RedBaron_Johan

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Everything posted by RedBaron_Johan

  1. Hello fellow Wurmians! As always there will be mixed topics to enjoy. But today I will also bring you some changes. Which I guess is still technically news.. But this is about changes in the news. So news about the news. And with that all clarified, i guess it is just time to Share some News! Bridges Focus The developers are going to be focusing more on the bridges now to once more kick this ongoing endeavor into a higher gear. There are still allot of functionality to consider when it comes to collisions. An example of this is the fact you were able to walk on the outside of bridges. I guess it is great for parkour but not really intentional in this case. More wall options! Last week we got to have a look at some nice new wall additions making there way into the game. This addition adds its own unique appeal making for great variation and possibility for creativity. Epic is being discussed As most of you probably know there has been a thread discussing the epic cluster, challenge and their futures. Already there is much useful feedback and it is currently under review. Nothing to drastic is being considered currently but there certainly is need for something to spur growth and activity. Reworking the permissions system So we talked about this a bit last week, but I wanted to share some further progress. So here we have work in progress of the new interface. All options have a mouseover text telling you some further details for clarification. The options in red also has a confirmation popup to make you pay extra attention due to the potential safety issues involved. RedBaron is leaving Wurm! So this would be the news about the news which I mentioned. I will be leaving the team for new endeavors effective pretty much after this newsletter. Due to financial reasons and me being the most recent employé, it is just how it goes. Will try and hang around to say goodbye to you all if you feel you want to talk. The most noticeable change for you would of course be the news as my other functions are less visible to the general community. But Weekly News will still remain if so in a slightly different format. I am not going to go all sentimental on you Wurmians, both staff and players, but I will say this. Thank you all for your hilarious commentary and lively banter. Thank you for all the support, great feedback and participation. You are a great community and fun individuals. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you and sharing these last couple of years. And with that I will say Goodbye fellow Wurmians! Keep on Wurming!
  2. Hello Fellow Wurmians! Sorry for my absence Wurmians but it was just like in that certain movie. A series of unfortunate events. Though instead of Jim Carrey there was some Ninjas involved. But before I get too “Carreyd†away lets leave it at that. The Baron is back in business and happy to Share some News! Reworking the permissions system. Our developers are currently working on getting the permissions systems more user friendly. Some of it is currently live on the test server but still has some ways to go before implementation on live servers. But let me tell you about it as best I can. The aim is a standard interface for all items. A total of 4 general categories for permissions which are: trusted, friends, contacts and other. You can manage permissions upon interaction on an object basis (building, mine door, boat, cart etc). Add permissions to anyone in your trusted, friends or village category from object or on the fly. On the fly meaning you will be able to manage anything (you have manage permission on) remotely using a new menu available by right clicking the body icon or inventory. This includes your settlement as well. Then by simply right clicking an item in the menu you will be able to manage it. The permissions are available per item and will vary like it does now with some probable additions. So, anyone with “manage permissions†will be able to er.. manage permissions. It won't just be limited to the owner however. Though it is only the owner that will be able to rename or change ownership. Changing ownership will not be available on everything as an example the gates owner is determined from who places the lock. Ownership of a door is the same as the building its in All permissions will be player based but will also include the 'citizens, 'allies' and 'kingdom' where applicable. Updated tooth / tooth pile So this little addition is on its way in. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities, just imagine this. Upon receiving a critical hit to the mouth, you drop a pile of teeth on the ground. It certainly has limitless potential for the general immersion in the game. Challenge! Another round of challence has finished and a big round of applause for all participants! It has been a very interesting and different round which many will remember. We will announce winners in a more formal post later. Lod models for creatures. Our continued quest for making the game run more smoothly is now also including creatures in the game, making them less detailed models when viewed from afar. You probably remember my explanation about lod, level of detail. It is just a bit extra tricky when it comes to creatures from a developer perspective as there is also the animations to take into consideration. But as creatures are generally quite detailed in comparison to much of the other content it is an area which also needs to get addressed. New outer walls! New walls are in development and they are looking pretty sweet if you ask me. Just click any of the two images for a larger version Also the rock walls are getting some additions. Sneak peak at the new office! Our new office is quite fancy and roomy to say the least. We are still moving in so there is much space to fill with furniture and what not. Especially our kitchen, meeting room and hall. I will however show you the more productive parts of the establishment where we do our general Wurming activities. Main office area with some specimens of the rare Haradur and ErikN Lair of the Rolf Alright Wurmians I hope you have enjoyed this weeks post and the visit at our office! I will try my best to keep the Ninjas at bay for the sake of the news. Until next time friends, Keep on Wurming!
