> You should include > that post in an FAQ section in the game, it's very helpful! Good point! > I came across a few people, and some gorgeous artwork! It's > a shame there is no way to lock the artwork cause I can imagine > some griefers would be in their element deleting all the stuff in > the main area. We have an inner ring where only rank 5ers can go to, but of course we also want the outer ring to be great. There is one useful feature which didn't quite yet make it onto the iPad: when someone else removes an established block (which was lying around for a bit and from a high-ranked person), then it will leave some moving dust in place. Right-click the dust (that would be a long-tap on iPad), and you can both see the deleter, as well as the block that was there -- and you can then drag that block back where it was to undo the removal! (And if you strongly disagree with the removal, you can consider to downvote the remover. If someone assembles a few downvote, they will be automatically blocked from further placements or removals for a time.) I'll do some testing soon to see if the dust slows down the iPad. If it doesn't, we can roll out that feature! > So I guess "no edits" must of meant they didn't want > people moving their furniture around or whatever.. I've > placed a few cats in some random house.. Whoops.. Well, I have > learnt some manners now and will only build on my own turf.. Right. Some people may like their place to be changed and added to (I'm sometimes adding a "Please Help Build" sign), others may not want it. Yet other places are built by teams to begin with. So we have to figure it out together. > Will there ever be an option to drawn on bigger canvases? > I was surprised when I picked up a pink car in the mountables > shop and it stayed connected in one piece.. I assumed you devs > had something to do with it ? But It'd be sweet if we could do > that too. Once you hit rank 5, you can create mountables, which are indeed 2x the size of normal blocks! It could be challenging on the iPad (and especially iPad Mini) though. I'll have to test this. If you hit rank 5 and try it, please share how it worked out! > I think the snow was most laggy for me.might be able to take a video > if you want? Could you please describe what seems to cause the issues, and how these issues show? Is it the falling snow that perhaps causes the frame rate to go down? We have some guards that watch the frame rate, and if it goes down, environment blocks like snow cloud and rain cloud (which cause these) will be disabled for the time. > Ps- that's a bummer about the bugs in the iPhone version, but don't > give up, sooo many gamers use iPhone only, especially here on TA.. > it's crazy..I can't even begin to fathom the frustration of gaming on > such a small screen..but they do Right. It actually already works quite nicely in tests (using horizontal mode) provided the chat keyboard isn't expanded... as then it covers a lot leaving little room to see speech of others. But maybe there's room for a "Manyland Explorer" type app where you can do almost anything, but perhaps not quite everything... We'll do more experiments! Thanks for the continued feedback, it's very helpful, and keep us updated
Hit rank 5 last night. So excited! I just made some pixel art and placed it around welcome point and logged in a few hours later to see rank 4 and citizen test available ) Would have easily paid to take the test, I would have paid up to $4.99 but I think $1.99 would be a fair price, in order to get many players to rank 5 and not scare them off. You could even charge $1.99 for unlocking all the block types. And IAP for locks to secure areas, Or even a IAP to unlock a special area where only paid customers can enter, to filter out most of the riff raff. I know IAP is something you're not looking at just yet, but in the future it would be good..probably best to build up your clientele first.. But I do feel guilty not paying for such an awesome experience. You could just add a "buy the devs a coffee" IAP.. It's so generous of you guys to not have a single IAP. I'm shocked. Such a rare sight on the AppStore! If you do add IAP some day, It shouldn't be too difficult to implement similar paying methods in the web version, you can use mopay or other sites to allow users to pay with SMS, easy as pie. Cannot believe this game does not have a single IAP .you should probably add that information in the description for now, many people avoid free MMOs because they assume they are freemiums. I saw something in the help area about not recreating copyrighted characters, but people do all over the place anyway, just wanted to let you know, just in case you don't already know, that in creative games it is completely legal in a court of law, for users to create art that is copyrighted, long as the said art isn't used to market or promote the game, or make money in anyway directly because of the said copyrighted art. IE- charging users to download a Mickey Mouse template or whatever.. I'm sure you already know this because other games like minecraft and terraria are absolutely flooded with game characters, and there's no issues with that, but just thought I'd clarify, just in case. So don't be afraid of legal implications from copyrighted characters, you're completely safe! As for the gaming part- I'm still experiencing terrible lag, especially around welcome point, and absolutely especially around the New Year's Eve area.. I litterally experience 1 frame per 3 seconds around there.. But it's cool, I just avoid those areas. Now that I'm rank 5 I hope to start experimenting with the different block types.. I'll let you know how it goes Edit- oh my god, mountables are so freaking rad.
