Description
Developed by the Exile Team
for Luanti 5.10+
CAUTION: Some people may find parts of this game difficult or disturbing.
Gameplay 🔗
Challenging, at times brutal, wilderness survival with simple technology. Use your wits to find food, water, and shelter before succumbing to the elements, while exploring the mysterious world, and developing your capacities to endure your exile.
Features 🔗
Player health effects — Hypothermia, exhaustion, disease, … Dynamic natural world — Seasonal weather, erosion, water flows through soil, … Plausible building materials — Make shelters from the rain, kilns, smelters, … And much more!
World Settings 🔗
Valleys is the standard mapgen for Exile. Carpathian is also supported, for a somewhat more difficult and slower-paced game.
Flat mostly works, many biomes are altitude dependent, therefore many plants will be unavailable. Enable it in game.conf if you’d like to try it anyway.
Gameplay Guide 🔗
Many different strategies might work, and part of the fun is figuring out what does, and catastrophically does not, work. ⌣ ⌢
Here are some early steps you might pass though:
- Craft basic tools. Find a suitable camp site quickly before you get tired.
- Build a bed to rest in, plus shelter, and maybe fires for warmth.
- Weave rudimentary clothing and blankets to begin improving your rest rate.
- Make a kiln, and fire pots. Harvest wild foods from trees while you wait.
- Collect water with pots, and build up a freshwater supply, into a cistern if needed.
- Farm food plants, herbs, and fibrous canes to build up supplies.
- Explore and gather mineral resources for more advanced tools.
You start in spring. Maybe some pangs of winter linger, so beware the night. Enjoy the rains while you can. Soon the hot, dry weather of summer will arrive. Running out of water, or becoming exhausted from the heat, is a real risk. After that will come the sub-zero conditions of winter. Starvation and freezing are hard to avoid without preparation.
Some Tips and Tricks 🔗
- Beds are important: If you’re exhausted you get hypothermia/heat stroke. Get under shelter in a nice temperature.
- Time: Do your crafting, organizing, planning while you rest.
- Weather: Extremes sap your energy. Like real life, walking around in a snowstorm is a bad idea!
- Temperature: Build a shelter, with a fire place or lots of torches. You can also go underground; caves sufficiently deep are safe from weather.
- Water: You can drink cave drips (click them). Water pots collect rain water. Some plants, and food quench your thirst. If you’re desperate, you can try to melt ice, or dig a seepage pit in wet ground and wait for water to flow into it.
- Food: Eat things and see if you live! You can catch animals with clubs (right-click while wielding).
- Clothing: Simple grass clothing can be woven quickly, and can be a lifesaver. Better clothes can be made by soaking bundles of the right kind of plants.
- Farming: Digging tools also can till soil. Punching depleted agricultural soils with fertilizers will restore them.
- Illness: Keep an eye on “health effects.” You may have eaten something bad, or have a terrible disease.
- Drugs: Some plants have useful medicinal effects. Be careful not to overdose, however.
- Spelunking: Go deep enough underground and you might find something….
- Woodcutting: Hardwood trees are more difficult to cut than soft wood. You will need better tools for those.
- Climbing: Build stairs and shelters around your base. This will save you energy and protect you from extremes. You can use sticks to build a ladder, or a pole to shimmy up, to get to high places, or descend if you’re careful.
- Environment: Not every step in crafting can be done at a work station. Some things need to be fired, or soaked in water, etc.
- Industry: Build ovens, kilns, furnaces the same as you would for real. Start a fire with access to air, and a sealed chamber that gets heated up.
- Fires: Blocks are hotter than slabs. Charcoal is hotter than wood. Fires can be temporarily extinguished by punching while them holding sediment.
- Charcoal: Make it as you would for real — make a wood fire sealed up to limit airflow.
- Glassmaking: Sand and wood-ash can be made into green glass. The ash must be soaked, dried, and roasted to make clear glass — Glass can be melted onto iron trays to make panes for real windows!
- Iron smelting: This is hard. It needs plenty of charcoal, and a space below the iron mixture for slag to drain out.