  3. Thank you, I am back again. Had a series of unfortunate stuff happen haha.
  4. Behold! I have been freed thanks to the wurmian gold By the way, I am also keeping the laptop. Thx!
  5. Yeah, they will become available again with the next launch with any currency that was available on them as well.
  6. Yeah, no portals this round either. They are a hassle to get right so we focused on having time to address the more gameplay oriented feedback and features. And it will be free to play indeed
  7. Hello Fellow Wurmians! Welcome everyone and I hope you have your coffee and popcorn ready. It is a long post today with plenty of tasty morsels for everyone. I will focus on some new topics today but rest assured it does not mean we forgot bridges. Progress there is still good but nothing much new to talk about. So here we go, it is time to Share some News! Player Animations Screenshot from the test server with the new foraging animation. We are working on getting more player animations in game. To clarify this a bit it is mostly about performing different actions. So foraging and botanizing for example or pushing items, crafting etc. This makes for more lively interaction with each other and the environment. Giving more visual feedback and with that, hopefully, some further immersion. Several animation has already been completed and are being tweaked for implementation. The wise man says he has left clues throughout the land of Deliverance so only a true adventurer may find the ultimate treasure. Further he revealed that the hunt will originate from the city of Greendog and the clue will be made available on January 31. There will be rewards at the end and along the way for many, but only the first one to the end may claim the true treasure. Some of the rules and further information. The hunt is handled like a mission where you have to unlock and find clues to progress. None of the clues will require you to break any game rules and there will never be a need to break into any fenced area to get the next clue. You are not permitted to build fences or buildings in order to slow down fellow competitors or block them from clue locations. Doing so will lead to a disqualification and potentially a ban from Wurm for breaking the hunt rules. Equipped Tent Model Coming in an update soon There is now an equipped or rather “in hand†model of the tent. It might be a minor addition but holding an entire unfolded and stiff tent in your hands just looked a bit crazy. You know why this came about all of you campers at GW at each server release who keep ruining my fancy PR screenshots haha. Toolbelt Fixes and Updates There are some additional fixes going live soon which will help make the toolbelt better. So first of there was a bug fix where toolbelt arrangements was not saved correctly. Whilst we were at it we added small arrow buttons for next toolbelt and previous toolbelt preset. Click Image for Larger Version Challenge Round 2, Dominance! Yes, a new round of Challenge is being prepared and there are some real interesting change ups this time around. Again it will be geared towards Full Loot PvP because we want to see how large battles pan out. Also, we think that it will be a good way to attract new players. This round we want to give more incentives for kingdom cooperation. Empowering starting players in order to make them feel more at par with the veteran Wurm players. We have also made quite a lot of other changes based on the feedback from the forum. First off, this time we will feature our very first fully hand crafted island. As our earlier vision was we wanted to create a map with equal starting points and points of strategic interest and Cauldron is the result. In Cauldron each of the three kingdoms start with a single starter deed each on one of the individual offshoots of the island. This time challenge will run for 2 weeks. It is still going to be free premium! In the middle is the Hunt Of The Ancients (HOTA) zone which will have one single and important resource point with a bit longer intervals between spawns. The resource point will be guarded by buffed kingdom guards who are aggressive towards anyone threatening their loot. There will be no building or terraforming allowed in the hota zone. Between the starter deed and hota zone each kingdom has a “Battle Camp†which is a capture point. No building or terraforming is allowed here. This is a strategic asset as it will in the end determine which kingdom comes out as victorious. As long as your kingdom is in control of a battle camp, the kingdom receives points over time. It also means that the kingdom controlling two or more battle camps receive more points over time. There are also several new ways of attaining personal points for the overall Challenge competition and prize categories which will all be revealed a bit later. Most of the previous competition categories will have changed though. You will start with 70 fighting skill (which equals 90% of max skill), the possibility to ride horses from day one. You will also with each respawn get a choice of starting gear. For example: A High QL leather, Medium QL chain or low QL plate armor. Also which weapon or weapon with shield in medium quality. The starting gears can not be improved or recycled into crafting materials. If they are dropped or its wearer dies they are instantly destroyed. There will be no PMKs allowed for this round. Treasure chests will get spawned at random locations on the map containing valuable resources. The preliminary release date of Challenge round Dominance is set to Wednesday 11th of February. As you might remember though we are moving to a new office soon and the date might get pushed due to complications around that. Collisions There was some worries after last weeks post about the new collision system so I thought I might as well answer it here. With the updates I mentioned previously you will most likely still be able to look through cave walls and boats will still fit through your canals. The system will foremost be there to address the more severe bugs where you get stuck. Community Events! After a black dragon was found on Pristine it was lured to a safe location and trapped. A dangerous trek with many obstacles along the way but the sly Wurmians Lisabet and JDBooker prevailed. Being chased over both lands and seas, thrown and confused. Lisabet ran into a predesignated mine with the dragon hot on her tail whilst JDBooker sealed it in there by crafting a mine door. This meant time to gather the allies needed to take on this mighty beast. And a good opportunity to gather the community for an event! Word is that up to about 160 Wurmians showed up hoping to get a piece of the action. Click Image for Larger Version Once the dragon was released it ran straight out of the mine and into the waiting horde of Wurmians! There was a questionable attempt at trying to dominate the dragon but this Wurmian was dealt with by swift way of KOS command to the guards. The dragon, facing overwhelming odds from the mighty Wurmian horde, went down in 3 minutes and 12 seconds. An impressive event both in terms of pure Wurmian force, arrangement and attendance! From talented and creative Wurmian Valdor comes the first of its kind, a Wurm Girls calendar. Complete with images and information about the different girls it is a fun and good looking calendar. Just click the image above to get to his post where you can download it and check it out! And that was about all I got for the time being. Please do tell me if you liked having a bit of community news will you? And how about that new round of Challenge ey? I know it is getting me exited for another round, that is for sure. As always, it is lovely sharing some news with you. But for now, lets just Keep on Wurming! Shall we?
