Official Answers by week

[Xsyon]

Vandal Asks:

1) It is going to be possible to eventually make party and be able to see our teamates HP/Stamina information in display windows?

We do plan to add the formation of parties, primarily for party chat. I will add the viewing of health and stamina to our suggestions list.

MrDDT Asks:

Is there going to be a chat revamp?

Yes, possibly soon. We have a new programmer helping out with interface tasks (he added the proper scroll bar and we are testing keyboard input for the split panel tonight). His focus is interface improvements, so feel free to start a thread with suggestions for the chat panel.

Are we going to get patches faster than once every 3 or 4 weeks?

Eventually, yes. This current patch has been taking a lot of time because we are pushing out a lot of big changes at once. After this patch we don't have any major changes (like the converstion to a 512 meter zone size), so we should be able to get patches out faster. It's really a matter of balancing things. More frequent patches means we get less done because we stop working and focus on testing and fixing for a day or two before each patch, and patch day is usually hectic.

Can we get more testing tools on the test server? Like maybe something to attack? Or global chat?

Global chat should be turned on. There are 5000 creatures wandering the test server and I keep getting mobbed by bears when I test.

b_ulam Asks:

Can you provide us with a complete, detailed breakdown of systems/features partially complete and/or being worked on? - Instead of us subscribers guessing each little thing that you're working on and asking about it, wouldn't it be easier (for us) if you just gave us up to date details on everything? - Anything which work has gone into we are interested to know about. - This thread feels like Xsyon Unreleased Feature Trivia, IMO

With each update I list what we're currently focused on. Additional tasks are usually decided and done on a day to day basis. It wouldn't be productive for me to give updates every time we add or complete a new task as just reporting it would take half my time.

There are some things I prefer not to announce in case they might not get finished or we end up not patching them out after testing them.

NorCalGooey Asks:

Will there be rare, hard to make (meaning time investment) items in this game that have use better than the more basic items?

Perhaps there is a rare chance to find some very tough metal...right now there is only ONE kind of metal (if you don't count the iron and steel wedges which don't make any specific type of item, such as IRON this or STEEL that). You can do this with pretty much all items. Just make different types of items (for metals, iron, steel, titanium etc) and give those different types better STATS (not quality, STATS...like perhaps a POOR QUALITY steel suit of armor would be heavier and more defensive than a MASTER QUALITY set of bone armor)

I think if i could sum up Xsyon right now, it would be "There is essentially zero risk and zero TRUE reward for everything you do a cool looking town is not a reward for RISK, it's just a reward for your time investment when it comes to having a nice tribal area. Something like finding rare resources and crafting powerful items is a reward because it makes you better than the next guy. I think what we have now is perfect for BASIC resources that SHOULD more or less be abundant to all. However, you need to do something more with the same type of resource, but a higher quality (again, using the metals...is titanium tougher than iron? I think so. This applies to everything. Certain types of wood are stronger or at least BETTER for specific tasks than other types of wood IRL as well)....just make titaninium much rarer to find and harder to craft than iron. Do this for all skills and along with removing safe zones you have brought risk/reward and therefore MEANING into the game.

Yes, done and coming in the next patch. Rare materials are distributed in different zones and they impart stat bonuses to crafted items.

Will the areas where mist is being removed be expansion totem lands? Or at least lands that have some sort of conflict and no safe zones?

The current plan is that they will be buildable as the current zones. We may expand to add some completely 'wild' zones but not with the first expansion. Placing a totem will reduce the chance of rare resources within a range of the totem.

Are we ever going to be able to terraform rock like granite? Perhaps we would need a much stronger tool and it would take 5x as long to terraform a square of granite.

This is planned for the future, yes, but we will first look into converting our terrain data into a system that will allow for digging caves. This will be a major undertaking so it won't happen soon.

A) is the desync an issue you know how to fix but cannot at this current time do to budget or some limitation of some sort? b) if not, why hasn't it been fixed. i think it maybe somewhat improved on the test server.

We did add improvements for this on the test server. If it continues to be a problem we will continue to work on solutions.

unclean666 Asks:

Can we get metal handles and blocks put into scavenging until you can get a metal works craft made which im sure will be quit awhile.I wouldent think it would be much work items are already coded and
back in alpha-beta I know I found some metal blocks from scavenging.

Done for the next patch.

Rudder Asks:

Can we get Travois instead of carts? Since the wheel has NOT been invented so far it would seem easier to program. A pair of small or medium poles, and a harness made by either a basketweaver or a leathercrafter. Travois are historical in this area as the Indigenous tribes in North America used them. Either Human power or Dog/Horse's were used to drag them around. Used for toting heavy loads - especially useful in this game since strength keeps dropping.

I've added this to our suggestions list. Yes, this would be easier than a cart (or we could do a cart without correctly rotating wheels for now). After the coming patch I will sit down and think of what's best to do next, carts (or somethings similar) or mounts, as this seems to be at the top of many players' list.

Trenchfoot Asks:

• I want an FFA/FL open world where the players are given the tools to alter the world, and then set loose.
• I want structures to be as safe as it gets.
• I want siege mechanics to be one of, if not 'the' most difficult thing to achieve in the entire game. ie. The method by which you get past structures.
• I want the ability to make peace (through war if necessary).
• I want my enemies to be formidable (not pushovers).
• I want my achievements to have a linear purpose (if conquering a resource is only valuable as a means to conquer more resources, this is circular to me, and therefore meaningless to pursue).
• I want a predominantly zone free world (no amusement parks).
• I want the world to be able to change (areas become safe/unsafe through alliances/war dynamically, as the players carve out the world).
• I want communities to be able to enter into a state of victory with the opportunity, through hard work, to retain that state (victory being defined as: made safe by our own hands, for our people to enjoy).

My questions:

Which of these do you fully intend to remove?

What 'idea' (if any) will it be replaced with if you do remove it?

Which of these will definitely remain on the table for alteration?

