Newsweek Review [Top]

As the amount of time since player made mods were last accepted increases (and presumably the time until another batch is accepted decreases), a number of voices have spoken up about the need for structure in the Devs interactions. Player Celeress recently posted on the Trove forums about some of the most pressing issues with how player-made mods are handled - in particular better guidance on what the Devs are looking for in mods to align with Trove's design and aesthetic intentions. See the original post here.

Not willing to wait, Celeress also forumed up a new sub-Reddit for mods - /r/TroveMods. See the annoucement post here. 

On the item creations front, Reddit user Rational_Drunk posted on the Trove subreddit a helpful guide to several common issues in creating Dungeons. See the original post here.

Lastly, Troxel was recently updated to include some basic checks to ensure that your creation fits the required guidelines for item submission. There are a lot of new details so check out the full post here! 

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From now on issues of TCDigest will be accessible early on Sundays via Twitter and then on Trovesaurus on Monday as usual. Additionally, there will be intraweek updates on hot items and relevant forum postings as well as a few to-be-annouced features in the coming weeks. Be sure to Follow @Qoaleth

Twitch.tv Stream Recaps [Top]

These livestream recaps are aimed at collating all and only the information directly relevant to player-made Trove creations.

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This past week saw the regular weekly Trove stream on Friday, 8/28.

Trove Livestream (8/28 stream archived here - full livestream notes here)

• With the focus on the Shadow Tower and Lunar Lancer update, there were no new details that were relevant to the creations community (though the Lunar Lancer was again shown off)

Top Player Made Creations with Interviews - Week of 8/23-8/29 [Top]

As ranked by Reddit users, the following posts are the top rated creations from this past week here to give you a slice of the player-made creations from this past week. **(There is no guarantee that any of these items will be accepted in-game nor should their inclusion be understood as any type of endorsement. They are selected solely based upon their ratings by Reddit users.)

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Player creator Rational_Drunk (IGN: Rational Drunk) offered the top-rated [Dungeon] The Ladies of Grace Adieu. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

I realise this may sound odd, but... the Chrysler Building in New York. I guess a gestalt of Art Nouveau and Gothic fairytale was the theme that i was going for.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

Inexperience, largely. There were many aspects of Dungeon Creation with which I was unfamiliar, but after a bit of trial and error and some blood and tears (I may be exaggerating a little) I sorted out the kinks and finished the whole thing a lot sooner than I'd imagined. It didn't hurt that I had 35-hours-worth of podcasts to listen to, anyway.

What words of inspiration do you have for other player creators out there?

Perservere. It doesn't matter how inexperienced or inadequate you think you are, because as long as you have that one spark of creativity, that fleeting stroke of genius, that one, singular brilliant idea that you can't help but cry "Eureka!" and rush off to jot down (I suggest carrying a notepad at all times) -- then you can make it happen. Creative thought is 99% of the journey, even though it doesn't always feel that way.

If you do, however, get stumped with the actual geometry and logistics of your dungeon; do not fret. Instead, congratulate yourself for having the occasion to call upon your creativity, the chance to work around the problem in interesting ways which you could never have foreseen (because chances are, your original idea was banal and trite anyway, hehehe).

Ever in history has innovation come from constraint, brilliance from the lacklustre and miracle from the quotidian: do not be afraid to dig yourself into a hole, because you may just be two spadefuls away from the light at the other end... So just do, until you can no longer do, if your idea is daring enough then you can never know what will go wrong, and then when you do find a problem: build on it instead.

It's much more exciting that way ;)

I would like to add: I named the Dungeon after Suzanne Clarke's "The Ladies of Grace Adieu"; a fantastically-written novel with a touch of the elegant, intricate lightness one typically finds in Art Nouveau. I initially envisaged the Dungeon as a castle, as a home populated with the Fae - ruled by a Fae Empress - who steal children for their nefarious rituals.

