Mods / BasicBushcraft

Tags:
Compilation Utility Crafting QoL Tweak Simplification
Author:
TaimatCompany
Side:
Both
Created:
May 14th 2025 at 4:33 PM
Last modified:
Mar 18th at 1:43 AM
Downloads:
1734
Follow Unfollow 86
Latest release (for Vintage Story 1.21.6 and 1.22.0-pre.1 - 1.22.0-rc.2):
basicbushcraft_180.zip  1-click install

Ok, so this was initially just going to be a few common sense recipes but its becoming one of those monster mods of abstract small changes that i hate. So although i'm going to keep this around i really want to break it up into its constituent parts so people can use the pieces they like.

This mod adds a few common sense recipes to things that I think should be readily available. Also adds a recipe for reeds (though it's a little expensive compared to having a reed farm).

After finding "Zippy's Thatch Patch" (which makes SO much sense), I rebuilt a few of my recipes around his theory. There are still no new models or anything, but his mod takes care of a few things that will make the game easier with mine.

Firepitsticks just makes it so you need to start a fire with sticks instead of logs, which honestly makes way more sense.

---

INCLUDED CONTENT I DID NOT AUTHOR:
- RowanSkie's "firepitsticks"
- ZippyWonderdust's "Zippy's Thatch Patch"

NEW ABILITIES
- Shave sticks into thatch with a knife or axe
- Cut firewood into sticks using a knife or axe
- Recycle firestarter back into its components
- Braid thatch into rope
- Craft baskets or chests using thatch
- Debark logs using only a knife.
- Bind sticks with rope for makeshift firewood
- Craft thatch into grass by hand
- Make candles with rope, some fat, and a lit torch
- Bake thatch into potash in the cooking pot
- Cook bone, poultry, fish, redmeat, and bushmeat in meatystew

GAMEPLAY MODIFICATIONS
- Knives now require rope instead of a stick
- Hoes and Spears now require rope
- Torches require 2 sticks, 1 rope, 1 thatch, and 2 fat (but still last for eternity in your inventory), and can also be made with a bandage and a stick.
- Wattle and wattle fences now require 3x as many sticks.
- Firestarter itself can be burned in the fire

REMOVED FEATURES
- Flint and Stone Shovels

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PLANNED CHANGES
- make obsidian tools stronger than usual
- add flint recycling. (knife blades, arrowheads, or spear heads from damaged flint axes or something)
- rebalance various fuels. Firewood should burn for a much longer time. Sticks should burn hotter than firewood but for 1/4 of the time or something. Probably make this its own mod.
- Cut debarked logs into firewood

BUCHCRAFT LIGHTING DESIGN
- torches: short burn time
- oilamps: long burn time
- candles: very long burn time
- lanterns: infinite
- not sure how to work this design quite yet.

---

UPDATE 1.8.0
- Added ability to recycle axeheads
- Replaced crude bow recipe with recurve bow (saplings, tallow, rope, bone)

UPDATE 1.7.0
- Added recycling recipes for knives, and spears in order to preserve tool heads when needed (comes out as flint for now. can't quite make it do what i want).
- Replaced crude bow recipe from saplings and pelts

PATCH 1.6.2
- Updated mod description

PATCH 1.6.1
- Runtime error correction

UPDATE 1.6.0
- Updated for compatibility with Stable Build (1.21.6)
- included RowanSkie's "firepitsticks"
- included ZippyWonderdust's "Zippy's Thatch Patch"

UPDATE 1.5.0
- Added recycling recipe for firestarter into thatch
- Added recycling recipe for wattle and wattle gates into sticks

PATCH 1.4.1
- Added cooked poultry, redmeat, and bushmeat to soups
- Fixed bone broth and a few other things

UPDATE 1.4.0
- Added cooked poultry, redmeat, and bushmeat to meaty stew recipes
- Added bone as a second-ingredient (broth) for soup.
- Removed unintentional modification that turned rope somehow into an edible dairy item... wtf... ??
- Thatch can now be cooked into potash in the cooking pot
- Fixed bone broth in soup
- Added cooked poultry, redmeat, and bushmeat to soups as well

UPDATE 1.3.0
- Made rope burnable

UPDATE 1.2.0
- Removed rope from metal spear and metal hoe recipes
- Attempted repair of torch recipe
- Removed proto-mortar crushing stuff between rocks recipes and made the mortar its own separate mod
- Made firestarters burnable

UPDATE 1.1.0
- Tested on a new wilderness survival world.
- Removed flint and stone shovel recipes
- Added mortar and pestle and various recipes for producing flour, charcoal, salt, rust, bonemeal, lime, flint, and clay.
- Removed stick from standard knife recipe so that rope is the only option in early game
- Added rope to spear recipe
- Updated torch recipe to 2 fat, thatch, rope, and 2 sticks (since they're basically immortal i think its fair to make them just slightly more expensive)
- Increased sticks required for building wattle objects.
- Changed stick shaving recipe from reeds to thatch
- Replaced "drygrass to rope" recipe in favor of "thatch to rope"
- Removed standard torch recipe as well as reed torch recipe
- Added a simple tallow candle recipe (rope, fat, and a torch to melt the fat)
- Spent way too long trying to replace the torch recipe but finally figured it out.
- Ensured thatch can be made with an axe, which does not require rope. This is necessary for very early progression.
- Added thatch baskets and chests.