It's difficult to answer this as these aren't all statements that I've made about the game, but I'll try.
Xsyon should be an open world, but not with attacking or destroying anything at all times.
Structures should have a level of safety, depending on defenses and choices made by players (alliances, choice to war or not etc.).
Siege mechanics have not been planned out yet. This was not part of the original design, and as I've stated before, it's something I'd like to add as many players have requested this. I want to first examine other games that successfully deal with siege systems.
Yes, you should be able to make peace.
Achievements should server different purposes, whether they provide something useful or are just for bragging rights.
Enemies should be formidable (and we will make creatures stronger soon, they are increasing in power, but not fast enough).
Xsyon should be a zone free seamless world.
The world should change dynamically, as determined by players.
Attaining 'victory' and maintaining safe zones through hard work (I think that's what you're getting at) is on the table.


inhabit Asks:

Why are you reluctant to implement totem decay now, is it simply not ready or another issue/concern? The game needs this sooner.
Paintbrush and a bit of varnish once a month j/k

Not reluctant, we just have too many other things to do first.

VeryWiiTee Asks:

1. Do stats increase even though a skill is maxed out? Will you still gain strength from terraforming even though terraforming is skill 100 (presuming terraforming is related to strength)?

Yes, you should.

2. Come agriculture, will we be able to replant terraformed terrain?

Yes.

3. Seeing that it is now spring, can you confirm new tree spawns?

They spawned on the test server. We haven't been able to patch this out because of the many changes we've made. Once we get the current patch out we'll add tree planting so players won't have to wait until the next Spring.

4. Will we see trees spawning throughout spring, or is it a set spawn?

They spawn throughout the season. They are not visible until a few days after they spawn.

The launcher/patcher, does it migrate patches/data into the files that is subject to a patch or is it a conventional patcher?

It migrates data into the larger files.

Drevar Asks:

Currently basketweaving and leatherworking have basic recipes for base clothing (many term these "underwear"), yet tailoring, the actual clothes making skill, does not. Was this intended or simply an issue of time or what? Will tailoring get such clothing in the near future?

Yes, in the near future you'll be able to make the same 'starter' clothes and more.

Some tailoring items inherit the color of the used cloth only on the icon but not on the 3d model and some others do not color corectly on either, namely white cloth items. Does the system still see the color correctly for "team color" purposes in these cases? Will these be tweaked later to be correctly shaded?

The items do store the correct color for tribe bonuses. If an item does not seem to be showing the correct color, please report this as a bug so we can look into the specific armor or clothing part.

treyu Asks:

The most important thing that needs a change in the game for the rest of the new things (combat revision etc) to fully work is the desync and warping isues. You can't have good aiming combat in PvE or PvP if you see chars warping around, some desync etc. In the recent updates I haven't read anything regarding this, and I fear that when the updates are made into the public server, it will be bad due to the desync still there. Are you aware of this and do you have a fix in the very near future so that combat feels finally right and polished?

Yes, we've worked on this on the test server. If this is still a problem after this next patch, one of our programmers will focus on this more.

Are you going to change how camera moves while in combat mode with the new combat revamp? Now, when you swing and move the mouse to make a directional attack, the camera moves too and you can end up with the camera on top of your character ( not seeing what you have in front of you, for example, which can be a mess in combat), or at the ground. Shouldn't we have some fix camera when you enter combat mode to make it feel right?

We've adjusted this already and you'll be able to check this soon.

darkviper1 Asks:

Is it possible to get the dimensions of the functional gates?

They are 4 meter wall segements. The actual gate size will vary.

Book Asks:

Comfort, Hunger and Thirst... on a scale of 1 to 100 of things you're working on with 100 being the more distant future, is it closer to 10, or 90? Just curious. Sorry if this has been asked many times before, and feel free to extend the scale past 100 as I'm sure you're looking at all kinds of stuff.

20. Hunger and thirst effects were reduced many months ago but they will be increased soon. I will post more about this after this coming patch.

[Xsyon]

MrDDT Asks:

Whats your plans to make items in game worthwhile to craft, acquire, or have?

1) Revise recipes so that better tools and armors rely on more rare items
2) Add materials with various bonuses (already done now).
3) Make these bonuses have more noticeable effects (in progress).
4) Add comfort, improve hunger, thirst and other states so that bonuses have more importance (in progress).

AI of animals, is this being worked on?

Yes. One of our programmers is working on combat and AI primarily. AI is being worked on in this order:
Movement synch (much improved now).
Animation synch (in progress).
Finding where the animals are going (a backend animal tracking tool is almost ready).
Animal stats (need to be made more difficult and balanced).
Collision map (it was working well, but there have been recent issues with this, possibly because of the conversion to 512 zones).
Additional AI, especially combat, so that creatures can dodge and parry.

Harder animals like mutants and zombies, or vampires or something is there something we going to see anytime soon?

Yes. We're going to make the current animals more difficult first. We have started some zombie testing already and mutants need fixed artwork which is being worked on right now.

Carts, or sleds? How soon before these items are in game?

I've bumped this up to a priority issue. I'm going to start on carts this week. I don't know how long it will take.

Stats? Right now it would take years to change your stats, is there going to be a change to this or should I just forget it and reroll now?

I'm going to review this within the next few weeks. Some players report that stats don't change, yet some players have definitely gained 10+ points in some stats. It does need to be improved. That's for sure.

Soft cap on skill pools and decay. How is this going to work? Whats your plans on how much limiting this will be?

One overall soft cap. An additional soft cap per skill group. I need to review the current state of player skills and skill gain before I can give more details on this. There currently is a soft cap, but clearly it wasn't enough, as nobody is noticing it.

Skill pools, what do you see for being about what is allowed for people to have per pool?

The goal is a balance, for example: A player can be a great fighter and master one craft, or a great crafter but only an average fighter, or the player can have decent overall skills (jack of all trades, master of none). The master levels (80+ in a skill) should have the most effect both on outcome and the skill cap.

NorCalGooey Asks:

Are you going to give tall characters a buff? Shorter chars have half the size as max size chars and the advantage in smaller hit box is very noticeable.

Tall characters have a longer reach. We will be testing this more as we continue to work on combat to make this a noticeable difference.

Do you guys know how to fix the zone out bug where after passing through 2 zones, all terraforming, trees, totems and buildings disappear? When I relog it all reappears.

This has been fixed and tested. If this still happens for you, please report this as a bug.

When will weapons be better than pre order weapons? I have supreme axes and from my testing they do about 4/5 of the damage a pre order does. Not bad, but still, there should be signifcantly better weapons than pre order. That or just tone down pre order weapons to be equal to a master quality weapon (in damage) or something.

Reducing the power of pre-order weapons is now on our short 'todo' list.

