BitCraft Online News

[h2]Hello Everyone,[/h2][p]The updated build and content are now live, you will need to download the latest build to be able to properly use the new content.
[/p][p]Star Stones- You can now get your Star Stone(s) that you've opened in the vault in game. These are purely cosmetic. Currently they can be summoned as pets, but in the future we are going to expand their functionality to be usable in other ways. Additionally, they are currently not tradeable, this is due to the synchronization with the HUB. We will eventually make them tradeable once we have the functionality to sync across the HUB. Let us know what types of way you would want to show off your Star Stone(s) in the future.

For those wondering what a Star Stone is and where to find one. Currently all players of BitCraft will have received a special Cube item in their account inventory, viewable on our website here. These cubes can be opened to get various Star Stones. These are mysterious items from the ancient world and their secrets have yet to be uncovered.

In this week's update you will be able to receive any Star Stones you have in your account inventory on the website in game and show them off to other players.


Moving Empire Capitals[/p][p]\ - As Emperor, you can now easily transfer your empire's capital to another owned settlement. This new method is a straightforward process, replacing the previous, more complicated workaround of submitting to another empire, and with a lower cost.
\[/p][/p][p]Empire Usurping - Through whatever means, if you come into ownership of the capital city claim of an empire, you now have the ability to take the crown. This means that going forward, as Emperor, it is essential to retain ownership over the capital city claim or you risk losing control of your empire. Note there is currently a bug which we are working on which causes you to sometimes have two crowns after this process happens.
[/p][p]Notable Changes,[/p]

• [p]Added 4 new upgrades to player housing deeds,[/p]
• [p]Added 2 new larger residence buildings (T3,T5),[/p]
• [p]Added 2 new sets of furniture,[/p]
• [p]Fixed issues with mute sometimes not working,[/p]
• [p]Added recipes to craft buckets using higher tier planks,[/p]

[p][/p][p]Other Changes,[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue with T7+ fish not stacking correctly,[/p]
• [p]Fixed Empire name and title not showing correctly when targeting another player,[/p]

[p][/p][p]Known Issues,[/p]

• [p]When closing the map, Icons show for a few frames,[/p]

[p][/p][p]We had some further changes to the map and UI performance but we've pulled them out until we can resolve some regressions. We may put an updated version of these up on preview in the coming days for testing.[/p]

[h2]Hello everyone,[/h2][p]Lets start off with the monthly update and jump right into housing.[/p][p]Housing,[/p][p]We are excited to finally release the first version of housing! Players can unlock their own personal house by buying a housing deed from Brico and can upgrade the size of their house by purchasing subsequent deeds. Players can "move in" their house to a building either in the ruined towns or one of the new residence buildings in a player settlement. Players can unlock new house furniture recipes from Brico which can be built at the new construction station. Furniture can be placed, moved and picked up at your convenience.[/p][p]Players can relocate their house to a new location instantly if their house is totally empty OR the new location is within the same claim. If the house is not empty the move will take some time and their house will not be accessible until the move is complete. If you want to move your house to another region currently the house must be empty, but this will change in the future.[/p][p]For the release of this update there is just a small taste of content, but we have a lot more coming over the next few weeks. From today you will have access to 3 sizes of house deeds, 5 tiers of small residences for settlements and 2 sets of furniture. There will be more of all of these coming soon, especially larger residence structures.[/p][p]The house permissions needed to be cut down due to some bugs we weren't able to get fixed yet, but we are hoping to re-enable the claim and settlement permission groups for housing asap. Additionally with the housing changes we giving a buff to the total amount of supplies and tiles claims can unlock as well as slightly lowering the maintenance cost of larger claims to give larger settlements the ability to build more housing districts.[/p][p][/p][p]Help Others Craft,[/p][p]Another change which is simple, but powerful is the ability to start a craft and allow others to help you with it. With this change, you can now start crafts which you don't meet the level or tool requirements for if you allow others to help. The owner of the project is the only person who can collect the final result. This opens up many cool opportunities for interesting interactions, such as:[/p]

• [p]Hanging out at a crafting station and helping anyone who is in need to get some extra EXP,[/p]
• [p]Having a expert Smith craft your tool upgrade for a tip and making sure you receive the potential rarity upgrade without being scammed,[/p]
• [p]Having the whole claim pitch in to power craft the large stack of something[/p]

[p]This system is far from done, we have many more ideas which can build off of this and we are excited to see what you come up with as well!

