Assorted News

First and foremost people should be sure to check out the Developer Interview with Trion Senior Animator and livestream navigator Dopesheet here as a Trovesaurus exclusive. Besides talking about the various activities that he is up to throughout the day, Dopesheet offered some valuable classic advice for all those modders out there - make sure the parts don't clip in the model!

In other news, Doc_L dropped by the forums to explain why deco pieces have such a short draw distance. In short it comes down to the overhwhelming amount of vertices (laymen translation - "details") that deco pieces have that would be prohibitively difficult to render without crashing the game. Important information to note not only for club world architects but also those who are buildling lairs and dungeons for submission and are seeking to offer a certain skyline profile. See the original post here.

In a related vein, Doc_L also gave a thorough explanation for why there are those unseemly clashes between the terrain generation and the placement of lairs and dungeons. It all comes down to one simple problem: "trying to perform shape blending of an arbitrary volumetric solid to another arbitrary volumetric solid" (which is now my new favorite quotation). See the original post here.


Twitch.tv Stream Recaps

Friday 5/8 saw the regular weekly Trove stream. There was no item creation stream this past week.

Trove Livestream (5/8 stream archived here)

  • More previews on the new Boomeranger class (previously referred to as the Adventurer) were given. For those thinking about modding costumes now is the time to start hashing out ideas and working on the game files as we get closer to release.
  • Friedsushi gets an eponymous addition to the mount collection with the upcoming Bentobox Adventure Boxes. Congratulations again on the recogition for all of the great creations.
  • Although dungeons and lairs do not have a definite time-limit to their being available in-game it is a possibility that as the game continues to develop that some of the older lairs and dungeons will need to be adjusted in order to better fit within the playable worlds.
  • There are a number of new biomes in the idea stage - underground, variants on the sky realms - but at this point no specifics.

For full livestream notes see the Trovesaurus news page here. Credit Bragi.


Top Player Made Creations with Interviews - Week of 5/3-5/9

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.)


Player creators stedms (IGN: Stedms) offered the top-rated [Shadow Dungeon] Lost Prison. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

Well, my inspiration mostly came from looking at the color choices for shadow dungeons. After seeing the frontier color scheme it made me think of a rusted abandoned prison so I decided to go with that scheme and concept..

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?i

It's still a work in progress so I'd say a lot of the work lies ahead of me, I haven't even started some of the more difficult parts for me, i.e. not messing up the dungeons plugs and sockets too badly once I start fully piecing it together. I'd say the biggest challenge though so far was working on the cage pieces that go around the sides making sure that there are no obvious gaps where players will easily be able to get through to short cut the dungeon. While short cuts aren't bad per say I do try to make them as intentional as possible so making sure there are so major holes, literally, probably took up the most of my time so far.

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

If you're interested in trying to make a dungeon or lair I'd say to jump on it whatever way you can, even if you don't feel you are quite ready for actually building it yet. Start drawing some concept sketches, start brainstorming variant themes, or figure out the back story behind your creation to help push forward your inspiration. when you feel that you are ready you'll just be that much more ahead in your idea when your finally ready to put those bricks into place.


Player creators barneebrown in collaboration with Helrikom (IGN: LokiFM) offered the top-rated [Lair] Fish 'n Sands. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

In the end I opted for a seamonster/fish stuck in the sand since that was easier to achieve while sticking to the style rules. Not only is it now a giant fish stuck in the sand, but the pirates sure enjoy living there! Who'd blame them, they sure enjoy eating fish!

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?i

29x29 is really small to make a good looking outside, but even harder to make an interesting lair inside.

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

Don't be afraid to try new things! Let your creativity flow and try to translate it into something that will look awesome in Trove and thatt you think is currenly missing. The beauty of Trove is that we as the player can add to the world.

To all the Trove players out there who want to be designers; don't be afraid to start! There are many free programs out there to design with and a bunch of friendly people on the /r/TroveCreations reddit who are ready to help you whenever you submit something!

Personally I've only started doing this last week, with my first post last Sunday with my first melee weapon (The Orbs Word) which already got mod approved after some helpful tips from the community!

Don't be afraid to put yourselves out there and change the world of Trove!


Player creator MrsMeowsifer (IGN: Meowsifer) offered the top-rated [Deco] Functional Wrought Iron Fencing. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

The old Victorian era style of cast-iron railing... the kind you'd imagine around spooky cemeteries or large historic churches.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?i

It's been tricky making the pieces versatile enough to be used from all angles. I had to create the sections while thinking about how they'd work together on a larger scale, which was a fun challenge.

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

Don't create just for the credits. Only create because you sincerely want to see something in game, and feel like Trove is lacking without it. If you truly feel inspired to create something and to continue working on it even through criticism or waiting periods, that mod approval will feel so goshdarn fulfilling to you. It's worth it.

Thank you again for the time and effort you're devoting to the Trove community in doing things like this. It's fantastic to find people so enthusiastic about Trove, and I'm sure we're only going to see the game grow from here. :)


Player creator Woofbottoms (IGN: Woofbottoms) offered the top-rated [Deco] Wooden Door. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

I like the idea of making items that can be widely used. There needs to be fancy decoration items but there also needs to be the basic items as a base. Doors are one of those items that are not terribly interesting but serves a purpose that many people might want.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?i

It didn't seem too terribly difficult to make the model. What I think I tend to struggle with is what colors to pick. Having a hard time picking colors is what disenfranchises me from trying to make a lot of items. I hope the colors are on the door are good enough.