When will we get pole arms, staves, 2handers, archery? At least the first 3 should be pretty easy to implement. I'm a 2handed guy myself and saving some of my skill points for 2handers.

We don't have a set timeline for this. It's not difficult to add, but it takes time and we have other priorities to take care of first.

Architecture with "sims" like customization and ability to free design. How soon will this be implemented? Can you give a ball park (1-3 months?, 3-6 months?) estimate on when this will be patched into game?. I'm assuming this would also come with the multi story construction. I'd be surprised if this came out with the most recent patch, I understand the patch to be just new architecture recipes, not customization with wall building and multi story?

Our latest architecture patch is a step in this direction. We will have more parts and possibly multiple stories within the next month.

Shouldn't low level recipes stop giving XP? Why should it be as easy as grinding thread, string, and twine to 100 in basketry or tailoring?

Yes. Skill and XP gain is modified by the level of the recipe. This will be looked into this week. Balancing craft gain is one of our top priorities now.

Why can ANYONE craft EVERYTHING? this is so wrong on so many levels and is actually one of the major reasons not related to PVP that the game is dead population wise.

This is not as originally intended and balancing the whole system is a now a priority.

[QUOTE]

Terraforming doesn't increase strength. I think it may be broken. Will you look into this? I'm 89 strength and I've terraformed enough to level 3 characters to 100 terraforming.

Will be looked into.

Will we ever be able to move our totem WITHOUT moving the tribe boundary? This could work by simply keeping the center of the sphere that is our tribe boundary at the same point, and having the totem independent from that.

Yes, this is on our list of improvements. I'm not sure when we will get to it, but it will happen.

Also, I know this is likely to never happen (because its the equivalent to permanent death), but if capital totem sieges and capture come into play (perhaps through MUTUAL AGREEMENT only), the tribe should get to choose where the clan stone (so to speak) goes. It should be big and obvious so it cannot be hidden, but can be in an area chosen by the tribe and independent from the tribe boundary center.

This will be considered. As with all suggestions that are not part of our original design, we need to think of all the positive and negative consequences.

You sure about stone wall decay? I hope you give it some thought

I have given this some thought. Right now stone wall decay isn't on our list of priorities. If it will just be something tedious it won't be added. It's not part of the original design, or something I find important to add.

Also, here is a simple idea I had for how safe zone removal could work in CAPITAL totem areas, but still have no capital totem capture...as well as giving Good Aligned tribes some options for SOME safety (too much causes abuse by warring tribes too and cannot work all together)

I guess my question is, could you read this idea really quick and give your thoughts on a system something like my proposal below?

I've kept your original proposal for our Suggestions. In short:

1) I don't plan to add NPC towns at all.

2) The idea of number of expansion totems per level of 'exposure' is interesting and something I will consider, though I think it should be based on safety or exposure and not alignment. (For example a Good aligned tribe could remove it's safe zone to allow for more expansion). We'll see. We're not quite ready to work on this yet.

You said yourself you want evil players to be like the monsters of the world. Wouldn't this work out better if you gave more incentive to evil players to be evil? This would give more PvP opportunity to good and neutral players as well, without the consequence of having an evil reputation.

I agree and I think the steps we've taken recently will encourage some players to be 'bandits'.

Will we ever gain hit points from other ways than gaining combat levels?? This is what I have started calling the level bar that gives 10 skill points and + hit points. Is there a better name than combat levels you could use for this? I can't call it skill levels because that is already taken.

Hit points will be better adjusted based on your combat skills and stats soon, but that's all I have planned.

Jadzia Asks:

The alignment system was a very fundamental part of the game. Do you have any ETA for that ?

It's in game. All of you have alignments, but they are not visible. We plan to work on consequences starting with death penalties within the next few weeks. We originally did have a few differences but they were removed because of player feedback.

VeryWiiTee Asks:

1) As far as I understood, Prelude ended safe zones, with the possible addition that war happens tribes could remove them sooner. This hasn't been altered or anything, has it?
1a) Well you did have an idea that meant permanent safe zones, but is this still the plan to go forward with that specific idea to restrict rather than to give options to protect yourself?

The plan hasn't changed for now.

I have some ideas that have been fermenting in my mind about the possibility of tribes creating safe territories but with outposts that would need to be defended. This could allow a coalition of warring tribes to have 'carebear' tribes under their protection. This is just an idea for now and I don't have the time to discuss the details (I'm sure questions will be asked). I just want you all to know that we have been paying attention and do have ideas for a balanced system when the time comes. We're not there yet. We need to balance what's in game first.

2) Will we be able to build diagonal instead of just horizontal/vertical so that we may utilize more of our area?

We are adding diagonal walls and other parts that will allow for this. (Very soon).

3) Will we be able to get more options concerning permissions, perhaps to keep out common tribe members from the tribe councils ruling area (rank permissions). Or say I have a house, but I only want GuideMihr and myself to be able to enter it and no one else (name permissions)?

Yes, we plan to have permissions on individual homes. This will be tricky for homes built from parts, but it will be added for tents soon.

4) You mentioned a The Sims sort of building 'mode'. Would that include the same effect with walls (but also kitchen tables/bathroom tables) melting together? Right now we have walls with cracks in the corners.

If have walls that don't fit tightly together, please report this as a bug. Walls should fit tightly in general (some, like the branch barricades won't). We can't have walls 'meld together' however. We will add furniture.

Book Asks:

I. Regarding the "keys" part of our inventory:
1) Will these keys allow us to lock / unlock our gates?

This is a place holder intended for future use for buildings and containers, but not for city gates. City gates should work for all tribe members. We'll see if it makes sense to change that in the future.

2) Will I be able to make a spare key to allow a friend access to my homestead if visiting on holiday?

Yes, keys would replace permissions if / when we add them.

3) Will these keys be lootable?

No plans for this.

II. It seems like your interest in Archaeology and Architecture comes through in the content of the game. In order to perhaps extrapolate future updates, and more importantly to make suggestions in keeping with the original design, did you have a main area of interest in Archaeology? The faint circular design in the background of the website's main page makes me think Aztec/Mayan, but thought I'd ask... paleolithic, epi-paleolithic(my favorite), neolithic? New world, old world? Just curious.

