Dev Diary #29

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

Hey there, fellow ylanders!

Today I want to tell you something about what you can expect before we leave the Early Access stage (which should be around late August this year). Speaking of leaving EA - we’ve said this on several occasions already but since lately I’ve seen some players asking about this there’s no harm in repeating it. When we leave EA and Ylands becomes Ylands 1.0, we will keep working on the game in the same way we do right now. We won’t be starting any new project instead, and if there are any changes to the team, it will only grow in size. Everyone on the team understands we’re in this for at least several more years. Long story short - Ylands is not going anywhere anytime soon :).

Upcoming hotfix

There’s also one more thing to address before I move to our plans - with 0.7 a lot of players complained about getting disconnected fairly often with the game showing Network Layer Error message. We had a rather hard time reproducing that because in the end, it showed that this isn’t really a MP-specific issue but something related to certain situations happening in the game (this bug has been there for a long time but only now became “more active”). We were able to find a possible cause thanks to you providing us with your save games. We managed to fix it so that with the saves you provided it doesn’t happen anymore. If after the patch is released (which is planned to happen this Monday 5th) you still experience this issue, let us know - we’ve also added some more detailed debugging to this section just in case.

Also with this patch, we’ll release an optimization for the situations where new players are connecting to MP games. The lag that the players are already playing on that server experienced so far should now (especially in large, heavily adjusted maps or maps with lots of buildings) be dramatically lower. On the other hand, it may now take slightly longer for the players to join large MP games, which we find acceptable.

 

Our plans

Update 0.8 is near and as you already know you can expect some new and awesome dynamically changing music (like the combat music escalating based on how much danger you’re in). There will be some new decorations to be purchased but just like we said, we will always bring cool free things as well, so those of you who would like to change the appearance of their character will get the chance with some brand new character heads and hairstyles. Also, we want to deliver the fixed MP map. There’s more to 0.8, but we’ll get to that at some point.

After 0.8 there will be three more updates - including Ylands 1.0 - before we leave EA (so yes, even though we wanted to have 0.9 followed by 1.0, the final version will be preceded by 0.10 ).

Some of the most important features you will find in these updates will be:

Blueprints
* These are similar to Compositions, but they are just a plan on how to build things... available in the Explore game. We will be talking more about blueprints in detail before 0.9 is released (we’re still deciding on some of the functionality, so we won’t be able to answer most of the questions about those yet), but in general it’s safe to say that in Explore you will have some blueprints we prepared for you right from the start, you will be able to find more, and more importantly, you will be able to create those yourself. If you build a nice house, you will be able to create a blueprint of it, and it will be stored with your account just for you to use. When you start a new Explore game (or will want to build another one just like that in your current game), you will place a “ghost” of the building in the world, and then you’ll keep bringing ingredients needed to build it. You will see it become real block by block as you provide more and more wood, stones, metal and other ingredients. 

Scripting improvements
* The Editor is getting more and more powerful with almost every update, but the truth is that setting up something interactive is still much more complicated (and difficult to find) than it should be. The new visual scripting will be vastly different, extremely easy to use and flexible. If you want a taste of what is to come, the general direction we’re taking can be seen when you check Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu - don’t let the kids friendly look fool you ). Please note that we are talking only about the general concept of visual scripting - our implementation will be more flexible and powerful. 

Dedicated servers
* In our DS beta forum section we’ve started gathering the feedback you now provide after having used DS for some time. Soon we’ll look at it and start discussing it with you to decide what features we still need to add (and which are more important than others).

New world
* We would like to release a whole new world along with Ylands 1.0. We wanted to release it sooner, but after some experiments, we decided we needed more time and that we want it to be much more than just more objects and another land to explore. We’re going to introduce some new interesting gameplay elements and we need more time for this. Also you’ve been asking for a boss fight, so you’ll get one - and we want it to be far more than just fighting some scaled, differently textures monster you’ve seen thousand times before.  

There are many existing features we will be improving or that we are improving now - we'll talk about those eventually, but for now, let me mention some planned to be released in 0.9 (so one after the upcoming one) which we’re working on right now.

