Sneak Peek #55

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

Hey there fellow ylanders,

so what‘s new with Ylands? Well, you have probably guessed that, since 0.10 hasn’t been released yet, we‘re still testing it.

Let me give you an insight into what‘s going on right now and why it takes so long. Firstly - you will very likely understand the amount of time we’re taking when you first open the Editor. We've already said that it looks much better, but while changing its visuals, we've also fixed a great number of issues that plagued the current version. It’s important to say, though, that this isn't only about issues and visuals. There are already a lot of players working quite extensively with the Editor, and since we‘re changing how some things are done, we need to make sure that what‘s new works either in a similar or - ideally - a better way. So we‘re working with the Editor, checking how many mouse clicks it takes to get XY done in the current version, how much it takes in the new one, and if we‘re unhappy with anything we change it.

Don‘t get me wrong - we expect a lot of feedback when we release it (and let me thank you for all you send - what you don‘t see on forums is the great number of posts we receive via the in-game feedback tracker) and we’ll be ready to act, but it‘s important to get as many things right before it‘s released. For example, some of you are planning to create video tutorials, and we really don’t want to make any additional large changes that would make those obsolete right away. Plus we‘re already past the stage of rapid prototyping and releasing features to see "if they work“. What we release now is meant to stay in the game.

 

Almost there...

 

Also, we’re taking our time because we've been fixing a lot of bugs. Just to give you an example - there was a group of older AMD graphic card owners who experienced crashes while scrolling through the inventory. Since there was nothing we could do about it on our side, we submitted the bug to AMD for them to look at it... but sadly we still haven‘t heard from them. Since using the 3D object previews in the inventory was causing some other issues as well, we decided to get rid of those. So in 0.10 you‘ll find rendered images instead - they look better, the UI response feels faster, and most importantly - on the PC where we were able to reproduce the AMD-related crashes the game now seems to run stable. We do hope it will be the same for other players as well.

This gets us to the most important question - "so when are you going to release this update?“

Being an avid player myself, I really hate it when devs of the game I‘m waiting to get my hands on keep saying the "when it‘s done“ mantra, but I do understand why they say that, and now I have to say the same thing. But to give you at least something - it‘s possible that it will be released the next week, but it‘s more likely that it will take a bit longer. However, with so many fixes and improvements, I‘m pretty sure it will be worth it.

So that‘s it for now. We‘ll look forward to talking to you next Friday - until then you have a great time and stay classy!

EDIT: to be more clear - the rendered images will replace objects in all slots - we will, however, keep the option for you to preview the full 3D model in item detail panel.

[bojo2736 1016]

Looking forward to a great update. Willing to wait for that. Please tell me you are fixing the ship compass issue?

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

Which issue do you mean? The one where the compass didn't show when sailing a ship?

[Indomitus 388]

1 hour ago, Aleš Ulm said:

Which issue do you mean? The one where the compass didn't show when sailing a ship?

Don't know if it's the one Bojo is asking about, but I am curious about that one.  As accustomed as I am getting to lining my up my ship by the voxel lines in the water, a compass would be better.

 

1 hour ago, Aleš Ulm said:

Since using the 3D object previews in the inventory was causing some other issues as well, we decided to get rid of those.

Also a positive because those 3D models tend to turn around backwards after a while, making the preview kind of ineffective.

[bojo2736 1016]

3 hours ago, Aleš Ulm said:

Which issue do you mean? The one where the compass didn't show when sailing a ship?

Yes. That is the one. 

[V-Alfred 367]

Am I the only one who getting hype just by seeing the flowchart of game logics..?  Is that the new UI for game logics?

I like that design, easy to understand and less confusing. It's good design to introduce kids(newbie*) into programmer world in my opinion. Good work Ylands Team!

Just for testing if I understand that flowchart correctly. That Trigger function is for the gatekeeper "The great parrot ", player need to pay something (gold ingot) in order to open the gate (Big door). And for the second one is to make player able to do terrain modification. Am I right? 

