Dev Diary #67

[Marci Magyar 160]

Hey there fellow ylanders,

As you might recall, in last week's Dev Diary Ales mentioned that there might come a day, when a Dev Diary will be written by someone other than him. That day has come. In case my name does not ring any bells - I'm the marketing person behind Ylands and it's my duty together with the amazing Ane (hi, Ane!) to make sure everyone hear about Ylands and love it!

The diaries from now on will differ a bit from previous ones - they will try to explore a specific topic (instead of many general ones) and go a bit more in-depth with it.

So with great pleasure, let me welcome you to the latest Dev Diary (written by me) in which we'll talk a little about the UI facelift (User Interface - essentially everything that stands between you, the player and the game, and your way to interact with the game's world) that will land with update 0.12 - arriving shortly, to an yland near you.

When we decided to give the UI a facelift we have set two distinct overall goals for ourselves:

• make everything more intuitive
• make everything visually more appealing

Let's start with the first point - making everything more intuitive.

As you know, Ylands is a pretty complex game with many mechanics, interactions and information constantly surrounding the players. A good UI should make sure that any interaction between the player and the game is as logical and straightforward as possible by making sure the relevant information is always at hand so players understand the mechanics thus can interact with them.

It's also equally important to make these elements visually appealing, so the players not only want to interact with the mechanics, but that interaction is pleasant and leaves a good aftertaste in your brain's mouth.

So with that in mind, let's break down what we did to achieve these goals:

Main menu

• our goal here was to make sure custom games are more emphasized than before
• so players have an easier time finding the game modes they are looking for (without having to muck around the MP lobby for example)
• so now it is easier and more streamlined to join to multiplayer games, thanks to the new "autojoin" feature we are introducing

Shop

• we have updated the shop with some colorful new visuals to get you in that sweet "let me get myself a new pet" (new ones coming in update 0.12) mood
• we are also adding a new "purchased" tab, so you have a quick and easy overview of where all those coyns went

Character panel

• we have spent a lot of time improving this screen, as you'll spend quite a lot of time staring at it
• the big victory here is that now you have all the information you could possibly need (about selected items for example) on one screen, without having to open other ones

Crafting screen

• we have also updated the crafting screen, added important and relevant information like requirements to start crafting something or whether a workstation is lit or not

Dyeing system

• you can now set custom color presets up in both the editor and the dying stand

Blueprint menu

• you'll now see the ingredients required for a blueprint without having to place it first

Of course, these are just some of the changes, we have made numerous other improvements to every UI element out there.

We would like to keep some of them a secret for now, for a few different reasons: while some are still being worked on, we also want to make sure that when you get to play with the new UI, you won't actively be on the look out for the specific changes - this way, you can experience it more organically and as such your feedback will also be more natural. And of course, for some...we just want you to see for yourself Smile

A usual disclaimer: everything that you see here is "work in progress" and might change / look very different in a week / a month / a year / a decade. We'll also be taking your feedback into consideration and keep working hard to make sure your every interaction with Ylands is a pleasant and memorable one!

And now for some sweet interactivity: if you have ANY questions regarding this dev diary, the UI, the update, the game or just us, please let us know and we'll do our best to answer them in next week's diary (and going forward, this weekly "mini Q&A" will be a returning feature)!

And now...until next time: stay classy and have an amazing weekend ylanders!

[WijkagentAdrie 384]

Images seem broken hmm ?

[ovring 2]

Am I the only one, who cant see the pictures?:(

[Marci Magyar 160]

Screenshots fixed - should be good to go

[bojo2736 1016]

@Marketing Marci thanks for the update. The UI looks nice. But taking up the whole screen can be problematic, especially the inventory, if you are currently bein attacked by something while you are in there. It has been requested in the past to make the outside bits less opaque so you can still see a bit. Is this in the plans?

Edited March 1, 2019 by bb cakes_P1

[Khanecz 79]

1 minute ago, bb cakes_P1 said:

@Marketing Marci thanks for the update. The UI looks nice. But taking up the whole screen can be problematic, especially the inventory, if you are currently bein attacked by something while you are in there. I has been requested in the past to make the outside bits less opaque so you can still see a bit. Is this in the plans? 

