What do you love the most? Whether its your mum, spouse, yourself, your favourite pet or tea brand, Ylands game or the day after a paycheck, one thing's for sure: everyone likes sales and discounts! That's no secret, right?
That's also why we're writing this diary. This Valentine's Day won't be secret at all! Quite the opposite—Valentine's sales are coming to the Ylands shop and we hope they will be as visible as light itself. Let's see what we have in store for you!
Limited Pet
Everyone should get on board with this cute Fox On Board pet! You can see it in its eyes that it already loves you. Sadly, Foxy won't be here forever and is available only until 22nd of February.
Lovely Sale 'till 22nd of February
In case you need to propose to your significant other, this February there is a 50% discount on the Proposal emote! Also, we wanted to make sure that our lovely Fox won't be alone so we are throwing in a 30% discount on the Gryphon and Fairy pets!
But THE SALE is the Vases recipe bundle, which is 80% off. Feel free to gift it to all of your friends and go picking flowers together!
Discord Foxy Rewards
Already got the Fox On Board pet? Great! Send us a screenshot with your new lovely pet on our Discord server to the #screenshots_ylands. On the 13th of February, we will randomly choose 3 winners from everyone who sends a screenshot of Foxy accompanying them. The prize is yet another Fox pet that the winners can gift to their significant other.
Lastly, let us express our love to you. Thank you so much for constantly returning the love that we put into the development of Ylands by sticking with the game in the good times and worse times.
Stay Classy, Ylanders!
Dev Diary #309 Not all work is visible
Ahoy Ylanders!
In game development, not everything we do is immediately visible or playable in the upcoming updates. We often find ourselves preparing for future features, creating tools for designers, or making adjustments to NPCs, resources, or gameplay mechanics to enhance the player experience. Sometimes we need to get back to the old features or technology and rewrite the code or change the graphic assets so it fits the game better.
Gameplay adjustments
Gameplay adjustments are often necessary during the development to improve the overall player experience and ensure a fun and engaging gameplay. Let's explore an example of gameplay adjustments made for Ylands, specifically related to the introduction of the Tech Tree and resource placement. When preparing to release the Tech Tree, a significant improvement for Ylands, the design team had to carefully reconsider the placement of resources throughout the game world. The goal was to create an experience that encourages players to explore the Ylands world, discover new recipes within the Tech Tree, and ultimately, have fun.
New tools for designers
Luckily, not everything has to be handled by the programmers. They often cook up some nifty tools that designers can use to sprinkle in all sorts of stuff into the game without any coding. Adding a quest into the handbook can be a good example. That way, the seasoned programmers can put their focus on the really important stuff while the game keeps getting cooler. Yet, creating tools like this is not instant and starts delivering visible impact exactly one update later.
Technical debt
It is not uncommon for game developers to introduce a completely new feature, only to realize during team feedback or playtesting that it requires a few additional elements to enhance understanding and enjoyment. At times, these additions can be quickly implemented. However, in other cases, programmers may resort to "hacking" or applying temporary fixes, these deviations are often responsible for bugs in the future. Therefore we need to rework this code in the future updates, as they can hinder the implementation of new features. Additionally, when extending an existing feature, developers may discover that the initial code was flawed or some important aspects got overlooked. This realization requires reworking the code to address the shortcomings and avoid accumulating technical debt.
Have fun with any new update
We hope that you enjoy every new update even if there is no "flashy new feature" and we "just improve" something for you. All the changes, whether they are small or feels invisible are made so the Ylands could be an even more awesome game than it is now.
Thanks for understanding and Stay Classy!
Dev Diary #308 A bug's journey
Hello Ylanders!
Do you ever wonder what happens to the bugs which we at the QA department find in the game and submit into our system? Today we'll take a look at their journey!
If something in the game doesn't work or doesn't match the way it was designed, we'll mark it as a bug. This can be a whole range of things - from a badly rotated block to the game crashing completely.
