Deadeye_Rob

I’ve been spending some solid time playing Exploration now, I’ve met so many people on my travels. I’ve noticed a lot of them are new to the game, which is a good sign! I even partook in a little sea combat for the first time! Someone opened fire on me without warning! They were a bit surprised when I started to fire gunpowder barrels back at them!

Well said @Aleš Ulm. I must admit, over the last 6 months preceding the release of 1.5, I was terribly concerned about the future and viability of the game. It was disheartening to see Exploration being reduced with each update as more elements were stripped without warning. Aside from the current bug-associated ‘growing pains’ I think 1.5 has made the first dramatically positive step in the right direction for a very long time. I have had an absolute blast building my ship, visiting other biomes and meeting other players. I’ve even taken to chronicling my adventures when it’s too foggy to navigate! Now is the time for the Current player base to jump in, assist in bug detection and maybe even form a few community-friendly ports that we can all visit? Well done to the Ylands Dev team for recognising and rebuilding a potentially successful and unique survival experience! Thanks guys! Rob

Heads up guys! I found a workaround! I left Exploration. Then instead of rejoining, I deleted the map I was on. Then I selected a map I had been on before and I spawned in with my ship, the key worked this time ?

So I’ve tried relogging, I have also restarted the game. I have used the /killme command, I have dropped and picked up my keychain. I have also removed the padlock key from the chain to use it by itself and still the same error. As a result I am now stranded on this map with nowhere to go. I was enjoying exploration until this moment. I’m carrying a ship load of goodies and even written an account of my adventures and now I can’t do a thing. I’ve.

What I would like to see is something like a player-made hub of sorts. I’d like someone’s harbour to be visited and built on by others to form some kind of central port. Something like that would have to evolve under considerable effort I believe.

I’ve had a right blast! Obviously the Starvation bug is a huge game-breaker for some, but I’ve got a crude workaround of selective suicide to keep it at bay. I have built my Steamship and have taken to living on the move. Now that coal is no longer as limited, I can keep my ships steam engines running without fear. I haven’t decided where to set up my home so my barrier remains unplaced. I usually settle on Polar Biomes. I am working on a new set of blueprints for my ideal home however so hopefully I’ll place an over-elaborate home soon!

Hi guys, just a quick one! Most of my designs over the years have been inspired by media such as the Dishonored Franchise, The Order 1886, and other dark steampunky type genres. I've always wanted to build something outrageously grand and due to circumstances at home, I have a little more time to attempt something that was right on the top of my list. For those of you lucky enough to have played Dishonored and it's Sequel, you might remember a particular level called the Royal Conservatory. It's design was based loosely around that of the Victorian, Crystal Palace Exhibition and the Natural History Museum in London. I personally think its an exceptional level design and this is my attempt to realize it to the best of my design ability. I've only just started but I shall post updates regularly. This is a huge project but I'm sure I'll get there! Concept Art As you can see this will be an enormous project! On completion I intend on using it as a library for revision notes. I find it easy to recall information that I have written, and stored on a shelf in a place where I have placed every brick and strut! As well as my new -mind palace- I would also like to use it as a Ylands Museum. I have a lot of compositions that include long-since-removed assets that I would put on display. I may even use it to exhibit some complex script designs. But thats all for when it's completed! Until then, I leave you with my first picture of my progress. It's not much and i will be making alterations to the concepts based on my artistic whims but its getting there! Thanks for your support guys, as always, I welcome any and all feedback! Cheers Rob

I’ve done some experimenting with regards to the mining/drop issue. The items become pickable again after a quick relog. Not great but it’s a temp workaround.

Hey guys! Im shelving this project in light of the 1.5 update! I predict that this early Christmas present courtesy of the Ylands developers will now be occupying most of my time! Rest assured, I will return to this project at some point! ?

Just another heads up! Ive noticed that when acquiring Elven relics such as the Lifegiving Staff, it’s effect/ability no longer works when taking it to another island location. I found this out off the back of the starving bug! I was using it to prevent myself from starving to death until I visited another island! ?

I have exactly the same issue. Not even 10 minutes into playtime and I’m starving to death. Aside from this little ‘growing pain’, you guys have restored my confidence In the direction of the game! Keep it up guys! Thank you very much!

