Dev Diary #221 Rebalancing the Future

[Nikki Severin 1148]

Hey there, Ylanders! 

It's been a while since Ocean Odysseys was released and yet we still keep getting more and more feedback about the update - which is what we like to see! 

Your feedback helps us make the game better and more enjoyable for you, and also us (the devs play Ylands too of course!). 

So this week's Dev Diary will focus on making changes that may not be immediately apparent but will immensely improve the game. Let's talk about balancing and rebalancing. 

A lot of the feedback you are sending our way has to do with a lot of different little elements, which is why we said that it was about time we took a sweeping look at Ylands and balanced some of its parts. 



 

One such part, for instance is biomes. Biomes now offer little more than different flora and fauna but other than that they are quite similar when it comes to gameplay. This is something we're looking into and would like to give more meaning to the biomes and hint at what difficulty ylands you might expect in each biome, rather than give away the difficulty using the yland tier system. This is, of course, very much work in progress still, but we're excited to be exploring this direction. 

Another crucial part of the game is crafting. This is yet another area where we feel we need some enrichment of the whole process. So currently we're looking at the possibility of more crafting stations and a more meaningful crafting process in general. 

We also feel like the hunger and temperature systems deserve some love, which is why tweaks and reworks are being explored in this area. 

What type of balancing would you like to see in ylands? Let us know! 

And till next time... 

Stay classy, Ylanders! 

[zarwil 393]

Just now, Nikki Severin said:

more crafting stations

It would be great if they could be included in blueprints. It's probably not super important to the devs, but integrating crafting stations into buildings or boats in a cohesive manner (that looks good) is not easy. Having to freeplace such stations after constructing a blueprint is a bit of a hastle.

It's great that you made the ship devices "craftable" in blueprints, but it just reminded me of my frustration with crafting stations.

Edited April 29, 2022 by zarwil

[Deadeye_Rob 908]

44 minutes ago, Nikki Severin said:

We also feel like the hunger and temperature systems deserve some love, which is why tweaks and reworks are being explored in this area.

I’m excited to see what you have in the pipeline for this. I’d like to see something along the lines of a Hunger Meter so I can plan for my next meal instead of a hunger notification appearing right in the middle of an expedition.

45 minutes ago, Nikki Severin said:

What type of balancing would you like to see in ylands? Let us know! 

I’m all in favour of some balancing so long as it’s not a typical series of nerfs. Perhaps looking into a more varied and complex potion crafting system akin to an effect system similar to Skyrim?

[Igor Q. 519]

1 hour ago, Nikki Severin said:

We also feel like the hunger and temperature systems deserve some love, which is why tweaks and reworks are being explored in this area. 

I think it would be more interesting if food had a redundancy aspect. If you tried to eat the same food too much you would satisfy less and less hunger. This in turn would force players to be a bit more creative and actually craft all the different foods ylands has to offer. There was a mod on Minecraft that makes you start the game with 100hp, but for every new food you eat for the 1st time, you max hp increases by 5. (Which I thought was a really cool idea)

As for temperature, I think it should be reworked to "Climate". Put more focus on having clothes tailored for specific areas, for example if you explore a volcano you need a Welders Helmet otherwise you get blinded by how bright the zone is, if you are in a "Swamp" Region, you need a mosquito helmet otherwise you get sick, and etc.

1 hour ago, Deadeye_Rob said:

Perhaps looking into a more varied and complex potion crafting system akin to an effect system similar to Skyrim?

My concern with potions is that they are either too important that you feel forced to use them or not important enough that you can just ignore them. There are definitly gonna be situations where you won't be able to craft a specific potion, or there might be so many potions to keep track of that it will feel frustrating.

[Deadeye_Rob 908]

8 minutes ago, Igor Q. said:

not important enough

A perfect name for a potion that would render the drinker harmless in the eyes of predators, therefore preventing the drinker from being attacked!

[spiritchaser28 920]

One thing I would like to see is more balance in crafting, specifically certain things like pipe blocks, pots with lids, plates, books, paintings (still want the dev team paintings back also) and other simple things are not available to craft, yet now we can craft elven weapons and all the guns and armor sets

I know from the last stream you all discussed sharks and people wanting to be able to damage the sharks, but you seemed to be against the idea....so maybe a bit more time for the repellant flare would be handy, and it would also be a boon if you could light the flare while you were swimming.

Another post here mentioned a quicker way to reach the ocean floor. If you don't want to allow switching air tanks (which real divers do) then perhaps something that would allow a fast descent so you aren't at the halfway point in your tank when you reach the bottom....maybe even consider a longer time on the oxygen tanks or a tether to the ship to an oxygen machine     ( The tanks were designed with more shallow water in mind, in my opinion)

I still want a lunchbox and an ammo case.