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Player creator FrightfulDragon (IGN: OpDrAgOn) offered the top-rated [Noob Lair] Unnamed. See the full post here.

  

What was your inspiration for this item?

There wasn't too much in that regard, I just really wanted to build something (anything) that would fit the theme. I ended up getting the idea from a friend in-game whom complained about their not being many "Human dungeons".

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

Decor, I am not an interior decorator and this has become very clear to me. I am currently trying to make it look at least somewhat "Human" but its not easy for me.

What words of inspiration do you have for other player creators out there?

Don't give up, I see a lot of people just leaving creations un-finished and it honestly makes me sad because so many of them are of high standards even to being with.

If anyone needs help learning how to do certain things just give me a message and I'll see what I can do. I love to help people.

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Player creator FatMonsterDad (IGN: FatMonsterDad) offered the top-rated [Staff] Desert Rose. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

I noticed that most of the Desert Frontier items centered around steampunk or early american designs - since I began playing the game as a Fae Trickster I figured the desert could use more plant-like items or just more variety in general along the lines of "things from the desert" rather than "things that people from the desert use". That staff items were highly requested for that biome helped a little.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

Learning how to use the tools, pretty much. I downloaded MagicaVoxel and made a staff called Ruby Doom (that I didn't submit) purely to learn how the software works hands-on. After I'd gotten to grips with it, I could bring my Desert Rose idea to life.

What words of inspiration do you have for other player creators out there?

A good idea is a fine thing. A bad idea is only bad until improved upon. An idea never brought to life at all will never have a chance.

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Player creator StormBlackwell (IGN: StormBlackwell) offered the top-rated [Deco] Fateless Owl. See the full post here.

 What was your inspiration for this item?

An owl in the background of a game called "Kingdoms of Amalur"

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

Definitely making the beak, as the object has no actual center block.

What words of inspiration do you have for other player creators out there?

If you feel inspired to make art, just do it, and have fun.

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Player creator Alccarion (IGN: Alccarion) offered the top-rated [Staff] Corrupted Dragon Egg. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

There is this dungeon in the Dragonfire Peaks which is basically a baby dragon inside a giant egg, and I always liked the idea behind it. So when I wanted to create my first item, I immediately thought "How cool would a dragon egg on a staff be ?" At that moment inspiration struck and I had the design ready in no time.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

Fitting the baby inside the egg. With a 12 per 12 voxel room to work with, it was kinda hard, I had to keep it to a minimum while still making it look like an actual dragon. (No room for wings unfortunately). And I couldn't really take ALL of the space otherwise it would have looked far too big, and the staff would have looked unbalanced. I also had a hard time establishing the specular, type, and alpha maps, since I had to recolor the baby INSIDE the egg, and the egg itself was made out of glass. Anyone working with a voxel editor will understand the nightmare.

What words of inspiration do you have for other player creators out there?

Don't press yourself, and take your time. Good ideas come often when you stop searching for them, if you find something cool in-game, or anywhere, take a note, anything. Then take inspiration from it. Start simple, and then add details if you think it can improve and add to the atmosphere of the item you're trying to make. (And on a side note, try to innovate, search for things never done, this way you'll feel truly unique when you create your weapon/deco/armor/mod)

Lastly, I'd like to thank the Trion mods and devs for allowing us to add our very own creations into the game, and make them part of the whole experience.

Community Contributions from "Chaotic Sugar Glider & Strike a Pose Edition" - 8/25 [Top]

There were no new player made mods introduced in this patch.

There were no new quest areas added in this patch.

There were no new player-made items added in this patch.

See the official patch notes here.

Reader Survey [Top]

Last weeks poll asked about whether you would forgo (part of) your credit reward to get items fast-tracked for implementation. The majority of respondants indicated they would wait for the full credit reward (21 of 42).

This week's poll asks about whether credit rewards are too much or too little: "Do you think the credit rewards for creations should be adjusted?"