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Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we talk to one of our designers, that is responsible for some of the neat things you see on Social Media, @NaruTheHuman! First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? Professional henchman and office mascot! Besides that, I am currently a junior designer. Before I joined, I was just an amateur henchman and since this is my first job, nothing else, really. ? How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? I have worked on Ylands for nearly 2 years now, but most of that time I was here just as a part-time tester. I don’t really remember what I did a week ago, so I have honestly no idea what I worked on when I joined. Something in the editor for sure, though. How did you get your nickname Naru? Well, my first cosplay was Naruto, and it just kinda stuck with me. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? In one word, Editor. There are so many possibilities and potential, that it allows you to turn any idea of yours into reality, no matter how unrealistic it is. Well, nearly any idea... ? What are you working on right now? I am currently working on some new features for the City Shootout and on one new game that will hopefully appear on the workshop soon. What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? Probably the terrain map generator table, since there was a lot of moving parts and raycasting together, so making it run smoothly was quite a challenge. What do you do in your free time? I like to wander around in nature, even though it mostly just leads to me getting completely lost. I also like playing and creating games, of course, watching movies and cosplaying. There is probably way more, but this should do. Would you rather listen to Adam talk to you about, what he thinks about anime (even though he only ever saw three episodes of One Punch Man and a bit of Pokémon) or go one on one against Kaguya Otsusuki? Why? Definitely one on one against Kaguya! Because odds of me surviving that are still greater than surviving even 2 minutes of listening to Adam. I am probably gonna suffer for this, aren't I... (Editors note: yes he is)

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we talk to one of our wizarding programmers, that through a series of incantations keep the game working, Xeniya Vondrášková! First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what'd you do before you joined? I'm a gameplay programmer and previously I also worked in the gamedev industry in a smaller Czech indie studio. In fact, I've never worked anywhere else than in the gamedev industry. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? In February I will have worked here for 4 years. The first thing I worked on, if I remember correctly, was the first ragdoll iteration. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? I really like the options the game provides, that you can do almost anything in it. From time to time, I browse the Workshop and I'm amazed by all the things that players are able to create in the game. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? I'm personally looking forward to a working water simulation. Waterfalls would be really awesome. What are you working on right now? We're still improving the general AI, but I personally mostly concentrate on NPCs now. Also, I - as almost everyone else in the team - do polishing and bug fixing here and then. What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? I don't think there are easy things to implement, but if I had to choose the most memorable ones, that would for me probably be the recent AI overhaul and the new combat mechanics. What do you do in your free time? I'm a passionate gamer (I love epic RPGs where you have to save the world or, preferably, the whole universe and everything that lies beyond) and apart from video games, I also enjoy playing board and pen and paper games. I like reading as well, mostly fantasy, sci-fi and murder mysteries. Would you rather spend a holiday in Greece with a really chatty ostrich or go to Starbucks with George Clooney (he will be moaning, that you didn't go get a Nespresso instead)? Why? That's an easy one - definitely Greece with the ostrich because I love travelling so much that I could easily survive a chatty ostrich (even the chattiest one).

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we talk to one of our designers/swashbuckling pirate captain, @Prokop Lagner! First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? I am a junior game designer, mostly helping Rudy with the editor. I used to study toxicology, but haven't finished that, instead I started to work in theatre as a stage technician. Then I joined Bohemia Interactive as a QA Tester for Arma III. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? About one and a half year, when I count also the half year as a QA Editor tester. The first thing I did, was falling in love with the Editor and the visual scripting, so I started to help with testing it and trying to get it to its limits. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? As I already mentioned – the Editor. Although I have never scripted or programmed anything besides some Excel Tables previously, I was totally captured by the simplicity and options of our visual scripting. However, the most exciting thing about it are our players and what they can create with these tools, because some creative minds of our community just know no boundaries. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? The Custom Post Process Effects, which have been foreshadowed recently. I expect it will allow the creators to make even more insane (literally, just check those colours!) stuff. Just imagine all those magical worlds, alien atmospheres or just psychedelic madness that can appear on the Workshop, after which we will scream: “What have we done?! This does not even look like our game anymore!” What are you working on right now? World dominance with seals flippin' some laser beams... Wait what? Some pre-set colour filters for the Post Processes like sepia for some western-like scenario or noir for some dark detective stories. However, my eye(s) are not as skilful as those of our graphic artists, so sometimes I seek their help. What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? Well some difficulties appear from time to time, but if I have to choose one, it would be, at least for me, the final polishing of minigames I've made. Sometimes I get carried away by playing with some new feature and forget to finish things already implemented in advance, so at the last moment I stay late and just polish things. What do you do in your free time? I am a member of a stage fighting group, so I do some fencing training etc., otherwise I also spend time writing, listening to psychedelic music or just playing games of all sort – boardgames, LARPs, videogames... Recently I completely fell in love with the awesome one and only Hunt: Showdown. Who’s your favourite Disney princess and why? You can mention more if you can’t choose. Well obviously, it is @Adam Snellgrove. The man, the myth, the legend, slightly gingered half breed princess, the hero we don't deserve but the one we need, whom I know since High School and who was my ally in many battle games in the past.