PATCH 1.0.1
- Changed output of sticks to papyrus to cattailtops.
- Fixed mod name and data in modinfo

VERSION 1
- Tested

VERSION 0
- replaces classic debarked log recipe for one where you just need a knife
- adds recipe for firewood into sticks (ax or knife)
- adds recipe for grass into rope (9 grass)
- adds recipe for a rope-handle knife (rope and knife)
- adds recipe for sticks and rope into firewood (8 sticks, 1 rope)
- adds recipe for 3 sticks cut into papyrus (knife)

---

CANCELED
- Torches extinguishing in containers. (can't be done with just json)

Mod Version Mod IdentifierFor Game version Downloads Released Changelog Download 1-click mod install*
1.8.0 basicbushcraft
1.22.0-pre.1 - 1.22.0-rc.2
350 Mar 18th at 1:43 AM basicbushcraft_180.zip 1-click install

- Added ability to recycle axeheads
- Replaced crude bow recipe with recurve bow (saplings, tallow, rope, bone)

1.7.0 basicbushcraft
1.22.0-pre.1 - 1.22.0-rc.2
81 Mar 17th at 2:51 AM basicbushcraft_170.zip 1-click install

- Added recycling recipes for knives, axes, and spears in order to preserve tool heads when needed (comes out as flint for now. can't quite make it do what i want).
- Replaced crude bow recipe from saplings and pelts

1.6.2 basicbushcraft
1.22.0-pre.1 - 1.22.0-rc.2
101 Mar 15th at 2:47 PM basicbushcraft_162.zip 1-click install

- Updated mod description

1.6.1 basicbushcraft
1.22.0-pre.1 - 1.22.0-rc.2
6 Mar 15th at 2:28 PM basicbushcraft_161.zip 1-click install

- runtime error correction

1.6.0 basicbushcraft
1.22.0-pre.1 - 1.22.0-rc.2
32 Mar 15th at 12:23 AM basicbushcraft_160.zip 1-click install

- Updated for compatibility with Stable Build (1.21.6)
- included RowanSkie's "firepitsticks"
- included ZippyWonderdust's "Zippy's Thatch Patch"

1.4.1 basicbushcraft 427 May 27th 2025 at 4:03 AM basicBushcraft_141.zip 1-click install

- Added cooked poultry, redmeat, and bushmeat to soups
- Fixed bone broth and a few other things

1.4.0 basicBushcraft 259 May 20th 2025 at 11:14 PM basicBushcraft_140.zip 1-click install

- Added cooked poultry, redmeat, and bushmeat to recipes to cookpots
- Added bone as a second-ingredient (broth) for soup.
- Removed unintentional modification that turned rope somehow into an edible dairy item... wtf... ??
- Thatch can now be cooked into potash in the cooking pot

1.2.0 basicBushcraft 124 May 18th 2025 at 7:04 PM basicBushcraft_120.zip 1-click install

UPDATE 1.2.0
- Removed rope from metal spear and metal hoe recipes
- Attempted repair of torch recipe
- Removed proto-mortar crushing stuff between rocks recipes and made the mortar its own separate mod
- Made firestarters burnable

1.1.0 basicBushcraft 129 May 16th 2025 at 11:47 AM basicBushcraft_110.zip 1-click install


UPDATE 1.1.0
- Tested on a new wilderness survival world.
- Removed flint and stone shovel recipes
- Added mortar and pestle and various recipes for producing flour, charcoal, salt, rust, bonemeal, lime, flint, and clay.
- Removed stick from standard knife recipe so that rope is the only option in early game
- Added rope to spear recipe
- Updated torch recipe to 2 fat, thatch, rope, and 2 sticks (since they're basically immortal i think its fair to make them just slightly more expensive)
- Increased sticks required for building wattle objects.
- Changed stick shaving recipe from reeds to thatch
- Replaced "drygrass to rope" recipe in favor of "thatch to rope"
- Removed standard torch recipe as well as reed torch recipe
- Added a simple tallow candle recipe (rope, fat, and a torch to melt the fat)
- Spent way too long trying to replace the torch recipe but finally figured it out.
- Ensured thatch can be made with an axe, which does not require rope. This is necessary for very early progression.
- Added thatch baskets and chests.