  8. I can tell you that we are currently working on it. Will update with further information and maybe a sneak peak at the map on Thursday. Though it might still be hard to give an accurate eta.
  9. Sorry, as I said last week there are still things we are working on. I will let you know as soon as we are done as promised.
  10. Hello Fellow Wurmians! Welcome back, to this here my little news shack. Some pretty good stuff on the menu today. All of which id like to share in the usual way. Plenty to read and maybe some clues. So lets just Share some News! Bridges I first want to mention we are adding a new hold animation for range pole and pole positioning. And finally some positive news about bridges! There has been progress where we have added some fixes to movement between bridges and houses as well as movement on and off bridges. Our developers are hopeful this will resolve many of the earlier problems. So there might soon be an update on the test server where we will hold a new round of public testing. It is looking promising! Performance and Graphics Engine The performance issues we experienced has been stabilized for the moment and we are looking further into addressing some of the older issues. Going hand in hand with this endeavor is the work on our engine. Some of you might remember we have an expert consultant working on the broader overall performance, effectivity and quality of our graphics engine. None of his work has yet been implemented on live as it will be rolled out as a major update rather than increments. This is simply because of the fact that the changes are pretty major and connected to each other which means they would not be compatible with the old code. There is currently no estimated time for when we can expect his first major update and migrate to the new code. Book of Wisdom I have been adding some further entries to the Book of Wisdom interface which are going live with an update soon. I would like to ask you wurmians, especially those of you who are of the newer variation. What do you think of the book of wisdom and how would you like to change it to be as usable as possible? Would it in a more complete version be preferable to wurmpedia or is it better to get wurmpedia more updated? Tales of a treasure that will be the first of its kind has been heard from behind closed doors. An ancient text has been revealed which hints that its last known location is somewhere on the legendary Island of Deliverance. A wise man is rumored to be heading to the lands of Wurm. He is said to have new information which might lead to the treasure finally being found. Though his arrival date is still unknown, if winds be fair we shall soon know some of his secrets. Collision system Hand in hand with getting bridges working well is the development of the collision system. This is of course the system that decides which surfaces are solid and what you are able to pass through. It is very complex in a setting such as Wurm online but I am not going to go into too much detail on that at this time. What is truly worth mentioning here is the fact that it will address many of the older issues like for example getting stuck in walls after extreme maneuvers and clipping through caves etc. This and also the basis for introducing the new boats which needs this new system to work as intended. Custom maps Emil our art director, aka “Wox†has been working on creating custom maps. When I say maps, I mean the map which decides how the island which you play on looks like. In other words "World Building" as we say in game development. This was mostly sparked by our previous plans on making Challenge maps more like for example starcraft maps. In other words more plain leveled playing field with equal starting points and specifically placed points of strategic interest. This required a higher level of control then have had previously but his initial maps are looking pretty great actually. I do however not have any wip shots at the moment. Medieval Bling! Many have been enjoying the addition of necklaces and rings visibly showing on your player character. Seldom has Wurm been so fabulous. But why stop there? There is more additions heading into the game such as this sparkly necklace. Other than that, we are working on adding proper support for bracelets. So hey, just check them out first. They would need a new inventory equip slot to be combinable with current equipment. So after that and some final adjustments there will be even more bling. Never a bad thing! That is it for this weeks news Wurmians! Hang around and leave a comment. But after that it is surely about time you Keep on Wurming!
  11. Haha I just stumbled upon this post. How nice to hear you have been missing the weekly news! I certainly did not forget about you all, I was planning on posting my first news for the new year on Thursday the 8th. Which would have been week 2. But I was at home fighting of some sickness which I got during my vacation time. So news was delayed by one week there.
  12. Yeah hehe I could definitely do that. We might not furnish quite as extensively as you do on your deeds though
  13. Thanks, we are excited about it. And with better office comes better work environment. And with better work environment comes better energy and inspiration. That is what I believe!
