Life is Feudal Official Forum

[Arcapello]

So it started off badly.

1. I load the game to find a character creator where the my character is completely covered from head to toe in armor you can't remove. Luckily you can change the armor and there just so happens to be a few costumes where the character has no helmet or a faceless helmet so you can see the character.

2. The character is ugly so you wish you left the helmet on. Since it's early access I don't care about that.

3. There are zero options for customisation of the character. Zero.
The only option there exists to choose a backstory which, in a player run game with no NPCs, seems daft.

4. The game starts okay. You drop 10 foot from the sky for no reason and land without damage. You're given basic controls and a reminder that the game is early access.

5. When you begin, if you read the controls, you'll see how things work immediately. You'll right click on things to see what the options are. When I started I gathered a few branches.

6. Clicking on the ground I decide to make a fire. As soon as I do a wooden sign with big white cross appears telling me I don't have the materials and tells me what I need. I like that. I was confused that I managed to make a sign with no materials however.

7. I gather the branches needed and make a fire. The fire burns for a second and then instantly turns to charred wood.

8. Thinking I need to find some things to fuel the fire I gather some twigs and some bark. As I gather six more twigs I realise it takes just too long to gather materials and get bored harvesting things. Knowing I am new I carry on and give the game a chance.

9. I put the twigs into the menu of the fire and all I see is a button for "extinguish" even though the fire is already out. I give up on the fire.

10. I click on the floor and I see what my options are. Eventually, as I gather natural ingredients that will probably have some use, an option appears for me to look for berries and other things. As I click to gather berries, after another loading bar, I find nothing.

11. I walk in a line towards a nearby rocky hill, clicking on the ground near bushes looking for berries. After several loading bars I find nothing. There is no indication on the ground that there might be berries there. This is annoying. Even though berries grow in bushes I found more on the floor.

12. I didn't see a single animal even though I had the slider up half way. I decide to try and track an animal. After a loading bar nothing happens with no indication of failure or success.

13. I build a few tools with the intension of cutting down a tree. I get an axe and a saw and I try to cut down a small tree. The game tells me that I need a hatchet. I try to make a hatchet but, even though I have a saw and an axe, I lack the technology to make one.

14. I decide to go fishing. After several loading screens and locations I find nothing. After getting irritated I swim out deep into the ocean and don't see a single living thing. As I come back I realise it's probably just random luck and decided by your stats. I kept trying and couldn't catch a thing. I give up on fishing.

15. I decide to dig a tunnel. After my character hits at the side of the hill with his pickaxe his arms move out of sync from the sound. After a loading bar my inventory fills with rocks and the hill does nothing. I continue and start the dig a tunnel command again and, after another loading bar, my inventory is filled with more rocks and the hill does nothing.

16. I come back to the game later and decide to try and dig a tunned again when suddenly a 1 foot tall wedge is neatly carved out of the hill. I am pleased something happened.

17. I click on the back of the wedge with the idea of making the wedge into an actual tunnel. After a loading screen my inventory fills up with rocks and the tunnel does nothing. I do this again. My inventory fills with more rocks and the tunnel does nothing. I try again but my inventory is so full the game reminds me "You can't take that. You are overburdened".

18. I step away from the wedge to empty my inventory. I try to click the piles of rocks away from the window to drop them, even though if you were mining you wouldn't put the rocks in your pocket anyway, but the rocks don't move. I inspect the rocks and I have the option to "pour them on the ground".

19. As I go to pour them on the ground I am told I need a shovel to do so. It just so happened that I had actually made a shovel but if I had not made on I would have had a problem. With great irritation I soon see where this is going. I equip the shovel, after a loading bar, and I select the rocks, 30 at a time and pour them on the ground.

20. After I make a small pile the game stops me from putting any more on that pile and tells me I need to empty somewhere else. I thought, "what if I want a big pile of rocks? What if a village has a dump for them?". With more irritaion I move somewhere else.

21. I return to the same face of rock. I equip the pickaxe.

After a loading screen my pockets fill with rocks and I am soon over encumbered.

I realise I have to put the valuable ore I found onto the floor where is disappears in two minutes.

I don't care so long as I don't have to keep going away,
using my shovel,
emptying my pockets,
coming back,
using my pickaxe,
doing nothing to the tunnel,
filling with rocks,
using my shovel,
emptying my pockets,
coming back,
using my pickaxe,
doing nothing to the tunnel,
filling with rocks,
using my shovel,
emptying my pockets,


My first day on this game has been a terrible one. I know it is early access and it has been doing well but to me this is not yet worth the price it asks.


1. I need some indication that the floor will hold ingredients I need.
2. I need some indication that there are fish in the ocean.
3. Before I try to havest something I need to know what my odds are.
4. Why doesn't it work most of the time when I dig a tunnel?
5. I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO USE MY SHOVEL TO EMPTY A BAG OF ROCKS.

[Alfie]

So it started off badly.

1. I load the game to find a character creator where the my character is completely covered from head to toe in armor you can't remove. Luckily you can change the armor and there just so happens to be a few costumes where the character has no helmet or a faceless helmet so you can see the character.

