Holdfasts and wasted space

Put that all in the PoT form in every possible detail. When your turn comes, they will try to customize the map within their capability.
Remember that in case of dynamic PoT, we just got some map early. The design session is still coming and it depends on how much information you can place on the PoT form.

 

It will be interesting to see what the next template for the forest biome looks like; perhaps it will not have any fixed "pavement"-like stonework included, for those who want to avoid that look (or just find it too large for their settlement).

On all POT maps having the same size, I'm good with that but it would be nice to be able to customize entry/exit points so that visitors need not run over hill and dale to find where a town is hiding on the map. Also it would be nice if the crier automatically moved himself to wherever the town center forms, so that he doesn't end up out in the boonies away from all settlement for some town designs (without POT owners being able to remove him and his banking role from the map).

 

You can see the big difference between the Forest01 template which was just a static design copy pasted and used as a dynamic, compared to the newest Island01 template which was made with dynamic placement in mind.

 

I'd like to know where I am on the POT construction list. It would be nice to get some idea of when these devs sessions will begin and how they will work.

 

Agreed,

a little more effort on the communications side would help

 

That is a very good idea Envy.

 

Yes, yes, yes. We need to be able to upgrade the Light limit and deco limit like we can upgrade our bank limits. With gold or real cash does not matter to me.

 

Our talk and desires for our POTs have gone a long ways this year.

Has anyone gotten their phone call from the DEVS yet about their town?

Is this still going to happen?

 

light and deco limits are in place because they affect other players' rendering. bank limits do not.

 

I had a similar idea. I know I can't get the 15K custom town but I do remember what RG said. "Send us your ideas and we will get as close as we can based on our templates."

I believe his words and have to be patient. They don't have all the templates yet so they can only go so far right now.

I also think they are trying to make things as easy on themselves as possible. In the future I think we will have a lot of customization options as well.

*still waiting for the DEVs phone call*

I hope.

 

Rendering? The light limit for a holdfast is 6 and the deco limit is 20. Small houses have better than that.

 

Yea, but it only is even a problem on the high end. So, for instance, a Holdfast could use a lot more than 20 decorations without running into those problems; especially so if its only row lots, with no yards, so no almost no outdoor decorations.

The main problem is that if you give people with smaller POTs that scalability, you'll have to give people with larger POTs that scalability, too.

However, hopefully the devs will work on performance issues and will be able to increase the base limit for everyone, or come up with a scalable system.

 

Any theories on why an existing holdfast-sized NPC town scene cannot be converted for a POT holdfast? If Soltown assets already exist for example, why cannot that instance simply be copied as a new POT? Is that an inexpensive solution for POTs that want smaller areas?

 

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...cene-design-and-test.23963/page-5#post-347785

but DLHB. you could ask again.

 

POT advertisements kind of implied certain sized scenes. Today the Holdfast description in the store still says "Have you ever wanted to own an entire scene? Now you can! A Holdfast is approximately 2/3 the size of Braemar in the Hidden Vale." Given that we can go out and see the size of Braemar in game, that a Holdfast buyer expects a scene 2/3 the size of Braemer is understandable from that description.

With POT delivery now pointed towards all POTs at a Metro-size scene, with just a limit to houses and decorations, I agree with you. Perhaps this is not different than the letter of the advertisement. But it is different than the perception we have had on what Holdfasts are. More importantly, it does feel like a material change going from a small scene where the number of houses and decorations were adequate, to a massive scene where, while we can still place the same amount of stuff, it is now inadequate to fill the space given.

Key question: If Holdfasts must be placed in Metro-sized scenes, with little light and deco, will the player base at large now see Holdfasts as being simply gimped, dead, undecorated metro-sized spaces instead of the well-decorated smaller-scene Holdfast originally perceived? I like more land, but am just not sure that bigger is better for the game in this instance.

I hope that the team will give this more thought. Solutions could be either to 1) deliver a holdfast sized scene, 2) stick with the metro template, but expand the number of decorations (not houses or NPC buildings) available to all towns regardless of size to allow improved scene decoration, 3) implement the latter as a 'loaner' situation just for now until smaller templates are possible later and scenes can be converted, or 4) even let us buy a decoration-expansion (not NPC houses) in the add-on store to improve our POTs.

Cheers!

 

i would think the abilty to set entrances and move the banker to the entrance would help a lot. maybe even some soft-exit fencing.

 

Lots of great discussion and ideas on this forum everyone!

I think my main issue has been the lack of communication from Portalarium. Many have joined this game with the understanding that it is a work in progress and have obviously been willing to pay more than we would for a typical game -- a testimonial to how we, the players, feel about supporting the SoTA project. Patience and forgiveness have been plentiful. That being said, as a Holdfast owner, I am disappointed with what has been delivered so far. If there are technical limits and/or if Portalarium's vision was too ambitious for episode 1, I understand and am willing to work within available resources. I do expect, however, that our Devs will also be flexible with their ability to help us optimize our POTs.

I agree with many of the suggestions -- if the land sizes and details are not going to be modified, I would ask that we are provided with additional NPCs, NPC buildings and decorations in order to make out towns unique and worth visiting. I think all towns should have the ability to accept or decline a guard without using an NPC slot, for example. If a road building or other landscaping tool is available, that would be great. The ability to craft or purchase items will help give a unique feel to each town, but I do not think it is reasonable to expect us to purchase basic items in order to have a relevant location.

In all fairness, DarkStarr was very responsive to some early technical issues we experienced with our Holdfast, so thank you @DarkStarr. This community has given incredible support to Portalarium and the SoTA project -- please support us in our quest to be a meaningful part of your world.

 

Based on experience, we ran up against the light limit pretty fast in our hamlet. Which has only a handful of houses so far. Underground POTS have the advantage of bioluminescent giant mushrooms to provide a high degree of lighting.

 

A dark town is certainly not an inviting one, especially when the town is sprawled out across a countryside

 

I do recall a statement from a Dev video stating that there were as many as 5k light sources in some scenes. Lighting could be a problem with mechanics.

W infield had a POT owner meeting last Sunday (11-15-15). During that time Lord British showed up and witnessed a lot of people caught in the casting bug where some of us were caught halfway in the spell casting process. After he left he came back with Chris th' Tech lord who had all of us help him try to figure out why it was happening. There were 30+ players there and one of his ideas was that light sources MAY be the problem.

Maybe too much light brings a mechanical problem to the program?

If this is the case I will move fencing back in my POT (making the yards 6 inches or so shorter) and put street lights there. This would be a solution to street lamps in town but would make the fences not meet up right. I wonder if the Devs could let us overlap fences and walls more to accommodate the situation?