  14. Hahaha oh you Did you not read the part about bulging muscles? Nah, it will not take long. It really is not such a complicated move.
  15. Hello Wurmians! I double checked and it was a matter of misunderstanding here at the office. It is not enabled yet. But that is how it will work and everyone will get notified as soon as it is possible to do so.
  16. Hello Fellow Wurmians! Welcome to a new year of Wurming! I am excited to be back and writing to you all. Much hopes and anticipation for this season of course. With good reason. There is as always much going on which I will let you in on as we progress. At the moment there is research going into performance, new focuses and milestones. Also the wrapping up of prizes and distribution from the first round of challenge. I will get talking in some further detail on the topics so Lets share some news! Challenge Let me just start of by congratulating the winners of round 1! We are doing our very best to finish the new distribution system which is able to handle redeemable unique codes you can activate once from any account. The system can be used for many purposes when it comes to distributing things in a convenient way so this will be a great addition to have. I will be posting a tutorial on how to use this as soon as it is finished! Also, the winners will get contacted at that time. We have some neat prizes which are awaiting distribution but we want them to be a surprise. So the winners will get the chance to show them off at their own leisure. Plenty was learned from the first round of Challenge and plenty was also the fun that was had. Tons of useful feedback has been provided and processed which will affect future decisions. I can confirm that a round 2 is being planned but there is currently no eta. Lastly, all deeds that had upkeep remaining and any currency you had will soon be available if you log in. Either in game or at the Wurm shop. We will notify you about this as soon as it is enabled. Bridges There was allot of people that took part in testing out the bridges on test server. Thanks to them we have much more to work with going forward with bridges. As always when we leave something for testing with the community they find much more ways to creatively break things then we would ever imagine. Which in this case is very good of course. Our developers are currently sweating over the feedback and trying to address as much as possible. But it is however still looking like this endeavor will take some time. Treasure hunts! The GM team are looking into starting up an old and fun tradition which is organized treasure hunts. This is something some of the old players might remember. Last time this was done by burying treasure then leaving the players with riddles and hints progressively until someone managed to find it. There is now also talk of doing mini missions using a feature called the mission ruler which could be interesting. This would however need some further testing before using on live servers. What do you think Wurmians? Are you up for some treasure hunting and do you have ideas on how to make it even more interesting? Help Chat I just wanted to shortly bring up the fact that Xanadu help chat channel has been merged with Pristine and Release for better coverage. A new function will also help the CAs and CMs see where the call comes from with a tag saying which sever the call was issued from. CodeClub starting a new year First of, generally we are all just getting back into things. Having meetings going over what needs to get prioritized. There is research and testing going on to see if we can start out by addressing some recent performance issues. With some of the new challenge prizes which are face masks we are also finishing support for that in game. So previously announced masks will be available to the general community for crafting soon. Also there are some interesting things happening in our work environment. We are currently sharing an office with several other companies. All of which has been expanding lately and the space is getting cramped. We managed to get an offer on our very own office overlooking the city center in a beautiful building. So for the first time in Wurm development, we are putting down a deed and claiming our very own slice of the town Motala. It is spacious and light on the contrary to our current bunker like abode. And the initial moving date is already set for the beginning of february. So yes, things are happening fast. There will be no downtime or interruptions from a player perspective. We might just be a bit more exhausted from exerting our bulging muscles moving gear during that time. But seeing as we are all in such great shape it should pose but a minor distraction. That was irony Wurmians. But most likely we will at least survive the ordeal. Okay Wurmians, let me just reiterate how nice it is to be back and see you all still here. Hope you are feeling exited for this new year of Wurm development and what it might bring. At least we are, and we are setting some lofty goals. So keep hanging out with us in the news posts and I will keep you involved! As long as you Keep on Wurming! Of course
  17. Hello Fellow Wurmians! What an eventful year this has been. The lands of Wurm has seen many updates during this time. Many we have come to take for granted already. So as this will be the last post of the year I think it is time for a small recap. But as always there is new things going on as well! So for the last time of the year lets Share some News! 2014 Dev Q & A We have had a thread going for some time gathering questions from the Wurmians for us devs. There is as always more then we can answer but the most popular questions was brought to us and we have answered to the best of our ability. We hope you will enjoy! Read all of it by clicking here! Bridges on the test server! We have now updated the test server with Bridges! This is as a big step forward in their development and we want you to be a part of testing them out. Follow this link to get to the thread with more info where you also leave your feedback! Bridge Testing Recap of 2014 What was all those features and graphics that went into the game? I found myself pondering this as we answered some of the questions from the Q&A. Looking back I can hardly believe all of this has been done