Let's say, for example, we're entering the incorrect block. We assign it the proper priority, "epic" (what feature or group of tasks it belongs to), component (which areas of the game it applies to), and which version of the game it belongs to. Then it is important to determine a "fix version" in other words, when we want to have the issue fixed. For example, if we want the bug to be fixed by the next update we assign a fix version with the next update number. If it's an issue that isn't as pressing, we assign it a Backlog fix version and then such bugs are solved when the person they are assigned to has time. This brings us to the last step in the issue creation and that is the "assign" part. We use it to determine who is in charge of fixing the issue.
In the case of our poorly rotated block, we will assign an issue to someone from our art team who takes care of the visual parts of the game. So the issue landed on a graphic designer in a "To Do" status. Our graphic designer will fix the bug by rotating the block to the correct position and sending it back to QA. They do this by switching the bug to the "Prepared for testing" phase and assigning it to the QA lead. They must also remember to fill in the revision (the version of the game) on which the issue can be retested. QA then waits until the revision is built and at that point it can start testing if the block is rotated correctly and if it's been fixed on PC, Android and also iOS mobile devices. The "Prepared for testing" state is then changed by the tester who is testing the issue to "In test". This is how the others can tell that a tester has started working on the issue and we avoid two people testing the same thing at the same time.
Now we are at the stage where either the issue is fixed or we have some reservations about it. If it is fixed on all devices we can close it (switch to "Done" state). If we are still not satisfied with the solution (for example the block is turned in the right direction but too much) we add a comment to the issue, fail it and send it back to the graphic designer who fixed it, they fix it again and send it back to QA and this is how it goes on until we are satisfied with the fix. However, there may be cases, and it is very common, where fixing one issue causes a new issue or several new issues. For example, the moment our block is turned around correctly, a problem with the integrity of Blueprints may occur. By changing the pivot of something we break the Blueprints of the people who used that block in their Blueprints - because it also gets rotated in their Blueprints. So we submit a new issue and link it to the one already fixed.
When testing, it's important to remember that every fix can have consequences, and just because we fix something doesn't mean it won't break something else. Game development is a very lively and dynamic process. It's made up of many pieces and there is room for error in each of them, so it's important to not only test individual parts, but also the whole. Therefore, please be forgiving and if you find something that doesn't work, report it to us. Now you know what path your issue will take and that it's a winding road.
Have a great day, enjoy playing and Stay Classy!
Dev Diary #307 A New Resident in Taiga
Ahoy Ylanders!
We're thrilled to share some behind-the-scenes insights from our 3D artist department about a new animal coming to the Taiga region in Update 2.3. This is going to be a great one so you will have to wait a bit longer for it.
The Creative Journey: From Squirrels to Cows Our journey began with an open slot in the Taiga region, prompting our designer to suggest adding a new animal. The first idea was a giant squirrel, but animation challenges led us to brainstorm further. We then played with the idea of something prehistoric and herbivorous, like a dinosaur. Imagine that in Ylands! However, we soon realized that the best idea was right in front of us, especially with the upcoming 2.2 update bringing encounters reminiscent of the bygone cowboy era. Our designer, Pypse (who often interacts with you on our Discord), came up with a brilliant idea: a cow.
Merging Utility with Aesthetics: The Taiga Cow This cow isn't just an animal; it's a symbol of our commitment to blending utility with aesthetics. It animates well, is great for riding, can be milked, and fits perfectly with the Taiga's cowboy theme. Deciding on the type of cow was challenging, with numerous breeds to choose from. We settled on the unique Highland cattle, known for its shaggy coat.
Artistic Challenge: The Highland Cattle Model Creating a model of the Highland cattle required special attention to its distinctive, shaggy fur. Thanks to our team of experienced artists, we found a fantastic direction for stylization, making our cow model a work of art. We're excited to show you the initial versions of the fur!
