A few weeks ago, Pax Dei was officially presented. A new MMORPG developed by a new studio, but with people who are very experienced in the online gaming sector. Now they bring us this look at the housing and building system that comes with a lengthy question and answer section that we’ve translated for you from their official disagreement.
Can I build anywhere on the map?
No. Building takes place in the valleys of the Heartlands and is prohibited outside of them.
Additionally, some areas of the Heartlands that would disrupt gameplay are being restricted. For example, Heartlands has a predefined road network and cannot be built on it. You also cannot build underground. However, you can build on water, and indeed, waterfront buildings are magnificent. In some cases, this allows you to build a bridge.
Can I set up my plot at the entrance to a dungeon?
No. We want to make sure that PvE areas that should be accessible to everyone are. And you’re unlikely to find a dungeon entrance in the Heartlands.
Can I build in PvP areas and if so, permanently?
We don’t want to go into PvP details right now, sorry! This should be covered in a dedicated PvP FAQ. Thank you for being patient .
Do I need land to build a house?
You can only build on plots, but plots have a permission system that allows them to be shared between players. So yes, you’ll need land to build on, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your land. If you have a group of friends and you form a clan together, you will be able to have several shared houses in several places and work there together.
Can I take resources from abandoned structures?
Yes, if a player demolishes a plot, the dropped items become available to other players.
If so, does that mean I could claim larger and more complex buildings with my plot? And if so, are/can they be larger than what you would normally be allowed to build on your individual plot?
You will not be able to claim the prefab buildings, but you will be able to build extremely large buildings using the shared plot permit within the clans.
What could be the reasons for visiting other players’ settlements? Could we access rare materials or recipes? Could we access your books or other discoveries?
We don’t want to go into details right now, but let’s just say that trading will be an important part of Pax Dei. There may also be other reasons why you want to visit other people, such as politics.
Can I build a house on someone else’s land?
Yes, if you have received permission to do so.
Can I block access to my plot? To everybody? Apart from my clan?
You cannot restrict access to your plot itself, but you can restrict access to anything you build on it.
Can people come onto my property and steal what’s in my house? Can they destroy it?
Only players you have given permission to access your buildings on your land can access your belongings. And yes, they can destroy it but also help you build more of it.
How do sharing permissions work?
We don’t want to talk about that level of detail right now – our goal is to make the system flexible so you can do pretty much whatever you want with permissions.
Is there a mechanic that limits the number of structures I can build?
The amount of land available is the only limitation. Each player will receive land to build on as part of a paid account, and we plan to add mechanics for players to purchase additional land.
As a side note, we noticed during testing that clans often appoint a Master Builder player, so if you’re really into building, try to find a clan that wants to make you that person.
Are the houses prefab or can I build whatever I want?
You can build almost anything you want from the building pieces in the game – see the next answer!
Can I go crazy in terms of structure or do I have to follow certain architectural rules?
The building system includes a physics system that reinforces the structural integrity of buildings, so your buildings will need to make structural sense. For example, although houses can be quite tall, you cannot build an infinitely tall house.
In the long term, will all buildings look more or less the same?
We have several sets of building pieces and we want to add more customization options to the houses. We would like to have a system that would allow you to create a very diverse set of homes with a unique look. We certainly won’t have all of these features ready by the time the game is available for everyone, and we plan to keep adding them in updates.
When we go to build on our plots, what is the tolerance of the building system if we want to change our mind and start over, or mess it all up? Can we collect the supplies anyway, or are they lost once placed?
We are still debating the exact amount recovered from the demolition of the houses. But we want the system to be quite forgiving.
Can I craft furniture and decorative items?
Yes, in addition to buildings, craftsmen and chests, you can build other objects. For example, you can make rugs, chairs, tables, etc. The selection of items in the game at the moment is not very extensive, as we are not yet fully into the production of this set of content, and we plan to add more.
Do they have in-game value or are they just for decoration?
Some are useful and we want the role play to be complete and you can decorate your house with useful furniture. The lights are especially useful on dark nights in the game. At this time, we don’t know how expanded this set of accessories will be when you start playing, but we will continue to develop the game for a long time, including adding more content over time.
Can I design my own or are they predefined?
The game will provide them.
Can I customize them with my clan colors?
The systems have many features to customize the items you can craft, and we have the technology to enable features such as the type of wood used to craft an item changing the appearance of items made from that wood. Additionally, we have a system for clans to create their own heraldic symbol, which appears on some of the items the clan wears, and we plan to include it on some items you can craft on your lot. At this time, we don’t know to what extent we’ll include all of these features when the game releases, so we’ll share more details on that later.