this year. So here I will list some of the more memorable stuff that went live this year. Feature related: Fences indoors and in arched walls.Village recruitment board. Reinforced cave floors. World and Island Maps with notations. Village invite and Village teleport. Grass on tree tiles. Planting sprouts center or natural. Resizing deeds in any single direction. The load action! New icons and splash screen for launcher. Tons of new icons. New game music from Tom e Morrison. Plenty of outdated textures and models was updated. Updated skill Titles. Drag and Drop for inventory. New player emotes. New tutorial zone. Book of Wisdom. Helpful automated Notifications. Crafting Interface and recipes. Xanadu. Challenge. New player buffs. Status effect bar and buff icons. Cutting grass into Lawn. New rewards from killing uniques. Chance of rare coin rewards. Connecting Pristine and Release to Freedom. Remote friend request. Keybinds interface. Plenty of Level of detail models to increase performance. Corrupt spell for HOTS. Average Quality in Bulk Bins. Select Bar. Longer indoor view distance. The new Affliction Map. Items and Graphics: Ship Transporter.Trimless walls. Crates. Portcullis. Bear hat. New wool and leather hats. Timber frame walls. Seryll Armor. Trellises. Wagons! The tents and pavilions. Wooden coffer. Lounge Chair. Cupboard. Round marble table. Marble table. Open fireplace. Canopy bed. Several new colossus statues. Small wooden bed table. Wardrobe. Wooden bench. Chain link fence. Royal Throne. Rugs. Small medium and large colorful carpets. Washing Bowl. Small tripod table. High bookshelf. Low bookshelf. Pauper, Fine and High Chair. Tapestries. God statuettes updated. New hatchet. The Braziers. Visible medieval Bling jewelry! Magic Turret. Archery Tower. Spike Barrier. Siege Shield. Trebuchet. Ballista. Models for individual piles of items. Creatures: Avatar of Libila.Kyklops. Tortoise. Sheep! Huge Shark Deer Stag. Dolphin. Blue Whale. Octopus. Seal and seal cub. Crabs. It is interesting looking back at all this. When I think about releasing different things in the list I remember the general responses from the community to it as well. The hardships of the team doing long hours to complete their tasks in time for a good update. Expectations weighing and lifting spirits. Remembering the highs and lows Code Club goes through with its community. But after reviewing it all, I am left with a very positive feeling. There has been much support, feedback and communication. Suggestions and balancing. Laughs, cheers and outrage. All of the ingredients to form an interesting, lively community and game development. I am left feeling thankful for everyone involved, developers and Wurmians alike. Because there can not be one without the other. Dev team is taking some time off for winter holidays and we are all back around 5th of January. I want to end this year with you by sending out a sincere Thank You from all of us here at CodeClub. We thank you for supporting us and of course the fact that you Keep on Wurming!
  18. - With the introduction of the new rare coin system, will further changes to traders be planned or do you believe that they are in a better balance to date? (Rolf) We have no current plans to touch the systems on existing servers since. The money distribution is working well on those I think and the players are accustomed to the trader system. On for instance Xanadu we might experiment a bit more if people want it. - There have been hints at the combat system being reworked, are these ongoing or planned for a single update? (Erik) The combat system will be changed from the creatures perspective. Their attacks and how often they will be able to use them will be changed, this will allow us to control and balance the creatures a bit more and vary the attacks a little. And while I’m there doing changes I will also try and fix all the distance issues that exist, so that you don’t have to stand inside the larger creatures any more. The first creatures that will use these changes are the seals, trolls, brown bears and deathcrawlers. This will go live on challenge before Christmas. So you better watch out in case I have managed to make them a little over powered or a little more powerful then you remember them. I’m mostly worried about champion trolls, there was a time during my testing where they could kill anyone with at most two hits. They have been nerfed since then but they can still be quite dangerous. - What is the endgame goal for pvp on epic and chaos? (Rolf) The endgame PvP goals for the servers should be to end up with highest battle rank. This is of course somewhat skewed by alts and especially when they are free like on Chaos. Also the Rulers should attempt to go down in history as the ones with most land. On Epic the ultimate goal would be to ascend. It’s a two step ladder with approximately 25% chance each step that your deity wins a scenario for that to happen. This means the Deity needs to win on average 8 scenarios until the second step completes and you become a full deity. Every full deity on Valrei may have one demigod at one given time. - There has been a recent increase in submenus within the game, client settings have included the addition of keybinds, will there be more improvements within client settings to handle submenus? (Johan) We are always looking for ways and means of making the menus and interacting with the game more efficient. The select bar is of course an example of this. The concept of the bar might change to include further functionality and additions as we progress. - How will bridges fit in with the current highway rule system? (Rolf) It’s already added as being part of the highway rules in the GM Hall part of the forums. - With the introduction of xanadu, travel times have extended to upwards of more than 1 day of sailing in order to reach destinations, are there plans to overhaul the current travel system? (Johan) As with many things this is something we are aware of. There are some balancing and such which has been grounds for restricting travel time. Also the thought of creating a faster means of travel separate from boats. So yes there is plans on making traveling faster. It might just not be limited to boats. - Will name changes ever be possible? (Rolf) It was voted down last time for various good