Some suggestions, and one ridiculous question.

[iamSleepl3ss 12]

Hey there!

First, I just wanted to say that I'm very proud of how Ylands has grown. It inspires me to see Aleš and his team still hard at work chiseling Ylands to the best it can be.
Second, I apologize if this seems intuitive, or obsolete by the Ylands Editor.  

I was wondering, in terms of the editor and coding, would there be a chance for users to put out certain modifications for Ylands?
What I mean by this is packaged modifications that change how you would play your exploration game. 
Take for instance Bethesda's Skyrim and Fallout. Both games have a huge community of modders that provides functionality to the game such as custom armors, or lock-on targetting.
What I wish for is some sort of marketplace/explorer where users can insert self-contained modifications into their Ylands functionality.

One modification could be a change of the UI Design, another could be smarter AI or animals with behaviors akin to their real counterpart.
Another more complex example, changes to the rendering pipeline / URP.
Even better, a modification that changes animations.
The best, a modification that completely revamps the combat.
With respect to the developers, of course! I do not mean to patronize or belittle the great work they've put into Ylands!

A nutshell version of this would be a functionality where users can share code and changes to their Ylands for easy integration.
Other users could then view available modifications through an explorer tab, see one they like, and add it to their Yland with the click of a button. Next time they open up their Yland, the functionality is there!  

I understand these are ludicrous changes that would require taking Ylands apart, but seeing as Ylands is built in Unity and supports coding in C#, I would assume some sort of address library to hook into Ylands functionality would do wonders.
I also understand that adding these modifications to your exploration game would kill any kind of compatibility for the multiplayer aspect of exploration... But on the flip-side, it would let creators be able to curate functionalities to be added through the Ylands Editor, and might later be included as an official feature in Ylands if their reception is great. 

This brings me to my ludicrous question. GIVE ME THE SOURCE CODE. I'll sign any NDA. Please.
Wait, that's not a question. What I meant to ask is, are there any ways for users to help with the development of Ylands which does not border on legal terms? ?


Sincerely,
Me, I guess.

 

[spiritchaser28 920]

I like the way you think, but I suppose a more complex question that comes along with this line of thinking is "how would they regulate it?" I love games like Skyrim and Fallout, and the modding community there has done some fantastic things....there's also a ton of adult themed mods however and because there isn't much regulation those games are rated as an adult themed games. I know Bohemia is pretty forward thinking and they probably have some sort of plan to allow some mods in the future, but the trick of it would probably involve some sort of permissions to use the mods from Bohemia itself. I know they want to keep the game kid friendly, so that requires regulations and rules they have to follow to keep that rating. I think also they ultimately want to have the game be stable (without glitches) before they even consider allowing player made modifications that affect overall gameplay.

That being said, I know they have been working pretty hard to give players a ton of options when it comes to gameplay, and maybe those sorts of modifications you mention could be integrated into the actual game by the developers in the future, but that may be quite a ways in the future when they are satisfied with the overall stability and user experience of the entire game. The good news here is one thing I have noticed about the developers is they truly listen to the players ideas and lately they have been fantastic at fixing glitches and integrating players ideas into the actual overall gameplay.

Edited October 17, 2021 by spiritchaser28

[iamSleepl3ss 12]

10 hours ago, spiritchaser28 said:

I like the way you think, but I suppose a more complex question that comes along with this line of thinking is "how would they regulate it?" I love games like Skyrim and Fallout, and the modding community there has done some fantastic things....there's also a ton of adult themed mods however and because there isn't much regulation those games are rated as an adult themed games. I know Bohemia is pretty forward thinking and they probably have some sort of plan to allow some mods in the future, but the trick of it would probably involve some sort of permissions to use the mods from Bohemia itself. I know they want to keep the game kid friendly, so that requires regulations and rules they have to follow to keep that rating. I think also they ultimately want to have the game be stable (without glitches) before they even consider allowing player made modifications that affect overall gameplay.

That being said, I know they have been working pretty hard to give players a ton of options when it comes to gameplay, and maybe those sorts of modifications you mention could be integrated into the actual game by the developers in the future, but that may be quite a ways in the future when they are satisfied with the overall stability and user experience of the entire game. The good news here is one thing I have noticed about the developers is they truly listen to the players ideas and lately they have been fantastic at fixing glitches and integrating players ideas into the actual overall gameplay.

Thank you for your input!
I did not consider the subjects you mention, which indeed are very important. 
With that in mind, I also agree that a different method for such implementation would need be to carefully considered. 
For now, the editor will have to do. 

Regarding the developers listening to the community. I almost got whiplash when I saw how they implemented the multiplayer system for Ylands.
You see, I had earlier suggested some short of implementation for the multiplayer aspect, after the announced their idea of multiplayer for Ylands:

You could imagine my reaction when I saw their implementation of it. Of course, my suggestion might have been a bit naive at the time, but after the update, the Ylands developers forever stuck with me as very community-driven. I mean, it probably was just a coincidence... But still. I like to imagine that maybe I gave them some ideas...? 
Sorry if this might seem as a bit of humblebragging. 

Anyways, thank you for your time!

Edited October 17, 2021 by iamSleepl3ss

[spiritchaser28 920]

I personally cannot wait for 1.8 I know they have been talking about implementing bigger maps, and they mentioned doing a multiplayer re-vamp.  Better blueprints and more craftable items. As well as lighting fixes, no rain in ships, and several other things we all have been asking for. The suspense waiting is killin' me LOL because I am sure there's a lot more things going into the game.  This has been a long wait for an update, but I feel they took their time getting multiple things people requested done...and the long time it has taken is a good thing. To me it means they have been working a ton on the game to give us a ton of things to enjoy.

[Oliver Hope 261]

On 10/17/2021 at 10:00 AM, iamSleepl3ss said:

What I meant to ask is, are there any ways for users to help with the development of Ylands which does not border on legal terms? 

In the times where I have free time I can really relate to this, I'd love to be able to contribute more then just reporting bugs and giving suggestions.