Newsweek Review [Top]

Lots of news from a lot of different sources.

On the forums a number of discussions sprouted about what people liked in dungeons and lairs and also some points of possible improvement. Player 99attack asked everyone what their favorite lair or dungeon was - offer your response here. Player nunopitbull offered some possible ways to increase the challenge of lairs and dungeons and asked for others to chime in - contribute your take here.

In other news, during one of the server downtimes Avarem hosted an AMA on the forums. Several questions were asked directly related to Trove creations:

• Are you accepting Dragon mods? Maybe, but probably not.
• Will the new class be tied to an existing biome? The upcoming class has a biome, but not one in game yet.
• In the future would you implement something that would allow us to recolor our equipment? I do like the idea of some type of tinting, maybe not for everything, but for something that seems appropriate.
• Any chance we could get access to the metaforge without having to log-in (like the wiki implies was possible in Alpha), and if not, any way we could get an exit from the metaforge without having to close the game? No response.

On the /r/TroveCreations front things have seriously ramped up with a MASSIVE influx of new creations by all of the players checking out Trove. To get just a sense of how many more people are contributing you can check out this graphic. Over 400 new subscribers to the subreddit in the last 2 weeks alone!

Two last community updates:

• In case you missed it, MagicaVoxel posted an update on 7/5/15 that can be found here. One of the new cool features is an .iso exporter, the fruits of which you can preview here.
• On Thursdays Trove Creations's moderators Kungfuquickness (aka Tribe) and stedms will be reviewing items live on Twitch.tv. Look for annoucements on the TroveCreations forum, follow, and tune in on Tribe's channel here.

---

Last bit - I will be continuing to expand the scope and access of what Trove Creations Digest is about by expanding onto Twitter. 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.

---

This past week saw both the item creation stream on Wednesday, 7/15  and the regular weekly Trove stream on Friday, 7/17.

Item Creation Livestream (7/15 stream archived here - full livestream notes here)

• There is no animation on props, so there will be no animated halos, etc.
• No more banana guns, fire swords, cooking implements,  - already have several varieties
• Why no bald hair styles? 1 voxel thickness of hair between head and hat would then be 1 voxel space of air with floating hats
• Hats and masks are a high need - full breakdown on the subreddit (detailed breakdown here)
• Lots of new mounts with new rigs are in the works - turtle mounts are happening, snake-like slithery mount (and a shark mount of some kind, maybe)
• Dracoltyes Ultimate form make it difficult to make vehicle mounts - especially ones that are enclosed - since its so large
• Items made during the livestream:
  • New Horizons probe hat
  • Bowl of noodles hat
  • Feather sword
  • Neon scythe
  • Rubber chicken bow
  • Pie in the face mask
  • Bird cage hat
  • Pharaoh helmet
  • Ocho staff

Trove Livestream (7/17 stream archived here - full livestream notes here)

• The Adventure Boxes will be updated with this Tuesday's patch and will include FriendSushi's Red Pand Mounts. Additionally, a new Costume Pack will include several mod creations that were recently accepted and several more to come at a later date.
• Another tease was given about the next class to be introduced (already teased it would have a new, as of yet unused, weapon type) - the new class will be lunar themed tied to the Moon Goddess (with the implication that the next biome to be added will be an expansion of the Radiant Ruins). Modders, weapon designers, and dungeon/lair creators rejoice!

Top Player Made Creations with Interviews - Week of 7/12-7/18 [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.)

---

Player creator Thunderer214 (IGN: Player214) offered the top-rated [Dungeon] Heartdungeon. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

After my first dungeon (Candorium) was approved I wanted to make another one and thought about things which would fit in Candaria that would look very cool and doesn't already exist in another form. I had various ideas like a cherry dungeon, a circusten , a ballon dungeon or a heart dungeon, but I couldn't decide which one I should choose because I liked every idea. Ultimately, I started to ask all kinds of people I could find: club members , Trove streamers and their viewers, and even some non-Trovians . Some people came even up with some other great ideas for a candy dungeon but the most wanted one was the heart dungeon.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

I thought very much about how to make the dungeon beforehand so the design itself wasn't that problematic . But because I thought so much about the design I had already found a troublespot very early : Candy/Heart decorations. There arent that many candy decorations and even less which fit into a heart dungeon. I even started to make a heart banner for my heart dungeon but sadly only one item per player is allowed at the same time. SO PEOPLE MAKE MORE CANDY DECORATIONS XD

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

This is only my second dungeon and its not even accepted so I don't really think that I am the best person to ask about inspiration, but if I should give others some advice I would tell them three things:

1: Keep it simple. Complicated structures are not good for your health.