reasons. Nothing has changed and there will always be some players who will want it but it has low priority at the moment. - Are there plans to look at the meditation system and perceived imbalances at higher ends? (Rolf) We can’t just nerf top players because the majority feels at a loss. That would threaten the whole feeling of meaningful progress. That said, we may of course have to in some extreme cases. We have received many complaints about Shield Of The Gone being overpowered for instance so we may have to look into that. - With bridges being released, what is the "next big thing" for wurm? (Rolf) We just released Challenge and Bridges is coming after Christmas, both of which were very time consuming projects. We want to release more content now before implementing new big system changes. Things like flying, swimming, rivers come to mind. We need to be able to put things up on the walls and sit by tables and campfires. There is always the modified cave system lurking in the background as well but we’ll decide upon the next big project in February. - What can we expect from the new shading system being discussed, is there a timeframe regarding its implementation? Will all textured models have to be removed prior to doing so? (Rolf) Mattias/Sammaal who is implementing this is doing regular updates now and it’s getting closer but we still have no precise ETA. We have no current figures on FPS improvements so let’s just say it will be easier to do pretty things with the client instead of raising hopes:) We will not have to remove any models for that but for instance some wood types should start using a shader instead of special textures. - Are more ambient animal sounds being worked on? (Johan) They are indeed. It will take some time however as it is quite time consuming work. But I will be updating in increments and gradually get through it over time. - Valrei is an awesome idea, but bugs within it have caused it to not be as impressive as it could be, are there plans to overhaul the system? (Rolf) Not quite overhaul it but we need to take a round of bugfixing and feedback again in the beginning of the Spring season. - Are there plans to introduce new uniques or alter their current mechanics? (Rolf) Yes we want new uniques and the new combat system should ensure they have special attacks and fun stuff. - would you rather fight 1 troll sized pig, or 100 pig sized trolls? (Johan)Well I would pick the troll sized pig, I remember some useful pointers from princess mononoke on how to handle those. (Roman) Squishing 100 pig sized trolls at the same time with my trusty huge axe sounds like my idea of fun. (Rolf) I don’t believe in winning over 100 trolls no matter the size. I haven’t heard about anyone who ever did that. The Pig! (Erik) I would fight the pig, clearly a legendary battle. (Emil) I fight the trolls and I would probably get killed in the process due to server restart (Alex) I would fight 100 pig sized trolls. - When Xanadu opened there were no plans to shut down other servers. Now that the population on some servers have declined, will that position change? (Rolf) No change in those plans at the moment. - The addition of new furniture has been awesome, but are there plans to bring in items that serve a function rather than merely decorative? (Roman) There are some interesting items in the works now regarding player customization. (Rolf) I think we will put quite a lot of focus on more decorations during the Spring, some of which will have the type of functionality you’re asking for. I like functional items. - Will new vanity items or customizable clothing be introduced? (Roman) Yes! - Do you have any plans about getting rid of java? (Rolf) Yes, we’re looking at it but replacing it is a huge project. Java performs better than you think and changing to for instance C++ may not have the impact you’d expect in the type of world we’re delivering. You need to first consider viewing distance, number of trees, animations, concurrent number of players and visible items. Also that the terrain mesh can be modified when comparing to other clients. It will be interesting to see how well the new client performs. (Erik) It would be a really fun but time consuming project, and as Rolf say far from all the issues that exist in the current wurm clients are language based. Many of them stem from the fact that we as developers have very little control over how many objects exists in one area. At least when comparing to most AAA titles. - Are there concrete plans to hire more (art, server, client) developers? (Rolf) Not at the moment. We’re outsourcing what we need and have two lead developers in charge of that. - You recently put up a limited run of special gnomes for playerauctions purchases, are there plans for future cosmetic microtransactions? (Johan) Well first of all there are more cosmetic items planned as in rewards from the Challenge server. If they as we suspect become popular, we might very well consider selling more cosmetic and social items. (Rolf) There are no existing plans for selling such things via playerauctions, but we like to have the option. It’s not a strategy we are going to pursue in order to finance the game. - What are your plans for 2015? (Rolf) I answered some of this in the “next big thing†question, some of which I expect there. I want better AI for one thing. More lively creatures. But we start making those plans in February. (Tich) I have such a long list of things that i’d like to work on (e.g. a new permissions system, new cooking system), but not sure how many will make it in the next year. But my main plan is to just fix some bugs! - Do black sheep exist yet? (Roman) Black sheep and lambs exist and are awaiting implementation on the server side of things. Models and animations for them are finished. - How much damage reduction is added if armor is rare? (Rolf) 3-9% - Will construction in mines ever be possible? (Rolf) Hopefully yes. - Is the implementation of 3d mines a goal? (Rolf) Yes. - What are your thoughts on automation ideas such as wind and water mills? (Roman) I always liked the idea of having those mills ingame from a purely aesthetic point of view. However having them produce items all by themselves does not seem like what Wurm is all about. It might be something worth considering for the faster paced