Settings for Multiplayer 🔗
The variable time_speed defaults to 72, and at this rate a player who logs on at 8:00 AM every day will get a change in season every 2.5 days.
Changing speed to 60 will make days last 24 minutes and a new season every real-world day, but he will see the seasons in reverse. At time_speed of 96, days last only 15 minutes, but the player might see spring (year 1) on day 1, summer (year 2) on day 2, etc.
If you're compiling your own Luanti, it may be useful to edit src/server/luaentity_sao.cpp to remove lines 367-370, removing the code from actionstream << puncher->getDescription through ") punched " on down to << std::endl; as that code will result in a great deal of unwanted log messages caused by animals attacking each other.
The utilities folder contains a *nix startup script, named startexile.sh. Edit the file to customize the paths, and run it with "./startexile.sh" and "./startexile.sh close" to shut the server down.
Mods for Multiplayer 🔗
- Wield3d is recommended.
- Visual Harm 1ndicators will add hp bars over the heads of mobs and players
- Unicode Signs allows players to craft signs from logs
- Dynamic Input Held Eating alters eating to require holding the button down
- Hypertrace was used in debugging and developing the tutorial
v0.4.0 renamed the minimal mod to exile_game to avoid name collision with other games. Older mods that have not been updated to work with v0.4.0 may still depend on "minimal." If you need to, the utilities/ folder contains a minimal mod which can be installed to satisfy the dependency.
Development 🔗
Exile is open-source software — that means the game is as good as you choose to make it. It also means development can be erratic and haphazard at times, so be patient!
Exile is technically in “Alpha,” as there are still a number of missing features planned. Despite this status, it is as stable and as bug-free as we can make it, and we take great care to ensure compatibilty with existing worlds is maintained between releases.
Worlds from versions prior to v0.4.0 will require scanning to import them. This can be done with an external library such as lua-sql, or can be done on-the-fly by activating LBMs. See the instructions included in the game.
See the Codeberg repository for known bugs, and to report new ones.
Credits 🔗
Exile was originally created by Dokimi, and is now developed by the Exile Team.
Gratitude is due to all those whose mods have been adapted for use in Exile (see ./mod/ folders for details).
Thanks also to all who have given feedback, fixes, etc.
A full, up-to-date list of contributors can be found on the GitHub repository, under the Insights tab.
Savage, yet original and interesting
You are left alone in nature. Some say nature is generous, this game says nature is brutal. Everytime you try something you may ask yourself "what could possibly go wrong?", well, everything. One day things may seem okay, the next day things become critical.
The game mechanics are very hard to grasp and the walkthrough is somehow mandatory and pretty much insuffiscient (I had to look for the code for extracting water into puddles. This is a game-killer, but water is so scarce and necessary to live more than two days). You'll have to repeatedly die before having a bit of understanding about how things work, about watery, what is eadible and/or toxic, thermal regulation and such. And then you'll still be constantly balancing a discomfort to an other while trying to just have barely acceptable living conditions. Forget about your castle, a small dry and warm hut is already luxuous.
Very interesting, challenging and frustrating at the same time (at least if you are playing without respawning).
Pinnacle of the survival genre in Minetest
I have been playing this game for a long time, and it is definetely my favourite Minetest game. This game is actually challenging, and finally figuring out how to do something is extremely rewarding. Exile also features some very smart design choices: for example, sticks here are not just an item used in crafts that clogs up your inventory like in MTG - they are also an important traversal tool that you might want to have on you most of the time. I could provide many more examples of such decision.
That said, it is not perfect - some mechanics could use to be more clear, and there is not much to do after you have acquired everything - the game stops feeling like a challenge. Performance is also not that great on weaker computers due to all the dynamic nature. However, this game is in active development, and many things probably will improve.
Overall, this is an extremely good game, among the best in Minetest.
My kingdom for a pickaxe!