Enemy aggression has fallen a lot since the last few updates. Sometimes it takes enemies several minutes now after they spot you to attack. When I first started playing the game it was common place to be walking through the woods and suddenly get spotted by a pack of wolves that would chase you to your demise as soon as they realized you were there......now you can dance around them for several minutes before they even decide to attack.

Lastly I think maybe we could have some sort of Innuit Trader that trades some of the newer resources and fish. Arctic region is devoid of traders, but it would be cool to run into an Innuit that deals with some of those items people are having a hard time finding from the ocean in the arctic region. I can't tell you how many times people have begged to trade for cobalt, polyphourous tubes, and anemone goo since this last update. For some reason those items are pretty hard to find. They could also deal with a few warm clothes, and some seafood related items.

On a side note the propeller pack in my opinion has the perfect amount of time before it overheats.....some people may disagree. I think with the newer resources it might be better to make it slightly harder to craft.

As far as the hunger and temperature management goes, I believe you all updated the system a few updates back regarding hunger. We used to eat like 40 times a day to stay alive, now the amount we eat is a bit more realistic....temperature management is pretty good with the proper clothing, but perhaps we could use a bit more time on heat and cold resistance potions. And maybe a bit more damage if we are standing directly on a fire with no resistance or in the cold in wearing our bathing suits.

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by spiritchaser28

[spiritchaser28 920]

3 hours ago, zarwil said:

It would be great if they could be included in blueprints. It's probably not super important to the devs, but integrating crafting stations into buildings or boats in a cohesive manner (that looks good) is not easy. Having to freeplace such stations after constructing a blueprint is a bit of a hastle.

It's great that you made the ship devices "craftable" in blueprints, but it just reminded me of my frustration with crafting stations.

I would love if they included all the cabinets, tubes, rods, cogwheels, and poles in blueprints as well as the crafting stations.

3 hours ago, Deadeye_Rob said:

I’m excited to see what you have in the pipeline for this. I’d like to see something along the lines of a Hunger Meter so I can plan for my next meal instead of a hunger notification appearing right in the middle of an expedition.

A hunger meter is a fine idea.

 

2 hours ago, Igor Q. said:

I think it would be more interesting if food had a redundancy aspect. If you tried to eat the same food too much you would satisfy less and less hunger. This in turn would force players to be a bit more creative and actually craft all the different foods ylands has to offer. There was a mod on Minecraft that makes you start the game with 100hp, but for every new food you eat for the 1st time, you max hp increases by 5. (Which I thought was a really cool idea)

It's an interesting concept. I think all food should be perishable after a certain amount of time unless it is stored in some sort of container.  For instance the first 3 days you have shashlik in your inventory it gives you the strength buff when you eat it, after the fourth day it loses the strength buff, after the 5th and 6th day it could make you sick,  (reducing movement speed) etc.....on this topic I think it might be nice if you had an endurance level, the hungrier you are, the slower you move,  the more you move the more your endurance goes down, the more you carry, the more your endurance goes down as well....you might even be forced to sleep at some point because of lack of endurance.....that translates into heavy programming for the devs but I think it's something that could possibly be integrated into the game.

[SandyT 129]

9 hours ago, spiritchaser28 said:

 

It's an interesting concept. I think all food should be perishable after a certain amount of time unless it is stored in some sort of container.  For instance the first 3 days you have shashlik in your inventory it gives you the strength buff when you eat it, after the fourth day it loses the strength buff, after the 5th and 6th day it could make you sick,  (reducing movement speed) etc...

That does sound like a good idea. You know, that would be great use for the refrigerator that I've been trying to interest the devs into adding for a while.

[spiritchaser28 920]

2 hours ago, SandyT said:

That does sound like a good idea. You know, that would be great use for the refrigerator that I've been trying to interest the devs into adding for a while.

Right? I think certain containers like kitchen cabinets, a fridge, a deep freeze, and a lunchbox would be handy at keeping food longer, but I think after so many days in your inventory food should naturally turn to garbage. I work part time in a grocery store and tossing expired food out is a daily thing. Generally if it is kept in a deep freeze it takes much much longer before it goes bad. A lot of groceries use open air cooler displays and the food in those tend to turn bad faster than the food in dark coolers that are locked up.

[zarwil 393]

@spiritchaser28 @SandyT I'll be honest I'm not a fan of this idea at all. I find hunger mechanics pretty annoying in games, so adding an additional mechanic in the game that makes you unable to cook a batch of food and keep in your inventory for a while is nightmare fuel for me. I don't want to spend all my time in the game doing chores, like cooking food. I want to cook a batch of food and then go exploring for a few days.

I much prefer @Igor Q.'s food suggestions, where someone like me would be penalised for eating the same food over and over for days, but only in the sense that I "waste" resources by eating inefficiently. Just please don't give me more chores to do.

