Deadeye_Rob

You're very welcome Sandy! I've not bought it yet so I cant be a credible sources of advice but it's been on my Steam Wishlist for half a decade now and I'm still 'on the fence' as to invest in it or not. I'd personally wait until the next Steam Sale. hopefully a discount is upcomming! If you do buy it, please let me know how you get on and what you think!

Yeah, I’ve had a dabble on Valheim and I get the hype. But it doesn’t have much of a free-placing element that Ylands has. Also I’m a sucker for low poly cartoony games which Eco and Ylands satisfies.

Christ! @zarwil!!! We’re going to need some bigger guns!!

I can vouch for this. When playing on a multiplayer server, the crippling FPS drop is experienced the moment the ships anchor is disengaged. If Zarwil’s theory is correct, then the FPS drop is caused by the server attempting to render my ships position as it floats freely in the water to all server participants. When the Anchor is engaged and the ship is stationary however, the FPS stabilises and the game resumes a smooth operation. It definitely has something to do with the ships physical movements during sailing and free floating. Edit: this might be a good time to tag @Nikki Severin. I think what we’re experiencing through our discussions could be useful to the development team.

An absolute delight of a ship! It’s one that pushes beyond the limits of conventional ship designs (and Frame rates! ). Thanks for designing my all-time favourite ship Zarwil!

How morbidly brilliant is this game!? I bought Frostpunk a few years ago, and after a long absence of playing it, a ton of DLC has been developed. I recently jumped back in for an hour and found myself impressed by how far it’s come! So what is it all about? Outline Its the 1880s and the globe is enduring an unexplained ice age. The prior to their collapse, the remaining world powers (USA, Europe and the British Empire) construct a series of immense generator towers that will form the basis for a new society in the frozen wastes. As leader of your own colony you have but one objective: The Generator must keep going and the city must survive! Game Mechanics This isn’t just a standard city simulator. Aside from battling to maintain a constant supply of coal to power your generator, you need to manage the survivors who call this place home! If you fail to meet their needs or your policies are deemed too strict, you may have a revolution on your hands. On the other hand, which principles should be sacrificed to assure survival? Fatalities caused by overworking your coal miners may be a regrettable but necessary policy to keep the generator going. Dispatching scouts to explore the new and evolving frost lands expands the lore of Frostpunk. They can bring back valuable relics of the old world as well as establish trade routes with other survivor colonies. I can’t recommend this game enough guys! The constant battle to maintain heat to sustain your colony is an everyday battle. Little decisions can have huge ramifications and the sheer scarcity of resources feels like the survival of your city hangs in the balance constantly! From a Ylands perspective, this reinforces the pleasure I am rewarded with when I set up my little polar outpost. I love the idea of braving to cold wastes in order to carve out a comfortable existence! Let me know what you think! Do you guys already own this game? I’d love to hear your input!

This is true but should not be a factor when construction mode is disabled. Upon leaving construction mode all ship blocks are effectively 'welded' into one object. This means that the individuality of each block is nullified. The unwanted side-effect of this is that weather effects can pass through the physically transparent blocks however. So as far as I can tell, it shouldn't happen. Not too much at least.

Back around the original early access period, you could download the Ylands Dedicated Server program. It allowed players to run and host their own dedicated servers on their own providers for free. Sadly the program was discontinued in favour of the current exclusive Nitrado server rental plan. The result of which was devastating to the community.

I’ve seen other games fill their leading screens with player-submitted screenshots. It would be nice to see some really dramatic pictures inspiring creativity and exploration!

(Sigh) I saw the title and thought this was going to be a request to bring back locally hosted dedicated servers again. ? (Which by the way, id be in total support of!)

This is particularly game breaking. I can just about pilot my ship off-map to leave. But this is assuming that I’m already using the helm. With such a low FPS the game no longer registers my attempt to right-click the helm. This means I cannot take control of my vessel, effectively rendering me stuck in a FPS trap. The only way out is to open the regional map and delete the location from my map. As it stands, I cannot visit any multiplayer/online maps.

Hi there! So I've been playing around with a ship who's design is quite detailed, but it has next to no free-placed objects on board. When playing Exploration on my own offline/locally hosted maps I have no issues whatsoever. Upon sailing to a map hosted by someone else -Including the Official ones- however, I experience game-crippling drops in frame rates. I believe this occurs due to the mass of my ship 'bobbing' in the waves. I experience no issues when in construction mode or when the anchor is engaged which leads me to believe that there is a lot of resources being drained to sustain the free movement of the ship as it's rocked by the waves. I suspect this could be the servers desperately trying to synchronize the free movement of the ship as it moves unanchored in the waves as I have tried lowering the graphic settings as low as possible in spite of my rig being pretty powerful. Could this be looked in to? Maybe there could be a workaround regarding block-welding or a reduction in the amount of resources spent on making a ship bob in the waves? Whilst the ship design is pretty hefty, I suspect that as larger designs are inevitably going to be built in the future, this may be an impending issue. Thanks, Rob

I’ve had this too, if I’m honest I don’t see the requirement for a status phrase Above the character. I think a hunger indicator in the form of a percentage bar would be better to allow for forward planning.

