Newsweek Review

First off - the Currently Requesting sidebar was updated this week to reflect the current reward structure for item creations. By the looks of things it looks like the only major changes was the downgrading of Fae dungeons and lairs to low need (there was an incredible amount of submissions, and some are still being reviewed!). Check back on 6/16 for the next update!

Lots of modding news:

The devs all did another round of mod reviews and so we can presume that we will be hearing more details about new mounts and costumes in the coming week. Grumpntug, lead on art design, made a few comments to those modders trying to sell their creations - take pictures in the daytime so one can really get a good idea of what the costume will look like and consider posting gifs or videos of your costume in action as there are subtle details that don't always come across in still pictures. Also, squirrel mount spoiler. See the original post here.

Next, Dusty_Mustard made a great suggestion for making modding easier for the average player. Check out the post here and lend your support to getting the devs to consider it ifi you like the idea. See the original post here.

As a final note, Dusty_Mustard has decided to continue moderating the Trovesaurus mod database (with the help of others). It will still be possible to submit your own creations, however, and one shouldn't abuse those who work hard to help the community (and be sure to show them some love when your creations get accepted!). See the original post here.


Twitch.tv Stream Recaps

This past week saw both the item creation stream on Wednesday, 5/13  and the regular weekly Trove stream on Friday, 5/15.

Item Creation Livestream (5/13 stream archived here)

  • Hats and faces are always in high demand!
  • For modders: if they really like a mount they will ask for a second variation for placement in the Adventure boxes. There is no need to make multiple variants (although I'm sure it doesn't hurt to have at least two).
  • Although possible, it is unlikely that they would change rigs just for the sake of a certain player-made costume. For the most part modders should look to conform their designs to the existing rigs. That having been said - it is still worth it to push the limits of designs as a part of the creative process.
  • Trove carpets were given away for every 100 viewers!

Trove Livestream (5/15 stream archived here)

  • Several of the new boss mechanics were revealed - including boss clones, spiders that snare you (negated by mounting - to be fixed eventually), missle nova, meteor, etc. Although these will be random affixes to bosses (like the current ones - bees, port, etc.) and so can't be specifically planned for in dungeons and lairs, these new mechanics do open up some new dimensions for designing quest areas.
  • In addition to the boss changes going in, there are still plans (concept stage - subject to change) for more complex boss fights.

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


Top Player Made Creations with Interviews - Week of 5/10-5/16

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 joshato (IGN: Aodahn) offered the top-rated [Shadow Dungeon] Shadow Ruins. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

The dungeon "deadmines" from World of Warcraft.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?i

Finding a way to turn it into a closed off area, though the "caved in" entrance seemed to work well enough. Next hardest part was adding the boat at the end of the dungeon (like the deadmines). It ended up being too hard in fact to make it seem like an actual shadow dungeon, so I ended up saying, "forget the boat, lets just make it into an actually recognizable shadow dungeon."

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

Check reddit OFTEN. The mods appreciate when you respond to their requests/suggestions in a timely manner. It helps them do their job and it helps you get your item in faster, it is a win-win scenario.


Player creator Qoaleth (IGN: Qoaleth) offered the top-rated [Lair] Rock'em Sock'em Robots. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

The inspiration should be pretty obvious - it's the Rock'em Sock'em Robots game. After some reflection I thought it would work decently enough as a recipe lair since the scroll is sort of a "fight annoucement" hanging over the ring.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?i

Two things - first was fitting everything into the space since blowing up the creature models made it very tight. If I had had my way I would have made it a bit bigger by putting more space between the two models and having the "controls" be on the outside of the ring (ended up having to completely scrap that idea. The second was actually getting the monster models to make this. I actually started working on this lair months ago, back before I knew you could convert .blueprints back to .qb to import into voxel editors (although to be honest, I think the tool really wasn't working back then either since there was a bug at one point). So, I took tons of in-game screenshots and modeled these one voxel at a time. In the end I gave a slight tint to the gray for each model (green and red) and I'm pretty happy with how that turned out.

