Towns 2.0

[Ratgod]

codemonkey37179

I wanted to make a thread to keep you apprised of changes and updates to the new version of Towns on which we are currently working. Also if you want to tell me what you like and don't like about the current towns, what you'd like to keep and what you'd like removed, I would value your feedback.

In some ways this will be a very different towns than the one we have now. For example, every area will now be unique. No more 100,00 chess boards. In some ways it will be like Hollywood or Rally, but much bigger, and easier to update, so occasionally new areas will appear.

I do want to keep all the things that you love about towns. So don't hesitate to tell me what that is.


At this stage, I have made some temporary maps to test the new system. I am currently making the bugs for collection. I should have the flowers and trash by the end of the week.

I'll answer any questions you may have about Towns 2.0 unless:

1. I don't know - in which case I'll probably tell you I don't know
2. It hasn't been decided yet.
3. I don't want to spoil the surprise.

please read my post I did just before this.

[Ozzy the Dreamer]

Ratgod

codemonkey37179

I wanted to make a thread to keep you apprised of changes and updates to the new version of Towns on which we are currently working. Also if you want to tell me what you like and don't like about the current towns, what you'd like to keep and what you'd like removed, I would value your feedback.

In some ways this will be a very different towns than the one we have now. For example, every area will now be unique. No more 100,00 chess boards. In some ways it will be like Hollywood or Rally, but much bigger, and easier to update, so occasionally new areas will appear.

I do want to keep all the things that you love about towns. So don't hesitate to tell me what that is.


At this stage, I have made some temporary maps to test the new system. I am currently making the bugs for collection. I should have the flowers and trash by the end of the week.

I'll answer any questions you may have about Towns 2.0 unless:

1. I don't know - in which case I'll probably tell you I don't know
2. It hasn't been decided yet.
3. I don't want to spoil the surprise.

please read my post I did just before this.

Relax. Codemonkey's got a job to do and part of it is reading our feedback on his updates.

He'll get to it when he gets to it, don't worry :]

[Ratgod]

Ozzy the Dreamer

Ratgod

codemonkey37179

I wanted to make a thread to keep you apprised of changes and updates to the new version of Towns on which we are currently working. Also if you want to tell me what you like and don't like about the current towns, what you'd like to keep and what you'd like removed, I would value your feedback.

In some ways this will be a very different towns than the one we have now. For example, every area will now be unique. No more 100,00 chess boards. In some ways it will be like Hollywood or Rally, but much bigger, and easier to update, so occasionally new areas will appear.

I do want to keep all the things that you love about towns. So don't hesitate to tell me what that is.


At this stage, I have made some temporary maps to test the new system. I am currently making the bugs for collection. I should have the flowers and trash by the end of the week.

I'll answer any questions you may have about Towns 2.0 unless:

1. I don't know - in which case I'll probably tell you I don't know
2. It hasn't been decided yet.
3. I don't want to spoil the surprise.

please read my post I did just before this.

Relax. Codemonkey's got a job to do and part of it is reading our feedback on his updates.

He'll get to it when he gets to it, don't worry :]

good. I was only getting used to being ignored by the admin like thats usual now, so I thought better tell him actualy to read. I guess the devs arent as ******** lazy as admins are;

[Ratgod]

just a cool idea. why not add a gothic looking durem with darker shades and a lil van helsing or old brittish sherlock holmes london mist and mystery to the map. after halloweenwars killed off the jack place (now halloween town is a ******** crater thanks to that psycho hare) we need a new spooky place for all those werewolf lovers and vampire fans.

[Ratgod]

and yessss. we need wererat potions or an item that has them transformation phases and a full body I AM version of a skaven looking wererat (possibly in 3 colours, grey, black and brown);

http://www.fimfiction.net/group/199698/the-known-world/thread/87684/races-skaven
here are some pics on them, I guess you can find the basic skaven looks without all the gear somewhere too; MAKE WERERAT ITEM PLEASE;

[Scobre]

codemonkey37179

Sorry I'm going to critique that update with the zOMG! maps. First of all it is beautiful. The maps came out really nice. There are a few lines that are really noticeable where the map was pieced together that would be nice to be smoothed out a little. The scaling is off in a few areas. Gold beach isn't a little weird seeing two fire pits, but I don't mind it. It does bother me there is an outlaw pup on that map, when a water spout would have been more appropriate. Barton Town was very well done and so was Buccaneer Boardwalk including having the crying ugly duckling inspired jellyfish that can't glow. Zen Gardens is perfect too. Bassken Lake I think I have the biggest issue with. It is missing a lot of the left map including Jesse's house, the hidden waterfall, and wolf's den that I was hoping to see. The world map is just so amazing to see. It's so lovely seeing all the Gaia world on it and I can't wait until zOMG! is connected to towns hopefully. So thank you for all the hard work you did on this and it's so nice for Gaians to have the opportunity to enjoy the maps of zOMG! without being able to access the game itself due to their computers. Hopefully it will encourage Gaians to try out zOMG! too if they able to. It's going to be hard having zOMG! down for weeks, but I hope when it comes back online, more people are able to access it.

