Design a starter deed!

[Retrograde 12,013]

• Ever want to give your servers starter deed a makeover?
• Ever want to show new players just what is possible in Wurm?
• Do you like playing in deedplanner and work well with others?

 

If you answered yes to these, I have a competition for you!

 

We're looking for players to form teams and tender design ideas for each starter deed on the PvE servers (Depending on success of this we'll look at including PvP servers with stricter requirements).

 

The competition will be open until the end of March (12:00 midday server time March 30th)

 

How to enter:

• Work out whether you want to submit just a design, or organise a team to build it too. If you choose to build it, form a team of three or more players (with a minimum of 30 days playtime each) and work on a deedplanner design.
• Once you're satisfied, submit screenshots and the deedplanner file along with a short description about the look and feel you're aiming for.
• Submit your designs with screenshots and blurb in a zip file to retrograde@wurmonline.com, designs (as well as contributers) will be reviewed by staff.
• Once we're sure the requirements are met and the members of your team are suitable, the entrants will go up for public voting.

 

If you want to keep the current starter town, that's fine, they automatically go in the public voting!

 

Each successful team will be commemorated with a plaque or sign listing the members of the team upon completion.

 

Requirements:

 

• Deed sizes are set at 41x41, perimeter not necessary to include.
• All kingdom items MUST be Freedom.
• If you are planning to build, the group must have 3 players minimum, there will be requirements of playtime and standing within the community and game.
• Entries are to consist of written ideas outlining the look and feel desired, screenshots of deedplanner construction, and deedplanner files
• At all times, deed must be passable
• This is a community driven competition, GM’s will be able to protect and look after some aspects of the deed (such as placing of starter spawn unique items)
• Deed plan must fit in with surrounding areas to look somewhat natural to the region
• A limit of 300 building walls, fences not included.

 

Necessities: (What should be included)

• Fencing along deed borders (minus road access)
• Religion Representation
• Fantastic Portal (handled by GMs)
• Recruitment Board
• Trader locations (GM's will handle placing them, but choosing names for them is up to you!)

 

Suggestions:

• Crafting buildings
• Sleeping quarters
• Examples of farmland or animals raised

 

We're excited to see what you all come up with, and we're sure you're itching to get planning so simply grab deedplanner here and get started!

 

REWARDS

Quote

 

Those who tender winning designs will be commemorated via a sign or memorial within the starter deed.

 

If you choose to build the deed too, each member will receive a rare trowel or mallet, with a unique material type upon completion!

 

 

Deedplanner:

If you have any further questions simply ask and we'll let you know!

 

Good luck everyone!

 

Retrograde and the Wurm team.

 

 

EDIT

We have updated the requirements and loosened the restrictions, please acknowledge the following:

• Removed all restrictions on wall types, all walls are able to be used.
• Maximum of 300 house walls
• All materials will be provided by GM's
• Players may either tender just a design, or enter to build as well. Design winners will be marked by commemorative signs, if the winners also build the design they will receive a rare trowel or mallet made of a unique material.

 

[TradingAlt 946]

A better idea for this, instead of looking at the aesthetics and stuff that make people go "ooh that's pretty"

 

how about some functionality to keep new players interested in playing....

 

as it stands now new players in starter deeds have like no permissions for anything; what they need is some in depth functionality...

 

 

1. unmovable tools: forges, looms, large anvils, spinning wheels, carts/wagons(owned by players and only moveable by said player)

2. area to do stuff and provide support for new players: protected farm tiles, tree patches, resource tiles like(clay,sand,dirt,peat, etc)

3. The ability to move their stuff around the starter deeds freely and protection for their belongings as to prevent griefing etc

4. basic supplies for survival: COTTON, HEALING COVERS

 

I'm sure others could generate some better ideas, but right now what we need is new player retention, players who join the game run out of the starter deeds, get rekt by a wolf and then try to heal themselves. They forage for 30 minutes to find some cotton and realize how ridiculous it is and close the game never logging back in...

 

 

HELP THE NEW PLAYERS OUT SO THEY CAN ENJOY THE GAME!

