Aleš Ulm

Hey there, fellow ylanders! The new year 2018 has just started, and we're all again fully focused on fixing issues and bringing you new content. In this Dev Diary, I'd like to summarize what issues are troubling you the most and what is that we plan to do about those. But first, let me start by telling you what you can expect in the upcoming weeks. UPCOMING UPDATES The next major update is 0.7 "Cheerful Characters", will introduce NPCs into the game and will be released in the first half of February. Initially our idea was to have, right from the beginning, even rather advanced hostile NPCs patrolling ylands, "factions" that could fight each other with you taking a part in that fight, but the truth is that the current state of combat is plagued with many problems and needs to be fixed - there is really no point in introducing feature B, which relies heavily on feature A, until we're happy with how the feature A works - and we're definitely not. So the first iteration of NPCs will bring you mostly friendly NPCs. You will be able to meet those randomly during your travels. Some will talk to you or even ask you to do things for them for which you might be rewarded. You will be able to trade with them - be it a lonely farmer that offers cheap vegetables or a vendor selling objects that you would have a hard time getting elsewhere. You will be able to trade with other players as well. With all this (the initial support of very simple dialogue-branching and "quests") accessible in the Editor it's only a matter of time before some of you come up with cool games for others to play. We will, as usual, have something ready for you as well - something to show you what's possible to do. Just to be clear - when we talk about vendors and trading, this doesn't have anything to do with the monetization. Speaking of monetization though, in 0.7 we wanted to introduce Decorations, armor skins, and some other things as well but we decided to delay those. Working on monetization-related features while the game still has a rather high number of critical bugs would be unfair and would make no sense. We hope that those of you who were looking forward to those features will understand. We hope you had a great Christmas holidays...wherever you decided to spend them! (Courtesy of @Frank16Gr) MOST PRESSING ISSUES I already mentioned bug-fixing. Fixing the critical game issues is of the utmost importance to us. There are issues small and big fixed every day - most of them will be present in update 0.7, but because that is still weeks away, in a week or two we will be releasing bug-fixing update 0.6.3. Every day we go through both Steam and Ylands.com forums (and through what you send via the in-game feedback tracker) and take notes about what issues are critical and which ones happen to a lot of players. We have an internal list called "Most pressing unresolved issues" which has around ten entries that are both critical (game crashes, players are prevented from doing something with no workaround or the issues result in some very annoying behavior) and widespread. Even though programmers fix other features as well, those are the ones that haunt us, the ones that we're trying to fix asap (which, unfortunately, may not always be possible due to various reasons). Let me tell you what is currently on our list: * Character starving to death while being offline This has just been fixed and will be released as a part of the upcoming 0.6.3 * Game crashes during rainstorms We are currently looking into this * Crashes when using crafting panel So far we have been able to confirm, that it is happening with older AMD (ATI) video cards on drivers/unity engine level. If all goes well 0.7 will be released on the latest Unity engine version, and there is a chance that it might help resolve the issue. In the meantime, we're still looking into it. * Host Unreachable This is a rather unfortunate issue. If you're among those experiencing it, first take a look here http://steamcommunity.com/app/298610/discussions/2/1620599015865077154/. The thing is that the absolute majority of possible causes resulting in this issue have nothing to do with Ylands itself (we're using Steam networking). The sad truth is that with pretty much every MP game there are some players who are experiencing this behavior because it may be caused by anything from an antivirus or firewall setting, their network topology or it can be related to their provider and as much as we would love for everyone to be able to play Ylands, these issues are something we can do nothing about. That being said we are still looking into this to make sure that there's absolutely nothing on our side which could be a reason for this as well. * Inventory items disappearing or getting stuck between inventory slots/ outside the inventory panel etc. We are aware of this issue and understand that it is rather annoying, but at least this gets "fixed" by restarting the game. We are planning to do some GUI-related changes, and this will get fixed along with some other issues. * Items being invisible when placing them [MP] We are looking into this * Ladders teleporting players to odd places This has just been fixed and will be released as a part of the upcoming 0.6.3 * Map not saving in MP for clients This is a known issue - map doesn't work correctly outside of SP. It needs more than one simple fix. We understand, though, that it is a crucial tool and needs to work in MP as well. As soon as it is fixed, we can start working on one of the most requested features - putting notes or symbols on the map. * Player with current account in session This one is probably the most critical one on the list. There's nothing worse than not being able to play the game you bought. We're looking into this right now. * Rain/snow getting through buildings/caves Not really a critical one, but very annoying nevertheless since the last thing you want is to create a house to keep you warm and then see rain falling on your bed or carpet through the roof. This doesn't happen always so we are now gathering save files from those who are experiencing it so that we can fix all the possible causes. * Ship won't turn after placing certain items on it We are looking into this * Stuck at loading MP screen Another very nasty issue. There were several causes for this and we've already fixed some - but obviously at least one remains unfixed. * When logging back in, new character creation panel is prompted Again, a very serious issue - players not being able to continue playing with their character. This has, for some reason, started happening lately and we're already looking into it. (please note, that while two of these issues are marked as fixed in the upcoming 0.6.3, there may be more) DEDICATED SERVERS The last thing I will mention today is Dedicated servers. Shortly before the Christmas holidays, we started distributing DS beta among those of you who asked for it. The number of those interested was enormous - way more than we expected. Because so many of you are using it these days, in 0.6.3 we will be releasing a fix for the basic admin tools so that you can add and remove admins, kick or ban players and know who's currently online. Speaking of DS - everywhere you look we say that it is buggy, not optimized, with a very little support and shouldn't be used for anything "serious"... and yet we are already seeing some companies renting Ylands DS on a commercial basis. Given what I just said we consider this very irresponsible and not a good idea. And that's it for this week. The next Dev Diary will be about features that you request the most (two of which are already in the works ). Until then, you have a great time, ylanders, and stay classy!

