'll just spawn anyways in the middle of the day.
While my mod significantly reduces the spawns, you may still be prone to seeing storms like that with tons of bowtorns, as temp storms are random. Some can have only drifters, only shivers, only bowtorns, or even a mix of the few, among other things. Seeing *tons* of bowtorns out in the day all the time, however, is definitely not normal, unless you're in an area with constant high or apocalyptic rift activity I suppose. I am however aware that something similar occurs with the Combat Overhaul mod at the moment, which does change bowtorns directly in a few ways. I'll probably play around with Dana's Tweaks to see if that's causing the issue.
On another note, I have been debating whether or not to alter mob loot. On one hand, tons of other mods handle this already. But on the other hand, this mod is already more or less a sort of full conversion of enemy behavior, and since there are supposed to be fewer enemy spawns overall, it would make more sense for them to drop more, no?
Darthzz
So is there a known issue where temporals can still spawn in throughout the day from rifts? Or are you aware of any incompatible mods that aren't listed?
I'm running a modded server with 1.21.1, and the only mods that I'm aware of having that alter temporals are Temporals Reformed, Darce's Drifters, and Dana Tweaks to allow them to open doors. We still get a large grip of temporals in light storms, bowtorns are ruthless and plentiful from every forest sightline, and they are just out and about in the day of all things, especially from rifts.
`Bells now have a melee attack.` why do you hate me?
New update!
Aemonculaba should be fixed now
- Smoothed out the damage balance and aggression curve between mobs even more.
- Shivers now have an additional punch/swipe attack.
- Shivers have a rare-ish chance to throw rocks at you like drifters. However, they do it even less often, it's rather inaccurate, and certain variations of shiver won't even do it at all.
- Drifters have an additional left handed swing attack.
- Stilt, Bellhead and Deepsplit shivers now branch off into their own niches instead of being linear tiers. Stilts specialize in brutal swipe attacks and can (sometimes) move very fast in water. Bellheads have intense knockback on their headbutts and have a very low chance to summon help. Deepsplits are the most aggressive of the bunch and will often charge and leap at you relentlessly, preferring to bite rather than swipe.
- Gearfoot bowtorns have a pretty rare chance to call for backup. Backup will usually arrive roughly 30 blocks away, so you might not notice it if they pull it off depending on where you are.
- Bells now have a melee attack.
- Drifters are slightly less cowardly, though still aren't super aggressive as long as you avoid their personal space.
- Nightmare and Double-Headed drifters are much more aggressive than other lower tier drifters and will actively start pursuing you if you get within their range. (roughly similar to shiver aggression range)
- Temporal mob eating behaviors *should* be fixed now.
Known issue: Bowtorns have a small-ish chance to start doing a "moonwalk" with certain actions, but this doesn't happen very often, can cancel out and you might not even see it in normal gameplay.
Hm, you missed setting the creature diet. Darthzz
That's where m00n's warnings come from.
ok the 'All enemies now have a rare-ish chance to "eat" the corpses of prey they've killed.' is weird and causes server console spam :P
SnowySiamese Yeah that's kinda the difficult problem here. Both my mod and CO have rather different intentions and it's hard to account for them in a "best of both worlds" kind of way. For now, I'm focusing on making my mod more elaborate and interesting, but I'll see if I can do anything about CO compatibility as I go. Currently working on a pretty big update.
My experience with running this and Combat Overhaul together is that Temporals Reformed behaviors and health values still work but the spawn adjustments do not. I am not too bothered by it because I like a challenge (I am running CO after all) but some of the people on my server have complained about it, which I think is reasonable. It's still fairly maneagable because they tend not to gang up on you but the groups of bowtorns with buckets of health are a nuisance. No crashes.
I would like a compatibility focused solution that just scraps all of the Combat Overhaul changes and leaves it there but it is understandable that they don't play nice as making them properly compatible would require balancing the temporals in harmony with CO's vision of difficulty which is not the vision this creator has as they are minded towards the vanilla combat systems. Still, it would be nice for a solution.
