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Deadeye_Rob

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Posts posted by Deadeye_Rob


  1. ALCHEMY ROTUNDA/LABORATORY

    I've had a lot of fun designing, tweaking and building every square-inch of the Alchemy Laboratory! Here's a quick teaser screenshot.

     

    Ylands_210903_104251.thumb.png.73c7cebcf04e14e98d2b076c0854baa9.png

    *A work-in-progress of the Laboratory Rotunda.

    The Alchemy Laboratory is an unlockable area of the Library where players will be able to dedicate themselves to the art and sciences of potion crafting! There are a number of custom-scripted, animated mechanisms designed to help you in your experiments. I have been experimenting on using a few particle and ambient lighting effects to create an atmosphere of 'magic and wonder' attributed with this area.

    The Laboratory will hold:

    •  A few Magic Blossom Bushes
    • An Alchemy station
    • Storage for ingredients
    • Storage for potions
    • An Archive for potion recipes
    • A custom Magic Blossom Refinery that produces x2 Magic Dust for every Blossom fed into it after a 15 second delay.

    The Laboratory 'Might' Hold

    • A 'Geomancer' Archive. -Still working on this, but this device will be able to archive and create plant seeds assuming the player has managed to unlock them. Its a cool device but I'm unsure if it will be useful enough to be put into the map.
    • Like 2

  2. Library Floor Plan

    So in the hour that I had to myself this morning, I did a lot of scribbling!

    Due to the complex nature of this project a lot of paperwork and drafting is required.

    3B04CDEF-E56B-4285-9684-0AAF5D718061.jpeg.fa53d357f50ad94d0e4c27d6adc0958c.jpeg

    *First draft Floor Plan of the Complex.

    Theres a lot of half-mad scribbling so I’ll try to explain it. This is a sketch of what will the the Main Hall. It’s effectively the central zone of the complex and where Players will be able to uncover, solve and investigate puzzles.

    Puzzles range in difficulty depending on the amount of hints and the rarity of certain objects required to solve them.

    ‘Grand Puzzles’ are a string of puzzles that all culminate in proceeding through the quest line. For example: Solving puzzle 1 reveals hidden door. Puzzle 2 involves opening hidden door. Puzzles 3 & 4 provide the means to open hidden door.

    Upon completion of a Grand Puzzle, players could be rewarded with access to a new zone, treasure or even something that could make exploration that little bit easier. It’s something to brag about regardless.

     

    Scripting & Mechanisms

    Without giving too much away, here’s another set of scribbles on the chain of events covering placing an Artefact on a Pedestal.

    BC85876A-81FA-41EA-9B0C-F6366BBD467D.jpeg.87cd714ed5af28d03a23b4d8bea87bc8.jpeg

    *A basic example of how placing two books on their pedestals can trigger a chain of events.

    Thanks for your support and messages! These are just tasters of how I am proceeding with my entry. I won’t be purposefully releasing any material that could reveal potential puzzle locations or their solutions! Feel free to ask questions however!

    • Like 4

  3. Map Geology

    Even with the Map Editor template set to its smallest island size, the resulting island is still too big for a universal map to accommodate. Therefore, I had to do a little terraforming! I will revisit this area as part of my Quality Checks Phase to touch up the seabed.

    As every Megabyte counts with this project, I have wiped everything from my map. It is a veritable barren wasteland of an island, but performance is exquisite!

     

    20210901093633_1.thumb.jpg.5dfe01f8aa9220bcf1d5559d66a0a70e.jpg

    -" and he stretched out his hand, and cut a swathe of water between the earth and the rock!"

     

    20210901094443_1.thumb.jpg.099ce855e75e634da1cd392c639aab0b.jpg

    -The freshly prepared landmass, ripe for creativity!

     

    20210901094822_1.thumb.jpg.6e80f043e33a1e6bb6e72fbac617801f.jpg

    -Its difficult not to acquire a God-Complex when you are literally forging mountains with your hands!

    This phase of my project took longer than I expected but I am happy with the geology of my island. As I said before, I have wiped the map entirely of entities in a bid to save memory/performance for the actual 'meat' of the project. Ultimately, the visiting player wont be spending much time above ground! That being said, I will see to a few external cosmetic details near the later half of this project.

    • Like 3

  4. 1048091091_TitlePage.thumb.png.bcb0eb097a30f4bb36c0c435c9bcd230.png

    “Hidden amongst the unforgiving tundra islands lies a forgotten monument to a civilization long-vanished. Hewn from the rocks of a mighty mountain, the Fortress Library has endured the ages longer than the very ink and parchment held within its halls.”

