News #71: Rams, Lambs and Permissions!

[Mauros 34]

A) capes, masks, pauldrons and more visible equipment variation overall. Its easy to do, makes the game more beautyfull and most players will appreciate without arguing.

 

Combat system needs to be reworked. Most gamers can only make sence of this game when there is pvp, and right now the combat system is what drives them away. We need to have a BIIIIIG discussion on this subject.

 

C) Better starting villages. Through the eyes of a new players, the starting villages are horrible and dont do justice to the game. Also not all players want/can join player owned villages so starter villages should be able to give some basic accomodations.

[Katrinka 25]

I would like to see job-based clothing like an apron and chef's hat for cooks, overalls and a straw hat for farmers, leather apron for smiths, etc. Give players some diversity. Even on PVP server they can't be comfortable wandering about in armour all the time.

[FranktheTank 1,901]

We need beer added to the game already! Rolf thought it was added already in 2011 during the first meetup.

Seriously, we have like all the implements just not the finished product, also any plans to fix Nathan spells? Edited August 8, 2015 by FranktheTank

[monsterix 94]

 what big new feature would you most want to see added to Wurm?

 

Running water, different level of water, aqueduct, water powered mills

[Cornchips 3,037]

 Even on PVP server they can't be comfortable wandering about in armour all the time.

what a great incorrect assumption to prove a point

[Postinglels 1,270]

Any chance, with all these sheep types of implementing illicit woolen wear

[SwiftAsLeopard 50]

I would like to see job-based clothing like an apron and chef's hat for cooks, overalls and a straw hat for farmers, leather apron for smiths, etc. Give players some diversity. Even on PVP server they can't be comfortable wandering about in armour all the time.

Armour makes me feel safe, it's like a body-castle.

[Fussie 0]

IMO some sort of medium cart with something between 1/4 and 1/2 of large cart load, but slightly better speed would be good for F2P players - I must agree that F2P need some low-level additions to make early game more interesting and self-sufficient.

 

 

I agree, Im quite a new player and I noticed asap that I would like some sort of a chariot, one man, one animal. This would also be useful for later play instead of bringing a large cart into the mine I would prefer a smaller type, but maybe that's just me. Let it have more speed than a large cart and more veteran players would probably use it to transport smaller goods on deed and off deed to merchants inland and friends.

[As_I_Decay 1,592]

So the sheep update that we were supposed to get last summer is finally making its way into the game, huh?

[Baloo 709]

Quote:
 
26/6/15
- Fixed some issues with loading things onto boats.
 
3/8/15
- A range check bug resulting in too short distance allowed when unloading crates from ships was fixed.

 
3/8/15
- Larger boats should now be easier to load from a few tiles away (cog, knarr, corbita, caravel).
- A range check bug resulting in too short distance allowed when unloading crates from ships was fixed.

 
So, that is good news. However, could the same be done with opening and reaching for things when sitting in a cart? 
So that it is the same as when you are standing?
See images below for some frustrating examples,
the first 4 of which compare being in a cart and standing on the same spot:
 
Too Far?

This is also annoying when fighting from a cart:

 

http://i.imgur.com/wjAnn48.jpg

 

Edited August 8, 2015 by Baloo

[Ryiah 9]

Hi Xallo and Alyeska! Nice pic

[MisterTeddy 284]

Hey Everyone!

After a few weeks' break, we're now back with regular news posts. It's still a bit of a quiet week this week, but we have some news to share to get everything going again.

The devs have also spent some time this week at Gamescom 2015 in Cologne, Germany. The devs have been every year now for a while, and it's a great way to kick off a new season of development - as well as some industry networking and meeting up with a few other members of the dev team who don't work in the Motala office.

 

has Gamescom talked at all about proper game design / balance or that certain types of major bugs need to be fixed?

The plan for the next few weeks of development is to continue with bugfixes and small changes. As we've mentioned before, we'll start to look into the next "big feature" for Wurm in the fall. Expect to hear more on that in the coming weeks/months!

