Hi there, fellow Ylanders!


One of the updates in the past has brought a very unpopular change to the game - the maps and ylands got smaller. It‘s something we had to do due to a bug in the engine we‘re using, Unity, which caused various problems as the players got further from the center of the map. This was something that many (quite understandably) felt was limiting the Exploration experience. It was a tough, very unpopular call but one that had to be made.

It is with great joy that I can announce that in update 1.8 you‘re going to see large maps return. With the issue on Unity‘s side mostly fixed and some clever programming our smart guys did we‘ve fixed yet another problem that prevented you from enjoying Exploration to its fullest.






Not only are the large maps returning but they can be even bigger than before. How big, you ask?

Currently, we are still experimenting with filling the larger area with content. It would be easy for us just to spawn a lot of similar ylands across a larger map but we feel that true Exploration comes from reaching new interesting places and facing new challenges so the last thing we want is for you to feel like we simply „stretched“ the current maps.

It‘s possible (actually it‘s more than likely) that the larger maps won‘t be used to their full potential in 1.8 and this feature will become more apparent when we also do the planned changes to landscapes so that it‘s generated more unique and interesting, but you‘ll surely start seeing the results of us getting past this issue in the upcoming update.


That‘s it for today and until we talk again - stay classy and healthy!

Hi there, fellow Ylanders!

Here we are with yet another bunch of cool features you can expect in update 1.8. Because we plan to share some pretty cool 1.8 Exploration features in the next diary, today we‘ll take a look at the Editor, namely Visual Scripting.


So what new tools will those of you who create great new things expect to find in the next update?

Find out what platform is a player playing on and adjust anything in the game accordingly. Maybe you want to make something a bit easier for mobile players to compensate for the lack of precise controls? Or maybe you don‘t? :)

As always, we will provide an extension of your event listeners so that you can react to even more events than before.

And you know what‘s super fun? Now you can enable a ragdoll mode for the player's character and apply a force to it. Getting hit by a giant pendulum is way more fun if it makes your character fly across the room!







The last thing we‘re going to mention here is something that those who script games will surely love. A brand new panel displaying not only all the game errors (this much you can already see in the console), but something much more advanced, which lets you pick an error and see its details - specifically what instructions were processed before the game ran into this problem. If you are familiar with how a stack monitor works in Visual Studio or other similar programs, you surely see how much this will make your life easier (if not, just take our word for it).


Long story short - if you‘re creating and like to play with the Editor and Visual scripting, in update 1.8 you will find dozens of new features, improvements and fixed (and we still have something truly awesome left to show you some other time).

That‘s all for now and we will talk to you next week. Until then - stay classy and healthy!

Hi there, fellow Ylanders!


With the Competition already announced it‘s time to get back to talking about some of the improvements you can expect with update 1.8.


We‘ve already said in the past that in this update we are putting a lot of effort into implementing things that you asked us to add, fix or improve. We had a lot of streams where we discussed various ideas you came up and now it‘s time to show that we value the time you spent with us. Let me now mention two more things you can expect in 1.8.

You complained about confusing workstations and the fact that you have to switch between tabs (or they switch confusingly on their own) while using these workstations. This has been fixed and while we were at it, we made the workstation crafting more intuitive and responsive. Oh, and before you ask - yes, you will be able to craft things in stacks, so it would be possible to craft many more of them at once!







Another issue that many players complained about are items that are available in the Editor but can‘t be crafted in Exploration. Well, while we can‘t make everything craftable right away, I think you will find some interesting items that you will be able to craft from 1.8 onwards.


That‘s all for now and as always - stay healthy and classy!

Hey there, Ylanders! 

The Creators Competition: Season 2 has officially begun! 

In last week's dev diary we talked about some general information about the competition but now that it's underway let's get into the details you absolutely shouldn't miss! 

Before you start

• Before you start creating your competition entry, make sure that you go over the rules to make sure you're eligible to take part in the contest. You can find the rules riiiiiiiiight here. 
  
• Go through the Creator Guidelines, which describe the technical requirements and limitations that your Mystery Yland must meet. 
  