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we talk to one of our designer wiz (and a bit of a Mobile expert), Tomáš Pavlík! First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? I'm a designer. I pitch ideas to others and they tell me they like them while looking like they just bit down on a lemon. Before I started working here, I was just gaming a whole bunch and doing odd jobs to survive until my next online fix. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? I've worked here for 2 and a half years, time flies when you're old, and the first thing I’ve worked on was I believe the painting system. Which has turned out as quite overcomplicated when I look back on it now. But at least there is freedom to choose any colour, which was not always on the table. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? Probably the visual scripting. What players manage to create there sometimes just boggles the mind. But when I first got into it, it was just about the exploration aspect for me. Creating my own ship and turning it into a moving base and then just sail from yland to island. Bliss. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? Well now that the game released and we consider it somewhat feature complete, I'm most excited to see what players manage to create with the tools in the editor. Other than that I would like to see some polish of some features in the upcoming months and I look forward to it one day being as fun and as user friendly as possible. What are you working on right now? Right now there is a load of minor issues that need to be thought out before some code magician takes a crack at it. Editor logic related things and mobile version camera behaviour are some that spring to mind. What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? Honestly it's hard to say. I feel like every task has its challenges. And there is always a lot of conflicting ideas about how to tackle it elegantly. Game detail screen is still fresh in my mind because it has been done recently. It's surprisingly convoluted and difficult to comprehend for a UI feature. A lot of eventualities to consider. Although the difficulty of it makes it more interesting in a way. What do you do in your free time? I try not to game as much as I used to because it’s just not compatible with having time in my case. When I get into a game it’s a binge marathon of red eyes, backpain and oversleeping. I try to do as much physical activity as possible. I've taken up rock climbing several years back and I feel like it’s the best sport for me. The combination of puzzle solving, physical strain and fear for your life strikes the right balance between madness and enjoyment. What is better? A fruit salad with potatoes or Pizza with pineapple? Why? I will never support such a heinous sacrilege against potatoes. The pizza with pineapple is better because pineapple contains the enzyme bromelanin that is actively digesting the ham that it's placed on. So the food is essentially eating itself on the plate. Which is both metal and also convenient, because I'd never eat it. It looks gross.