Patch-Notes - Monthly Update July 24th,[/p][p]At the time of posting the update will be live (on both the preview and main branches)[/p][p]You may need to restart steam to get the option to download the update. The previous build can log in but some in game actions will not be possible until you upgrade.[/p][p]Housing,[/p]

• [p]Player can purchase House deeds from Brico,[/p]
• [p]With a deed, players can establish their house in a residential building (found in ruined town or player settlements),[/p]
• [p]Players can decorate their house with furniture unlocked from Brico and craft it using the new construction station,[/p]
• [p]Interact with the building your house is in to edit permissions (Settlement and Empire permissions will be re-enabled in a future update),[/p]
• [p]Residential buildings with residents give income to settlement daily based on the tier of the residence building,[/p]
• [p]Build housing in your town to attract residents and earn more income!,[/p]
• [p]Help Other Craft,[/p]
• [p]You can now start recipes you don't meet the requirements (tool, skill) for by toggling accept help in the UI,[/p]
• [p]When accepting help other players can see your project and help craft it,[/p]
• [p]Only the owner who started the recipe can cancel or collect it,[/p]
• [p]Players still get EXP based on actions done (crafting together gives everyone EXP based on contribution),[/p]

[p]Notable Changes,[/p]

• [p]Writs are now cargo - some of you might be upset by this but we believe this will bring gameplay much closer to what we envisioned for establishing towns and reducing unintended usage,[/p]
• [p]High tier settlements can now expand much larger for cheaper, this should make it easier to build your housing districts,[/p]
• [p]Added the option in empire setting for empires to rename themselves,[/p]
• [p]Updated the order of the onboarding to make WASD more obvious and send players on an adventure earlier,[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug causing the Marketplace and Market Search UIs to crash under some circumstances,[/p]
• [p]Increased the item drop chance for many monster enemies,[/p]
• [p]Other Changes,[/p]
• [p]Fixed some planted trees not being placeable in the correct biomes,[/p]
• [p]Removed some unused recipes from the game that were showing up in the compendium,[/p]
• [p]Fixed Scrofas not giving the correct EXP values when hunting,[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with spam clicking while in WASD causing weird movement,[/p]
• [p]Fixed a visual issue with the T5 wall corner posts,[/p]
• [p]Updated respawn logic to improve stability of resources populations (getting the resources respawned back to their targets is still a top priority),[/p]
• [p]Fixed camera panning getting stuck at edge of screen,[/p]
• [p]Reduced teleport energy regeneration slightly,[/p]
• [p]Fixed some discovery triggers on cooking recipes,[/p]
• [p]Fixed some animation on the Lusul not playing correctly,[/p]
• [p]Fixed aligned settlement map marker being broken,[/p]

[p]Known Issues,[/p]

• [p]We are investigating an issue with the map performance being degraded
  [/p]

[p]Hello Everyone! [/p][p]This weeks patch notes are here lets start of with:
Tool Scrapping - You can now build a new untiered building: The Scrapping Bench, here you can deconstruct tools into a new scrap item of their tier. Rarer tools will give more scrap. You can also use scrap here to try to raise the rarity of a tool without upgrading it's tier. We will be monitoring the balance of this and will add it to the other types of equipment with rarity in the future. We are also working on some improvements to the UI of this building, for now you can use the Craftable filter to make it easier to navigate.