[spiritchaser28 920]

3 hours ago, zarwil said:

@spiritchaser28 @SandyT I'll be honest I'm not a fan of this idea at all. I find hunger mechanics pretty annoying in games, so adding an additional mechanic in the game that makes you unable to cook a batch of food and keep in your inventory for a while is nightmare fuel for me. I don't want to spend all my time in the game doing chores, like cooking food. I want to cook a batch of food and then go exploring for a few days.

I much prefer @Igor Q.'s food suggestions, where someone like me would be penalised for eating the same food over and over for days, but only in the sense that I "waste" resources by eating inefficiently. Just please don't give me more chores to do.

Well my idea was if the food was in kitchen cabinets, or refrigerators it would not spoil, and if it was in your inventory it would take maybe 3 or 4 days to spoil. So, you still have plenty of time to explore and eat the food you have stashed on you.

I just think after a certain amount of time it should go bad, BUT it's a tricky thing considering the fact you can add to a stack. I like IgorQ's suggestion as well. We all need variety. I spend most my mealtime eating shashlik because of the duration it takes to get hungry again and the strength buff.....but I think other foods could have various types of buffs.

[Igor Q. 519]

9 minutes ago, spiritchaser28 said:

I just think after a certain amount of time it should go bad

My concern is that it might only appeal to a small portion of the player base and frustrate the majority. Gameplay should not penalize the player UNLESS the player is doing something that specifically goes against the intended design (eating the same foods repetitively to easily fill hunger bar or creating huge stashes of food to be used later).

• If the issue is eating foods repetitvely, simply giving diminishing returns on eating the same foods.
• If the issue is hoarding huge amounts food, simply disable the ability to store food in containers, and let food spoil when dropping them on the ground (after 1min) to prevent hoarding.

[spiritchaser28 920]

58 minutes ago, Igor Q. said:

My concern is that it might only appeal to a small portion of the player base and frustrate the majority. Gameplay should not penalize the player UNLESS the player is doing something that specifically goes against the intended design (eating the same foods repetitively to easily fill hunger bar or creating huge stashes of food to be used later).

• If the issue is eating foods repetitvely, simply giving diminishing returns on eating the same foods.
• If the issue is hoarding huge amounts food, simply disable the ability to store food in containers, and let food spoil when dropping them on the ground (after 1min) to prevent hoarding.

I get where you are coming from, but I think half the game is survival. And in a true survival situation food goes bad after some time. I don't think waiting a few days for the food to spoil is penalizing anybody. Getting food in the game is never a huge problem because it's pretty much everywhere. Walk 2 feet and you will find buckwheat/grain, corn or berries or bananas or an animal. Dive in the ocean and there's plenty of fish, oysters, and urchins.

I don't think disabling food in containers is the right idea. People work for the food they have and they put them in the containers for future plans.. 

I even use food as decoration

I do think various foods should have some buffs, and I like the idea of mixing up the food so it's not always the same shashlik diet. 

Perhaps a good idea would be to have meters for fruit, meat, and veggie requirements, but then again that's micromanagement. 

Whatever the devs decide, this is still my all time favorite game

Edited April 30, 2022 by spiritchaser28

[TonyPearce 14]

5 hours ago, spiritchaser28 said:

I get where you are coming from, but I think half the game is survival. And in a true survival situation food goes bad after some time. I don't think waiting a few days for the food to spoil is penalizing anybody. Getting food in the game is never a huge problem because it's pretty much everywhere. Walk 2 feet and you will find buckwheat/grain, corn or berries or bananas or an animal. Dive in the ocean and there's plenty of fish, oysters, and urchins.

I don't think disabling food in containers is the right idea. People work for the food they have and they put them in the containers for future plans.. 

I even use food as decoration

I do think various foods should have some buffs, and I like the idea of mixing up the food so it's not always the same shashlik diet. 

Perhaps a good idea would be to have meters for fruit, meat, and veggie requirements, but then again that's micromanagement. 

Whatever the devs decide, this is still my all time favorite game

Could these rotten food become another kind of resources?For example, fertilizer to make your plant grow faster.The thins is every kind of basic resources should be useful.

Have I mentioned the idea of underwater taming?Maybe this would be a good idea, you could tame a shark, a dolphin or a seal.Also I've found underwater lab and submarine wreck in game, could I actually build an underwater house or a real submarine in the future?