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we couldn’t get a hold of anyone other than our Community Manager Adam…sorry. Lucky number 13 I guess. @Adam Snellgrove First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? Well I am the Community Manager and I tend to our Social Media. Before I joined the team I was a journalist at the Prague Journal and radio host at the Czech Radio. You can still find some of my ‘Adam’s Expats’ and ‘Adam’s Mish Mash’ episodes online…but please don’t… How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? I think I have to be one of the most senior members here, cause I’ve been here nearly 4 months. I think maybe Aleš has been here longer, not sure about the others. The 1st thing I did was work out a Social Media Plan…I’m still doing that to be honest though. But the first thing I ever posted was this…still probably my best work to date: I just absolutely love the community and what those guys are capable of. And also, what kind of players Ylands attracts: creative, fun and easy-going. Makes being a Community Manager an absolute joy. But no wonder, because Ylands is just that: creative, fun and easy-going. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? The fact, that Ylands will be free to play. So many players to interact in the future makes me a bit nervous but also incredibly excited, because we’ll get a ton of creative people flooding in, but also just folk, who like to play relaxing and original games and that will be a great crowd. Other than that the Camera Controls and the new Exploration features are absolutely fantastic ? What are you working on right now? On my own Yntervie…I mean I’m writing up this Thursday’s Dev Diary and trying to come up with not too cringey posts for Twitter. And bugs. Always cataloguing bugs for QA ? What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? Getting peoples trust a bit after a communication hiatus was a bit difficult, but absolutely expected and understandable. But I think it has never been a better time to be in Ylands than this. Other than that a few bugs were super annoying, but we are slowly getting rid of them. Oh an learning at least the basics in Editor to be able to create Archie’s adventures ? What do you do in your free time? In my free time I play cooperative boardgames and discgolf with my fiancée and we go on trips and generally enjoy ourselves thoroughly. I also get shouted at by my cat. And I play all kind of computer games (Ylands, grand strategies, shooters, RPG’s). And I have a DnD group. And I go to university (History). And drink tea. Do you think it is inappropriate to have a kettle right next to your desk at work and to make tea while everyone around you is trying to work? I feel this is an attack on my person…and my kettle.

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we talk to one of our very talented animators, Anne Lantz! @anne.lantz First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? I am an animator! The other animators and myself are in charge of making the in-game characters and creatures move. Before I joined the Ylands, I was with the ARMA III team, and way before that, I taught 3D Animation and Visual Effects. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? I've been on the team for about two and a half years now. I think the first thing I worked on was reworking the Player Character's walk cycle. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? The players! They have so much creativity, it is always cool to see what they make. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? I'm the most excited for the game's release. I can't wait to see what kind of creations the players will make! What are you working on right now? Currently, I'm working on some more AI animal features. Have you ever seen a crab make a charge attack? Me neither, but we all will soon! What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? I'd have to say the new horse animations and its controls. On the animation side, it was done a while back, but we simply didn't have the resources available to make it functional in the game yet. But we have it now and it is fantastic! Who’s Major and why is he the cutest? Major is the best-est, handsome-est, sweetest, smartest, and most perfect puppy that has ever existed. I mean just look at him and his big nose and ears and feet. What do you do in your free time? Besides playing with my dog, I like to go on hikes when the weather is nice. Otherwise, I enjoy relaxing with a good book, movie, or game (currently Death Stranding). I am also one of those crazy people who enjoy what they do, and also animate in my free time. Who would win in a fight between the Teletubbies, the cast of Sesame Street, Barney & Friends and Johnny Bravo? Why? While these are all good contenders, my money is on Earl Sinclair from Dinosaurs.

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we talk to the word wizard Márton 'Marci' Magyar @Marci Magyar. Also check out our 'bonus question' video on our Facebook page ? First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? I’m the brand/marketing manager, meaning it’s my job to make sure people hear about Ylands and that they hear the things we want them to hear. Before this, I’ve filled various nebulous marketing positions at GOG, Green Man Gaming and other places that have nothing to do with gaming and as such not worth talking about. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? A little over a year. The first I thing ever did was to create an overarching marketing strategy for the game, which then served as blueprints for other overarching marketing strategies for the game, which then served as blueprints for other overarch...what was the question? What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? Its ability to surprise you over and over again. When you thought you’ve seen it all, it revamps a feature to make Explore(ation) exciting again or improves the graphics so much that you fell in love with it again. Or you see a new game created by the community that just blows you away and you want to live inside that world. Ylands has this “...anything can happen in the future” attribute and I just love it. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? The release of the game and the FLOOD of new players and creators bringing their own creativity to the mix. What are you working on right now? I bet you are thinking, “he’s gonna say an overarching marketing strategy for the game”. Hah, the joke’s on you! It’s actually an overarching marketing strategy for the game AFTER release! What was the most difficult thing to achieve to date? Coming up with the update names. What do you do in your free time? Coming up with overarching strategies on how to play more games while role-playing as an adult with a mortgage. What is the greatest animated series ever? The Simpsons, Family Guy, Archer, BoJack Horseman, The Mézga Family or some other series? Obviously, all of these are classics in their own right, but the one I’m going to go with is the one I have the sweetest and fondest memories of: Ed, Edd & Eddy on the old (=good) Cartoon Network.

