The wait is over for the biggest content drop in years. Vintage Story 1.22.0-pre1 is now live as a preview build, and it’s packed with game-changing mechanics that turn the already deep survival sandbox into something truly next-level.

From casting lines into realistic rivers to tempering your own steel tools and displaying trophy fish on your cabin wall, this update enriches every aspect of survival. It’s unfinished and experimental (as all pre-releases are), but the foundation is here — and it’s spectacular.

The Fishing Revolution: No More Puddle Fishing

Fishing has been completely rebuilt from the ground up. Fish now behave like real creatures: they spawn based on climate and location, populations deplete if over-fished, and melee-attacking them makes them instantly flee. You can even see the fish in the water before you cast.

• 20+ Freshwater Species — each with unique behaviors and climate preferences
• Realistic Fishing Rod — craftable from sticks or bamboo with proper line physics and bobber
• Bait System — collect earthworms via worm grunting or farm fennel & licorice for stink baits
• Taxidermy Trophies — preserve and mount fish on wall displays using zinc sulfate
• New Rewards — rare juvenile fish, special collectibles, and fillets for cooking

Metalworking Finally Feels Like a Craft

The forge has been completely reworked with a stunning new model and deeper gameplay. Higher temperatures now require bellows, fuel quality actually matters, and you’ll need metal tongs (way more durable than wooden ones) to handle hot ingots safely.

New quenching and tempering mechanics let you choose between power or durability on tool heads — but one wrong move and your precious steel can shatter. Clay-coat your tools before quenching for different bonuses, or cool them dramatically in lakes (even melting ice!).

• Grinding Wheel — sharpen blades for critical hit chance
• Hot Ingot Physics — they can ignite coal and damage creatures
• New Spears — iron & steel variants with fresh models (lower tiers nerfed for balance)

New Blocks, Storage & Mechanical Power Upgrades

Your base is about to look incredible. New voxel-precision cabinets let you place items exactly where you want them. Mannequins (four types) display your armor and clothing in style. Plus a huge list of fresh decorative and functional blocks:

• Sleek glass-pane doors, wood-typed ladders, aged acacia planks
• Clay tiles in every color (now craftable in survival)
• Large windmills, in-wall axles, spur gears, and waterwheels (all WIP)
• New rapids for better river flow
• 8 new storage vessels + crock labels for jam

Performance, Bug Fixes & Modder Tools

Beyond the shiny new stuff, the team delivered massive under-the-hood improvements: mod loading is dramatically faster, RAM usage is lower, graphics preset switching is 4x quicker, and dozens of long-standing bugs (crop eating, mechanical axles, salt lake generation, etc.) are finally fixed.

Modders get a full tag system overhaul, new API features, and easier total-conversion support. This preview is clearly built with the community in mind.

The Bottom Line: The Best Time to Jump Back In

This is the biggest single content injection the game has seen in a long time. While it’s still a preview (expect bugs and more pre-releases soon), the fishing and metalworking systems alone are worth firing up a fresh world for.

Download it now through the account manager under “Other Goodies,” back up your saves, disable mods for the cleanest experience, and dive into the updated wilderness. The next chapter of Vintage Story is here — and it’s absolutely packed with life.

The age of shallow survival mechanics is over. Welcome to 1.22.

Pro tip: Start a new world or test in creative first — the new river and rapids generation plus reworked fish populations make every lake and stream feel alive again.