New Pet - Added a new type of pet, the elusive Lusul. This marks the start of our planned direction for pets; we want to make sure that pets are interesting to find and not just something you have to specifically target to get. We expect these to be more rare than the owls and have more pets with interesting ways to obtain coming in the future. [/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Notable Changes[/h2]

• [p]Testing some improvements to some resource respawning (T4 Berries)[/p]
• [p]Rebalanced the storage space of constructed storage in settlements (Only applies to newly built ones)[/p]
• [p]Re-added T1 Chests and Stockpiles to be Constructible[/p]
• [p]Added a new traveler task for Fish Oil and Experimental Compounds[/p]
• [p]Updated the drop rate of Fish Scales and the reward for fish scale task[/p]
• [p]Updated drop rate of Chitin and Hardened Shells from monsters[/p]
• [p]Added new Scholar Potions: Building Speed, Gathering Speed[/p]
• [p]Added a new permanent upgrade which allows you to raise your max teleportation energy.[/p]
• [p]Added new permanent upgrades available from Brico as you level up construction to improve your construction speed[/p]
• [p]Added some more hair colors[/p]
• [p]Clipper now moves quicker on the ocean[/p]
• [p]The tasks for 10 Rare Slayer materials (eg, Jakyl fangs) now require 5 instead but give half the hex coins[/p][p]Items dropped on claims will now behave the same as off claims (once personal lock expires anyone can take)[/p]
• [p]Added the ability to deconstruct watchtowers (if they aren’t being sieged)[/p]
• [p]Improvements to WASD control scheme (fix RMB in UI causing movement on vehicles, WASD did not interrupt vehicle movement, fix not being able to pave, cursor now snaps back after panning)[/p]
• [p]Added the ability to track Animals from the compendium[/p]
• [p]Added Rarity to market search (this improved UI will be brought over to marketplace as well soon)[/p]
• [p]Added a brightness slider to settings[/p]
• [p]World map is now simpler for unexplored territory (improvements to empire name placement are being worked on)[/p]
• [p]Added a way to move your deployable out from under something when it isn't reachable (context menu on the thing blocking it)[/p]

[h2]Other Changes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed a bug with high tier journal crafting and hieroglyphs not pointing at the correct items[/p]
• [p]Renamed Chemical Supply Packs to Experimental Compounds to make it more clear that it is not a package.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some errors in Skill Achievements[/p]
• [p]Fixed some High tier packages not being able to be unpacked[/p]
• [p]Updated the cost of building Town Banks and Markets[/p]
• [p]Terraforming will now correctly use building speed[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where energy could not be transferred correctly after a siege[/p]
• [p]Made an improvement to pathfinding for boats which should cause them to go straight more often[/p]
• [p]Fixed error text when failing to deposit into settlement treasury[/p]
• [p]Fixed an error where the client was incorrectly calculating empire territory and thinking certain ranks were unlocked when they weren’t[/p]
• [p]Updated the language for submitting an empire to make it more clear what will happen[/p]
• [p]Increased FPS cap on loading screen to help speed up loading some assets[/p]

[p]Hello Everyone![/p][p]The BitCraft Online roadmap charts an exciting journey through the rest of the year, teasing some major updates and engaging in-game events that promise players new ways to play and connect. While we’re keeping some of the finer details for later, we hope this glimpse ahead offers plenty to look forward to as the world of BitCraft continues to grow.
[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[h2]Hello everyone,[/h2][p]
Banks are now deconstructable again - We are not taking any further actions on the multiple banks this week. The developer intent was always that there would be one bank per claim, and the current state of settlements having multiple banks is not good user experience. We have plans to make banks upgradable and expandable in the future, being able to add more slots, tabs, or depth to the storage. This is also important with the introduction of player housing to make sure that the storage you can build in your player house isn't totally invalidated by settlements creating many cheap banks.

Settlement Placement Proximity - We've added a minimum distance that you can place a player settlement from an existing player settlement. We believe this will give settlements less frustration when it comes to a new settlement popping up on your doorstep. This doesn't impact/change the ability for claims to be expanded close to each other. We've been monitoring how players are using settlements and claims in the game over the last few weeks, and we have taken note of several cases that we believe are unhealthy for the game. This is the first of several changes aimed at remedying some of these unintended uses of settlements.