Alright, here are some more answers (sorry for not replying to everything, things are quite hectic here at this moment ) * Yes, we've already discussed an option to milk goat and definitely want to have that * Some mentioned the lag - we are looking into it, but trust me that it is not a simple thing to fix. If you see a lot of people complaining about something you can be sure that we can see them as well, it doesn't make us happy and we are doing our best to make that thing go away. * NPCs / quest-givers in the existing games: no, you'll have to create a new game, but we want to at least give you an option to put a vendor into your game through the Editor * Combat - combat is undergoing some serious changes (you should be able to see those first in 0.8). Damages and protections are reevaluated, controls and animations are changed and added etc. We believe it will be _much_ better * Vendors prices varying on where you find them etc. - yes, definitely, although that will probably be a part of vendors' improvements introduced in 0.8

Predators: Not really - at this point, only vehicles and animals that can be mounted (which right now are only horses) are planned. If you had bears sitting on your ship watching you then either it was a bug or the AI is learning cool new tricks (and since we have flying sharks I guess nothing is impossible ). Or they just like you. NPCs: they will stand idle or wander around based on their setting but they won't actively use their environment. That, however, is exactly what we want them to do in the future. Anyway, have a great weekend everyone! I'm not sure I'll be able to check this thread on Saturday or Sunday so if you post any questions, you'll very likely get your answers on Monday.

yes, that's the plan

Flying vehicles: sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit more for that

Vehicle transportation: we know how to do it - it's waiting to be implemented, but we have no capacity to squeeze it in 0.7

Sure thing! You will be also able to turn them into quest givers We will be providing some samples with 0.7 to show you how to do it.

Barrier: it won't be possible for non-owners to do terrain modifications, create or remove energy streams and paint (there will be some additional features coming in 0.8 - we're still discussing how should it work with vehicles and ships) Larger doors: not sure yet, but it's very likely In general, you will be seeing only a few new blocks being added to the game within the couple of next updates - not because we wouldn't be working on some (actually quite on the contrary - some great looking stuff is being created ) but because those blocks will be released with the update featuring the new world

@bb cakesEventually, yes - but not in 0.7. We're currently making some major changes to the combat system to make it more responsive and fun (that will be very likely included in 0.8) - we first want to finish this before adding hostile NPCs.

Hm, interesting! Thanks for the feedback, we'll look into it right away.