This is an amazing game! It's very different from a typical minetest game. Expect to die frequently at first, but as you get to understand how things work, you'll be able to make it a few days before dying! :)
The weather is your biggest enemy. Find shelter and resources to build a fire and cloths so you can survive the first night. Next you'll need food and water or you'll discover what the second biggest cause of death in the game is. Exhaustion is a serious problem that'll leave you unable to move if you don't take time to rest. The most serious threat you'll find on the surface is the male duck which are very aggressive. Easy enough to avoid, but expect to add a few bodies to the graveyard looking for a quick meal.
I've progressed far enough that basic survival isn't my concern. I have plenty of clay pots and know how to get water from multiple sources. I've farmed most of the editable plants and learned how to make flour and mashed Anperla. Cooking is a challenge of it's own but once figured out, you're risk of death is greatly reduced. You could happily live out your days at this point; farming and living in caves.
Learning to make bricks changes everything! Being able to create blocks that don't fall, absorb water or erode make creating permenant structures possible. You can now build a home to live out your days in style! Next is the challenge of Iron smelting. That's where I'm at now. I have my first Iron Ingot , but am still trying to perfect the process. Can't wait to see where the game takes me once I enter the iron age! Do I finally get a pickaxe?
The game is well worth the effort. Frustrating at times, brutally unforgiving, and highly addictive! I haven't had this much fun since I first discovered Minecraft back before Notch sold it.
WONDERFUL GAME
Its a challenging game, yes, but also interesting, I've reach to live many days with only one life, is satisfactory.
The only problem is I can't get enough food to survive as long a want, and farming takes so long (like in real world), I realize that the hunger is very hard to satisfy, eating a plenty amount of coocked animals every day is a hard goal because there is a very shrot plenty of food here, I have a lot to learn.
Make some bags to carry is a good idea if you want to play as a nomad, to recolect resources before make a base, its so useful to find the better place to stablish yourself.
Yes, the game is hard and will kick your ass... at the begining, but if you are middle-smart, you can domita it step by step, and each achievement that you reach is very satisfying.
The game its simple but addictive, if you give it a opportunity and have some patient... and passion. The game still in alpha versiono, yet so, is amusing and inmersive.
*If someona knows a wiki with the crafting guide, please, can contact me by email. I am very interesting on it.... *
I almost forget, thanks a lot to the team for giving us this great alternative, I spend many hours in this game and thats mean that all of you are making great. Cheers.
This has my approval ;-)
Mantar and other contributers are doing an awesome job of fixing up and expanding my original version. A huge amount of coding work has been done under the hood. Most of that is invisible to players but trust me, it's there. This project is moving well beyond proof of concept and is gaining a solid foundation. More and more that will start being noticeable to your average player. Watch this space!
Why?
This amount of work undoubtably deserves a like from me and from literally anyone else visiting this page. Well done, I love survival that involves technology, even if it's simple.
Very complex, confusing and fun game .
I love the game. Its realy hard too. Could you pls add a guide for it because when i join a world and do whatever i need to i end up only living for in 15 mins max.
otherwise its great
Riptide
Possibly the best planned-out MT game
Yes, granted. … the game is hard to get into. But not as hard as many others where there is no beginners' info or walkthrough provided. Besides MC has -sold- more than a million copies before a proper instruction for beginners was implemented.
That being said, there is nothing more to add in terms of criticism. This is by far the best and most concise work I have seen and played so far within Minetest as a single player. Everything is planned out and integrated neatly with the goals of the survival gameplay in mind. The game is highly complex with the simulation of environment physics such as erosion and temperature affecting the character and their surroundings. It has its very own collection of unique items and blocks as well as modifying MT's features like stack size and inventory capacity effectively. It is challenging , even frustrating at times and still allows for a learning curve that provides enough progress to make the game highly addictive.
The look and feel reminds me of the non-voxel, commercial game "Force of Nature". But gameplay is a lot better than that, IMO.
A prime example of open-source gaming and a crystal-clear recommendation for all fans of survival games. Thanks to Minetest's and Exile's developers!
Very challenging, unusual and deep game mechanics
I have encountered no other Minetest game yet that felt so much like a survival challenge.
In Exile, simply not dying all the time means that a player is doing something right.