I have a degree in Egyptian Archaeology and wrote a book on Egyptian Temples. My interests are in ancient and medieval cultures. I do hope to expand Xsyon someday to have a an Egyptian zone as well as other areas. (Egyptian tops the list though).

unclean666 Asks:

Will you ever change up mats for tools.When I get orders for 20+ tools I find myself pulling WAY to much scrap metal just to find master small metal plates.There just way over used in tools.

Yes, we will revise all recipes this month to balance materials and distribution. It's now a priority.

Dubanka Asks:

Regarding the ability for players to dynamically shape the world.
- What percentage of the world do you envision as being able to be put under tribal control/conquerable?

It's hard to answer. I never envisioned Xsyon as a siege warfare game, as I've stated before. This is something players have been asking for which I agree is interesting and only adds to the original design.

The percentage of the world that is under tribal control and open for warfare is going to depend on our player base. I think it's something we can only see as time goes on. My goal is to provide the tools and see what players do with them. I want players eventually to be both the 'Players' and 'Dungeon Masters' of the world.

- Do you have a mechanic you will use to determine tribal control over an area, ie. how will a tribe establish control over an area?

The same as now, through totems.

- How much area will a single tribe be able to control?

Undecided for now.

- How will players know when they are in an area controlled by a tribe (as opposed to the tribes totem area)?

It will be the totem area.

- How can a tribe prevent another tribe from obtaining control of an area?

- How will a tribe resist being placed under the control of a tribe seeking to control an area?

- Will a controlling tribe have the ability to tax, or otherwise gain some benefit from the tribes in the area under its control?

- How do safe zones factor in this? or will safe zones not be permitted within area that is able to be controlled by tribes?

All that is planned is for tribes to potentially siege and conquer other tribes totems. It seems you are envisioning something completely different, that we do not have designed. As I've stated before, when we get to the point of full on sieges, myself and the other programmers will examine games with working siege systems and come up with a design that makes sense for Xsyon. The first step will be contested expansion totems or the ability for tribes to drop safe zones and be vulnerable to combat in exchange for better resources within their area.

- How do you plan for expansion totems to work? Will they work just like regular totems now - will they be safe zones? How many expansion totems will a tribe be able to place?

Expansion totems will not be safe. They will be claims of land that can be contested. I haven't decided on the totem limit, but it will be based on tribe population.

Regarding Combat
- When will we begin to see gear balancing? Or does the development team feel that gear is currently 'OK'?

Combat is still being worked on. The functions that determine damage are not balanced right and still need adjustment.

- Is there a design (functional) intent, besides weight, behind grass vs. cloth vs. leather vs. bone (armor)? Or is the distinction meant to be primarily vanity?

These all have very different stats, but as stated above, the damage functions need to be corrected.

- Is there a design (functional) intent behind blade vs. blunt vs. axe vs. pick (besides vanity)...furthermore is there meant to be variation within the weapon subsets (ie. axe type a vs. axe type f), or are the different models meant primarily for vanity.

Weapon groups have different stats. Individual weapons are more influenced by the quality and materials. As with armor, the damage functions need to be corrected in order for all of this to be noticeable.

- are there any plans to limit player speed in combat...i understand there is the intent to allow players to get away, but players should not be able to fight and 'get away' at the last minute of a fight...something along the lines of your character speed and stamina decrease along with your health.

Energy will be depleted more during combat and this will have more effects on movement.

- are there any plans to implement equipment that give bonus to player stats or abilitys (hp, speed, stam, armor, etc?).

Yes, and this was added last week. The changes are still in progress.

- I have seen herbs in 'preview' phase that enhanced health rejuvination. These appear to have been removed. Is that correct? If so, are there plans to reintroduce them?

No plants were added then removed from the game, but we do plan to introduce healing which will use herbs.

regarding character advancement.
- As it has been reported that char hps increases with levels, the char with the most skills trained, will be the highest level and will have the most hps, question: Once skill degradation is implemented, will it be possible to lose levels/hps as you lose skill levels?

You will not lose levels as that is simply a hidden stat to track overall skill gain through xp and has no other effect. There are no plans to have players lose hp, but these will be adjusted by stats and combat skills.

- Once skill degradation is put in place, will the game save the 'maximum %' achieved for a skill? Or will i gain experience by retraining it.

Retraining will gain more experience. The maximum skill achieved is also recorded in our database.

Darkviper Asks:

Currently our characters follow the terrain of the land beneath us when we are jumping or climbing on objects. You can not jump over a hill, regardless of how high you jump, if side of the hills slope is unclimbable.

Will this be changed so we can actually jump or walk on objects past impassible slopes?

We plan to add a climbing skill so that you can climb steep slopes, but it will be dangerous with a chance for the player to fall. This won't be introduced for a while.

Can the rank permissions be changed slightly so there is a "Build" and a "Destroy"?

Yes, I have added this to the suggestions.

Krimara Asks:

What affects the bonus provided for wearing tribal colors? Specifically, do you need to be wearing both colors, and would wearing multiple items with tribal colors increase bonuses?

Currently you get a bonus for wearing 50% of tribal colors (either one counts towards this). I plan to revise this soon, however, and we will add the final system to the game manual.

Would you consider adding information on the game play systems to the manual? I love that you're willing to answer these questions, but I think it would help if new players knew exactly how their character will change as they play and how those changes will affect their actions. For example how will their stats raise/lower? HP would probably be important as well.

On that note I've been curious about the end effect of stats.

Most actions are roughly based on 75% skill and 25% stats. We will add more information to the game manual after things are revised and balanced over the next few weeks.

[Xsyon]

MrDDT Asks:

What are your plans to do with combat as far as strife and what to fight for or over, and how?

Non safe expansion totems that can claim better resources (that don't limit resources as a safe totem does).
Dropping safety in order to allow better resources in exsiting tribe zones.
Resource distribution and improved road movement (and probably carts) that should encourage trade but the need to protect trade routes from bandits.

That's what I have in mind for now.

How tight on skill caps for soft pools do you expect it to be? Like 1 or 2 skills per grouping? or 3 or 5? etc.

5-10. The groups are: combat, crafts, actions, trade skills and construction.

What are your plans next after this patch is out?

I will post a full update after answering these questions, but probably not tonight as this is taking a while.

NorCalGooey Asks:

If bows were ready 6 months ago, why haven't they been patched in yet? Is it first necessary to work out the desync issues

The art and animations are ready. The code needs to fit with our revised combat system, and yes, desynch issues need to be fixed (which now they have been). We first need to be satisfied with regular combat before we add bows.

