Indomitus

The creator of this mess on NA 48 is either a griefer or an idiot. (It goes on and on and on through the entire mountain.) I started cleaning up a little of it, stacking and storing some of it (no points for guessing what kind of storage I used) but after 2 "days" of that I got bored. Really can't wait for the update that enables self-cleaning items.

Are there any plans to allow assigning or volunteering to help moderate and maintain the public servers? This is just a thought that occurred to me when I was playing on Explore NA 7 yesterday. That one is starting to have very serious performance issues, and while exploring the spawn island, I found out that some player had started digging straight down from one of the caves. These were sheer vertical holes going so far down I thought I was going to find the bottom limit of the map. And all along the entire length of it were probably thousands of stone chunks, rocks, piles of dirt, sand (and, surprise, a grave at the very bottom; I survived because I have my propeller pack). It's the kind of digging project one can only do with the powered drill. I started picking up what I could carry and closing off lower parts of the tunnel with stone panels. I'll be returning there at some point to see if I can clean it up some more, but someone with admin access and knowledge of how to use the Editor would really help in a situation like this. Or if not the editor, allow one person or team to have Creator Cube access, so they can use the annihilator and terraformer to clean up messes. Or maybe create an "Admin Cube" that allows for easy clean-up and restoring of the map without requiring that it go completely offline. (An Admin Cube might include additional features like leaving/receiving direct messages for offline players, viewing who created what objects, teleporting to locations or people, and some other options for managing and dealing with players.)

Logged into one of my various online MP games and was greeted with this very photogenic shot of my Ylander waiting patiently for me to return...

Or when you pick it up, it becomes "broken" again, requiring more and more rare materials or parts to fix each time.

I would be fine if planting just gave us an accurate targeting point. Show me exactly where it's going to go, and maybe give the option to snap on a grid.

I like the idea of building a welcome area at spawn and putting down your PB to protect it. One downside to that, though, is other players would have a hard time replanting resources, and if we make it difficult they're less likely to do it. With sisal agave that's not a problem, but pretty much anything else would be.

I agree, the ability to create something for others to play shows a lot of promise for this game. A lot of us have asked for a viewable map in the Editor, and a couple of us have asked for a way to edit land using the map in different ways. (Like "painting" on the map itself to edit large areas of land at once.) Being able to create multiple "levels" sounds like it could be really fun. I hope somebody is writing down these ideas for the Editor in one big list.

When I'm on MP I always try to be considerate, take just what I need and move on. And I replant like crazy. I don't harvest anything extensively until I set up a home somewhere else. I even share my initial workstations and some resources, even though I'm never sure if I'm helping players or just giving griefers a place to camp once I've left the island. When it comes to the caves, I use permanent markers (stone, normally) to track my way through them. I'm sure they're helpful to others if they realize what they are. I'll kill mutants until I have what I need, and after that it's just about survival. On my current MP (on NA 33) I've been thinking about going back to spawn and building a shelter nearby. But then one of the other players built a large offshore base in that area after I left, and I wouldn't want it too close. Kind of torn on that one.

If we have the map equipped and it's the active item, could we have the compass symbol on screen even when the map is not open? (Only if it's the active item, though.) Kind of like it appears when sailing a ship. Could there be additional items/tools added that could give us longitude/latitude information? I think maybe a sextant and/or an astrolabe type of item. Including something that could be mounted next to a ship's helm that would extend the display to include that information along with the compass widget. I would think since the map uses a coordinate system already, it would be kind of easy to adapt that to a simple longitude/latitude system.

Will we be able to apply blueprints on a ship? (Small BP only, of course.) I expect that could be more trouble than it's worth, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

I would want to see a better way to gauge exactly where we're planting before we get that. As it is now, you can't really tell where the plant's going to go until you press the button. If that exploit is patched, we would need a way to make efficient use of our garden space, and that means being able to see and control exactly where we're putting the seeds.

As a developer myself (business systems, not games, sadly) I can say this is very true. Desired features could require fundamental changes very deep in the code. This is much easier to do in the early stages, than after deployment. This is why planning is one of the most critical stages of any software's life.

