Topic

Staff Topic

How to Test the New Houses

OK! Now you can test some parts of the new housing system. We're concentrating here on furniture and decoration (later releases will add the ability to craft new furniture, expand houses, cultivate land and use imagination to grow your yard and home street).

To try it out, get in the game type "/home" in local chat (it is deliberately hard to do right now so that people don't get confused and think this is *the* permanent switchover — this house is just for your testing and customizations will eventually be reset). When you're at home, there will be a new button which takes you back to the regular game world.

Once you go inside, you'll see the new furniture tab by your inventory and a "decorate" button at the top-right of the game. Go crazy. Upgrading furniture is all free right now (in the future, some upgrades will be subscriber-only and some will cost credits).

You can't get any more furniture for now and you also can't give, trade or sell furniture until the next release (or maybe the one after that). However, you can bring your stuff over to the new house and not worry about it getting lost when we reset (we'll keep it all safe) — it is just the furniture customizations that you'll lose.

To move furniture around and place items on furniture, you need to be in "decoration mode", which will hide your avatar and allow you to use the arrow keys to pan around your house.

You'll be switched to decoration mode automatically when you drag something out of your furniture bag, but you can also hit the "decorate" button in the top right of the game window.

To change wallpaper, ceilings and floors, hit the "swatches" button which appears in the top bar when you're in decoration mode. You can stamp the patterns on or drag them into place. For wallpapers you can either to a single segment or the whole wall at once.

Finally, though the land outside your house is fixed for now (you can't expand it or add/remove resources yet) you do have a customizable signpost outside: you can use that to add up to five signs pointing to the home streets of people from your friends list.

Any questions? Thoughts? ;)

See also:  Blog post  •  Video Demo

Note: If you don't see any furniture (or just your trophies) inside your furniture bag when you enter your house, type "/home" again.

Note 2: You can type "/home" from wherever you are in the world, including other people's houses.

Note 3: We will give plenty of notice before the real switchover to the new housing system and, if you own a regular in-world house at that time, all of the items inside it will be moved over automatically. You don't have to move everything yourself.

Note 4: Many questions and answers have been summarized in this (unofficial!) FAQ

Posted 12 years ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

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  • This is super cool! I'm having a few glitchy issues, though.
    1. Many of my trophies are also duplicated, and musicblocks are missing, as mentioned above.
    2. I try to pick up furniture and some go into my regular inventory and get stuck there ("place" option doesn't work). At the moment I have a ceiling lamp and a shelf where two of my bags should be. This persists back into already-existing bits of Ur. (Also, I think it's confusing the system - when I try to place other ceiling lamps, they just disappear.)3. The wall containing my front door is currently painted backwards, like so: http://i.imgur.com/3TH1W.png

    I can send a bug report if that would help. 
    Edit: Reloading fixed the issues.
    Posted 12 years ago by Spaghetti Thompson Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Only repeating this because you've been so good at answering everything so think you might have missed it: when walking on furniture, if several items are in front of each other I don't always appear to be walking on the one at the front.
    Posted 12 years ago by Lund! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow, this is so very cool!  

    I have put the first 5 friends I could think of on sign post and now would like to edit it.  Click edit, but no little X comes up to remove that one.  
    Posted 12 years ago by Cabinwood Subscriber! | Permalink
  •  COMMENT:  Sofas are TOO BIG.   Way out of proportion to the other furniture.  Styles are really cool though!

      Loveseats are just right in size.
    Posted 12 years ago by Kaho Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This is awesome. 

    I know that this is a test and all but I have a couple questions. I have a friend who downsized to a meadow house just so she could have a polar bear chair. There isn't (yet maybe?) a polar bear chair option in the new houses (although the Yeti bed is epic). Is it possible to keep our current furniture and upgrade to the new stuff? Where are the storage cabinets? Are the sample prices any indication of what things will cost?

    Congratulations! You've all done such a great job.
    Posted 12 years ago by Grackle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Elyd: wallpaper issue is known. Can you screenshot what you mean about ceiling lamps?