Bringing the Cow to Life: Sounds and Animations In the Ylands team, we hope you'll also appreciate the sounds and animations of this noble Taiga creature, integral to our thoughtful stylization process. We're in the process of creating those, so stay tuned!
Thank You, Community Your feedback is crucial as we continue to develop and refine our game. We're grateful for your participation in the Ylands community. Your adventures, challenges, and achievements inspire us every day and we are so excited to hear what you think about this furry cow addition to Ylands.
Happy exploring in Ylands, and we can't wait for you to meet our newest Taiga resident!
Stay Classy!
Dev Diary #306 Projecting Projectiles to Snowballs
Ahoy Ylanders!
As you might have gathered from the previous programming dev diary, changes always carry the risk of introducing bugs – and this goes double for last minute changes. Programmers are conditioned to avoid risks where possible; after all, it’s our job to make sure that this huge machine of a game works as expected. But in some situations – such as when a winter festival is to be held for the first time and the game lacks throwable snowballs – you just have to pick up the gauntlet and roll with it despite the short timeframe, because you feel that the fun potential is worth the risk.
We already had throwing controls complete for grenades, but wanted the snowballs to behave more like an arrow does, just hitting a target and disappearing instead of exploding violently. Sometimes, programming new features is just like LEGO, you take existing pieces and creatively combine them in new ways, and that’s it. There’s also another way programming is like LEGO – sometimes to get what you want, the only way is to tear the current construction down and rebuild from scratch. Fortunately, for snowballs it was the first case, because we have already invested time into making projectiles work well beforehand.
So let's have a quick look at how projectiles actually work in Ylands! There are two main approaches to simulating motion – kinematics and dynamics. Kinematics is where we directly describe the motion via an equation based on position, velocity, and acceleration. Dynamics behaves more closely to how the actual physics works, by applying various forces to an object, which can then generate motion based on its physical properties – mass, inertia, shape, etc.
Looks like dynamics must be the way to go, being the more accurate option, right? Well, there's a catch. Due to its complexity, dynamic motion is much harder to predict, analyze, and make deterministic – key properties for a multiplayer game, since they allow us to have exactly the same projectile trajectory for all players. In fact, most motion in Ylands is kinematic, except for vehicles and ragdolls, which are too complex for kinematics. Choosing a simpler but a more controllable approach where possible is actually very common in game development! So we opt to simulate projectiles via kinematics, but we need an equation for projectile motion. Very fast projectiles such as bullets can be thought of as having a constant velocity, and thus moving on a line. Having an initial position P₀ and velocity v, their position at time t after firing can be easily calculated as P = P₀ + v ⋅ t. In fact, we can take bullets even further, thinking of their movement as instantaneous – their velocity is so large that they can reach any point we shoot at immediately after they are fired. This simplifies the simulation to checking whether any object lies in the line of fire between the origin point and the target point, which the physics engine can conveniently calculate for us via a raycast query.
The simplified equation can only take us so far however, because it excludes the effects of a very common force - gravity. With bullets, we could ignore it because the initial velocity was so large that we hit the target before gravity has a significant impact on the trajectory. But that won't work for slower moving objects such as arrows, grenades, and, you've guessed it, snowballs. What gravity does is it applies uniform downward acceleration (gravitational acceleration) to the object, building up velocity over time. The equation for uniformly accelerated motion is P = P₀ + (a ⋅ t²) / 2 where a is the acceleration, in our case the gravitational acceleration g. If we combine this with the effect of initial velocity as seen on the bullets, we get the final equation P = P₀ + v ⋅ t + (g ⋅ t²) / 2. This is a quadratic equation, meaning that the final trajectory will be a parabolic curve – which is what we expect from snowballs and arrows.
Once we have the equation for calculating projectile position at time t, it becomes a simple problem of tracking how much time has elapsed since the shot was fired and moving the projectile to the calculated position based on current time. Except now we are ignoring all the obstacles along the way! First thing that comes to mind would be checking for collisions at the current position – if we overlap with some object, we have just hit it and can deal damage to it.