I think we should let the author develop their mod without too much pestering about other mods as even though CO is extremely popular one cannot account for everything and mod authors do provide their work for free, after all. Anyone could go ahead and make a compat patch, we just don't want to.
Are there plans to work on that current incompatibility with CO? That is a pretty big dealbreaker for me haha
Awesome mod, but I am 100% too much of a weenie to install it myself xD
Akaston Combat Overhaul had a recent update that changes the stats of enemies and touches some of the same things my mod touches, which would certainly cause errors. You kinda gotta pick one or the other unfortunately if you don't want those errors. However, other Overhaul Lib mods are compatible with my mod, so you could still play TR with Firearms and Crossbows for example. (updated description to reflect this)
here when the map starts it gives several errors like.
in-game it seems to work, I just don’t know if it could cause problems later on.
Honestly I have no idea if it’s on CO’s side or Temporal’s, sorry if this is in the wrong place, I only have CO and Temporal enabled.
"*": 0
}
21.9.2025 10:11:44 [Error] Patch 27 (target: game:entities/lore/drifter.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-drifter.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-corrupt is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-corrupt was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '*-corrupt' does not exist. Full json at this path: {
"*": 0
}
21.9.2025 10:11:44 [Error] Patch 28 (target: game:entities/lore/drifter.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-drifter.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-deep is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-deep was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '*-deep' does not exist. Full json at this path: {
"*": 0
}
21.9.2025 10:11:44 [Error] Patch 29 (target: game:entities/lore/drifter.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-drifter.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-nightmare is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-nightmare was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '*-nightmare' does not exist. Full json at this path: {
"*": 0
}
21.9.2025 10:11:44 [Error] Patch 30 (target: game:entities/lore/drifter.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-drifter.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-tainted is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-tainted was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '*-tainted' does not exist. Full json at this path: {
"*": 0
}
21.9.2025 10:11:44 [Error] Patch 29 (target: game:entities/lore/shiver.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-shiver.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-corrupt is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-corrupt was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '*-corrupt' does not exist. Full json at this path: {
"*": 0
}
21.9.2025 10:11:44 [Error] Patch 30 (target: game:entities/lore/shiver.json) in temporalsreformed:patches/survival-entities-lore-shiver.json failed because supplied path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-nightmare is invalid: The json path /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType/*-nightmare was not found. Could traverse until /server/spawnconditions/runtime/maxQuantityByType, but then '*-nightmare' does not exist. Full json at this path: {
"*": 0
}
21.9.2025 10:11:45 [Error] Patch 16 (target: game:entities/lore/bowtorn.json) in combatoverhaul:patches/entities/lore/bowtorn.json failed because supplied path /server/behaviors/8/aitasks/4/targetRange is invalid: The json path /server/behaviors/8/aitasks/4/targetRange was not found. Could traverse until /server/behaviors/8/aitasks/4, but then 'targetRange' does not exist. Full json at this path: {
"code": "fleeentity",
"entityCodes": [
"player",
"villager-*",
"trader-*",
"wolf-*",
"fox-*",
"hyena-*",
"bear-*",
"humanoid-villager-*"
],
"priority": 4,
"movespeed": 0.08,
"seekingRange": 80,
"fleeingDistance": 60,
"cancelOnHurt": true,
"animation": "run",
"animationSpeed": 1.5,
"whenInEmotionState": "fleeondamage",
"targetRangeByType": {
"*-surface": 19.5,
"*-deep": 22.0,
"*-tainted": 25.5,
"*-corrupt": 29.5,
"*-nightmare": 33.5,
"*-gearfoot": 52.0