1.0.1 basicBushcraft 82 May 15th 2025 at 1:55 PM basicBushcraft_101.zip 1-click install

- Changed output of sticks to papyrus to cattailtops.
- Fixed mod name and data in modinfo

1.0.0 personalTweaks 143 May 14th 2025 at 4:36 PM basicBushcraft.zip 1-click install
  • Changed output of sticks to papyrus to cattailtops.

16 Comments (oldest first | newest first) (threaded | flat)

Vivi001, Mar 27th at 8:09 AM (modified Apr 4th at 9:23 PM)

Oh right, and idk when you will see this, but your mod seems to conflict with toolsmith mod. Firewood into stick using a knife is the same craft recipe for toolsmith for crafting crude tool handle; I wonder how to make a fix?
Edit: I managed to switch the recipe around so that it uses AF instead of A,F to prevent conflict. I don't know if I can upload a reworked version of it, or if you don't mind patching it? :D Oh, and the tallow candle recipe didnt work for me. Wonder if it conflicts with something

Vivi001, Mar 27th at 2:12 AM

TaimatCompany Heya! I've just been a noob(Like just got the game yesterday) trying out your mod and I really like it, but is it just me or is shovels now only metal only? I read your note before, and someone said that in fact, flat bladed shovels exist, and exists in home depot(iirc its a famous store I think somewhere in US). But if not that, at a wooden shovel would also do! (Apparently, wood can bend? According to another. For the curve, since you believe flat doesn't work. Something about steaming them for bending, and if its hardwood, it can be used for digging, but with less durability than metal)
In early game its abit of a chore to dig with your hands only, espescially when harvesting clay, and also with soil instability turned on.
They told me to ask about this, and I figured why not? Tho I haven't actually seen a shovel irl tbh :"3

If I missed out on some alternative recipe for shovels that isn't metal since flint and stone have been taken away, please let me know!

TaimatCompany , Mar 15th at 10:18 PM

Potato_Spud Yes it should be updated now and i've been testing it on 1.21.6

Potato_Spud, Mar 15th at 9:19 PM

I had no idea if this was every going to get updated?

TaimatCompany , Mar 15th at 2:23 PM

onyxibara I have no idea. Haven't tried the toolsmith mod. Give it a try and let me know if it farts :)

onyxibara, Mar 15th at 12:06 PM

Is this going to play nice with the tool smith mod? The features are just logical and I want them to work together XD

Celly, Sep 14th 2025 at 11:29 PM (modified Sep 15th 2025 at 4:49 AM)

TaimatCompany Is it alright if I split off your food recipes into a separate mod, at least the bone broth soup part? I'd like to make it compatible with the new 1.21.x bone items as well so it might turn into its own thing. Since in your last post you said you're not into VS or modding lately, and this mod is still not updated, I'll assume you'd be chill with it as long as I credit you for the base idea and code fragments that I'd be expanding upon.

Please let me know if I need to do anything in particular to credit you beyond mention and a link back to your mod! 

edit: it's called Bone Marrow Soup

MKJwhoa95, Sep 13th 2025 at 9:49 PM

TheSapphicSeas Tip! You can find vines on bushes and hanging from trees. These can be collected by hand and 3 place horizontally in the crafting grid makes 1 rope! It's usaully pretty easy to get a good amount of rope early game now. Honestly it's more efficent to use vines since that's there only useful recipe and reeds are used in so many other things. I prefer to save my reeds in the early game for baskets and horsetail poultices haha! Good luck out there!

TheSapphicSeas, Aug 23rd 2025 at 1:14 PM

How are you supposed to get rope to make a knife when the materials needed to make rope require a knife to harvest?

TaimatCompany , Aug 1st 2025 at 12:10 PM

Brick I actually had considered that since in ancient days it was the specific type of wood you used that made a good bow - not the string. Mongols for instance would use three separate wood saplings to make their bows and they were well known for their proficiency in hunting and archery.

 

If I get back into vintage story and modding I will definitely take a look at that!

Brick, Jul 30th 2025 at 6:32 PM

TaimatCompany Using a sapling for a bow sounds like a very fun idea! Because when you plant a seed, it sprouts into a sapling which you can dig out and pick up! I imagine adding a recipe sapling+knife = raw bow limb, which then has to dry out to use when crafting a bow. So instead of 3 sticks, have 1 dry bow limb. It is possible to even go into a rabbit hole of different types of wood making different quality of a bow. 
And make a recipe for a special bow string so that instead of 3 ropes you'd combine one dry bow limb and 1 bow string.