> Hit rank 5 last night. So excited! Excellent! Congratulations! > I know IAP is something you're not looking at just yet, but in the > future it would be good..probably best to build up your clientele > first.. But I do feel guilty not paying for such an awesome experience. > You could just add a "buy the devs a coffee" IAP.. It's so generous of > you guys to not have a single IAP. I'm shocked. Such a rare sight on > the AppStore! Great feedback. Please don't feel guilty! By shaping the world and being there, you are already doing something great. We are in this for the long run and want to grow to have all of us become a big, big community (or many communities, actually, located in different places of the world based on preferences and friends). Development is currently financed by revenues from ads on some of my websites (we are two developers working on Manyland full-time, and updates are often rolled out daily on the go -- the iPad version too will always show the latest version without need for an App Store update). At a later point, we have different options for revenues, but they would need to be very fitting and especially respectful. It has to feel right, not be obtrusive, not be unfair, and not cause frustration. It has to follow the priority of manyzen happiness. > Cannot believe this game does not have a single IAP .you should > probably add that information in the description for now, many > people avoid free MMOs because they assume they are freemiums. This is a good point. We have this as a candidate on Steam Greenlight in the "free to play" category, and it somehow suggests you'd end up paying endlessly for resources or speeding up things and such. This might turn some people away. (But when we remove that category tag from Steam, it will fall into the "paid" category, which is also false.) > I saw something in the help area about not recreating > copyrighted characters, but people do all over the place > anyway, just wanted to let you know, just in case you don't already > know, that in creative games it is completely legal in a court of law, > for users to create art that is copyrighted, long as the said art isn't used > to market or promote the game, or make money in anyway > directly because of the said copyrighted art. Right! Our main point was mostly to please not do "pixel by pixel" recreations of artwork, especially from existing video games. We had whole "Mario" levels spring up with pixel-perfect recreations, and even though a company can go the route of sending a DMCA copyright notice to us and we'll remove it, we'd better spread the word before whole areas get removed and people are disappointed. A full Mario level could attract the attention of Nintendo, whether they'd be right or wrong... As far as references to culture go, we actually believe it is (and where it isn't, should be!) perfectly legal and Fair Use. I'm a big believer in Creative Commons and other approaches to losen the overly restrictive copyright that ever-extends terms, extending in such a way that doesn't benefit society anymore. We think almost everything done in Manyland should be perfectly legal, as it's a playful re-creation -- and becoming new art -- but as far as pixel-recreations go, we want to avoid spending a lot of time answering lawyer's letters in the future. This way, we can focus on features and updates as much as possible... > I'm still experiencing terrible lag, especially around welcome point, > and absolutely especially around the New Year's Eve area.. I litter > oh experience 1 frame per 3 seconds around there.. But it's cool, I > just avoid those areas. I'm sorry to hear. Especially because those are the new-spawn areas for everyone. We'll investigate this starting the 3rd of January, when I'm back with my test devices. There may well be ways to keep down the effects in those areas if the frame-rates drop. > Edit- oh my god, mountables are so freaking rad. Hah, great! Have you tried creating some, and if so, does the iPad Mini size work well with drawing on the canvas for such double-sized things?
