Chapter 3 Update
Greetings, Nomads! We just wanted to take some time to give everyone a quick development update on Chapter 3. GameFabric We have been working on migrating over to Nitrado's new Game Fabric server management system. This system is a more modern system that offers us some additiona
Greetings, Nomads! We just wanted to take some time to give everyone a quick development update on Chapter 3. GameFabric We have been working on migrating over to Nitrado's new Game Fabric server management system. This system is a more modern system that offers us some additional flexibility in how we manage the servers. Many of you have asked whether it will result in better performance - the answer is that it might in some cases but we won't know for sure until we complete the transition. Most importantly, though, this transition is still in progress and requires quite a bit of testing still. So expect a few more weeks before a PTR with the goal to release Chapter 3 sometime in July. Chapter 3 Changes For Chapter 3 we decided to tackle two of the biggest and most consistent complaints. The first is the quality system. The system has a myriad of issues, so for Chapter 3 we will be removing quality until we can better stabilize the base game and then consider ways to add it back in later. To replace walker upgrading, we've repurposed the Ancient Crafting Site, which will spawn on event tiles. At the ACS you can craft a new resource - Walker Mount - which will be used in the place of quality for walker upgrades. We also took a minor pass over the areas where quality was providing significant QOL, such as chest storage, The second issue is related and that is linear progression. When designing Season 6, we tried to tackle a few issues that we saw from previous iterations of Last Oasis, namely the tile system creating far too many tiles once you consider each map and clan cap, resulting in progressively decreasing density as the season went on. Our goal was that the normal common resource progression could be accomplished relatively easily by casual players and then quality progression would provide additional content for those who play more frequently, making it so that on average people thought the progression was moving along at an okay pace. Unfortunately that was not the case and most people found it either too fast, or too slow, and frustrated people on both ends. We're going to try a bit of an experiment. It is not likely that it will stay like this forever, but it will help to inform future design decisions. Canyon and Cradle will exist like in previous Chapters, burning approximately every 2 weeks to make sure the servers stay clean. However, Sleeping Giants, Volcano, and Kali Spires will spawn as "long term" event maps that last a few days. This will help us to better manage population density, while hopefully alleviating the feeling of being "stuck" constantly. There are many other changes coming with Chapter 3 so stay tuned for the full changelog that we'll release with the PTR! - Donkey Crew
Then Click on Properties
And finally enter the beta code NABTbnQT9AEUzhK into the "Private Versions" box at the bottom.
Additionally, in Discord we have a separate category in discord with feedback channels, a changelog, and the instructions pinned there as well.
As a reminder to new and returning players, event tiles are now the center of the quality system. On these tiles, resources and mobs can spawn with various levels of quality. Quality mobs are stronger with more HP and give more experience. Resources can be found in quality throughout the map, or looted from the Rupu. These resources can then be used to upgrade your walker and craft stronger equipment, placeables, and improved crafting stations.
Event tiles are now spawning in all regions. Throughout the Chapter, additional tile types will be added to the map pool. Today Canyons has been added. Stayed tuned for Ancient Cities which will open up the ability to craft Proxy Walkers!
We will be launching the stress test today at 12 noon EST.
Aside from that, we wanted to give you some more detail about what we're trying to achieve and how the test is set up.
For this season, we have upgraded some of the servers to a newer CPU and made some other configuration chances. We want to test performance with this new set up.
For that reason, the stress test will only have 1 Canyon map in each region for the duration of the test. We want to fully load the server and catch any performance issues now and resolve what we can.
So that you can really stress the servers, we will be settings as follows:
XP - 10x
Foliage Respawn - 10x
Looting - 4x Since there is the possibility for extended downtime, frequent updates, and limited server capacity, we decided to keep the current realm active. This will allow you to test out the S6 changes if you are curious but not interested in taking part in the stress test or the servers are full.
It is time. Finally, Season 6 Chapter One is just over the horizon.
S6: Ch 1 marks a major destination and turning point for us and for development of Last Oasis. It is the culmination of multiple years and thousands of hours of development, testing, and feedback. There isn't much left to say except we hope we've managed to provide an experience that is both nostalgic and fresh.
On February 27th we will wipe all official servers and commence a stress test that will last through the weekend. This is a last check for stability and to validate a few things related to the server provider. Assuming the stress test does not reveal any major issues, we will conduct another wipe and launch Season 6 on March 6th at 10am EST. As a reminder, under the new Chapter model, we will expect full server wipes and resets every ~8 weeks, so expected Chapter 1 to last until early May.
Unfortunately, we will be launching the Season without Xbox compatibility. There is one small issue we just haven't been able to solve and as a result we have not been able to gain certification. We are still actively working to resolve the issue and will restore Xbox functionality as soon as possible.
PvP Balance
While PVP in an open world sandbox will never be "fair", we have put significant guardrails in place to both make the experience more accessible for new or less experienced players, such as the Anti-Personnel Turret, which provides automated defense for walkers, and to limit power-scaling associated with numbers, such as prioritizing small and medium clan tiles, walker crew limits, and walker power limits.
We have also made major mechanical and balance changes, which makes fully wiping a Walker's deck more difficult and makes fully zeroing walkers more difficult.
And More
Realistically through development of Season 6 we worked on nearly every part of the game, far too much to add into a post. Fortunately, some members of the community have been playing and testing along the whole time, and Theodas has made an excellent recap video which touches on all of the major gameplay changes. It's very well done and timestamped, so if you're curious about something you should be able to find the answer here.
[dynamiclink href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KfeRgsEVl8"][/dynamiclink]----
We're sure you all have tons of questions about what is next, what are we thinking, when will we address x, y, and z. However, at this point, we've been developing without validating anything for a long while now, so it is simply time to turn it over to you and sit back and watch and see how things play out. We will be sure to keep you up to date with our thoughts and observations as the chapter progresses. We hope you're as excited as us and hope to see you all soon.
Steel yourselves, Nomads. The sands await. 