},
"targetRangeToleranceByType": {
"*-surface": 5.5,
"*-deep": 8.0,
"*-tainted": 11.5,
"*-corrupt": 15.5,
"*-nightmare": 19.5,
"*-gearfoot": 38.0
},
"searchRangeByType": {
"*-surface": 30.000002,
"*-deep": 36.0,
"*-tainted": 44.4,
"*-corrupt": 54.000004,
"*-nightmare": 63.600002,
"*-gearfoot": 108.00001
}
}
21.9.2025 10:11:45 [Error] Patch 17 (target: game:entities/lore/bowtorn.json) in combatoverhaul:patches/entities/lore/bowtorn.json failed because supplied path /server/behaviors/8/aitasks/4/searchRange is invalid: The json path /server/behaviors/8/aitasks/4/searchRange was not found. Could traverse until /server/behaviors/8/aitasks/4, but then 'searchRange' does not exist. Full json at this path: {
"code": "fleeentity",
"entityCodes": [
"player",
"villager-*",
"trader-*",
"wolf-*",
"fox-*",
"hyena-*",
"bear-*",
"humanoid-villager-*"
],
"priority": 4,
"movespeed": 0.08,
"seekingRange": 80,
"fleeingDistance": 60,
"cancelOnHurt": true,
"animation": "run",
"animationSpeed": 1.5,
"whenInEmotionState": "fleeondamage",
"targetRangeByType": {
"*-surface": 19.5,
"*-deep": 22.0,
"*-tainted": 25.5,
"*-corrupt": 29.5,
"*-nightmare": 33.5,
"*-gearfoot": 52.0
},
"targetRangeToleranceByType": {
"*-surface": 5.5,
"*-deep": 8.0,
"*-tainted": 11.5,
"*-corrupt": 15.5,
"*-nightmare": 19.5,
"*-gearfoot": 38.0
},
"searchRangeByType": {
"*-surface": 30.000002,
"*-deep": 36.0,
"*-tainted": 44.4,
"*-corrupt": 54.000004,
"*-nightmare": 63.600002,
"*-gearfoot": 108.00001
}
}
HazardFeline I wouldn't imagine so, since it touches some similar things that my mod touches. Though I do at some point plan to add a similar config like what Shiver Tweaks has.
Would this work with Shiver Tweaks?
its out! lots of stuff in the changelog :)
Abra_The_Cadabra Vigilance Noted, been doing more testing and currently working on another update that addresses these by altering their stats and adding new behaviors that circumvent these problems in a more interesting way.
I like the concept a lot but I'm gonna have to keep watching it for now instead of running it. Bowtorns are far too frustrating (and prone to charge at ranges I'd consider reasonably far, like, the edge of my lantern light for this gearfoot) and it is way too difficult to engage some of the drifters without it feeling like a sprint-kite fest, overall cheapening the experience. I am predominantly worried by how fast-paced (or more accurately spastic) combat feels now when you factor in ping or other latency issues.
My biggest gripe with this mod is I feel like enemies like Drifters don't function well with high damage, as their animations lack any windup or warning. Many times I've walked by a drifter attacking a buddy only to have it whip around and instantly chunk me for 3/4ths my hp.
Big rebalance update!
Yes, it is safe to remove. It doesn't change the world settings in any way.
On another note, I am also planning a big rebalance somewhat soon with some new behaviors.
Is this mod safe to remove mid playthrough? Currently not fully sure if I enjoy it, and want to give a try without it again but don't want to brick my save.
I assume they're referring to RPG Difficulty. I have been playing around with it and honestly, I don't think it's the one causing the issues, haven't noticed any of these problems so far. Messed around in my test world for a while, using all sorts of debugging. Spawning was working as intended. Mobs were preferring total darkness and spawning less often than vanilla, as they should, and did not prefer player light.
It might be a different mod entirely causing conflict. Or something weirder, I have no clue.
RPG Scaling? I tried looking up that name and couldn't find anything like that, what mod are you guys referring to?
I would love to add this mod, but reading Furhammer's comment that it might be in conflict with RPG Scaling, i will wait until its compatible or verified first. RPG scaling makes mod harder to kill while this mod make them more unpredictable, i can see how a compatibility for the two of them to work together could be in the best interest for players hehehehe.
Anyone have tested it out to see if is compatible or if is causing issues when pair together?
Hmm, it may actually be a conflict with rpg scaling causing rpg scaling to fail to work properly but also inverting your numbers.
Neooo Config is indeed planned. For now, I'll try to find a sweet spot for the balance.
