Crowbar for removing blocks after they've hardened/ been placed

[Seraphaestus 3]

At the minute, from what I've played of the game, the building is really fun but also really tedious. Not only are resources (logs in particular) slow to come by in the amounts you'd want for building, the solidification/hardening mechanic where you can't pick blocks back up is really dissuasive for building, in that it takes forever to break even single blocks once you've placed them down and the time has passed.

My suggestion is to add a crowbar (craftable simply with iron, wood) that, when held, displays the option to pick up building blocks regardless of the time they have been placed (i.e. you can pick up hardened blocks with it). Hardening is a nice mechanic so you don't accidentlly interact with your structure building blocks once built, but breaking structures you've built is so, so tedious as it is.

If this is a problem in terms of multiplayer pvp griefing, etc., then the crowbar could be disabled by default in multiplayer or be under a config so you can choose to keep it if on a server with trusted friends.

If it's a problem with becoming overpowered from taking apart generated structures, these structures could have a tag that means they are only broken and do not drop again. Even this behaviour by default would be preferable in that it would remove the tedium of manually breaking each block with an instant crowbar dissassembly.

Another thing I've noticed is that even within the time limit, it is impossible to pick workstations back up, as the option to interact with them overrides it, forcing you to break them. For example, I placed an alchemy stand in my house but afterwards found the noise was annoying and had to break it, losing the glass flask I'd used in its construction which is less than ideal.

If you've got this far, thank you for reading my suggestion  c:

[Gabriel Tripp 0]

I think this is a great solution.  I understand that the barrier system is coming next year, but having a tool to pick items even faster would really help improve the experience of building.  Options for how you want to be able to pick up items should be available on world creation as well, for people playing solo.  Just my 2¢

[vforventura 17]

There's already a crowbar in the game, by the way.

Sadly I don't think its currently being used for that.

Apparently, in the next few updates we'll get a barrier system that will act as a sort of land claim, where the owner can break hardened blocks quickly (or pick 'em back up, I suppose) while keeping it harder to break by other people (for multiplayer situations). From what I've read elsewhere on this forum, the devs' intent is to keep the system relatively realistic (its a lot of trouble to demolish a house completely, and the faster you do it, the less useful stuff you can salvage from it) which is a fair enough design decision, and helps differentiate this game from other crafty-buildy-survivalish-sandboxy games in the market. I'm all for that, actually.

But I think a compromise is possible. Perhaps its a bit more complex, but a potentially interesting way to get around the difficulty of building things (but not breaking them apart) could be something along the lines of using the editor (or creative mode) to save blueprints of structures, houses, or whatever else you want to make in a survival or multiplayer game, that you could then place as a single unit in the game and then fill with the building materials that it needs, like you would fuel a furnace for example, until the structure is fully built. That way remodeling a house would still take work, but it would eliminate the problem of things hardening WHILE you are building, so it would take a lot less time (and trial-and-error) to get things just right. Depending on how this is handled you could even possibly upload the blueprints of your creations to the steam workshop (or a dropbox or something) and share it with other players if you wanted. If I recall, Space Engineers had something along those lines, and I think its a very cool system that would work well for Ylands.

The creation of a blueprint could even take some pencil and paper and such, keeping with the realistic approach.

[WijkagentAdrie 384]

The game already logs what blocks are placed by who I believe. I think that every player should have the ability to pick up/destroy the blocks they placed themselves, all over the world. All blocks not being placed on a ship or car, or within a shield generator should be destroyable.

The only thing that I'm still doubting is what happens if people place blocks around your shield generator, or make ugly crappy things all over the island in general, and then leave the server. Should all blocks placed outside generators, cars and ships be able for pick up by anyone? I think this is a discussion that's ongoing with the developers as well as it's hard to work out.

 

10 hours ago, vforventura said:

There's already a crowbar in the game, by the way.

Sadly I don't think its currently being used for that.

Apparently, in the next few updates we'll get a barrier system that will act as a sort of land claim, where the owner can break hardened blocks quickly (or pick 'em back up, I suppose) while keeping it harder to break by other people (for multiplayer situations). From what I've read elsewhere on this forum, the devs' intent is to keep the system relatively realistic (its a lot of trouble to demolish a house completely, and the faster you do it, the less useful stuff you can salvage from it) which is a fair enough design decision, and helps differentiate this game from other crafty-buildy-survivalish-sandboxy games in the market. I'm all for that, actually.