 

memory leaks and desync errors are bugs that need to be fixed ASAP; also, we don't need or want new features when the current ones don't even work properly, can't work properly due to other bugs (see previous point), or we don't know how to use them because we aren't told

The Month in Patch Notes

In keeping with recent tradition, here's a roundup of all the recent patch notes posted to the client during the dev summer break. This is everything since News #69, so it's a pretty big list!

Most notably is that upcoming game features will require an update to Java 8. If you don't already have it (it's been around for a while now) then you're crazy! But you can download it here anyway (of which we strongly recommend downloading and using 64-bit Java if you have a 64-bit system, since it will make Wurm use your computer's resources better than 32-bit.)

25/6/15

• It should now be possible to lead creatures and drive/ride from bridges high up into houses.
• Fix for teleporting when moving out from floors onto steep tiles.
• Added in ability to see who planted an item (using examine).
• Fix so items and creatures that were on bridge when it was destroyed, loose their link to the bridge.
• Made wall collisions wider, to remove the see through feature.
• If there is only one possible item to craft, it is auto-selected in crafting window by default (like sand+clay).
• Non-premiums gives less to no skill in pvp due to some exploitability.
• Chaos server: In order to deal with alt problems, non-premiums can only respawn in permanent cities and pmk capitals until a better solution can be coded. 
  should be no non-premiums on Elevation / Chaos anyway, they literally cannot contribute anything meaningful at all and are only useful for various methods of alt abuse
• You can now drop dirt under bridges (with restrictions).

26/6/15

• Added possibility to repair tools directly in crafting window.
• Tripled the ondeed creature ratio on pvp servers.
• Foals now age a lot faster on pvp servers.
• Reduced the breed wait timers on pvp servers.
• The Rod of Eruption has been replaced with a Tome of Incineration since use of the rod was considered undesirable.
• Fixed some issues with loading things onto boats.
• Fixed an issue with grass height and flower data.

30/6/15

• Fix for being kicked as passenger
• Fix for creatures escaping pens
• Fix for pmk non-prem spawning on Chaos 
  again there shouldn't be any non-prem at all on Elevation / Chaos

15/7/15

• We are adding features in the game client which requires Java 8 within the overseeable future, so please get the latest version of Java at
  http://www.java.com
  as soon as possible:)
• A bug with mine doors was fixed

21/7/15

• Updated title for 90 NS as the old one was not very good.
• Added rarity to the items text (and hover text) in mail receive screen.
• Tower guards should now be more responsive when spawning.
• Corrected some size values for seals that resulted in a larger yield of hides then intended. Should now yield 2x 6kg hides instead of 2x 15kg that it did before. 
  except that this was the only functional reason to kill seals, now they are purely aesthetic; thanks for yet another BAD change to a feature that worked better before it was changed (*cough* mooring ropes)
• The fungus spell should no longer be able to spread mycelium to cobblestone tiles, and possibly other unintended types as well.
• The valentine flowers should no longer turn into a marble planter when decaying.
• Bracers should no longer hide shields when equipped, and will for the time being not be visible at all (the bracers not the shields).
• Fixed an issue where the examine message for soup would disappear when splitting the soup into new containers.
• Changed it so that Bulk storage bins no longer delete partial items when removing items from it.
• Examining a timber framed door under construction should now show the materials needed to finish it.
• Plain stone doors should now properly be shown as options when the house you are building requires a door and won’t let you build anything else.
• Fixed an old bug where it wasn’t allowed to build upper floors on deed perimeter north and west of a deed when the structure was just outside of the deeds perimeter.
• A rope is now part of the newbie toolset. 

27/7/15

• Re-sized the oven’s internal container volume so that cauldrons may fit inside of it.
• Fix so mycelium will revert back to normal including grass, trees, bushes and lawns on non-pvp servers.
• Added crude axe. 
  sickle maybe? noobs already deforest entire areas without it being made easier but sickles are among the most difficult items to make
• Adjusted volumes for shingles. Also made slate shingles slightly less dense.
• Tower guards should be more responsive to enemies during conquering.

