Exploration: Part 1 - Public Testing!

[TheTrickster 2,284]

7 minutes ago, LadyCygnet said:

Additional suggestions: Please find a way to show where we are on the server map when we access it in-game. It's something I've wanted for quite a while, and many other games that I've played have it available. It might help to ease the frustration of treasure hunting, especially when one is surrounded by willow trees. 

No.  Please, no.  HELL no!

It's a map, in a mediaeval type setting - not a GPS.  I use the map a LOT, because I navigate using the map.  Putting a "you are here" dot on that would entirely kill the enjoyment, challenge and achievement of old-school orienteering.

 

Otherwise, what Archaed said (oh, no!  😜).

 

On the other hand, I wouldn't necessarily want the examine removed - if people want it they can use it.  Directional cues are needed, though.  "Far away" on a largish server is really going to mean "Welcome to faecal river cruises.  We are fresh out of paddles".  The clue/map should be the thing being read/solved for finding the treasure though, so needs to be useful for that.  Hot hot cold couldn't hold my attention for long in the real world.  In a screen world it is the opposite of entertainment.

 

 

[Rudie 1,479]

Bring back Jackal.

Edited May 31, 2022 by Rudie

[Nirav 571]

[23:31:28] You must not move while doing that.

[23:31:28] You stop dig treasure.

Don't know if this is the place to talk about grammatical errors but this happened when I tried to move while digging. 

Even this isn't great...
[23:34:44] After you finish Dig Treasure you will start Dig Treasure again.

Edited May 31, 2022 by Nirav

[Joemog 732]

Skip the clue part and just have it show direction like in WU, they arent good gameplay in the long run.

[Wulfmaer 413]

Trying to launch the test client, and the client is failing to update.

 

[Yaga 2,887]

16 minutes ago, Wulfmaer said:

Trying to launch the test client, and the client is failing to update.

 

 

Same problem. 

[TheTrickster 2,284]

Question:  Has anyone worked out how to construct a chess set with the pieces?

EDIT:  Ah - nevermind.  🙂

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by TheTrickster

[Hailiah 443]

What do the dark splodges on the treasure maps represent?

I thought peat but the test map doesn't seem to have large areas of peat.

 

https://imgur.com/ZG6Uep9

[Archaed 2,280]

It's a high quality thus difficult map. 

 

Lower quality maps in easier tiers are more accurate and clearer 

[Sinnjinn 508]

11 hours ago, TheTrickster said:

Directional cues are needed, though. 

 

Then just give a direction and remove the clue, because nobody will use them.  everybody is complaining about 'spamming examine' being the best way to find the treasure and giving a direction will simply mean you examine less often.  No, as Archaed said give us clues that are actually good.

[Hailiah 443]

That map is 2ql

[TheTrickster 2,284]

56 minutes ago, Sinnjinn said:

 

Then just give a direction and remove the clue, because nobody will use them.  everybody is complaining about 'spamming examine' being the best way to find the treasure and giving a direction will simply mean you examine less often.  No, as Archaed said give us clues that are actually good.

I agree - unless the clues and maps are going to be improved they aren't worth bothering with,  so just give distance and direction.  The better alternative is to give useful clues and have examine give rough direction instead of distance.

[Archaed 2,280]

1 minute ago, TheTrickster said:

I agree - unless the clues and maps are going to be improved they aren't worth bothering with,  so just give distance and direction.  The better alternative is to give useful clues and have examine give rough direction instead of distance.

The clues and maps should be improved imo, so much of this game is played via the event window, I just want a new feature that remembers there's the rest of thegame lol 

[TheTrickster 2,284]

1 hour ago, Archaed said:

It's a high quality thus difficult map. 

 

Lower quality maps in easier tiers are more accurate and clearer 

No, it doesn't seem to work that way.  Only on lower ql caskets have I got text-only clues, but the maps that I have had are probably on a rough par with each other.  I have only done 4 treasure chests, but they have ranged in ql from 2 to 72.  They higher ql have larger distances, mobs/tougher mobs, more "rounds" but the maps don't seem different.  Given how everything else is harder on higher ql, I would expect that if the maps were of a different standard they would actually be paradoxically worse than low q ones.

[TheTrickster 2,284]

2 minutes ago, Archaed said:

The clues and maps should be improved imo, so much of this game is played via the event window, I just want a new feature that remembers there's the rest of thegame lol 

Yes, getting a map as a graphical clue is to me a huge deal for Wurm.  I very much like the idea.  The implementation still needs tweaking, though.  