[KROVV 1]

• Something that i feel need a revision are the rewards of the Mystery Ylands
I think those ylands are a really cool concept and there is a lot of potential behind the idea, but kinda feel like a waste of time, i don't obtain something meaningful for the gameplay, don't make me progress inside the game, and a currency is required in order to enter (exploration points), so most of the time is better to sail the seas and hope to get lucky with a shipwreck
So in resume, the mystery ylands need better reward, because the reward don't match the requirement

• Another big thing that might need a balance is the difficulty of the game
The game is too easy, the AI is so exploitable, most of the enemies in the caves don't attack if you shoot them (may be a bug) just run around, if you have a gun + a propeller pack you are immortal and can kill everything. there is no multiplayer content or something you need to do/attack in groups, if you are in your ship you are just immortal, nothing can reach you, nothing will attack you.
Some things that could help in this regard are:
- Make that some enemies attack from distance (use guns, spells, throw rocks at you)
- Add fortress or fortified harbors in the shore of some ylands with canons and enemies, that you need to attack by land or by sea with your friends
- Add NPC pirate ships or/and cargo ships that will attack you or defend themselves if you attack them
- Stronger NPCs bosses
- Do some changes to the propeller pack

• Weapons
i like that some guns can seem very similar at first sight but have different reload time, different ammo capacity, different fire rate and looks like might have different aim cone, or at least different crosshair
Right now i feel that the melee weapons don't follow this path, looks like you only choose the weapon that does more damage and you are fine (some weapon type seem to attack a bit more faster than others, and a few have different animation, maybe could be nice to accentuate this difference so the weapons don't feel all the same), could be interesting to explore the idea of more situational approach for SOME weapons, for example all the frost weapons could apply a slow debuff that could help you or your friends to kill some very difficult bosses (can be a bit dangerous for pvp, depend on the application) or maybe the normal hit don't apply slow but the charged hit would (with no damage or very little damage so it's not so OP), or the charged hit could create a temporary ice area where you are slow if you step on it, or weapons with fire that leave a fire over time damage debuff and some mobs or bosses could have a damage type weak point (Slashing damage weak point, Piercing damage weak point) , stuff like that

• Crafting
I think we need an Arrastra or something similar to crush Sandstone into Sand, it take a lot of time and clicks to produce sand from sandstone, the same for Gravel, but i haven't found a use for it yet
Consider adding a cheap tailoring table in which you can make all the clothes with no armor properties
The resources needed for some building blocks need a rework, for example making a dock/pier is more cheaper if you use normal wooden blocks, if you use the  Wooden Pier blocks you are wasting resources
Something that for sure need some love is the UI inside some crafting tables, for example:
In the blacksmith forge we can have more than 160 different items, can we have a collapsible category system? or something so we can have a better navigation

• The Food topic
i feel that the food is too easy to find, there is a lot of food in each yland (fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, meat, you can fish everywhere)
All the food is kinda the same, you only need to eat a bit more units of some, apart from that there are no differences between raw food and cooked food
You don't need to stock up in food in order to prepare for an expedition or big exploration trip
There is no real reason to have a plantation (maybe only for cotton or similar at the start and of course trees for wood)
- My thoughts about it:
I kinda like the idea of the food to spoil over time, BUT i use food for decoration too, so maybe one option could be to add the tag FRESH for some time to the food (after preparation/hunt/gather), and after some time the food would loose the fresh tag (but dont spoil, just enter in a normal status). Then you don't penalize the people that eat old food, you just give a tiny buff to people that eat fresh food, maybe a bit more stamina or stamina regeneration, maybe a tiny benefit to accuracy with weapons or stuff like that, so some people can still eat old food or the same food over and over, if they want, without any punishment
Maybe you can add a refrigerator to extend the "fresh" status of the food
Other way to implement an optional method of food consumption could be the implementation of a Compost Bin, you put food in it and you can obtain compost overt time, the compost could be used to buff your plantations/crops (you obtain more fruits/vegetables per plant). This will require a bit of a farming overhaul, and for that to happen the food should be a bit harder to obtain or in less quantities, for example, not all the Corn Plant in the wild should have Corn, and if it have maybe you find only 1 corn per plant, if you want more corn per plant you should have a plantation at your base, and also you can make that the corn you obtain from your own plantation will stay fresh for more time, stuff like that
Other thing could be the implementation of Biofuel as an alternative fuel for engines. It will require some types of food in order to make biofuel

• Resources
I love the non destructive way to obtain some resources, for example rubber with the knife on the rubber tree, but it take a lot of time for only 1 unit of raw rubber, but if i chop the tree (it take more or less the same time) i obtain more raw rubber, and also obtain sub products like logs, sticks, wooden pieces and stuff like that, AND also i obtain like 3 seeds to plant more, so i think that need a balance

