Ylands News

[h3]Ahoy Ylanders![/h3]


The summer holiday season is in full swing, people are having a great time outside the office, but do you know what makes them excited to come back to work? It's our furry colleagues! We figured we might introduce some members of our team who you probably don't know yet.


[h3]Ylands Canistheraphy Team[/h3]

Yes, we have our own team. Working in the gaming industry is quite mentally demanding and this is the best way to cope with all the stress. Let's meet the team!

Rocky

This good boy is a senior canistheraphist for Ylands team who is present almost every day and boosts our morale tremendously. He received his canistheraphy license in 2019 (seriously, he passed the test) and is spreading joy in our team for almost year and a half now.




Haiki

She might be small but her dedication to driving away any potential threat is immense! Sometimes, it's a bit too much, as pigeon outside a window can mean an involuntary break from a meeting. Yet, she makes up for it by letting us scratch her belly, so win-win!




Charlie

The smallest of our therapists, Charlie sits at the reception, making sure we are always stocked up on fruit, vegetables and candies.



[h3]Home Office Squad[/h3]

It would be a pity to stay in the team of Ylands so we've included more Bohemia Interactive pet workers from other teams as well. Especially cats, as they are the most active home office helpers. You know, sitting in your spot, judging the quality of our work or sleeping on our keyboards.




[h3]Slack channel for cute pets photos[/h3]

Yes, that's what we do. Whether it's from the office, home office or holiday people are sending their cuties for others to admire. It is called #Random-Aww and everyday you can find photos just like these there. A lot of our furry friends even have their own emoji on our company Slack!



Feel free to share your own pets with us here or on our Discord server: https://discord.com/invite/ylands


[h3]Stay Classy![/h3]

[h2]Ahoy Ylanders!
[/h2]

As you probably know, it takes a while to create a video game. Once it is done, there is still a long way to go as the testing begins. The story ylands are basically like small games within Ylands and testing them before the experimental is released can get quite interesting. Peek behind the curtain and see some of the more interesting screenshots from our testers. We will go from the least disruptive bugs to the most, so you have something to look forward to.



1. Once the Starcharter sends you here the door should unlock for you. These minor scripting errors are basically must-haves.



2. Off with the heads! Eh...we mean, not the heads but placeholder statues. Yes, even "bugs" like this is what our testers are capable of noticing.



3. How many dogs do you see? Even though someone might see one cerberus those are actually just two dogs in one spot. One bug, two dogs.



4. Let's enter the mobile realm which is abundant with proper bugs! Forget barely noticeable double dog or easily fixed locked door we present you random blank spots! It appears that parts of the Ylands world ceased to exist here. Ooopsie!



5. DANGER! DANGER! PARTICLE EFFECTS OVERWHELM!



But if you played the 3rd story yland you know that we successfully managed to mend all of these. In case you didn't play the story, you should definitely do so! Let us know how you like it once you are done.

In the meantime...

[h3]Stay Classy![/h3]

[h3]Hello Ylanders! [/h3]

Today, we want to share one of the bugs we've encountered in our game. As developers, we sometimes come across bugs that are more funny than frustrating, and today was one of those days.



While testing costume changes in the profile window, we discovered that when you go into the game and change into any costume, after returning to the main menu, you might be in for a surprise when you check your profile window. Instead of seeing your character in their default outfit, you’ll find them standing there in their undergarments, but with the hands from the last costume you had on still attached.

We reproduced this bug several times with different costumes, and the results were quite interesting.





While this bug has given us a good laugh, it’s something we need to fix.

Sometimes, issues can be funny and easy to solve, but it's not always like that. Some issues are so complicated that we can spend months sending them back and forth until we find a fix.

It is very important to see reports from you about the issues you are experiencing. For example, there are many combinations of hardware, and we cannot have them all in our offices. But if you experience something that we are not, sometimes even looking at your log can give us answers we need to solve your issue.

Thank you for your continued support and for your feedback that helps us make our game more bug-free.

Happy Ylanding and Stay Classy!

Ahoy Ylanders!

Today, we spoke with our Art department about what's coming to Ylands! And we bring you a short peek into the brand new guardian of Arid caves!

Conceptualizing the Arid Hyena
The creation of our new hyena creature for the Arid region in Ylands started with the need for a guardian of the dark, mysterious caves. We chose a hyena for its reputation as a cunning and resilient animal, aiming to evoke a sense of danger and challenge. The goal was to create a creature that fits the harsh, unforgiving nature of its environment. This creature is meant to add a new layer of depth and excitement to the game, challenging players in unexpected ways.




From 3D Model to Life: Crafting the Hyena
We built the hyena directly in Blender, focusing on sharp edges and glowing green crystals to emphasize its role as a cave guardian. Following our pipeline, we skinned the model in Maya to ensure smooth integration with our animation workflow. The final model, with its intimidating stance and piercing eyes, meets our vision of a menacing creature. Every detail was crafted to enhance the creature’s unique and formidable presence within the game world.

Animating the Guardian: Breathing Life into Our Creation
For the animation, we reused the set from the Wendigo, as both creatures share the same skeleton. This approach allowed our artists to add more variations while enabling our animators to focus on other critical tasks. Creating a new animation set is very time-demanding, so reusing existing animations was a practical solution. By optimizing our resources this way, we were able to enrich the game’s animation quality overall.

What are your thoughts? Are you looking forward the the hyena? Let us know! 


Stay Classy!

Ahoy, Ylanders!

Today, we're diving into the creative process behind our latest trailer, which features an exciting live-action segment. We want to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we bring our trailers to life, blending in-game footage with real-world scenes.

Concept
Every great trailer starts with a concept. We ask ourselves: What do we want to convey? What’s the purpose of this trailer? This stage involves brainstorming ideas and determining the key messages and visuals we want to showcase.

Script
Next, we draft a detailed script. This outlines the individual scenes and specific shots we need. The script acts as our blueprint, guiding the entire production process.

Asset Creation
Our fantastic artists get to work building the scenes in Ylands. This time, we went a step further and created a real-life set. We transformed an office into a cozy living room, adding an extra layer of immersion to our trailer.

Capture
With the scenes ready, our super talented video team steps in. Using our internal tools, they capture the scenes outlined in the script. When live-action elements are required, we bring in actors. Luckily, we have an actress on the team—our very own Brand Manager Nikki. She performed in the latest trailer and also did a voice-over for another trailer. Can you find which one it was? Post the link in the comments! (Hint: It was a few updates ago 😉)

Editing
Once we have all the footage, we begin the editing process. We review the scenes, pick the best ones that fit the script, and sometimes reshoot if needed. Our video team assembles the scenes into a rough cut. Once we’re happy with the concept, they fine-tune it to perfection.

Sound
With the final cut ready, it’s time to add sound. We choose the music or have our sound team create something new. In some cases, like with this trailer [link], the music is composed first, and the editing is done to match the finished track. We also add sound effects like creaking ship wood, underwater bubbles, and animal sounds to enhance the experience.

Endcard
Our graphic designers create an endcard based on the marketing team’s information. Sometimes, these endcards are even animated, adding a dynamic finish to the trailer.

Final Touches
Finally, we review the finished product, export it in the required formats, and our trailer is ready to share with you!

This ideal process isn’t always smooth sailing. We occasionally face hiccups due to time constraints and need to adapt on the fly. However, we're proud of how this latest trailer turned out. What did you think of it?

That’s all from us for this week!

Stay classy, Ylanders!