2. The character is ugly so you wish you left the helmet on. Since it's early access I don't care about that.

3. There are zero options for customisation of the character. Zero.
The only option there exists to choose a backstory which, in a player run game with no NPCs, seems daft.

Though I understand the complaints, the devs haven't focused on this that much (it's been said a few times).

You might find this interesting to read: lif-yo-interactive-faq-t1204/

4. The game starts okay. You drop 10 foot from the sky for no reason and land without damage. You're given basic controls and a reminder that the game is early access.

I don't believe they have a reliable way to spawn you in without dropping you (there's currently no fall damage). I have a feeling they went with this way for the time being to avoid people getting stuck constantly.

7. I gather the branches needed and make a fire. The fire burns for a second and then instantly turns to charred wood.

8. Thinking I need to find some things to fuel the fire I gather some twigs and some bark. As I gather six more twigs I realise it takes just too long to gather materials and get bored harvesting things. Knowing I am new I carry on and give the game a chance.

9. I put the twigs into the menu of the fire and all I see is a button for "extinguish" even though the fire is already out. I give up on the fire.

Gathering sticks is a little painful for sure, though it's really not an ideal source of fuel. I've also had issue with using bark as a fuel (just instantly disappears generally; I think that's a bug that's in their tracker already).

[qupte]
12. I didn't see a single animal even though I had the slider up half way. I decide to try and track an animal. After a loading bar nothing happens with no indication of failure or success.
[/quote]

The message will most likely of appeared in the system chat. Basically, as far as I understand how hunting works (I haven't done it myself, but I've had it explained to me by guildies), you'll see faint tracks on the ground which you can follow. On low skill it'll be very hard as they'll disappear very quickly.

13. I build a few tools with the intension of cutting down a tree. I get an axe and a saw and I try to cut down a small tree. The game tells me that I need a hatchet. I try to make a hatchet but, even though I have a saw and an axe, I lack the technology to make one.

Was your axe equiped? That's all you need to chop trees.

You need 30 in forestry (which I assume you have) before you can unlock logging. Logging is required to chop down trees. There are two types of wood: Softwood and Hardwood. You need a certain level in logging to be able to chop down hardwood.

You'll know if you can chop a tree down if you have the option available (you'll get to a point where you can tell which trees are which as different types e.g. birch trees and oak trees have different textures and looks).

If you want to raise forestry, get "spouts" off of trees, then with a shovel equiped you can plant them. You can only plant certain tree spouts to begin with (softwood ones like birchwood). Birchwood trees are the thin white ones with spots.

You'll need 30 in Logging before you unlock the ability to use carpentry. Once you can use carpentry, you can then use a saw on a chopped down log to get billets, building logs etc. To begin with, you'll only be able to do this for softwood.

Hopefully that gives you a better idea.

14. I decide to go fishing. After several loading screens and locations I find nothing. After getting irritated I swim out deep into the ocean and don't see a single living thing. As I come back I realise it's probably just random luck and decided by your stats. I kept trying and couldn't catch a thing. I give up on fishing.

Fishing from 0 is quite painful, but it gets better. I wouldn't recommend doing it at this point to be honest.

15. I decide to dig a tunnel. After my character hits at the side of the hill with his pickaxe his arms move out of sync from the sound. After a loading bar my inventory fills with rocks and the hill does nothing. I continue and start the dig a tunnel command again and, after another loading bar, my inventory is filled with more rocks and the hill does nothing.

16. I come back to the game later and decide to try and dig a tunned again when suddenly a 1 foot tall wedge is neatly carved out of the hill. I am pleased something happened.

17. I click on the back of the wedge with the idea of making the wedge into an actual tunnel. After a loading screen my inventory fills up with rocks and the tunnel does nothing. I do this again. My inventory fills with more rocks and the tunnel does nothing. I try again but my inventory is so full the game reminds me "You can't take that. You are overburdened".

18. I step away from the wedge to empty my inventory. I try to click the piles of rocks away from the window to drop them, even though if you were mining you wouldn't put the rocks in your pocket anyway, but the rocks don't move. I inspect the rocks and I have the option to "pour them on the ground".

19. As I go to pour them on the ground I am told I need a shovel to do so. It just so happened that I had actually made a shovel but if I had not made on I would have had a problem. With great irritation I soon see where this is going. I equip the shovel, after a loading bar, and I select the rocks, 30 at a time and pour them on the ground.

20. After I make a small pile the game stops me from putting any more on that pile and tells me I need to empty somewhere else. I thought, "what if I want a big pile of rocks? What if a village has a dump for them?". With more irritaion I move somewhere else.

21. I return to the same face of rock. I equip the pickaxe.

After a loading screen my pockets fill with rocks and I am soon over encumbered.

I realise I have to put the valuable ore I found onto the floor where is disappears in two minutes.

This was the main reason I decided to make a reply.

One of your options in your context menu while looking is "inspect". That will tell you how much you've chipped away at a rock as a percentage. Works on trees as well as other things. It would be nice to have a visual cue though (texture change etc).