Building an actual house is a challenge – I managed to live in a tiny cave.
Survival tip: Stay warm and make sure you have drinking water.
A huge yes : main risk is to play too much :D
Only "bad side" is that you are tempted to play too much and real life may suffer, but even that is covered with time breaker ahah :D
I play mostly on v4 which is way more advanced thant the v3 on content db. v3 is already very good and playable as it is. Juste saying dev is still active, game is not abandomned, and still improving, and you can test v4 on public servers
Yes, the game is difficult because... this is the whole point of it and why I love it. This is NOT a clone of minecraft. You can't punch trees (but could you in real life ?) You can't dig iron with wooden pickaxe (or make wooden pickaxe). You have no hoven craft, you need to conceive them. This is meant to be more realistic, you have no zombies but deal with cold/heat/hunger/disease, etc... and some "mean" (let say territorial) animals.
At first, I died about 20 times before I could survive the first night. This is quite a normal thing. Doesn't mean it is impossible, or too hard. At some point you will probably get it. Or maybe the game is just not for you because well, everyone like different things.
Eventually you get to the point were you are really cosy and can just build and explore (there is also a huge exploration part.. )
When you know the game, you can start everywhere (even desertic looking part are ok too start...) and quite easily, meaning you will directly travel and manage that survival thing like a piece of cake.
Dev team is very nice, you can ask for help on the servers, but my advice would be to test the game in solo mode first, because time and seasons are important, so it let you do it in the right order, while on the online servers the time passes even offline and you may start in a hard season. There is also an IRC channel where the devs and players are if you want to ask question : #Exile on freeirc A tutorial to help new player is also in development.
Survival that throws wishful thinking out of the window
A long overdue positive review from me.
I was typing one before joining the dev team, but accidentally closed my browser tab lol.
The Good
Rich natural world with many biomes and plants
Plants are not just decorations, they're resources, food, medicines and toxins
Challenging survival - the game doesn't parrot cliché features of games like Minecraft. It takes some knowledge and work to merely survive.
Dynamic nature (this is more apparent on our beta v0.4.0 branch). Seasons change and with them nature and weather, water moves through the ground.
Realism - no punching trees, you need to make proper tools, eating raw meat comes with parasites, low temperature and restlessness lead to exhaustion and death.
Mobs - there are mobs by default and they're not just a punching bag in your fantasy story. They live their lives and do their best to survive.
The game encourages sustainability and cooperation over mindless looting and destruction. Depleting natural resources can quickly turn the once flourishing land into a desert. Players have to mind their choices and respect nature, or get crushed by it like a bug.
Hidden plot - there's something to explore under the surface.
The Ugly
UI/UX - we still need to improve user interface and controls. They tend to be inconsistent.
Many elements of the game are still underbaked and need improvement, mainly the undercity, mobs.
Discoverability issues - because of unique features of the game, inconsistent UI/UX players often find things confusing and hard to get right. The most common problems are related to building kilns and iron smelters (which is also related to our imperfect heat/temperature code). The v0.4.0 release is going to include a tutorial, hopefully fixing most of these problems.
The codebase is quite chaotic in certain places, we still lack good and stable APIs for modders.
Summary
A cool game with unique features and feel, but still needs improvements.
Uniquely Difficult Survival + Creative Approach
Exile tries and succeeds in differentiating itself from Minetest Game and other Mineclonia-like games - even other survival games as it aims for a separate and newfound extreme feel, with an intended underlying lore and reason for the world's shape, form, and environment. An educational aspect is considered in tandem.
There is quite a learning curve - that Mantar and others are in the process of trying to fix (including myself :D) - but one that can be overcome with persisted effort, trial and error, and if it's hard enough - just asking the devs themselves. Though the game is brutal and unforgiving - the aim to develop iron and seek a long range of abandoned settlements cultivates a fervorous intrigue to play and continue forth despite how hard the world tries to take you with it. Developers are active and willing to tackle down bugs with ease ;3
There are some aspects of NodeCore incorporated - with nodes that need to be cooked or combined physically (see lanterns).