• World
I love that there are different biomes with different resources and with a distinctive look and feel. One thing I can say in this regard is that I often find myself sailing in a straight line with nothing to see/do and without the need to pay attention of my surrounding, also feel that the game have a really cool land vehicle system with a lot of potential that sadly is a bit wasted because the ylands are a bit small for a car and the topology (most of the time) is not very car friendly, also we cant carry vehicles on ships, so we only can use the cars in the yland where our base is.
- Something to explore here maybe could be that the desert could have bigger ylands or the ratio land/sea could be bigger (in favor of the land) than the other biomes, so maybe this biome has a bigger land exploration component in its design, and if we could carry vehicles on our ships would be the dream. Maybe this is hard to achieve and the physics can turn a bit crazy with the car on the ship, but you can explore with a new item, component or platform that you install in your ship and can attach the car temporally to the geometry of the ship, idk
Add some stuff that could make the navigation process a bit more engaging, because i think the sea navigation is underdeveloped in comparison with the land and underwater gameplay
For example:
- Loot floating around, that is not marked on the compass, maybe a box with some loot inside, or a bottle with a note inside with some hidden tips, so with this if you pay attention to the surrounding you can receive some tiny rewards for that, also can be a good idea to make you put lights on the ship
- Something else could be like a long distance land hint, maybe like a group of birds flying in a particular direction in which you can find an yland or something like that, that is not shown on the HUD
Also adding NPC ships could make the seas feel more alive

Edited May 1, 2022 by KROVV

[TonyPearce 14]

36 minutes ago, KROVV said:

• Something that i feel need a revision are the rewards of the Mystery Ylands
I think those ylands are a really cool concept and there is a lot of potential behind the idea, but kinda feel like a waste of time, i don't obtain something meaningful for the gameplay, don't make me progress inside the game, and a currency is required in order to enter (exploration points), so most of the time is better to sail the seas and hope to get lucky with a shipwreck
So in resume, the reward don't match the requirement

• Another big thing that might need a balance is the difficulty of the game
The game is too easy, the AI is so exploitable, most of the enemies in the caves don't attack if you shoot them (may be a bug) just run around, if you have a gun + a propeller pack you are immortal and can kill everything. there is no multiplayer content or something you need to do/attack in groups, if you are in your ship you are just immortal, nothing can reach you, nothing will attack you.
Some things that could help in this regard are:
- Make that some enemies attack from distance (use guns, spells, throw rocks at you)
- Add fortress or fortified harbors in the shore of some ylands with canons and enemies, that you need to attack by land or by sea with your friends
- Add NPC pirate ships or/and cargo ships that will attack you or defend themselves if you attack them
- Stronger NPCs bosses
- Do some changes to the propeller pack

• Weapons
i like that some guns can seem very similar at first sight but have different reload time, different ammo capacity, different fire rate and looks like might have different aim cone, or at least different crosshair
Right now i feel that the melee weapons don't follow this path, looks like you only choose the weapon that does more damage and you are fine (some weapon type seem to attack a bit more faster than others, and a few have different animation, maybe could be nice to accentuate this difference so the weapons don't feel all the same), could be interesting to explore the idea of more situational approach for SOME weapons, for example all the frost weapons could apply a slow debuff that could help you or your friends to kill some very difficult bosses (can be a bit dangerous for pvp, depend on the application) or maybe the normal hit don't apply slow but the charged hit would (with no damage or very little damage so it's not so OP), or the charged hit could create a temporary ice area where you are slow if you step on it, or weapons with fire that leave a fire over time damage debuff and some mobs or bosses could have a damage type weak point (Slashing damage weak point, Piercing damage weak point) , stuff like that

• Crafting
I think we need an Arrastra or something similar to crush Sandstone into Sand, it take a lot of time and clicks to produce sand from sandstone, the same for Gravel, but i haven't found a use for it yet
Consider adding a cheap tailoring table in which you can make all the clothes with no armor properties
The resources needed for some building blocks need a rework, for example making a dock/pier is more cheaper if you use normal wooden blocks, if you use the  Wooden Pier blocks you are wasting resources
Something that for sure need some love is the UI inside some crafting tables, for example:
In the blacksmith forge we can have more than 160 different items, can we have a collapsible category system? so we can have a better navegation

• The Food topic
i feel that the food is too easy to find, there is a lot of food in each yland (fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, meat, you can fish everywhere)
All the food is kinda the same, you only need to eat a bit more units of some, apart from that there are no differences between raw food and cooked food
You don't need to stock up in food in order to prepare for an expedition or big exploration trip
There is no real reason to have a plantation (maybe only for cotton or similar at the start and of course trees for wood)
- My thoughts about it:
I kinda like the idea of the food to spoil over time, BUT i use food for decoration too, so maybe one option could be to add the tag FRESH for some time to the food (after preparation/hunt/gather), and after some time the food would loose the fresh tag (but dont spoil, just enter in a normal status). Then you don't penalize the people that eat old food, you just give a tiny buff to people that eat fresh food, maybe a bit more stamina or stamina regeneration, maybe a tiny benefit to accuracy with weapons or stuff like that, so some people can still eat old food or the same food over and over, if they want, without any punishment
Maybe you can add a refrigerator to extend the "fresh" status of the food
Other way to implement an optional method of food consumption could be the implementation of a Compost Bin, you put food in it and you can obtain compost overt time, the compost could be used to buff your plantations/crops (you obtain more fruits/vegetables per plant). This will require a bit of a farming overhaul, and for that to happen the food should be a bit harder to obtain or in less quantities, for example, not all the Corn Plant in the wild should have Corn, and if it have maybe you find only 1 corn per plant, if you want more corn per plant you should have a plantation at your base, and also you can make that the corn you obtain from your own plantation will stay fresh for more time, stuff like that
Other thing could be the implementation of Biofuel as an alternative fuel for engines. It will require some types of food in order to make biofuel

