appy March, builders!
With the coming update, we’ll be making some big changes to the world to make it a more exciting place to build, explore, and adventure in. Read on for details!
Introducing New Landscapes!
"Landscape" is our new term for what we previously called islands, and it comes with a few changes. First, we're adding a new type! In addition to the beautiful sculpted landscapes you're familiar with already, you'll now also find the new
Pioneer Landscapes. Pioneer Landscapes are similar to the Foundation Museum islands you've seen in the past, with extremely flat
terrain and no surface caves. So whether you want to build your castle on top of the highest mountain or a perfectly flat field, you'll be able to do it!
Starting out
One of the advantages of the flat terrain on the new Pioneer Landscapes is that it's easy to build on right away, which makes them ideal for new players. In addition, some of the biggest feedback we got from you about the starting experience were issues related to finding a good location to
claim. So, after the coming update, new players will start with a claim already placed for them on a Pioneer Island, and will enter the game standing on that site, ready to go! The new Pioneer Landscapes will initially be reserved ONLY for the automatically allocated new player claims. However, if you prefer to stake your claim on a mountaintop perch or in a scenic valley, you'll be able to pick up your claim and relocate at any time to another landscape of your choice.
Claim sites
Claim sizes are getting easier to manage and use! Going forward, we are going to increase and standardize the size of claims. We're currently working with a new claim size of 525 x 525 x 450
voxels, which is the size of over 16 old claims. You'll get all of that space right away when you place your claim, as the concept of "attached claims" will no longer exist. Fear not, you’ll still be able to own multiple claims; they’ll just all be the new expanded claim size. Pre-update, you could have a maximum of 8 base claims and 24 attached claims. After the update, those 8 base claims will include the equivalent of over 120 attached claims' worth of space - vastly more area to build in than before!
Before:
After:
Underground changes
We're also making the underground world easier to understand and navigate. Rather than distributing adventure and resources between five different layers of caves, we’re simply going to make the distinction “surface” or “underground.” Some resources will be found only on the surface; some will be found only underground. Now you won’t have to figure out which underground layer to visit for the
resource you're looking for!
Chaos Caverns
We are dramatically changing the way that underground
cavern networks work in order to make exploration more fun. We're focused on having the most fun through exploration, discovery, and danger.
After this update, you can take on an underground adventure at any time from any location! You'll be teleported to the beginning of a random cavern underground. These new Chaos Caverns are still filled with monsters and each one will have ruins! As you travel through the
cave network, battling monsters and collecting resources and treasure, you should hunt down the lost ruin. Why? If you find the Lost Crystal hidden inside the ruins, you can use it to receive a reward!
Check out some more on the chaos caverns from Josh “Augur” Augustine in this post.
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Edited to add update (also posted in a reply below):
Hi folks!
We understand there's a lot of questions and yes, it's a big update and there's a lot to talk about. You haven't even heard all the best features yet!
Yes, the claim and island changes will need to be accompanied by a claim wipe. We will continue to give you more details about the update through the next weeks. While we don't have a final date yet, it certainly will not happen in the first half of March, and we'll keep you updated. We'll also be posting a more detailed Q&A as we did with the last wipe to answer all your questions about templates, refunds, and more. Rest assured there's lots more information coming before the update.
Have a great weekend everyone, and why not take some time to check out those awesome Landmarks of
Landmark entries? See you next week!
07/03/2016, 10h56
Yes, the claim and island changes will need to be accompanied by a claim wipe. We will continue to give you more details about the update through the next weeks. While we don't have a final date yet, it certainly will not happen in the first half of March, and we'll keep you updated. We'll also be posting a more detailed Q&A as we did with the last wipe to answer all your questions about templates, refunds, and more. Rest assured there's lots more information coming before the update.