ETA on removing green mist on East side of world?

A large portion of the east side will be ready for expansion in 2-3 weeks. For now though, I want to try to breathe life back into the main starting zones before expanding the green mist or it will just spread out players to 'more of the same'.

VeryWiiTee Asks:

1) You alked about trees 'dropping' cones, in which seeds can be found in. Are these going to be common are, uncommon or rare?

I've been discussing this with the team. They may be quite common, but planting seeds succesfully will not be so easy. We definitely need to have the system controlled or players will cover the world with trees. We need to make sure the amount of trees planted is manageable, and we do have restrictions, such as distances between trees, in the works.

2) With the resource distribution system, will it be possible to make variations in how a trees grows?. So that some trees (eg. Weeping Willows) grows near large amounts of water (streams, the lake etc.) but also spread out the tree types so that certain trees just can't grow in certain areas (the living conditions are not there. Or are we talking advanced system. Trees that are restricted in some areas can be planted by tribes if they tend to them (watering, etc) but they cannot spread in the area by themselves.

Yes, trees will grow better in certain zones and based on terrain type.

3) Can you add certain qualities to wood. Soft wood being exceptionally good for tools, weapons and the likes (increasing whatever.. precision, speed or decrease the weight of the item) whereas hard wood are more suitable to resist the ravages of weather (more durability and resistances to weather - it would deteriorate slower meaning less repairs) (that and question 2 would initiate trade between people)

Yes, these properties are set but not fully functional. Some materials should already be decaying faster. The effect of weather will be in soon as we've set up a temperature gauge for the next build.

4) At what range does animals, players and to come (mutants, revenants etc) render? I can see that objects such as logs, grass etc begins to render around 40m distance. Is this the case of mobs (animals, players etc)? My primary worry is it might be too low. (100-150m sounds to be an alright range taken that this game doesn't have static mob spawns - thus we need to look for the mobs, 40m in game is not all that much). It would also explain some people complaining about the inability to find mobs.

Creaures render at 128 meters. We are looking into this distance to see if it's why players are not seeing creatures, because there are many creatures in game right now (thousands in the starting area).

5) Would it be possible to allow roads to be build regardless of an object, such as Rock, Architecture Structures etc. are in the way? It would ease up village/town/city construction.

I will think about this and what negative consequences it would have.

6) Can you clarify what exactly is meant with "Having a high attribute score in one area will make some skills easier to learn and master" in the manual and especially the underlined in the quote?

Each skill or craft has associated stats. If you have high stats in that skill you will succeed more often and gain more skill and xp with each success.

7) Does it only increase your chance of finding rare object the further away from your own safe area you are or does it also include other safe areas?

7a) If both are taken into account, do the distance away from safe areas increase the chance equally or does the chance increase more if it is your own safe area than another safe area?

It includes all safe zones, but primarily your own. This is being adjusted.

8) Are you able to gain basket recipes without having basketry as your starting skill or is this still bugged?

Recipes for this can be found but we've made them too difficult. We will adjust the chance of finding these through scavenging for the next update.

9) Where did all the Small and Large Metal Plates, Small, Medium and Large Metal Sheet go? Did the uncommon (rare?) versions of nails, bolts, screws, rivets, Wedges etc overburden Scrap Metal stacks? We're getting nothing but nails etc. and no plates or sheets.

Sheets should be found now as well as small plates. Large metal plates have been removed from recipes now.

10) Whenever I sort stacks of scrap metal and leather from a nearby scrapyard I gain nothing from either of the mentioned resources. Is this a bug or intentional?

This was a bug as you are in a zone technically assigned to the green mist, so it wasn't yet set up for resources. We will patch out an updated distribution list this week.

11) Can you pretty please *doggy eyes and everything* increase the rate at which you gain stats, especially if you intent to increase the penalties for hunger and thirst. This would also allow us to more flexibly to change our build to fit the impending soft cap + skill decay.

Yes, after reviewing current gains and losses in the character database.

Dubanka Asks:

1. are there any plans to make certain zones expansion totem only, or even forbid totem placement entirely. With the above statement, those areas would likely become very active.

There are no plans for this. I am not convinced an area like this would be active. When we surveyed players to see how many would want a new server without safe zones less than 15% of players who responded to the survey in private wanted this, including most 'PVP' players. I would consider something like this in time, but only after a player survey. Our last surveys garnered a lot more responses than what we see here on the forums.

2. When are expansion totems planned to roll out. With new areas being opened, tribes/players will be forced to abandon months of effort to relocate, or be forced to spend long periods of time running just to get 'there'.

I don't have a set date right now. We will focus on other issues first and I will post regarding our plans in a full update. Players will not be forced to relocate. The plan is to add value to the starting areas as well as the new areas and players can use the new areas as hunting and scavenging grounds without having to dwell there.

3. WIth the relative distance of the game, and no current mounts available, are there any plans to implement a long distance running ability (must be out of combat for 5 mins to use, be under 50% encumberance, have over 80% stam, etc.) that will allows players to make these long distance runs more rapidly?

This is good suggestion and I will consider it for the immediate future. Thanks!

TheIsh Asks:

I would also like to know when bows will be implemented, as I like playing with a bow in most games. Also, will there be a way to cancel shots? Some games does not have this feature and it's really annoying. Thanks.

We don't have a timeline for this as we need to get regular combat finalized first. We will allow for canceling shots (we've set up canceling swings already).

meissner61 Asks:

Seeing as there are now maps all over the internet and its quite hard to travel without them, any chance for some sort of a map being implemented into the game? maybe something where the player has to explore to get the basic outline of the world. and then manually insert notes/marks for places of interest to him/her

I'm holding off on this until we have more time, as I'd like to set up an in depth mapping system.

inhabit Asks:

Will some form of new transport be added before death penalties are introduced?

We're planning to add carts now, which I believe is the main concern here as I know players use death as a means of rapid transport.

Osirrus Asks:

All question refer to post patch

does rebuilding dismantled structures give same skill gain as building a fresh structure?

It currently does but I will adjust this. This is one reason for losing materials during dismantling.

to clarify one of the new arch posts take only one long wood post as material use. i can build and dismantle it 3 times before losing the post and have to craft a new one. does that give 3x xp of building one "new build" post?

Correct for now, but this will be changed.

are stairs in game yet?

