Dev Diary #176 What comes after 1.7

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

Hey there, fellow ylanders!

A lot of you have been asking about what will the updates beyond 1.7 bring and so today I would like to give you some information about 1.8, which will be mostly focused on polishing and adjusting. 

As you know, we have been working really hard on making Exploration much better and some quite radical changes have been done. So far, you, the players, seem to like where we‘re headed, which is reassuring. However, the game can't be made better just by throwing in massive changes.

So far we have received literally thousands of pieces of feedback. Ideas on how to improve features. What you are missing. What you don‘t like.

You might have noticed (at least we hope you have ) that in every update we try to react to such feedback, but it‘s not enough. Because of the major features and big changes, there‘s usually not enough time to fix smaller things. Some may think that these things are not that important, that we would be better off adding feature X or Y. But the truth is that when there are many such things (and there are), the overall experience suffers. This may not be such a problem for a long time Ylands players who are already accustomed to some of our weird quirks, but this is something that needs to be taken care of before we try to attract more players back to our game.

 

 

And that‘s why 1.8 will be mainly about polishing. We are going through your feedback and deciding what are the things that you (and the game) need and which we haven‘t managed to fix. It can be a small annoying UI thing or something that a larger game system is missing (how can one have naval battles when ships can‘t be damaged...(sad) ). Just to give you some examples - an easier way to share games with other players, building improvements, being able to carry a torch while holding a weapon and much more.

So what would YOU like us to fix?

With 1.8 released we expect to feel good enough about the game so that we can start actively bringing new players into the game. We consider that a whole new chapter for Exploration.

So, that‘s it for today. I will see you next week and until then... stay healthy and classy, ylanders!

[spiritchaser28 918]

2 hours ago, Aleš Ulm said:

This may not be such a problem for a long time Ylands players who are already accustomed to some of our weird quirks

Hey we all have weird quirks, not just you guys at Bohemia

Edited May 13, 2021 by spiritchaser28

[Ninjaslice 1]

Hi, It would be awesome to have self hosted servers, to play with friends without paying.

Pd: Exploration update is awesome? (It would be better with bigger islands?)

[Miguel Preguisa 443]

QoL updates are the ones where I forget to be hyped beforehand but it's definitely those I look back on with the most love ❤️

[Sazzle 30]

What about people who don't want "naval battles"? I know I don't want my ships to be destroyed lol this isn't sea of thieves :)) My ship is basically my mobile home, not something I want to put alot of time into, making it look all nice  and then be destroyed..

[spiritchaser28 918]

@Sazzle, well I suppose an option would be to avoid multiplayer maps unless it's people you trust that made them. I think when they start allowing ships to be damaged that the Mayor, Citizen, and Visitor privileges will still apply to ships as well. At least that's my understanding. You could always make another ship just for naval battle type games if you get worried about going into a multiplayer map place you do not know about. So if you lose it, you still have your houseboat.

[ocnoglittle 760]

13 hours ago, Aleš Ulm said:

With 1.8 released we expect to feel good enough about the game so that we can start actively bringing new players into the game. We consider that a whole new chapter for Exploration.

? ? I really hope the marketing efforts start way before this. One of the biggest complaints is that there aren't enough players.

[Deadeye_Rob 905]

I agree with the direction that prioritizes Quality Of Life improvements at this stage.

There are a large quantity of little issues that when combined, generally erode player patience, which ultimately leads to dissatisfaction.

 

My personal bug-bear is the User Interface, crafting in particular. A good example of this would be when I want to quickly craft Iron Ingots in my Furnace. The two tabs on the Right of the screen always have a tendency to toggle and flip without warning. This is a pain in the backside and requires more unnecessary clicking. I would suggest attempting to simplify the crafting station interface as well as allowing a 'Craft Multiple' feature to save time.

I would also suggest using simpler object icons in the UI. My system wastes valuable resources and time rendering a stick in my inventory. It's not world-ending but by cutting out unnecessary 3D object Icons in favor of a standard image you can salvage some processing power for other things.

[Nightfall Gaming 0]

The biggest improvement I would love to see is the ability to pick up all in a surrounding area. For example, knocking down 10 trees in an area and then being able to loot all the logs in one go would remove probably my only issue with the game ?

[zarwil 392]

9 hours ago, Aleš Ulm said:

being able to carry a torch while holding a weapon and much more.

Speaking of torches, you really need to work on overall lighting in this game. Light sources stack on top of each other and pretty much blind you if you have a few workstations lit during the night. Torches and lanterns also barely light up your path in a cave, so you can't see anything. There is no light source to my knowledge which works in the water, which means it's impossible at times to see under water when you're exploring a random encounter. Those are the most annoying parts anyways.

[bojo2736 1016]

Clear ice blocks.

More and better lighting options. The ability to dim and brighten. Switches that can be attached to lighting / fires in game.  Since we cant script in game, we need to have a few things available to put in on the in game side. 