[Slickshot 1,195]

Hey I've created a thread in the Town Square for anyone interested in teaming up to revamp The Howl on Independence.  Check it out here!  I'm not sure how the public voting will go on revamping The Howl, but if it shakes down in favor for new construction then please do comment and let me know if you'd like to team up so we can get this thing rolling.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Slickshot

[Propheteer 7,139]

I wanted to say i love it when players can mess with a starter deed. I have never been able to see it done/participate in it outside of the first time we redid the shroud and that was really fun. (although we actually built it, like mined shards, made bricks and mortar, the whole nine yards.)

 

@TradingAlt

 

That sounds cool and may actually be possible now with how the permissions were redone.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Propheteer

[Slickshot 1,195]

1 hour ago, TradingAlt said:

A better idea for this, instead of looking at the aesthetics and stuff that make people go "ooh that's pretty"

 

how about some functionality to keep new players interested in playing....

 

as it stands now new players in starter deeds have like no permissions for anything; what they need is some in depth functionality...

 

 

1. unmovable tools: forges, looms, large anvils, spinning wheels, carts/wagons(owned by players and only moveable by said player)

2. area to do stuff and provide support for new players: protected farm tiles, tree patches, resource tiles like(clay,sand,dirt,peat, etc)

3. The ability to move their stuff around the starter deeds freely and protection for their belongings as to prevent griefing etc

4. basic supplies for survival: COTTON, HEALING COVERS

 

I'm sure others could generate some better ideas, but right now what we need is new player retention, players who join the game run out of the starter deeds, get rekt by a wolf and then try to heal themselves. They forage for 30 minutes to find some cotton and realize how ridiculous it is and close the game never logging back in...

 

 

HELP THE NEW PLAYERS OUT SO THEY CAN ENJOY THE GAME!

I imagine that your suggestions can be detailed at length in the proposals submitted by teams creating the DeedPlanner concepts for this competition.  In fact, if I can get a team together on Independence I will most certainly spend a good amount of time on the proposal detailing such inclusions, and possibly more because I too believe in improving player retention by making things more fluent for new players.  Hopefully other teams will follow suit as well and propose such functions for their starter-deed concepts no matter what server they are on.    Let it be said that this is a great opportunity at hand, and to use it wisely until all avenues are exhausted will be of great benefit to the current player base and the fresh players to follow.

[Mirax 117]

EDIT:  Sorry, for some reason I thought we were doing PvP servers too, somehow missed that point that we're future maybe thingies.  FWIW, it never said in Week 6 or Week 8 news it was only going to be PvE...you got me all excited and now, bleah.  

 

Can probably disregard the below, but I'll leave it in case it helps anyone else.

 

I'd like a few clarifications on:

 

- All kingdom items MUST be Freedom.    

What?  Can you give examples of this please?

 

- 50% of materials for plan available at start.

What?  If this is a criteria for the design, I'm unclear entirely what this means.

 

- Entire deed must have same material buildings (wood, timber, stone for every building).

Does this mean that 1) if you choose stone, every building in the deed must be stone, or 2) you can have buildings made of each material, but no mixing within a single building (i.e. no first floor stone and second floor timber, for example)?  I would assume 2, as there's no reason NOT to showcase the different materials and looks in a starter city, especially as it pertains to giving newbies ideas of what is possible.

 

 

And then just a comment/question, I'd wonder if the height considerations might be revised?  I understand not wanting a massive 15 story keep surrounding the start cities, but there's a lot of architecture that can be showcased in, say, a 5 story limit vs. a 2 with 1, 4 story exception.  Again, the logic being to showcase and impress and inspire new players the moment they set foot into the kingdom/start city, something to be proud of, etc.

 

I would also assume permissions will be properly managed so you can actually do all non-griefy useful things in the start deeds once again?

 

Thanks and cheers!

 

 

Edited February 26, 2016 by Mirax

[Firestarter 1,210]

1 minute ago, Mirax said:

I'd like a few clarifications on:

 

- All kingdom items MUST be Freedom.    