Not yet, but soon.

will gates be lockable and require keys?

For now, they will be useable by all tribe members only and not lockable.

is it currently possible to build multistory building in game?

Not yet, but soon (with stairs).

are bridges now in game?

Also not yet, but we have models built for this and they should be in within the next 2 weeks.

any plans to have roofing section that dont require there own support legs? (i.e can place on architecture walls as supports instead)

Not for now. We added the posts to avoid complications in the system. We will add larger floors and roofs though.

any plans for other types of lighting apart from fires. ( i.e wall mounted torches, street lighting etc)

Yes, but after we take care of more priority tasks.

are there architecture recipes that are scavengable only? and viseversa any that can only be learnt through grinding

Yes, there are a few parts that are scavengeable only. There are none that are grind only. I have been reading a lot of feedback on recipe gain and am thinking about revising the system. I will post my thoughts on this later.

pre patch i was lvl 77 Architect.
Post patch i learnt 2 recipes in 7 levels
i felt that my only recourse was to reroll my character (if i wanted to learn a fair amount of the new recipes in a short time)
and fair to say i was rather displeased with having to do that

how long before the fix for learning recipes past level 100 is in?

Revising recipe gain is a priority issue. I am going to discuss my thoughts with the other developers first then I will lay out my plan for this.

Thanks for all the questions!

[Xsyon]

MrDDT ASks:

Can we get a direction of where this game is going in the next few months?

Yes, I've been preparing an update to post our current plans and will do so by tomorrow.

Shaggy Asks:

Can we get an option to turn off the visible grass in game? Seems like giving us the option to turn this off would assist some players with loading times and/or performance issues.

I've added this to our suggestions list, however grass has a minimal impact on loading and performance.

Is the thread dezgard started titled "5 realistic things you'd like to see in july" going to be what you guys really try to get done in July, based on which things people voted on the most?

I wanted to get a feel for what issues are most important to current players. What I got from the responses are that we need to add carts as soon as possible and that we need to balance and improve current systems before adding too many new ones. I will post details about our current goals for July and August in an update.

Will animal population be fixed any time soon? Some players, including myself, have systematically covered many zones in one session and not seen one animal the entire time. Taking hours to find an animal is nothing close to realistic and definitely isn't fun.

One of our programmers is working on a tool to figure out what's going on with the creatures, by plotting their movements and hiding states. The population isn't a problem. There are around 4000 creatures in the starting area, some zones are sparse, but some near the lake apparently have a few hundred creatures in them. We ran some queries on the database and the population density and distribution doesn't match what players are reporting. Once we get this tool finished we'll be able to see better what's going on, and we will fix whatever problems exist. It seems that either animals are hiding or running away from players too often or they are getting stuck in some locations out of reach (possibly in mountainous areas).

Is underwater content possible, and if so, something you guys may do in the future? Obviously this would be a long ways away but I'm just curious. One use could be secret underground caves (player made AND natural, mind you) that you have to hold your breath and swim to the bottom of the lake to find the tunnel/entrance, popping up to a open cave below the water. Another could be scavenging certain items and maybe even foods that are only found on the floor of a body of water. Sunken ships anyone? =)

Yes, it will be possible and it's something I want to add in the future. Regarding caves: One reason we switched to 512 zones is so that we can hopefully convert zone data to full 3D data in the future and allow for caves and tunnels. This is long ways off, but it wouldn't have been feasible with 1024 zones.

It was once said that new weapon types were coded and 'ready' but we still haven't seen anything like this. Why hasn't this been turned on?

Since we've revised the combat system, animations for two handed weapons and bows need to be redone. We're still working on the combat revisions and once we're satisfied with one handed weapons then we'll make the necessary revisions to add two handed weapons, and then bows and thrown weapons.

Why have you been reluctant to add carts and portable water? People have been begging for both for nearly a year now and still we see nothing. The former is completely necessary for trade to flourish and the latter simply is common sense and also very necessary.

We're not reluctant to add anything! There's just only so much a small team can do. Much of last year was spent rewriting faulty code from our original programmers and much of this year so far was spent dealing with exploits, lag and other problems that arose from the influx of players at launch.

It's made more sense for us to fix and finish systems already in the code rather than introduce things like carts that haven't been coded at all. Some 'new' systems were added as a way to kill two birds with one stone. For example, we decided to move all tree data to the server only to eliminate the need of 'baking' these changes and having players download frequent changes through the launcher, and also to improve loading. We took this as an opportunity to improve the tree system as a lead in to adding agriculture.

When can we have signs? Nameable baskets?

Signs won't be in for a while. There are just too many other little things to add first. I have nameable baskets on my list to look into this month. Nameable baskets is typical of a suggestion that I really need to sit down and think about, to determine what other things in game could benefit from a naming system.

When will we be able to rotate arch structures at finer angles than just 90 degrees? The game world begins to look fairly plain and boring once you realize everything is perfectly 90 degrees everywhere. A slider to rotate buildings would be optimal, along with the ability to input a degree of rotation if you want.

The component parts (walls, roofs, floors) won't be rotateable but we will add corner parts. The freestanding parts could be rotated and I'll think about adding this soon with the next round of architecture changes.

Willowhawk Asks:

Will animal taming, riding (and Cooking) be implemented anytime soon? Or any ETA on these. And if I understand this correctly, I read on the features page that "As societies will advance new features will become available to the larger, more civilized tribes and towns. Animal taming and riding" Am I reading this correct? If so why would those features only be available to larger tribes? Thanks.

I honestly can't give an ETA on these right now. After reviewing feedback over the past week or more and play testing a lot myself I see that we need to first balance and improve a lot of the current systems to give them more meaning before putting in new features.

Animal taming and riding will be available to everyone. That's not written well and I will update the features page after I've taken care of some other important tasks.

VeryWiiTee Asks:

1) A lot of players seem to think that there are hidden quality levels within a visible quality. Is this true? Eg. Does it matter if I've just turned 90 in lets say scavenging compared to another being 99 in scavenging?

1a) The reason why I'm asking is some players say they've gotten worse quality when crafting items from Master quality items that were gathered with a high scavenging (lets say 92 for the example) than master quality items gathered and crafted when they were 100 in scavenging. The crafting skill you are using has at all times been 100 during this.

There are no hidden quality levels, however there are a few other factors that need to be considered: Tools used (quality, and type, such as Forager vs Pioneer), stats, and luck, which adds a random factor.