Unfortunately, this won’t work for fast projectiles and thin obstacles – the way the game simulation works, we can only update the projectile position after a fixed amount of time passes from the previous update. If we just check the previous and current positions there might be no collisions, but only because we have already fully passed through the obstacle – a phenomenon known as “tunneling”. But hey, we’ve already solved this for bullets! We can again look at the previous and current position and check if anything lies between these two points via a physics engine raycast. If we hit something, we determine whether the obstacle stops the projectile movement – in which case we stick the projectile into it and apply damage – or if the projectile should pass through the obstacle unhindered.
And that’s the gist of it! This small bit of kinematics allows you to throw a snowball (or a grenade if you’re not feeling particularly festive) in the face of your fellow Ylanders. It also allowed us to implement gun and bow aim assist for mobile and gamepad controls in 2.2, so stay tuned for that – and stay classy!
Dev Diary #305 Ylands 2023 in numbers
Ahoy Ylanders!
Patrik from marketing here! 2023 was a wild one for Ylands. Just consider the craziest thing, instead of the awaited 1.12 version we released the biggest update in Ylands history: the 2.0. Even though this was the bomb, there were so many other important numbers throughout last year. Let's see some marketing and game data!
Marketing data
You sent 101 691 messages and spoke for 76 243 minutes on the Ylands Discord server. What can I say, you just love to chat and admire each other's work. If you want to find some friends to play with, our Discord server is the best place for you. Now, we know, that you were not bored, and here is proof that the Ylands Marketing team also had a lot of fun this year.
4 Ylands Streams were held, 1 of those was quite a revolution as it took place on Discord, being closer to you all as we were playing games together, competing, chatting, and chilling. We posted over 300 Posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter X, and within traditional weekly community screenshots, we shared 156 of your in-game screenshots and amazing builds. From the video perspective, we presented the world with 2 trailers and 61 short videos for our TikTok and YouTube. If you are not following us on some of these social media you should definitely give it a shot!
We held 18 competitions and contests, and delivered at least triple the amount of prizes and giveaway items! We simply don't know the precise number here as sometimes, we just have to reward you randomly for being so awesome and helpful to each other. Last but not least we released 50 Dev Diaries and 21 maintenances were run.
But let's get back to you, Ylanders!
Game data
5 617 blueprints, yes that many amazing creations were uploaded to the blueprint shop by you, Ylanders! And what about all the wonders you accomplished directly in the world of Ylands? Oh boy! You picked up and cut down 1 245 456 plants, tamed 11 227 animals out of which there were 1 777 horses, and crafted 26 705 134 items. Surprisingly enough, among these 26 milion, there was only a single cultist skirt crafted. Those are all amazing numbers and we couldn't be happier.
Thank you so much for all the time that you spent with us, whether it was chatting with other Ylanders on Discord, creating blueprints and sending us your screenshots, watching our videos and liking our social media posts, and most importantly for the time you've spent in the world of Ylands.
We wish you to Stay Classy in 2024!
Dev Diary #304 Handbook Rewards Enhancing your Journey
Hello Ylanders,
We’re back with an exciting blend of news about our latest feature: Handbook Rewards. This addition is all about enriching your entire journey in Ylands, with a special focus on those initial, crucial hours of gameplay.
A Rewarding Start
We understand that the first few hours in Ylands can be decisive. Players who overcome the initial learning curve tend to find deeper enjoyment and stay longer. With this in mind, Handbook Rewards are designed to make the early stages more engaging and less daunting. By offering meaningful rewards for early tasks, we aim to help new players find their footing and uncover the true potential of Ylands.
Rewards Across Your Journey
But it’s not just about the start. Handbook Rewards bring value at every stage of your adventure. Whether you’re gathering essential resources, unlocking unique and powerful weapons, or acquiring special collectibles, these rewards are tailored to enhance your experience.
