Welcome one and all to our weekly devblog!
This week we’re taking a look at the new pillage area being built, component based crafting, UI and an upcoming community event! Let’s jump right in…
Note: The next update, V0.15, is due June 30th!
New Pillage Area
We’re introducing a new pillage area, this is currently code named “Fort Doom” (very original I know…) This will be part of “The Wash” region, East of The Silent Shore in the top right corner of the map.
The goal of this area is to re-visit the pillage area concept we already have in game (Laketown, Svalberg etc.) and create a polished version that acts as a template for all the others. The high concept is to create “bottleneck” areas that players must venture into, to gain certain key crafting components that are required for the best recipes. Each area would carry a level of risk. These areas would also draw players in, resulting in higher chance of PvP.
This is the initial block out in Unreal. It’s designed to be recognizable from a distance and cast a distinguished silhouette. Players would scale the structure exploring it’s various towers, bridges and crenelations In search of the best loot.
To make these areas more tricky to tackle we’ve been discussing on additional environmental hazards to use alongside fire and plague, including breakable walls and spike pits – these are just ideas at the moment but we’ll see how they develop.
Component Based Crafting
Plans to push the component based crafting system are moving along. This system is already in game, some items require specific raw materials and objects only available from certain mobs or locations.
The most noticeable being rope (only available from bandits) and hide (only available from animals).
This system is there to drive players away from the safe areas and into the wilds to the pillage areas mentioned above. If you want to get the best items you will have to risk your own safety!
UI updates
Inventory screen with house ownership status & code
This is a work in progress of screen that would display your house ownership status and the set door code. The screens below show the different statuses of this.
The purpose of this is two-fold, to notify if you currently own a house and to help players remember the code they set. The code itself is obscured (if you’re streaming you don’t want anyone peeking at your house code!) simply click the eye icon to the left to reveal it for a short amount of time.
Door lock
James has also been working on implementing a new lock UI for house doors to replace the current placeholder work.
These are currently work in progress, but they are coming along nicely, you will most likely get hold of these very soon! 🙂
Experimental
This is a very early concept for an experimental feature that you most likely won’t see anytime soon.
(Ignore the “inventory” title in the screenshot below) The idea behind this piece of concept work would be a interaction select wheel that’s context sensitive to the item you’re using, similar to holding E on an item in Rust. Cool stuff!
THE BETA WAR – Community battle
We invite you to join us for an evening of absolute mayhem! Hosted by Kap, Art’Aemon (and the Templar’s) and our very own [SIG] Emily, we’re organizing the biggest battle the game has seen yet!
This will take place on THE BETA SERVER @ Queen’s Crossing Bridge
On the 25th of JUNE 2017 @ 17:00 UTC
We will be giving out gold, weapons and skill points to use during the battle, so the options will be endless. Expect absolute carnage. The goal is to have a battle that includes every player on the whole server, we can even extend the server capacity if we have enough interest…
PRIZES
Gold prizes will be given out for various victories (and of course best RP voice!). Just let us know the character and server you want to receive the gold on and we’ll send it over after the event ends. The sums will be substantial!
Last Weeks Server Maintenance
Some of you may have noticed the server maintenance last week (Thursday 19th of June). This was a critical update to our server structure and save system.
This was done to address the ongoing issues with server side save resetting and the resulting housing loss. The good news is that it looks like this has fixed the issue!
However with complex system such as these there is always a chance of a secondary bug, a new bug or even uncovering otherwise obscured bug. As such, we are very keen on hearing from anyone suffering from housing related saving problems. Please use our bug form to submit there!
Useful information to send:
– Server
– Time of loss
– did the server crash?
– House location
– upgrade status
– confirm client version (V0.14 etc.)
That’s all until next week!