Edited August 13, 2018 by V-Alfred

[Sailling_pigeon 3]

Thx for the update info. If I may speak freely (sometimes it's better to do it at some point)...this post feels like you're apologizing in every sentences. The fact that we are told constantly "soon... very soon" and then we get apologies.. doesn't inspire trust in my own little and individual opinion. When blizzard say "we will release the game when it will be ready"... it may feels frustrating having to wait... but since they seem super confident about it and never rush to say when it will be released... people forget about the waiting time and just remember how cool it is when the game is released. I really appreciate this game and I hope so much that it will be a success. Right now, the communications with the players community feels like it's all about expectations > frustrations > apologies...

Maybe, if what i'm saying makes any sense... maybe creating expectations is something that should be avoided at all costs... or should I say creating falses expectations. Maybe the question is... why does it seems so important to speak so much about release date?

As for me... be assured that once the 0.10 release is out... even if it's in a year, i'll be there from the first day to test it out !

[Onedown 28]

32 minutes ago, Sailling_pigeon said:

Thx for the update info. If I may speak freely (sometimes it's better to do it at some point)...this post feels like you're apologizing in every sentences. The fact that we are told constantly "soon... very soon" and then we get apologies.. doesn't inspire trust in my own little and individual opinion. When blizzard say "we will release the game when it will be ready"... it may feels frustrating having to wait... but since they seem super confident about it and never rush to say when it will be released... people forget about the waiting time and just remember how cool it is when the game is released. I really appreciate this game and I hope so much that it will be a success. Right now, the communications with the players community feels like it's all about expectations > frustrations > apologies...

Maybe, if what i'm saying makes any sense... maybe creating expectations is something that should be avoided at all costs... or should I say creating falses expectations. Maybe the question is... why does it seems so important to speak so much about release date?

As for me... be assured that once the 0.10 release is out... even if it's in a year, i'll be there from the first day to test it out !

Expectations and hype are the driving force behind early access games.  To paraphrase Forest Gump,  Early access games are like a box of chocolates,  you never know what you are going to get.  I totally agree with you, it makes perfect sense. 

[Miguel Preguisa 443]

1 hour ago, Sailling_pigeon said:

Thx for the update info. If I may speak freely (sometimes it's better to do it at some point)...this post feels like you're apologizing in every sentences. The fact that we are told constantly "soon... very soon" and then we get apologies.. doesn't inspire trust in my own little and individual opinion. When blizzard say "we will release the game when it will be ready"... it may feels frustrating having to wait... but since they seem super confident about it and never rush to say when it will be released... people forget about the waiting time and just remember how cool it is when the game is released. I really appreciate this game and I hope so much that it will be a success. Right now, the communications with the players community feels like it's all about expectations > frustrations > apologies...

Maybe, if what i'm saying makes any sense... maybe creating expectations is something that should be avoided at all costs... or should I say creating falses expectations. Maybe the question is... why does it seems so important to speak so much about release date?

As for me... be assured that once the 0.10 release is out... even if it's in a year, i'll be there from the first day to test it out !

It's true that they sometimes sound defensive but I think they just want to avoid the hype at all costs when they aren't sure about everything being on time. Which is far better than the opposite. Take DayZ developers for example. They are overly happy in every post, giving time estimates and even promises on every last feature. And it just ends in disappointed community and devs feeling like they aren't welcomed in those communities. I still bought the game. I know they have a lot of work. I know they wish all the changes were as fast as they are saying. And I try to understand them. But it's hard. It's far better to say "it's done when it's done" or estimate the time on weeks like it happens here. They wrote somewhere that 0.10 should be here around the start of August which didn't happen in the end. And I understand their desire to assure us, the players, that it's still coming towards us but slower than they anticipated. But does it really matter? Thanks to Dev Diaries and Sneak Peaks every week, we know what are they working on. As you said, when 0.10 launches, it will be a nice surprise for all of us 

[RedEagle_P1. 905]

On 8/10/2018 at 9:13 AM, Aleš Ulm said:

some of you are planning to create video tutorials

Thanks for looking out for creators too! 

 

 

[Indian Chief 239]

Hi Devs, thanks for your feedback as always. I'm also going to leave a very open and honest comment... lets hope that people don't shoot me down for having an opinion and understand I... like them want the best for the game.

Ylands has to be up amongst my favourite games (approaching 1100 hours in 9 months) and has easily topped my games list with hours played… so I'm not going to mention all the fantastic features of this game, as I want to keep this as short as possible.

