Ylands News

Ahoy Ylanders,

We've been hard at work on the upcoming update, which we titled Elven Expeditions. And before we release it, we bring you the experimental build!



Available only to Steam users, the Experimental build offers you guys a chance to:

• test upcoming features & changes
  
• report any bugs & provide early feedback (#experimental_build room on our Discord server is a great way to do that)
  

HOW TO TRY THE EXPERIMENTAL BUILD

2. optional* If you've been playing for a while and are not a newer player, please delete the contents of this folder C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Temp\Bohemia Interactive\Ylands\Crashes
   
3. Go to your Steam library and right-click Ylands
   
4. Select Properties, click the "Betas" tab, and enter "YExperimentalPublic" as the password (excluding the double quotes)
   
5. This will unlock the "i_will_back_up_my_saves" branch. (Please note that you don't need to back up your saves anymore this is just the name of the branch).
   
6. After selecting the branch and confirming it, Steam will begin downloading the new experimental branch
   

SUPER IMPORTANT INFO!

• Any progress you make on the experimental build DOES NOT carry over to your live game!!!
  
• When you start playing experimental, we will now copy your live progress into experimental for you. You can try your actual progress in the new update right away (remember that you are playing in a separate environment so it will not affect your progress on live by any means).
  

What WILL be copied:

• Adventure mode progress,
  
• All editor scenarios and tools,
  
• Non-protected workshop scenarios and all the blueprints you have uploaded to the workshop
  
• All your purchased blueprints
  
• All your local blueprints
  

What WILL NOT be copied:

• Sharegames
  
• Rented servers (if you want any of those maps on experimental, you will need to turn them into singleplayer maps before you start experimental for the first time)
  
• Any workshop assets with global user data (leaderboards, game sets, etc)
  

• Do not copy any local files! Any TAMPERING with local data can lead to irreversible loss of progress!!!
  
• Not all features that will be released in the full release are necessarily available in the Experimental build. It is possible that some features available in the Experimental build might be changed, balanced, or removed before the full release.
  

...with that out of the way...onto the good stuff!


Highlights

Random Encounter Objectives

We improved random encounters so now you are able to keep track of RE objective progress. We hope it will motivate you and your friends to explore ylands even more now.

Luring lighthouse

A new chapter of the story takes you to the Monsoonal region where strange things started happening. Could this have something to do with the arrival of elves into the region? It is up to you (and Horatio Reginald Elmwood, of course) to find out what's going on!

Gamepad

Gamepad controls is finally here for you. Do not forget that with gamepad we help you a little bit during the combat with the aim assist.

Quality of life improvements

You may now use freeplace feature for your blueprints, it can be freely rotate and snap to ground at your will.

EDITOR improvements:

• Polished ease of use of input fields throughout the editor.
  
• Merged Terrain and Advanced Terrain Tools and split Game Logics into Basic Logics and Script Logics.
  
• Custom Enums are now a standalone Visual Script Category.
  
• Custom Localizations basic workflow introduced - create your own localization tables for custom games.
  
• Positions and Rotations in Visual Scripting reworked to be more intuitive.
  
• New Project Browser makes searching and opening Editor Scenarios much easier.
  

Ahoy, Ylanders!

Some of you may have already caught the little hint about what's coming up in the next Story Yland. The fancy-looking, slender guy made of stone, holding a weird astrolabe-like contraption, tells us a little bit about the next focus of Elmwood's interest. In the upcoming update 2.3, after Sunken Sands in the Arid region, the Adventurer and Mr. Horatio Reginald Elmwood would delve into the next region to visit some magic-using guests. As Mr. Elmwood learns from the ancient library, there are some humanoid sailors from a different world who are building something in the Monsoonal landscape. These guys have greyish skin, grow no facial hair, and have pointy ears. Who are they? You've guessed it, those are the Elves.



But we are not going to spoil anything else about them. If you want to learn more about the Elves, you will have to play it yourself. And, oh boy, there will be chances to learn a lot for those who are willing. There are over 20 unique lore entries for you to find and read. This is something not yet seen in previous Story Ylands, but if you, as the players, like this option and are eager to study the lore behind each region more, we shall wear out our keyboards to catch up.



While working with the Elves, we also came to a conclusion about other NPCs and created a new "dehumanized humanoid monster type" that would, in time, replace all aggressive NPCs in Random Encounters, so you know at first glance if someone is definitely an enemy. This should also prevent players from mistaking the Yland natives for something they are not. Some of those new enemies will be encountered on the Monsoonal Story Yland as well.

So, sharpen your blades and your wits for the upcoming challenges and stay classy, Ylanders!

[h3]Ahoy, Ylanders![/h3]

There are new packs in the shop for both new and hardcore players among you. Let's see what we have in store... literally.

[h2]STARTER PACK[/h2]



Starting with the starter pack, which will ensure any new or longtime player swiftly starts off their adventure! So let's see what you get for a mere 2.99 EUR.

