Hey there, fellow Ylanders!
For quite a long time we've been promising you the Ylands roadmap showing what to expect until the end of this year, so, without further ado, here it is.
Before we tell you a bit more about what you're seeing, there are three points we would like to make.
- What you see mentioned in 1.9 is ready and you will get it quite soon. As for the other two updates, please bear in mind that those are plans, not promises. Even though this is what we're planning/working on, many of these things still require a substantial amount of prototyping and testing and some features, like the Blueprint overhaul, will need a lot of feedback coming from you. If we're not happy with the state of some feature or if it needs major changes based on your feedback, instead of delaying the whole update, the feature can slip into the next one.
- The second thing is quite obvious and related to the first one. Most of the 1.10 features (not to mention the 1.11 features) are still in the very early phase, so with many features we won't be able to discuss details just yet. We feel it's better, at this point, to say that we simply don't know instead of providing information that can become obsolete at the very next design meeting.
- Thirdly, please understand that these are really only some of the features (although the major ones) and each update has usually dozens of various additions and improvements and hundreds of fixes. There are so many things that we plan but are not named (like Exploration resource balancing, gamepad support, improving clans etc. etc.). So if you don't see "your" feature in this list, it doesn't mean we're not working on it.
So, now to the updates themselves.
UPDATE 1.9
The upcoming update 1.9 is pretty clear - we've already talked about most of the things it brings and very soon you will be able to try it out yourselves.
UPDATE 1.10
In update 1.10 we would like to create something like "parallel" Exploration. A world where you will be able to fully unleash your creativity by letting you import ylands created with all the features that the Editor offers. Anyone will be able to travel from the "real" Exploration world to the parallel world or within the parallel world and ... explore. If you are not interested in this parallel Exploration world, you can just ignore it and you will never be bothered by it. However, those who decide to travel there and explore other players' creations, will be rewarded.
We can imagine how many questions this brings - from "what if players break the original Exploration by bringing in the things from the parallel one" to "won't the parallel Exploration be filled with half-made and broken ylands that will just be a waste of time". Don't worry, we'll discuss this with you in detail in the upcoming weeks.
The Blueprint overhaul is something we've been promising for a long time. We want to merge Blueprints and Compositions and give players an option to create Blueprints in the Editor that they (and others) will be able to use in Exploration. So far, it's been us who players had to buy Blueprints from, but this was never our primary goal. So with the new Blueprints, it will be you, the players, selling what you create to others for coyns. There's no reason why those skilled creators shouldn't, for example, be able to pay for the server they rent with the coyns they make from selling their creations. It goes without saying that for any Blueprint to be built, the players will still need to gather all the ingredients, there's no easy way around this - nice things always require some effort. :)
As for the Crafting improvements, there's not much to be said. We already have something cool that makes crafting UI way more intuitive - unfortunately, it came a bit too late to be included in 1.9.
UPDATE 1.11
And that gets us to 1.11. Dark Dungeons are something new to Ylands. Imagine dangerous places where you will venture to search for artifacts, slay new monsters and learn more about the world of Ylands, about its lore. We hope that whether you venture to the darkness alone or with friends, you will enjoy more interesting enemies and a fixed/improved combat system.
FPS camera is the single most requested feature. When we removed it, we said it was temporary and that it would return - and it will.
We are planning to make some improvements to Playlands as well. Not anything big, though, just some changes that would make it possible even for single players to have fun without having to play with others. We see it as an option for you to pass the time when tired of exploring or waiting for your friends to come online.
This is a lot and it's only understandable that you will ask questions and provide your ideas. We won't definitely be able to answer all of them, but we'll do our best to read them all!
Have a great time and stay safe and classy, Ylanders!