     

    Welcome to my Competition Thread! In accordance with the guidelines, I would like to use this thread to document my competition entry! I’ve played since 2017 but this is my first attempt to compete in a competition!

    *All information & content is subject to change until the final release version.

     

    SPECIFICATION

    • A Mystery Island which will challenge players intellectually using a mixture of simple-to-complex puzzles.
    • The Mystery Island will also introduce ’initial’ Lore and Mythology to the game which can be expanded upon in future islands/updates/content/etc.
    • The architectural style and map design will weigh heavily on Fantasy Dwarven culture, drawing inspiration from J.R Tolkien, The Elder Scrolls, and other genres.
    • The layout of the Island will consist of a large, desolate mountain with an entry way into a vast complex of halls, corridors, tunnels and vaults.
    • Players progress by unlocking areas of the complex by solving puzzles or possessing items acquired from their previous adventures.
    • The rewards of restoring the Library will be having access to a fully furnished home/guild HQ with the capacity to safely and proudly display all your artefacts, treasures and curiosities from all your previous adventures.

    PROGRESS TRACKER

    • Map Geology -100%
    • Library Floor plan -100%
    • Zone Design -100%
    • Lore & Story -100%
    • Scripting & Mechanisms -100%

    I’ll post updates and screenshots as I progress! Stay tuned!

    • Like 9

  5. So looking at the ore deposits themselves. They come in 3 tiers;

    Pristine, Cracked, and Mined

    Each tier decreases in yield before finally despawning all together. So the trick is:

    How can I create a simple, self-contained script that registers the destruction/death/despawn/etc of an Ore Deposit to then respawn a fresh pristine one in its place after a certain period of time?

    Mello’s script is a brilliant starting point but I would like to refine and share a new one for everyone to use. :) 

    • Like 1

  6. Guys, thanks very much for your help with this, it’s a great help.

    Once I get a better understanding of Scripting (however long they’ll be! ;)) I’ll try to create some Self-contained-scripted Ore Deposits that are capable of respawning once being mined.


  7. I’ve never really taken part in any Ylands competitions (typically because of juggling deadlines and kids!)

     

    But, I may just about have some free time to participate! ?

    Now that the competition has been announced, are we able to produce some assets for our entries now? I’d like to start work immediately!

    • Like 2

  8. Hi guys!

    Im dabbling with an Exploration-based map primarily for myself but also for others to drop in whilst I’m playing.

    Its a large, single tundra island which will be extremely hostile in both climate and wildlife ;).


    I love the implementation of Ore Nodes and the resources obtained from mining rocks is a great quality of life addition.

    I would like to make these Ore Nodes and rocks capable of respawning once destroyed from mining, thereby ensuring a renewable supply for all my settlement needs!

    Ive tried various attempts of Scripting triggers such as “on Killed” “after delay” “Spawn entity (clay node)” at “get position”

    sadly with no success.

    can anyone help me with this? Basically I want a fresh node/rock to spawn after an in-game day in the exact place where a previous node has been mined and destroyed.


  9. Yeah I made some yarn. Whittled myself a wooden needle. but the option to craft a a sewing kit doesn’t materialise until I’ve crafted either a stone hammer or axe.
     

    (Trust me I’ve followed the same ‘new game’ routine more times than I’ve eaten hot dinners!)

    I think there needs to be some kind of Tech Tree published on here so we can review exactly what we need to do to unlock things. Specifically the kayak and the bear hide clothes.

    • Upvote 2

  10. Hi guys!

    I haven’t played Ylands since April, and since returning to spend a couple of hours I’ve found myself being restricted as to what I can craft.

    In short: How can I unlock Bear-hide clothes, Wolf Helmets and Kayaks?

    I have all the necessary materials to craft them, but they don’t appear in my menu anymore?

    This issue goes for a lot of objects. Can anyone help me?

    Rob

    • Upvote 1

  11. 14 hours ago, Nikki Severin said:

    Our Explorer’s Pack DLC is getting a new home in the Ylands in-game shop starting June 30th. This is a part of an overall streamlining of the Ylands experience that we’ll expand on more below.

    Just playing ‘devils advocate’ here. Sadly it’s the nature of my real job!

    But this smells like a management level attempt to hide the fact that the DLC has slid into the Mostly Negative review band.

    I’m just highlighting a potential issue here, I’m not attacking. Ylands has already got a damaged reputation, this potentially could break-down trust further in the brand.


  12. Week 1

    There’s tons of career paths to choose from; Carpenter, Engineer, farmer just to name a few. I eventually settled with a Miner/Mason combo. I claimed my little scrap of land in a jungle next to a deposit of Shale, which I used to build my frugal home/workshop.