Thanks guys, and thank you @ocnoglittle for coordinating it. Its great to know that little features like writable books haven’t been forgotten. I totally understand why it’s been put on the ‘back burner’. As for the energy system, give me a few days and I’ll have an essay of suggestions! ?

Greetings Explorers! Introduction Let me take you back to a time in 2017. Ylands had just been released on Steam and the multiplayer format of Exploration was focused on a few unmoderated official servers. With the entire fan-base concentrated on a map of 9 islands it wasn't uncommon to experience opportunistic griefers invading your base and stealing your gear. It's worth noting that at this point, the barrier system wasn't even invented at this time! The best method to enjoy Multiplayer Exploration without the worry of getting robbed was to journey to the farthest corners of the map in search of a remote area. (Pre-1.0 were incredibly large, and navigating to new lands was exceptionally difficult!). Back in 2017, Polar biomes were regarded as very harsh, barren lands holding few resources and very hostile predators. It was generally shunned by everyone, which made it the ideal hiding place! It was from this setting that I grew to love establishing a home in the Polar biome (referred to back then as the Polar Desert). In the 4 years since then however, Ylands has experienced some dramatic changes for the better. My thirst for the challenge of establishing a self-sufficient colony remained however. In this guide, I would like to outline the basics on how one can settle, and ultimately conquer the Polar regions! Step 1: Have Blueprints Lets get one thing straight, I won't be telling you the basic survival necessities demanded to proceed in Ylands (Such as making flint lighters, stone tools etc). I will assume that you have a basic grasp on how to craft the essentials before proceeding! Step one is very important! In order to survive in the Polar regions, you will need to establish and construct adequate shelter upon arrival immediately! Failure to do so will result in freezing to death in the first blizzard you encounter. You may also be eaten by the local wildlife! Have yourself a sturdy, spacious home saved within your catalogue that is resource-light in it's construction. As your play-style develops in Ylands, you may find it easier and faster to acquire building materials allowing you to use larger, more detailed blueprints. I would also incorporate some plant pots in your blueprint for the beginnings of a sustainable food supply. A well designed, well supplied house is the foundation to a successful polar colony! Step 2: Build a Boat This step is the simplest, construct a basic seafaring craft. Ideally no less than a boat. This will be your primary mode of transport as well as your 'pack-donkey' for carrying all your supplies. Make sure to place additional storage onboard your vessel to increase your carrying capacity. I prefer to use a combination of Wicker Baskets and Clay Pots. Their capacity-to-size ratio makes them the most efficient choice for hauling goods. Step 3: Gather Resources & Clothes This step is easier said than done! Not only do you need to gather all the resources to complete your blueprint upon arrival, but you'll also need materials to build your crafting stations as well as seeds for crops and some basic tools including a saw. These should all be organized and stored within your vessel. Ideally you'll want the means to establish a self-sustaining lifestyle. Therefore you'll need renewable items such as Corn for flour and Sisal for fabrics, and a fishing rod etc. I cannot overstate the importance of warm clothing! Without adequate clothing, your time in the polar wastes will be very restricted if-not limited. In 2017, it was possible to encounter bears from your starting island, which made it very easy to craft bear hide clothing very early on. Sadly this is not the case anymore. At an early stage I would recommend leather clothing, which can be acquired from the various animals roaming your spawn island. Bears however, still rank top of my list for warm clothing as they provide some of the warmest clothing -just under expedition and Inuit outfits. They also boast a fantastic 'rugged pioneer' look that I personally enjoy! Helmets crafted from Wolves, Bears and Jaguars also offer a high degree of cold resistance. Furs are also easy to craft however they look very basic in appearance and are sometimes not resource efficient. Once you're dressed in your best its time to go! Step 4: Setting sail & reaching your island. Once you're happy with your personal gear, and your vast collection of starting resources, seeds and supplies, its time to head off! When entering the polar regions the first major issue you'll encounter is the weather. Snow blizzards can be extremely disorientating and you'll often experience freezing temperatures. It is vital that you locate a landmass as soon as possible. Above all else, do not go in the water, regardless of your clothing. As soon as you reach a suitable landmass to establish your colony act quickly and place your blueprint. I personally like to place my first structure close to the shore, granting me easy access to my boat of supplies as well as a quick escape route if I'm set upon by polar bears. Build your shelter as soon as possible, construct a bed and set your spawn point immediately. Blizzards are an enemy to the Novice and Adept Survivalist alike! Stay inside! Step 5: Establishing the basics With your shelter constructed you've managed to reduce the chances of being eaten at least! Now for your own food source! Hopefully you have enough supplies to sustain you for a few days. Hopefully you included some plant pots in your blueprint which will make things easier to establish a continuous food supply. Cultivating corn is the most efficient food supply in the game. It's fast growing and regenerates its crops every few days. Flour can be made from corn which is used for making higher tier food products. If under desperate measures, a fishing rod will ensure a good supply of fish at the sacrifice of time and exposure. If really desperate, you could always go hunting, but depending on the island level, I wouldn't advise it! Feel free to explore your island make a note of nearby predators to make sure you aren't surprised when out in the wild. Use your map to plot out any visible mineral veins for later extraction. I would also suggest planting clusters of tall trees & grass to maintain a renewable source of wood and rope making material. Step 6: Advanced Survival & animal domestication Congratulations! Assuming you have an adequate shelter, renewable resources and a well mapped view of the landscape, its time to look toward making your shelter into a home! At this point you could begin staging expeditions from your base-camp to other biomes for materials like sand and iron. These materials are key to producing alchemy stations, which will enable the production of Cold Resistance & Healing Potions. For those who like an even tougher challenge, I would suggest farming animals. As of 1.5 the mechanic for breeding animals is not a precise science. From my experience, if two tamed creatures are held in close proximity to each other for an undetermined time, a third, wild animal may be spawned. If achieved, a survivalist could farm Penguins, Polar Bears and even Wooly Rhinos for their meat, pelts and wool. The challenging part however, is taming your first hostile polar animals! Conclusion Prior to the release of 1.5 conquering the polar wasteland was one of the hardest challenges of the game and the most satisfying to accomplish. With the ability to visit an infinite number of islands and biomes, this challenge has become relatively easy. It still requires preparation however, and if undertaken using a vessel no bigger than a boat, it becomes a real challenge that I highly recommend! Thanks for reading my unofficial tutorial guys. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to help! FlintlockRob -Arctic Explorer & Settler!