What?  Can you give examples of this please?

All kingdom items used would need to be of Freedom Isles design, Flags, banners etc.

 

1 minute ago, Mirax said:

- 50% of materials for plan available at start.

What?  If this is a criteria for the design, I'm unclear entirely what this means.

 

 

I would assume you get 50% of the materials you'd need to build your design, and would need to make the other 50% yourself.

[Slickshot 1,195]

Bingo on what Firestarter said.  Also, I do feel the 2-story rule is a bit limited.  Even a slight change to 3 stories would be great.

[Lillyth 2]

I would like to join this competition but am a bit lost about some things.

 

Had the same questions Mirax had, if Firestarters answers are correct those are solved.

But that leaves me at another question;

You mention to design this in the DeedPlanner and then you talk about having 50 % resources.

Which is it now? Just the plan in the DeedPlanner or do we actually have to change an existing town? Or make an entire new one?

Would appreciate further on that.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Lillyth

[KaiH 1,126]

The plan is that players are actually building the deeds.

  for that they get 50% of the materials needed

    for that they need to win the competition

      for that the competitors need to create a deedplanner file and send it to Retrograde

[Odynn 2,248]

Welp, many thought on that one. Design a starter deed, yeah, nice, why not, pity some GMs already wasted their time on a lot of them. As many said, designing something to help the new players stay would be good as well, tutorial anyone ?!

 

On 26/2/2016 at 6:35 PM, Retrograde said:

• Entire deed must have same material buildings (wood, timber, stone for every building)

 

 

oh wait, medieval buildings with stone / timber / slate / bricks, sorry, not possible, lets delete Strasbourg from the world map. (or rainbow bridge on deliverance which got that nice medieval feeling).

 

So basicly, we are asked to do something rather bland... see the restrictions, get half the materials (which are prolly around 10K of bricks / mortar / whatever) and do a lot of paperwork. That while working on the deed planner with at least 3 others players (which is totally not the best collaborative tool - no offense warlander).

 

Not only those requirement are strict, but we have no guidelines to design a starter deed lag friendly for anyone, nor knowing if/how to manage some spots for future events like the treasure hunts.

 

On 26/2/2016 at 6:35 PM, Retrograde said:

• Deed plan must fit in with surrounding areas to look somewhat natural to the region

 

I hardly see how something totally walled in can look natural, no matter where it's located. Nor how much the surrounding areas have been altered by players during all those years. If i think about green dog (deliverance), we had marshes, forest, clear cut-ed areas, forest again, desert, forest again, more marshes, less marshes, shanty town, surrounding market stalls... Which one of these will make the norm ?

 

I wonder what's the end goal here, actually do something interesting for wurm, or try to discourage anyone from entering said contest.

 

[Araninke 490]

I think this is a great idea! No offense to the current starter town designs, but most of these are outdated now and could certainly use some sprucing up. 

 

I was wondering if we'd get GM help with terraforming? Say we wanted to start out on a clean, flat slate. Will the winning teams actually be completing the building work?

[TheShawv 164]

I understand wanting a starter town for new people to live in, but how many people actually stay in or around a starter town? When I started years ago I had Zero knowledge about Wurm , the mechanics of the game or anything, I was digging holes in the dirt, taking crops, eating raw meat etc etc on my first day. I never set foot back in Greendog once I teleported there unless it was to pass thru to somewhere else. Usefulness of a starter town is lost in Wurm where guard towers, friendly folk inviting you to a deed to get the hang of the game, plopping down a starter deed with a Templar or just roughing it out of a bsb, fsb and a cave is all a possibility.

 

If we want to keep people playing Wurm it will not be with a starter town or a community project. Try fixing the travel lag that has not gotten better but has multiplied 3 fold since it was supposedly fixed. Make the game run smoothly for the new people so that they can figure out the game mechanics and see if its the game for them. Giving a new player some basics like cotton, low level food that does not decay, a bucket to hold water so they can travel and work, maybe even revamp the tutorial so they know what guard towers are and how to use them.

