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Aleš Ulm

Dev Diary #61

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Hey there, fellow ylanders.

Some of you have asked when we’ll discuss what we have planned for the rest of 2019. We are still fine-tuning some of our plans, but we’ll be able to present you with some information really soon.

Let’s start with some good news. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve made some very nice progress with fixing the ships (and even improving how they sail) and you'll be able to see the results in the 0.12 update.

We are now testing the first version of the rewritten pathfinding which, when we’re done with it, will enable us to make the Explore mode much more interesting.

 

Ylands 2019-01-16 16-36-35-43.jpg
As you can see, debugging a pathfinding system is a ton of fun :)

We have made a long list of features and issues which the new Ylands players find confusing or difficult to understand, and which made many leave the game without even realizing that there’s more to it than picking up stuff and crafting very primitive objects. We will be going through various actions that are not intuitive and making them more user-friendly. Also, we are making sure the radial menu becomes much more useful than it currently is.

We are further tweaking the combat based on the feedback received, so that it is faster and snappier in 0.12 while retaining some tactical elements.

More and more things are becoming accessible via Visual Scripting in the Editor, so Creators will have much more creative freedom in the upcoming update than ever before.

We also understand that GUI still needs a lot of love as well, and very soon we will be able to show you some images which we hope you’ll like.

And that isn't everything by far.

 

Now let's spend some time over your questions:

Are farming activities and animals planned?  Chickens, cows and such.

Yes. Not before 1.0, but this is actually one of the first things we plan to add after the game is released.

Are procedural terrain brushes planned?

We are definitely not happy with the current terraforming options. The brushes we currently have don't allow the creation of natural looking terrain. Also, the newly painted terrain doesn't allow a good enough blending with the existing terrain. These things are already in our 2019 roadmap.

Any plans to make the power barriers cooperative?  Can we lock them and give keys to friends for example?

Even though this is a topic for another time, I think it's quite obvious that what Ylands heavily lacks and needs before 1.0 is a better way for friends to play and communicate among themselves. Since nothing like that has ever been done in any game, let's call it - I don't know - a "friends list" (wink). We will be adding this to the game, and once we have this, various in-game features will be linked to this.


That’s it for today. Have a great weekend, ylanders, and as always - stay classy!

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Wow, thanks @Aleš Ulm, lot's to think about here! 

I know these things are subject to change, but are you anticipating 0.12 to be the final update before 1.0?

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Really looking forward to all these updates! "Farming" and a "friendslist" will be a great feature ? Thanks Ylands team ?

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Hmm good dev diary :)

It seems to me you are working on the stuff players ask most about! 

10 hours ago, Aleš Ulm said:

many leave the game without even realizing that there’s more to it than picking up stuff and crafting very primitive objects.

When talking with people I feel their biggest gripes are: 

1) A lack of players in mutliplayer

2) Multiplayer lag and resets

3) Small servers (8 max) 

 

Most people I talk to think the single player game is good. I think its great. I have a feeling once servers are fixed the desire for players to run off will reduce but players will still run off for lack of players right now (oh the irony). I will do my best to catch these newbies and make them feel part of a community so they dont run off. 

 

Please @Aleš Ulm, don't be angry with my frankness :S 

I think the emphasis on gold rush was a mistake. I love mini-games and I'm really playing this game to make and engage in City role-play games but most players are not like that at all. The kind of people ylands attracts from its marketing are people that are very relaxed and chill.These kind of people have no interest in minigames. 

When they see the excessive emphasis on these kind of games, they misunderstand what multiplayer is about and it causes some percentage of them to leave without giving it a second chance. 

This game has not yet attracted the younger audience which will be engaged by the PVP style game. 

 

I was hoping that P1 could replace the official servers and provide an even better experience for new users seeking to play explore, however, people seem to want to join trusted official servers first.

 

 

 

I suggest that we create an interesting system to get players to stick. This is just my random idea:

  1. Remove the HUGE number of options for new users joining servers -- too many options and people feel overwhelmed

  2. Have only 3-4 official servers where people start, one in each region (hide the rest under "see more").

  3. Start people on different islands to reduce chaos

  4. Actually tell new users to seek out private servers that are a bit more well-moderated in loadings screens as a tip: “Want a better new-user experience? Try well-moderated player servers”

  5. After they have their initial time on an official server list for them the most active, long-running player servers at the top of the suggested list (remove locked servers from that list).

  6. Only show people mini-game banners and such-like after they have played for 20 hours.

  7. Allow players to advertise servers in the mini-game banner slot to new users for in-game coyns.

  8. In MP Lobby, list servers based on user-votes (weighted with more favor to people who have hours played so spam accounts can mess with it).

 

 

 

Edited by RedEagle_P1.
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4) Ship bug since months ago... it's really annoying... ;(
5) Magical Barrier can't be removed without editor (even the player don't play anymore), so really a problem for all new players.
6) Corps are everywhere ... (Not Ylands ... But Zombie Ylands), not really attractive too for all players.

7)Updates are too slow unfortunately !
 

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1 hour ago, jeunekeum54 said:

4) Ship bug since months ago... it's really annoying... ;(
5) Magical Barrier can't be removed without editor (even the player don't play anymore), so really a problem for all new players.
6) Corps are everywhere ... (Not Ylands ... But Zombie Ylands), not really attractive too for all players.

7)Updates are too slow unfortunately !
 

I saw your corpse in just your undies this morning :P

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perhaps we need better  undies?  hehe

guys in shorts ...gals   with  crop tops and  bikini bottoms..    

perhaps have an options  screen to chose  them  at  log in..?

Looking  forward to  fixed  ships ..i hate   getting  tossed overboard every time i turn around:P

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Like to be in bikini on a bugged ship ;) beside a flying shark :P

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@RedEagle_P1. Why would this make me angry? :D  If anything I salute you for taking your time and creating this analysis that has many good, valid points.Unfortunately I don't have that much time to go into details now, but I would love to address those more thoroughly. In case I'm not able to do it earlier, you have my word I will at least dedicate this Friday's Dev Diary to discussing these. (spoiler alert: we see many things the same way you do).

Getting a feedback like this is extremely important, so thanks again! :)

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