3/8/15

• Crude Axe Head added.
• Crude Shaft added.
• Larger boats should now be easier to load from a few tiles away (cog, knarr, corbita, caravel). 
  possibly decrease the range from which one can embark and / or scale with ship size; this allows players to teleport short distances and is somewhat problematic in PvP
• A range check bug resulting in too short distance allowed when unloading crates from ships was fixed.
• (Bulk storage) “As many as I can carry†should now leave behind partial items that can’t be combined once taken out.
• (Fighting) Special moves should no longer show the activated item. 
  except that this was the only counter to special moves, again something that was working well and was broken by the devs, not fixed (please revert or show a combat window message)
• Fix so gates are correctly unlocked when a deed disbands.
• Change so attaching a lock to an item only checks if you have a key if you are on a PvE server.

Permissions Improvements

Tich is still hard at work on her huge improvements to the game's permissions systems. She is already working on new code, but is also looking for feedback on proposed changes to both gates and mine doors - we'd love to hear your feedback in both threads! Inevitably there will be more threads to come too - we'll post them in the weekly news as and when they appear.

Rams, Lambs & Black Sheep

This week, Saroman has been living up to Valdor's dev team fanfiction by working on new models to add some variety to sheep to celebrate Gamescom 2015. Disclaimer: that's probably not the actual reason why he made them, but we'll happily condone belief in it anyway.

Coming to a field near you soon!

Screenshot of the Week

This weeks' screenshot is of a very happy lava fiend taken by Xallo, posing with its arm around a fellow Wurmian. How nice! Who knew that aggressive, fire-breathing mobs could be so photogenic.

That concludes this week's news. We're sure that it's going to be a big point of discussion - but to get the ball rolling, what big new feature would you most want to see added to Wurm?

Happy Wurming!

[demondan 1,865]

I would love a new combat system where I could use my number keys instead of click select click. I stay away from fighting because to me that's just bleh.

 

like your num pad which you can already do? or is this a troll post?

[Bachus 462]

Thank you for the new sheep now we will be able to tell male and female without getting close and embarrassing ourselves. 

[Bludragon 13]

So make it where a single cow can be hitched to a small cart and the small cart can only hold 1 person.

I would like to see being able to hitch to a small cart and being able to lead the animal while it pulls the cart but no riding, it would be useful for harvesting, Foraging and botanizing, digging clay, collecting moss or peat... or any number of uses in and around the deed that you can't do while riding a cart and must be on the ground but could use access to a container/cart while moving around doing it.

[brandycandy32 100]

And here i got all excited about battering rams... and its stupid fluffy sheep.

HEY now!!!  Im all EXCITED about the stupid fluffy sheeps!! xD 

[LorraineJ 1,099]

 

• Made wall collisions wider, to remove the see through feature.

 

Waaaaa does this mean we can't see through mine walls now?

[LorraineJ 1,099]

 

 

These sheep are gorgeous!

 

[LorraineJ 1,099]

to get the ball rolling, what big new feature would you most want to see added to Wurm?

 

Either little "islands" on the server that people could purchase, so they had no neighbors and/or they could purchase one of these islands with friends, and there would be some sort of transport from these islands to the mainlands; OR, the ability to leave messages in-game to people who were offline. And not the pain in the butt of making a papyrus with a teeny message that you have to mail.

[LorraineJ 1,099]

 

• Tripled the ondeed creature ratio on pvp servers.

Foals now age a lot faster on pvp servers.

Reduced the breed wait timers on pvp servers.

 

Uhhh... I thought there were issues with splitting code between PvP and PvE servers. How come this is possible? And why wouldn't PvE players want these improvements also? If this can be different between PvP and PvE, can PvE be rid of the armour nerf for priests casting spells?

[LorraineJ 1,099]

We need greenhouses,capes,more types of critters and weather can effect performance

 

Weather already does affect my performance - if it's raining or snowing I crash constantly.

[Sia 40]

Nice update, well done Wurm team! I especially love the rams, they look really great!

[Zekezor 3,188]

but to get the ball rolling, what big new feature would you most want to see added to Wurm?

A complete rehaul of the siege machine feature.