    Lund: yeah, not sure we really have a plan for that. all of the "platforms" on furniture are always active
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Also, there is a point level with the loft floor where my glitch will remain standing if I levitate in the yard, against the side of the house.
    Posted 12 years ago by Lund! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sorry, Bees! I reloaded and it doesn't seem to be replicating the problem now. Bags are back too.
    Posted 12 years ago by Spaghetti Thompson Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm also seeing only trophies in my furniture tab.  Not all my trophies, only some -- and there are a couple of duplicates.
    Posted 12 years ago by Splendora Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I didn't see where it was mentioned, so I'll ask- how long do we get to test this?
    Posted 12 years ago by bored no more Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "There isn't a polar bear chair option in the new houses"

    Yet!

    "Is it possible to keep our current furniture and upgrade to the new stuff?"

    From the existing houses? Most/all furniture from existing houses will be upgrade options

    "Where are the storage cabinets?"

    In the next release

    "Are the sample prices any indication of what things will cost?"

    Some indication, not the final prices
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Question: How are people getting sofas? I only have trophies in my furniture tab. Thanks!
    Posted 12 years ago by SeerQueen Subscriber! | Permalink
  • bored no more: until the next things are ready to test! soon ;)
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I love it and my house is beautiful. Responses above have answered a lot of my questions but would like to know if we will ever be able to sit down on the chairs or bed. I wouldn't bother paying for it just to clutter up the room and be useless except as decoration.

    Also, I, too, have something odd about the door when I am inside, it's sort of duplicated or shadowed in a strange way.
    Posted 12 years ago by Miss Parsley Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Lund: screenshot!

    People without furniture: sorry, we will fix this

    Elyd: If you see it again, please take a screenie!
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I haven't had any issues...this is fantastic :)
    Posted 12 years ago by Pickle Bob Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Weeeheeeee THANK YOU Tiny Speck for making me so happy this evening on Glitch :) Love the new housing and can't wait to be able to purchase the upgrades permanently!! Job well done!!!
    Posted 12 years ago by ~Arabesque~ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Miss Parsley: sitting down, perhaps! it's not at the top of our list, but it would be cool

    duplicated like this? http://i.imgur.com/3TH1W.png known issue
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Neat, I need to write a bug report on my furniture tab not working. But its cool we have something new to play with. 
    : D
    Posted 12 years ago by Melting Sky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If you don't have furniture in your bag, type "/home" again and it should appear. We're working on a permanent fix.
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Bees!, yes, that's it. As long as it's known about. All else seems to work fine.

    Hmmn no bed or chairs for me if we can't actually use them, just lots of storage (when it comes!) and tables to put things on.
    Posted 12 years ago by Miss Parsley Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You can place items on beds and chairs too - they're like fancy shelves. And you can jump on them. Don't forget that.
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • My view... My view...

    I live in Andra. I bought the house for the balcony and... the view.

    My balcony...
    Posted 12 years ago by DUG1138 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It would be nice to have an "undo" for decoration. Sometimes I move a piece of furniture, and it can get difficult to put things back where they were.

    There should be possible to toggle between things you are in front of (in decoration mode), so you can choose one of them, not only the one in front.
    Posted 12 years ago by Ximenez Subscriber! | Permalink
  • DUG1138: The view (and lots of other stuff) will be customizable in an upcoming release
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just changed the floor and the wall designs.. however, there is a bit of inconsistency near the entrance..don't know how to put into words :-(
    http://i.imgur.com/eVDH7.png
    Posted 12 years ago by !$Harrump$! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I will pretend I have an invisible upstairs with bed, etc., but will definitely not have the larger furniture items if I can't use them.
    Posted 12 years ago by Miss Parsley Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ximenez: undo would be cool. not sure what you mean about in-front-of. if you can see some furniture, click on the bit you can see. if it's totally hidden by something else, then that seems silly!
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • !$Harrump$!: known issue, thanks!
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Quick question about animals - butterflies and chickens go in and out of the new house, but piggies stay outside? 