• Arid Region unlock
  
• 300 Coyns
  
• Bushcraft Avatar Frame
  
• Toolbox
  
• Lunchbox
  
• Herb Bag
  
• Obsidian pick
  
• Obsidian knife
  
• Wooden fishing rod
  
• 20× Clay
  
• 10× Leather
  
• 15× Flint
  
• 20× Feather
  
• 10× Healing Herb
  
• 30× Stone
  

As you can see, there is plenty of useful stuff here. So where is the catch, you ask? Yes, there is a catch, but only a little one. You can purchase the Starter Pack only once per account.

It may not surprise you, but in fact, this pack was your idea all along! It took us a while, but we finally found a reliable way to deliver resources to you in the game without breaking its natural progress.

[h2]SUPPORTER PACK[/h2]



Now we are looking at you, our dearest hardcore Ylanders. An exclusive costume, title, avatar frame, and emote are waiting just for you. On the other hand, your support will mean a lot to us and will help us to continue working on Ylands and bring you many more new updates.

On top of that, every supporter can enjoy their own role on our Discord as well as a special "Supporter only" room. Just in case, you can click here to join the Discord server now!

Thank you for your never-ending support.

Stay Classy, Ylanders!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2904300/Ylands__Starter_Pack/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2904310/Ylands__Supporter_Pack/

[h3]STARTER PACK[/h3]

• Starting resources and other important stuff for bargain price! Can be purchased only ONCE per account.
  
• This pack is based on our players' feedback and is an ideal choice for starting players who want to enjoy a little boost to the start of the game.
  

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2904300/Ylands__Starter_Pack/

[h3]SUPPORTER PACK[/h3]

• The most exclusive and top shelf cosmetics for the biggest Ylands fans who want to support the game's development.
  
• Entry to a special Discord "Supporter only" room is included in the pack. Not a member of our Discord yet? Click here to join now!
  

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2904310/Ylands__Supporter_Pack/

[h3]INTRO[/h3]

• For months we evaluated what should be showed off more and now it's going live!
  
• New players can get a better taste of what they can experience in Ylands from the very beginning.
  
• The time to invite your friends to play Ylands (or reset your progress) is now!
  

[h3]New Assets[/h3]
STARTER PACK:

• Avatar's Tropical Frame
  

SUPPORTER PACK:

• C.A.G. Admiral Costume
  
• Noble Wave Emote
  
• Avatar's Baroque Frame
  
• C.A.G. BENEFACTOR title
  

[h3]ADDITIONS[/h3]
Added: New playable Intro where player will be introduced to C.A.G and main features of the game.

[h3]FIXED[/h3]
[YLD-51838] Fixed: Story: Players lost progress from Elmwood outpost.
[YLD-51621] Fixed: Editor: All damage immunity / No player vs player damage check boxes are wrongly checked in Game settings.
[YLD-51083] Fixed: Editor: On Invulnerable Hit event does not trigger for invincible players.
[YLD-50834] Fixed: A handbook memory leak that would occur upon changing the active session (leaving a game into the main menu, changing a server etc.).

Ahoy Ylanders!

Today, let's for once leave the seas of Ylands and instead dive into what it's like to be a tester.


In general, us testers get to shine when a new feature or asset is introduced and given to us in its raw state. Here it's important to keep two mindsets: one of a tester, but also one of a player. But let's get to the latter in a little bit.


Generally, as testers, we basically have one important job - to grab what we've received and attempt to break it in any way imaginable. Already knowing all that is doable in the game, this is where we do that "all" and way more.
We get to wreak havoc and investigate all that could possibly go wrong, and this is where being creative and imaginative really pays off. Finding as many ways to break every new thing as possible lets us, after all, try our very best to bring you everything in the most polished, pristine state after it's reported, fixed and retested.




The mindset of a player comes into the picture when we also have to consider the question of: is this user friendly? As most of us already have our fair share of experience with games, we know fairly well if not only the usability but also design is something that would generally please a player. Overall, it's important to us that every new thing is easy to understand, can be used well, but also looks a way that would catch our eye as players.
As such, not only do we find bugs, but also bring our own feedback to the table.

When a release is knocking on the door, that's when the most things can possibly go wrong. Instead of testing rather specific things, we now have to look through every single corner of the game to make sure nothing has been broken in the process. Even things that until now seemed minor are important to test so that we can try our best to make the experience we bring you, our players, as flawless as it could be.
And then the release comes, maintenance happens, and we have the job and last chance of checking that everything is fine, so we split the most important parts of the game amongst our lovely team of testers and go through all Story ylands, intro, shop etc., basically all that absolutely has to be in a proper state no matter what. And we have to manage in time so that you can get the finished product and continue sailing as soon as possible.

Overall, seeing that progress that newly added things go through is really exciting, as it goes from a sometimes rather broken state to a finished feature and we get to experience all those stages. Sometimes that results in funny bugs that we would not otherwise experience while being simply players, which we then get to share with you, our community, afterwards.

At the same time, it can be a difficult job since we're not just playing the game. It can sometimes take us days to find how a specific bug happens, which often results in us just doing the same thing over and over and over again until we figure it out, and then once more after it's fixed. It takes a lot of effort, thinking, and patience, but in the end it's always worth it.

If you run into a bug or simply need help with something, let us know in our Discord!

That's it for this week!