Streamlining Progression
A key goal of Handbook Rewards is to offer a smoother progression path. These rewards come in at just the right time to help you unlock new regions and tackle the challenges ahead. It’s about reducing the grind and increasing the enjoyment of each milestone you reach. While also giving you a long term goal to aim for in the case of Story Chapters or some more difficult Region conquering Diary Events.
Looking Forward
Handbook Rewards represent just one step in our ongoing effort to make Ylands more engaging. We see great potential in integrating this system with future features, like daily quests or login bonuses, to continually enhance your gaming experience.
Your Feedback, Our Compass
As you delve into this new feature, we’re eager to hear from you. Your experiences, especially during the early stages of the game, are invaluable in helping us refine and evolve the Handbook Rewards system.
Thank you for being part of the Ylands community. Your adventures, challenges, and achievements are what inspire us to keep improving and expanding the world of Ylands.
Happy exploring, and here’s to many more rewarding adventures ahead!
Stay Classy!
Dev Diary #303 The Journey of a Feature
Ahoy Ylanders!
Updates are consistently geared toward enhancing your gaming experience. Each update brings a combination of significant features and behind-the-scenes improvements to ensure smoother and more enjoyable gameplay. Let's delve into the journey of these features.
Wish List Our wish list is a culmination of various sources, including community suggestions, insights from focus tests, brainstorming sessions with our designers, and feedback from our team members. We also take into account thoughts gathered from QA feedback sessions, creating a comprehensive pool of ideas.
Priorities Every update is driven by specific goals, such as improving recipes for new players or transforming sailing into a thrilling adventure. We compile a list of approximately 40 objectives for each update, aiming for a balance between fun and functionality.
Design The Feature Owner plays a crucial role in crafting a design document with mockups to visualize ideas. Some features are even prototyped using our Editor, adding a tangible dimension to the creative process.
Design Review A creative huddle takes place involving the Project Lead, Producer, and Designers. Their focused brainstorming session ensures alignment with our overall vision and addresses any potential challenges.
Implementation With a detailed plan in place, we share our ideas with the implementation team. Each feature follows a specific timeline, accompanied by status meetings and vigilant oversight to ensure a smooth transition from concept to reality.
Feature Review We did it! Upon completion, the Project Lead and Producer evaluate the feature's integration into the game, considering its overall enjoyment factor. Other developers also provide feedback during this phase.
Feature is Ready The moment of truth arrives as QA takes center stage. Rigorous testing is conducted to identify and address any bugs, ensuring the feature is polished and ready for release.
As our team eagerly tackles the next project, they remain committed to resolving any issues promptly. We're excited for you to experience the new feature and have a fantastic time with it! 🚀🎮
And that is a feature's journey from the point of view of Production. Do you have any questions about this process? Let us know in the comments!
Stay Classy!
Dev Diary #302 The Nature of Testing
Ahoy Adventurers!
In this week's dev diary, us in the QA department have been asked to talk about game dev experience from our point of view. We've been scratching our heads how to convey the Tester Experience TM and after some thought and pondering, we've decided to focus on the life cycle of an update and put forth the following description of events. As you read this account of ours, try to immerse yourself in the spirit of good-natured humor sprinkled with just a tiny bit of desperation. We do love game dev in general and our game in particular after all, but perhaps being tasked with finding the mistakes and shortcomings in everything we touch reflects in the mentality and jokes we make. But all we do, we do to help make Ylands as amazing as possible.
Ground Zero - An earthquake update hits the floor
The culmination of several months' worth of pressure effort and preparations. At long last, an update is released, however the work isn't done here by any means. For us at QA headquarters, the ride continues and the show goes on.
During the release maintenance window, we scramble to double check that crucial systems and infrastructure work. Some things we can reasonably expect to work once live, but things like logging into the app, the workshop, servers, exploration and similar cornerstones of the game can hide issues we only discover last minute. Usually things are fine, though sometimes the maintenance window needs to be prolonged for us to be able to deliver. And in the absolute worst case scenario, if a blocker is only uncovered now, we have the option to break the glass and hit the Big Red Button to roll back the update, restore the previous versions and dive deep into what went wrong. Needless to say, nobody likes to even consider this option, least of all us at QA HQ.