I'm not against adding a kind of story mode, but I agree that the Open World Explore and Creative modes need to be preserved. For me, the fun of Ylands has been in full unrestricted construction (Creative or the Editor) and alternately on seeing what I can do when I have to earn the resources, unlock the items, and deal with the restrictions (Explore and Online MP). I can certainly see making some items or achievements only available in a story mode, but leave the open world. Even if they weren't in the original plan, they've proven to be very enjoyable for the players, so maybe the plan should change a little to include them.

This is a quick one. - I think it would be handy to be able to copy a map. The copy would be identical to the original at that moment, and if it's not equipped it wouldn't update, like normal. Just a copy of the map in its current state. - For recipes that can use different resources, let us choose which ones to use. For example, if I'm carrying raspberries and bearberries, and I cook some fruit, let me choose which ones to cook. Maybe I have other plans for those bearberries and I don't want them to be food. And one more thought about the map: Is it re-rendering each time we enter the game and open the map? It's faster than before but still kind of slow. Would it be possible instead to update a static image asset as the map is revealed, and just load that when the map is opened?

It's not just the fruit. That was just an example.

Just something I thought could start an interesting conversation... I've noticed that as I progress through a game, I keep putting the same kind of items in the same number slot every time. For example, whatever hammer I have (which is usually also my main weapon) I normally put in #2, axe in #3. My torch/lantern is in #5, my lighter is in #7, map in #9, and so on. Does everybody do this or am I just weird? I guess this could apply to any strategies you find yourself doing every time, like first trying to get iron for tools and armor, or building a ship quickly, or whatever.

A couple questions: Can the construction be cancelled by anyone? Or only by the person who initiated it? I expect there would be limitations on placing them as well? If Baz, for example (who just happens to be the post right above me here) has started a large house blueprint that takes up 50x100 grid squares, I wouldn't be able to start a different one overlapping that same space, right? (Just thinking forward to the griefers. You know somebody will try it.)

Interesting idea. There would have to be limits to the size, or we would end up with a whole new kind of griefer (plus the added processing strain of covering large, unusual shapes).

Alternately, they could change the collision pattern of the hull so that the blocks could basically clip one square into the side of it, kind of like they can with the ground (just not all the way through). Although I normally just say "eh, whatever" and fill in the gaps so I won't fall through, then just deal with what's left. (I usually build for speed and carrying capacity, not beauty.)

When it gets implemented, I hope it's sensibly balanced. Planting tall trees on a ship, for example, would probably not be a great idea. Really funny, though. Imagine disguising a ship as if it's a small island, with tons of dirt and plants.