Couple of thoughts: What is Ylands aiming to become as a game? Is it mainly meant for a game builder/platform or is it something else?   I always thought it was the next upgrade to Minecraft(of which I never played.. I couldn't get past the blockiness). with all the creations that you can make. Although the scale is limited at this stage, compared to Minecraft... how awesome would it be if we could make huge cities/ towns and creations. Is this a realistic target, or will a few buildings always be the max before Ylands becomes unplayable? 

My main worry is this:

You don't need to share with us any ideas or anything, but do the team have a strategy to draw players back to Ylands? I was one of the 5,540 people to buy the game in December of last year... and I'm still one of the 201 players left.... but if this trend continues we're going to be at a 50 player count. 

Take care, Chief

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

Hi,

please keep telling us what you think - we do listen and appreciate that. You made a valid point and even though I planned to address that in one of upcoming dev diaries I see no reason why I couldn't talk about it now.

It's true that we're not getting new players (or in amount to speak of) and many people have left. It would be rather arrogant to say we understand all the reasons behind this but I'd say there's a pretty obvious explanation to most of what's happening. I will be completely honest with you - even though what I'll say may not be what you'd like to hear

The main reason why no new people are coming is pretty simple - we are doing absolutely nothing to bring them in. People are not talking about Ylands, it doesn't get promoted in any way.  Unless your game is already a massively known IP without active marketing support things just don't happen.  While it would be great for the community to bring in some "fresh blood" the naked truth is that we've moved to polishing/bug fixing stage and we want to release Ylands with a big bang when it's ready. Then (actually some time before that) we will put a lot of effort in making sure people know we exists and have to be counted with. You can trust me that you will notice when that stage begins. We believe it will be very big, but we're not there yet.

The reasons why people leave are several:

* some expect new content to be delivered more often. This group, however, is not large - most are more interested in seeing what there already is working better
* people leave because it's taking us too long to address some of the annoying issues and performance problems and we can't really blame them. This is already changing though - you will already find fixes to many issues in 0.10, and much more in 0.11. It's difficult to say if some of the more general optimization adjustments will show in 0.11 but we're doing out best that they do and if they do, you'll feel that. 
* when you look at some other games then you'll realize that they did much better job at getting players together, to form communities, working with friends etc. It's really simple - everything is much more fun when you can easily share it with your friends or family and people who form communities stick with the game longer. This is something we're working on.
* for many there simply anything in the game that would drive them forward, no storyline to follow, no secrets to uncover etc. That is also something we're doing something about.

Long story short - we don't have any new players because we don't look for any at this moment and we're losing the ones we have, because, while the game is good, it's not yet awesome  

That was just describing how things are now (which not a secret a you probably guessed most of it anyway). Now the part that may be a bit difficult to hear. Right now we focus absolutely on the game release. I know we've mentioned release date but the truth is if the game is not ready, we will wait with the release and keep working until it's just perfect. For the current players it doesn't mean that much - for you the game will get better and more solid with every single update. What probably is, however, is that you can't expect (unless something unexpected happens - like a big  youtuber playing Ylands all of a sudden, which is quite unlikely  ) many new players coming into the game before we leave EA. It would be just counterproductive to actively try to bring large numbers of people into a game that we know is getting better every single month. There's really no secret there - we will bring them in when we know a lot of them will stay.

The good thing is, that you will see what the current state of the game is, we will hold nothing back and all the improvements and fixed you'll get as soon as possible and we will always talk to you about what's going on.  

So... that's it.  Let us know what you think.

Thanks.

EDIT: fixed some  typos

[RedEagle_P1. 905]

@Aleš Ulm - I love posts like this because you guys are really taking the time to engage with us! Thank you! 

 

I have spent 2000 hours in game now and know why so many are leaving. They all have the same 2 complaints: 

1) Multiplayer is broken -- They LOVE the single player, got bored and went online. Online servers were laggy and wiped often.

2) The lack of depth in single player. Once you master it, you master it and you can progress in a few days. 

#1 is the major issue as if multiplayer works, people have something to do at the end of single player. 

 

The things people love about this game are: 

1) The art -- Everyone loves the design, its super friendly! 