Diseases will be unforgiving - so be sure to make the appropriate medicines - or don't partake in which causes it - as a lot of medicines won't work anyways!
Multiplayer is wholeheartedly recommended in my honest opinion - though don't expect war and conflict - one's too busy simply trying to live than rather squabble and fight senselessly. Multiplayer helps intervene against that learning curve, provides you with great examples of what you should do to survive, sometimes provides safe havens, and usually puts you in live contact with the devs who can give you a helping hand or word whenever available.
Nice mod
Nice mod, but the temperatures don't make much sense, why is one block 40°C, the one next to it -2°C, then next one 12°C
Best Boeing Simulator ever
Piloting the character is fun, you need to have everything within normal range, just running around is a game of it's own, sometimes paralysis hits and you die, and that is fun too. Very nice textures and ambience
Charcoal
I've barely gotten into this tbh but the description has taught me how you would go about making charcoal in real life, and while I hope that info is never useful it's still fun to know
Very original gameplay
I really enjoy this game for it's complex heat and survival simulations, and the quality gameplay it provides.
crazy hard, frustrating, super addictive
because i would only be repeating a lot of the great things already said in the reviews here, i wanna focus more on the critique and criticisms without hopefully spoiling the game and discoveries for new players. if you want to avoid spoilers, skip this review now, this is not for you.
the technology of the other civilization(s) which have been on this planet before, it's too cryptic. maybe i just haven't played enough, but like, wth do i want or need a temp probe for if i can already see the temp on my HUD, and other such things like that. i've collected a number of things from the ancients, but, other than maybe decorations, i can't figure out what they're for and how to use them.
its the best game
this game is so realistic and detailed, while not being full of little things important to know. playing with friends is so much fun too, this game is just the best
One of the Best Long-Form Minetest Games
Your homeland dosen't care what you did, just that you're gone. It may be an execution in all but name, but if you can find shelter for your first night, water for your first season, and food for your first year, you'll soon find the badlands can be a half-decent place to live. Now, if only there was a little more color.
Good but Confusing
The game is probably very well developed, but I just can't get into it. We played almost 10 hours as a group of 4 and only managed to get a spear, beds, and woven clothing.
No idea how to cook, fire clay, find food and water - so we keep on dying. Suggestions from the wiki like water puddle holes don't work. The wiki in general is rather chaotic and has little useful information. Beds apparently skip the night in Minetest original, is this possible here? Mobs don't seem to move properly.
It reminded me somewhat of TerraFirmaPunk, a Minecraft TerraFirmaCraft modpack. Maybe you could take some inspiration from its Quest Book and mechanisms as well.
What helped me a bit was this playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzSAal8RyICa73tdJOI5iR1m9hNyu_Sxy
Challenging but original
its fun but also frustrating. The tiku and alcohol seems like an odd thing to add to an otherwise good game.
Horrible
Short review: A mix of time-consuming grinding, bad gameplay design, game design and unnecessary complications + cool underground structures with tasty spiders and ambient in them.
UPD: Full version of review v3 here: https://codeberg.org/Mantar/Exile/issues/1143 (I had to move it to codeberg because it didn't fit the length)
Perhaps many, like me, did not know about the existence of Exile v4, which is not on ContentDB, I recommend installing it from the official developer repository: https://codeberg.org/Mantar/Exile/releases
The Best Game
This game is great, it is the best of all the games developed for Minetest.
It has a lot of great content, and is so unique. It is hard and has a very high learning curve, but for those who try it is wonderful. Although i do wish there were more animals.
Too many spawns with absolutely no resources.
I like hardcore games but this is nearly impossible. After 147 games all I spawn in at the beginning is massive deserts with zero resources. We're talking no grass, trees, anything. Makes it unplayable when you can't get resources at all after that many times trying.
It would probably be better if they stuck to the way mtg works. This is just way too convoluted and confusing to even be fun as a brutal game.
based in ugly MTG
Its textures and interactions are based on the ugly MTG, I would like it if it looked more like MineClone or MineClonia. It is also very difficult.