[Aish Diesh]

I love that there is Zomg areas in Towns 2. It has been always a dream to hang out at Zomg areas without having to fight monsters. I also like how there is a world map.

Thank you very much and keep up the good work~ -^o^-b

[lVlami]

Love the zOMG interation.

But I'm wondering if the Otami Ruins & the mini games will be added as well?

Basically will all of zOMG (or at least most) be integrated into towns 2?

--If some of these questions were answered previously could a fellow gaian please answer instead (i understand being a developer must get quiet hectic at times)

[Euphonious Cantabile]

Ratgod

and yessss. we need wererat potions or an item that has them transformation phases and a full body I AM version of a skaven looking wererat (possibly in 3 colours, grey, black and brown);

http://www.fimfiction.net/group/199698/the-known-world/thread/87684/races-skaven
here are some pics on them, I guess you can find the basic skaven looks without all the gear somewhere too; MAKE WERERAT ITEM PLEASE;

If you want items to be made, you're better off asking artists. Codemonkey isn't an artist and therefore doesn't make items.

[-Yuui-TR-Flourite-]

codemonkey37179

Is the water coming out of the tree or is it sap?

XD

[Derris Wolf]

Ratgod

just a cool idea. why not add a gothic looking durem with darker shades and a lil van helsing or old brittish sherlock holmes london mist and mystery to the map. after halloweenwars killed off the jack place (now halloween town is a ******** crater thanks to that psycho hare) we need a new spooky place for all those werewolf lovers and vampire fans.

I agree with him...we need this o_o!!!
Any gothic site will be awesome, and maybe a graveyard too

But also, add differrents music to each areas in towns 2, like in Zomg, the same music is boring

[Jennalaia]

codemonkey37179

First, I'd just like to commend you for the rest of the Towns team's good work. o: An announcement about something other than GCash was truly refreshing, and damn you did not disappoint.

Now, I personally am REALLY excited for the new Towns update because I intend to use it for RP purposes, so I really want to give feedback for each and every area. (Except the housing areas.) This is gonna be a bit long, so everything under this will be in a few spoilers. uvu

First Impressions

Virtual Hollywood - Oh man, I really like how that apartment flash space made a comeback. The clubs look beautiful, I love the lighting, and I especially love how you can still put cars in - at least that feature's still not useless. (Note to self: a Gold Shop update for cars would be a blessing.) The only time I got stuck was when I was stepping out of the club with the hot tub, and then I had to reload in the starting area.

Barton - I have no words. I love it. It's a big, huge area that isn't cut into separate sections. Easy to walk around, you don't have to wait for any sections to load, just... perfect.

Forest - The forest's made a comeback! I love this flash space, it's so pretty and artsy. It seems a bit smaller to me than last time, though, but that might be me misremembering.

Zen Gardens - Holy s**t. This might be my favorite area. As soon as I stepped into the section with the bridges though, my avatar got... smaller? I'm 90% sure it was a lot bigger in zOMG. I'm not too fond of how it's split into sections, but I can definitely understand if that was unavoidable, so I won't gripe much about it.

Gold Beach - Not too much to say on this, but I'm not gonna lie - the giant sandshark fins scared the crap out of me the first time I saw them. It feels to me like a lot is missing from this area though, but that may just be me.

Bass'ken Lake - I like how it's connected to Gold Beach and Port of Gambino! o: The Lake seems alright - I do understand there's some stuff missing from reading through other posts, and I just tried to go up to the Papa Saw area and that's not there either. I'm also seeing a lot of lines through areas, like here:



Gambino Port - I've never seen this area before! I don't know if it's a new area or not, but I like it! Let's go onto the bridge and - WHOA!



That's a lot of black space. The other side of the bridge seems to be fine, though - wait, I stand corrected. There's a dock with the same problem, then you board a ship with a captain and Old Pete and it's fullscreen again. Then you appear at...

Isle of Gambino - Not gonna bother because this has been around forever.

Venus - I don't have much to say on this place, but I REALLY like the touch on the map of how it flows into the ruins.