[/p][h2]Future Plans[/h2][p]Tool/Equipment Scrapping - Since we designed the tool upgrade system, we were aware that there would be an accumulation of low rarity tools and had always planned to add a way to recycle them for some use. We have nailed down the design we are going with and are hoping to include this in next week's update. The primary use of scrap will be to make further attempts at raising the rarity of a tool. The goal is to not disrupt the value of high rarity tools, while raising the price floor for low rarity tools to prevent them flooring the market and eventually becoming worthless. I'm mentioning this now so you can make an informed decision on what to do with your extra tools over the next week.

Player Housing - We are making good progress on finishing player housing. I wanted to give a bit of info as I've seen many questions on how it will work. Players will be able to buy a house deed from Brico which will give them a house. Players can upgrade their deed with Brico to get a larger house. Your house cannot be destroyed or lost in any way and has no maintenance cost. Your house is accessed by "moving" it into a residential building in the world, this acts as the door in the world connecting to your house. Ruined towns have a residential building which can accommodate infinite players, while player settlements can build buildings which have limited slots. Active players with their house in your settlement will give addition income for the town, creating an incentive to build sufficient housing (similar to coins minted by players using your crafting stations). You can move your house to a new location, including if you are evicted, or if the residential building you are living in is removed. You can customize the permissions of your house similar to a settlement and share a house with other players. We will release some more in depth info and reveal of housing prior to it's release in the game, we can't wait for you all to try it.

[/p][h2]Patch-Notes - Weekly Update July 10th[/h2][p]
Note: we are aware of an issue on MacOS causing some graphical issues on the map and are working to fix

Notable Changes
[/p]

• [p] Player settlements can not be placed within a minimum range of another player settlement
  [/p]
• [p] Banks are deconstructable again (No further actions are being taken on banks this week)
  [/p]
• [p] Fixes to how several stats show in the stats window which made them look incorrect
  [/p]
• [p] Further improvements to empire map territory rendering and names
  [/p]
• [p] Added options to hide some map icons and skip the animation transition (this is an workaround for the map frame drops while we continue to improve the underlying issues)
  [/p]
• [p] Added a new type of supply pack crafted by scholars
  [/p]
• [p] Added around a dozen new emotes, you can see them in the emote list in the expanded chat area
  [/p]
• [p] Added the ability to make fertilizer from Meat and Ocean Fish
  [/p]
• [p] Made several buffs to hunting EXP (more EXP per action while hunting and processing, processing takes longer)
  [/p]
• [p] All hunted animals now give 3 hides instead of 2 when processed
  [/p]
• [p] Fixed the passenger seat on the Ox mount
  [/p]
• [p] Updated the stacking size of clay and sand to stack higher
  [/p]
• [p] Many buildings are now prevented from being built inside (currently just in Alesi's hideout)
  [/p]
• [p] Added Achievements and Titles for skills that were missing them (and new UI to see Skill Achievement)
  [/p]
• [p] Updated T4 berries to have much more health and respawn more aggressively to deal with the overall low amount of them (will take effect on new ones)
  [/p]
• [p] Fixed several cases where some T7-10 resources would drop the wrong tier of item when destroyed)
  [/p]
• [p] Added the ability to deposit coins into Settlement treasury
  [/p]
• [p] Entity Labels (toggled with U) can now be customized in the settings (which things you want to see labels for)
  [/p]
• [p] Fixed bug where barter stall buildings could have their stock accessed by players with less than co-owner permission
  [/p]
• [p] Added the "First Awakened" title to the game (if you own on the hub you will receive next time you login into game)
  [/p]
• [p] Added 2 new Types of Pillar Shaping: cobblestone and framed dirt (more of these coming in future updates)
  [/p]

[p]
Other Changes
[/p]

• [p] Rangifer has unique color now
  [/p]
• [p] Traveler fruit rarity updated to reflect it's rarity/usefulness
  [/p]
• [p] Fixed a bug causing camera to get disconnected from your player
  [/p]
• [p] Deployables should now include their info in the tooltip (this might be listed twice until we remove the stats from the description text)
  [/p]