Is there a way to organise the blocks I have in my inventory? For example, I could put all my climbable blocks in one place. My work around is to drag the block into the part of my inventory with other like blocks, but this might become unwieldy when I have a lot of blocks and only one folder to put them in. I've experienced a bit of lag too. I'm on an ipad4 but I am geographically challenged like snozberry (I live in New Zealand). My worst lag has been when I went back to the New Years area around peak time and hit a breakable block. It was so slow it was like the game had crashed. I only mention it now because I was flying along a wind tunnel in an unpopulated area and I fell out of the tunnel because the screen wasn't updating fast enough and my character kept on moving. It's not a game breaking problem, I just went and explored somewhere else instead
> Is there a way to organise the blocks I have in my inventory? For example, > I could put all my climbable blocks in one place. My work around is to drag > the block into the part of my inventory with other like blocks, but this might > become unwieldy when I have a lot of blocks and only one folder to put them > in. Agreed. We're planning a new type Holder: it would act as both a treasure chest/ table/ desk and so on when placed in the world, but also as a folder of sorts in your panel. In the meantime one powerful way to find items is search (if you hit rank 5): for instance, a search for "chair" will show all your created or collected chairs. > I've experienced a bit of lag too. I'm on an ipad4 but I am geographically > challenged like snozberry (I live in New Zealand). My worst lag has been > when I went back to the New Years area around peak time and hit a > breakable block. It was so slow it was like the game had crashed. Interesting. We'll investigate this very soon and will try to provide optimizations for the parts adding lags!
I've created a couple mountables and the editor is perfectly functional, and accessible. Probably even better than the normal block editor! It's nice to have some extra space. The slightly larger canvas makes it feel much more comfortable.. Sometimes I feel like I'm a giant when trying to edit a regular block and my fingers have trouble colouring certain spaces between an outline. It'd be cool if we have a 2x option to expand the editor.. Would also be good for those without 20/20 vision who don't wear glasses. The categorising of block types sounds like a neat idea too. Im getting to the point where I scroll through many, many pages before finding the sprite I'm after. But in a way it's good because it sort of motivated me to create my own textures instead of scrolling through tons of random stuff I've picked up. While it is beautiful, I avoid the New Years area like the plague, it's pretty much the only area that does that, except this snowy area I came across whilst exploring. It's so nice finding random themed areas..it's like going overseas xD I've come across Egypt, Japan, and even a bible story. I love it.. I feel like I'm being cultural..almost. I think it's just the huge amount of animated objects in one area causing it.. Because the snow is animated and I lagged like crazy, and the fireworks are everywhere around New Years point.. Actually I've had quite a few crashes today.. Probably 6 or 7.. Within about 1 hour of playing time.. Often happens near music blocks strangely, (they still make a noise by the way).. But the sound plays about 10 seconds after I've passed the bell. The lag is really no big deal, it's a very small inconvenience in comparison to this wonderful game with no IAP. I'm sure most people in the USA don't have problems.. Just the countries that don't have high speed Internet just yet. Ah, that makes sense about the copyright thing. It's good to be precautionary. But I think you'll be fine! There's many exact mario levels on the game grow-topia and they've never had any issues.. But it's better to be safe than sorry of course! But I love seeing little bits of nostalgia all over the place with old skool NES characters.. Brings back fond memories. I reckon a little tutorial could be really handy.. Or atleast just an FAQ section. The game didn't truly begin for me until I read the ins and outs, now I feel like a true Manyzen. # The game is very close to perfect already, but a few suggestions: Bigger editor mode Option to move the arrows on the keypad Outline the arrows with a second color, often when I'm in snowy areas I can't see the arrows and end up breaking something and feeling terribly guilty.. It'd also be nice if there was a way to undo the block you accidentally broke. (I understand this is already in the PC version) Customisation for our username, perhaps choosing a colour? It'd be cool if people who have made a "support the devs" IAP have that feature unlocked. Official games and activities held by the devs once a month or so..like a scavenger hunt, With a prize that you can't duplicate. Perhaps you get a medal symbol next to your username. Mountables that float on liquids, for boat races A variety of different canvas sizes so we don't have to make tons of small pieces fit together like a jigsaw. (Another feature I'd happily pay for). Ah I see you have ads on your website for those who play on PC, but it's a bummer you make no revenue from iOS players just yet. Ads would probably make it lag like crazy for those with bad Internet connections .. Hopefully you find a great balance for IAP sometime down the track..something non forceful as you said is a priority, that's so respectable and selfless, IAP can definitely be done tastefully.. I get really sick of games where it's too cluttered with all these options and purchases to keep up with, it makes me feel overwhelmed. This concept is so simple, yet so brilliant, and fun.