• Resources
I love the non destructive way to obtain some resources, for example rubber with the knife on the rubber tree, but it take a lot of time for only 1 unit of raw rubber, but if i chop the tree (it take more or less the same time) i obtain more raw rubber, and also obtain sub products like logs, sticks, wooden pieces and stuff like that, AND also i obtain like 3 seeds to plant more, so i think that need a balance

• World
I love that there are different biomes with different resources and with a distinctive look and feel. One thing I can say in this regard is that I often find myself sailing in a straight line with nothing to see/do and without the need to pay attention of my surrounding, also feel that the game have a really cool land vehicle system with a lot of potential that sadly is a bit wasted because the ylands are a bit small for a car and the topology (most of the time) is not very car friendly, also we cant carry vehicles on ships, so we only can use the cars in the yland where our base is.
- Something to explore here maybe could be that the desert could have bigger ylands or the ratio land/sea could be bigger (in favor of the land) than the other biomes, so maybe this biome has a bigger land exploration component in its design, and if we could carry vehicles on our ships would be the dream. Maybe this is hard to achieve and the physics can turn a bit crazy with the car on the ship, but you can explore with a new item, component or platform that you install in your ship and can attach the car temporally to the geometry of the ship, idk
Add some stuff that could make the navigation process a bit more engaging, because i think the sea navigation is underdeveloped in comparison with the land and underwater gameplay
For example:
- Loot floating around, that is not marked on the compass, maybe a box with some loot inside, or a bottle with a note inside with some hidden tips, so with this if you pay attention to the surrounding you can receive some tiny rewards for that, also can be a good idea to make you put lights on the ship
- Something else could be like a long distance land hint, maybe like a group of birds flying in a particular direction in which you can find an yland or something like that, that is not shown on the HUD
Also adding NPC ships could make the seas feel more alive

As for combat system, could they add some kind of stealth mode?I mean, you could sneak into some place without alerting the guards.Difficulty of singleplayer mode is quiet appropriate, but they could add some powerful boss into multiplayer mode.

As for guns and rifles, maybe we could craft "Rifle with bayonet" in the future, so we won't have to carry spear anymore.

[spiritchaser28 920]

1 hour ago, KROVV said:

I think we need an Arrastra or something similar to crush Sandstone into Sand

Well it's actually easy to turn 100 sandstone into sand. Click the eyeball in your inventory, then hold ctrl and destroy the amount you want to turn to sand. One click is all it takes.

 

1 hour ago, TonyPearce said:

Do some changes to the propeller pack

Uh what changes? I think maybe it would be good if it requires more resources to craft, but honestly I believe the time it takes to overheat is pretty much perfect.

 

1 hour ago, TonyPearce said:

The game is too easy, the AI is so exploitable

Could not agree more. I remember a year ago when I was running for my life from bears and wolves that spotted me....now I can dance around them and kill them with a flint knife before they even decide to chase me or attack.

 

1 hour ago, TonyPearce said:

Other thing could be the implementation of Biofuel as an alternative fuel for engines.

This is an interesting idea. Corn and potatoes come to mind for biofuel

 

1 hour ago, TonyPearce said:

f we could carry vehicles on our ships would be the dream

They are working on a car summoning feature. 

 

1 hour ago, TonyPearce said:

As for combat system, could they add some kind of stealth mode?

I sort of like the idea of invisibility potions, but they need to increase enemy AI, As of right now you can dance around the enemies for approximately 3 minutes before they decide to attack.  I killed a wooly rhino with a flint knife 2 days ago....stabbed it several times before it finally got angry enough to fight back. You are pretty much invisible for about 3 minutes now before the enemy takes notice.

[KROVV 1]

42 minutes ago, spiritchaser28 said:

Well it's actually easy to turn 100 sandstone into sand. Click the eyeball in your inventory, then hold ctrl and destroy the amount you want to turn to sand. One click is all it takes. 