• Once you decide you want to take part, don't forget to create a post on our competition forum section (some examples are already there!) 

While you're creating

• Update the forum post you created with screenshots, images, sketches, ideas and anything else you can think of so that others can see your progress and comment on it! 
  
• Contact us for support and with any questions you might have
  
• Go see what others are working on! 

When you're done

• Make sure to read the Submission Guide so that you don't miss anything! 
  
• Enjoy the fact that you successfully submitted your very own Mystery Yland! 
  
• Wait for the winner announcement! 

During the whole competition, we will be helping you out and answering your questions, so don't hesitate to let us know when you need anything! Please allow for a possible extended time while answering these and other requests for the next three weeks, while Nikki, our community manager is on vacation. 


That's it for this week and stay creative and stay classy, Ylanders! 

Hey there, Ylanders!

It's finally here! It's happening! Are you excited? Season 2 of the Creators Competition is finally about to start!


We know you've been waiting for this and we are bringing you all the info you need regarding the second installment in the Creators Competition series.

This time, the competition will be asking you to create Mystery Ylands. Let your creativity on the loose and hit us with a Mystery Yland we've not seen before and we'll reward you for it. So let's get to all the information!




What do you need to do?
Create an original Mystery Yland!

When does the competition start and end?
We're kicking off on September 1, when all the rules and information will become available. The competition will run for about 2 months, with the submission period ending after 6 weeks on October 17. The submission period will be followed by other activities such as social media competition.

What can you win?
$$$ prizes! We have over 7.000 USD worth of cash prizes! But apart from that, every Mystery Yland that will meet the quality standards, which will be published at the beginning of the competition, will get to become an actual Mystery Yland in Exploration!

1st place - 3.000 USD
2nd place - 2.000 USD
3rd place - 1.000 USD
4th place - 700 USD
5th place - 500 USD

Who will be judging the creations?
A panel of developers. We will have representatives from several different parts of the dev team.

What are the judging criteria?
We will specify the criteria in the rules which are going to be published on September 1st. But most importantly we will be looking for creativity and originality.







Let us know what your questions are in the comments and we will make sure to answer them when the competition kicks off next week!


Well, that's that for this week, Ylanders. We sincerely hope you are as excited about this as we are, because every day, we see your wonderful creations and we just cannot wait to see what you'll be able to create this time around.

Stay classy and stay creative, Ylanders!

Hey there, Ylanders!

Today's Dev Diary is, yet again, going to be all about a feature that was heavily requested by our wonderful community and is already very quickly becoming a useful tool for our game designers, who are working with it on new and exciting content for you as we speak! And it will add more spark to Exploration too!

We're talking about Custom Map Markers, a feature coming to Ylands with the 1.8 update. As the name suggests, these are markers that you can see on your world's map. But they go beyond what you know from Exploration. As a creator, you can use them in a variety of creative ways. Want to show the players where the danger lies? Map marker. Alert them to an interesting area to explore? Map marker. Point them to where the coveted reward is buried? Map marker! And to make things even more exciting, you can choose which image you want to use for the marker, what color it is, whether it has background, the color of the background, their size, whether they're static or move with an entity and much more. And don't forget to explore how Custom Map Markers and Fog of War work together in terms of revealing your markers to players as they travel through your world.





We are so excited to see what you can do with those because your creativity just won't stop amazing us!



Yes, Custom Map Markers is a tool that creators may use in their customs games but it is also so much more than that. Why, you ask? We have been working on new content for Exploration and Custom Map Markers will give us much more to work with in terms of using the map as a tool in Random Encounters and in making Mystery Ylands even more exciting and engaging. And we're already working on both so you'll get to see these for yourselves soon!


That's it for now and don't forget to...

Stay Classy!

Hey there, Ylanders!

Here at the Ylands HQ, we've been busy with polishing things up for the upcoming update, which, as we've mentioned in the last few Dev Diaries, is going to be all about improving Quality of Life based on your suggestions. With that in mind, this week's Dev Diary is going to introduce a small thing that will impact not only our talented creators but practically everyone who will launch Ylands.