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we talk to the AI master Michael 'Khan' Řežábek @Khanecz. Also check out our 'bonus question' video on our Facebook page ? First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? I‘m a designer, which means I‘m responsible for designing and maintaining new features. Before I joined Ylands team, I worked as a QA, testing mostly DayZ and Arma 3. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? I‘ve been working on Ylands for about 4,5 years now. I think one of the first things I‘ve done was adding new items to the game and coming up with new healing herbs. Why are you called Khan? It‘s an old nick from my Team Fortress 2 days. It used to be „Sandokan“, as the famous pirate warrior ?. After a while, I just shortened it to „Khan“. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? I love the editor and the fact that with enough skill and imagination, you can make some mind-boggling stuff. @Spyler.X and @Igor Q. are my favourite creators. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? I really like the implementation of the new camera angles. I look forward to seeing the games our community can create with them. What are you working on right now? Right now, I‘m working on the new AI together with @Madamko (You‘ve seen a teaser for it in one of the previous Dev Diaries ) and also some Blueprint improvements with @Berzeger. What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? That would definitely be the new in-game and Main Menu UI . There are a lot of features in Ylands and it’s a challenge to fit every button and panel on one screen while making it look pretty, consistent and straightforward for the player. What do you do in your free time? Unsurprisingly, I love playing all kinds of games, tabletop games, board games, videogames… mostly RPGs ?. I also love to read, watch movies, hiking in nature and hanging out with my wife. Who would you vote for president and why? Batman, Rick (from Rick and Morty), Dr. Who or Spock? Definitely Dr. Who. We would be safe from Dalek and Cybermen invasions forever!

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we talk to the mysterious Vojtěch 'Iceman' Kovařič. First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? Hello everyone, my role on Ylands is a producer. Essentially, I make sure the team members always know what to do, are as uninterrupted from their work as possible, and have all the tools they need to be successful. Before that, I worked on Arma 3, Bohemia’s military shooter, as Project Lead. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? I joined the team about a year ago or so. The first thing probably was introducing a new feature pipeline, which brought some system into how game additions are developed on Ylands. Why are you called Iceman? It goes way back, actually, and I’ll keep it as a frozen, dark secret. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? The endless possibilities that Ylands offers. With little to no scripting knowledge, everyone is able to build their own games. And not only that, the ways to share and play them with others already come with the package! And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? Additional cameras. It really is a game-changer, offering literally a whole new perspective on how the game can be played. What are you working on right now? At the moment, the whole team is racing to finish the game and release it later this year. As you can imagine, it takes quite a lot of organisation and overview to make sure everyone is on the right track and have everything they need. What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? I think the UI overhaul we did a couple of months ago takes the cake. We ended up working on it much longer than originally planned, with unexpected issues surfacing the more we would dig. Luckily enough, and thanks to an enormous effort of everyone involved, we made it. What do you do in your free time? I love listening to and playing music, and other than that, reading, playing games and socialising. What is better, Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly or Bob the Builder? Star Wars

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we talk to the project lead himself: Jan Herodes First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? I am Project Lead and came from the mobile development department to Ylands. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? Something around 3 and half years and I started with defining the backend features and how to make the game multi-platform. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? There are two aspects – platform and visual. As a platform – Ylands has amazing potential. It opens up a lot of possibilities for creators what to do inside of our ecosystem. And visual – I do like this style. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? Cameras. Definitely. Freedom with the camera setup is crucial for the creation of other types of games, which we’ll hopefully see in our workshop soon. What are you working on right now? Just boring stuff – as a project guy I am not working on something that sounds cool. Now I am finalizing the administrative we need for all stores and coordinating all game details with other departments both inside of our company and externally. What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? To keep the game up to date from the technology point of view. It’s the biggest challenge of all game projects that are in development for more than a few years. What do you do in your free time? I spend most of my free time with my family and trying to play rugby again. Which villain do you sympathise with the most? Thanos, Sauron, Darth Vader or Hans Gruber? Darth Vader.