The Map - I don't really like how it's blurry when it's unrolling, but hey, it's likely that it can't be helped. There's a LOT of areas on the map, holy s**t.

General Thoughts

All in all, I think that it's pretty solid. There are a couple places that connect, which I think is awesome, and just about all the areas (except for Port of Gambino) look pretty nice and well done - I like the enemies that lurk around Gold Beach and Zen Gardens. It's a nice touch that makes the area feel more alive even when there's no one there. Just being in the areas give me a sense of exploration, and I want to look everywhere to see everything.

I like the feeling of potential, too. I can feel it, there is a lot that you can do here - I can see the finished, polished Towns 2 now. Connected areas, full maps, less lag, and basically a huge virtual world with several different environments to explore. [i[Beautiful. The whole reason I stuck around on Gaia for so long was the Towns spaces - in case it's not apparent yet, I'm an avid roleplayer and one of my first huge RP experiences was in Towns, and the experience has stuck with me for years, so the vision of this huge new map restores a bit of the faith I had. I can't wait to see the completed map.

Suggestions

✦ Additional servers or the ability to make a private server for a specific area would be really nice. Roleplayers in particular would probably love that feature because they'd be able to RP without fear of being interrupted.

✦ I'm just gonna make the assumption that all the areas on the map will eventually open up, but it'd be nice if we could get an estimate date! o:

✦ Like I mentioned earlier, Bass'ken Lake kind of randomly cut off at the Saw Mill. It'd be really cool if we could go into the boss areas in Towns. I know someone mentioned this earlier, so I'm gonna move on.

✦ Some of the areas are connected, which is super cool! I'm gonna assume that all the areas will eventually be connected, but tell me if I'm wrong.

✦ If Towns and Houses get more popular, they do need a couple bug updates. I did lag a bit while I was in Towns, and it's even worse in the houses. I won't go into this too much because I know this is a constant complaint, but just putting it out there.

✦ The Faktori is in dire need of an update. Not just a cash shop update, a gold shop update, because frankly a lot of the stuff in the Faktori is absolute crap. Other than that forest update months and months ago, I don't think the Faktori's received an update in years. (I've been on this site since 2011, and the only Faktori updates I've seen were the forest and the mermaid updates.) TL;DR if Towns and therefore Houses are getting more attention, the Faktori deserves more attention as well.

✦ I'm really not fond of spawning in Isle of Gambino every time I open up Towns 2 - spawning on the map would be much more desirable.

✦ Town directories (like in Towns 1, you'd spawn next to Ian and then you could look at the housing directory) would be a godsend. Seriously.

✦ I saw this earlier, but I'll reiterate - different music for different areas (like the original zOMG music for each area?) would make all the areas all the more unique.

✦ This is just an idea, because I honestly have no idea how much trouble it'd actually be, but... if ad flash spaces make a comeback (and I honestly loved those, they made the ads like 10x more interesting), is it possible to permanently latch the space onto Towns? I mean I'm guessing it is, if Venus and the Forest and a couple others made a comeback.

✦ Holiday events in the towns again. Like little mini-quests to get items. I like Switchem, yeah, but

✦ Dead Man's Pass and Shadow? o: The Gaiaverse is already crazy diverse in terms of areas to explore, but it's definitely lacking in regular creepy areas unless it's Halloween. Having access to creepy areas 24/7 would make a lot of people pleased, including (I'm gonna keep bringing this up because this community is important to me) roleplayers.

✦ Maybe optional seasons? o: Like, in the settings menu, you could change the season? It'd be a fun little option, and (once again) a huge benefit for roleplayers.

✦ I also saw this earlier, but... yeah. The option to switch day and night would be great, because it gets very dark in the flash spaces at night.

That's all I can think of at the moment! I see tons of potential in Towns 2, if only enough effort's put into it. I tip my hat once again to you!

EDIT: Right after I posted this, it occurred to me, but I'd also just like to thank you again for responding to users in this thread. I've noticed that you have, and I also know that you've got a lot of replies to sift through (and most of them probably say the same thing). But lately in this forum, responding to users in the thread is by far the most respect I've seen admins give users in a long time.

[ALTIMIT XIII]

please read this thread here it shows bugs in the new towns that need to be addressed and it shows the room name so its easy to see the problem there

[lVlami]

someone please help?

I can see everyone else's animated astra items moving except for mine, even though I have my animation turned on within towns, and the animation setting chosen for my avatar.

Refreshing doesn't help either

[mew]

I'd like a list of available keyboard shortcuts if that's possible. biggrin Someone tipped me in that ctrl+s is to sit, so I'm really curious to know just what else there is.