WOW, usually i try this kind of key combinations, but for some reason i didn't tried that one, i destroyed sandstone 1by1 lol, what a pain, that is a cool tip

 

42 minutes ago, spiritchaser28 said:

Uh what changes? I think maybe it would be good if it requires more resources to craft, but honestly I believe the time it takes to overheat is pretty much perfect.

More expensive to craft for sure
But apart from that maybe a fuel system added on top of the heat system, right now you have unlimited flying, you should only let it cool from time to time
The speed is ridiculous compared to other forms of transportation, i use it even inside caves just to move faster
Add something like if you shoot and hit the player using the Propeller Pack  it add a bit of heat to it heat system, or maybe make it move a bit slow for a bit after the shot (make that some npc can perform a ranged attack too), or even better, if you hit the player you make him land
Because for pvp you just fly really fast, drop a few bombs over a player or ship or base and you leave in a second, and for pve you just fly everywhere and shoot the enemies and they cant do nothing about it, you are a god, you just killed everything while yawning
Maybe another thing could be that you can not use weapons while flying
i'm sure there could be other options to balance the propeller pack

Edited May 1, 2022 by KROVV

[zarwil 393]

Just now, KROVV said:

Maybe another thing could be that you can not use weapons while flying
i'm sure there could be other options to balance the propeller pack

The devs have talked about this previously, stating that they wish to add ranged attacks to various enemies. I think that alone would solve quite a few balancing issues in the game.

[Elenis 22]

Hello Ylanders,

I've been in the game since its preliminary approach, but I'm a complete newcomer to the forum. This is actually my first post. First of all, I want to apologize for not having very good English. I am writing a contribution with the help of a translator, and therefore (because Ylands is a game of Czech origin) I prefer to publish it also in Czech. So I apologize to non-Czech speaking people.

 

English:

Flying backpacks are very strong in combat. With a good rifle, you are practically immortal, and even if it overheats over time, all you have to do is land on a tree in time and wait for it to cool down. On the other hand, it is an invaluable helper in construction.

Another unpleasant feature is that they actually neutralize the basic function of walls and castles. Why a strong gate with a locked gate, or a beautiful entrance hall, when the player who visits you flies over the balcony directly into the bedroom.

But I came up with a solution. Make a non-flying field generator. Simply a Yland-powered device that would generate a field around itself where a flying backpack would not work. It would be enough to build it and bring energy. If you want to fly, for example due to construction, you simply turn off the power. The facility could be in three sizes, from the smallest, which would create a field the size of a building, or ships, to large ones that could cover a standard island.

According to Steam, I assume that airships or other flying ships are planned. This field could then prevent their entry or summoning.

In my opinion, such a device would be beneficial not only for the player's islands. It could accidentally spawn on uninhabited islands, making it impossible to use a flying backpack. Until the player finds his spawn, he will not be able to use the flying backpack. Exploring such an island would then be very interesting.

 

Czech:
Létající batohy jsou velmi silné v boji. S dobrou puškou jste prakticky nesmrtelní a i když se časem přehřeje, tak stačí včas přistát na některém stromě a počkat až vychladne. Na druhou stranu je to neocenitelný pomocník při stavbě.

Další jejich nepříjemnou vlastností je, že vlastně neutralizují základní funkci hradeb a hradů. K čemu pak je silná brána se zamčenými vraty, nebo krásná vstupní hala, když hráč, který vás navštíví vám vletí přes balkón přímo do ložnice.

Napadlo mě ale řešení. Udělat generátor nelétavého pole. Prostě zařízení napájené Yland-energií, které by kolem sebe generovalo pole, kde by létající batoh nefungoval. Stačilo by ho postavit a přivést energii. Pokud chcete létat, třeba kvůli stavbě, tak jednoduše vypnete proud. Zařízení by mohlo být ve třech velikostí od nejmenšího, který by vytvářel pole o velikosti budovy, nebo lodě až po velké, které by dokázaly pokrýt standardní ostrov.

Podle náznaků na Steamu přepokládám, že v plánu jsou vzducholodě, nebo jiné létající lodě. Toto pole by pak mohlo zabraňovat v jejich vletu, nebo přivolání.

Takové zařízení by podle mého názoru bylo přínosem nejen pro ostrovy hráče. Na neosídlených ostrovech by se mohlo náhodně spawnovat a tím znemožňovat používání létajícího batohu. Dokud by hráč nenašel jeho spawn, tak by létající batoh nemohl používat. Prozkoumávání takového ostrova by pak bylo velmi zajímavé.

[Igor Q. 519]

I think crafting has a couple of issues that could be remedied by simply having a Tech Tree.

If we introduce too many items it can get confusing and overwhelming.

 

I believe there are 2 equally good solutions. (Implement one but not both)

1) Being able to acquire slightly better but similiar resources.   Ex: Soft Wood, Hard Wood, Dense Wood, Concrete Wood, etc...