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we have approached our insanely creative designer: Tomáš Palát. First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? I am one of the designers on the project and before Ylands I worked as a designer and QA technician on several other games in Bohemia Interactive and one other company. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? It has been something like 5 years now. The team had only a few people back then and the very first thing I worked on was designing items that players can collect and use for crafting. Right after that, we started using generated voxel terrain and my focus shifted to working with terrain shapes, vegetation spawning and voxel colours. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? Definitely all the possibilities that our in-game editor offers. I understand that most players want to just play, not everyone aspires to create content for others, but those that do are getting really powerful tools to help them turn ideas into games. And players not interested in making games will benefit from that as well by having more content to play. What are you working on right now? Currently, I’m working on improvements for the Exploration mode, a lot of things will be redesigned and improved there in 0.15. We will add some progression and make the player experience more focused. What was the most difficult thing to implement to date? Definitely monetization related features. At first glance, it might not be obvious, but Ylands grew into a very complex project and integrating monetization into the already existing systems with all the possibilities and consequences wasn’t easy at all. What do you do in your free time? Lately I have been mostly changing diapers to my new-born son (and boy, do I need to do that a lot), but otherwise, I play games, watch TV-shows and do theatre-like performances with a medieval sword-fighting company. What Ice-cream flavour do you like most? Stracciatella, pistachio, strawberry, tuna, curry or hopes and dreams of millennials? This might sound weird, but I don’t really like ice-cream. Ask me about burgers instead

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we have approached our Gameplay Programmer: Filip Vondrášek. First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? I’m officially a gameplay programmer, although my area for the past year or two has mostly been collaborating with our backend guys to bring all of their online services (such as the in-game chat and friends system) to Ylands. I also share some responsibilities for our mastering process, i.e. building new versions, both public and internal, pushing them to Steam etc. But first and foremost, I’m a programmer. Before joining Bohemia Interactive and Ylands in 2015, I was studying Czech Technical University and working in a company that creates and supplies hardware and software for gas stations. As a programmer, of course. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? I’ve been here for 4 years. The first thing I worked on, if my memory serves me well, was Energy. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? Since we released our in-game editor, I’ve been nothing but amazed by all the creations that players make. Some of them leave me scratching my head and wondering: “Wait, is that even possible?” And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? I’m most excited for the Explore improvements. For me, it was one of the two main game modes when I joined Ylands and it’s still dear to my heart. What are you working on right now? Right now I’m working on some armour and blueprint improvements. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to talk about specific changes, so let’s leave it at that! What was the most difficult thing to implement to date and what will be in the future? For me personally, the most difficult thing to implement was probably Blueprints. It took a surprising amount of time to wire it in and there were a lot of unexpected problems, even things that are seemingly simple, such as GUI previews. But I think the most complicated thing to implement is AI. Three programmers gradually tried to implement their version of AI, but we still weren’t getting satisfying results (until the last update). Implementing pathfinding in a dynamic world where everything can change is especially difficult. In the future, for me personally improving blueprints will be the most difficult thing. I always remember how much fun I had with the initial implementation. I also can’t forget how I accidentally deleted about 4 hours of my Blueprints work before sending it to our code repository. I had to leave the office for half an hour and breathe it out. What do you do in your free time? I am an avid gamer and I really enjoy programming. So, usually, when I’m not playing something, I program stuff that I find enjoyable at the moment. Last month, I implemented a simple raytracer in C++, because I wanted to see what all the fuss is about. Is there a better way to get to know something than to try to create it? What Ice-cream flavour do you like most? Vanilla, chocolate, lemon, chicken, wasabi or tears of your enemies? I’d say mint, but since there isn’t mint in that list, then I’d say lemon and I would love to try a wasabi flavour. Spiced with the tears of my enemies.