> Often happens near music blocks strangely, (they still make a noise by the way).. > But the sound plays about 10 seconds after I've passed the bell. Ah ok, yes, the single-tone bells are actually still active (only the blocks playing longer songs are disabled for the moment, though please let me know if you still hear them play a song on iPad). > Bigger editor mode Good point. > Option to move the arrows on the keypad Do you mean the feature to move a drawing during creation, or arrows to walk around? > Outline the arrows with a second color, often when I'm in snowy areas I can't see > the arrows and end up breaking something and feeling terribly guilty.. True, especially in snowy areas they're hard to see. We'll do some experiments with a shaded outline! > It'd also be nice if there was a way to undo the block you accidentally broke. We'll definitely try to bring this feature to the iPad. > Customisation for our username, perhaps choosing a colour? Interesting idea. (We've also experimented with having a choosable chat color and font.) > Official games and activities held by the devs once a month or so..like a scavenger hunt, > With a prize that you can't duplicate. We have some ideas for quest-enablers that can be made by everyone. We'd also join in making them of course! > Mountables that float on liquids, for boat races Right, this is something we want to do long-term. On the more medium term list is something that should be great: Flying Mountable! > Ah I see you have ads on your website for those who play on PC, but it's a bummer you > make no revenue from iOS players just yet (I have ads on some websites... there's no ads on Manyland though, also not on the PC...) > I get really sick of games where it's too cluttered with all these options > and purchases to keep up with, it makes me feel overwhelmed Fully agreed. For us this is a labor of love so there won't be anything that goes against the spirit of Manyland. Thanks for hanging in there with the lags, we'll work on it very soon!
Sounds awesome, cheers for the info. I'm glad the bells still play, I actually love hearing them, even if it is delayed. While the animated blocks cause lag, I'd hate to see them be disabled on iOS..they make the game, and They don't lag alone, only when there is like 20+ of them plastered in one area.. So I don't come across it that much anyway.
How do you get to the inner circle? Cant find a warp gate anywhere, nor a setting in my profile.. Hmmph (Yes im a noob)
The outer ring is where you are spawned with rank 1. Once you progress to rank 4 (try to get to know some people and do different things, it helps), you get to take a citizenship test. If successful you are then the highest, rank 5... upon which you can freely take ring portals. Good luck, and let me know if there's any troubles with upranking or anything else!
Thanks for the quick response. I am rank 5, i just dont know how to "take ring portals" (facepalm) maybe its a problem with ipad 2? Or im just too blonde.
> i just dont know how to "take ring portals" (facepalm) maybe > its a problem with ipad 2? Or im just too blonde. Oops, sorry. First, click the Meet button at the bottom to be guided to the green ring portal ("Meet" always points to the center of an outer ring area, and that's also where the ring portal is). Once there, jump into it. Does that work for you?
Nice trailer! I had a ball when I used to play this.. But gone are my MMO days! I will always have the fond memories
This looks really cool. It's free so I'll definitely give it a go. Looks like a fan little time waster. Will let you know what I think. Edit: this game is literally unplayable. Too much lag disrupting the game. Can hardly do anything. Needs to be fixed before I can give impressions.