[Archaed 2,280]

Just now, TheTrickster said:

1 hour ago, Archaed said:

 

No, it doesn't seem to work that way.  Only on lower ql caskets have I got text-only clues, but the maps that I have had are probably on a rough par with each other.  I have only done 4 treasure chests, but they have ranged in ql from 2 to 72.  They higher ql have larger distances, mobs/tougher mobs, more "rounds" but the maps don't seem different.  Given how everything else is harder on higher ql, I would expect that if the maps were of a different standard they would actually be paradoxically worse than low q ones.

Oh they are, it's just not always easy because the test server is mostly green splotches anyway. 

 

This is just a kindergarteners fingerpainting 

[elentari 2,660]

Consider the following idea.

 

These maps were probably made by bandits, rogues, pirates or random travelers seeking to stow their treasure. Most of them probably aren't cartographers or artists. 

 

Meaning their maps would be crude, at a child's level of drawing so they make sense if they are "ugly". However if there's one thing I WOULD add to these maps and I think they really need em, is a basic representation of trees on the map. They don't have to be fancy trees but it's kind of difficult to gauge an area by how the map looks. 

A few trees here and there would be more helpful. Also I reiterate my previous statement of having maps on a higher scale for low difficulty maps and maps on the current scale for higher difficulty maps (the challenging ones). 

[Bekador 208]

There are already "trees" on the maps. The different shades of green represent tree density. The black splotches are ink stains to make reading the map harder.

 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Bekador

[Etherdrifter 2,517]

A question for anyone who has time to test it (marking season so no free time for me!)

 

"What does this mechanic bring to free players - are they limited to lower quality treasure or can they, too, uncover high difficulty maps?"

[Sinnjinn 508]

1 minute ago, Etherdrifter said:

A question for anyone who has time to test it (marking season so no free time for me!)

 

"What does this mechanic bring to free players - are they limited to lower quality treasure or can they, too, uncover high difficulty maps?"

 

Free to play players still get MoI's at the same rate as everyone else, so they can go on these hunts same as everyone else.  However, with skills capped at 20, being out in the wilds of Wurm is a pretty dangerous thing to begin with, and they would have zero chance of beating some of the ambush mobs of the higher ql maps.

[elentari 2,660]

34 minutes ago, Etherdrifter said:

"What does this mechanic bring to free players - are they limited to lower quality treasure or can they, too, uncover high difficulty maps?"

Guessing they can sell the maps for maybe 1-2 silvers? 

 

Depends on what contents the live release will bring us. 

[Finnn 3,302]

42 minutes ago, Etherdrifter said:

A question for anyone who has time to test it (marking season so no free time for me!)

 

"What does this mechanic bring to free players - are they limited to lower quality treasure or can they, too, uncover high difficulty maps?"

it's subscription based game.. if f2ps are able to pull good maps worth 1s or more.. that's pretty easy to farm free sub effortless, what's "worse" is .. multiaccounting, ez coin farm

multi accounting, reward pool and occurance to get such maps really needs some statistic before release to plan the % numbers well

[LadyCygnet 215]

17 hours ago, TheTrickster said:

No.  Please, no.  HELL no!

It's a map, in a mediaeval type setting - not a GPS.  I use the map a LOT, because I navigate using the map.  Putting a "you are here" dot on that would entirely kill the enjoyment, challenge and achievement of old-school orienteering.

 

 

 

 

Maybe they could make use of it optional.

Or, I don't know, maybe put all deeds on the map by default and require mayors to opt-out. I know there are people who dig their privacy, but something has to give. Hell, maybe they could make it so that we can make unlimited annotations on the private server map that pulls up by default when you press the letter M outside of a chatbox. Navigating with a map and a compass is well and dandy, but on every map I've ever had in meatspace, the cities are marked and the highways have names/numbers. 

[TheTrickster 2,284]

7 hours ago, Bekador said:

There are already "trees" on the maps. The different shades of green represent tree density. The black splotches are ink stains to make reading the map harder.

 

There are a few areas there where the tree density doesn't appear to change much at all but the treasure map has a different shade (e.g. in top left quadrant).  There are other areas where the density changes but the treasure map shade doesn't. (e.g. in the top top right quadrant compared to the bottom left).  The inaccuracy is masked by using the treasure map as an overly, thus literally filtering the game map.