Hi guys! We have been a little busy over on our little Exploration sharegame. As a by-product of my Royal Conservatory Project, I have created a number of designs that I've turned into modular templates. I tested them out on our Sharegame to fantastic effect! -Coastal View. Ships and traders can dock with my port via the covered entrance as shown above. I'm excited for the 1.5 release. As such my focus has been distracted somewhat toward building my ideal 'Home Port'. This is what I have come up with. I've gone for a small, compact base where everything is functional as well as pleasant in appearance. Everything has been built from modular segments of my own design with a little bit of editor manipulation to make certain things unpickable. On the whole, it can all be legitimately built. -Main entrance, Charming yet easily defendable. I've based the architecture on early victorian/steampunk genres like -You guessed it- Dishonored and The Order 1886. Due to it's complex construction, I have had to Weld a lot of it to save my computer from exploding however! -I've based my harbor designs on London Underground stations. The Main ships entrance features a port authority office for planning voyages, as well as a little area for trading an refueling/recharging visiting ships. Because it's mostly underground the light level really offers some great atmosphere! Because the port is embedded into the cliff face, it can also be well defended against unwelcome guests. The Front balcony -Painted Black- is perfect for conducting ranged attacks upon approaching ships, I intend to mount heavy cannons on the front waterbreaks either side of the port entrance too Much later down the line, I want to build a Tesla-defended grid controlled from the lighthouse. -View at dusk -My office I have decorated the interior with some furniture pieces and experimental assets I have designed with inspiration from Dishonored. I love the light fittings implemented in the franchise and I have done my best to implement them into Ylands. Thats all for now guys! When 1.5 drops, Expect to see the Flintlock Trading Outpost on your maps sometime in the future! Cheers! Rob

The dock itself is an old warehouse design I made years ago. I’ve finessed it in the last few months to make it easier to build in exploration and to give it a use as a covered dock. It used to be a clay brick construction. It’s now made from stone.

Hi guys, Well, here’s a message I thought I’d not have to write but it’s one that I feel needs to be said on behalf of those original players who are still active. Ylands needs to return to its charming grass roots. When it first debuted on Steam, I was met with a neat Main Menu where the main feature was Explore Mode. Quaint, inviting, but most importantly; simple. Today we have a Menu page that is so confusing, so loud in fact that I may have developed tinnitus just by looking at it! As far as I can recall, Nobody asked for the menu to be changed, yet every few months it gets ‘updated’ in a manner akin to a rubix cube! Bring back the old menu. *Where did this game go? Expanding on this subject, the evolution of the Menu system is a clear evidence that there has been a conscious decision to change the direction/purpose/identity of Ylands. Explore was considered to be the main feature whilst Editor was a charming utility tool. (I for one used the editor to design and execute complex blueprints for my explore maps). Now we have small-scale games created by the community that are either unfinished, unpolished or just downright boring. (There are a few gems out there; in particular Minigolf, but would I play that for more than 10 minutes?) We now have Mobile devices cutting in on the action aswell. Tell me; exactly what is Ylands now? A mobile game? A design tool for Minigames? Or an unfinished survival game? I actually have no idea now which makes the game so hard to support. Playlands was hyped to be Ylands virtual community hub. Today it’s a relative ghost town. I often dip in before my evening dose of Explore just to see if anyone is online. I have only ever played one game on Playlands and the only other player I was with got bored and left. Someone needs to invent a tumbleweed animation. My verdict, either improve Playlands or get rid of it. No one uses it. Game Update news via community forum posts were (and are) very good. I relish reading up on the news every mid-week. Sadly even this is waining on my patience. Every update, every roadmap, users across the community ask the same questions; “What about Explore?”, “Will Explore get anything on the next update”. We’re always politely acknowledged and answered with the same enticing reply; “Soon”. I myself threw my proverbial toys out of the pram with the Water Update. This was Ylands chance to allow us to begin navigating and conquering the largest parts of the map; the sea floor. Instead we were greeted with another Editor feature, the ability to create inland puddles -yay. Explore was once again left under the table, thrown a few scraps in the form of new assets -most of which couldn’t be legitimately crafted anyway. In fact with every update, Explore appears to be eroded, the very ecosystem of a standard Explore map appears to be dying, we no longer have birds in the sky, no sea life of any kind. I acknowledge the game runs smoother than ever and looks great but where is the substance? The map size was enormous, long voyages were such a pleasure and rewarding. Today however I can swim over to the nearest island in a few minutes thus rendering Complex ship construction (Ylands best selling point) totally worthless. If the temperature mechanic gets cut then all is lost! *Not dipping my toes in there today! I’m not going to go into too much depth on Multiplayer Servers. In short, by discontinuing privately run servers in favour of unreliable pay-to-host servers you have effectively ended a flourishing multiplayer community. Most servers today are either locally run, or password protected. Very few are populated and due to the poor quality of service from paid-servers, there’s no point in getting established on an explore game when the server could be down tomorrow. I have nothing but positive things to say about the sharegame feature however. It’s a stroke of pure brilliance and something that I’ve not seen before. Coyns? Most games have a currency system for cosmetics so I’m pretty indifferent on the matter. I am watching the development of the Creation Club with cautious interest however. I won’t be getting involved myself but I will be interested to see how it goes. *Ships: more or less useless as you can now swim to an island within eyesight. So in conclusion, I hope you have not died of totally boredom reading my rendition of War & Peace but I feel that the Ylands I knew no longer exists and as a consequence, my interest has drifted on to more promising survival games (Like Hytale). In order for Ylands to survive, to retain its original fan base AND still be a heavy hitter on Steam, it needs to adress the following: Menu & GUI - Its so cluttered it could be diagnosed as being a hoarder! Game Purpose - What game are you? Fulfil our best hopes or just put it out of our misery so we can move on! Get marketing to actually be more specific on your product. Playlands - Rename it Ghost-Town or just get rid. Game Updates - More bugfixes and performance improvements. Definitely more craftable content in explore mode. Maybe even a dedicated explore update to restore player confidence? Eco System - Save the sharks and vultures! We need bigger maps again and for goodness sake let us do something to colonise the seabed! Multiplayer - Should be treated as the games best bet for consumer longevity. Allow the game to be run offline as well as reestablish locally hosted servers again. Editor - yes it’s great and powerful and you can do some interesting things. But it’s taking too much attention from what should be your main product - Explore. Don’t get tunnel vision and look at what your customer base is saying. This post has taken me some hours to write. I have done so with much thought towards constructive criticism. I (like many) want to see this game succeed but as an ‘overwhelmingly Positive’ Survival Sandbox, as it was originally intended. Dont forget your roots, especially as it was “The mother of all storms” Rob