Challenge server. (Rolf) The “problem†is that the economy and gameplay is centered around players creating things. But maybe it would be a way of removing some of the grind. We will discuss it when we make plans for new items. - Mined metals other than Iron have a fairly limited use, are there plans to look at them and find new ways they can be used and thus increase their worth? (Johan) That is always a possibility though not an active priority at the present time. We have found new uses for marble lately as in the decorative items, but more is coming. (Rolf) It is a bit annoying that some of the minerals have limited use and I want to come up with more uses for them. - Do you still have fun playing wurm? (Johan) Yes, I do indeed have fun. I enjoy building and terraforming the most and easily get lost in just shaping the environment to my imagination. (Rolf) I play like crazy on Challenge. It suits my style and desires. Actually I enjoy it a lot more than the other games I’ve played like the last year which makes me very proud. (Emil) Yes. (Alex)Yes. (Roman) I’m having lots of fun on the Challenge server, the faster pace is refreshingly different. Knowing you can just run into the unknown to get some action and craft decent gear again in a very short time frame if you lose it takes away a lot of the stress. - It has been some years since the last mapdumps were released for each server and as we know, this game changes the landscape daily, is there a possibility of new mapdumps being released? (Johan) We often get this request and we are planning on releasing new mapdumps at some point. - Are there plans for more mobs that serve a purpose? (i.e. sheep, as opposed to just meat mobs) (Johan) Nothing is currently planned, but you could easily expand upon current creatures as well. - What do you believe the biggest change in wurm has been this year? (Rolf) I like the Challenge server most since I really feel it suits my playstyle. (Alex) I think the Crafting window and the select bar is two of the biggest changes to how wurm is played. - What do you feel was the hardest thing to implement this year? (Rolf) Bridge movement is a really tough nut to crack and we’re still working on it. - How do you handle hostile player feedback? (Johan) I really do not care about the fact that it is hostile. If there is a valid point I take notice of that but if not I just dismiss it. Oh yeah, there is of course always the trusty banhammer to fall back on if someone is acting way to crazy. (Erik) I usually ignore posts and threads that spend more time insulting me and my colleagues than whatever they were supposed to discuss. The line between constructive criticism and insulting is miles wide, many can’t tell the difference. If you want to leave feedback on something for any reason, the odds are far greater that we will read it and listen if you keep it constructive. (Rolf) Nowadays I tend to listen pretty carefully when there’s a lot of negative response to a feature introduction or suggestion. Sometimes when people write that we do everything out of greed or don’t care anymore I think - “Do they even know where we’re coming from and how limited resources we have? Are they competition? What are their motives?â€. I have never understood why you’d complain about a game you care so much about in such a way. Because in doing so you lower the chances for it to survive and succeed. - Can we please have gift wrapping back? we promise we wont abuse it this time! (Johan) It would not get implemented without coding to prevent any further abuse. So with anything else it is a matter of how high of a priority it is deemed in terms of the value for the game. - Will colored mobs ever return as a client option? (Johan) Not as they were at least. Rather we have been discussing the option of texture variations. Though this would take up more graphic capacity it would look much better. (Rolf) My guess is that there will be some sort of smart solution with spots, stripes, horns or something via shaders. (Emil) Or we may add some particles/halo to them. - How has challenge affected the way you approach pvp in wurm, will we see updates coming through on epic and chaos in regards to challenge? (Johan) It is affecting how we view PvP in Wurm definitely. But it is an ongoing process like so many other things in Wurm. It is a good way of also testing out the new siege weapons and mechanics before going ahead with an implementation on the epic cluster. We are however counting on adding the features that work well to Epic, if maybe with some slightly different balancing. (Rolf) The plan is that we test run most features on Challenge before introducing them to the game. So yes you will, also on Freedom.
  19. Hello Wurmians. Bridges are live on the test server and is awaiting the rigorous testing of expert Wurmians. We have set it up so you will have a personal wand called Cornucopia to spawn materials. Current information about bridges is here: Bridges on Wurmpedia. We might update later with more specifics needing testing. But just be creative and really put bridges to the test. Post your findingd in a structured manner here. This thread is purely for feedback and reporting, not discussions. Thank you for your time! Get the test client here: http://www.wurmonline.com/client/wurmclient_test.jnlp
  20. There has been some confusion about how the Turrets function. Understandable, so lets shed some light on this. To begin with you craft a so called "Strange Device" You then need to find a spot to drop it and enchant with: Courier, if you are White Light.Dark Messenger, if you are Black Light.Basically the same spells used when enchanting mail boxes. Further, the spot you drop it at affects possible success and elemental type of the enchant. Here are the different variables: Acid Turret = In a CaveFrost Turret = Near WaterFire Turret = Near Lava (or something glowing hot on a tile)Air Turret(Lightning) =Very High up on a MountainAfter you have successfully enchanted the "Strange Device" it becomes inhabited with spirits. It then changes its name and is turned into a "Magic Turret". When the turret is imbued with an elemental type you can load it on a Large Cart or Wagon. Place it wherever you want as long as it is not to close in proximity to another turret. Easy Peasy! Clear as Day! As they say.