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we have approached one of our Senior Designers: Rudolf Klenovský. First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? On Ylands I am currently responsible for all things Editor. I work closely with Lukáš @Houp Beran (and other programmers ) who was the mastermind behind the editor implementation. He was working on the editor alone until I joined him roughly 2 years ago. Since then I am helping him with design, feedback and testing of new features. I am also responsible for the upkeep of Goldrush and Playlands. Before Ylands I have worked about 5 years on Take on Mars, where I did most of the single-player camping, a lot of map design and scripting. Although I have never studied Games or Digital Arts, I have been into computer games long before I joined BIS. I’ve been active in modding communities for several games, but primarily for Natural Selection (1 and 2) for which I made a few levels. One of them made it in the official release of Natural Selection 2: Combat. So as you can see, my modding legacy made it just logical to end up as an Editor designer How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? For about 2,5 years. If I remember correctly, the first large thing I worked on Ylands was the overhaul of the crafting tech tree. We took a good look at how item recipes are dependent on each other and after thorough analysis, we have adjusted the recipe order to how they unravel now. Although players cannot see this, we have reorganised all items in system of tiers and have identified transition points, where those tiers advance from one to the other. According to these findings, we have added “milestone” recipes which are separate to those tiers and should give players a sense of progression. We know that the system is not yet ideal and we would like to tackle it in the near future, but at least we have a solid foundation to build on. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? To be honest, after several years on any project it is hard to take a step back and actually have an unbiased opinion - For the trees he cannot see the forest. But getting impressions from our colleagues from other projects at BIS, I can say that the Visual Scripting is quite a feature. It impresses me, that it really helps to start to code also for people with not such a strong programming background. I am still amazed how Lukáš, Honza and Dan were able to pull this feature off. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? Well, you came to ask a bit late :), because the most amazing feature was just released in 0.14 – the Custom UI Editor. But we still have one big feature stacked up, which should allow the community to make games similar to Playlands. This feature currently is being polished and prepared for release in 0.15. With the 1.0 closing rapidly, we are now changing our focus on polishing. There are several UX inconsistencies that are bothering me for a long time and I would like to squash those bugs for good. What are you working on right now? I am currently putting together a list of bugs and “quality of life” improvements for the Editor intended for Ylands 1.0. What do you do in your free time? Many things! Of course, I play computer games – mostly indie canapes, because I don’t have that much free time as I used to. Occasionally I also like to delve in some large RPGs. As for other things, I also collect vinyl records and play them out as a DJ sometimes. This comes hand in hand with my love for outdoor activities, so during summer I usually help organise and play at festivals and parties. Do you prefer lying on a beach, exploring a city, hunting mythical animals or taking part in a witches’ sabbath? I am a natural-born backpacker, so I prefer lying on a beach after a thorough city or country exploration. And as a raver, witches’ sabbath is not an unfamiliar thing to me

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we have approached the Creative Director himself: Aleš Ulm. First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before? I am a Creative Director which means I do my best to make sure that the game stays true to a vision and that there’s always a bigger picture. Before that, I worked as a designer on several other projects. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on? Since the very beginning – fun fact: I programmed the very first prototype (which says a lot about how small and desperate the team was at the very start ?). First thing I did was just a character borrowed from one of our previous games running over some primitive landscape interacting with stuff and some concepts of inventory which couldn’t be further from what we have in the game now. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? The fact that we are making both game and tools at the same time (which, is, strangely enough, also the most frustrating thing at times). And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the near future? What are you looking forward for? We have a lot of immensely cool things planned to be added after 1.0. I like to call it The not yet announced cool feature number 1. What are you working on right now? Right now I’m deciding which gameplay features need to be polished most before 1.0. What do you do in your free time? If there is some, I usually try to relax by watching something like Red Dwarf, Flight of Conchords, Mighty Boosh; doing the “just-one-last-turn-I-promise” Civilization routine or just trying to save the world from some difficult-to-pronounce monster. If you had to fight zombies with candy, what candy would you choose? I think the Smarties from our vending machine that exist concurrently in three different states might scare them away. Well, there you have it. And if you missed our 'bonus question', visit our Facebook page ?

