Release 29 Instructions

[Balandar]

This is a massive update, so take a look at the instructions on SoTA. 

Here are some highlights:

"The biggest and most obvious change is to targeting which now uses a reticle in the center of the screen and makes interaction modal. Hitting the TAB key or invoking any interface window will cause the game to play almost exactly as before but this is still a VERY big change. For a while now, we have tried to avoid making our game modal. To date, we have solved that by requiring mouselook by holding down the right mouse button. This means that you can always have a cursor but it makes targeting hard, especially for ranged combat, and means you have to constantly hold down a mouse button (which players complain hurts them after playing for long times). Additionally, most modern 3D games use free mouselook and use a modal interface to bring up a cursor for interactions, inventory, etc. So with R29, we decided to make the plunge and moved our game to be Reticle Targeting based and Modal. Please note that you do NOT have to keep the reticle on directly top of the target to hit it. Once you have a target identified you just need to have them in your forward arc and in range to hit them. You do NOT need to have the reticle always on top of the target. We are NOT a shooter. We know that many of you have concerns about this change, and rest assured we are listening. We fully intend to support the play style our loyal backers have become accustomed to while expanding the abilities of the game. We are aware of and looking at solutions for those of you with physical challenges we have not yet solved and those of you who want more mouse-centric options. Please be patient while we work through this which may take more than one release."

"The next big change was related to land and housing. Since the addition of Player-Owned Towns (POTs), the amount of “potential” available land has greatly increased and therefore a potential demand for more lot deeds has been created. However that land is only potential, not guaranteed, until the owner puts down lot markers and unlocks the lots. So we still have to be very careful in how we add deeds to the game to make sure those who purchase deeds have a place to use them. So we are adding POT-Only Lot Deeds."

Additional changes

- Full Wipe - Please note that if you have been waiting to convert your purchases to store credits, this is your chance to do so as long as you do not claim your rewards in the bank.

- Love Story-line First-Playable: With the addition of the Crypt of the Avatar beneath Midras, the Path of Love is playable from start to finish.

- Brittany (Central): The capital of Novia! Center of Commerce! Home of Arabella! This will be surrounded by 4 other housing neighborhoods as well as the Brittany Graveyard. Please note that story elements have not yet been added for central Brittany, and all NPCs remain generic for now.

- Crypt of the Avatar (beneath Midras Ruins): The ancient Crypt of the Avatar, as found by Aren and Syenna in “Blade of the Avatar,” is open for exploration by those who have fought their way through the halls of Necropolis.

- Underground Network - To date, we have added underground areas (dungeons, sewers, mines, etc) as mostly stand-alone scenes, seemingly filled with random resources and randomly connecting to other underground scenes. As of this release, the randomness begins to go away as we start embracing a “grand underground plan.”

- Lot Selection Sequence: The lot selection sequence process will be implemented and tested by players. Pacing for these initial tests will be very accelerated with lot selection windows being mere minutes versus a full 24 hours.

- Honor Hold (Our town governed by @Borg): Converted to Mountains [and moved south to our new location at the crossroads]. 

- Performance: Major efforts will be done to optimize performance. This will include frame rate improvements, load time improvements, and memory footprint improvements. We will also begin officially supporting Windows 10.

- List Mode for Recipes: Crafting Stations in List Mode now include a section of the interface that lists all the recipes for that station. That means you no longer need to have the Recipe Book open when using a Crafting Station. We also added searching to each list view and a category dropdown to the recipes list for further filtering.

- New Reticle Targeting/Free Mouselook Mode: For a while now, we have tried to avoid making our game modal. To date, we have solved that by requiring mouselook by holding down the right mouse button. This means that you can always have a cursor but it makes targeting hard, especially for ranged combat, and means you have to constantly hold down a mouse button (which players complain hurts them after playing for long times). Additionally most modern 3D games use free mouselook and use a modal interface to bring up a cursor for interactions, inventory, etc. So with R29, we decided to make the plunge and moved our game to be Reticle Targeting based. Please note that you do NOT have to keep the reticle on directly top of the target to hit it. Once you have a target identified you just need to have them in your forward arc and in range to hit them. You do NOT need to have the reticle always on top of the target. We are NOT a shooter. We are continuing to iterate on this new method and we are fully aware it is not quite there yet. We are aware of and looking at solutions for those of you with physical challenges we have not yet solved and those of you who want more mouse-centric options. Please be patient while we work through this which may take more than one release.

- Claim Rewards at Bank: Now, rewards are not marked as claimed until you claim them inside the game at the bank. Previously they would be marked claimed as soon as you logged in. NOTE: Rewards are still not available in Offline mode.

- Control Points Perks: We now have the ability to link the unlocking of items like doors and containers to the state of a Control Point. So as players successfully take and defend a Control Point, we can grant access to previously inaccessible content. For R29, we are testing this new feature in Vertas Pass—for each wave of enemies that players face, a new door somewhere in the the village will unlock and give access to a treasure chest, but when the control point is lost, all doors re-lock.

Plus many more, so take a look at the instructions on SoTA.