When you upload your custom game to Ylands, you have the option to choose an image for your creation which will show up as a thumbnail on the main Ylands screen. What we would like to see is more of these images to showcase your beautiful creations! Which is why we want to prioritize games which will have an image uploaded and those will show up before games without one. This way, players can get a better idea what the game they are about to play is about. And our creators can use this as an opportunity to create an interesting image that will draw players in.








If you've made a custom game with a thumbnail before, how did you choose to go about creating the image? Did you take the screenshot route? Or perhaps a collage of interesting assets from the game? Did you add text to the image? Or any other element? Let your fellow creators know so that you can inspire each other!

Players, what has been the most memorable game thumbnail you've seen in Ylands so far?



Well... And that's it for this week, Ylanders!

We'll be in touch next week!

Stay classy!

Hey there, Ylanders!

We hope that you had a great July and as we enter August, we come bearing good news!

When we were going through the feedback you have shared with us for the 1.8 polish update, we couldn't overlook one issue that many of you have with picking up items. It can get tedious after a while when trying to collect all that bamboo for a sweet new blueprint you just placed, right? We get you. More importantly, we hear you! Let us tell you all about what's happening at the Ylands HQ right now:

In order to save your mouse buttons and also your fingers, we started working on a mass pick up function. That's right, the community asked and here we are, working on this massively requested feature.






Before we're able to tell you about how exactly the mass pick up function works, we have to go through a design process that ensures that the best possible solution is developed and implemented. Which is why we need prototypes. Currently there are several prototypes being discussed, developed and tested and while they're all looking super promising, only one will be the one. So keep your eyes peeled, because more on this topic will be coming soon and we will want your input!

The mass pick up feature, of course, isn't the only thing we're working on. We have been getting some amazing feedback regarding Mystery Ylands and we're happy to report that more are on their way, as well as something new and exciting that will make Mystery Ylands even more interesting! Because you see, when you're on a Mystery Yland and you... oh, that's right, we can't tell you just yet! But it will add another marvelous layer to solving mysteries and make them even more appealing.

We hope you are having fun exploring the Mystery Ylands and we will report with another dose of dev news in a week's time!

Stay classy, Ylanders!

Hey there, Ylanders!

We're not gonna beat around the bush too much this week. You know the 1.8 update is going to be the next in the line of improvements to the game. And because it will be mostly a "polishing things up" kind of update, we want to, once again, hear from you!

This time, let's talk about blueprints and compositions. We know they're not, well, the best they can be. We hear you. But we want to do something about it!





So this Dev Diary should serve as a confirmation of the fact that we know, that blueprints and compositions could be better and also as a space to discuss what we can improve! Let us know what what you like and don't like, hit us up with improvements that you would suggest or point out what you think would be a good idea when it comes to blueprints and compositions.

That's it for this week and we look forward to reading your ideas!

Stay classy, Ylanders!

Hey there, Ylanders! 

While you are now enjoying all the new features of Marvelous Mysteries, we're of course already hard at work polishing things up for the 1.8 update!

In case you missed what 1.8 will be about, head right over to this Dev Diary, which gives a closer look at what we have planned. 


A big part of any update is focusing on our wonderful community. With 1.8 it will be doubly true, as we will be improving the experience not only for our current players, but we will also be bringing in those who may have not heard of Ylands yet. And what's a better way to present the creativity and innovativeness of the Ylands community than to show the best that it has to offer? 

For this very reason, we would like to create a short video featuring your wonderful creations. If you're interested in helping us out with this video showcase, all you need to do is to send over your blueprints, compositions or even whole scenes along with its screenshot. Here is the link, which you can use to submit these (the password is simply ylands). And worry not, anything you send us for this video trailer will be used only for this very purpose. 







What kind of blueprints, compositions or scenes are we looking for? Just. About. Anything. Got a nice pirate ship you built? Share it! A log cabin with an exquisitely designed fireplace? That'll look great! Happy how that house with an indoor garden turned out? We wanna see it! 

That's it for this week, Ylanders but worry not! More creative challenges are coming your way very, and by that we mean VERY, soon! 

Have a fantastic time and don't forget to...

... Stay classy, Ylanders!