Let's assume things went more or less well, losses are within parameters and move on to the next stage. Our wonderful community manager announces that the maintenance is over and an update is live and we start dealing with the fallout.
First responders & Damage control
It's close to assured that there will be issues to iron out after an update. Nobody is perfect after all, and while all of us in the dev team give it our best to achieve that state, it's ultimately impossible. So, in the first days or possibly weeks after an update, we spend much of our time investigating any issues that eluded attention until now and roll out hotfixes and patches to control the fallout. The tempo is rapid and while we all long for relief in this time, we know it's important to keep the pressure up. Rapid QA response to fixes and other commits, attention to detail and in some cases, figuring out why a critical issue flew under the radar are the items on the agenda in this period. Forecast: crunches with a chance of meatballs. Eventually, the most burning issues are wrangled and we can finally let out a tired sigh of relief. For a short while, it's done.
Humanitarian relief
A thick line between the previous update and the next has been drawn and we finally start looking to the future. We regain our strength, we refocus, we learn. The length of this window heavily depends on how many patches were pushed for the last update and there always exists the possibility that relief never comes - the sheer amount of necessary work takes so long that we can find ourselves deep into the next update's life cycle even before the previous one is over. Speaking of the next update...
Another crisis on the horizon
When an earthquake hits, a tsunami may follow. The development of features and new content doesn't halt just because things needed fixing. Eventually, we need to turn our eyes to what's on the horizon. There is a surge in workload as requests for testing start coming en masse and we give one last tearful wave to the short period of reprieve as it sails away. The quicker we dispatch these tests, the more time for adjustments, polish and feedback there is and, as it logically follows, the better the state these new features will be in. And as we send back bugs and feedback, retest, report newly found bugs, return whatever wasn't sufficiently improved, rinse and repeat.
Damage projections
As the ongoing cycle matures, there comes a time when everyone needs to take a step back and look at the larger picture. Before the dev team fully commits to a given state of the game, feature states need to be re-evaluated and prioritized. Sometimes you can be enthusiastically crunching away at a feature but find out you didn't quite have the time to get it done, sometimes the core is done but during development you find out there are simply too many issues for you to be able to fix before it's too late and sometimes, a feature was just too large and took so long to finish that we at QA HQ simply don't have the time and people to properly make sure it's in the best possible state. This is the point where hard decisions have to be made. Will a feature be postponed? Will its scope be reduced? And will it still be viable after that? Sometimes it is better to postpone than to release something we're not happy with, after all.
A tsunami Data lock confirmed
The data just came in from the boys in the lab and it's dire. The vague threat of another disaster has taken a more concrete shape, the dreaded data lock. From here on out, no new features get in and it's all about polish, fixes and making sure everything works together. And even then, every new merge needs to be considered carefully - is it important enough? Is it safe? Can it break something else? Is it a new issue or something we've been able to live with already? These and many more questions are behind every new ticket we throw at the rest of the dev team from now on.
Evacuation and infrastructure reinforcement
After data lock, a new branch is built - Release Candidate. It is here that any merges deemed important and safe enough go and are tested in the name of stabilizing the build and making sure it comes out in it's best form. For us at QA HQ, that's not all however. It is at this moment that we start retesting any and all new things, be it new features or tweaks of existing ones. No ticket gets left behind as we have to make sure that nothing broke between us first seeing a ticket and now, after hundreds and hundreds of commits that could have potentially influenced whatever we're looking at. We also launch a large scale integrity test of the whole game around this time to ensure that there are no critical weak points in existing systems. It is a long and laborious process, but we couldn't proceed without it.