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

Lots of good advice has already been given out here so I'm sure much of this overlaps with what other people have said. One big thing I'd say is just look around you - there is tons of inspiration from random items all around you whether your are making dungeons and lairs or items and costumes. I usually throw little brainstorming sessions for myself where I just let my mind roll from idea to idea and try to come up with as many ideas as I can. I'll then write down some ideas or make a few messy attempts in a voxel editor and come back to them over time to polish up. I also get tons of inspiration from those other creators out there who are way more artistic than me (FriedSushi, Tribe, Stedms to name a few) to really push me to re-think ideas I have to get the maximum amount of "pop" - their ability with the small touches of detail is crazy. Although not the worst thing for a voxel-based game, I ultimately think I'm quite boring and simplistic with my designs  - I mean, my last three items have been chairs...but I digress!


Player creator Eririka (IGN: Eriri) offered the top-rated [Hat] Royal Crown. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

As I recall I created the first version of this design about 4 months ago since I kinda forgot about it after having some technical problems. Because of that I can't really remember what exactly was my inspiration, but I guess I just tried to come up with some idea for hat and an image of such classical crown just "jumped" into my head.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

I think giving shape to and coloring the red cloth inside the crown. It was kinda tricky to make it look good.

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

Well, if you have some problems during designing, like when you feel you aren't able to turn your idea into a shape, don't be afraid to put your work on hiatus. Some of my designs were suspended for few weeks or even months because I felt like I can't make them look good. When I came back to work on them after some time, it went much better. I believe that sometimes ideas have to mature inside your head to turn out well in the end. Either forcing yourself to create or completely giving up on nice ideas aren't really good ways in my opinion.


Player creator PinkNekoGirl (IGN: PinkNekoGirl) offered the top-rated [Hat] Recipe Scroll. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

This was one of those ideas you get while playing late at night. I was surprised when I looked around and discovered no one had done it yet. The fact that I spend a lot of time scroll hunting probably had something to do with it, too. It's a great little thrill when you are exploring and you see that scroll floating in the sky.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?i

Compared to some of the other things I've made, this was surprisingly easy. So far doing the shading by hand and having it be subtle enough that you don't get lines, but enough of a transition that it is actually noticeably shaded was tricky. The Mods still have to give it their final ok at this time, so we will see if I succeeded with that.

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

Oh, gosh. This is a tough one for me because I am constantly doubting myself and often look to others to encourage me. I guess in a way it's that. People have doubts, but you should try to not let that stop you. Creations rarely turn out just as you imagined them, but that doesn't mean it's bad. You may think what you made isn't as good as what someone else made, but there is a good chance that it will be the favorite creation for at least one person. I know it sounds like a lot of motivational poster stuff, but it is true. We really are our own worst critics most of the time.

This will be my 12th creation (only 6 are currently in game), and I occasionally get messages from people excitedly telling me how they found one of my creations and are using it. I love hearing that and just want to say "thank you". I create things because I enjoy it, but hearing that others enjoy it so much is what keeps me creating more, and gives me that encouragement I mentioned earlier.


Player creator TanuukiArt (IGN: Tanuuki) offered the top-rated [Gun] Gattlerpillar. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

When I first saw the new caterpillar mount, I went crazy. I had always thought the caterpillars in the Fae biome were absolutely adorable! As soon as I got the caterpillar mount, I got the urge to create something related to it.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?i

Making it actually look caterpillar-shaped. Since I was designing a gun, I had small dimensions to work with, making it quite difficult to add a lot of detail in the shape.

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

Start small, just to get used to voxel designing and the program you're using. The easiest thing to master first is shading. You could start with making 2D objects and just focus on getting the colours to look natural. After that you could try 3D design, and when it's not turning out the way you want it to be keep in mind that colours can also be used to create depth. This was my first creation, and I've noticed there are several helpful people on the TroveCreations reddit who are willing to help you improve your creation by giving suggestions. So don't be discouraged when you think your creation isn't good enough and you can't figure out what's wrong with it. When I posted my first version it wasn't perfect either, but with some help I managed to improve it.

Have fun creating!


Community Contributions from "Golden Thread Edition" - 5/12

There were no new player made creations added.

*An important note*: Radiant styles were completely removed from the Collection (for the time being). Also, the patch notes indicated that there is a needed update to the way styles are treated by the game and that no new styles would be added until that tech update (presumably occuring soon).

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 whether the rewards for getting an item accepted should include a copy of that item. The overwhelming majority of voters (25 out of 33 voters) said that getting a copy of the item should be a part of the rewards package for item submission.

This week's poll looks forward to the Monster Bash update and asks you about whether the new boss mechanics will change how you design quest areas: "How much will the Monster Bash boss updates effect the designs of your dungeons and lairs?"


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