You know what? I never really used it in my polar expeditions and I really don’t know why? It is a fantastic portable heat source. I wrote this guide years ago back when Exploration was a single 8 island map packed with players. There was no such thing as barriers back then. Even now I still love living in the polar regions. There’s something satisfying Huddling in a cosy cottage whilst a storm blows around outside! My cabin design is based off an original design I made back in 2017, it evolves every few months! ?

Hi guys! I've been having another binge-session playing Dishonored 2 for yet another unhealthy duration! For those of you who know me, you know what that means! Yes! It's another build project based around a particular structure in Dishonored! This time, I am pleased to show you my current work in progress! For your pleasure, I present the Addermire Institute! Project Concept art. This Build is particularly challenging owing to the fact that a lot of its floor plan is orientated in approximately 45 Degree angles from each other. As you can imagine, this requires a heck of a lot of block orientation clicking in order to ensure that it all fits together seamlessly! On a positive note, due to its rather repetitive design, I was able to copy/paste wall segments. This has enabled me to lay the skeletal framework very quickly. I would very much like to capture this project as a blueprint to build in Exploration Mode someday, So every block can be legitimately acquired in the game. I am also attempting to maintain a high degree of detail whilst keeping the block count at a minimum in order to ensure adequate game performance. Entrance View Once the basic external shell is complete, I will begin work on the insides. I already have a large, grand entrance hall which will lead to a number of rooms on each wing. It is my ultimate goal to construct this monument on my little home-spawn island in Exploration. The building will function as a Headquarters for my faction (The Flintlock Trading Company). I will attempt to build some sort of Faction Meeting hall that takes inspiration from Westminster Palace Parliament. I will also have a number of small rooms that will function as offices for my Faction moderators and individuals of importance. Above View In short, I am very pleased with how far this project has developed over such as small period of time. This means that my talent for errors has faded, or I have absolutely no life whatsoever! I look forward to posting updates on this thread and maybe even welcome a few of you to view it in person upon its completion (That is presuming of course I don't crash my game whilst attempting to blueprint this sucker!) As always, I'd love to hear/see your feedback, thanks for your appreciation! Rob

Update! I've started work on the interior. First off, as promised, here's a basic concept on my Faction Guild Hall chamber. I've modelled it off of the House of Commons in Westminster Palace, London. View of the Chamber from the upper gallery. View from the main benches at night. -Lighting test. As stated before, this chamber will serve as a primary meeting venue for my Faction's members and associates. I plan to change the throne into a speakers podium closer to completion! The ceiling will be intricately detailed with colored glass windows which should give the appearance of a mural. Enjoy!