Combat
* It’s time to make the combat fun, to make it possible to actually hit what you want to hit, to reward those who have skill while even those not skilled enough would still be able to enjoy it. With tons of new animations the combat will look great, and with the new controls, it will play better. If everything goes as planned,  you will be able to experience a reworked focusing when fighting already in the upcoming 0.8 with the rest coming in 0.9. We will be listening very carefully to your feedback.

Horse riding
* Riding a horse isn't really as fun as it should be. The controls are not very intuitive and quite different from most of the other games. This will change. We’ve reworked all the animations and made the controls better. We’re sure you’ll love the result.

Little something to help you relax (Living nature courtesy of @spyler.1989)

Delayed features

On the other hand, there are features that we were planning to add or expand, and we have delayed them because we feel right now other things are more important. For example, at this point, we wanted to have at least some offline version of the game available, but with the monetization present in the game there are some things programming-wise that need to be taken care of before we can do that and to be perfectly honest, the programmers who will eventually work on this are mostly fixing MP bugs. While we do remember we said we would also like to have an offline version in the near future, you’ll just have to wait some more before it comes. 

The same goes for things like enhancements planned for the protection barrier (letting friendly players build inside of it, using them with cars and ships...). Simply put, there are more important things at hand to be fixed or added. Please note that delaying these doesn't mean we won’t be doing anything related to those features - for example in 0.8 we address griefers annoying players by planting things inside their barriers or ships being destructible whne inside etc.

We understand that many of you would love to see that one feature which you think is crucial implemented/fixed/improved as soon possible, and you may be wondering why, for example, we’re making a horse riding more fun when it already is in the game the game and it “kind of works”. The reason is that before we leave EA, we want to tie as many lose ends as possible. We want to make sure that what’s in the game is fun to play with and works as expected. 

What goes without saying is bug fixing. I know we’re repeating ourselves but whenever new features or feature improvements are mentioned I want you to know that fixing the bugs for us is a nonstop process and things will get better with every update (or a hotfix ). 

 

When you take a look where we were half a year ago, you’ll see we’ve made a really big progress. We believe that in the next roughly six months we’ll make an even bigger jump in quality than that. We hope you’ll stay with us to witness that and thank you for your help and staying classy.

 

That’s it for this Dev Diary, and we’ll see you the next Friday!

[Eujen 29]

This is an amazing Dev Diary! Thank you so much for it.

A lot of great info there. And I am so looking forward to new cosmetics.. new hairs/heads. *Is a nerd when it comes to customizing your character*
The blueprint system tho. That.. I absolutely love. It reminds me of Space Engineers. And it was so good in there. I wonder if we'd be able to 'share' those blueprints.. Say with a paper and ink and give like said blueprint to a friend or.. In a 'community' chest on some server. Even so! The blueprint system will be amazing.

Also.. the new world (while there are more amazing information in this post. Like the improved combat. Oh god how I'm looking forward to that. After seeing it in the trailer. it just looked so fun So having an improved combat system is gonna be great)
But the new world! Aaah I'm so looking forward to it. The suspense of what it might be is killing me. Are there.. Flying Islands? so we're fighting a huge boss dragon? Are we... going like in the Underworld.. through a hole in the world.. so we're fighting a kraken underneath? Or.. or ... are we taken out into space?

All in all.. I'm so looking forward to the following updates. (Which I sure hope will include a bit more steampunk stuff.. Zeppelins? *Cough cough* x3)

But seriously lads. You guys are doing an amazing job. This game is shaping up to be better and better with each update. <3
Cheers.

[kimbuck 746]

hopefully   the   issues that have plagued  us  today will be  fixed!  It would be cool if the MP  map fix  could be an early  hotfix  as its impossible to sail and  survive as things stand now.

Today about   3  hours  were wasted trying to find  home bases ..and  stuff after crashes from  114  errors and other  ship  glitches. What was supposed to be a short run to a nearby  island  ended up as a world  wide  expedition of the lost, because after  each crash your map was wiped  and   you had no  idea where you ..or your  ship ..or   body ended up!

Three of  us  decided that when we got home  tonight .. (we did  but   our ships  didn't )  we would abandon  any form of  overseas  exploration until after the  hotfix  happens  , and then after  we know it works.  ( fingers  crossed)

To be  honest, after  today's  frustrations with  all the  MP glitches, we were wondering if it was worthwhile to  stay ..or move to another game. it was so frustrating!