Hey there, fellow ylanders! In the last Dev Diary, we discussed the issues that are either really critical or which you find most annoying. In the meantime we managed to fix some of those - those fixes will be a part of the upcoming 0.6.3 that we’re planning to release later next week. Before we get to this Dev Diary's topic, let me just quickly go over what has been fixed so far from that list: * Player getting message about their account already being used in an active session We found at least one of the potential causes and fixed it. Please let us know if this happens to anyone even after 0.6.3 is released. * Characters starving to death while being offline Fixed * Ship won't turn after placing certain items on it Fixed * Ladders teleport players to odd places Fixed * When logging back in, new character creation panel is prompted We found a possible cause and fixed it. Unfortunately, the issue resulted in the character not getting saved in the saved game, so there’s no way to get it back (everything in the game stays intact though). * Inventory items disappearing at the end of the inventory panel We have found and fixed some of the potential causes - we believe that there might be one more and are still looking into it - it has been "partially" fixed so far So now to the topic at hand - the features and improvements you want to see in the game. We have received literally hundreds of messages via our in-game feedback tracker and from those we created a list of the ones you request the most. From that list four entries will already be part of the upcoming update 0.7: * Many of you would like to be able to sleep through the night even when playing the game with your friends in MP * Also many of you seem to be unhappy with how the inventory and crafting UI works (and point out that stacking isn’t working properly in some cases). It is difficult to see what new recipes you have recently learned, there should be some kind of sorting in the inventory etc. * Since you’re using energy in your houses (and on your vehicles) you are wondering if there’s a way of making the energy streams less obvious so that they don’t ruin the overall looks * Blinking that indicates that you are getting hurt can get very annoying when the damage is continuous (like you getting hurt because of being hungry or cold) And which ones were the other ones, that made it into the top list? Here is the rest of the list (please note that these will be fixed at a later time): * Map The current map is very basic and is not working properly in MP. Now the reason why we haven’t fixed it is that we feel it’s not very useful as it is and needs an overhaul. Don't worry though - we do understand that a good, useful map is a must. * Transporting cars/horses on ships We hear you, have already discussed it and have an idea of how to do this, so you can expect this in one of the future updates. Sure thing, Keralis, we hear you! (Courtesy of Keralis, video ) * Being able to attach small boats to a ship This would make getting ashore more fun (and safe). We’re currently looking into it. * Being able to cancel the currently running operation in workstations We are planning to make some improvements to workstations GUI in general - this will be part of those improvements. * Being able to smooth the terrain in Exploration We’ll look into it. * Having a new inventory container - a tool-belt to hold all your tools. That’s definitely possible - chances are this will be already a part of 0.7. * Making hollow ship hulls The reason why we don’t have any at this time is because of several issues we would run into. We understand that it’s difficult (although not impossible as some of you have proved ) to build a lower deck on these hulls and so we leave this topic open. At this time, however, it isn’t a priority for us. * Pausing the game when you alt-tab from it This will be fixed but it also isn’t the top priority for us right now. * Showing stats for armors and weapons Actually, we’ve been working on this for some time already. It will be introduced in 0.7 or 0.8. * Adding more ship hulls and car parts Sure thing, we’re definitely not done with cars nor ships If you haven’t found your idea or request among these (which, considering how many we received, is very likely), don’t worry - everything is noted and after we resolve those, we’ll discuss some new ones. We’ll talk to you again next Friday - until then you have a great time, ylanders, and stay classy!

Feel free to send me the link via PM thanks a lot!

Funnily enough, this is something we have discussed earlier today during our daily design talk. We would definitely like to add something like that rather soon.

Energy nodes crash: so far we've checked all the logs but we don't see anything that would explain that - we'll probably need a save. Do you think you could provide us with one and short description what we need to do for the game to crash? That would help us very much, thanks!

As always - thanks a lot for your suggestions! I'll just quickly address some of "bigger" ones (but even smaller ones count - actually we already have many of what Krzymuffin suggested in our internal todo list etc.). Putting flying vehicles/hot air balloons int the game: hmm... I think we can do something about that Trains: at some point, we actually considered adding trains before adding cars. Having trains is definitely possible, but when we introduce those, we want them to be more than just means of transportation. Eventually, we would like to start introducing features that would let you automatize some tasks (any Factorio fans out there? ) and trains will play a big role in that. So long story short - trains will be added, but it will take some time. Ships: we will be adding more types and parts in the future Host unreachable issues: no, unfortunatelly I don't have anything new at this point. We are still looking at it and it still remains among our top priority issues. I will keep you updated (if not sooner, then in this Friday's Dev Diary ). Shooting while riding a horse: that was possible several months ago but went away as we reworked the character controller and animations. We definitely want to make it work again soon. Easier picking up of things: we are already working on something, but it will probably be a part of 0.8, not 0.7.

Hi, no new update will (unless we discuss it with you first in advance) require you to start a new game. However, if you'd want to experience all the new features (and potentially find randomly generated places with NPCs) for that you would have to start a new one. I want to talk about this a bit more in one of the upcoming Dev Diaries (probably the one coming out the next week). The update with NPCs (0.7), however, is going to be released in the first half of February. What you're referring to is probably 0.6.3 which will contain mostly fixes and will be released sometime next week - starting a new game for that wouldn't result in any new/extra content.

