Dev Diary #7

[Aleš Ulm 1725]

Hi there, fellow ylanders.

As we're boldly heading to Q2 2017 I think it's time we have yet another talk about how things are and what you can expect in the upcoming months.

First off let me thank you for your support and feedback - a lot of changes we do are made as a direct result of your posts on the forum, messages we receive from the in-game feedback tracker or because of things we see when we watch you make YT videos!

As you might have noticed word about Ylands has started spreading. We've already attended some cool events like Unite and PAX, where we got to meet some of you (and it was just awesome!) and in the future you'll be able to visit us in some other ones as well. There are new Youtube videos appearing on a daily basis, more players are coming... and that's before we even hit Steam. From the talks we had with you we know that most of you are waiting for the Steam version to come out and as we said some time ago - that time is near.

There are still some months to go before we get there so here's a short summary of what's going to happen in the meantime:

 

* It's now just days before the update Wonderful Writing is released. However, instead of "0.23" this one will be "0.3." The reason behind this is simple - we're quite happy with how the fixing, optimizations and polishing is moving along (but yes, we do have A LOT of things to fix and improve) and somewhere there in the future we see the Ylands 1.0 version. The change in numbering of regular updates ("0.3" will be followed by "0.4" etc.) is meant to give you a more clear idea of where we stand. 

 

Wandering through lifeless towns in SP mode one can feel a bit... lonely. Maybe we should do something about that, right? 

 

Just to be clear about what Ylands 1.0 means - at that point we want to have a game that runs well, is as bug-free as possible, has intuitive controls and enough content to stand on its own. But most importantly - it is a game that can serve as a starting point for some of the big ideas from our internal "Awesome and Crazy" list - we can't wait to start working on those. Long story short - 1.0 is where the real fun begins. 

 

* In the upcoming update you will be able to find lots of MP-related fixes. One area that proved to be a bit more difficult to fix than expected are ships in MP - some of the issues will be fixed in 0.4.

* We're working hard on a system that would first let you share your own creations made within the game (from tiniest things to epic castles) or whole games. This will be followed by support for "mods" - external assets that you will be able to put into your games and share as well. Good news is that we're almost there.

* Before we hit Steam we plan to optimize game's performance, improve the controls (gamepad controls are still very much in "work in progress" state) and remove some ugly inconsistencies. We will enter as Early Access game, but at that point we want Ylands to feel real close to a finished game. We need the Early Access to get some more feedback, improve the MP experience and tweak the game based on data coming from larger number of players.

 

* Even though we plan to mostly fix and improve existing features, you don't have to worry about us not giving you something new and shiny to play with. If you're into new stuff I think it's safe to assume that you will like what's coming in June 

So till we meet again - you take care, ylanders, and stay classy!