This was my thoughts on the matter. Hoods shouldn’t be an issue, but static capes would look awful. If I recall from my days playing World of Warcraft, Capes & Cloaks we’re static from the neck down to the bottom fringe where the last bits of the edge were dynamic. This resulted in a believable looking model which didn’t break the physics. Either that or make them dynamically as heavy as dark matter! ?. I might be straying into new suggestion territory but what if it added a buff to ranged weapons?

Hi guys! I was toying with the idea of producing customized iconography, which I would use to mark my vessels. Whilst its blatant vanity on my part, I quite enjoyed making it! Here's a screenshot of it. I'm hoping to use it to adorn various buildings & ships it to signify my personal interest in that object or structure. Let me know what you think! Rob

It looks very homely. I like how you used the plant pots on the bamboo ladder.

I like the idea of holding Polls on the overall direction of the game. I’m a forum & Facebook person myself although I do sometimes look on the Steam Discussions for a little extra flavour!

That’s such a revolutionary idea and it’s painful to think I didn’t realise this earlier! I can disembark my car on the polar regions for safer and faster mapping!

Why the hell did I not think about this earlier!!?

Hi guys! To those who haven't heard or read my various posts and suggestions regarding the Ylands Exploration Community, I hope you will indulge and support this project as it kicks off. Currently Ylands has a Multiplayer Lobby Map called Playlands. It functions as a charming gateway zone where players can meet up, socialize and access a number of minigame portals. The zone design was created by a collaboration of exceptional talented individuals -many of whom are still playing today! Now since focus has returned to Exploration I would very much like to see a similar thing occur within this element of the game. I have toyed with the idea of creating a Public Harbor to varying degrees. With the help of the recently established Flintlock Trading Company Community, I would like to make this pipe-dream a reality. So without further ado, I would like to publish my manifesto/specifications for a Player-friendly, community supported harbor/port that can be reached by anyone playing Exploration! PROJECT TOPOGRAPHY Name/Title: Port Neptune Trading Post Unconfirmed Biome: Polar or Temperate Unconfirmed Map Size: Small- Minimal Islands Confirmed Setting: Player Vs Environment (PVE) Confirmed Protections: Visitor Access Only Unconfirmed The Port Neptune Project will be sited on a small map ideally with the smallest number of islands. This will reduce potential performance issues and ensure easy navigation to the port itself. Initial discussion and experience suggests that a Polar region would be best suited due to a vastly reduced amount of entity clutter such as Coral, Shells and other debris that could also drain performance. To guarantee the safety of visiting players and to prevent griefing or harassment, PVE will be enabled with all measures taken to reduce death by Polar Bears! Currently, all arriving players will be granted Visitor permissions only in order to protect the site during construction. SPECIFICATIONS & PURPOSE Purpose: Exploration Community Hub Build Style: Victorian-influenced structures Circa 1800s. Features: NPC Vendor shops, Crafting stations, Social Area. Harbor: Large, stone-laid docking zones to accommodate large visiting ships. The primary purpose of Port Neptune is to function as a safe, and neutral focal point for the Exploration Playerbase. Players can rendezvous at Port Neptune in order to trade, form social groups, or to make use of the various facilities available. The overall design of Port Neptune will reflect that of the late Victorian Era with elements of the Steam-punk (Victorian Science Fiction) genre that is already well embedded into the atmosphere of Ylands. The influence of the Flintlock Trading Company will naturally play an important role in this regard! With Exploration 1.6 well established, there will be NPC Vendors located in their own purpose-built stores. These shops and services will ideally overlook a central Square, which will function as the primary social area. Basic Crafting Stations will also be scattered about the area enabling visitors to craft basic objects. In order to receive visitors, the docks will be constructed to accommodate large vessels of traditional shape. To prevent performance issues however, signposts will politely request that visiting players despawn their ship after disembarking or trading goods. ADITIONAL INFORMATION & KNOWN CHALLENGES Performance Issues Future Update Bugs The goal to achieve a Smooth Performance when navigating Port Neptune is one of the highest priority. Therefore every structure must be carefully designed to maximum efficiency. This includes making some building interiors inaccessible. There has been some positive news regarding the development of the Unity Game Engine which could result in better passive performance anyway, but it is wise to continue in the presumption that it will not. Naturally any upcoming features may have an adverse effect on a map designed prior to an update. All that can be done to reduce this effect is with careful monitoring. There will be a Port Administration office in place which will look to fix any issues reported by players. PORT LAYOUT Finally, it's worth noting that this is just an opening brief and is always subject to change. I hope you guys find this interesting and I will keep you update with my progress. I aim to have the structures and blueprints created or close to competition just after the next update is released. That way I can quickly make any adjustments that may be caused with the latest update. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions or leave some feedback. After all, if we want to centralize Exploration around Port Neptune, we all want to be happy about it! Thanks for your support guys! Rob