Yes, you fill your inventory, and then you go dump it somewhere. That's part of the game. If you were digging out a tunnel with a pickaxe made of stone, what would you do with the dirt/rock?

You'd pick it up and move it outside. From a gameplay perspective, I'd much prefer for the stuff to end up in my inventory then having chunks appear at my feet that I have to slowly walk outside (it's still a game at the end of the day).

I agree the requirement for a shovel is a little strange, but it's because dropping that stuff on the floor is considered teraforming (which needs a shovel).

Ore, rock, or soil placed on the ground does not disappear. Trust me. If you go dump iron ore and then dump stone on top, then it's going to be covered up under your stone. What you want to do is make separate piles (hopefully you're aware you can just double click to drop it).

Until you unlock smelting (which you need 30 mining - you only get mining by using the "mine" option on actual ore), you can't do anything with the ore thus you'll be stock piling it.

As the textures are similar, I try to keep my dump of stone and iron together so it doesn't look too obvious. It wouldn't exactly be efficient levelling to rob it anyway.

To find actual ore, you need to use the "inspect" option. This doesn't give you much information other then "you find traces". The idea is, you slowly pin point the area the ore is in, as your inspect tool is radius based. I try to pinpoint within 10 and then try to work out in which direction. When you find ore, there's generally multiple chunks of it close by.

The digging isn't perfect though seeing as you can't mine the ceilings (or touch them at all), and you can't "mine" the floor below you (unless you dig downward and then mine it from below but then you'll end up stuck in your tunnel I'm pretty sure).

Do you know how to set an action as the default?
Basically, when you have the context menu up for selecting an action, if you right click rather then left clicking, it sets it as default for the type of tile you're looking at. Makes life a lot easier.

You may find you don't always have your default action when looking at a tile of the same type; that's because the action isn't available on that tile.

1. I need some indication that the floor will hold ingredients I need.
2. I need some indication that there are fish in the ocean.
3. Before I try to havest something I need to know what my odds are.
4. Why doesn't it work most of the time when I dig a tunnel?
5. I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO USE MY SHOVEL TO EMPTY A BAG OF ROCKS.

1. I don't completely agree with this. I think some things should be visually obvious e.g. berry bushes. For other things you need to search the foliage.

2. I agree, to be able to physically see fish would be nice. Though fish are obtainable, it's just really painful with no skill.

4. It's a little weird at times. Not 100% sure why either.

5. Agree.


My suggestion to you would be to keep trying. It's tough to begin with and the game is a little clunky but if you can get past that initial "urgh", you'll start to see the shine behind the crap.

If you have any bleeding questions, then feel free to come on LiF IRC (will do my best to answer). Best of luck to you and I hope your second day is more enjoyable.

[Capsuna]

My first Impressions of this game --- Freaking Awesome.

I don't care about the small stuff keep giving me updates and I get happier. $35 well spent

[Arcapello]

Well thank you very much for a great reply. I took the liberty of organising my complaints and you did the same with the response which is great.

I absolutely concede that ore does not disappear after two minutes, that was a mistake.

I was also wrong about needing a hatchet, however, I had an "axe" and not a "hatchet" which it told me I needed.

1. I'm glad you agree that you should not have to equip the shovel to empty your inventory. I can not see a point in this. Unless you could find a way to make items, that are not effective weapons, not require a loading bar at all. I can understand it taking time to equip armor and even a weapon but there should be a difference between picking up a weapon and picking up a tool (I understand some are good for both). This also brings me to the point, there should be a more varied loading bar between certain actions and some, like equiping small tools and less usefull items, should have none at all.

2. I agree and disagree with what you said about picking up the rocks when mining. I think you should be given a choice. The way I see it is a simple mechanic where you are asked "Keep the rocks or dump the rocks?" where upon keeping them they go into your item pocket and upon dumping them you are given either a small radius where you can instantly dump them or your character is carrying the rocks in his arms and you can move them off to another location and dump them.

3. There definitely needs to be a visual indication that something is happening to the rocks I am mining. Feedback is extemely important when you are doing something that is hard work. Working for nothing, or the impression of working for nothing, is quickly unpleasant.

4. I actually agree in a way with what you said about finding stuff on the ground. It's kind of the fun of it, not knowing what might be there. I do however think that you need some areas of grass (perhaps a slight difference in colour) that tells you that something is more likely to be there if you look then any other bit of grass. If my character is hungry and lives in the wilds he, realistically, would know where to look and what to look for after a while before he just kneels down on any random patch of grass and starts combing through it. Mushrooms, berries and taproot all seem to be distributed randomly across the island. It's not a good feeling that random luck is rewarded more than knowledge and experience.

5. Finally. I can see how you might be able to get stuck - shouldn't there be a way to get unstuck?

I think it's great that you responded so thank you very much.

[Kessedy]

My first Impressions of this game --- Freaking Awesome.

I don't care about the small stuff keep giving me updates and I get happier. $35 well spent

^ This.