Yes, as you can see in the 3rd screenshot, the inventory will be semi-transparent, so you can see what's happening in the game.

[RedEagle_P1. 905]

Hey! 

Thanks for this one

Glad to see another member of the team chiming in

So much to dive into here! 

 

[RedEagle_P1. 905]

I have a suggestion. I would love to know when these updates are coming out so we can do a big community event around them. We will all get snacks, sit around a computer-warming campfire made by @Spyler.X and enjoy the new content as one. 

 

[Spyler.X 625]

21 minutes ago, RedEagle_P1. said:

I have a suggestion. I would love to know when these updates are coming out so we can do a big community event around them. We will all get snacks, sit around a computer-warming campfire made by @Spyler.X and enjoy the new content as one. 

 

I also do my part, now I try to make it more optimized.
you can always choose a lighter version?

[RedEagle_P1. 905]

21 minutes ago, Spyler.X said:

I also do my part, now I try to make it more optimized.
you can always choose a lighter version?

I will never trust an elephant ever again ;-; 

 

[bojo2736 1016]

Is the elephant pinting made of match stick? @Spyler.X 

[Marci Magyar 160]

44 minutes ago, RedEagle_P1. said:

I have a suggestion. I would love to know when these updates are coming out so we can do a big community event around them. We will all get snacks, sit around a computer-warming campfire made by @Spyler.X and enjoy the new content as one. 

 

I love that idea!

/starts thinking

[Spyler.X 625]

10 minutes ago, bb cakes_P1 said:

Is the elephant pinting made of match stick?

You can do it with the match stick, but I use bullets for this.

https://workshop.ylands.com/asset/311

[Igor Q. 519]

Will the new UI finally stop disabling me from seeing advanced items when I join a multiplayer map?

[Marci Magyar 160]

Hey guys, just a quick update - keep those questions coming and we'll do our best to answer them in this weeks dev diary

[RedEagle_P1. 905]

I'd love to see a detailed list of what is coming out for the 0.12 update -- I find all the little sneak peaks a bit hard to tie together. 

[ovring 2]

On 3/1/2019 at 8:06 PM, Spyler.X said:

You can do it with the match stick, but I use bullets for this.

https://workshop.ylands.com/asset/311

 Tryed to use this awersome asset in my editor, but it crushes every time i put it on the ground

[Spyler.X 625]

2 minutes ago, ovring said:

 Tryed to use this awersome asset in my editor, but it crushes every time i put it on the ground

Hi
Open the configuration menu, and select to align with the water, and adapt to the deactivated terrain

[ovring 2]

1 hour ago, Spyler.X said:

Hi
Open the configuration menu, and select to align with the water, and adapt to the deactivated terrain

Did as you told me to, but it still doesnt work...  

[Spyler.X 625]

@ovring

mmm can I see a picture of what happens? I'm not home now, I'll try when I get back

 

[ovring 2]

Its hard to really take a meaningful picture, the programm simply freezes right after I add the composition and then closes in about 10 seconds.

Here are my settings: 

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by ovring

[Spyler.X 625]

18 minutes ago, ovring said:

Its hard to really take a meaningful picture, the programm simply freezes right after I add the composition and then closes in about 10 seconds.

Here are my settings: 

 

 

 

 

or sorry I understood wrong, maybe that composition is too heavy for you, then I send you a lighter version, you can also try another pixel art workshop, they are smaller

https://workshop.ylands.com/asset/414

[ovring 2]

Tried it, the same result:( Anyway thanks for your help! It seems I must do it myself and hope, it will work...  Maybe the promised colliders optimisation in the next update will make it less troublesome:)

Edited March 5, 2019 by ovring

[Spyler.X 625]

oh sure, I'm going to have to update all my workshop models?

[Christal 425]

@ovring, a thing that works for me when I place too heavy compositions.
Rather than placing it on the floor, try to place it as far as possible on the horizon. This avoids the loading of objects with all visible details (I don't know if my english is clear sorry ?).
Thanks to @Bob Salvador for this tip ^^