 

We already have many places on Wurm that are ghost towns because people have built them and no one has come. Just becaue you teleport someone to a town does not mean they will stay there or return. Great improvements have been made over the past year or so, I say keep up the good work on fixing bugs and adding/ revamping things like recipies, cooking, interior designs and the like. The things that will make people want to stay and achieve.  

[Journeya 436]

Any chance we could get access to exported deed planner files of current starter deeds? I dont know about other servers, but we are on Independence and the terrain at the Howl is pretty steep and rough with some terraforming to be able to build there in the first place - I would love to not have to sit down and count all the tiles where the roads are, how the slopes are behaving and such. It would be highly confusing to try to design a flat plan for this area since there is no way it would be doable in the first place.

[Slickshot 1,195]

2 hours ago, Journeya said:

Any chance we could get access to exported deed planner files of current starter deeds? I dont know about other servers, but we are on Independence and the terrain at the Howl is pretty steep and rough with some terraforming to be able to build there in the first place - I would love to not have to sit down and count all the tiles where the roads are, how the slopes are behaving and such. It would be highly confusing to try to design a flat plan for this area since there is no way it would be doable in the first place.

By the way, if you're interested in helping you should check out this thread.  

 

[Retrograde 12,013]

 

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As many said, designing something to help the new players stay would be good as well, tutorial anyone ?!

The tutorial is completely seperate to this and a much longer project. This is a competition for those who do not wish to hunt or fight in their events. It has zero inpact on development or design of a tutorial.

 

 

Quote

Not only those requirement are strict, but we have no guidelines to design a starter deed lag friendly for anyone, nor knowing if/how to manage some spots for future events like the treasure hunts.

 

They are strict because they are lag friendly. Each walltype requires a load action, many wall types in the same area increases load actions and thus taxes the system. the way textures work, is 1 texture loaded a hundred times is faster than 2 seperate textures being loaded.

 

So with this in mind, try to use a more simplistic approach than crazy over the top buildings. If you'd like to try with multiple wall types feel free, the worst that will happen is we ask for a review of the walltypes.

 

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I hardly see how something totally walled in can look natural, no matter where it's located. Nor how much the surrounding areas have been altered by players during all those years. If i think about green dog (deliverance), we had marshes, forest, clear cut-ed areas, forest again, desert, forest again, more marshes, less marshes, shanty town, surrounding market stalls... Which one of these will make the norm ?

The walls are a strict requirement in the design, unfortunately this cannot be changed. As for how "natural" we're looking for, it's fairly straight forward, you wouldnt sand or pave the entire area, and if the deed is in a steppe area (say, Linton) then having steppe would look much more natural than lawn

 

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I understand wanting a starter town for new people to live in, but how many people actually stay in or around a starter town?

This is an opportunity for communities to show off their server and make it appealing. Not every new player will want to stay at the starter down, just like not every player will want to set out into wilderness. We do not wish to force any playstyle upon players, we are simply offering the means to play a certain way if they choose.

 

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I say keep up the good work on fixing bugs and adding/ revamping things like recipies, cooking, interior designs and the like. The things that will make people want to stay and achieve.  

This is completely seperate to any dev work, this is an opportunity for the players to build the deeds themselves. The developers will continue to work on improving the game.

 

Quote

Any chance we could get access to exported deed planner files of current starter deeds?

Yes! I'll arrange for the GM team to grab them and post them here when they're available, should be soon

[Slickshot 1,195]

12 minutes ago, Retrograde said:

 

The tutorial is completely seperate to this and a much longer project. This is a competition for those who do not wish to hunt or fight in their events. It has zero inpact on development or design of a tutorial.

 

 

 

They are strict because they are lag friendly. Each walltype requires a load action, many wall types in the same area increases load actions and thus taxes the system. the way textures work, is 1 texture loaded a hundred times is faster than 2 seperate textures being loaded.

 

So with this in mind, try to use a more simplistic approach than crazy over the top buildings. If you'd like to try with multiple wall types feel free, the worst that will happen is we ask for a review of the walltypes.