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

One thing I do is when I'm just making things in my club is I will say to myself "you know I wish the game had [item] because it would fit with what I'm doing" and then I would try to make it. I would also say it's probably always good to get a second opinion on whatever you're making. When I'm making things I frequently bother my friends on Skype with screenshots. It's important to be open to feedback especially because there's a good chance your submission won't be accepted on the first try. The mods will usually give you feedback for you to apply to your item.


Player creator Kungfuquickness (IGN: Tribe) offered the top-rated [Banner] Treasure Isles Banner. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

I usually take inspiration from what the devs are up to. I like to make things that meld into the game and keep everything cohesive. The more items we have that match with the style and lore of the game the better experience the player gets IMO. A treasure map seemed to be a perfect item for the treasure isles.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?i

I think the biggest challenge was implying all of those extra things they have on a treasure map. Such as palm trees, wear and tear, and the cave. Having a scale-able banner that doesn't have a strong repeating element is hard to make also!

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

I most often find players struggle with the 3-dimensional aspect of weapon design. My best tip is to start your entire design in 2-d space then start popping out voxels for that volume. Creating in 3-d from the start can be confusing at times.

Feel free to add me in-game! Here is a picture of my entire banner set you can find in-game://i.imgur.com/41fCGP7.png


 Community Contributions from "More Boots More Fun Edition" - 5/5

45 new bow styles for a total of 45 new player made creations.

There 1 new shadow dungeon, 4 new dungeons, and 4 news lairs added in this patch for a total of 9 new quest areas

See the official patch notes here.

See updates to the item database here.


 Reader Survey - How helpful and clear are the creator guides on the Trove wiki?

Last week's poll surveyed readers about the creator guides on the Trove wiki. The responses were roughly evenly split between those that feel that the guides are very clear and those that feel that they can have some improvements. Hopefully more work can be put in on those parts of the wiki that maybe aren't as transparent as they could be.

This week's poll asks you about whether the rewards for getting an item accepted should include a copy of that item: "When you get an item (sword, deco, etc.) accepted do you think you should get a copy of it automatically?"


Comments and Likes Comments 4

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Milambit posted:

You've gotten too good at making these.  I would recommend throwing a typo or incorrect statement here or there because it's just too perfect. ;]

 

Awesome read as always!!

 

As for the poll:

In short: I disapprove of rewarding players with the item they created - it's an amazing adventure searching for it in the end. 

In long:   It was almost a year ago I got my first item into the game (this was before styles or anything), and I searched long and hard for the pistol I made.  Eventually I resorted to actually paying a bounty hunter what a shadow item was worth in flux (these were blue items!) and I obtained my beloved pistol set...  (At the time there weren't styles so I wasted like 5 prisms and stuff to make it worth using xDD). 

This process has barely changed since then, and I still feel so much satisfaction when I -finally- obtain my item I made that I wouldn't recommend depriving anyone else of that effort.  Sometimes it takes as much work to find it as it did to make it, I still don't have my spoon staff I made 5 months ago!  Thus, I think the current system of having to actually search out your beloved creation lets one appreciate it just that much more. 

 

My stance is different if they let us place our dungeons/lairs in our own club worlds >_> (lol)

Thanks for the positive reviews! At this point I've kind got the thing down to a science (though I'm still working on some polish here and there, as well as some other minor ideas to consider adding) so it goes a lot more smoothly than when I first started it.

As for the survey, ultimately I agree with you - its certainly not necessary to give the creator the item but I know this is a common question asked and I thought it would be a good question for the survey to get a general feel for people's opinions here. I know some people get frustrated when they never seem to get their item to drop (funny enough I've never really had that issue as I have always gotten mine on the first day of release, though this may be because mine have all been low rarity items QQ). I loved your story about getting your first item.

[Deleted User]

Milambit posted:

"I still feel so much satisfaction when I -finally- obtain my item I made that I wouldn't recommend depriving anyone else of that effort.  Sometimes it takes as much work to find it as it did to make it ... Thus, I think the current system of having to actually search out your beloved creation lets one appreciate it just that much more."

Well-spoken, Milambit! I couldn't agree with this more. I'd liken the satisfaction of randomly coming across one of your own items in-game to that of randomly happening across a Shiny Pokémon in the wild while gaming. It's a very "Really? Really?! Heck yes!" moment of fulfillment, and I'm glad to have experienced it. Hopefully we'll both have more chances to. Best of luck nabbing that spoon! :)

 

You've gotten too good at making these.  I would recommend throwing a typo or incorrect statement here or there because it's just too perfect. ;]

 

Awesome read as always!!

 

As for the poll:

In short: I disapprove of rewarding players with the item they created - it's an amazing adventure searching for it in the end. 

In long:   It was almost a year ago I got my first item into the game (this was before styles or anything), and I searched long and hard for the pistol I made.  Eventually I resorted to actually paying a bounty hunter what a shadow item was worth in flux (these were blue items!) and I obtained my beloved pistol set...  (At the time there weren't styles so I wasted like 5 prisms and stuff to make it worth using xDD). 

This process has barely changed since then, and I still feel so much satisfaction when I -finally- obtain my item I made that I wouldn't recommend depriving anyone else of that effort.  Sometimes it takes as much work to find it as it did to make it, I still don't have my spoon staff I made 5 months ago!  Thus, I think the current system of having to actually search out your beloved creation lets one appreciate it just that much more. 

 

My stance is different if they let us place our dungeons/lairs in our own club worlds >_> (lol)

[Deleted User]

Great issue, Qoaleth. It's especially neat to have a more intimate look at some of the newer props, as well as their creators. I for one can't wait to see Sted's prison develop further. I'm a big fan of the ominous feel so far. And I can't lie, I'm stoked as a joke about that door. ;) Thanks for another rad issue, and I look forward to catching more!