Ryumachinae, May 23rd 2025 at 9:32 PM

Oh I have an error, so there actually isnt a name FOR Bone Soup, or Bone broth, if you are making it primarily. Also it comes with 0 saturation.

Ryumachinae, May 23rd 2025 at 7:55 PM

Excellent, I may want to start a new game with this.

TaimatCompany , May 23rd 2025 at 1:56 PM

Aloy thanks!

Aloy, May 23rd 2025 at 8:36 AM

based as hell

TaimatCompany , May 15th 2025 at 2:07 PM

There's been some complaints that too many sticks makes early game starts too easy.

 

But sticks are plentiful in the woods IRL. If you have to make stick acquisition 100x more challenging than in real life just to make sure the game loop doesn't break - there's something else wrong with the game loop. I'll explore this concept a little more in my BasicBushcraft mod. You've given me a few ideas.

 

So the real question is, WHY does bountiful amounts of basic sticks break the gameplay and the challenge? Sticks are free. You can literally walk outside your door IRL and collect a truckload in like 15 minutes. And it's not like they're some treasure trove of hidden technology - they're just sticks.

 

What makes sticks so vital to early game?

 

TOOL HANDLES / AXES

Alright this one does make sense, and the Primitive Technologies guy makes it look like cake, so. We'll leave that alone for now.

 

TOOL HANDLES / KNIVES

This just feels very silly to me. Why would you use a stick for a handle. That doesn't make any sense at all to me unless you were using rope somehow to bind it together- and if you have rope you might as well just use a rope handle (i've already implemented this in this mod).

 

TOOL HANDLES / SHOVELS

No. Just no. This is not a thing. A flat bladed shovel on the end of a stick would never work. however...

 

TOOL HANDLES / HOE

This one is believable but there needs to be modifications for sure. An Adze is one of the earliest tools invented and was typically made with stone, stick, and rope. So this is a great candidate for a recipe tweak. And maybe i could even get it to mimic the shovel's abilities.

 

TOOL HANDLES / HAMMER

I have no idea why you can't make a stone hammer. This is literally like. You could just use a fucking rock. Great example of making something way harder than it ever, ever would be in real life. HOWEVER the hammer in this game is primarily used for smithing - which wouldn't be feasible with a rock or even a rock with a handle. Smelting, maybe, but not detailed anvil smithing. You could use it for crushing things though, like grain into flour, for sure... mmm yes. this idea has merit.

 

TOOL HANDLES / SPEAR

Ah. Yes this is one of the more practical applications of sticks. I do think spears should require rope however, especially with this particular mod where rope is craftable with drygrass.

 

FIRE

Fire is certainly difficult but grinding with the firestarter isn't exactly fun, so i understand why they made firebuilding easy. In real life, you can actually get a couple sticks and some drygrass (debatable) and make fire in a few hours. So we could increase the time it takes to get a fire going with the firestarter. Or even implement a flint and steel type mechanic for late game ease of use.

 

TORCHES

The fact that you can indefinitely store a burning torch in a reed basket is frankly ridiculous. Same goes for having a torch just burning on your person for all time. This needs to be addressed for sure. In games like The Long Dark, in the majority of situations, if your fire goes out? so does all hope. It's precious, it's necessary, and it's hard to obtain. I'll be exploring this problem for sure. There's also the more glaring issue of the fact that the recipe is completely ridiculous. Straw on a stick is going to burn up in an instant, not burn with an undying flame for all of eternity. There are alternatives though, like - funny enough - cattail reeds and a flammable substance like animal fat.

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Torches

 

ARROWS

In reality, you can't just use any old stick for an arrow. It needs to be dried, shaved, and it needs to be straight. Do i want to grind through that whole process to get arrows for my bow when i need some? Hell no. Realism, in this case, would just not be fun. So i'm gonna let this be.

 

BOWS

A useable bow really can be made from a few good sticks of the right wood type. Traditionally you would use saplings to make a bow, and not dry sticks; however, i think a sapling recipe would look pretty ugly in the inventory menu. So. Idk about that one.

 

CRUDE DOOR

Can you build a door out of 2 logs and 3 sticks? Go ahead. I'll wait. Damn things falls off all the time anyway. Better to use two wattle gates stacked on top of each other.

 

WATTLE

Definitely 100% believable. Excellent implemention, even if you probably need more sticks to build this realistically.

 

TOOL RACK

I suppose you could drive some sticks into the side of a dirt wall at an angle and put another stick on top of it to hold tools, so i'm ok with this one.

LAYER OF STICKS

This is a mechanic i can get behind. Works great for chimneys and I don't see any problem with it. IRL, obviously this would be very silly, but it makes sense for the game.