Simulations and drills
Sometimes, when there is a reasonable need, it is prudent to prepare the public at large for the coming disaster. This is where an experimental build might be released for you all to romp around in once the RC build is in a reasonable enough state and there is need for community feedback on the changes the dev team has prepared. This spells another workload surge for us as we need to go through your reports and figure out what's already known, what's new, what needs to be fixed ASAP and to compile your feedback to figure out how to best utilize it. Often times balance changes are made based off of what we gather during this period, which then need to be tested once again.
The tide draws near
As we're closing in, mobile and Windows Store submissions need to be covered as well. These can take anywhere between a few days up to weeks to resolve for each submission. The workflow changes somewhat during this time as we need to allocate more time to testing on these platforms before their respective submissions to ensure the builds are healthy, and once a submission has been dispatched we can then reallocate all of that time back onto the main game to run the same tests on the steam build.
The quiet before the storm
It's almost here. The suspense is incredible. Tensions are high once again. Everything seems quiet, things look fine. Maybe it's the job, maybe it's just who we are as people, but whenever things go too well, all of us here at QA HQ start sweating bullets. Like any leadup to a big event, this is a very stressful time. After all, we could always find a last-minute blocker, which is a scenario nobody wants to see. In theory, should such a scenario occur, this is where QA can veto a build instead of giving it the coveted green light. This means an update could be postponed by a week or two to fix something absolutely crucial to the release, but schedule is often very tight and the release process is a complex matter, so unless it's something that renders the game or a large part of it unusable, we often need to proceed anyway. As a result, we might start getting first responders ready even before the disaster hits. During the last moments of this journey, an announcement about an upcoming maintenance is released to the public and soon after, the big moment is upon us all.
Ground Zero - A tsunami An update hits the shore
This seems familiar, doesn't it? Almost like we've been here before, one might say.
As we close this entry here at QA HQ, we would like to add that there are many aspects of our work, additional intricacies and processes that might even differ between different parts of the game. Those are, however, stories for another time.
Stay QAssy!
EXPERIMENTAL Build - 2.2 Update
Ahoy Ylanders,
We've been hard at work on the upcoming update, which we titled Tremendous Techtree. And before we release it, we bring you the experimental build!
Available only to Steam users, the Experimental build offers you guys a chance to:
test upcoming features & changes
report any bugs & provide early feedback (#experimental_build room on our Discord server is a great way to do that)
HOW TO TRY THE EXPERIMENTAL BUILD
optional* If you've been playing for a while and are not a newer player, please delete the contents of this folder C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Temp\Bohemia Interactive\Ylands\Crashes
go to your Steam library and right-click Ylands
select Properties, click the "Betas" tab, and enter "PublicExpYlands" as the password (excluding the double quotes)
this will unlock the "i_will_back_up_my_saves" branch. (Please note that you don't need to back up your saves anymore this is just the name of the branch).
after selecting the branch and confirming it, Steam will begin downloading the new experimental branch
SUPER IMPORTANT INFO!
Any progress you make on the experimental build DOES NOT carry over to your live game!!!
When you start playing experimental, we will now copy your live progress into experimental for you. You can try your actual progress in the new update right away (remember that you are playing in a separate environment so it will not affect your progress on live by any means).
What WILL be copied:
Adventure mode progress,
All editor scenarios and tools,
Non-protected workshop scenarios and all the blueprints you have uploaded to the workshop
All your purchased blueprints
All your local blueprints
What WILL NOT be copied:
Sharegames
Rented servers (if you want any of those maps on experimental, you will need to turn them into singleplayer maps before you start experimental for the first time)
Any workshop assets with global user data (leaderboards, game sets, etc)
Do not copy any local files! Any TAMPERING with local data can lead to irreversible loss of progress!!!
Not all features that will be released in the full release are necessarily available in the Experimental build. It is possible that some features available in the Experimental build might be changed, balanced, or removed before the full release.
If you forgot to delete the content of the folder and the game starts as a new game contact us for help.
...with that out of the way...onto the good stuff!