    Do we have to use the sticks to keep them out, or should they not come in :)

    EDIT: my piggy just strolled in - the devil! 
    Posted 12 years ago by bergamot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That's weird, my invisible Rook Nest Bed just turned up in my regular inventory... while I was donating to Humbaba... And now my Humbaba emblem has disappeared into the same item slot... going to reload.
    Posted 12 years ago by Quintus Subscriber! | Permalink
  • only see trophies.... no furniture.....
    Posted 12 years ago by Gee E Bee Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Perhaps related to the duplicate trophy problem, once I placed one copy of those trophies I couldn't get them back out of the house again (they won't drag back, no option to remove them).
    Posted 12 years ago by Credulous Ralph Subscriber! | Permalink
  • bergamot: i'm not sure! i'll ask someone smart

    Quintus: that sounds bad! looking into it
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you so very much this is so cool i love this chance to preview our new houses.:) i really like that we can plant both herbs and veggies  .... now if we could only sit on the furniture or did i miss something :) cant wait for the storage things yippie IM SO EXCITED to try all this great stuff thanks again :)
    Posted 12 years ago by LittleFoot61 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • OK, once I reloaded, the bed disappeared from my regular inventory and my Humbaba emblem is in its place.
    Posted 12 years ago by Quintus Subscriber! | Permalink
  • bergamot: use pig/butterfly/etc sticks!
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Small bug report:
    I put my still in the ceiling - which is an excellent storage option btw!- but I can only access it when in decorating mode. 
    I <3 my new house...
    xxxxxxxxx
    Posted 12 years ago by mince Subscriber! | Permalink
  • mince: drag it back down while in decorator mode. you can't use things while they're in your attic ;)
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks Bees - suspected I would need those sticks :D  I don't want piggy plop on my beautiful new floor...
    Posted 12 years ago by bergamot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Bees: I can see a bit of a table behind something else, but that something else prevents me from selecting the table. Looks like some objects ocuppy a rectangle, not their shape.
    Posted 12 years ago by Ximenez Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Definitely a bit buggy but I guess that is why they are here for us to test. Very cool update btw.

    Thanks :)
    Posted 12 years ago by Melting Sky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ximenez: ahh, that might be true. i'll note it down for investigation
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I just tried going to a friend's home street who hadn't edited their signpost to add any signs and there wasn't any way to get out except to go back to the world..... It would be nice if there was a way to go back to my house.... or would typing /home again have worked?
    Posted 12 years ago by Fern Connelly Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks Bees- I was a bit confused as I can distill in the attic, when in decorator mode... I don't think I want that changed!
    Posted 12 years ago by mince Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Fern Connelly: yup, /home works in that situation
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • BUG:  I placed a ceiling light, ugraded it to a Chandelier, then I tried to add a second ceiling light and the first one disappeared.  Now I have no ceiling light and cannot add one.

    Similar thing happened with the table decoration.  I placed a flower vase.  Then I placed a 2nd one.  When I tried to add a third one I couldn't and the 2nd one disappeared and cannot be put back.

    ETA:  Thanks Bees!  Reloaded and the Chandelier returned.  Instead of adding a second one I went with two wall rook lamps.  I was able to add the second vase.
    Posted 12 years ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Brib Annie: curious! try reloading?
    Posted 12 years ago by Bees! Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow. Wow wow and some more wow. This is pretty much all that I could have hoped for and then a whole lot more =)

    Minor things: Trophies that I've put on the shelf and no longer want there - how do you remove them? Dragging them back to the inventory says 'Verb not enabled' - does that mean it will be in future?
    Also, will we be able to select (or change) the default house style? Say if we wanted a forest-style house rather than meadow-style, we can reset that?
    Posted 12 years ago by arcturus Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Nevermind, Saraphim explained what i was doing wrong.
    Posted 12 years ago by Innie✿, Obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
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