 

Major change:

Easily adjustable trajectories without winching (but timers that increase with range to simulate winching)

(explained more thouroughly here)

 

Lesser changes:

The Trebuchets would be costly long range immobile siege machines (for both defense and offense), loadable with usual catapult ammo or burning pots of tar that  creates a 1-tile firepillar-style effect for a couple of seconds. It also has the "deconstruct" option which returns 20 planks and a wheel axle in a pile after 4 minutes.

The Catapults is the mobile/loadable siege machine with shorter range than the trebuchets. A catapult can be hitched to one animal to move it faster like the examine says it can.

"A small four wheel catapult designed to be dragged by one person or animal. It could be used to hurl items at walls and fences."

The Balista, due to the change mentioned earlier, becomes a aimable defensive/offensive manned pvp equipment. It doesn't have enough range to reach trebuchets but works fine against regular catapults and can be moved to suit the situation.

Trajectory wise the trebuchets got the highest arc, the catapult a medium high arc and balistas got a rather straight flight path which requires a more direct line of sight.

 

New siege machine: Battering Ram. Uses transport mechanics. One person commands its movement and it has 3 more passenger slots. 2 people for 33% efficiency, 3 for 66%, 4 for 100%. Max speed is 2.5km/h and when "activated" by the commander it does a fair ammount of damage to any wall/fence on the adjancant tile infront of it. It can't be pushed/loaded and has to be "ridden" like a normal land transport.

 

While catapults/trebuchets would be ideal to break the outer perimeters and tall structures, the battering ram would be more suitable once the defense lines are breached. And naturally the balista would be against players/creatures.

 

Unfinished wallplans no longer blocks the removal of a structure writ. Unfinished wallplans get instantly destroyed from bashing or cata/trebuchet shoots. Cata/trebuchet shoots also continue their arc and simply smash straight through unfinished wallplans.

Also when hitting any structure the specific type of wall(s) hit will always be displayed, including the unfinished type.

 

New siege machine: Boiling Pot of Oil. Adjustable/moved in the same way siege shields work atm. Has to be filled with 100kg of tar and light up. Creates a firepillar-style field of fire that is 3 wide and 2 long for a couple of seconds. Obviously damaging to everyone. 15 second activation timer (to pour the content out) and also a timer to refill the pot.

Has to be used on a higher level floor and will be applied on the first available solid(floor or ground) level below it.

 

 

In short: Make siege mechanics feel more "alive" and thought out rather than the super clunky system we got atm.

 

 

edit: screw it, made a thread http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/128213-revamp-of-sieges/

Edited August 9, 2015 by Zekezor

[Bachus 462]

1.)  Re-do Traders to make them more useful and more like Traders.

 

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/125559-simple-trading-system/

 

2.)  Either a sextant or a 'boat compass' that attaches to the boat and is not negated by movement.

 

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/115329-sextant/

 

3.)  New horse colors suggested by Malena.

 

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/113526-ideas-for-new-horse-color-and-animal-objects/

 

4.)  Pet nerf reversed = even most PVP'ers that asked for it think it is too much.

 

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/125948-can-the-pet-nerf-be-reverted-because-of-the-limit-for-leading-animals-in-pvp/

 

5.)  Ability to move altars.  Preferably they become un-blessed when loaded or moved but even push-pull on tile would be an improvement.

 

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/124012-why-cant-we-move-non-blessed-goldsilver-altars/

 

6.) Smoking/ drying racks to preserve fish (maybe canning too).

 

http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/125945-morebetter-food-preservation-please/

 

7.)  MOST IMPORTANTLY:

 More clearly define actions that are considered griefing on PVE and set minimum punishments for these offenses.  

Without at least some clear rules you end up having GM's spend a lot of time explaining to each player individually on a case per case basis what they did wrong after the fact.  This leads to much longer ticket times and more unhappy customers.

 

 

[Cornchips 3,037]

everyone that keeps focusing on the combat system in wurm itself "is teh pvp l0l"

well you're completely wrong because the fun in pvp is 80% real-life decisions and outcomes and 20% the combat system

 

Don't make up some dumb excuse that you don't play pvp because the combat "is borings" because you don't wanna try it.