    It wasn’t long before I had accumulated a lot of surplus stone, which I would shape into construction blocks that I would sell in the nearby big city! The money I’d make would be spent on new tools and better meals which boosted my experience levels.

    It’s worth noting that in Eco, money should be weighed against a certain material to give it ‘true value’. The server’s main currency, BigCoin was weighted against Gold ingots held within the town treasury. There were other currencies about on the server, but because they weren’t backed by anything, they might as well be Monopoly money!

    My first week has ended upon my discovery of crafting clay bricks (a high tier material). I’ve crafted enough to begin building a fully functioning industrial factory to mass produce clay bricks to see on a large-scale.

    Hopefully the player-run government doesn’t notice my success to the point that they levy a tax on my sales (Boo socialism! Boo big Government!) 

    • Like 1

  13. Hi guys!

    If you’ve read my previous post about this game, you’ll know that I put caution to the wind, bought and played it! I’m exceptionally impressed! In a nutshell, it’s Minecraft, but with polished mechanics to facilitate working community governments and even a fully fledged currency system!

    ....oh and a meteor is going to crash into your world in 30 days unless you prevent it!

    Im going to leave some entries relating to my experiences on a particular server. It’s a real blast!

    • Like 1

  14. So, my impatience got the better of me last night. As I was at there flicking through my Steam Library I felt nothing but a giant ‘Meh’. Nothing was scratching the itch I had (not even Ylands! :().

    So I ended up buying a copy of Eco and gave it a run last night. I must say, I’m quite impressed but I can appreciate that others might not share my opinion.

    So in a nutshell, Eco is a very drawn out survival game relying on committed players to achieve the goal of preventing the impending asteroid disaster.

    Due to the fact that every task is time consuming (resource gathering, building etc) you need to build a functioning society with the other players to get things done. There’s mechanics in place to allow for a working economy, trading and even governments! You can tax rent, buy and sell hunting rights. This game satisfies every capitalists dream!

    So far I have established myself in a local town as a carpenter. I buy wood logs from other players, then craft them into items to sell back. The profit I make goes into buying food for myself as well as to improving my workshop/house In the city. Eventually I’ll take out a loan from the town treasury to establish my own logging company where I will pay players a wage!

    Eco has a heck of a lot of potential, not just as a survival game, but as a genuinely great economy simulator that’s all player-driven! It’s not for those who expect to build a huge house in a day though! There’s a lot to work through before you even plant a single block down! :) 

    • Like 4

  15. I agree with the direction that prioritizes Quality Of Life improvements at this stage.

    There are a large quantity of little issues that when combined, generally erode player patience, which ultimately leads to dissatisfaction.

     

    My personal bug-bear is the User Interface, crafting in particular. A good example of this would be when I want to quickly craft Iron Ingots in my Furnace. The two tabs on the Right of the screen always have a tendency to toggle and flip without warning. This is a pain in the backside and requires more unnecessary clicking. I would suggest attempting to simplify the crafting station interface as well as allowing a 'Craft Multiple' feature to save time.

    I would also suggest using simpler object icons in the UI. My system wastes valuable resources and time rendering a stick in my inventory. It's not world-ending but by cutting out unnecessary 3D object Icons in favor of a standard image you can salvage some processing power for other things.

    • Like 1
    • Upvote 3

  16. 4 hours ago, SandyT said:

    Thanks for the suggestion @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!

    • Thanks 1

  17. Hi guys!

    Eco has been sat on my Steam Wishlist since before it’s Early Access release in 2018. It’s high price (£25) has always put me off.

    My appetite for Survival Sandbox games won’t be satiated however, and I’m always on the lookout for some new platform to stretch my creative and entrepreneurial skills!

    My question is: Is it worth getting?

    It seems to have everything I want in a survival sandbox game. A big open world, vast technology progression, a reactive eco-system and a detailed crafting system.

    The main criticism I’ve heard from reviews is that the game is a total grind when attempting to play solo.

    What do people think? Is it worth buying? Does anyone have a copy that their willing to testify in favour of? I’d love to hear your input!

    Rob

    • Like 1

  18. I suggested this years ago but I would like to put this idea forward again for the following reason.

    We now have a tool to harden objects; in effect, making them unpickable. This is a feature that couldn’t have been done without the editor.

    I would like the ability to rename my storage units and even rename doors, weapons, armour and even boats! This would be a quality of life improvement that would be very welcome!

     

    Just hold a pen in your hand and hover over an unwelded object!

    • Like 2
    • Upvote 5
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