HIGHLIGHTS
New Experimental!
Brand new way of playing the experimental build, now your live progress is copied to experimental so you can try the new changes with your own character and with your own progress! You can also try out your Editor tools and scenarios and see if they work, please keep us informed!
Tech Tree
Progress through core and most optional recipes is now based on a Tech Tree, allowing for more a controlled and fun system of unlocking crafting recipes.
Handbook rewards
New rewards for handbook tasks and story (bear in mind some of them are placeholders in experimental). Some rewards can be obtained only through the handbook and nowhere else, so remember to claim them!
Compass overhaul
Compass is now always visible and has an all-new visual for increased contrast. We also added the detection of cave entrances.
Proximity chat
Players are now able to communicate via a built-in proximity voice chat in multiplayer sessions.
Inventory context button improvements
We felt the item detail window was too hidden, so we displayed it more prominently (replaced the "Used In" button). Used In was moved to the item detail window, along with several new functions (Link to the crafting recipe, ability to craft more of the same item, etc.)
Alchemy changed to crafting
The alchemy table now works as any other workstation (potions are researched in the tech tree as most of the other recipes).
Region map is now single-player by default
Do you often run out of space in the region map? Now all your maps are single-player by default. Servers are always accessible by a separate game list in the region map. This should double the space for your ylands!
Avatar frames
Now you can change the borders of your avatar's face. You can gain some as a reward or buy some in the shop. Frames are visible to all your friends.
Biotop polishing
Flora and fauna are now region-specific. We also changed the visual (both terrain and new entities) of every region. There are now some new animals like hens, and many new plants, rocks, and trees.
Random encounters
Random encounters are now region-specific (except for vendors). Vendor encounters were rebalanced and their compositions were updated. Optional recipes were separated into smaller pools to reflect progress in the Tech Tree. We also added a new method for the optional recipe and exploration point acquisition (Interactive entities hidden in Random encounters).
Quality of life improvements
List of valid entities for inventory containers extended (or changed). Tutorial rebalanced for new changes. Items automatically removed from containers no longer drop on the ground Destroyed entities from REs no longer drop resources. Hardened items no longer fall to the ground when terrain is modified below them. Stumps can be removed using a pick tool. Empty categories in the Crafting menu are hidden until you learn their contents.
Sailing speed rebalance
Boats were rebalanced to be slower than most ships. Ship speeds were rebalanced for a more linear progression. The angle of optimal wind was increased and the negative effect of sailing against the wind decreased. The power of sails and engines is applied by an exponential curve - less power is required to reach a reasonable speed.
Gamepad PC alpha version
Early access to the implementation of Gamepad controls for you to try out. Bear in mind that some UI windows are still in progress and you will not be able to use the gamepad in them properly. But especially in combat or general gameplay, we would like to know how gamepad controls work for you. Also please try our new aim assist using the gamepad. Full gamepad implementation will happen during next year.
Aim assist
Players using a gamepad or playing on mobile are now being assisted with aiming.
Secondary Interaction bound to E key
We moved some radial menu actions to a separate hotkey.
Feedback improvement
You can send feedback messages with save files attached.
Indicators for saving and bad connection
Whenever the game autosaves, an indicator flashes in the bottom right corner. Should you experience issues with an internet connection, the game will display that as well. Also, losing progress when your internet connection is poor should be mitigated to a minimum.
EDITOR: Custom tools folders
Organize Toolbox neatly into virtual folders.
EDITOR: Debug stepping alpha version
Introducing an alpha version of a powerful debugging tool for Custom Games containing complicated Visual Script. Add breakpoints to Visual Script tiles, test the game in the Debug mode, and walk through the script step by step. This feature is hidden by default but can be enabled by /enabledebugging 1.
Critical Blocking Issues:
tech tree does not work properly in multiplayer
handbook rewards can disappear in multiplayer
Please note that not all texts are translated at the moment and some old texts are not updated yet.