  21. What is this I see? I smell a conspiracy against me! Huntar, I got my eyes on you.
  22. Hello Fellow Wurmians! Plenty of overtime, pizza and cola this week working on bridges and Challenge. Finally we had at least one release somewhat on time yesterday. Hey, it was still on the same day ok? It was a big sense of relief once Challenge was running and we could join in having fun. We are not forgetting about those of you awaiting bridges and I will get to that later in the post. So lets get to it and Share some News! Challenge After a bit of a rocky start with plenty of people waiting, trying their best to keep each other entertained on Golden Valley. This of course included plenty of trolling, joking and drama. Even if it became a bit dragged out there is just something about hanging out in an excited crowd waiting for something with anticipation. Click any of the images for a Larger Version After many resets and last minute fixes everyone was of and it was something to behold. Wurmians running of in every direction and the first kills within minutes of the server opening. It was obvious some had already teamed up in advance of the release and was more coordinated in taking on the enemy as a group. We developers was there as well and Rolf was probably one of the first people to get killed. Mind you, he has progressed quickly rewarded by his aggressive play style. So watch out, the next person to chop you down might just be the CEO! And me? Well, I took a bit more of a careful approach trembling from the overwhelming wrath of the approaching aggressive horde of crazed Wurmians. I managed to get myself a horse and raid plenty of hota spawn points though. All the while laughing at enemies trying to chase me by foot or mounted on cows. - This loot is mine! Hah! You can keep the scraps to feed your cow! I just love this video that was posted. It perfectly captures the feeling of playing yesterday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e60ksVHo8z4 A special thanks to everyone who joined in and had fun with the release. We have an exciting month of gameplay ahead of us. And thank you all GMs and staff for helping out making the release possible. You can follow who is in the lead and what is going on statistically on the Leaderboards. So check that out by following this link: To the LeaderBoards! You can also find it by visiting wurmonline.com and selecting challenge stats in the dropdown menu of the game info category. Select Bar Hidden within everything else going on was the live release of the awaited Select Bar. I have tried it out whilst playing and it is pretty handy. Especially for me who do not use the default toolsets keybinds on the number keys. So I found that setting via the key bindings interface numeric 1 to 8 as selection bar shortcuts as pretty effective. Especially as soon as you remember the icons by heart. They are all pretty self explanatory but if you are uncertain you can just mouse over one to get an explanation. The interface is not automatically activated though so you have to go to the ingame menu and find the select bar option to start it. Bridges Just as I was talking about last week there are still some pivotal pieces of bridge coding that needed to get resolved before considering implementation. That unfortunately did not happen even if we were optimistic about it all the way up to the planned initial release date. We know what the problem is but the issue is that piece of code causing the problem is in turn tied in with many other aspects of game mechanics. So changing it is risky business. Which also means it needs to be done properly. What we are doing now to try and get bridges out sooner is breaking the release into parts. This so we can release the parts that are closer to fully functional and give the more complex aspects further development. So a first release and where we are feeling most confident at the moment is the: Land - Bridge - Land setup. So any: Building - Bridge - Land or Building - Bridge - Building would be released later. I also wanted to share some further progress on the art as we have had time to make some further additions by now. Click any of the images for a Larger Version So from what you can probably tell, these are the unfinished stages of the building progress of bridges. Pretty ironic during the circumstances of this post but non he less fitting! Bridges in Wurm, they look good even if they are not finished I think you can all agree. Now that Challenge is released we have obviously also freed up some more dev time which means we can have some more certain assessments soon. We would have liked to have released the Bridges to you by now but things like these are to be expected in game development. You are never done until you are done. But rest assured we are continuing development of bridges! I will keep you updated on the progress and thank you for your patience Wurmians. Masks We are keeping up work on masks so take a look at this creepy and cool version. Skull Mask As with the other earlier version it is going to be wearable only with certain headgear. Ok Wurmians this is me signing out for now. We are going to take things a bit slow on Friday to regain new strength after this crazy week. One thing is for certain though. This Challenge release has sparked new passion for Wurm in all of us. Something that is an invaluable asset all on its own when it comes to developing a game. So watch out this weekend because we will Keep on Wurming!