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we have approached our UI programmer Daniel Janák. First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? Well, I'm taking care of the whole Ylands UI. I started my career as a UI programmer and that's what I did before I joined the Ylands team as well. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? I've been here for a year and a half now. Wow. There were many things in parallel that I did when I started here. But apart for creating a new UI management system that supports animations and plug'n'play features for our UI, the first visible thing I did was a revamp of the Editor UI. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? I love creative game elements where I can control many aspects of the gameplay. Especially the building gameplay. I loved playing with LEGOs as a kid. To create, destroy, dramatize things. I might also have a severe God complex, to be honest ? And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the new 0.14 update? That'll be our new UI Editor. I think it's the most complex thing I've created in terms of UI management. We brought a lot of engine features right to the player through our game. And I loved programming it as well as being a part of its design. What are you working on right now? Well, right now, we're polishing things before the update so there's a lot of small things and attention to detail. Fixing some visual inconsistencies, etc. What do you do in your free time? I'm trying to sort my social life. Nah, just kidding. Devs don't have social lives. No, but seriously, I'm happy to be in a state where I can just go for a beer with my friends, go watch a movie, or just read a book. I do enjoy swimming and parkour. Although not as much as before. I also experiment with some game prototypes of my own, trying to learn new things, designs, etc. And of course, going for a walk with my beautiful pit bull who you might have seen on Yland's Instagram account. If you had to choose just one mode of transport, would it be the pogo stick, ostrich or rocket rollerblades? Well, I’d like to live to see another day so I'd say none of those. Especially here in Prague. Although an ostrich would be cool. But I couldn't bear staring into those cold soulless eyes and not thinking of 36 different ways the ostrich surely wants to murder me in my sleep. Well, there you have it. And if you missed our 'bonus question', visit our Facebook page ?

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In this week's Ynterview we have approached our saviour QA Lead Eva 'Eris' Rýznarová. First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? I tell people that the work they have done sucks. For money. And I encourage other people to do the same. This is my first fulltime job. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? I officially joined the Ylands team on January 2016 and since that’s like one eternity ago, I have no memory of that time. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? There is always something broken to fix ? And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the new 0.14 update? That would be the minigames. They are incredibly fun! What are you working on right now? Dude, it’s getting close to the release of a new update! I am working on EVERYTHING ? What do you do in your free time? I like sleeping a lot, but when I am not doing that I am trying to learn things. Lately, I have been progressing with Norwegian on Duolingo, learning to model with Blender and when I am not doing that I tend to stand from both sides of a camera. Oh and games of course If you’d have to eat just one food till the end of your life and it had to be CZECH, which one would it be (and why)? I would probably starve to death because traditional Czech foods consist mostly of things, I don't eat. Well, there you have it. And if you missed our 'bonus question', visit our Facebook or Instagram ?

Every week we'll bring you an Ynterview with a member of our Ylands team. In our first Ynterview we have approached the incredibly talented Game Designer Svjatoslava 'Clair' Raskina. First off, what do you do here at the Ylands team and what’d you do before you joined? Hi! At Ylands I work as a game designer. After I left university, I worked as a receptionist in a 5* hotel for a short time, but I always knew I wanted to make games. How long have you worked on Ylands? What was the 1st thing you worked on when you joined? Almost for 3 years. I started here as a game tester. It was a very interesting experience, even though I’m now subconsciously looking for bugs in every game I play. The first feature I helped design were the game costumes. What do you find most exciting on Ylands in general? Our team! The best people I’ve ever met, seriously. And what is for you the most exciting feature coming in the new 0.14 update? The Playlands (ed. More about that in last week’s Dev Diary ? ) ! It is an amazing new feature. We’re doing our best so that our players love it. Special thanks to my fellow designers Rudolf Klenovsky and Prokop Lagner without whom this wouldn’t be possible. What are you working on right now? Now I’m working on the Codex, which will help new players quickly get used to the game, and even current players may learn something new. Also, I’m working on the Playlands. What do you do in your free time? I’m Always trying not to stay at home and to visit new places and cities. Of course, I play games on PC and mobile, draw when I have some inspiration, I am engaged in various sports and read a lot of books, especially about criminology and psychology. If you were brought up by animals, would you want them to be Flamingos or Moose? Why? ? Flamingos! I would definitely learn to keep perfect balance, standing on one leg. Well, there you have it. And if you missed our 'bonus question', visit our Facebook or Instagram ?