2: Go and clear some lairs and dungeons. There are many great ideas out there so maybe you will find some inspiration in a treasure box.

3: Even though I am not the most active item creator I already built a decent amount of stuff in the club world of Defiant Few and I think all that building helped me to get a general hang on creating stuff. So build, build, take a break, and build again. But dont forget the fun.

---

Player creator Xadere_Dax (IGN: Xadere_Dax) offered the top-rated [Lair] Upside-Down Turtle. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

For my entire life I have had a love for turtles, so when I noticed there were a lack of them in the Treasure Isles biome I was bound to make a turtle lair/dungeon at somepoint.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

My biggest challenge has been to actually work on it. I have a really low attention span so I am surprised I even got it made as much as I did.

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

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain. Just make what you fell like making and not what others want.

---

Player creator PinkNekoGirl (IGN: PinkNekoGirl) offered the top-rated [Hair] Lolli Curl. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

I have heard a lot of people ask for both more female anime hair and more "girly" hairstyles. Also, I like the Goth Lolita look and thought it would be nice to have something like that in the game.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

Getting the curls to look like curls and not like odd cylinders on either side of the head.

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

My main tactic when designing something is to just keep trying different things until it looks right. Sometimes you think you know where voxels should go, but then you start placing them in other configurations and suddenly realize that it looks better that way.

If you have an idea for something that isn't in the game and you think it should be, try to make it. You may be good at it. Also, I am happy to help others with their creations, or take suggestions for my creations.

---

Player creator Lewtac (IGN: Lewtac) offered the top-rated [Staff] Lunar Crescent. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

The inspiration definitely came from previous games I've played, most recently Terraria with their Lunar Events patch. But I've also always pictured Crescent shapes to be affiliated with Magic users :)

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

The biggest challenge was creating the overall shape of the crescent whilst fitting the orb between both of the tips. After receiving a response about the Model, the crescent was 'thinned' down by 2 voxels. I also re-created the theme of the Staff to fit under the Candy Biome category and figuring out an overall design for that was relatively challenging.

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

Go wild when creating your items, keep within the theme for the chosen biome of course, but still go wild! Also use reference images when modelling; for example, a simple search of 'Assorted Candy' on Google Images can go such a long way when thinking of ideas or even colors to use for your model.

---

Player creator Kaizei (IGN: Anzy) offered the top-rated [Mask] Chilled to the Bone. See the full post here.

What was your inspiration for this item?

I normally don't wear face items because of how it flattens the hair, so I thought a face item that would work well despite the flattened hair would be nice to have. I wanted to make something for the permafrost biome (I have two more permafrost items ready) and I wanted to make a face that would still let the player's face look natural. Ice is translucent, so I thought that would be perfect.

What was your biggest challenge in creating this item?

Honestly, the design wasn't challenging, but since this is the 2nd item I've submitted (and my first mask), I messed up the attachment point / mask direction.

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

When you make something, make sure you'd use it yourself. Try to add some shading or slight changes in color to make the item look more interesting.

Community Contributions from "Dancing Allies and Server Capacity Edition" - 7/14 [Top]

There were no new player made items added.

There were 2 new novice lairs added.

See the official patch notes here.

See updates to the item database here.

Reader Survey [Top]

Last week's poll asked readers to speculate what will be the new weapon type that is planned for the next class. Readers were closely split between Fist weapons (10 votes), Shields (9 votes), Spear/Polearm (8 votes), and Lances (8 votes).

This week's poll asks about increasing dungeon/lair re-playability by increasing difficulty: "What would contribute most to increase dungeon/lair challenge?"