Update Notes - 4/24/2014

[Balandar]

Item Upgrading

You can now upgrade most of the tools crafted at a forge (everything but Building Tools), allowing you to improve their primary statistics like damage, speed, and size, or even increase their quality from Superior all the way up to Legendary!

• The fancy new upgrading interface that makes this possible is unlocked at the Tech Forge, a new Tier 4 upgrade to the Stone Forge crafting station which can be crafted at any Workshop.
• To upgrade a tool it must have some number of upgrade slots, which are randomly assigned when the item is crafted, and which range from 1 – 5 slots depending on the tools initial quality.
  • Unfortunately any tools created before this update are not upgradable, as we were unable to retroactively assign them upgrade slots. This does include the Founder’s Pickaxe. However, while we won’t be using this system to upgrade it, the Founder’s Pickaxe will receive its own path to power in a future update.
  • Additionally, the Mastercraft Bracer now increases your chances to get more upgrade slots when crafting a tool, in addition to simply improving the chances of rolling better stats when that tool is initially crafted.
  • Upgrading an items quality, i.e. improving it from Superior to Exceptional or Legendary, does not consume any of its allocated slots.
• Tools are also now always crafted at Superior quality, meaning the initial range used to determine a tools stats, and thus number of upgrade slots, is significantly smaller than it previously was (Hurray, less RNG!).
  • As a result of this change all mods (the bonus tags like Fast or Biting that sometimes show up on tools) can now be randomly assigned to a crafted tool regardless of the tools quality. This means that Exceptional and Legendary mods can now be randomly rolled on Superior tools.
• Upgrades are facilitated by a new set of items called Restored Relics, which are crafted at the Alchemy Station using damaged relics found in dirt, sand, or common stone.
  • Damaged relics are very uncommon, but they can also be acquired by sifting large amounts of dirt or sand at the various Sifter Refining Stations.
• The Item Upgrading system is phase one in a larger set of changes coming to crafting that we are collectively calling Crafting 2.0. For more information on Item Upgrading, and some of the other crafting systems we are planning on rolling out in the future, check out this Round Table response video by Lead System Designer, Michael Mann.

The Showcase, The Exchange, and The Gallery

• First it was the Marketplace, then it was the Trading Post. Now it's called the Showcase. Hopefully this is the last time we rename it!
• The Showcase has two categories, the Exchange and the Gallery.
• The Exchange consists of all of the items that we sell: Outfits, Props, Resources, etc. Eventually, when we let you guys sell your templates, this is the section where they'll live.
• The Gallery is what we're pretty excited about. This section lets you browse other players Claims!

Here's how it works:

• When you create a Claim, you can upload a Screenshot and add tags to your claim.
• Tags allow you to categorize what type of claim you're making, and in turn lets other players search for specific tags they'd like to see. For example, I'm currently building an underground military base with robots! I've set my tags to: SciFi, Military, Robots, Mecha, and Subterranean.
• As soon as I tag my Claim and add a screenshot, it'll show in the Gallery. If anyone searches one of my tags, or searches by my in-game name, they'll see my claims!
• Right now, each Claim will show the World Name, Island Name, and location. In the future, you'll be able to teleport to the claim, for the low cost of a Teleport Shard.

New Template Window

• The Template Window has received a bit of a revamp!
• It's been moved out of the left side tray, to the Start Menu. You can access it quickly with the "T" key.
• We now display the following information at a glance in each template:
  • Name / Author / Primary Material used / How many Voxels are in it / How many Props are in it / The Date you've acquired it
• You can also click a template and inspect it, to get some additional information:
  • A screenshot (if you've taken one)
  • Exact numbers on how many voxels of each material you’ve used
  • Exact numbers on how many of each prop you've used
• From here, you can also enter that template in to any Competitions that are currently running.

Claim Upkeep

• We've increased the max amount to 8 days. We're still working on a system that will increase this cap, the longer you've had the claim, but hopefully this will give some of you a bit of padding with your upkeep.

Mail

• The Mail window has received a bit of an UI update, with near final art assets. We also plugged in some extra functionality (the ability to take all attachments at once, for example) as well as stubbed out some future functionality (attaching currency, and Cash On Delivery.)

Pockets

• Pockets that increase the number of available inventory and vault slots have been added to the Showcase. Once our Merchant and Currency systems are implemented, you'll be able to purchase these same items with in-game currency. Until then, we're making them available on the Showcase.

Tree Harvesting

• Chopping down trees just became a bit easier on your clicking finger! Harvesting is now a toggle - simply click the tree once (with your axe equipped) and you'll continue to chop down the tree.

Character Delete

• We now prompt you to type in "DELETE" when deleting a character. That should prevent any inadvertent character deletions.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where props would become offset when you placed a template that was rotated.
• The collision for the Light Orbs were too big for the size of the model. Fixed!
• Added Apex FX to the Saw Table Crafting Stations.
• Added crafting progress FX to the player when using the Smelter, Infuser, and Tinkerer's Workshop.
• The descriptions for pulverizers have been updated to make clear that they do not collect any resources.
• Violet Light Orbs no longer require Red Lumicite to craft. They require Violet Lumicite.
• Tweaked the opacity of the Claim Box so it's easier to see through at night
• The paint tool will no longer allow you to try to paint if you don't have the required materials.
• Duplicating a prop that you just adjusted will no longer revert that prop to its previous size.
• Fixed an issue where a prop that is duplicated on a vertical surface would sometimes rotate 90 degrees
• We think we've nailed down that Mining / Pulverizer crash as well. Let us know if you continue to see it!

https://forums.station.sony.com/landmark/index.php?threads/update-notes-4-24-2014.33495/