 

The walls are a strict requirement in the design, unfortunately this cannot be changed. As for how "natural" we're looking for, it's fairly straight forward, you wouldnt sand or pave the entire area, and if the deed is in a steppe area (say, Linton) then having steppe would look much more natural than lawn

 

This is an opportunity for communities to show off their server and make it appealing. Not every new player will want to stay at the starter down, just like not every player will want to set out into wilderness. We do not wish to force any playstyle upon players, we are simply offering the means to play a certain way if they choose.

 

This is completely seperate to any dev work, this is an opportunity for the players to build the deeds themselves. The developers will continue to work on improving the game.

 

Yes! I'll arrange for the GM team to grab them and post them here when they're available, should be soon

I'm eager to get started, so the exports will definitely be helpful.  As for terrain:  will we also be required to fix the terrain if issues arise?  You've asked us to design within the dimensions of 41x41, but it would be an awful waste if only 2/3 of that was usable due to terrible terrain problems ruining the other 1/3.  Any more information of such would be greatly appreciated!

[Klaa 4,872]

Horton and co. have good experience creating functional starter deeds, especially ones on a pvp server.

 

And they still manage to look good.

[Lancelot 765]

I'm willing to help out in any way I can, any idea to bring in new players can only be good for the game and the community as a whole.

[Odynn 2,248]

5 hours ago, Retrograde said:

Each wall type requires a load action, many wall types in the same area increases load actions and thus taxes the system. the way textures work, is 1 texture loaded a hundred times is faster than 2 separate textures being loaded.

 

Trouble is not having different type of walls then, it's having too many kinds of different walls. I do not need to list the variety of options on stones ones / timber / wood to show you that.

So you might want to change the formulation a bit.

 

5 hours ago, Retrograde said:

This is a competition for those who do not wish to hunt or fight in their events

 

You speak of competition, I only see free labor here, what are the rewards instead of a sign telling who took part in the project (yay ?) and spending a lot of your premium time making bricks / mortar and working on the buildings. Do we have any more information or incentive ?

 

5 hours ago, Retrograde said:

This is an opportunity for communities to show off their server and make it appealing.

 

Showing off, show case, best picture to describe your server... etc etc, seems to be the focus lately. Once again how to do something grand and good looking with restrictions, kinda kill the main interest.

 

Then we have a bunch of question to ask ourselves.

• What is a role of a starter deed :
• Offering protection ?
• Offering free beds for SB ? (killing any potentials inns nearby)
• Offering free access to comodities like forges, ovens, pans in public buildings ? (done by others around before or in newbie starting towns).
• Having a fake town to shape up the new players mind on how to build their deed ? (farm lands / GM animals statue)
• Being a center for events ? we used to have servers wide spells / sermons there in the past.
• Showcasing skill / building possibilities / decorations / bridges ? back to square one on the restrictions and lag.
• Accessibility and hand helding for the new players ? (points back to the tutorial).
• Prolly others I forgot...
• And most important, Can we do something better than the existing ones.

 

Edited February 28, 2016 by Odynn
moar data

[Eobersig 1,005]

Like Odynn above me I think that before designing a starter deed you first need to state the purpose of the starter deed.

 

The purpose of starter deeds is rather limited (spawn, well, barkeeper, 2 traders, epic portal). I think that's it. There's no reason I can see why this has to be a huge deed with a huge perimeter around it. That can easily fit in a minimum size 11x11 tile deed with the minimum 5 perimeter around it. Why go so large?

[Odynn 2,248]

Okay, couldn't stop myself from feeling a tad creative :

 

Spoiler

 

Here we go, fenced in with those tall pallisade and archery guard towers to give you that security impression.

Gates, because your workers/new players need to leave from time to time.

Fields fields fields, so much fields, because farm work is all you need in wurm.

Buildings to stuff people, beds, forges, whatever in it, only use 3 wall types, perfect to stay lag free and short enough to respect the requirement.

Dem Market stalls for the traders, once you have earned your pay day working in the fields you can spend your hard earned cash on them... or just sell the crops one by one for some irons.