Furhammer That's really weird, sounds like the spawn values got inverted somehow. They're supposed to be the opposite, spawning less than half as often as vanilla. (note, spawnrate will still be high at really high rift activity) Them being faster is intentional, though they're not supposed to be too much faster. I have no clue how that could be happening, but I'll try to fix it.
Vanra I've deliberately avoided touching loot values for this mod, so it should be fine.
Will this mod conflict with drop rates mods like "Better Loot"?
Was running into some issues with the mod that was making it near unplayable on my server. Bowtorn specifically, they were spawning at close to triple the original rate and were like olympic sprinters. Instead of mobs spawning in darkness they were spawning prefferably in player generated light. For hilarity though the bowtorn did like to spawn in rafters and attics and shoot the sorry sobs who were trying to enjoy their own home.
Heya, I really enjoy this concept a lot and I hope that you will continue to expand it a lot.
Nonetheless, I got a request. I would like to use this mod, but I'd like to tweak some of the things like the health from the enemies, thus I ask if maybe the ability to modify the files could be added? (When I try to modify it via the asset folder, it causes issues and the mod is no longer recognized)
Still, thanks for the work and I hope you can fulfill my request
Oh hey I recognize you from the Videocult server lol
thanks for this tweak, i normally had the mobs turned off bc they got tedious and annoying. Also entity interactions yes!
I had some ideas concerning some enemies' behavior that may make interactions with them more interesting.
Bells
For instance, bells offer a unique challenge for players due to their summons, but the nature of a "summoning enemy" pigeonholes them as a high-priority target. Bells are supposed to be dangerous, but they end up functioning like minibosses that are avoided unless confrontation is absolutely necessary. Changing their behavior to be more dynamic may encourage players to interact with them more. What if there were more viable options than escape or an immediate takedown? One such example would be making them stop their summoning while swimming. Perhaps they could be interrupted and disabled temporarily with blunt damage at the cost of an immediate summon of two or three sawblades.
Bowtorns
Bowtorns are very easy to fight on their own -- at least in the base game. With fewer spawns, they may become too simple to deal with. Perhaps they should make use of their new speed by chasing the player if they miss too many times or if they are hit with a ranged attack.
Shivers
Shivers stalking the players is an interesting idea; I can see a few directions to take this concept. If you want them to be more unpredictable and unnerving, then perhaps you can give them a new behavior. Bowtorns have a sound cue before their attack that telegraphs their direction and the timing to dodge. Shivers have similar behaviors, but what if their telegraphs resulted in more possible actions in order to confuse players? Imagine a shiver starting the animation where they curl up and shake harmlessly, but then it cuts it short and moves very quickly toward the player.
If you instead want to make them act more like real predators, then you can make them more aggressive depending on certain circumstances. If the player is: not holding a weapon, outnumbered, looking away, or has low health, then aggressive options are more likely. If the player is: holding a weapon, not alone, looking at the shiver, or has full health, then passive options are more likely.
These are just ideas, so feel free to put your own spin on them or disregard them entirely. I look forward to seeing how you decide to make enemies more interesting, regardless. Have a good day!
Sidenote, but I might lower bowtorn spawn chances even further. I want them to be a lot more intimidating, but not too annoying.
It's kind of an unfortunate tradeoff, though I am considering making an animal version of this mod, or integrating it into this mod outright. For now, if you have plans to use this mod, I recommend default creature strength settings.
I like the idea of the mod, though I have minor concerns about boosting damage, cause if you boost damage for default worldgen difficulty, people such as myself who like to play on wilderness setting would get destroyed with its 150% creature strength setting and less player health.
It's still possible for them to spawn in your rooms if it's REALLY dark and there's enough rift activity, it's just easier now to keep them out since you now need less light compared to vanilla.
This sounds good! I like that mobs require more darkness to spawn than in vinilla. The enemies will certainly feel less cheesy if a player only incounters them in caves/ temp storms as opposed to a pest that spawns in that one room in your house every day.
this is fantastic! :D i'mma have great fun subjecting folks on my server to this
i would love to see something like this add more reactiveness to animals as well