What you are describing though I think is simply that 'master' quality can range from 90 to 100, so yes it's possible that a borderline quality material scavenged at skill 92 (maybe the quality was barely at 90 because of other factors involved) will yield lesser results than a material scavenged at skill 100 (with an actual quality of 99). I hope that's clear!

2) You say you want slow skills gains so players will focus more on one side of the game, what if I want to change I'd have to spend months to redo my skills and stats to join another branch of the game, isn't that a bit harsh? I could understand it would be an undertaking over a week or two. My other major concern are people spec'ing for combat. What the hell are they supposed to do all day? Animals are rare and players are even more rare..

I don't necessarily want to slow gains, but balance them so that not everyone can master everything. This would include skill decay and some players have suggested locking their top skills which I'm considering.

Animals shouldn't be so rare! One of our top priorities is to figure out what's going on with them and fix what's causing them to be so elusive. We will also make them tougher in general and increase the rate that they grow in power (they have been growing in power, but not enough).

One we balance the current systems and finalize combat revisions I think many players will return to populate the world and will find more reasons to stick around and interact (and kill each other).

Thanks for the questions!

[Xsyon]

MrDDT Asks:

What are your plans with the next patch?

Today's patch:
Minor interface improvements including fixed glitches to dragging and dropping icons and the ability to label baskets.
Animal AI pathfinding and movement improvements.

Next patch:
Disconnect issues.
Combat hit and damage overhaul, including combat messages.
Crafting scheme limits.
Crafting scheme checks and revisions (revised skill level, components and tools if needed) to create a more consistent system.
Distribution revisions to complement the crafting revisions.
Animal AI improvements.

Whats your plans on how rare recipes should be to find?

Less rare than now! Schemes are in groups, and these groups should be distributed regionally. The overall chance of finding a scheme will be increased after we've set scheme limits.

What are your plans to do with the tool tips and interface for that? Like right now it is a little buggy and just text over stuff.

We fixed some of the 'bugginess' with today's patch. We will add a background and outline to the tooltips soon and I'm considering adding more detailed statistical information and text colors to show the rarity of an item.

What are your thoughts on making this more of a survival game? I know you want people to fight for survival but how do you plan on making that happen?

Increasing immersion with:
Increased effects of hunger and thirst.
Comfort effects based on temperature, weather conditions, clothing and shelter.
More aggressive and tougher creatures.

afterclap Asks:

Will we get the ability to set rank permission, or similar, to our gates rather than having all tribe members being able to open all gates?
For example if you have a treasure chamber which only the treasurer is allowed to access, the gate leading to the treasure chamber should be able to be set to only respond to the treasurer's rank.
Could work as well with crafters not being allowed access to open the gates to the military wing, etc.
I think its a nice feature, for big cities and small alike.

I'm considering this, but this could become a problem if players end up locked out of their cities without anyone around to let them in. I do plan to add rank and private permissions to individual tents and huts and remove basket permissions.

[Xsyon]

MrDDT Asks:

What are your plans for AI/Animals? Do you ever expect animals to take groups of people to kill and attack as they are so strong?

Animals, especially bears will be much stronger than now and we will increase their power growth as it's currently not enough. Yes, some animals should take a group of people to kill.

mrwooj Asks:

It has been mentioned before that when skilling changed there would be a way to reset your skill points. Is this coming soon? I think that it is about time for this feature seeming as there are different skillcaps etc in place now.

The skillcaps haven't changed yet. The plan is to allow for a stat reset when we've added more skills that will require spirit and charm.

Are you working on fixing fullscreen mode? Most people are forced to play windowed mode now due to the way fullscreen mode crashes when you alt-tab back to windows.

Thanks for reporting this. This was tested a lot and reported fixed a while ago. I've taken note to look into this issue again.

It has been mentioned that ladders are coming soon. Have you thought of the possible use of ladders when sieging another tribal area to get over the walls? This might be a cool feature. Maybe they can only be made in tribal lands but can be moved away for seiges. Making them very heavy to carry like logs would make this exciting.

Ramps are coming soon. I've thought about ladders for sieging, but we're a ways off from that.

Will we be able to change the terrain near rivers and on rock soon? It is a little annoting that i cannot terraform areas of my own lands due to it being granite.

There are no plans for this as we don't want players to destroy rivers or mountains. If there are small pots of granite that are obstructions however, you can ask a Head Guide to take a look and see if we can convert that patch to dirt so that it can be terraformed.

Architecture is very time consuming and uses large, heavy resourses. Im fine with that, but it is a real letdown that we get no xp from creating buildings etc. When so much time and effort is spent creating things ingame, it should be rewarded with xp, in my opinion. Are you fixing this asap?

Yes, this will be fixed with our next round of architecture changes.

Old saw blades are very hard to come by. They are only used to make saws, which is a basic tool. Why have you done this? It seems to me a much better idea for people to be able to get tools made more easily, otherwise crafts that require a saw are at a large disadvantage compared to other crafts. I think this affects the balance between solo player and tribal player.

The distribution list is being further revised. We'll start a feedback thread where players can post regarding what seems too difficult or too easy to find.

Are you keeping in mind the players who want to play solo when you are creating all the new content? Yes, we want to create movement around the map and trade and conflict, but can you please consider the ramifications of the new content on solo players before you implement?

Yes, I do. Solo players, especially new players should be able to use towns for trading and questing and basic materials will be readily available.

It has been mentioned that the scheme structures for skills are going to be revised. Many people including myself are dissapointed that they are not getting many new recipes (the big example is Architecture). The way i understand it, these things are going to be fixed. Will these types of fixes be "predated"?

The way that schemes are gained will be revised soon. This will allow players to gain schemes after skill level 100, but there will be a cap on the number of schemes learned per craft. This limit will change every time we add new recipes.

One reason architecture scheme gain is difficult now is that we don't want everyone to learn all schemes as this creates stagnation. Once the new scheme system with limits is in, it will be easier to find new schemes.

VeryWiiTee Asks:

1) How many of your actual coding/programming Developer Team does actually have a degree in either Computer Science or Software Programming (and equivalent).

Two out of three. (I don't). All of us had 5+ years experience programming games before starting work on Xsyon.

2) Is the current Xsyon In Development the full extent of the plan for the upcoming 6-8 weeks? Or is that hoping a bit too much ?