Altars and epic portals, pay your respect to our overlords or join epic to help them to fight each others.

I even left a mailbox somewhere to trade with the outside but i didn't find a recruitment post in the deed planner... what a shame.

 

Spoiler

 

Also what used to be the town hall in one of my old newbies town, can have good looking stuff without meeting those harsh requirement, hint hint.

 

Edited February 28, 2016 by Odynn
Yes - There is a strong irony in this one.

[KaiH 1,126]

why does that look like a roman war fort?

[Slickshot 1,195]

5 hours ago, Odynn said:

 

Trouble is not having different type of walls then, it's having too many kinds of different walls. I do not need to list the variety of options on stones ones / timber / wood to show you that.

So you might want to change the formulation a bit.

 

 

You speak of competition, I only see free labor here, what are the rewards instead of a sign telling who took part in the project (yay ?) and spending a lot of your premium time making bricks / mortar and working on the buildings. Do we have any more information or incentive ?

 

 

Showing off, show case, best picture to describe your server... etc etc, seems to be the focus lately. Once again how to do something grand and good looking with restrictions, kinda kill the main interest.

 

Then we have a bunch of question to ask ourselves.

• What is a role of a starter deed :
• Offering protection ?
• Offering free beds for SB ? (killing any potentials inns nearby)
• Offering free access to comodities like forges, ovens, pans in public buildings ? (done by others around before or in newbie starting towns).
• Having a fake town to shape up the new players mind on how to build their deed ? (farm lands / GM animals statue)
• Being a center for events ? we used to have servers wide spells / sermons there in the past.
• Showcasing skill / building possibilities / decorations / bridges ? back to square one on the restrictions and lag.
• Accessibility and hand helding for the new players ? (points back to the tutorial).
• Prolly others I forgot...
• And most important, Can we do something better than the existing ones.

 

You complain a lot. lol  You mention "free labor," but I promise you don't speak for all of us when you say that, so please state "in my opinion" after such a remark.  You obviously aren't interested in helping with such projects, which in reality is great because it means you won't end up on any team I make and drag the whole effort down.   Relax a bit mate.  You're making a lot of assumptions.

[Odynn 2,248]

2 minutes ago, Slickshot said:

You complain a lot. lol  You mention "free labor," but I promise you don't speak for all of us when you say that, so please state "in my opinion" after such a remark.  You obviously aren't interested in helping with such projects, which in reality is great because it means you won't end up on any team I make and drag the whole effort down.   Relax a bit mate.  You're making a lot of assumptions.

 

In my humble opinion you are missing the fact i'm on Deliverance, so I won't end up in your team, which is as good for you as it is for me.

 

I mention free labor because the only reward you will have is a shiny (or not) sign saying 'congrats you made a starter deed'. Something I did quite a few times on many community projects, where i was or not mentioned, do i need to remember you even tried to copy a few of them.

 

As much as I am interested in helping I'm merely stating that we do not have some proper guidelines and explanations, either we are limited in a material (wood, timber, stone) or texture, which means a type of wall. Something you don't seems to comprehend seeing how you state you won't design something laggy in your own thread (wood walls everywhere, no door, no decoration, right ?).

 

Making a starter deed is great, yup, having some decent rules would be even better. How many type of walls can we use, maybe limit the size to 3 storey max, add up to 5 storey for some look out / watch towers / etc, remove the max size for buildings... allow some creativity. If we are going to show case what can be done... well, give us some freedom.

 

Whole deed fencing is also limiting, we can have safe havens without locking everything down. Starter deeds are not the labor camps we can design with the present requirements (and which i totally did a few post above fulfilling perfectly said requirement - 6 walls types - and being offending for quite a few persons, sorry guys, not my plan to hurt any feelings).

 

So if in your opinion I'm complaining, i feel more like raising the needed concerns to get something done properly. Knowing most of the already GM designed deeds do not fit in those requirements... and I'm quite happy about that, Green Dog is not bland and even if it can be improved it will certainly not be with those settings.