Hi, moving things from one Exploration game to another is indeed possible through Editor (you can turn whatever you want to move into Composition in the original world loaded into the Editor, load the new world in the Editor and then place it there ). It is not ideal solution but it is, indeed, possible

As for this issue: Inventory items disappearing or getting stuck between inventory slots/ outside the inventory panel etc. - we have just fixed it. With the fix in place we are no longer able to reproduce it so fingers crossed that this was the only cause :). It will be released as a part of 0.6.3 sometime next week

Long story short: unfortunately that would be extremely difficult to do (if even possible - programmers would first have to see if it even can be done) :). It would definitely be very time-consuming (both the implementation and testing) - while it's very likely that in some cases it would result in something far from ideal anyway. To be perfectly honest it isn't really worth the effort and time - those we will put into fixing and making cool new stuff instead. But just as I said earlier we understand that this is a problem and are trying to find some solution.

@blfonsworth I should be able to give you more information about this in the second half of this week. In the meantime, since you say it happens to you a lot, do you think you would be able to tell us what exactly you're doing when it happens? Are you trying to drag and drop some item and then something happens? Do you press any keys in that moment, where do you drop it exactly etc. (or even if you manage to capture it on video ) - any information is welcome, very helpful and directly increases the chance you'll get your hands on the fix sooner - we need to be sure we find all the possible causes of this. thanks!

@LupowopYes, in the end we gave the generator even to characters in existing games. Unfortunately, something like this is not always an option. Before every update, a lot of effort goes into making sure that it works with your existing saves so unless something unforeseen happens you should be able to keep your games functional throughout EA. I don't think that even when we leave Early Access your save games will become invalid (but it's still months ahead and anything can happen - and if something like that would have to be done, we would discuss it with you in advance in here). The problem, however, lies elsewhere. In Exploration many things are created when the world is generated (when you start the game for the first time). While most of the features we add work even in the existing games, the problem is with changes that actually add something in the world. To give you an example - all those cool random places you encounter on various ylands are generated when the new game starts for the first time. With 0.7 we'll be adding some new places like that that will have NPCs in them. There will be no way for you to run into any of these unless you start a new game. We understand that this isn't ideal but it has to be done this way. Making sure that players can experience absolutely everything new added to the game without having to start a new game would mean a tremendous amount of additional programming which currently is needed elsewhere (please note that we are talking about EA only - once we leave it, things will have to be handled differently). That being said we're discussing how to make a transition into the new game less painful for those who spent dozens of hours playing in their current worlds. @Eva Pilot 01 We talked about this issue only yesterday and someone is actually looking into it right now. It won't be fixed in the upcoming 0.6.3, but very likely in 0.7. As for DS: yes, you can host DS and join is just like other players do (but with admin rights - the upcoming 0.6.3 will make managing things easier for you somewhat). That way even if you have to restart your game it won't affect others playing on that DS. If you're not sure how to do that, try asking in the DS section, I'm pretty sure you'll get an answer there. If not, PM me and we'll discuss that.

If you're referring to DS logs getting really huge over time then yes, that is something that is addressed in 0.6.3

No problem!

We are indeed consulting with the other teams... but this might actually be a good time to talk about something that seems to stay hidden from many players. Even though Ylands may look like a "simple" game due to its low poly graphics - in some aspects, it can be more demanding than games like DayZ or Arma, even though those support more concurrent players etc. Firstly as opposed to those games everything in Ylands can be interacted with or destroyed (even the terrain itself) - we don't have the "luxury" of working with mostly static (as in "unchangeable") objects placed inside premade maps (and that itself prevents us from using many available optimization techniques). In our MP we need to synchronize things like sudden massive terrain changes or simulated water. There are features that from the outside may seem simple but which are true nightmares and actually are not that common even in larger projects than Ylands - like letting players move freely over ships that are controlled by other players (I'm not talking about being firmly seated in a vehicle someone else drives or flies, which is much easier to implement). And last but certainly not least - we're using a completely different engine. We are confident that we will fix and improve everything, but it does take time. After all, let's not forget that this is an Early Access and just as we state on Ylands product page we went to EA exactly to fix and improve performance and MP while getting important feedback from the community. Also, things will speed up as the team grows - FYI the latest addition to our team is a programmer that joined us shortly before Christmas and who will be focusing purely on MP. You can trust us that we want the MP to be great just as much as you players do.

Thanks for letting us know! We'll definitely look into it (very likely we'll contact you sometime next week via PM with some questions).