Hopefully  the  fixes will work , and  hopefully  we do not have to wait too long  for 0.8

It couldn't  be  any worse for  performance  than  0.7,  which is  virtually unplayable  as a mp game.

 

[Spyler.X 625]

ohhh thanks for putting my picture.

Very good information we look forward to the update I really liked the idea of being able to build our compositions in sv mode.

[Vilos Cohaagen 16]

That all sounds good and doable! Good luck with it all. I've really enjoyed the game so far - I find it super relaxing, so though a boss fight is cool I don't want the game to turn into something too fighting-based, but I am confident that is not your aim so all is good . As always: thank you for taking the time to write regular updates, I remember from my own 15 years in the industry how easy it is to be distracted from doing it but it really matters and I certainly appreciate it!

I love spyler.1989's stone circle - any chance you could incorporate elements that players make like that as places of interest in the Explore mode? I for one would be happy to make some small pieces if I thought they might go into general use.

[Energritz_ 107]

I for one, hope all the MP issues we are having now are fixed on the hotfix, at least before 0.8 rolls out

[bojo2736 1016]

I think it was more like 4 hours, and in that time, I got about 10 minutes of game play.  I will probably try again today because I am a sucker like that. But if it continues on, I have an SP build going.  And Sims just had a new game pack this week....

[mr fenix 2]

Check this out: I thank the devs for the diary and the game so far and am happy to trust them to organise their project as they see fit.

I thank the OP and wish him and the team many successes on the journey to multimillion-dollar sales.  I enjoyed this dev diary - like all of them - and appreciate the openness about the state of play, and I appreciate the hard work going into prioritisation and development of this really great game.  The dev diary is interesting, and I am perfectly happy to wait patiently for new features and fixes to emerge.

Keep it up, but don't forget to recharge your batteries.

[Elchupac 1]

I have a question. Are the crafting animation (or lack of it) and crafting workstation a placeholder? Do we get animation for the crafting? I'd sure like seeing myself bang some hammers instead  of just waiting 60seconds for the crafting to be done ...

[Energritz_ 107]

On 03/03/2018 at 4:36 AM, Aleš Ulm said:

Upcoming hotfix

 

 (which is planned to happen this Monday 5th)

 

Well according to UTC time its 12:45pm ish Mon 5th. I really hope they hold their promise.

they held out from releasing on the weekend for the working week, to deal with issues if they came up.

Edited March 5, 2018 by Energritz_

[Fight or Flight Gamer 4]

Thank you so much for all your doing! I'm excited for the horse & combat improvements. I play single player so the only bug that bothers me a bit is the lag. It seems to have gotten longer after the last update.

[Maqqea 17]

Thanx for the update. Im looking forward to what will come. =D

I wish for some more furniture. Softer beds, a coach, some kind of kitchencounter, a bigger (both width and depth) wallshelf and curtains.

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

Guys, the hotfix is out. Please let us know things are better now - if not, if you're still getting disconnected, please post your logs - we are logging some additional information so even if there were other causes, it should be easier for us to locate and fix them. Also, later this week we would like to release another hotfix - it doesn't have anything to do with players getting disconnected, but it should fix a rather wide spectrum of other MP issues.

[bojo2736 1016]

As predicted, the lag coming in is worse.  But things seem a bit more stable.  One thing I do notice is that my character has to try several time to pick up items.  It's not quite the thing where they just keep stooping down, it's actually picking up, it just seems... sluggish?  Everything else seemed better to me.

 

 

 

[Baz Foobar 102]

I noticed that placing an object resulted in it not showing up, but if I logged out and back in again, it showed up.  This happened until I restarted the server last night.  Not sure if it's happening again today but will keep an eye on it later when I get a chance.  Maybe related to the lag in picking things up that bb cakes reported.

[bojo2736 1016]

3 hours ago, Baz Foobar said:

I noticed that placing an object resulted in it not showing up, but if I logged out and back in again, it showed up.  This happened until I restarted the server last night.  Not sure if it's happening again today but will keep an eye on it later when I get a chance.  Maybe related to the lag in picking things up that bb cakes reported.