That is our general plan. As usual, if crucial problems arise we will work on those, and we will continue to make simple changes based on suggestions and reports if they fit with what we're currently working on.

This past week things are a bit slow as I've been settling in here in Russia, one of our programmers has been in the hospital and we're spending a lot of time trying to fix this disconnect / loading entities issues that some player have for good.

3) It is getting incredibly tiresome to see abandoned totems everywhere and I can only imagine how new players feel when they constantly see these abandoned areas, what are your plans for introducing totem decay?

The plan is simple. Totems will have a decay timer. This timer will reset any time an active tribe member uses the totem. I haven't yet decided on how long it will take for a totem to decay, but we plan to start this soon and will notify and solicit feedback from all players before we do so.

aliksteel Asks:

Is the economic system still going to be left up to the players? Or do you have any plans for a real economic system for the game?

It will be entirely player run though we are working on changes to make trade more valuable in game.

When will you have someone write up the lore for Xsyon?

We don't have any plans for this.

fatboy21007 Asks:

Can you explain the scheme limits, Are they all trade skills recipes combined limit, or just each trade has it own lock? Also what is the limit for schemes we can have? and how do you plan to add it? ( i know for architecture @ lvl 100 you should be able to 100 recipes, considering the sheer amount of updates you plan to do to arch soon) what is your opnion of learning 1 recipes per level and leting the level limit how many you can learn?

The limits will be per craft and based on a percent on your skill level and the total number of schemes available for that craft. The limit will change as new schemes are added, so it will be a flexible limit.

When will we see a upgrade totem/remove totem button added for tribes?

Not for a while. Moving a totem may be added soon. Upgrading is not allowed as it can cause overlapped tribe radii. We could allow tribes to upgrade as long as other tribes are not in the way, but we just have too many other issues to deal with first.

Do you have any screenshots of the new zones that you are about to open up? Also is the scenary different? Ie, is their old ruins lefts like cars, buildings etc? (i sure hope so) :-)

In general, the scenery is not different, though there are some interesting areas. There won't be any cars or ruined buildings in the new zones. The entire terrain was built 2 years ago. We launched with only the current starting zone mostly to keep the population together. We've been improving the rest of the world (adding boulders, cleaning up river edges, distributing resource patches and creating interesting areas) but they are not very different from what exists now.

And 1 final question, will we have the ability to make other types of roads?

No plans for this right now.

would it be possible for us to be able to make are own custom armors/weapons/buildings and turn them into recipes which can be traded ingame? Say i make a cabin and select the peices needed on the menu and name it cabin and make the recipe and then trade it with other players? Also would it be possible to make signs we can place on the buildings we make and put a name on the sign ( 10 letters or less)?

Anyting is possible. We don't have plans for customizeable recipe system. We do plan to add signs, but that won't be until after our current tasks in the works.

When will the new scav/recipe tweaks be ingame? ( this is a very imporant game feature and is game breaking in its current state) Also what is your stance on new players wanting to go solo? as the current patch and state seem like they cant and as for trade it is no existant ingame. No matter how much you try to force it. my question is when is these fixs coming and wat are you going to do for solo players as sum do not like to be forced into groups or tribes?

The tweaks will be in as soon as possible. We first need to finish: disconnect / loading entities issues, combat revisions and AI revisions. I will be working on the scheme and scavenging revisions later this week.

Players should be able to solo and we'll make sure that it's not to difficult to get the basic stuff needed.

L0rd0fIvIetal Asks:

are you going to make a map and make exploration of the xsyon world better or should i just keep paying you for nothing?

We plan to add a map system in the future, but only when we have time to give it more meaning than just a regular mini-map with your location.

stonedogg1 Asks:

Are there any further plans for the Masonary skill past the 6 availible recipies? If so, could you elaborate?

Yes, when we add furniture, the new schemes will be in both masonry and woodworking. We also have plans for concrete components that will be used in new architecture parts.

(Unrelated) what engine is this game based on OR what programming language is the team using for the game? For that matter - what other programs are being used in the developement of the game?

The game engine is our own proprietary engine, coded in C++. The tree system is SpeedTree. Our primary art tools are 3D Studio Max and Photoshop. We use our own exporters, terrain editor and other basic tools.

meissner61 Asks:

How hard is it to keep up with all of our crazy questions and requests ?

It's not easy.

b_ulam Asks:

-Im level 100 Architecture, have only 37 recipes total.

-I was at 60 pefore the patch and so I have more than 2 projects from each of the 7 sets (Scrapper, Scavenger, Bamati, Gadu, Banyana, Pioneer, Masons) as when the new items were added, projects I already knew were renamed and some were filed into each set.

- I do not have any 1 set anywhere close to complete. I do not have any fortress projects.

- I only gained recipes at skill-level-ups, but not at every level up. Ive had up to 8 consectutive skill-level-ups withought gaining a recipe.

Was this how architecture was intended to work?

Not exactly. You are supposed to gain more recipes from your most complete set. This was working well when we tested it extensively a while back.

Recipe gain is affected by Luck, and this might be a reason you haven't gained many new recipes. We will be looking into this later this week when we work on scheme revisions.

China Asks:

1) Does Xsyon have, or future plans to have female specific armor or female specific clothes/grass armor/leather/bone armor recipes? (Personally, I'm tired of looking like a female dressed in boys clothes). If so, what is your timeline?

Yes, we will be adding about 20 female only sets very soon (as part of our scheme revisions, the art for these sets is ready).

2) Do you plan in the future or near future to cater to female interests in tatooing, hairstyling or other things that ornament both the female and male character. If so, what is your timeline?

Hairstyling, yes, but not for a while (6 months or more). Tattoos, no plans.

khalart Asks:

1) Can you describe how temperature and weather can influence comfort?

Hot and cold temperatures, rain and snow will all lower your comfort level. Proper clothes and shelter will raise the comfort level.

2) Can you describe which stat (energy, thirst, hungry, etc.) and how comfort will influence them?

Comfort will have an effect on all skill based actions, including combat.

Jadzia Asks:

When will you open up new lands ? It was promised for April.

Right now we're waiting until most of what's listed as In Development is done. Once that's done we will add some free time to all accounts to get players back in game and then we'll open new lands. The new lands are mostly 'more of the same' though of course they are untouched and have some interesting locations.

Thanks for all the questions!