Landmark Improves Building UI With Build Mode And Mega Palette

It's not as sexy as adding content, but for a game in development, cleaning up a cluttered UI can be just as important to long-term sustainability. That's how Daybreak feels about Landmark, and Chris Stuart went into great detail on the Landmark forums regarding a new Build Mode that would be coming to the game later this year.

The primary focus of Build Mode is to separate your "building hotbar" from your "adventuring hotbar" so combat and building commands wouldn't be competing for space. You can switch between the two with a click of a button, and bringing up Build Mode also gives you access to the Mega Palette, a huge prop and material palette that replaces the game's tiny palette picker. There's also a new Building Modal Bar to indicate all the building hotkeys. New camera options, including Free Cam and Orbit Cam, which will give you a point-based view of your claim, are also in the works. You can even set the time of day for your claim to be viewed while building, so you can perfect that spooky night-time haunted house look.

Don't expect it to all be implemented in time for Halloween, though; Stuart says that Build Mode and the Mega Palette should be in place by the end of the year, though, as usual, things are subject to change. And, if you want to feel really optimistic, usability changes like this are usually a herald to opening a game up to a wider audience. Open beta in early 2016, perhaps? We can hope.