But I think a compromise is possible. Perhaps its a bit more complex, but a potentially interesting way to get around the difficulty of building things (but not breaking them apart) could be something along the lines of using the editor (or creative mode) to save blueprints of structures, houses, or whatever else you want to make in a survival or multiplayer game, that you could then place as a single unit in the game and then fill with the building materials that it needs, like you would fuel a furnace for example, until the structure is fully built. That way remodeling a house would still take work, but it would eliminate the problem of things hardening WHILE you are building, so it would take a lot less time (and trial-and-error) to get things just right. Depending on how this is handled you could even possibly upload the blueprints of your creations to the steam workshop (or a dropbox or something) and share it with other players if you wanted. If I recall, Space Engineers had something along those lines, and I think its a very cool system that would work well for Ylands.

The creation of a blueprint could even take some pencil and paper and such, keeping with the realistic approach.

What if players/griefers harden a massive stone wall right in front of your door? Or just ugly stone piles all over the island?

[ComR 57]

Yes! This is something we all need. Why in singleplayer we can't take back materials or take armchairs or stools home?? 

[vforventura 17]

6 hours ago, WijkagentAdrie said:

What if players/griefers harden a massive stone wall right in front of your door? Or just ugly stone piles all over the island?

Personally I'd fire vehicle-mounted cannons at it until it was destroyed Shouldn't take too long.

Edited December 14, 2017 by vforventura

[Sledge1964 0]

I get really frustrated with the building mechanics.  I'm used to games like Ark Survival Evolved, where I absolutely LOVE to build things.  Premade wall blocks, with or without windows, or door frames built in, premade ceiling/roof panels - as opposed to ylands where each tile has to be laid individually.  Building parts clip automatically, intelligently, no problem with clipping if you need to build a wall close to a cliff etc, foundations and walls blend seamlessly.

It's relatively easy and no fuss to whip up a building just by stitching the various panels together.  They can be dismantled and picked up and re-used elsewhere too.  By right clicking on a panel you have the option to change it's colour, texture or pick it up, or destroy it.  You start off with straw, progress to wood, then stone, (or adobe). Eventually you're able to build things with metal etc.  If I want to place a window, it will alwas fit.  Same with doors, or gates.  Everything just fits together so you can build something without gaps or misaligned pieces.

I tried repairing one of the wooden huts I found on an island in Ylands, thinking it might be easier than building one from scratch. Nope.  If I leave the snap-to grid on, the roof tiles never fitted in with the existing roof, if I tried to patch holes.  So the only option is to turn off the snapping, and place it manually, which is never that accurate.  Hardened parts of the building interfered with my repairs, and couldn't be removed - well, at least not without destroying everything else around it.  Trying to find something the right size, to fit the gaps is hard work.  All in all it's just awkward and frustrating.  I'm guessing the idea behind the way things have been done, is to give you greater freedom and flexibility, but for me it's just annoying.

The difference would be, instead of placing logs individually, and trying to get the measurements and placement right, you'd have wall panels premade with logs, which you could just bolt together. If you know what I mean.

Here are some pics of some of the things you can do in Ark - if you look closely you can see the seams of the panels, so you have an idea of how it all fits together.  It's a bit like playing with Lego.  ?

Sadly I don't have any pic displaying the individual building parts, or building in progress to make it easier to visualise. But next time I'm on I'll make some.

.  

A simple stone house with wooden shutters and reinforced wooden doors.

The interior of such a stone house - complete with glass panels to let in light, and a funtioning fireplace - just add wood - and a match... (As in Ylands you can also use it to cook and do other things)

 

 

A smaller hut with clay tiles for a roof, and iron framed glass windows.  The paving/foundations are also all part of the snap-on thing, the wall panels are made to fit their dimensions exactly.

If you get real ambitious you can even make castle like structures relatively easy with all sorts of quirky angles..  Nice glazed tiles for the roof.

 

Cozy indoors with no fear of accidentally clicking on a wall panel and having it appear in your inventory...

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by Sledge1964

[TomasGestinger 41]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll send it over to the development team. Building in Exploration is a continuous issue we try to address so we're always looking for more ideas.

[jchob 354]

@Sledge1964I know people that play other building games and they say ylands has the better building system ?

 

[bojo2736 1016]

We each have our own build style, I guess. The premade slabs are very limiting in my experience. And there are never the right piece you are looking for.  No snapping to the world grid is a total PITA,  and smooshing things together really isn't a thing.

Ylands has a different building mechanic. And as clunky as it is sometimes, it is still the best builder out their IMO.  And I constantly look for good builders. 

But Paralives may have them beat. I have high hopes.