Hi guys! I've been dabbling with simple monolithic structures that naturally fit in with the surrounding landscape. In my boredom I created an Altar to Hephestus, God of Smithing. I built it in a nice little grove in a secluded area of the multiplayer map. Enjoy!

Overall, a good video highlighting the genuine concern expressed by the community. I have reserved optimism with the upcoming 1.5. I am looking forward to it and I hope that it repairs the erosion inflicted upon Ylands that, frankly has driven off the majority of dedicated players. The developer diaries have done little to shore up my optimism however. Since the initial diary initially announcing Update 1.5, all further diaries onward have been mostly or almost entirely about Editor. I wait each week to read the next Dev Diary only to be met with the same ‘eye rolling’ news on how editor is improving. Now please don’t get me wrong, I value and actively use the Editor. I appreciate its usefulness as a tool to create blueprints that I couldn’t otherwise create legitimately within Exploration. I also respect its power to build games and programs. But my exposure to Editor has only come from playing exploration. I also appreciate that it’s not easy or fast, to produce a masterpiece. But if improving the direction of Exploration is the primary policy, then please let’s hear it more!

Back when I was studying as a fresh-faced student, I built a Library in Minecraft. I populated it's shelves with written books of all kinds. I soon realized that I found it easy to recall information that I had personally typed, and filled within a library of which I knew every brick and doorway. I started writing some of my revision notes and archiving them, when I required the information, I would simply imagine myself withdrawing a note/written book with the information in my mind. It works surprisingly well. Ylands introduces new detail to my previous creation. One of which I intend to exploit! The possibilities as an information repository are huge. Im getting ahead of myself again, but imagine an online Ylands-driven library where anyone can visit, contribute and use to their advantage.