Advantages

• Lots of variety of resources (wood, stone, metal)
• Very easy to understand the tier progression for an item
• Upgrade paths are more independent and unique (A fishing rod may need better types of wood (using axe) but a sword may need better types of metal (using pickaxe)    )
• More encouragment to explore to gather resources and to not focus on one type of gameplay to get all items. (You must collect wood, stone, metal etc)

Disadvantages

• Inventory clutter
• Acquiring and finding resources is significantly more difficult (can be overwhelming, especially with limited inventory space)
• Need UI overhaul to help player find specific resources or to make it easier.

2) Craft better gear/items by using singular resources.  Ex: Fire Stone lets you craft Fire Axe, Fire Bow, Fire Chisel, etc. Diamonds let you craft Diamond Hammer, Diamond Gun, etc.

Advantages

• Extremely simple and intuitive to know what material you need to get next
• Gives the player more flexbility on how they want to spend their new resource. (Do they want a better sword or a better pickaxe?)
• Recipes can stay simple and be replaced by including upgrade paths which significantly declutters the crafting UI.
• Common items can be used for early/late game and be made rarer so that they hold value all game. (Such as flint)
• Less inventory clutter

Cons

• Too simple (can be unappealing to players)
• Gathering basic resources will feel repetitive (unless different options are available)
• Gathering the unique resource for each tier can be unique but can also be annoying for players. Ex: Players hate going underwater and don't want to spend 5 hours underwater to get a specific resource needed to craft all their items

 

The game currently is using option 2 but it's not well defined or satisfying. We go from wood/stone, to iron/steel, to zirconium but it feels too short of a progression with not enough intermediate stages imo...

 

 

Also while I think the Ocean update is great, I feel like it could appear more beautiful and complex. It still feels a bit too empty still. I played a game a while ago called Abzu which provided a really good concept of how underwater gameplay diving would look like...

Notable highlights include

1:30 Empty/Natural waters

2:15 Kelp Forest

3:40 Natural cave generation

8:00 Swimming in ravine
26:00 (swimming with whales)

34:25 (swimming inside a metal structure underwater)

 

Some other pet peeves I have are, because underwater movement is 3D I think it would make more sense if we have the ability to control movement using the mouse camera, rather than being forced into wasd or traditional movement. Having the character bend their hip" while swimming would definitly help to the whole immersion aspect. (similiar to sharks/dolphines)

Edited May 2, 2022 by Igor Q.

[TonyPearce 14]

I have a wishlist o in-game things I want to have in the future.

1. Airship or hot air balloon
2. Different types of large mast with sail.
3. If a submarine is too sophisticated, how about a diving bell.Attached it to your ship, it can also resupply your oxygen underwater.
4. Catfish only live in freshwater in real life, a freshwater fauna is needed.
5. New weapon: blowpipe, it could shoot paralyzing dart and poisonous dart.Some kind of fish could be used as material.
6. Friendly villagers and village, you could even hire one or two.And merchant ship with vendors, you can trade with them or rob them(their ship will fire back if you attack them)
7. Gun/rifle with bayonet.
8. Mystery island is not that bad, but it seems that they need to have less bug.Besides, some side quest could be added as a complement.
9. Instruments, some could be carried by player.
10. Exploration should be the core of exploration mode, maybe we should have some kind of exploration diary, which contains every kind of animal, plant, resources, npc and so.

[spiritchaser28 920]

On 5/1/2022 at 12:56 PM, Elenis said:

But I came up with a solution. Make a non-flying field generator. Simply a Yland-powered device that would generate a field around itself where a flying backpack would not work.

They used to have protective barriers but they did away with them in favor of owner controls....for instance if you make a map multiplayer you can set privileges so only your friends can do damage to things or modify terrain. It's a decent system, but I think it could be better if we were allowed to list the people that can actually do those things, right now it's limited to friends and non friends.

The idea of a non flying generator is intriguing, but not sure if they will implement it....they have made it easier to control the time propeller packs fly in editor made games however which is a good thing.

[Elenis 22]

I already found out (the hard way) that you can turn off the flying backpack in the editor. Actually, it would probably be enough if the player had the option to set the flying backpack off on their island, similar to how they set PvP and other multiplayer options.

[zarwil 393]

On 5/2/2022 at 1:22 AM, Igor Q. said:

Also while I think the Ocean update is great, I feel like it could appear more beautiful and complex. It still feels a bit too empty still. I played a game a while ago called Abzu which provided a really good concept of how underwater gameplay diving would look like...

ABZU serves as good inspiration, however that's a game where pretty much their entire selling-point is the visuals of the environment. It's not really fair to expect similar things in Ylands (which you probably don't, I'm just saying).