That has always happened to me in placing items on my ship. It's always either crystals or lanterns.

[Maxxchen 2]

Hello,
what is the Map Fix with the MP ??? ... without it's just not worth it to play, which is very much a pity. Gives us a feedback butte.

Thanks 

Edited March 7, 2018 by Jemhardib

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

On 3/6/2018 at 4:34 PM, bb cakes said:

As predicted, the lag coming in is worse.  But things seem a bit more stable.  One thing I do notice is that my character has to try several time to pick up items.  It's not quite the thing where they just keep stooping down, it's actually picking up, it just seems... sluggish?  Everything else seemed better to me.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info (this isn't a final state, we'll keep improving it). Also were working on yet another MP hotfix that might help with the problem you're mentioning with having do something several times before it gets executed.

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

8 hours ago, Jemhardib said:

Hello,
what is the Map Fix with the MP ??? ... without it's just not worth it to play, which is very much a pity. Gives us a feedback butte.

Thanks 

The map fix will come with 0.8 (which is not that far away) - I will be talking more about that in tomorrow's Dev Diary.

[destr0nas 0]

Hi,

will the Update 0.8 includes more enemy npcs or animals in combine with the new combat-system?

the next point of interest are the balacing between pve and pvp. not any people want to play pvp so this would open the question for implement ingame
commands or an tool for admins to manage this without the editor.

thanks!

 

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

Hi,

the new combat system will come in 0.9, in 0.8 we would like to introduce just a part of it (even though it's very important one) - better focusing.

We are fully aware of people who don't want to play PVP and we plan to provide options when a new game is created to set that up (right now we don't know what update this will be in, but it definitely should be available before we leave Early Access)

[Ricktor 1]

To be honest if I had known about the zero offline capability issue to begin with I would have waited quite a bit longer before buying into the EA of this game... I mostly only play the sandbox games as they typically give me plenty to do when I'm out at work camps for months on end where net access isn't even a thing "which I will be returning to in a week" this whole micro-trans generation is really starting to irritate me to no end.... Guess I still have others that work just fine when steam is in offline mode. Only reason I even became aware of this was when setting up my laptop for the trip and making sure everything was working "guess what, black screen on Ylands". Add that to your tags in the steam store or make it known to people before they purchase. "Active internet connection required to play" =\ Just a suggestion.... Don't get me wrong the little time I have put into the game so far I have really enjoyed, but that means nothing if when I decide to access said app and I can't well, then I move on to the next one which typically ends up getting it cast to the wayside, then put out of mind.

I started getting more into EA and indie games due to the fact that 90% of them DON'T require me to be online 24/7 as compared to companies like Elec Arts using origin and such apparently I was wrong however. =\ But that's just my opinion, and as we know, everyone's got one.

[dorgonbron 3]

You know what would be cool - a video of the dev diary. Something like this would be cool. If the Ylands team is busy updating the game, I'll be happy to lend a hand for narrating the updates and making videos of them.

[5133p39 1]

On 3/8/2018 at 1:05 PM, Ricktor said:

To be honest if I had known about the zero offline capability issue to begin with I would have waited quite a bit longer before buying into the EA of this game... I mostly only play the sandbox games as they typically give me plenty to do when I'm out at work camps for months on end where net access isn't even a thing "which I will be returning to in a week" this whole micro-trans generation is really starting to irritate me to no end.... Guess I still have others that work just fine when steam is in offline mode. Only reason I even became aware of this was when setting up my laptop for the trip and making sure everything was working "guess what, black screen on Ylands". Add that to your tags in the steam store or make it known to people before they purchase. "Active internet connection required to play" =\ Just a suggestion.... Don't get me wrong the little time I have put into the game so far I have really enjoyed, but that means nothing if when I decide to access said app and I can't well, then I move on to the next one which typically ends up getting it cast to the wayside, then put out of mind.

I started getting more into EA and indie games due to the fact that 90% of them DON'T require me to be online 24/7 as compared to companies like Elec Arts using origin and such apparently I was wrong however. =\ But that's just my opinion, and as we know, everyone's got one.

OMG! After HOURS OF experimenting and searching i finally found this post.
Always online. Well, i was not expecting that sort of crap from BI, i am deeply disapointed