Hi guys! You may have noticed a little hidden teaser within my post regarding what I'd like to see in 1.5. I encourage you to have a read if you're as excited as I am with the long overdue attention the Exploration badly needs. Anyway, I have finally completed Mark 3 of my Steamship project, a line of ships that has gone back at least a couple of years! This time I have incorporated the new steel-based ship assets to create something of luxury. I give you the Dauntless Steamship! -Steel, wood & stone in construction. The Dauntless is powered by 4x Small Steam Engines. Her main electronic system is ran by a small NOT-Energy source. I've chosen to improve on the design of the Steamboat MkII -Intrepid, by introducing a far more smoother, sleeker design. The windows are considerably larger and her hull has a less blocky feel. I always prefer to use Steam Engines due to their noise when running as well as their ability to refuel them from a multitude of sources. I've expanded the rear boarding deck for a better view and to make fishing more fun! -The Primary Compartment Fwd View. -The Primary Compartment Aft View. The main space within the Dauntless features a comfortable seating area, a drinks bar and study. -The Bridge Controlling the ship is easy to do, switch controls and steering is here. I've deliberately left space for scripting improvements. I'd eventually like to have a series of dials that display a live feed of the engines fuel levels! Sadly I don't yet know how to do it! And finally here is my personal cabin, Overhanging my bed is a picture of a familiar looking boat that has ran aground. An ironic reminder of not sailing too close to the shore! I'd love to hear your feedback guys! If anyone does know how to write a script that tracks an engines fuel level in real-time without blowing up a server, id like to know! Thanks guys! Rob

That’s genius! Thanks very much mello! I’ll have a tinker with that tonight!

As you said earlier, I toyed with the idea of a fuel indicator in the design. In short, I’d like to have a set of indicators that will change colour in time with the engines own fuel indicator. I’m going to have a crack at it by stacking time delays every 10 seconds. I’ll test the engines fuel levels out to determine when the indications change in relation to the fuel levels. I.E Green = 100-75%, Yellow = 74-25%, and Red = 24-1%.

Thanks for your support mate! If 1.5 allows it, this will be my ship of choice! I think it’s about time that exploring islands was done with a little more comfort! ? So I’ve thought of this before, my only confusion is how would I do it? Should it be done with a series of Time Delays or with some kind of Loop? I want to incorporate a mechanism that will halt the trigger when I turn the engines off too. The problem with loops is that I have absolutely no idea how to use them and the trial-and-error route leads to me crashing my game! ?

Just a quick one guys. Is there a way to edit/delete or rewrite the text contents in books via Editor? Any answers would be appreciated! Thanks! Rob

Aleš, Adam? Is this something that could be discussed for 1.5 and it’s accompanying updates?

Cheers for the reply mate! It’s a shame that this hasn’t been so much as glanced over in the past. I brought up the idea of writable books years ago to little enthusiasm. I don’t know if it’s just me but has the character limit on paper/leather notes been reduced too?

Hi guys, I've always had a fascination with gold, riches and ancient artefacts! Whilst playing online is becoming more and more deserted, the positive side of this is that many of the random encounters remain unexploited! As a result of my adventures and NPC trading, I am now swimming in gold! Like any hoarder however, I need somewhere to stash it all. May I present my Dwarven-themed treasure vault! -The entrance is built into the nearby hillside of my farm. The whole construction was built on Editor, pasted onto an offline Exploration map and captured as an easy-to-use blueprint. The materials required to construct the blueprint are easy to obtain as most of the stone is generated from burrowing into the hillside! Its almost self-sufficient! Sandstone is used for all the little details and nordic carvings. -In homage to the great god Neptune! Bringer of treasure! I was very lucky in my adventures, I have plundered Egyptian Tombs, retrieved ancient Crowns and magical Staffs. I've free-placed golden nuggets over the top of wicker baskets and sacks in order to create the impression of containers overflowing with gold. It really looks great with all the twinkling! -Eastern View With every trade I make, more gold comes in, I've had to melt down a lot of nuggets to produce easy to store ingots. It's all locked safely behind an Iron barred door. That way visitors can gaze in wonder -and lust- at my haul! -Western View With v1.5 around the corner, this opens up the possibility for visitors to my lands. As such there may be a chance that visitors won't all have good intentions! Therefore I wish to expand the concept of underground construction into a modular format. Once published, this will give Ylanders the ability to build their own decorative underground settlement. I have been toying with modular corridors, halls, entrances and vaults. All of which should be easy to build as the requirement to dig underground will produce the majority of the materials needed. Let me know what you think guys! I like to see your feedback! Rob