DroppedAndLost

Dropped and Lost

> ## SERVER-SIDE MOD > Install it on the server only. Players join with an unmodified game and install nothing. If you host a world from your own game, install it in your own game: you are the server.

You are lost. Find your friends. Bosses need company.

The idea for Dropped and Lost came from Vidguy. Thank you!

Optional client-side companions for the best experience: DAL Compass and Lost Camps.

Dropped and Lost is for playing with friends. It turns Valheim into a "find each other" adventure: everyone is dropped alone, far from anyone else, with no map and no way to shout across the world. You explore, you survive, and you look for your friends the hard way. Then you stand together, because the bosses will not wake for a lone player.

It is a rule set for a private server or a world you share with people you know. It is not anti-cheat and not meant for public servers.

Forget what you have learned from your hundredth start at the Stones. This one is different.

Built and tested on Valheim 1.0.20. Requires BepInEx on the server.

What it does

• Scattered, far-off starts. Every character gets its own random starting point, 3,000 to 6,000 m from the Stones (configurable), in Meadows, on dry ground, with another biome nearby and clear of dungeons and villages. The point is remembered across relogs and server restarts. Die with no bed and you come back to that point, not the Stones. New starts also keep a respectable distance from where other characters began (500 m when there is room, less on a crowded server): enough company for solidarity, enough distance for fear, enough empty horizon for loneliness. You can make as many characters as you like; each one gets its own random point.
• No map. No map, no minimap, no position markers, and other players' positions are never shared. The cartography table is blocked.
• No shout, no pings. Normal talk and whispers still work, so you cannot call a friend across the world. You have to find them.
• Bosses need company. A boss altar only wakes up while at least two living players stand within 50 m of it. Alone, the altar stays silent and nothing is taken from your inventory. This covers all eight bosses, Eikthyr through The Queen.
• One linked pair of portals each. Each character may have two portals standing, and the two link to each other as a single pair. The server names the pair: the second portal you build joins the first, and nobody can type a name. If one is destroyed, the next portal that character builds rejoins the survivor; if both are gone, the name is retired and the next pair gets a new one. Anyone can travel through any linked portal, but only the builder can take one down. If someone else deletes your portal, the server puts it back. Raids, fire and weather can still destroy portals. A third portal disappears within a second and its materials drop where it stood.
• Finding your grave. With no map, a tombstone is hard to find, so after you respawn you are told its heading and rough distance ("Your grave lies about 350 m to the north-east."). Never coordinates.
• Join message and notices. On login: "You are lost. Find friends. Bosses need company." Everyone sees "Name has arrived." and "Name has left." (name only, no position).

The rules are enforced by the server, so players cannot change them by editing their own config.

Optional companion mods (client side)

These are separate mods that players install on their own PC. The server mod works without them.

• DAL Compass - a heading compass (bar, dial or text line) and markers that point toward your last three graves, with a rounded distance and never any coordinates. F8 cycles the style, F9 hides it, F10 clears the markers. Also needed if you turn on the mod list below: it reports the player's mods to the server. It also stops the hammer on other players' portals before the server has to.
• Lost Camps - abandoned camps with diary pages to find, and paintings when you sleep. The server places the camps; each player needs the mod to read them.

Install (server)

1. Install BepInEx on the server (the BepInExPack_Valheim package).
2. Put the DroppedAndLost folder from this package in BepInEx/plugins/.
3. Start the server once, then edit BepInEx/config/com.laoch.droppedandlost.cfg. Changes apply a few seconds after you save; no restart needed.

Tips

• The raft is your friend. Don't be afraid to give up on your first spot and sail to a better start location.
• Bad drop? Start over. If you spawn somewhere dire, such as mobs close enough to kill you instantly, make a new character and try again.
• Use what you know. Put your Valheim experience to work on the mobs, terrain and world around you. For example, lure Trolls into knocking over trees and breaking copper deposits for you.
• Leave yourself a trail. With no map, use paths, signs and markers so you can find your way back.
• Bosses are a group activity. You need at least one other player standing with you to summon a boss, so finding your friends matters more than ever.
• Spend your portals wisely. You get one linked pair per character, so think about where it will do the most good before you build.

Settings (all in the server's config file)

| Setting | Default | What it does | |---|---|---| | Spawn.Enabled | true | Random first spawn. | | Spawn.IncludeExistingAccounts | false | Accounts that had already played the world before this mod keep vanilla spawning. | | Spawn.MinDistance / MaxDistance | 3000 / 6000 | Metres from the Stones. Invalid pairs reset to default. |