Thinner blocks.  I currently use the pier blocks because they are pretty much the only smaller ones available.  We need more, and in every material. See attached picture.

Windows need some love.  We need more sizes, and angle pieces.  And maybe round pieces.  If you could remove the lines in the windows, that would be awesome as well. And larger scale. 

Add the alpha option to the paint gun. You could require crystal powder to craft the paint.

More decor items. 

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by bojo2736

[bojo2736 1016]

Reading @Deadeye_Rob comment, it reminds me.  The crafting menu.  OMG.   It used to be, way back in the dark ages, that when you were crafting  - let's say logs.  You picked the piece you wanted.  Then you need another size, you open the menu, and the logs are still where you left them when you sorted for them.  Now?  You have to sort again for every single piece change. It's super annoying.  Going back to the old sort system would be one way, another would be to allow us to make folders to put our favorites in.  The way I build in editor, is I put out all the pieces I want on the ground.  I use it as a swatch, and just pick the item as I need it.  A folder for favorites would be useful in the same way.  Or have it put the last 5 items you picked at the top.

And while I am thinking about it.  Please bring back the four wide wooden steps.  Using the one block or the two block together just looks awful. 

I'm sure I will think of more. 

[bojo2736 1016]

Sorry for the spam, I just thought of something else.  In some games I play, you can pull from nearby storage when you are crafting, you don't have to have it actively in your inventory to use it.  Or there is inventory space inside the workstation to put the crafting items.

On the subject of storage, some way to identify from the outside what is in it.  Some way to color code it without needing paint?  Some kind of symbol?  

[spiritchaser28 918]

3 hours ago, bojo2736 said:

Some way to color code it without needing paint?  Some kind of symbol?  

I sometimes color code, sometimes I place an actual representation of what I am storing on the chests and boxes.....for instance if It's logs I wiill freeplace a log into the container with just the smallest part of the log poking through. You could use stone letters if that helps. But boxes with different symbols already added would be a cool idea.

[bojo2736 1016]

1 minute ago, spiritchaser28 said:

I sometimes color code, sometimes I place an actual representation of what I am storing on the chests and boxes.....for instance if It's logs I wiill freeplace a log into the container with just the smallest part of the log poking through. You could use stone letters if that helps. But boxes with different symbols already added would be a cool idea.

This is actually not a bad idea now that we can make it unpickable. 

[bojo2736 1016]

17 hours ago, spiritchaser28 said:

@Sazzle, well I suppose an option would be to avoid multiplayer maps unless it's people you trust that made them. I think when they start allowing ships to be damaged that the Mayor, Citizen, and Visitor privileges will still apply to ships as well. At least that's my understanding. You could always make another ship just for naval battle type games if you get worried about going into a multiplayer map place you do not know about. So if you lose it, you still have your houseboat.

How are those permissions set?

[spiritchaser28 918]

1 minute ago, bojo2736 said:

How are those permissions set?

First you go to the main screen where it says "Play with friends" and set up a single player map as a share, or server rented. Then you have to go into the map once you set it up , press "esc" then hit Multiplayer settings. From there you will have 2 tab options, one is overall multiplayer options (How many players, is the map visible, etc) The next tab is Co-Op options.....from there you set up what friends and visitors can be. Mayor privilege gives the players the ability to do pretty much anything you can do on a map you own, citizen gives some building privileges, etc....and visitor is the most limited with no option to modify terrain, build, place items, destroy anything etc. They can still pick things though so if you want to make it public, then I suggest hardening things down you don't want people to pick.

[bojo2736 1016]

So this isn't available on the multiplayer thing?  The one where we can visit each other's maps?  If that's the case, then not having barriers active is a really awful idea.  

[spiritchaser28 918]

7 minutes ago, bojo2736 said:

So this isn't available on the multiplayer thing?  The one where we can visit each other's maps?

It is available on exploration yes. That's what I am saying. When you go down to play with friends, it will bring up a list of maps you have saved (including those in new exploration)...from there you make it multiplayer and then do the mayor, citizen and visitor priveleges once you get in the map. Once you set it up to multiplayer, you will have to sail to one empty multiplayer spot and the map you set up will be it. Once inside the game, just set up the priveleges.

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by spiritchaser28

[ocnoglittle 760]

It is available on every multiplayer map, not just servers. 

https://ylands.fandom.com/wiki/Co-op_Mode

tl;dr: it is the second tab in the multiplayer settings.

Edited May 16, 2021 by ocnoglittle

[ocnoglittle 760]

From Nico and Ocnog: Can we get a rework for the ladders? They often give an error message about not enough room or don't behave as expected.

(Also in the Q&A to discuss more with Aleš)

[Nikki Severin 1129]

Hey everyone! 

Thank you all SO MUCH for these suggestions! I put them on our list of things to discuss for 1.8! 

You are all amazing and a great help in making the game better! 

 

[jchob 354]

@bojo2736 i alread asked devs to give us a specific previleges list where you can set up whoever you want, not only friends, visitor and clans