I think it's safe to say the Editor needs a bit of work done to make it really usable. I've only been playing with that mode for about a week or so now (I prefer Creative mode, hmm, wonder why) but there are a few choices and possibilities for improvements that seem fairly clear to me. Okay, more than a few. It's a lot. I'm sure that some have been mentioned before. Separate Water from the Terraformer (in the Editor and in general) ...or at least give water its own dedicated set of controls. As it is, the fluid dynamics are pretty funky, and when we change the ground below the water line (expanding a bay for example) we end up with inevitable air pockets and bubbles that can really glitch out a swimmer. It (kind of) flows on top, but not so much on the bottom, and there's not a good way to fix it when it goes wrong. For the seas, the coastlines, and any spaces that are open to them, the tool should simply set the water level and let the water fill in everything down to the dirt/rock/sand that's below that level. This would include tunnels, if one of us were to dig one from the ocean floor. Be careful not to let it extend into the land itself, or you'll end up with deep caves being flooded. (That's realistic, but not so much fun.) For anything away from the coast, it should set the water level for that space in a similar way. Doing this would allow us to easily create rivers or inland lakes. Might be a cost in performance, but I think it's a worthwhile cost that could be improved upon later. While it edit mode, maybe it can just show as a flat blue plane, then render out to look like water in play mode or when play testing. Editable Topographical Map (with 2 or more modes) Elevation/Topography Mode would be a black-and-white map. Darker shades are lower elevations and brighter shades are higher; I think that's the standard. Allow painting on the map with "up" or "down" to raise or lower parts of the island without affecting the terrain type. Different brush shapes and sizes and varying amounts of blur (smoothing) would be awesome. Bonus points if it shows the main water level somehow (shaded blue if it's below sea level?) **Tricky part: How do you handle structures? Move them up or down? Or let them get buried? Have option settings on the object groups? Terrain Type Mode would show what the ground type is at each location, and you could paint there much the same as you paint directly with the Terraformer. Only faster. Much faster. Flora/Fauna Distribution would let us paint custom patterns for relative density of certain plants or animals (as a subset to what their total spawn amount would be). Be able to paint an entire island of happy little trees. Bob Ross would be proud. (As an extension: Let us dial up or down the spawn values for specific items, including being able to turn them all the way down to 0.) Speaking of Maps: There needs to be one. Give us a full map we can zoom in or zoom out, and set waypoints or spawn points directly on the map itself. (Make them auto-settle to ground level.) Maybe include an optional grid overlay or scale indicator. If there's a way to export a hi-res copy of it for old farts like me who like to scribble on things when we're planning, that would be even better. And speaking of the Terraformer: Give us ways to restrict the movement and the area-of-effect of that tool. As it is now, it's very easy to end up with huge blobs of dirt, or rock, or even water, if you're adding using the tool, or to end up with unwanted chasms if you're using the remove function. We need a way to lock it to a particular height, for example. It could work like the "G" button does when we're building, only it locks/unlocks the direction the cursor can move. The Area of Effect really should not go anywhere outside the cursor itself. (For that, you'd probably need to add a vertical part to the "Flatten"" and "Smooth" functions.) It's infuriating to try to manually cut a cave, only to go back out and find that Flatten has wrecked the overhead landscape from beneath. Another nice feature would be if we could adjust the angle it's moving and affecting (for example, to "flatten" a cliff face). The Terraformer's Smooth function needs an "Unsmooth" option to balance it out. Hey, maybe I want that part of the mountains to be really jagged. Don't judge. We can select an area and mass delete. Now we need the opposite. Give us a way (maybe as part of the map idea up above) to mass repopulate a cleared area based on the island's randomization settings. Would make it easier to redesign the topography and make it look natural again without having to manually place hundreds of trees, bushes, grass, etc. As it is, if we lower the ground level, trees might or might not drop to it, but if we raise it, they end up buried. Extend the Show/Hide functionality to include topographical levels of the ground itself Imagine being able to simply hide the top of a mountain so that it's invisible and can't be edited, then start cutting a large cavern into the middle of it. After you're done, just reset the option and the top of the mountain is back. Would make underground caverns and lairs easier to design and build. Naturally, if this is active, then you would have to restrict any structures from going too far above the visible level, to prevent accidental collisions. (And please fix the Show/Hide options, because if they're set to hide something, and another part of the island has to res in when you move, it doesn't always get it right.) Give us an "Apply Physics" button or menu option It saves performance to let things hover in the air while we're editing, but we really need things to fall where they're going to go before the players show up. It could be a single command that just applies gravity across the map, and fills in water where it needs to be. Framerate would dip for a few seconds, but it's only an on-demand thing, then it can go back to letting things hover. Personally, I would include an option to forcibly remove any mystically floating ground fragments the Terraformer might have missed. Give the option to show structures on the map Pretty simple concept, maybe as part of the map editing above. Let us select all, or none, or if we want to exclude certain ones (like maybe a hidden cave entrance). Extend this to location names if we add any. (Those could be added like a waypoint.) Let us manually set the time of day while we're editing And make it default to the brightest part of the day. If we want to see what it looks like at sunrise or sunset, we can change it. The start time for the play scenario should be completely separate from this (and changeable in the settings). Lava? Because scenarios on volcanic islands could be cool. I'm sure there will be more, but it's late and I have to work in the morning.

I'd like to add a couple things to this list: - The ability to select an island on the world map and manually change its biome (assuming there's not already a game in progress on the map). - Select an island on the map and manually relocate it. The sea floor would have to recalculate when that happens, but I believe it's workable.

That happens sometimes. My guy on Explore NA 4 is glitched that way, I'm still trying to figure out how to trigger it. Just be very careful because it apparently can lead to other game-breaking glitches.

That's great news. I think the crafting interface could use some work too, though, because this also happens with items that are crafted instantly.

True, but I've been immortal for the past week. That's why I only did it if I was alone.