2) The attention to detail in progression -- it's not grindy or problematic but deeply thought through. 

 

I honestly feel like throwing a big marketing budget at the game as-is would not work as I have so many friends and clan members who love the game but got bored of the lack of persistence in multiplayer and left. No one wants to build on their island knowing it will be too laggy in a week. However, if this is fixed, I feel that many players will bring their friends in to be part of the fun. 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by RedEagle_P1.

[bojo2736 1016]

I came here because of a big Youtuber.  I had no idea the game existed, or that I wanted to play it.  Then I saw Keralis playing it. And I bought it the day it came out. Now, I don't know if Keralis is "big" or not.  But when you come to the point of getting ready to advertise, you should certainly reach out to him.  I think he really loved the game.  

 

A question.  I have been told that a huge part of the lag and glitchiness of ships is the coral.  If this is true, then why not make it so there is no coral except in a perimeter around islands.  Eliminate it entirely in the deep seas.   Also, maybe have the birds always visible, no matter the weather. 

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

Don't get me wrong - most of the players bought Ylands after they saw Keralis (and some other influential youtubers) play the game, they (especially Keralis, who is just an amazing guy) were absolutely crucial when we entered EA. What I meant was that it's unlikely that any big youtuber would become suddenly interested in Ylands and started doing videos about our game now, when there's nothing interesting going on. We will definitely contact a lot of them before we leave EA and make any marketing campaign.

As for the lag - if only it were just corals we would have been gone already  The problems run deeper, but a year ago there were I think around 25 of us working on Ylands, while now it's close to 50. Trust me, that we will get rid of it.

[RedEagle_P1. 905]

17 minutes ago, Aleš Ulm said:

Don't get me wrong - most of the players bought Ylands after they saw Keralis (and some other influential youtubers) play the game, they (especially Keralis, who is just an amazing guy) were absolutely crucial when we entered EA. What I meant was that it's unlikely that any big youtuber would become suddenly interested in Ylands and started doing videos about our game now, when there's nothing interesting going on. We will definitely contact a lot of them before we leave EA and make any marketing campaign.

As for the lag - if only it were just corals we would have been gone already  The problems run deeper, but a year ago there were I think around 25 of us working on Ylands, while now it's close to 50. Trust me, that we will get rid of it.

Awesome  

I think the server tech/multiplayer setup has a lot to do with it. The servers take a huge amount of ram and they seem to struggle when file size hits over 50 MB which happens quick. I know @foobar had 144 GB ram in his unbelievable rig and it could not host the server when the file size got over 70 MB. 

[bojo2736 1016]

I think it's actually wise to not be advertising while the game is in the state it is.  We all love it.  But to get that big hit of a campaign, and maybe get some youtubers involved at this point would be a lost opportunity.  It makes more sense to get the game good and stable, then make the PR push.

Youtubers I would like to see brought in, I mean obviously Pewdiepie, but is he open to this stuff?  Markeplier?

I watch Keralis, Flabaliki, strict toaster.  These are the building guys that have made me buy games.  For me, the building aspect is what keeps me going in this game.  The "survival" aspect is pretty easily managed at this point.  I know it will get harder, but ultimately, I don't think that's what this game is about.

Eagerly awaiting the improvements.

[Grendal 0]

You left out one group... those who try it out to see if it is a keeper and they don't play it again until it is released (or close to it) so as not to get bored and lessen the experience. 

[Indomitus 388]

47 minutes ago, bojo2736 said:

I think it's actually wise to not be advertising while the game is in the state it is.  We all love it.  But to get that big hit of a campaign, and maybe get some youtubers involved at this point would be a lost opportunity.  It makes more sense to get the game good and stable, then make the PR push.

Youtubers I would like to see brought in, I mean obviously Pewdiepie, but is he open to this stuff?  Markeplier?

I watch Keralis, Flabaliki, strict toaster.  These are the building guys that have made me buy games.  For me, the building aspect is what keeps me going in this game.  The "survival" aspect is pretty easily managed at this point.  I know it will get harder, but ultimately, I don't think that's what this game is about.

Eagerly awaiting the improvements.

I know Jacksepticeye played it some late last year, he might be up for revisiting it once it's farther along.

Maybe we can build some maps for them to play, too.  Help make it interesting.